Sports : life magnified

from BBC Wimbledon Blog

Wimbledon referee Alan Mills, speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme
I think grunting spoils the spectacle of the game, certainly for television viewers and also, you know, for spectators here. I personally would love the players to stop doing it.

I’m not sure whether it is necessary or not, but I know with Maria (Sharapova), she is saying that she started grunting or screaming when she was four-years-old and she actually hates herself when she watches it on television.

Sharapova says her grunting is involuntary according to this article . So it is indeed out of her control. So should it be allowed or what should be done regarding it? The player facing Sharapova with her atleast 4 different grunts can ofcourse lose focus. Looking at recent tennis history, Monica Seles used to grunt a lot too.

Comparing the grunts Seles’ grunts are a mere shadow of the power that is Sharapova’s screamers. The grunts are okay till they dont affect the concentration of the opponent. If the grunts continue when the opponent is about to hit the point, it is likely to affect the shot making. So even though it is involuntary, it should be made sure the other player is not affected. In other words, I feel Sharapova should modify this aspect of her game, reduce it perhaps before a tennis player objects to it with media decibels and causes unnecessary chaos in womens tennis.

For Sharapova is brand tennis herself. Any damage on Sharapova is a damage on the tennis industry.

When Venus won two consecutive Wimbledons, there was no stopping her. She was near perfect on grass. What always came to mind was how would Venus vs Graf, both in their prime, match up. Venus then declined and Sharapova emerged last year, a breath of fresh air, to grasp the title.

Sharapova is strong, both mentally and physically, and overpowers every one she faces. Against Williams though, she found some one who matched her power stroke for stroke. What ensued in the Wimbledon semi finals was a power hitting display I have never seen in womens tennis.

Williams is the more experienced player and Sharapova, for all her calmness, couldnt get the best out of Williams. Williams at her best over powered the defending champion to reclaim her spot as the ‘Queen of Wimbledon’.

Sharapova will be disappointed but she will be bcak stronger and tougher for another battle. She truly is a champion herself and will show that by winning many Wimbledons in the future hopefully.

Venus will win many more too I hope, and have some memorable battles with Sharapova. With a possible final vs Davenport in the offing, tennis fans couldnt have asked for more.

After deciding to have the top 6 associate members the capacity to play official one day internationals among themselves, which will also have financial rewards which is more important and can boost the development of these regions, the ICC has made another major announcement of merit.

The change in format of the Champions Trophy means lesser weaker versus stronger team matches. Also, the ICC one day rating mean much more because of this. A flaw is that they have not made a provision for the previous champions to qualify automatically for the next Champions Trophy. After the Liverpool drama in football, the ICC should have thought of this but it is some thing they can easily rectify.

Will the World Cup of cricket have lesser importance because of this move? Not really. There is anology from other sports which supports the claim. The Confederations Cup can never be more important than the FIFA World Cup. Neither can the season ending Masters featuring the top 8 ranking players ever match the prestige of Wimbledon.

Kudos ICC

And now 6 of the 7 F1 teams will appeal against the penalties laid on them by F1.

Why should the F1 fan support the sport any more when after such a scandalous race ensued in Indianapolis, the F1 fails to look at the bigger picture and still shows no sign of unity.

Why should I follow a sport which had a scam due to a simple fact that the teams could not agree to race with 20 cars or not race at all and further disagreements follow within F1.

What is needed is a show of solidarity, concentrating on putting a better show for the next race rather than crying over who is to be blamed for a fiasco for which joint blame should be taken by every one involved in F1.

The NBA keeps surprising me. Who would have though an Australian Andrew Bogut, an Australian, would be number 1 pick in the draft.

From NBA.com :

Short of last year’s record nine international players selected in the first round, seven players from outside the United States were chosen in the the first round this year: Andrew Bogut (Australia), Fran Vazquez (Spain), Yaroslav Korolev (Russia), Francisco Garcia (Dominican Republic), Johan Petro (France), Linas Kleiza (Lithuania) and Ian Mahinmi (France).

What interests me and most people is this though :

San Antonio has a habit of mining international gold with their less-than-desirable draft positioning. Manu Ginobili (1999, No. 57) or Tony Parker (2001, No. 28), anybody?

At No. 28 this year, the Spurs took Ian Mahinmi, an 18-year-old power forward from France. How little known was this guy? He’s not included in the official NBA Draft Media Guide and his player page on ESPN.com is bare bones. From what we’re gathering, he’s a rebounding machine ala Dennis Rodman.

Spurs have set a standard in the NBA with their draft picks and persisiting with the players they back. So we get longer contracts and lesser trades. While most NBA teams look totally different in a year or two because of the trades, Spurs have the same core bunch year in and year out, a mantra for a successful team.