PRG's Thoughts

It's the end of the year, that was twenty-eighteen, So what happened in sports, with your favourite team? There was the World Cup, and then regular seasons, 'Twas a great year for fans, here are my reasons. Lets start with the Cup, that comes every four years, As usual it ended, with England in tears. Croatia played well, and was the runner up, But in the end, the French won the cup. Neymar won an Oscar, Messi won nothing, Poor England prepared too early for homecoming. We've watched this next flick, since 2003, I'm talking about tennis, and the same old big three. Roger won Aus, Novak Wimb & New York, Rafa won the French, oh, what a shock! The time for new blood, is long overdue, Zverev, Thiem or anyone please come through. Four different winners, in four different slams, Women's tennis, is capturing the fans. Of course, the greatest had the greatest melt down, Oh Serena, you behaved like a clown. The Return of the Kings, is not a movi...

The Wimbledon finals no one predicted Sports What a great Wimbledon. As usual the lawns of SW19 kept us riveted for two weeks. The Rafa injury scare, the Williams sisters' early exit and of course the hope that the top four men's seeds would be in the semi finals again. The Men's Final- It was one of the most shocking things I have seen in sports in a long time. Not that Djokovic won, he has beaten Nadal enough times this year for that to be a surprise. But I never thought I would see Rafa Nadal outclassed on a tennis court. The tennis that Novak Djokovic played was simply sublime. No one has dominated Nadal as Novak did on Sunday. He did to Nadal what Nadal does to everyone else. Chasing down every ball he forced Rafa to play two extra shots a point. That is Nadal's thing, it's what makes Nadal so hard to beat. Well Rafa's patent on that skill expired and Djokovic executed like a man on a mission. Sure, in the third set we saw signs of the Rafa we know and lo...

I hate Roger Federer. He raises my blood pressure, causes stress, the occasional sleepless night and makes Sunday evenings horrible. I’m just recovering from the French Open and here comes Wimbledon. Just before the final at Roland Garros started I said, “I can’t hack a 5 set match. I hope it doesn’t go there.” I got berated by a friend, “What do you mean you can’t hack it? If you don’t want to watch it, don’t.” Then there were others who said, “I hope it’s a close one. Will be fun.” Will be fun ? Getting an ulcer is fun ? Heart skipping beats is fun ? There were those who before the tournament even started said another Roger-Rafa final “would be amazing.” I felt like knocking them on the head with a club. Sorry, I can’t take it anymore. The surgeon general needs to show a warning to Roger fans that watching his matches will cut a couple of months off your life expectancy. Roger is a tease and an emotional roller coaster that few can handle. He goes up 5-2 and then loses the set. He wi...

Wimbledon is just another tournament,” said a friend, as we debated the best sporting events of the year. Just another tournament? Really? The game at the Championships is not what it used to be, there’s no question about it; and the authorities at SW19 have made some dramatic changes in the past few years. In the late Eighties and Nineties, the Wimbledon game was dominated by serve and volley. Baseliners weren’t thought to have a shot at victory – barring the random win by Agassi in 1992. A big serve and a decent game were what you needed to be a contender. It was in complete contrast to the games on the clay courts of the French Open, which concludes just two weeks prior to Wimbledon. At the French, the sluggers from the baseline continued to win titles, then struggled in England a fortnight later. The complaints started in the late Nineties and early Noughties. There were very few rallies. Players like Ivaniševic would bang out 200 aces in the tournament, keeping average points on h...

It’s the worst moment for any sports fan. It feels like a stab in the heart. You know that eventually you will have to experience it but when it actually hits you your eyes fill up. It is the day you realize that the player you love the most in the entire sport has lost his ability to win at his former level. Roger Federer, I’ve dreaded this day for a while, but it is upon us. As a fan you go through a number of stages with a player. The Fun Stages The Spotting - This is the stage where you first spot your guy. For me it was 2004. I was living in New York and when Wimbledon started I was reading an article by John McEnroe where he said that Roger could be come the greatest of all time. I knew who Roger Federer was of course but had never really watched him seriously because I had been a bit off tennis for a year or so. The Sunday of the final I woke up early to watch him beat Roddick. I was hooked. The Winning/Losing- As a fan nothing gives you more joy when your team or pla...

The year in sports is pretty much done- Here is what to look forward to in 2011 Roger- Rafa- The Final Year It may just be my gut feeling but I think this will be the final year of the Roger-Rafa rivalry. I don’t think either will retire after 2011 but after this year the two-man show will slowly die out. Having said that, this could be a year filled with tension and stress for tennis fans. As a Roger fan the season ending win gave me a lot to look forward to. Rafa fans probably looked at it as an anomaly in an all round great year. On January 17 th the battle begins in Melbourne. My Take - Rafa wins 2 slams, Roger wins one, and someone else wins one. Year-end 2011 Rafa #1, Roger # 2. Cricket World Cup Don’t let the recent drop in viewership of ODI’s fool you. The world cup is different. It is still the tournament where legends are made and destroyed. Kapil’s catch, Tendulkar’s innings after his father passed, Klusener’s heroics followed by a moment of anguish, Waugh’s sle...

The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate is part of every sport. It is senseless in a lot of ways because you can never reach a conclusion. Yet every sport has lists, rankings and articles on who is the GOAT. Tennis has a new member in this debate, welcome to the party Rafael Nadal. When debating the GOAT in tennis here are the criterion that I looked at. 1) Has the player won a number of major tournaments (grand slams and ATP Masters) 2) Test of Time- has the player won consistently and dominated the competition over a significant period of time 3) Has the player won against top competition 4) Has the player won under different conditions Nadal has won 9 grand slam titles on all surfaces and holds the record for the most ATP Masters titles. He has beaten the best and holds a comfortable win-loss ratio against Roger Federer, his biggest rival. Finally, he is the greatest clay court player of all time. He has a check mark next to all the criteria. Well all, except for num...

Yes, I am writing a blog. It has been more than two months and I don't have an excuse on why I haven't written, at least not a good one. But with so much sports going on, I finally decided that I am writing again. So here is my take on Roger Federer and the sports event that has had me glued- the World Series of Poker. I haven't written on the World Cup because we are well in to the tournament. May be I will write when it is all over. Here goes... Roger- I have heard so many random theories on Roger Federer's early departure from Roland Garros and The Championships that I figure why not share mine. I am a die hard Roger Federer fan and it pains me to say this, but it is time we stop expecting him to win or reach the final of every grand slam he enters. That period is done. He is the greatest player to ever play the game but even he must lose eventually. Do I think Roger has a couple of more slams in him? Yes. I think he will win a few more, may be even this years U....

Since this is the first year of my blog, I have never written a year end blog before. I figured why not join the rest of the world and make lists. So here are my awards for 2009... Politician of the Year- Rahul Gandhi I am still at odds on whether I like the man or not, but what can you say, he got it done this year. The Congress dominated the national elections and there is no doubt that Rahul Gandhi's tireless travels played a huge role in their clear cut win. Since the win he has not stopped being in the news either. His "hanging with the people" strategy is interesting and fresh. I still can't tell if it is genuine, political, strategic or actually something revolutionary in our country. Whatever it is, it caught my eye. Will be interesting to see if the current fall out in Andhra Pradesh hurts his party and more interesting to see if he continues to reach out to the people in 2010. Honorable Mention- Kapil Sibal (For the revolution he is starting in education. If...

Wow its been so long since I have blogged that I almost forgot my blogspot password. The reasons for no blogs vary from lack of interesting topics, lack of motivation and little bit because of the lack of time. But then last night suddenly a topic hit me in the face. This is probably something I would have blogged about the day the news came out but for some reason I never got to it. It is the entire Andre Agassi fiasco that is going on. For those of you who don't read the sports page, Agassi admitted to using crystal meth and then lying to the ATP about it. This revelation has shaken the tennis and sports world. Here are my thoughts on the story. While there are many things one can discuss on the crystal meth controversy, I have chosen three points that have either bothered me or that I have discussed with friends over the past few days. The ATP - What were they thinking? Let me see if I get this straight. Andre Agassi fails a drug test and is informed of the violation by the ATP...

For those of you who have not read the sports pages recently you missed how Somdev Devvarman shocked the tennis world number 15 Marin Cilic in the Legg Mason Classic tennis tournament. It was a fantastic and impressive win and hopefully will become a stepping stone to a promising career. Before he becomes a sensation or a thing of the past I thought I would write him a letter. Here it is. Dear Somdev , Congrats on the big win vs. Cilic . While you lost in the next round, no matter, you got your first big win. This will hopefully ensure a wild card to the US Open and may be you can continue to make your mark in New York. I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you as you begin your journey. This may be arrogant of me since I am completely inexperienced in the art managing sportsman but I would like to share them anyway. 1) Settle down in the United States. Remain an Indian citizen but train, practice and live outside India. We do not have the facilities in India to help yo...

Another post filled with random thoughts with no real focus. Australia (Cricket not violence), Roger, Tiger, Lakers, Leander etc. Enjoy Saw about 200 status updates from friends on FB rejoicing in the early Aussie departure from the T20 cup. I love the Australian Cricket Team. I have loved them since the Alan Border's days and are my second favorite team, after India of course. They are aggressive, talented, play hard (I don't have issues with sledging) and are winners. Fine Fine, I will agree they have lost their invincibility for sometime now but they are still the team every other team wants to beat. Choosing between them and say an Ireland in the Super 8's, no question, I would want Australia. Even if you hate them you have to admit, the matches they would have been involved in make for more interesting entertainment than Ireland's matches. No disrespect to the Irish of course.  Anyway, let the comments attacking me for liking the Aussie Team begin. Oh and please d...

Some stuff going on in the news. Saeed, T20, Federer, Xbox. Real random thoughts with no real focus... Lahore High Court lets Saeed Out . Can someone please explain to me why we are playing a warm up match with Pakistan today? Yes Yes I know it is not the players fault and all that nonsense. But we banned South Africa from cricket for 21 years for apartheid and 60 countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the USSR's insurgence in to Afghanistan. The Olympics which is an event that comes every four year and a once in a lifetime chance for most athletes that participate was boycotted. Those countries took a stand. I think if we are taking a stand we should take a firm one. We should not even play them in the world cup if we have to. We should boycott the match in protest. If that effects our chances to win it then so be it. If we really want to get the message across we should take bold steps. That's just my view but I am sure you have plenty of opposing ones. Yuvra...

So, Nadal is out of the French Open in the 4th round. I think we all are shocked to say the least. You have to hand it to Soderling, he played phenomenally. Anyway, this post is not about the match, I hardly have the qualifications to analyze what went wrong with the world # 1. This post is about the chatter of the tennis world for the last year on how Roger Federer has "lost it" and the maddening analysis of Roger's demise from # 1 all the way down to # 2, a huge drop. I have had my views on this for some time now but never written about it. Something about Rafa's loss (on clay) today inspired me to sit and type it out. Firstly, let me say that this is probably the only great rivalry where I have not hated one of people involved. I am a die hard Roger Federer fan but can't help liking Nadal as well. His game, movement on the court and some of the shots he hits leave you stunned in amazement. The best part about him is his attitude and the respect he shows every p...

Check out the sports page of the Times of India today, (sorry no link available for the article), Praveen Amre, the Mumbai Indians coach, says his goal is that his team reaches the semi finals of the IPL as the league toppers. As a Mumbai Indians fan it irks me that the aim of the coach is to reach the semi final. Err....Coach, why not aim to WIN the FINAL? I would understand this statement if Amre was the coach of the Indian Football team that was playing in the World Cup for the first time. Then it would be alright to just put up a good show. But in a cricket league where you have Sachin, Sanath and Shaun in your team. That is just weak. To think that the owner of this team only aims high and seems to always exceed his aims. In sports and in life you have the high aimers and the low aimers and usually, they get what they aimed for.  The High Aimers Have you ever heard Derek Jeter (the captain of the New York Yankees) talk about his team? For Jeter, his teammates and Yankees fans arou...