TOP TEN STORIES IN SPORTS (2007)

10- Colts win the Superbowl. I hate the Colts. We all hate the Colts but they beat a depleted us and went on to win the Superbowl so I guess I can’t leave them off the list. San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title. I also by the way hate the Spurs. Wow I guess this wasn’t my year.lol Actually any year the Red Sox win it is my year I don’t actually hate the Spurs. I can’t believe that a team with like 4 titles in the last eight years is so ignored by the National media and what about Tim Duncan? All he does is put up great stat after great stat on a winning team and he never gets enough consideration for M.V.P
9-The Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup. Ok Hockey isn’t big at all anymore but I hate Canada and I love the Mighty Ducks who aren’t the mighty Ducks anymore.
8- Cheating refs in the NBA? Shocking. After Tim Donaghy was caught fixing games for the mob Joey Crawford (by far the worst ref in the NBA) was suspended for kicking Tim Duncan out of a game for no reason. The refs in the NBA are among the worst of all sports (even counting Skating and gymnastics judges. I mean you Nellie Kim and Jackie Fie) and have been cheating for years. Why this was a shock I will never know.
7- Florida’s Football team becomes National Champion. A few months later Florida repeats as NCAA Champion for basketball. Florida had a great year College wise. Not so much professional sports wise.
6- New England Revolution lose again. Making it to the MLS cup for the 4th time the NE Revolution lose for the forth time. I am just glad this time I was at work and missed it. Last years loss was worse.
5- The Mitchell report names Roger Clemens. It also names Andy Pettitte and Brian Roberts who both admit that they cheated. (but only once? Sure) No current Red Sox players makes the Yankee fans whine. Ah.lol I knew that report would be fun.
4- Spy Gate. The Patriots taped the Jets from the sidelines which is against the rules. (however being two feet back in the stands and taping the other teams play callers is ok) The NFL made the Patriots out to be the devil making the Jets the innocent victims. Months go by. The Patriots keep winning. The media keeps painting them as the bad guys all the while feeling sorry for the poor pathetic Jets that can’t seem to win many games. Then what do we find out in late October? The Jets were caught doing the EXACT SAME THING last season? You mean the poor cheated on Jets were guilty of the exact same crime for which the media, fans and other teams questioned their 3 Superbowl wins?
3- The Death of Sean Taylor. While sleeping in his own bed, minding his own business a bunch of lazy ass punk teenagers were to cheap to work for their own money so they decided to rob an innocent victim killing him in the process. Leaving his baby daughter fatherless. Leaving his wife without a husband. This was a travesty. This is a travesty and any member of the media that made this kid out to be the bad guy should lose their jobs.
A side note to the number 3 story of the year were the home invasions of NBA stars Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry. The same thing that happened to Sean happened to both of them but they walked away with their lives.
2-Patriots go 16 and zero to complete a perfect regular season. Lets hope we keep this up in the playoffs.
1- The Boston Red Sox win World Series number seven. Second in the last 89 years. You know the details so I don’t need to repeat them. My highlights of the post season were the sweep of the Angels. Going to my first Post Season Red Sox game and watching Josh Beckett be Josh Beckett (dominate). JD Drew’s Grand slam and Papelbon’s reaction to winning the ALCS. Oh and of course sweeping the Rockies for the World Series win

Top ten highest paid Soccer / Football players

France Magazine has recently complied a list of the top ten highest paid soccer / football players in the world at large. Guess you can’t guess who’s on top? Let’s check it out:


1. David Beckham, $49.4 million
2. Ronaldinho, $38.4 million
3. Lionel Messi, $36.6 million
4. Cristiano Ronaldo, $31 million
5. Thierry Henry, $26.8 million
6. John Terry, $22.16 million
7. Michael Ballack, $22 million
8. Ronaldo, $21.2 million
9. Kaka, $20.4 million
10. Steven Gerrard, $20 million


Also...





All I can think is that I should have done soccer rather than writing….
So, here’s a question, who do you think is the most overrated of these players?

Dream comes true- INDIA WINS GOLD.

Abhinav Bindra won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men's 10 metres air rifle event.

Bindra was fourth after qualifying but had a brilliant final round and even hit a near perfect 10.8 on his last visit to pull in front of Henri Hakkinen of Finland, who dropped to bronze with a poor final shot of 9.7.
That allowed China's Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion and heavy favourite, to pass him on his final shot and win the silver medal. "It's just great," Bindra said just before climbing on to the podium. Zhu suffered a late lapse in concentration in the qualification earlier on Monday morning when he had to rush his final shots to make the time limit, thus dropping to second place behind Hakkinen ahead of the final. He was close to tears and said: "I was under tremendous pressure and at times I felt really agitated. But I tried my best."
India's last Olympic gold medal was from hockey (8th gold) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics . Bindra's feat betters the silver medal effort of double trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore [Images] at the Athens Games in 2004.

Randhir Singh, Indian Olympic Association secretary-general and former shooter who was present at the range, was stricken with nerves as the competition reached its climax.
"I haven't prayed so much in my life. With the second last shot they tied together and then he (Bindra) shot a 10.8. It couldn't have got better," he said. Bindra won the 2006 World championships and finished seventh in Athens four years ago. Earlier, Gagan Narang failed to make the final cut in the same event as he finished ninth with a score of 595/600. He shot a series of 97,100,100,100,98,100, while Bindra, a Khel Ratna winner, finished the qualifying event joint-fourth with Romania's George Alin Moldoveanu. The duo had a score of 596/600.
The bespectacled shooter scoring sequence was 100, 99, 100, 98, 100 and 99. Finland's Henri Hakkinen qualified first for the event with a score of 598/600 after shooting a series of 100, 100, 99, 100, 100 and 99. China's Qinan Zhu was a point adrift of Hakkinen with a series of 100, 100, 100, 100, 99 and 98.

India at Beijing Olympics २००८..

I am not at all happy and actually feeling sad by seeing the Indian Delegation at the Olympics ॥With a population of more than 100 crores , this is not the way India should be ..There are hardly 50 people participating in the Olympics (only 30plus present in the opening ceremony photo) , and i seriously doubt the number of medals we are going to get ...Hardly one or two to a max of four ..It is really shame for a nation like India to have this sort of Record ..Anyway i wish all the Indians who are participating my heartily wishes ..And sincerely pray that they win and raise the Indian Flag highFollowing are the Indian players who are participating in the Olympics .

Archery: Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardhineni, L Bombayala Devi, Mangal Singh Champia।

Athletics: Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Krishna Poonia (Discus), Harwant Kaur (Discus), Preeja Sreedharan (10,000m), Manjit Kaur (400m), Chitra Soman (4×400m relay), Sini Jose (4×400m relay),MR Poovamma (4×400m relay), Mandeep Kaur (4×400m relay), S Geeta (4×400m relay), K Mridula (4×400m relay), J J Shobha (Heptathlon), Sushmita Singh Roy (Heptathlon), G G Pramila (Heptathlon),Vikas Gowda (Discus), Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump), Surender Singh (10000m)।

Badminton: Anup Sridhar, Saina Nehwal
Boxing: Jitender (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54kg), A L Lakhra (57kg), Vijender(75kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg)
Judo: Khumujam Tombi Devi, Divya. Rowing: Bajrang Lal Takhar (Single M1X), Devnder Khandwal and Manjeet Singh (Light Weight Double Scull).
Shooting: Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Clay Pigeon Trap), Mansher Singh (Clay Pigeon Trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Clay Pigeon Double Trap), Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle), Abhinav Bindra (10m AirRifle), Samresh Jung (10m Air Pistol), Sanjeev Rajput (50m Rifle 3 Position), Anjali Bhagwat (50m Rifle 3 Position), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (10m Air Rifle).
Swimming: Virdawal Khade (50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle), Ankur Poseria (100m Butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (100m, 200m Breaststrokes), Rehan Poncha (200m butterfly).
Table Tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Neha Aggarwal.
Tennis: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles), Sania Mirza (singles and doubles), Sunitha Rao (doubles). Weightlifting: L Monika Devi (69kg)
Wrestling: Sushil Kumar (66 kg Freestyle), Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg Freestyle), Rajiv Tomar (120 kg Freestyle).
Yachting: Major NS Johal (Heavyweight Dinghy)

How Other Sports in India are Scary of Cricket’s Glory

Cricket is a beautiful game. In India, the game is more than just beautiful. With eleven ‘Gentlemen’ playing her and one billion people salivating with each score – the game personifies and is revered more than the religion itself. Its glory is scary. Not for me, but for ‘Other’ sports in India.

We have world champions in Carrom, Chess, Shooting, Boxing, Billiards and Snooker – have these people received the same treatment as offered to Cricket players? Where does Indian hockey stand today- the national sport of India?

Hockey became India’s national game in 1928 and playing for the first time in the Olympics that year, Indians won the gold medal without conceding a single defeat in all the matches they played. From then on until 1980 India virtually dominated the sport winning 8 gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the Olympics. Once it trounced USA by margin of 24-1 goals. Such was its glory. 1980’s scripted the decline of Indian hockey, and heralded the rise of Indian cricket as popular sport. In 1983 India won the Cricket World Cup and instantly its charm reverberated throughout the country. It was in this decade that Indians were introduced to Televisions in large-scale that helped the cause. It is not surprising that hockey’s loss was cricket’s gain. Until then cricket was played mostly by dethroned princes, urbane rich, and aristocrats.

Indeed we should be proud of what Indian cricket has achieved today. But can we justify the extravagant celebrations? The BCCI might be rich, but its over-generous attitude towards already rich cricketers is uncalled for. It hurts other sportsmen; not out of jealousy but because they truly deserve it. Many sports in India are lagging behind for they lack minimum infrastructure that is required for their advancement. Our politicians, sports administrators and the public too clearly lack any enthusiasm and vision to help other sports prosper. Any cricket fan will recite you the names of each and every player of Indian cricket team and other teams as well. Ask them the names of captain of the hockey, football, kabaddi teams and don’t be surprised by their blank replies. We lack respect and love for other sports. We are content with a silver or bronze medal in the Olympics. Our schools prepare our children for the jobs but not for the life. We do not have a culture of encouraging young talents. Our system is not conducive for the development of creativity. With the fraction of money that the BCCI spends on each cricket player we can prepare a potential athlete for the Olympics.

At least our national sport needs some urgent attention. The game needs sponsors. It needs money. It needs quality stadiums. It needs spectators. Its glory is illuminating. Its revival is for the sake of nation’s pride not for the money making business. We cry foul at the slightest insult to our national flag, national anthem……why not care for the national sport then?