Sporting Encounters of the Third Kind

This being my first post...I begin with something that I love...sports....

What does a sport mean to you? What do you compete for? What does representing your nation mean? ... I believe this is what would come to evrey sportpersons mind...when he/she walks into the arena. Well if it is not the battle is lost ....even before it begins.

Pierre De Coubertin once said that "The important thing in life is not to triumph but to compete.", but with due respect to the man i think its an overused line which does not hold when one wants to win and nothing else matters.

As an Indian, it looks like all our sportsmen have taken this too seriously and embodied it in their mind and soul. I guess it helps them seek refuge under it when they do not achieve what they set out to. In nation with a population of over 1 billion it is a shame that we can lay our claim to fame in any sport save Kabaddi on the international stage.

If the olympics is any measure of a country sports pedigree then we are sadly in the wilderness with medals coming in a trickle and apart from the glorydays of our hockey wizards of the past. In contemprary sport our olympic hereos are far and few between, they make us proud but as a nation and its citizens we must also carry the blame for not producing many more great sportsmen. Our cricketers have brought great joy and deserve all the praise that they get, but cricket is not the only sport, we must realise that people enjoy other sports as well.

What we lack is a sporting culture and the right kind of atmosphere for kids to grow into sportsmen or atleast sports loving people. But is this the only reason for not producing sports hereos, well i think otherwise. Our sportsmen do not possess the pride and hunger to be the best in the field. If we need to be the best then we need to have that one great quality that has defined many sporting hereos of the past and the present...so what is that.. in my opinion it is the "HATE TO LOSE" feeling. Once we incorporate that into our psyche we should be on our way to take our ability to the height it deserves to get to.

I hope the our generation wakes up to this facet of being a social animal that adds to the pride of the nation as all the other facets. Of course that means we need to incorporate the positive and winning thought in all that we say and do. So lets get ready to rumble.