High on the hills was a lonely GOAT

Only one man could bring me out of blogging semi-retirement: the Rajah himself.

The story arc of Roger Federer's resurgence has been written many times over by multiple authors around the world and I will not repeat it here. A cursory Google search will suffice. Instead I want to put down some random, disjointed thoughts that float through my brain...

a) For a long time DH and I were reconciled to the fact that he'd be stuck on one prime number - 17. When he won #18 earlier this year in Australia, DH remarked that he would HAVE to win one more to get back to a prime number because that's where he should be (by himself and one). Well, what do you know? It may be time to start thinking of 23 now. Impossible? Well, many of us thought 18 was impossible.

b) Remember this commercial from 10 years ago? It was released on July 6th, 2007, just moments after Roger had won his 10th major and was narrated by Tiger Woods who ended it with the haunting words: My name is Tiger Woods. I have 12 majors and counting. So keep up, buddy.

Yesterday, Roger did what Tiger always dreamed of - overtaking Jack Nicklaus' major count (18). For the record, Tiger has stalled at 14 for over eight years and it does not appear he is going to add to that total.



c) The Federer of 2017 is winning because he is better than the Federer of a few years ago. He is winning because he has improved. His backhand, especially, is a lot flatter and more potent. the elegant top-spin laden one has been beefed up by another version - a flattened, whiplash of a shot that singes across the court with power that is approaching Wawrinka territory.

d) The 2017 Wimbledon final was, finally, lacking in excitement or prolonged tension for Federer. But I am not complaining one bit. I'll take that any day over the 5 set gut-wrencher from earlier this year at the Australian Open where he was (gasp!) trailing 1-3 in the fifth set. Even today I sometimes break into a cold sweat thinking about what might have happened had Roger not raised his game.

Imagine this - Nadal wins the Australian Open. Suddenly the major head-to-head is 17-15 in Roger's favor with the French Open coming up where Nadal would make it 17-16. Oh dear...the GOAT narrative would have taken a drastic turn for the worse for us FedFans. Phew! Thank heavens for that atomic backhand (and Robin Soderling).

e) The loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open stung for a long, long time. Then came the capitulation to Marin Cilic in 2014 when all Roger had to do was take out Cilic and then Kei Nishikori (neither of whom he had ever lost to at that point in time). For years, I've wondered what those two missed US Opens would have done for his legacy. Suddenly, after what has transpired this year, the pain has eased tremendously.

f) Roger is the only man to have played at least 5 finals at each major. At the French, he has one win (in 2009, thank heavens for Soderling) and 4 losses to the clay GOAT - Rafael Nadal. One wonders what the actual count might have been if the gods had not sent Nadal to mess with us FedFans.

g) But seriously, just watch these 5 games from the 5th set of the 2017 Australia Open again and marvel at how close it was to being a completely different narrative. A matter of inches...literally, on multiple occasions.



h) In 2012 after the Olympics in London, in spite of winning a silver medal, it seemed quite inconceivable that Federer would last as long as Rio in 2016. Verily, it came to pass - Federer did not play in Rio while recovering from his myriad injuries. But if you had told me in 2012 that he would not play in Rio but would win multiple majors in 2017, I would not have believed it possible. I am still having a tough time believing it.

i) Hailing from a nation where we revere the Krishnans and Amritraj for simply making it to the quarter-final at Wimbledon, it is astonishing to think that Federer has played 70 Grand Slam events (tied for first all-time with Fabrice Santoro) and has reached the quarter-final or better in 50 of them. Yes, 50 of them!

j) For a man known for the beauty of his groundstrokes and the fluidity and grace of his foot movement, it is mind-boggling to think that he is third all-time in the list of aces hit on the ATP tour. And, if he plays the rest of the year, he's definitely going to be #2 behind Ivo Karlovic.

k) The final word has to, definitely, belong to the late, great David Foster Wallace from his famous essay: Federer as a religious experience. Mind you, this was published on August 20, 2006, almost 11 years ago, but it still resonates just as loudly today:

... Roger Federer is showing that the speed and strength of today’s pro game are merely its skeleton, not its flesh. He has, figuratively and literally, re-embodied men’s tennis, and for the first time in years the game’s future is unpredictable. (...) Genius is not replicable. Inspiration, though, is contagious, and multiform — and even just to see, close up, power and aggression made vulnerable to beauty is to feel inspired and (in a fleeting, mortal way) reconciled.

(Credit: SI.com)

Surf's up: Random musings - 7

a)  So, last night the result of an NFL game was determined by the shoddiness of replacement referees.  Ho-hum.  The debacle could have been avoided had any of the Green Bay Packer defenders followed the first rule of defending Hail Mary passes - KNOCK THE BALL DOWN!

Take a look at the replay - no less than three Green Bay defenders had the chance to ice the game by simply batting the ball away.



Yet, all of them went for glory and tried to intercept the ball.    See for yourself.

Serves you right.  You don't have my sympathies.

b)  VVS Laxman retired a few weeks ago and it hasn't sunk in yet.  I am still not in the mood to write my eulogy but am getting ready for it.  Until then, here are two must-read articles about the good guy of Indian cricket.

First, Peter Roebuck is no longer here to write about VVS, but when he did (in the aftermath of 281) it was fantastic.  Poetry in prose.

As Laxman took guard he found himself surrounded by the din of the crowd and the biting resolution of his gum-chewing, green-capped opponents near at hand. Habitually, he cuts an impressive and impassive figure upon which hostility falls like raindrops upon a bear. He stood his ground.

Laxman was about to play the innings of a lifetime, one of the greatest knocks the game has known. His effort has not shrunk in retrospect for it was not a mere protest against fate but rather a purposeful pursuit of an impossible dream.

Second, check out Siddhartha Vadyanathan's piece, not so much for what he wrote but for some of the videos link to in the comments section.

c)  If you are a famous sportsperson, maybe even the best ever in your sport, winning a match is not the end of your day's work.  Here's Roger Federer's grueling post-match interview schedule.  I used to wish I could play like him.  Now I don't, for I do not want to have to do all the additional things that come with that gift.

d)  Roger Federer is the Most Interesting Man in the World.  Stay thirsty, my friends.

e)  Very rarely do I burst out laughing when I read a straight-forward sports article about how someone can help Tiger Woods get his game back on track.  But this one did.  Johnny Miller is soooo modest, it makes me blush to hear about all the great things he has to say about....himself.

Bonus: Here's Johnny's unvarnished thoughts from a different article:

The drive I hit on the last hole at Oakmont in 1973 at the U.S. Open was special. I'd hit every green that day, and my average birdie putt was about 10 to 12 feet. To this day, I've never seen a major championship round of that precision, with tee shots and iron shots, by anyone. That sounds like bragging, but I've seen a lot of rounds. 

f) If you have a few minutes, take a look at some of the photographs submitted to National Geographic for the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012.  Which is your favorite one?

g)  And finally, one last look as VVS walks off into the sunset.  A big part of cricket's allure died that day.

(Copyright 2011, AFP)

Strange stories, amazing facts

Exactly one year ago today, Tiger Woods did something he had never done before - lose a Grand Slam tournament after taking a lead into the final round. That too to an unknown player named YE Yang. On that day, right after he lost, if you had told someone that losing to Yang would probably be the high point of Tiger's life in the next 365 days they would have laughed at you. But incredibly, that's what happened. Whodathunkit?!

One month ago, if you had told someone that the #1 ranked Test team in the world would be bowled out for 88 in an ODI and that the #1 ranked ODI team would be bowled out for 88 in a Test match, they would have laughed at you. But incredibly, that's what happened. Whodathunkit?

If two weeks ago, you would have told someone that Virender Sehwag would be batting on 99 and facing an off-spinner (not named Murali) in his rookie year on two separate occasions and would fail to get 100 both times, they would have laughed at you. But incredibly, that's what happened. Whodathunkit?

Truth is, often times, stranger than fiction.

Road from perdition

So, Tiger, did you learn anything?

(By the way, Tiger, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot ask that your private life be left private and then try to elicit sympathy from the public with commercials like this.)

Doppelgänger

It is not often that you read an article and wish you had written it instead. I feel that way after reading this article by Sidin Vadukut. While the example he uses is not one that I am familiar with, the sentiments are the same. And he is funny, too!

Over the last 14 or so years Srinath has been single-handedly responsible for my wasting hundreds of precious man-hours watching the last few overs of cricket matches half-hoping India will grab victory from the jaws of unavoidable defeat.

Or that some form of power cut, rain, sandstorm or DDCA ingenuity will call off a match at the last possible moment before defeat and Duckworth-Lewis.

These desperation scenarios often call on India to score 60 runs in the last four overs, with Sreesanth being the only regulation batsman left. Or they involve opponents needing 10 runs with three overs and seven wickets to spare.

Your local cricket cynic - and this is a compulsory vacancy in offices - has already laughed off India's chances in that whiny, irritating voice. Publicly you laugh along with him and say things like "Traitors! Can only act in ads!" or "One billion people and you pick Joginder?!" or "Buy them all some Musli Power, I say!"

But that is an act. A ruse. For public consumption.

In reality, deep inside, you want to gently call the cynic to one corner and redecorate the conference-room wall with his face.

I spent some time trying to figure out if there was any such seminal event that made me think that the Indian team could pull it out against all odds. Many candidates come to mind, primarily the '83 World Cup and Kapil Dev's 175* or when India defended a total of 125 in Sharjah against Pakistan and won by a whopping 38 runs, thoroughly ruining a 6 for 14 performance by Imran Khan. But none of them really stick in the mind. What does stick are the ones that got away, the defining one being Javed Miandad and that six. Even that one I remember for two factoids that have withered away from public memory with time. One, it was the first time India lost to Pakistan in Sharjah and two, Miandad's 116* was the first century ever scored at Sharjah. That was a momentum-changing event of seismic proportions. (Also, the ball before Miandad hit a six, India messed up an easy run-out that would have ended the game. See the video to see what I mean.

But no, that did not make me think that no match was lost until the final note had been rung (to mix metaphors). For the past few minutes I have been sitting and mulling this. Through the '80's, my feeling that the Indian team would pull it out was rooted more in hope than belief. Then I came to Chicago and watched Michael Jordan play. MJ was many things - a selfish team-mate who shared the ball when it suited his means, an egotistical ballhog, a boorish sourpuss whose good looks and cultivated media image glossed over his personal faults - but he had one trait above all else - a dislike for defeat that veered into the realm of psychosis. With the game on the line he may have been as nervous as anyone else but he did not show it. All the fans in the stands, all the viewers on TV, the opposing team, the coaches, his teammates, all of them knew that he would take the game-deciding shot. And he did. And he did it often enough to fill an entire decade's worth of film roll. The aura of the fellow was such that the ones he missed are used as defining moments that show how great the fellow was because he came back and wiped them from memory.

Being in Chicago, I got carried away in the MJ wave and watched every game I could. Take LeBron James and Kobe Bryant today, mix them up, and you will not get the level of awe that MJ conjured. I used to think Miandad was the under-pressure guy to admire. To mis-quote Denzel Washington, Miandad ain't got nothing on MJ. When MJ hit the championship-winning shot to finish his legendary career, it was the perfect way to remember the man. (I never watched him or followed him in a Washington Wizard uniform so as far as I am concerned that never happened).

In the 90's and beyond as I heard about the Indian team (this was before CricInfo and live Internet streaming, boys and girls) choking away and ruining whatever chance Sachin Tendulkar had of leading a team to victory in his pomp, I wondered when the Indian team would come across the likes of MJ. MJ was paramount and unparalleled (in my esteem anyway) for a definition of a clutch player.

And then came Tiger Woods. It's funny how the unraveling of his life has diminished the man in the eyes of many, but on the golf course he dominated people like Mike Tyson in his prime, without laying a single punch. And he did not do this by blowing away the competition on good days. He did this by wrecking their hopes irrespective of how he was playing. I thought MJ was the quintessential pressure player until I saw Tiger Woods, especially circa 1999-2001. Even today, I feel TW is the best clutch player I have ever seen. It is an indictment of the man (and a great window into his soul) that most of the occasions when Tiger comes up short on a golf course are in team events such as the Ryder Cup or the President's Cup. When it comes to playing for himself, more often than not Tiger Woods makes the putt he needs to make. His career achievements are staggering and he is far from being done. Today he is the butt of jokes (and very rightly so) but once he steps on the golf course again, I can bet you a lot of money he will have a focus that will scare his opponents even more.

The greatest closer I have ever seen in sports is Tiger Woods. And he's the main reason I believe that no match is lost unless the last wicket falls or the last run is scored, whether it's the Indian team or the one I play on.

Here's one example from last year.



For me, here's the defining moment where there was never a doubt in my mind the fellow would find a way to get the ball in the hole. When it happened the overwhelming feeling was, "Yup, I knew it was going to happen."

Never. A. Doubt.

A German bad guy?

The most surprising thing I have learned about Tiger Woods since Thanksgiving is that his middle name is Tont.

Tont? Tont!? Golfers around the world quaked in their boots when they heard Tont's footsteps behind them? Tont?!! Nothing surprised me more than that in the past 6 weeks and that's saying something considering how Tiger's life has unraveled faster than a spool of thread in an avalanche.

Gaping holes

Trolling through the news reports on Tiger Woods (and trolling is indeed the perfect word for it) I came across this gem from Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. Written from Tiger's point of view, so to speak, it reveals how much we know about the fellow and how little he knows about himself. I love the perfect kicker at the very end (the article is distributed over two pages, by the way).

Nevertheless, I understand the relentless curiosity about me, given my sacrosanct greatness and all I do for the good of humanity, and so I have decided to release a statement, on the advice of my agent, media consultant, personal blogger, sponsor liaison and attorneys. But rather than give this statement to the authorities, who somehow think they have real authority over me, I have decided to post it on my Web site, where the little men with badges can also find news, biographical info, statistics, audio and video clips, photos and signature merchandise such as $75 drop-needle polo shirts and washable wool sweater vests, as well as framed art, naturally of me.

(...) Here is my statement: "I'm almost perfect. I only made one small mistake, ever. I will certainly make sure nothing like it happens again."

Among the questions I will not be addressing, when I next appear in public, after my face heals:

Make sure what never happens again?

Why would someone need to smash the two back windows of an SUV with a golf club to get me out of the front seat?

Did the club break?

And most importantly, did Stevie keep everyone quiet during the backswing?

(...) As I say, don't look to me for the replies to these inquiries, or any others, either. You want answers to questions? Read Andre Agassi's autobiography.

Doomsday conspiracy

The prevailing trend in news reporting these days is what I call the hail-or-fail syndrome. Reporters either predict the upswing or downswing of sporting icons depending supon what status they have attained in their sport.

So, either Roger Federer is the new heir to the Greatest of All-Time throne, or he is just a pretender whose best days are behind him. Should the downward moving person's fortunes make a turnaround for the better, as Federer's recently did, the very same naysayers will then turn around and be astonished that people wrote him/her off.

And on and on it goes...

The latest to receive such coverage is Tiger Woods. Now that three majors have gone by without a win in 2009, Tiger's days are surely numbered. Right? Gene Wojciechowski (ESPN.com) tries to provide some much-needed perspective.

The namesake

When your uncle has been in the news once or twice, it is not surprising that your feats get recognized, too. Methinks that this young girl will not be anonymous much longer.

Watch out, Michelle Wie, here comes Cheyenne to steal your press.

That given Sunday

On any given Sunday, anyone can win, anyone can lose, anything can happen. But once in a while comes that perfect Sunday, when all the chips align themselves. Last Sunday was just that:

Roger Federer cried again, this time they were tears of joy. A huge monkey is off his back forever. Bring on the GOAT discussions (by the way, check out comment #5 in this discussion thread - Lendl was indeed the truth).

A dude who spent Sunday morning fretting over Federer then went out and produced an inspired ending to his own day. With 2 weeks to go for the US Open, all the pressure is back on Tiger Woods's shoulders, just where he likes it because it means he is playing well.

In the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers put Phil Jackson within 2 wins of winning his 10th NBA championship. Yes, tenth!!

But I did not watch Federer or Woods and barely caught the last 6 minutes of the 4th quarter and then all of overtime in the LA-Orlando game.

You see, I was capping my perfect Sunday playing cricket for a team that drove in the rain to Ames, played in bright sunlight, and drove back in the rain! But who cares, after all these stories were processed in my head the whole day felt like one long sun-fest.

Context meets perspective

Until Tiger Woods came on the scene, the idea of exercise for a golfer used to be to walk from the clubhouse to the driving range and then on to the 1st tee. It took the other golfers a couple of years to catch on and there are a ton of fit golfers on the tour, but the buff-est of them all is still el tigre.

Over in the NFL, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts is not a name that comes readily to mind when we think of big fellows. If anything, he is considered to be on the slender side for a QB.

The following photo gives you an idea of how big the NFL players must really be. Tiger Woods looks almost Lilliputian in comparison to Manning!

I used to think Tiger could have been a running back in the NFL. Now, methinks he would have been crushed to death by the linebackers!

Three's Company

Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and (the curiously fast-fading) Roger Federer show up in a new commercial that does its own take on "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees.



Here's the original, for reference.

On the prowl again

Years ago, Michael Jordan famously announced his return to basketball with a two word fax that said, "I'm back!". Today, Tiger Woods takes a more sedate approach in this ad.



He is humming "Eye of the Tiger", by Survivor, from the Rocky movies (Rocky III).

No pain, no gain

Tiger Woods recently won the US Open on one leg. Almost anyone remotely following the world of sports in the US would have heard about it. Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, digs deeper into the Tiger mystique and tries to understand what makes the man.

(Note: The article is two pages long).

Believing is seeing

A lot has been written about Tiger Woods and, before he is all done and dusted, a lot more will be written. As he begins a charge at the Masters today, here's a guarded look inside the psyche of the man in an interview for ESPN. The total confidence in his abilities and the things that drive him towards higher goals are clearly demonstrated. Pay close attention to the rapid-fire question-answer session at the very end of the video.

Failure, to him, is not an option.

The last dance

Nick Faldo is currently better known as one of the best TV golf analysts. In the '80's and '90's, he was the world's best golfer and a feared one-on-one competitor (one of the best ever in Ryder Cup history). A couple of years ago, in his role as an analyst, Faldo criticized Tiger Wood's swing at the Buick Invitational golf tournament. Tiger Woods, who apparently never forgets an insult, hasn't communicated with Nick since then (not that Faldo has tried very hard to clear the air either).

This year at the British Open, which is set to begin in a few hours from now, the two will be teeing off together for at least the first two rounds. For the 49 year-old Faldo it is one last chance to relive some magic (he has won the British Open 3 times) before he joins the ranks of the senior golf tour. Faldo was always known for his focus and fierce determination to not let anything get in the way of his game. As the years have gone by he has mellowed a lot and has quite a bit to say on a variety of topics, both personal and professional.

For Tiger it is a chance to leave behind the mess that was the US Open and continue his assault on Jack Nicklaus's spot in history as the best golfer ever.