Passion for Sports

Is sports about winning championships or is it about keeping us entertained? As a fan, are you happier if your team plays well or if they win? There has been a huge debate around the NBA about players resting and the main argument has been should they play because the fans are paying to watch them play. The players argue that resting is good strategy and allows them to be fresh for the post season. The TV companies argue that they are paying the players billions and therefore the players should be playing as this boosts ratings and allows them to recoup their investments through adverts. Both sides have a valid argument; TV Companies TV companies pay enormous amounts of money to acquire the rights to screen NBA games; under the current deal, ESPN and TNT retained the rights to show NBA games for the next nine years at a cost of $24 billion. This deal has an implied promise that the players will do all in their power to promote the league and make it more entertai...

Arsenal's board of directors have a tough decision to make; do we go with loyalty and continued steadiness or do we look for winning? Arsenal have conceded 13 goals and only scored 3 in their last 3 games. Arsene Wenger has seemed sad over the last month, and looked completely lost when the team went 2-0 down against Liverpool. He has made some head scratching decisions like benching Sanchez against Liverpool and bringing in Ozil too late against Bayern. A lot of us will rush to say winning, but before you do consider Manchester United after Alex Ferguson. Against Bayern, the gulf in class was monumental and this is a big problem for Arsenal as it scares quality players who may have looked at Arsenal as a chance to win trophies. We may say that the penalty was unwarranted and certainly the sending off, but in as much as this swayed the game against them, we must recognise that most of us only remember the end of the game not what happened in between.  The bigges...

Date:  October 25, 2016 Author:  sporttalk180 0  Comments —  Edit I’m not a baseball fan, I barely know the game, but I have heard about the Cubs’ ‘Billy Goat Curse’ and the Red Sox ‘Curse of the Bambino’ among others. These curses are/were blamed for title droughts for their respective teams (stretching to 107 years for the Cubs.) Could the refusal to allow a goat into the field be the reason for a 71 year title drought? What’s the reason for the previous 36 years of failure? A curse is defined as “a solemn utterance intended to invoke a  supernatural power  to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.” Now, just to explain, I BELIEVE in curses. I come from a society where a bird pooping on you has a much deeper meaning than just saying you were standing under it. There are set guidelines and rituals that need to be performed to eradicate a curse. They vary among different communities and are bizarre in varying degrees but ...

G.O.A.T – Does it exist? Date:  October 22, 2016 Author:  sporttalk180 0  Comments —  Edit Is there such a thing as a Greatest of All Time in sports? Who determines it and what parameters do they use to come up with their conclusions. Every time we have a once in a generation player win, the question  of who is the greatest of all time comes up. When Lebron James won the NBA title and Serena won Wimbledon, the question came up; are they the G.O.A.T.  This discussions are driven by our desire to be witnessing history unfold, our desire to tell the story of having witnessed the greatest ever perform at their very best. Our need to be witness is what generates the arguments and discussions. But the main question is, are our arguments based on solid facts or just emotionally charged? The main parameter for comparison used is championships. We always hear people say, Jordan went 6 for 6 while Lebron has lost 3, or Montana was 4 for 4 w...

Date:  October 18, 2016 Author:  sporttalk180 0  Comments —  Edit Last night I was part of one of Europe’s greatest rivalry; Liverpool vs Manchester United. The match was a rather flat contest lacking intensity and quality especially if you consider the pre-match hype. This is nothing new if you look at how Jose Mourinho has played big clubs away over the past 12 years. The most entertaining part of it was watching the fans where I was. Now, I know both Jose Mourinho an Jurgen Klopp have advisers and assistants, I just didn’t realise how many they were and how widespread their reach is. Two hours before the game, different groups had formed discussing the starting line-ups for both squads. The main argument among Manchester United fans was whether Wayne Rooney should start or come of the bench. As debates reached fever pitch, an argument ensued and a fight stated; the fight was about who was better Rooney or Ruud Van Nielsterooy. The warring parties only c...

Everybody plays sports when they’re young. As we grow older size, talent and luck separates us. Some are blessed to go to the field while the rest of us are tasked with talking about them and telling them what to do (even though we would not have a clue how to do it if tasked to do it!). Sports allows us to escape reality and for a brief moment to celebrate being the best. There is a line in the  Desiderata  that says “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for  always there will  be  greater and lesser persons than yourself…”  Sports debunks that and allows us to proclaim “I’m the greatest!” even if it is for just a fleeting second. During the 1990 football World cup, my favourite player was Andreas Brehme. I admired him for his cool demeanour on the pitch and his ability to play with both feet. Around me everyone was either a Diego Maradona or Lothar Mattheus fan. Being from Africa, we also had a special love for Roger...