Sports - 10/10 - OFFSIDE !

This ain’t cricket!

January 22, 2012September 4, 2010 by Somesh Verma

The so called ‘Gentlemen’s Game’ is under yet another attack. The dark side of cricket, which inspires some to make truckloads of money at the blink of an eye, has resurfaced to show its repulsive face yet again. The incident at the Mecca of cricket has added to the cricketing jargon. Now we have to deal with the term ‘spot fixing’. As if we’d already grown comfortable with the term called ‘match fixing’.

This is not the first time allegations have come to Pakistani cricketers or Pakistani cricket. However, it must be one of the worst blows ever. After terror attacks and security concerns that snatched many international matches – and the much needed money – away from Pakistan, this must be the new low for our flood stricken neighbors.

Learning from the Tiger

January 22, 2012August 30, 2010 by Somesh Verma

And Tiger Woods got divorced, officially. The man, who has dominated the sport – till date this century – cuts a lonely figure now on the greens, where once he prowled sans fear.

From the day he turned pro, he towered over all other sportsmen of the generation. A beacon for those who wanted to take up sport professionally. He was perfect, and made us feel that he could do no wrong. And we asked, “Is he human?”

Who cares… Of course!!!

January 22, 2012February 22, 2010 by Somesh Verma

A lot of murky water has passed under the bridges near Pashupatinath, since the South Asian Games got over, where Nepali athletes did a creditable job of bagging the most number of gold medals in the Games played outside the country.
Nepal finished fifth, while aiming to finish fourth among the 8 nations that participated in what is normally labeled as India’s medal bagging sports jamboree. Yet, one man – all of 6 feet minus a couple of inches – from Nepal, towered over all of them, for a small matter of collecting his 4th gold medal, in as many editions of the Games.

The Year that Was!

January 22, 2012December 31, 2009 by Somesh Verma

And finally, this year (2009) comes to an end. At one point, yours truly thought this might never come to an end at all, rather the year 2009 would continue till eternity, maybe even surpassing the ‘doomsday’ announced sometime in 2012. But then every good thing comes to an end – and rather surprisingly, bad ones last too, albeit longer – and this one had to bid goodbye too.

However, this year has been a notable one, for yours truly, and he is sure, as he always is (whether it’s about his buffoonery or somebody else’s), it would have been similar, if not the same, for you too. For this has been the year when entire Nepal was more interested in the exact site, setting and semantics of mole on Namrata Shrestha’s parts-in privy (as it should have been) than it was on how to walk to office (or back) in case some nincompoop party announced a bandh at its whim.

Geeks shall inherit earth; and Goons shall inherit Nepal !!!

January 22, 2012February 13, 2009 by Somesh Verma

They said: Geeks shall inherit the earth. Yours truly agreed to it, of course since it was said by the geeks themselves. But being a quintessential Nepali, he has now decided to add a condition, post agreement and sans shame (of course).

If geeks shall inherit earth; Goons shall inherit Nepal.

Before explaining, or rather defending his stance, yours truly would like to go in a flashback mode. Eventually, he made a trip to the cricket match again (quite a trip through the capital alleys… oops, roads, especially during the ‘rush hour’, where the only part missing is rush). On a bright sunny day, Nepal played Malaysia, for what eventually would be its first title in the Under-17 category.

Intelligence @ speed of Light… or faster???

January 22, 2012February 11, 2009 by Somesh Verma

It is sometimes surprising to see how quickly the intelligence travels. It is exciting, even intoxicating at times, when intelligence travels to and through the youngsters (compared to the older politicians we have, who are either incompetent or corrupt and sometimes both on the same day).

Yours truly was on the cricket ground to witness Nepal’s teenagers –this time, they say their age is actually Under-17 and not ‘thereabouts’, missing the mark by a small matter of 3-4 years – take on the mighty UAE (mighty might sometimes refer to the petro power too, not only the skills with red cherry and willowy staff) in the semi-final of what they term as the Elite Cup (the word ‘elite’ being the key, perhaps referring to so few teams participating and some pulling out).

The Shakti of Nepali cricket

April 15, 2012August 3, 2002 by Somesh Verma

George Bernard Shaw, most probably, would not feature in the ‘best writer’ in the ‘favorites’ category list of many a cricket lover, for he is believed to have said once, “Cricket is a game where eleven fools play and eleven thousand greater fools watch…” Many, for the same quote, felt that he missed the point, … Read moreThe Shakti of Nepali cricket