Battle at Perth
"Boxing is all about respect: getting it for yourself, and taking it away from the other guy"
--- Million Dollar Baby
Well cricket seemed to be no different; not at least at Sydney and Perth in Jan 2008. What a terrific game, what an amazing test series spiced up with such high drama. The drama was almost as entertaining as the cricket itself. While the Australians took away the series, the Indians did what they do best --- captured the moral high ground in spite of Mr. Harbhajan.
The Australian feat of matching the world record of 16 consecutive test wins was probably the most uncelebrated world record ever. The world record was over shadowed by the way the Australian team achieved it --- by complete lack of integrity. Anil Kumble summed it up in one line
The media looks at these issues with colored ( pun intended ) glasses. When a player uses abusive language, its hardly an interesting story. Frame that as a racial slur, and it becomes front page news. Going by media reports, "maa-ki' is somehow more acceptable than a racial slur; in other words, Harbhajan abusing Simond's mom is more acceptable than Harbhajan abusing his race !!! Shouldn't the penalty be more severe in this case ?
Also, think of the numerous occasions Harbhajan got away with his verbal assault because the Australian media confused his words for "motherboard". Kidding!
The Australian feat of matching the world record of 16 consecutive test wins was probably the most uncelebrated world record ever. The world record was over shadowed by the way the Australian team achieved it --- by complete lack of integrity. Anil Kumble summed it up in one line
"Only one team played in the game's spirit".
What a clever line! Not original but very clear. Those sentiments were actually first expressed by Australian skipper Bill Woodfull when he said
"There are two teams out there, one is playing cricket. The other is making no attempt to do so."
after he was injured in the infamous 1932-33 Ashes series when the English team invented a dangerous bowling tactics which the English media called the fast leg theory. If those words do not ring a bell, its because the Australian media used a different term to describe it; they called it the bodyline. By paraphrasing the words of Woodfull, Anil Kumble probably struck a chord with the Australian media.
While the English invented the bodyline, the Australians invented and perfected the art of sledging. The Australian team commands respect and at the same time it invokes fear. Respect, because they play the game so well. Fear, because they play it rough. I would be exaggerating if I said they are the Mike Tyson of world cricket, but it makes for a good analogy. I love aggression and arrogance in sports. Consider this instance of an enjoyable arrogance. In 1999 world cup, after Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh's catch in the semi-finals, Waugh is rumored to have said
The Australian response to an abusive Indian team really pissed me off. It was like a bully complaining to my mom after I finally gathered courage to fight back and kicked him in the crotch.
Calling an abusive Indian team racist was pretty amusing. When was the last time an Indian used "Monkey" as an swear word, let alone a racial slur. Ever since a monkey army purportedly helped Lord Rama in his war against Lanka, monkeys have earned their respect in India; one of them called Hanumaan, is actually elevated to Godhood. Monkey is almost never used as a swear word in any part of India (maybe it is used so in Sri Lanka :)). The Times of India speculated that Harbhajan might have said "Maa-ki" ( a term I am not going to explain in this post, but "Maa" is a "Maa" in any language). For once, the Times of India seems to have got it right.
While the English invented the bodyline, the Australians invented and perfected the art of sledging. The Australian team commands respect and at the same time it invokes fear. Respect, because they play the game so well. Fear, because they play it rough. I would be exaggerating if I said they are the Mike Tyson of world cricket, but it makes for a good analogy. I love aggression and arrogance in sports. Consider this instance of an enjoyable arrogance. In 1999 world cup, after Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh's catch in the semi-finals, Waugh is rumored to have said
"You've just dropped the World Cup, son.".
That line, topped with the condescending "son", is surely one of the greatest cricket prophecies. Theatrics can even make a game of chess enjoyable to watch. Quoting from the NewYorker :
"They sat hunched over the pieces for hours at a time, inches from each other, breathing the same overheated air, Karpov staring at his position, Kasparov staring at Karpov, or, at times, clawing at his hair, rolling his eyes, expressing his emotions with the eye-bulging theatricality of a silent-film star. In the balcony, nearly everyone was pro-Kasparov. They loved his anti-establishment glamour, his audacity at the board even when he lost."
Its when it gets abusive such things destroy the game -- remember Zidane's disgraceful exit from world cup soccer finals in 2006. France was so stunned by the act that the only words they could utter was "Pourqois ? pourqois ? ".
"They sat hunched over the pieces for hours at a time, inches from each other, breathing the same overheated air, Karpov staring at his position, Kasparov staring at Karpov, or, at times, clawing at his hair, rolling his eyes, expressing his emotions with the eye-bulging theatricality of a silent-film star. In the balcony, nearly everyone was pro-Kasparov. They loved his anti-establishment glamour, his audacity at the board even when he lost."
Its when it gets abusive such things destroy the game -- remember Zidane's disgraceful exit from world cup soccer finals in 2006. France was so stunned by the act that the only words they could utter was "Pourqois ? pourqois ? ".
The Australian response to an abusive Indian team really pissed me off. It was like a bully complaining to my mom after I finally gathered courage to fight back and kicked him in the crotch.
Calling an abusive Indian team racist was pretty amusing. When was the last time an Indian used "Monkey" as an swear word, let alone a racial slur. Ever since a monkey army purportedly helped Lord Rama in his war against Lanka, monkeys have earned their respect in India; one of them called Hanumaan, is actually elevated to Godhood. Monkey is almost never used as a swear word in any part of India (maybe it is used so in Sri Lanka :)). The Times of India speculated that Harbhajan might have said "Maa-ki" ( a term I am not going to explain in this post, but "Maa" is a "Maa" in any language). For once, the Times of India seems to have got it right.
The media looks at these issues with colored ( pun intended ) glasses. When a player uses abusive language, its hardly an interesting story. Frame that as a racial slur, and it becomes front page news. Going by media reports, "maa-ki' is somehow more acceptable than a racial slur; in other words, Harbhajan abusing Simond's mom is more acceptable than Harbhajan abusing his race !!! Shouldn't the penalty be more severe in this case ?
Also, think of the numerous occasions Harbhajan got away with his verbal assault because the Australian media confused his words for "motherboard". Kidding!
1 comments:
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