Another Bite for Nadal

Another victory for Rafael Nadal. Now, anyone who reads my posts will realize that I am an indefatigable fan of Nadal. And yes, I am. Why not? Well, what is sport all about? Spirit, talent, stamina, strength, mental acuity and most of all steely nerves. And according to me, Nadal is 'controlled agression' in tennis. Attitude - Amazing.

A note in the Miami Herald after the dude won the medal
Rafael Nadal's eyes glistened when the Spanish flag billowed above the flagpole. He swallowed hard as "La March Real" played in the Olympic Green Tennis Center.
They don't do that for you at Wimbledon.
Monday, Nadal officially becomes the No. 1 ranked player in the world. The 22-year-old has reached the pinnacle of his sport through a stunning streak of tour and Grand Slam success.
But what happened to him Sunday - winning a gold medal for Spain, by beating Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets - was even sweeter.
"To win here, the feeling is a little bit more special," Nadal said. "In tennis, Slams are more important.
"But for the sportsman, the Olympic Games are more important than anything."
At every Olympics since 1988 - when tennis was reintroduced as a medal sport - there's talk that it doesn't belong here. The Olympics are not the sport's most important competition.......

And it's not an easy tournament. It muddies up the schedule. Nadal himself was already unhappy with how compressed the men's schedule was this summer. Then last week, rain delays forced competition late into the night here: Nadal was warming up at midnight for a singles match. After the end of competition Sunday, the players headed to New York for the U.S. Open, which begins one week from today.
But, in truth, the rich and famous tennis players always seem to embrace the experience. Andre Agassi was thrilled to win gold in 1996. Four years ago, Andy Roddick was wrecked when he was eliminated early. In Beijing, Roger Federer - who has always dreamed of an Olympic medal - acted like a giddy kid on Christmas morning when he won the doubles gold for Switzerland. Venus and Serena Williams, who won doubles gold Sunday, are committed to the Olympics and want to play in 2012.
And Nadal completely embraced the Olympic experience.
He marched in the opening ceremony. He stayed at the athletes' village, where he was the most popular athlete. Others skipped the village; Federer tried to stay there but only lasted one night, mobbed everywhere he went. Nadal was also besieged with photo and autograph requests, but he didn't seem to mind. He attributed his success on the court to the experience.
"The reason I won this title," Nadal said, "is because I have a fantastic time here."
Nadal is having a fantastic time everywhere: Paris, London, Beijing. He has won 38 of his past 39 matches, including the French Open and Wimbledon and finals, and now the gold medal. .
When he won the match - dressed in Spain's colors in a red shirt and yellow headband - Nadal fell spread-eagled on his back. When he regained his feet he launched a tennis ball out into the Beijing night as the Spanish fans - whose country is having an epic sports summer - cheered wildly.
Monday, Nadal will end Federer's 237-week reign as the world's No. 1 singles player. Federer has been completely gracious about Nadal's ascendancy.
"That's what I hoped," said Switzerland's flag bearer. "That if somebody were to take it away from me, he would have to play an incredible tennis schedule, win the biggest tournaments, dominate the game, basically. I think Rafa totally deserves it."
Sure, tennis may have more important tournaments. But isn't it great to have such perceptive athletes in the Olympics? Federer's sportsmanship credentials are long-established. Nadal is growing into his role, working on his English, and charmingly willing to participate in give-and-take.
On Sunday Nadal was asked by a reporter from Bangladesh if he felt responsibility to help the sport in underdeveloped countries.
"If Bangladesh wants to do something with me," Nadal offered. "You know my English is not perfect, so it is difficult to express something like this. If I can help with something to Bangladesh, the people just have to tell me and it's going to be a pleasure for me always."
Nadal may have more important tournaments. But he understands what the Olympics are all about.
"When I win here, I feel like I win for all the country," he said. "That's more special, no?
"I win for a lot of people. Not only for me."

I remember an article on the chap, wherein he said that his upbringing is instrumental in making him who he is. It seems Toni, his uncle as well as his coach, told him that the day he'd break a racquet in anger, would be the day his tennis ends... stops! Wow, thank God no one told that to McEnroe, or else we'd have been denied all the fireworks that underlined the tennis of the Borg era! So, Nadal won a gold medal in Olympic tennis - well, I guess he is at the right place at the right time! Wimbledon, French Open, World Number 1 ranking and an Olympic Gold. Can it get better? Flushing Meadows holds the answer.

A sad paradox however is Roger Federer. He tried over and over. But Roland Garros still evades him. He tried over and over. But the singles Olympic Gold eluded him when he was at the top of his game in 2004. He wept. Since he knew the worth of that round yellow medallion. Ask Roberto Baggio what it means to miss in a sport event that comes once every 4 years. Ask Zidane. Ask Federer.... Even the Nadal fan in me wished for a better story here.

These Olympics are all about nerves. A small lapse in concentration and boom... you're out for four years. Take the case of our boxer Akhil Kumar. Someone who could beat a former champion, loses in the next round? Why? Why do all our Indian athletes perform below their personal best at the Olympic stage? I say Indian, since Ms. Isinbayeva does not know how to break another person's world record. She is too busy breaking her own! 25 cms higher than her closest competitor? Wow!!! It all has to do with nerves according to me. The greater the mental power, the greater the sporting success.

So as we celebrate another record filled Olympic games, cheers to Nadal and his indomitable sporting spirit..........

A gold - at long last...

Some years ago, when Leander Paes won a bronze medal for India, in a school elocution competition, I decided to slam India’s sport orientation and motivation with a speech titled – ‘900 million Indians and only one medal, that too – Bronze’. The speech was well received, but well, it was a school stage, not a public arena where the powers-that-be would take notice. We did improve thereafter. Silver and now, at long last, we have won our long awaited Gold medal! Wow. A truly momentous achievement indeed! The first gold medal for India since 1980. Even bigger – the first gold for an individual event. EVER! Wow, am I proud. And if I were Mr Abhinav Bindra, I would have been screaming with joy all day and all night. (guess that’s why I am not Bindra – since Beijing has strict pollution regulations, and screaming equals noise pollution – bad joke.) But our hero portrayed a calm and composed countenance, and all along said that he did not think of the pressure and the meaning of the win. How is it that all sportsmen act that way? Rafa wasn’t thinking of what the Wimbledon win would mean, as he stepped into Center Court this year. Federer was not thinking of points and ranking as he went to Cincinnati. Wow! How do they do that? Do they really do that????

The first medal came in Moscow for hockey, in ’80 and this one, in ’08. Talk of the circle of life! I do sincerely hope that the next one comes much earlier than 2080 though! Just this morning, as I looked at the papers, I saw news splashes all over the sport columns. ABC – fails to make a mark, X disappoints and I was truly exasperated, wondering why we never manage to perform. The gold certainly assuaged some amount of the disappointment, but we do have a big picture to worry about. China, till some years back, never participated. But then they suddenly made an appearance, and what an impact. The dragons enter where and when they are sure of stupendous success! America, sends a huuuuuuuuuuuge contingent. A kid with knowledge of basic probability would know that the chances and numbers of medals would be much higher as the sample space increases. And we send a teeny weeny contingent, a portion of which is least bothered about the games!

The answer could lie in three aspects. One, we need to encourage sport. Even in a city like Mumbai, u don’t find many schools that encourage sport on a large scale. Even if they did encourage sport, it is mainly cricket. And the nation salutes a Tendulkar and a Dhoni, while a Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is relegated to the sidelines, till the Olympic games come along. So you tell me, who else would have the motivation to want to be a sportsperson here? We have chess grandmasters, women hockey players, all of whom silently go and win championships, and no one takes notice. I was appalled once to see the mention of the women’s hockey achievement as a corner piece on the last page of the Times, and an Indian cricket team loss made the front sports page. Its just a case of displaced importance. And unfortunately, our sport ministry commissions appreciative awards after someone, of his own motivation and drive, achieves something. And then, we have the disastrous ill-treatment of sportspeople, wherein post retirement, they live in poverty, a news piece carried by the papers for some time and then cast away. Literally!

The second aspect could be the coaching – physical and psychological. Physical coaching no doubt happens. But at the crucial moment, nerves get the better of the sportspeople. Case in point - Anju Bobby George, last time. She fell below her own personal record at a time where it mattered most. So, maybe, if we could find out why our achievers falter at the last minute, we could perform better.

And finally, unless our participation increases, we cannot even dream of the statistics to swing in our favor.

Today’s medal, no doubt will go down the annals of history as a major milestone, but I wish and I guess every Indian wishes to see the tricolor at the head of the medals tally. And one day, as we Indians become well-rounded individuals, who have the brains and the sportsman spirit, we will one day rise and shine.

India at the Olympics

The whole world is speaking of the Bird’s nest, the coming of age of China and the spectacle, called the Olympics. The opening ceremony was nothing short of wonderful, breathtaking, to say the least. The sheer volume and scale was impressive. 80 world leaders – PMs and chancellors – Putin, Sarkozy and good ol Bush, the King and Queen of Spain, (another stint after Wimbledon this year), were present cheering for their teams from the spectator’s arena. There are two televised events that help jog my geography – The Miss Universe Pageant and the Olympics. Seriously, how else would I be able to remember places like Aruba, Samoa and Djibouti while playing Name-Place-Animal-Thing? Although the Olympics are associated with a better legacy, and their motivating origins were a lot more noble! But on the more applauding side, it was heartening to see participants from Burundi (which topped the list of the World’s saddest nations), Afghanistan, and Iraq. For these people, the Olympics are a BIIIIIIIIG DEAL!!!!

Apparently not for our loved sportspeople. Yes, I am speaking of our Olympic contingent. Dapper young men, all clad in traditional Sherwanis and the women? Well no sense of decorum and respect whatsoever. Sania Mirza, for instance, clad in shabby sportsgear, to say the least, chewing on the annoying piece of gum! The reason – these women did not have assistance to drape a saree! First of all, does a 20 something woman need to be helped to drape a saree? Especially when the trend today is to wear a sari for all occasions, from farewell parties to weddings. Secondly, if someone in the contingent was wearing a sari, didn’t that signify ‘assistance’? It is plain arrogance and the weird trait in people of our generation, wherein they take pride in not knowing to speak in their mother tongue or for that matter wearing a sari or celebrating anything Indian.

To me, and I guess for a large part of the Indian audience, this actually amounts to defiance and high-handedness. Well, if a global stage where you represent India is something very menial and in Maya Sarabhai’s words – ‘sooo middle class’, please refrain from the same. We don’t even win as many medals as warrants the cultivation of such snobbish and ‘blasé’ behavior. In comparison, the Spanish contingent, that contained Tennis World Number 1 in waiting, Nadal, was more cohesive and appealing. Likewise the Swiss team led by Federer. Then walked in the American contingent, as harmonious as harmonious can be. In spite of greats like Davenport and Gay, there was not an ounce of the nonchalance that we Indians showed. In what way are we superior to those teams as we stand today, future results notwithstanding? Even if we suddenly improve our performance, and win some medals, are we bigger than the Olympics? Can we show defiance and disrespect to the games? No one can rise to that level, definitely not any sportsperson from our contingent.

If only we managed to bring in some more discipline in things and acted serious in everything we did, we could perhaps aspire to be a true superpower, respected and venerated……