IPL II- What do we do at 8 pm now?

The IPL II came and went before we even realized. I can't believe it is over so quickly. I feel like I was just getting in to it and then suddenly we were at the final. Anyways, here are some stray ones on the event, all random and in no order as usual. 

• The Favorites- This is the second year in a row that the least favored team has won.This is good news for KKR for next year. Just goes to show that the pundits, bookies, bloggers :-) and whoever else don't know anything. T20 is going to be a sport where anyone can just show up and win. Can you imagine the least favored person ever winning a tennis Grand Slam or a Formula One Race? The IPL has given us that shock value two years in a row. 
• Mumbai Indians were terrible- They were the 4th favorite team going in to the tournament and man did they disappoint. They had just 2 more wins than KKR. And KKR lost one match to a super over and one match on the last ball. Just saying guys, that a few shots or edges here or there and the Mumbai Indians could have been at the bottom of the league
• Fake IPL Player- At first I thought it was just average, but then it became brilliantly funny. It caused nightmares for KKR and everyone involved with that team. What a great concept and a very well written blog. 
• Mandira Bedi & Co.- How great was it that as we all waited anxiously for the final to begin, rather than see an intelligent analysis of the match to be played, we got to see Mandira Bedi and some guy named Chang go sky diving. I mean as a true sports fan, nothing, could have made my evening more. :-). Thank god in the T20 World Cup we don't have to deal with these idiots anymore.
• Lalit Modi- Love him or hate him, the guy got it done. To move a tournament of this size in less than a month. Incredible!!
• India's chances in the T20 World Cup- Everyone seems so confident after the IPL that India will do brilliantly. I am not so convinced. Sehwag and Gambhir are not in great touch, Zaheer Khan is still recovering from injury, and MSD, Yuvraj, Irfan and Bhajji are not in bad touch but they aren't setting the place on fire either. RP Singh, Yusuf Pathan Rohit Sharma, Ojha and Raina might be the best players we have in terms of current form. Lets see, its T20 after all, Bangladesh could take home the cup.
• Ten things we learned (in no particular order)- 1) Irfan Pathan has an accent when he speaks. No one is sure which country that accent represents but it is definitely not India 2) As much as I love him and as much as he is a cricketing God, I am glad Sachin Tendulkar was not Captain of India for a long period of time. He doesn't seem to enjoy it and with all due respect to the legend, he doesn't seem too good at it. 3) Yuvraj Singh should never be captain of India. His on field treatment of players, success rate and overall personality on the field are too negative for success. 4) Gilchrist and Hayden could still play for any team in the world. 5) Money doesn't buy anything- The two most expensive players Pietersen and Flintoff were useless. Pietersen captained and played badly and Freddie had no impact either 6) Its official, Sreesanth is the biggest moron in all of cricket, may be all of sport. His encounter with Hayden moved Appam to the top of the list where I think he may stay for a long time. 7) Robin Utthapa is as useless as ever. He dropped catches through the tournament, barely scored, and can someone please explain to me what he was trying in the final over yesterday? I mean I understand if you can't pull it off but at least try something that makes sense. 8) Rohit Sharma is something special. He won the Citi under 23 player of the tournament award. I liked what Ravi Shastri said to him when he interviewed him last night. He told Rohit that he should use this as motivation to do better next year. I just hope Rohit does just that instead of letting it get to his head like some other cricketers have done in the past. 9) Vodafone has the best ad agency in the world 10) Kumble still has it. Anyone who steps up the way he did in a final, still has it

I feel like I do when the College Football Season ends or the morning after the Super Bowl. It is a sinking feeling that we have to wait for months for the next season. But alas we have the French Open, the Champions League Final, the T20 World Cup, Wimbledon, Formula 1, The Ashes, The Golf Majors, the US Open, Baseball's September and October, American Football in the fall, real Football in the fall winter and spring, bowl games in december, NFL playoffs in January and March Madness. Throw in a couple of cricket series in there and I think we'll be fine till IPL III....but we are already looking forward to it.

Photo Credit Deccan Chargers- Associated Press

Photo Credit ZooZoo- http://blog.arpitnext.com