Blame the IPL for all your troubles

If the IPL were played during the time of the Mahabharat the Indian Media would have blamed it for influencing Duryodhan’s behavior. It would have happened and you know it.

Duryodhan, being a prince and all, would have definitely owned a team or maybe even been a cricketer in the league. Then when he attempted to strip Draupadi in front of the whole court there would be debates on news channels connecting his IPL team to what he was doing.

It’s like the two players who went to a rave in Juhu that got busted. Must be the IPL that sent them to the rave right? Because I am sure the owners of their team told them that they should attend a rave where there will be drugs.

Or the owner who got in to a scuffle with security, it must be the IPL. Because lets be honest, we have never heard of Bollywood stars that have had similar problems. Am I right Saif and Salman? Why didn’t they go after Bollywood? But here- it must be the IPL.

Finally, there is the player who allegedly misbehaved with a girl and her fiancé. That is surely the IPL’s fault. I am guessing team owners push their players and pay them bonuses for doing things like that. Oh and its not like this player has a great history. Damn the IPL.

Blaming the IPL for incidents like this is like blaming the PGA tour for Tiger Woods cheating on his wife. There is no connection

Here is a news flash for all you folks out there who think cricketers and Bollywood stars are Gods and that it is the IPL that has corrupted them.

They are not.

Hang me from a tree, burn me in effigy for saying this but your heroes are mere mortals.

They make mistakes, they like to party, they are as dumb or as smart as any of us. They are actually human. If you want them to be perfect, you are wishing for something that is never going to happen.

So will the media explain to us again what has any of this got to do with a league that has produced its best cricket in its five-year history? Almost every match has been riveting and the points table fiercely competitive. Besides the match fixing accusation, which is being looked in to and has very little evidence as off now, the league has been fantastic.

If sports leagues were to be judged by owners and players off field/court behavior there wouldn’t be a sports league in existence. The NBA and NFL in the US would be shut down. You think sportsmen around the world haven’t gotten in to bar brawls or even been accused of theft and murder? Kobe Bryant was accused of rape, did they blame the NBA? No, because that would be ludicrous.

The media has lost the plot with its attack on the league. Watching the news is a waste of time. I’m not a fan of sensationalism, however I do understand why the media does it.

This however, is not sensationalism, it’s a case of 2+2 = 5. They are connecting dots that aren’t on the same page. At some point the media has to stop its irresponsible behavior.

But they wont. They will still go lower and demean what they loosely call journalism. The worst part- we’ll still watch.