India as a sporting nation

[Lurker]

Lurks , I am NOT questioning his patriotism , but the actual intent of his posts. Some the comments above are probably the most negative i have ever seen on this board. Sorry , such self-apologetic souls have no place in a community message board.

Okay Sriram, let me take you up on that. Lets begin this with a very simple question(which I bet you have thought about before): Q > Why do we SUCK as a sporting nation? Write as many points as you would care to. xx

[Ram]

Okay Sriram, let me take you up on that. Lets begin this with a very simple question(which I bet you have thought about before): Q > Why do we SUCK as a sporting nation? Write as many points as you would care to. xx

Why we do we suck as a spoting nation ? a) we dont have a sporting culture ingrained in ourselves. Young kids arent encouraged to go out take part in physical activities. and that is partially due to the reason that we lack basic sporting infrastructure in our country, which can be attrbuted to many reasons such as corrupt politicians , middleman etc b) parents are more intent in their sons/daughters doing well academically rather than excelling in a sport, which is what i would call the "middle-class" mindet c) and this maybe bitter , but it is true. We are at a dis-advantage physically, given that Indians have a relatively smaller build and sport is sometimes about body strenght. I can think of more , but i dont exactly know what you are on here.

[Lurker]

a) we dont have a sporting culture ingrained in ourselves. Young kids arent encouraged to go out take part in physical activities. and that is partially due to the reason that we lack basic sporting infrastructure in our country, which can be attrbuted to many reasons such as corrupt politicians , middleman etc

Okay just bear with me for a second. Lets take the basic infrastructure part. It is always highlighted by fans, media and everyone else as the reason why we SUCK as a nation. We have 12-15% of world's population and we dont even 1% of Olympic medals...thanks to a lack of infrastructure. So now the question to you is - All things remaining same if the infrastructure were good, say as good as in the West, would we be winning 12-15% of Olympic medals? I would be happy with even 5% assuming we dont have right physique etc etc. xxx

[Ram]

Okay just bear with me for a second. Lets take the basic infrastructure part. It is always highlighted by fans, media and everyone else as the reason why we SUCK as a nation. We have 12-15% of world's population and we dont even 1% of Olympic medals...thanks to a lack of infrastructure. So now the question to you is - All things remaining same if the infrastructure were good, say as good as in the West, would we be winning 12-15% of Olympic medals? I would be happy with even 5% assuming we dont have right physique etc etc. xxx

That is VERY hypothetical question for which it is impossible to give an accurate answer Lurks. If our infrastructure was in good shape and we have a good sporting cultures , i am sure we would do as well as the europeans atleast.

[Lurker]

That is VERY hypothetical question for which it is impossible to give an accurate answer Lurks. If our infrastructure was in good shape and we have a good sporting cultures , i am sure we would do as well as the europeans atleast.

And that is exactly most Indians would say. And that shall tell you why Indians are a hypocrite Sriram(now I come to the point raised by Hari). Indians are always complaining about this, that and the other. Everything from Politicians to lack of Infrastructure does them in. And if we had good infrastructure(and coaches) we would be world's best yada yada. 100% BS. I am not sure how long you have lived in USA but I am sure you have heard a few things about NRI's in USA: 1) We(American-Indian) are the richest minority in USA. 2) Our kids are amongst the very tops. 3) We dominate NASAs, MITs, Microsoft and all the big technology groups. Now let me ask you - How many Indian kids you know are any good at any Sports in USA? Other than possibly Mohini Bhardwaj which other name comes to mind? Now compare that with how every year Annual Spelling Bee has a good 2-3 Indian kids in top 10, even top 5. Compare that with how we have already spent two Indians into space - Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chawla. Do you see a trend here? That even though we leave India we carry our Indianness with us, and we suck even in country with good Infrastructure. Makes sense thus far? xxx

[Ram]

Do you see a trend here? That even though we leave India we carry our Indianness with us, and we suck even in country with good Infrastructure. Makes sense thus far? xxx

I wouldnt say i entirely agree with your reasoning , but am very interested to know what you are about here. Please go ahead.

[Lurker]

I wouldnt say i entirely agree with your reasoning ' date=' but am very interested to know what you are about here. Please go ahead.[/quote'] Thats fine, not many Indians agree with that line of thought anyway. Now let me change the topic for a second. Give me three possible answers to the following questions, 2 just the way you speak, 1 the way one of the rougher ones here, say me or Predz or Cricketics or GKD shall speak. Q > Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman in the world today.(operative word being today)

[Ram]

Thats fine, not many Indians agree with that line of thought anyway. Now let me change the topic for a second. Give me three possible answers to the following questions, 2 just the way you speak, 1 the way one of the rougher ones here, say me or Predz or Cricketics or GKD shall speak. Q > Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman in the world today.(operative word being today)

Is Sachin the greatest batsman in world TODAY ? am i bit confused by the word today , but here goes my answer Sachin , is not the words best batsman on current form , but interms of what he has acheived over the years , yes , he is the best modern day bat. And you must know that i am not talking merely interms of runs scored or wickets taken alone.

[Lurker]

Is Sachin the greatest batsman in world TODAY ? am i bit confused by the word today , but here goes my answer Sachin , is not the words best batsman on current form , but interms of what he has acheived over the years , yes , he is the best modern day bat. And you must know that i am not talking merely interms of runs scored or wickets taken alone.

Yes I can understand the confusion. It is hard to get into dicussions online and come across 100%. Okay here is what I would think about possible answers: Q) Sachin is the greatest batsman in the world today. A(Sriram): Not the greatest batsman today, but certainly the best modern batsman. B(another mellow poster): Nah he is still a good batsman but not greatest anymore. C(by Lurks/Predz/GKD and similar peeps) : Greatest bat in the world? My a$$ All the three answers are correct in their own way, except last one ruffles a few people. Would you agree thus far? xxx

[Ram]

Yes I can understand the confusion. It is hard to get into dicussions online and come across 100%. Okay here is what I would think about possible answers: Q) Sachin is the greatest batsman in the world today. A(Sriram): Not the greatest batsman today, but certainly the best modern batsman. B(another mellow poster): Nah he is still a good batsman but not greatest anymore. C(by Lurks/Predz/GKD and similar peeps) : Greatest bat in the world? My a$$ All the three answers are correct in their own way, except last one ruffles a few people. Would you agree thus far? xxx

Yep , totally.

[Lurker]

Yep ' date=' totally.[/quote'] Good. Is it fair to assume that while some may have issues with those two words - my a$$ - the majority would be generally fine with it? xxx

[Ram]

Good. Is it fair to assume that while some may have issues with those two words - my a$$ - the majority would be generally fine with it? xxx

Maybe , maybe not. Depends on the poster who is making that comment , actually.

[Lurker]

Maybe ' date=' maybe not. Depends on the poster who is making that comment , actually.[/quote'] Of course but generally speaking, and I know you can not speak for everyone here, would you agree that it is fairly common to see those two words without people crying foul about it?

[Ram]

Of course but generally speaking' date=' and I know you can not speak for everyone here, would you agree that it is fairly common to see those two words without people crying foul about it?[/quote'] Yes..

[Guest HariSampath]

Totally agree MM.

Yes you would, won't you:giggle:, and your disagreement is almost the last word on the validity of any cricket issue :hysterical:

[Guest HariSampath]

You dont even have the slightest idea on how the concept of "Sports Fan" works .... A true sports fan stands behind their players through thick and thin "Unconditionally" especially when it concerns bonafide greats. You are behaving like a airline passenger that wants his money back because his flight didnt take off at the promised time .... Doesnt work that way in sports. It doesnt mean you cannot analyse the mistakes and voice your opinion but to shout "I want my money back" .. "You cheated me boo hoo" .. is not how a mature sports fan goes about things.

You aint seen anythin mate... a TRUE sports fan loves the sport more than the team, and team more than the players

[Guest HariSampath]

a True fan of the game of soccer will be a great aadmirer of the Brazilian team, but not suport the team itself over soccer. And a true fan of the French football team will NOT suport Zidane over the team, and then a true fan of Zidane will NOT support head butting and blindly support it. In fact true fans of all great sportsmen have always booed these sportsmen when they fell woefully short of performance and were thinking themselves above the team and sport.

[head coach]

You aint seen anythin mate... a TRUE sports fan loves the sport more than the team' date=' and team more than the players[/quote'] Well said Hari. It is only in India you see this player worship. I dont think Aussie fans follow their greats above their country. If you see European soccer, NFL or NBA fans consider teams above individual player.

[Guest HariSampath]

For a true fan of soccer in Buenos Aires: Soccer > Argentina; Argentina > Mradonna, and Maradonna cheerd when he does well, booed when he doesn't play for right reason but still if he is in hospital, all fans turn up to see how he he's doing.

[Guest HariSampath]

You are behaving like a airline passenger that wants his money back because his flight didnt take off at the promised time .... Doesnt work that way in sports. It doesnt mean you cannot analyse the mistakes and voice your opinion but to shout "I want my money back" .. "You cheated me boo hoo" .. is not how a mature sports fan goes about things.

"money" here is a metaphorical reference to the investments in terms of time, effort etc in following the sport, and most importantly the passion and the support expecting to see if not winning but always fighting performances. want my money back doesn't mean I am asking BCCI to send me a check, but just saying that this is not what I am supporting the team for. And it means if this is what I am gonna get, I am not gonna support the side. Understand ?