Revenge : B'ball Game Review

In an attempt to not get bored in the holidays, along with the idea of establishing the fact that we can indeed play without our ex captain in Bangalore level tournaments, we decided to enroll ourselves in the PESIT tournament which was to happen in the middle of the holidays. That would mean 2 things. Firstly we would not go with our first choice team, with a couple of our International models missing out. Secondly, since everyone in Bangalore is in a different corner of the city, we would not have much of team practise. That said, when the fixtures were out, almost as if destiny had it in store for us, we were drawn against Ramaiah. Ramaiah for starters, is one of the best teams in the city, boasting of 3 VTU players, and excellent tournament records, and regarded in most tourneys as potential winners. To add to this, there is a certain feeling of desperate revenge, because of a loss to Ramaiah in a game last year, which was a scar on our team that we wanted to erase. We were praying to get a chance to play them at Inci last year, but we had got that chance only now, and we were in no mood to let it slip.

The final day had arrived. Ramaiah, as confident as they always are, brought along their second jersey for the evening game, expecting it to be a breeze against us. Little did they know how much this game meant to us. Since one of our first 5 players were not available we had to do with a makeshift lineup. Ramaiah too in all fairness was a makeshift lineup, but that shouldn't have made any difference. Camel, Alok, Nitin, Sharan and Ewin lined up for us. Ramaiah, known for their high intensity game were up to it from the first minute. Full court press, physical rebounds, Clutch shooting, all in an attempt to psych the opponents out like they always do. But this wasn't going to be another 'always'. Simple screens and some intensity from our own end, and there we were leading 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. Team huddle's message was to keep up the intensity and not let this chance slip. Second quarter did not go as expected. We slacked, they picked up intensity and it was slowly beginning to slip away. 21-12 at the end of the half. Disastrous second period, but it was pointed out that we were going wrong in basics. Simple screens could break that defence. Fundamental basketball would do the trick. Third quarter and Bloke went beserk. Three three pointers and there we were back in the hunt again. Good defence coupled with the fact that they were getting tired too, meant that we took complete advantage and lead was back with us at the end of the third. Final quarter, we were ten minutes away from what we wanted so badly last year. Bloke continued his streak, with a few more sweet three's. With about 3 minutes left we were leading by 6. It was not done, we had lost the Inci semis in the exact same scenario. But it was not going to happen this time. Raphael shocked us with a couple of clutch three's and there it was. It was looking like the dream would slip away. Just a couple of seconds later, Bloke puts up a shot, misses, and almost as if it is meant to be, the ball lands right into Sharan's arms under the board for an easy finish. 2 Points, and there we were, 11 seconds away from what we wanted so badly. The referees came to us and said just 11 seconds. Surana coach told us the same thing. 11 seconds later, it was over. We had finally beaten Ramaiah, in the process handing them probably their first ever first round exit, and probably their first ever loss to an Engineering team. Ironic we did it without our martyr, Singh, but we achieved what we wanted badly. Revenge, does taste sweet.

Although we went on to lose the semis to a really bad team, in an equally close affair, which shouldn't have been the case, the first victory was something special for all of us. Something we dedicated to Singh. Something that showed to the people that we can play outside our own tournament. With the required effort, surely, a sign of things to come.

Top 5 Movie Endings

Here's my pick of what I feel are the best movie endings/ twists at the climax.
No descriptions of course, for people who haven't watched any of these.

5) Fight Club
4) Shawshank Redemption
3) Saw
2) Memento
1) The Usual Suspects

You may have your own order, or perhaps even other movies on this list. If so let me know, I would love to watch them if I haven't.

Real-ly Ranting

When I started writing this blog, I told myself that I will never make a rant entry. And even if I did, I never once thought it would be about something I love so much, Real Madrid. And now that it is about Real, it must speak volumes about how bad the current scenario at the Spanish capital is.

With 11 games gone in the season, sitting at 4th place on the table, 3 points behind the leaders, and most probably getting into the next stages of the Champions League, would not mean that a team is in crisis. But this is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where, two continuous losses would mean that the manager's neck is on the line. A club where, a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where just winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is exactly why this season looks like a bad one for Real.

A wise man named Murphy once said that, everything that can possibly go wrong happens all at once at the worst possible time. He couldn't have been more apt with the current situation in Madrid. 2 back to back Champions League losses to Juventus is completely inexcusable. A friend of mine wrote on his blog in the preview to this game as the game against the Old lady with a broken hip, referring to the number of injuries they had. Away loss was okay, home loss, an embarrassing one at that is completely inexcusable. Losing to Real Union in the Copa, a Segunda B team, which means they play two divisions below us. How on earth does that happen? Only god knows how. Barely scraping a win against Malaga, and then going on to losing against Valladolid, a team that Barca beat 6-0 the previous weekend, surely meant there was a crisis at the Bernebeu.

Now, the blame game begins. Spanish press is dying to get things to sell their papers, And Real have given them a cakewalk for achieving what they want. So who is really at fault. Naturally fingers point to the manager, Schuster. I really do not think the fault lies with him. It is more at the top level of the hierarchy. Calderon cannot be expressed in non swear words at this moment by most Real fans. Mijatovic, the supposed technical director, is equally to blame. Their over ambitious chase for Ronaldo in the summer meant the rest of the buying would be hit, and hit it was. No naturally right sided winger yet in the team. An aging Cannavaro, a full of himself Pepe, and the truly horrendous Man Utd reject Hienze in charge of the centre of defence? Surely that is not the material of champions. Garay's loan has to be terminated. Ramos has to be moved back to centre and Torres has to play on the right. Midfield is a mayhem. There are far too many central midfielders, far too many players who stray forward never to bother about defending once they lose the ball. And to top all that, Van Nistelrooy is injured for the remainder of the season. Raul is looking like a mere shadow of the great man he was. Thankfully Higuain has found his scoring boots. And then there is Saviola? Who? That's right that Argentine, the Saviola we all know about. Yup, he is rotting the benches at Real.

With possibly the toughest part of the season coming up where Getafe, Sevilla, Villareal, Barcelona and Valencia the next five opponents and two crucial Champions League games thrown in to the mix, it will take quite a run to bounce back from the situation they have put themselves in. This is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is what this team has to prove. Hala Madrid.

King James

I've been watching a lot of NBA Highlights lately, and sort of got my inspiration for this post. It's been a while since the league has seen a god-like figure. Bird, Magic, Jordan, are all of a by-gone era. It's high time there was some one of that calibre, someone that the kids of the present generation can look up to. There have been critics who say that the face of the game is changing, there isn't much you can do individually, showboating with the dunks etc. Agreed, but games do evolve and let's face it, this is the new phase of basketball. I'm not sure you can have the Stockton kind of players anymore in today's game. Coming down to what I really wanted to write about, is that idol that I mentioned earlier. Le Bron James, often referred to, aptly I might add, as King James, is that guy. Before you jump at me saying what has he done yet, I want to say that even the great Jordan won his titles only after 6-7 years of playing. There is a transition a player has to make from college to NBA, and James directly jumped from High School to the NBA. At 6 foot 9 inches, with his swiftness, he's a monster. Time and time again, he has 40 point games, where he single handedly carries his team to victories. His effectiveness has increased, he makes his teammates play, he's blossoming into the player that will take him to the Bird, Jordan league. He's supposedly pretty down to earth also, according to what I've read, and if so, has that class that the greats of every game do. This year he has got a decent team to back him up with the addition of Wallace, and his teammates are improving their effectiveness too. At this rate, I'd back them for a good run this season. May he start winning championships, and truly show everyone in the basketball world that he does belong amongst the greatest of the greats.