Feeling sad for our national sport today

[ViruRulez]

BCCI steps ahead to help Indian Hockey I wish BCCI takes over the hockey fed !

Why not make BCCI the head of Indian Hockey and Indian Football too. They will anyways make better facilities and revenue from the sports. They can show the hockey, football etc. on their Neo Sports website and also use good marketing to make both the games extremely popular. Maybe after the money spent by BCCI we will also make entry into FIFA world cup. BCCI is the world's richest sports governing body and nothing is impossible. They can also make their demands whenever required. :yay::yay::yay:

[Clarke]

Lurker' date=' it's never a one way street. It's simplistic to say that cricket took over hockey. The fact is our hockey team became mediocre starting in the 70s into the 80s and were never able to recover from it. If the team had been winning the sport would still have been popular. It was quite popular even in the late 80s - early 90s. I am not absolving the government of the role it has played in the decline or sponsors from shying away from the responsibility of investing more in it, but some portion of the blame also lies with the mediocre performances the team kept putting up for years and years.[/quote'] Exactly .. cricket was not at all far far ahead of hockey before the 1983 WC triumph. The system has its share of failures but its not like the team has anyone near the caliber of Dhyan Chand. That guy was such a genius, a club in Vienna built a statue of his with 4 hands and 4 sticks that illustrates his prowess. Surely the system needs to be fixed, but a genius of the levels of Tendulkar could really bring the game back to life in the country.

[Lurker]

Lurker' date=' it's never a one way street. It's simplistic to say that cricket took over hockey. [b']The fact is our hockey team became mediocre starting in the 70s into the 80s and were never able to recover from it. If the team had been winning the sport would still have been popular. It was quite popular even in the late 80s - early 90s. I am not absolving the government of the role it has played in the decline or sponsors from shying away from the responsibility of investing more in it, but some portion of the blame also lies with the mediocre performances the team kept putting up for years and years.

I dont dismiss the rather poor performance in the past decade or two but this is more like a chicken-egg thing as far as I am concerned. India does not get good hockey players because Indians dont support hockey. Period. I have seen an increased dwindling of interest in hockey right from the school levels in India. In my school days hockey, cricket and football were what were taught in Indian schools. These days you could probably replace hockey with basketball or something else. Heck pound for pound even Formula 1 would have more following than hockey in certain areas(say Mumbai/Maharastra/Goa region). This obviously hits us very hard since places like Mumbai were an important place for Indian hockey. These days hockey is concentrated in pockets of the country. Certain parts of Punjab, South India, Jhrakhand/Orissa border etc. Also to use similar argument for cricket, cricket was still lapped up by Indians when we were very poor Internationally. When India was winning Olympic golds in 50s and 60s it was not exactly that cricket was in dustbin you know. My case would be that Indian hockey has suffered due to lack of interest from Indians, and not the other way around. xxx

[Lurker]

Exactly .. cricket was not at all far far ahead of hockey before the 1983 WC triumph. The system has its share of failures but its not like the team has anyone near the caliber of Dhyan Chand. That guy was such a genius' date= a club in Vienna built a statue of his with 4 hands and 4 sticks that illustrates his prowess. Surely the system needs to be fixed, but a genius of the levels of Tendulkar could really bring the game back to life in the country.

NO team in the world has anyone of the calibre of Dhyan Chand. Dhyan Chand was the Bradman of hockey, maybe even better. I find it rather silly that Indian fans start rattling the sabre of "team lacks Dhyan Chand" today rhetoric. Why only Dhyan Chand? India does not have anyone of Leslie Claudius, Udham Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Balbir Singh, KD Singh Babu, heck someone even like Zafar Iqbal and Mohammed Shahid today. The moment someone would say " Ah we dont have a Leslie Claudius", chances are the other person would reply "Leslie Claudius who???" It is not exactly that an average Indian fan would tell you about the Indian hockey team players who were part of Indian team when we were world champions you know. On the other hand the same person can very well tell you the Indian composition when we were getting our behind handed by 2nd string Australian or English team in 70s. xxx

[The Outsider]

I dont dismiss the rather poor performance in the past decade or two but this is more like a chicken-egg thing as far as I am concerned. India does not get good hockey players because Indians dont support hockey. Period.

That's not entirely true. After the introduction of synthetic surfaces the entire dynamics of the game changed. Penalty corner and free hit rules were also altered. The simple fact of the matter is during the 70s neither cricket nor hockey had a lot of money. Certainly not enough to lay down Astroturfs across the country. Even so there were attempts made. In the 80s in Lucknow, they opened a sports complex with an Astroturf. A few others were opened across India. But due to a lack of concentrated effort and the fact that the team was continuously going down, interest started dwindling. If at that point, Indian Hockey had found a Tendulkar or won a World Cup, perhaps things might have been different. Indian cricket changed with the World Cup win and the entry of Tendulkar.

I have seen an increased dwindling of interest in hockey right from the school levels in India. In my school days hockey, cricket and football were what were taught in Indian schools. These days you could probably replace hockey with basketball or something else. Heck pound for pound even Formula 1 would have more following than hockey in certain areas(say Mumbai/Maharastra/Goa region). This obviously hits us very hard since places like Mumbai were an important place for Indian hockey. These days hockey is concentrated in pockets of the country. Certain parts of Punjab, South India, Jhrakhand/Orissa border etc.

That's a very valid criticism but not limited to Hockey. During my school days our school had boarding facilities as well and there was a strong sports culture where even the locals would come back in the evening to play in school. It doesn't happen anymore, at least in my school. There are those mandatory physical training classes twice a week for formality, but that's about it. With increasing academic competition, all sports are dying out in the better schools.

Also to use similar argument for cricket, cricket was still lapped up by Indians when we were very poor Internationally. When India was winning Olympic golds in 50s and 60s it was not exactly that cricket was in dustbin you know. My case would be that Indian hockey has suffered due to lack of interest from Indians, and not the other way around. xxx

Well, Hockey and Cricket were pretty much on par or thereabouts with Hockey even having the edge till the 70s. Then India started winning in cricket and sliding in Hockey, which also happened to coincide with a better economy and more awareness towards marketing and money making through sports. Cricket happened to be at the right place at the right time and it was quite the opposite for Hockey. When we were good at it, there was no money in the economy to be made through TV viewership etc.

[Clarke]

NO team in the world has anyone of the calibre of Dhyan Chand. Dhyan Chand was the Bradman of hockey, maybe even better. I find it rather silly that Indian fans start rattling the sabre of "team lacks Dhyan Chand" today rhetoric. Why only Dhyan Chand? India does not have anyone of Leslie Claudius, Udham Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Balbir Singh, KD Singh Babu, heck someone even like Zafar Iqbal and Mohammed Shahid today. The moment someone would say " Ah we dont have a Leslie Claudius", chances are the other person would reply "Leslie Claudius who???" It is not exactly that an average Indian fan would tell you about the Indian hockey team players who were part of Indian team when we were world champions you know. On the other hand the same person can very well tell you the Indian composition when we were getting our behind handed by 2nd string Australian or English team in 70s. xxx

What does it have to do with fans ? The whole point was that the team is short on talent especially when compared to the past. Expressing it in a lesser number of words does not make it silly! Sports is a lot like a free market system, not some communist hole where u expect or force a good following no matter what .. u just CANNOT expect people to support certain sports since they are are entitled with national importance. going by ur argument of support, some states of eastern India should produce a world beating soccer team by themselves .. whats with the rank of 134 then ?

[Guest Gunner]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/hockey/top-stories/Indian-cricketers-to-give-monetary-help-to-hockey-players-/articleshow/5445838.cms Indian cricketers planning to help out the hockey players.

[Sachinism]

What does it have to do with fans ? The whole point was that the team is short on talent especially when compared to the past. Expressing it in a lesser number of words does not make it silly! Sports is a lot like a free market system, not some communist hole where u expect or force a good following no matter what .. u just CANNOT expect people to support certain sports since they are are entitled with national importance. going by ur argument of support, some states of eastern India should produce a world beating soccer team by themselves .. whats with the rank of 134 then ?

It has a LOT to do with fans. If nobody is going to watch, which broadcaster is going to show the matches. Who will sponsor an event nobody watches?

[Lurker]

If at that point, Indian Hockey had found a Tendulkar or won a World Cup, perhaps things might have been different. Indian cricket changed with the World Cup win and the entry of Tendulkar.

I think India's World Cup win and things like Tendulkar's appearance and its impact on the game in India is grossly exaggerated. Cricket has always been popular in India, even when we were absolutely pathetic. When India was winning Gold in hockey(as way back as 1928), cricket was atleast one of the top2 games, if not the top. Remember how someone like Mahatama Gandhi came out openly against cricket and its impact on Indians. These were the days of Pentagular trophy with Mohammedans, Hindus, Parsis etc duking it out. Of course Gandhi was wrong but this should prove the point that cricket was always very popular, even when we were far removed from being world class. Hence I do not buy this assertion that hockey suffered when our performance went down the toilet. To me it always faced a certain kind of step-brotherly treatment even when we were an absolute world dominating force, something that we have NEVER been in cricket, even today. xxx

[Clarke]

It has a LOT to do with fans. If nobody is going to watch, which broadcaster is going to show the matches. Who will sponsor an event nobody watches?

how many million supporters ? more than the black caps ? or the bobsleigh team 4m Switzerland ?

[triam]

People watch what people like, I would not blame the people or the players, it is the job of the international and national organizations to market their sport, and attract more sponsors. I feel sad that hockey is ignore in India (I played for my univ team), but that is not the fault of the people, in the end all sports come down to entertainment, if people are nt entertained what can be done? Sadly, nothing much. Somebdy talked about players retiring at 28, I personally know a guy who was ranked in the 20's in the world in badminton who retired at 22, reason he knew that without significant money fr overseas training, he is plateaued.

[kabira]

all we need is miracle, somehow our hockey team do well in the world cup, may be win it and you will see massive rise in hockey fan following. Any sport needs superstars and sadly we don't have one on the team right now. Dhanraj Pillay was the last such superstar.