26 August 2008

Politics and Sports Its Step Son

I guess that is why no one can predict anything in India. A week ago I was saying that we won't get a single medal beyond the shooting gold and low and behold as if to explicitly prove me wrong, they decide to win not just one but two bronze medals. Really that's what India is all about...surprises.

Seriously these boys were unheard of just a week ago and today they are the toast of the town. Boxers who literally came from nowhere and became the lords of the ring. So besides buying air guns now parents will also be queuing up to pick up boxing gloves as well. And come to think of it, it is much easier to train boxers than it is to train shooters. To shoot you need specialized equipment and a range and memberships, etc etc etc; but to box you just need a guy in front of you and you are set!

What got my goat was this TV channel Headlines Today showing us the hotel in which the sportsmen and women were to be put up overnight in Delhi before they dispersed. They were going on and on about how the IOA should be ashamed of itself for putting them up in a shabby two star hotel. This is what I would like to ask them, did they bother about where they were put up before the games when they were due to fly out to China?

I am not defending the IOA which has enough resources being underutilized, but I would surely like to know what caused this major change of heart towards the sportspeople. A couple of medals and suddenly the treatment is shabby and before the games the same treatment was taken as accepted practice. The media in India is very powerful, but they also are rather immature. Maybe a few guidelines may not be such a bad idea of the government after all.

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