2008 April » VKpedia

Park Ji-Sung: the new Damien?

Apr 302008

Thinking about yesterday’s game, it is tough not to make a particular comparison. I have already alluded to how Park Ji-Sung, the Korean midfielder was a lion on the pitch against Barcelona. The following video, a compilation of some of Park’s contributions last night, reiterates that view.

Park best signified the spirit of the Devil last night, epitomised by Roy Keane’s performance against Juventus in the semi-final second leg at Turin in 1999. Park not only showed his attacking flair, setting up others and sending in some splendid crosses, but he was instrumental as a disruptor when Barcelona charged forward – defending deep, throwing in tackles to dispossess the visitors, running after almost-lost balls, and generally blocking the flow of events when under attack. In short, Park was all over the park!

For a player who has had more than his share of critics, Park’s attitude and work-rate shone through enough to silence the hardiest of them. He should be a more regular feature in the United line-up.

Cometh the hour… cometh Man United!

Football No Responses »

Apr 292008

In 1999, when Manchester United were playing the second leg of their semi-final tie versus Juventus away at the Stadio Delle Alpi, it required their captain Roy Keane to produce arguably the best performance ever by a player wearing United’s colours to propel them into the final at the Nou Camp. Keane has moved on. So many others from that fabled team of treble winners have. Paul Scholes remains.

And though he did not have to produced the same kind of “as if he had the Devil on him” performance, the quiet laddie let his boots do the talking, scoring the only goal – a marvelous one albeit – of a fiercely competed semi-final to push the Red Devils past a Barcelona team, who, though they might be on the wane, gave it their everything. Here is the goal.

For United to have accomplished this without the services of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic was commendable. Such was the tempo of the game earlier today that those of us watching on TV would have felt quite exhausted just watching the spectacle. United’s work-rate was of a different order in the game compared to their dodgy outing at Stamford Bridge just a couple of days ago. (I personally felt that Park Ji-Sung outshone everyone else tonight – he was both leonine and workhorse-like.)

Chelsea host Liverpool tomorrow, and the Blues have an away goal advantage. Should be a good game. Considering United have beaten Liverpool on multiple occasions this year, maybe the Scousers would make a good final for us.

IPL, EPL, UCL

Cricket, Football No Responses »

Apr 292008

The Super Kings beat the Deccan Chargers to extend their run to 4 games! Rock on, Chennai!

Lefties & T20

Selva has an interesting observation about whether left-handed batsmen have an advantage in Twenty20 cricket. One possible explanation, if this hypothesis were found true, is that most bowlers are naturally suited to bowl to right handers. In longer versions of the game, bowlers have more time to settle down into a rhythm as well as size up the pitch with respect to line and length; so the advantage that left handers have can be negated. T20 offers no such cushion; plus batsmen are looking to attack from the first delivery. Maybe, this is why lefties do better.

The English Premier League

A few weeks ago, someone from India posted a comment on the Teamtalk forums, and referred to the English Premier League as EPL. A Briton took exception to this and sought to correct the Indian thus, “Don’t refer to it as the EPL! It is simply the Premier League, and that’s how we would like it to be.”When I read it, I did not find it patronizing. But back then, there was no Indian Premier League. Now we do have something to boast about. If the IPL does sustains itself and become a huge popular and monetary success, maybe we could fight back such condescending, and if I may add, imperialist attitudes.

United v/s Barcelona

Later today, Manchester United take on Barcelona in a must-win Champions League semi-final second leg. News is that Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic could miss out. Games like this are a test of character – the line that divides the great from the legendary. Cristiano Ronaldo is already spoken of as an Old Trafford legend, but tonight he should step up to the plate. Another year, and we might not know if form and circumstances would be similar or kinder. This is the night. Arise, thou champion! C’mon, ye Reds!

Chennai Super Kings: Pride of the South

Chennai, Cricket 10 Responses »

Apr 272008

One of the nicest things about the Indian Premier League is that the Chennai team lead the pack now. Still the only unbeaten team in the league, the Kings of Chennai rock!

Incidentally, I thought the Mumbai Indians would do better than lose four in a row.

Eight things

Miscellaneous No Responses »

Apr 262008

Been tagged after a long time. I didn’t think folks did this stuff any more. Anyways, here’s my dull list of eight things.

Eight things I’m passionate about:

Random bits of information
Work
Soccer
Music
Religion
New technology
Computer games
Arguing

Not funny

Media 1 Response »

Apr 252008

Some (crazy) activists throw pies at Thomas Friedman as he begins a speech at Brown University. Ridiculous, but not funny.

Wanted: a math tutor

Politics 3 Responses »

Apr 242008

Math tutor required urgently; must be competent in basic arithmetic, especially addition of 7-digit and 8-digit numbers*; to teach a 60 year-old busy woman. Contract begins immediately and ends in August. Position involves extensive travel. Pay negotiable. Interested parties contact Hillary Clinton for President.

*Prior experience ducking gunfire while rushing across foreign air-base tarmacs a plus.

Random thoughts

Miscellaneous 5 Responses »

Apr 222008

1. When in the midst of a group of people discussing about innovation, you find yourself saying “It is not at all necessary for companies to innovate. It is more important to be a fast follower than an innovator”, do you call yourself a pragmatist or a pessimist or worse, a combination of the two, i.e. a businessman?

2. Isn’t it ironical that the United States has a quota of 20000 visas for students with advanced degrees from US universities under the H1B visa program (which the Government claims is to enable highly skilled immigrants work in the country and thereby gain citizenship in the long run), and yet one of only two conditions for rejecting an F-1 student visa is that the visa seeker is a potential immigrant?

Republican Media Machine

Politics No Responses »

Apr 212008

The Republican Media Machine is underway already. Of course, you may wonder when they ever stopped!

Senator McCain’s campaign is latching on to the politics-by-fear tactic of George W. Bush and Karl Rove by sending out fundraising e-mails citing Hamas’ support for Senator Obama. This is shameful, and does not become of a good man like John McCain, from whom you can expect the decency the Clintons lack.

When will the Republicans realize that if America is under attack, it is not from Islamic extremists, but from the inside, because of its unstable economy, crumbling infrastructure and crippling crime rate?

Copying filtered data in Excel 2007

Tech 21 Responses »

Apr 212008

When you apply filters in Excel 2007, and then copy the filtered data from one sheet to another, you will find (to your frustration) that what has been copied to the new sheet is not just the filtered data, but also the invisible data that was filtered out. Oh, the ways of Microsoft! If I wanted to copy all the data, I would do it without using the filter. When I apply a filter, I am only interested in the resultant subset. And to think that this wasn’t a problem in previous versions of Excel baffles me even more.

Help is at hand, though. If you want to copy only the filtered result set, select it, then hit F5 to open the “Go To…” dialog. In this dialog box, click on the “Special…” button, and select the “Visible cells only” option. Now when you copy, only the visible cells are copied to the clipboard. And solves the problem!

Calendar blunder

Culture & Society, Tamil 3 Responses »

Apr 202008

I came to know recently that our Chief Minister has passed a law in the Tamil Nadu Assembly which declares January 14 as the Tamil New Year’s Day from 2009. While this is absolutely, totally, completely whatever-ly ridiculous, it gives rise to an interesting confusion.

Surely, some of our paguththarivu pagalavans will follow the Chief Minister’s idea of the Tamil New Year. However, old fogeys like yours truly will still “cling to” tradition and observe April 14 (or Chithirai 1) as the New Year.

In effect, January 14 will be called the New Tamil New Year. But what of April 14? Will people call it the Old Tamil New Year? Or New Old Tamil New Year? Or New Tamil Old New Year?

Oh, and by the way, happy (Old) Tamil New Year to you!

P.S.: Are people in Tamil Nadu gritting their teeth at the loss of a holiday?

IPL kicks off

Cricket 3 Responses »

Apr 182008

After months of anticipation, the Indian Premier League kicked off today with a meek surrender by the Bangalore Royal Challengers, whose batting was neither royal, nor seemed like posing any challenge to the others teams in the league. Kolkata, in contrast, turned out to be awesome (though I am not impressed by their team name).

It would be interesting to see how the IPL impacts the future of cricket. One possible scenario is that cricket might be played more along club lines, like football. But I think it is currently more possible than probable. Regional cricket (like county cricket in England and state tournaments in India and Australia) face a greater threat due to IPL’s emergence. If the organizers were to expand the IPL from its current, compressed two-month schedule, regional cricket is sure to take a huge hit.

Interestingly though, Michael Vaughn’s recent comments made some sense in this regard. When asked if the IPL could threaten county cricket in England, Vaughn pointed out that each country could have its own league, and then the top clubs from each country could face off against each other in a super league, much like the UEFA Champions League in football.

I have some doubts if this would indeed turn out to be the case. India’s financial clout in cricket could make it extremely difficult for similar leagues in other countries to thrive.

Anyway, Twenty20 cricket and the Indian Premier League have definitely made the “business” of cricket more dynamic, and a space to watch out for. It is, as many have already said, the best way to take the game to a more global audience.

Daily News endorses Obama

Media, Politics No Responses »

Apr 172008

Philadelphia Daily News today endorsed Senator Barack Obama for next week’s primaries in Pennsylvania.

In its endorsement, the editorial board states, in no uncertain terms, why the Illinois Senator is better equipped than Hillary Clinton. One of the main reasons behind the paper’s choice seems to be Senator Obama’s reaching out to everyone, irrespective of their race, economic status or political affiliation. Specifically, his ability to work more closely with Republicans (while Senator Clinton is a deeply polarizing figure, who overlooked the so-called “small” states and “red” states) is regarded very highly.

But the most stinging remark about Senator Clinton is that she has chosen to portray the successes of the Bill Clinton administration as her own.

We are frankly troubled by her assumption that her husband’s administration and accomplishments were her own. And if her equation holds, that the first spouse is an equal partner in the administration, then the reappearance of Bill Clinton in the White House is a prospect we have a hard time reconciling with the work that needs to be done.

The paper also points to Senator Obama’s well-managed campaign as a possible indicator of an efficient, well-run White House. In contrast, Senator Clinton’s bungled campaign points to her drawbacks as a leader. Some experts, though, have sought to dispel the notion that an effective campaign indicates a well-run administration. However, the editorial board is of the view that Senator Obama, having raised funds from hundreds of thousands of donors, will be conscious of his accountability to them.

Pennsylvania votes on the 22nd of April.

Emile Heskey!

Football 2 Responses »

Apr 142008

While United are still rejoicing over Owen Hargreaves’ free kick, Emile Heskey turns home a cross to hand Chelsea a draw that is just as good as a defeat! Four games to go; five points ahead; the title seems to fit ever so snugly into United’s bag.

A free-kick, frozen in time and space

Football 2 Responses »

Apr 132008

In cricket, so often we see a shot played when the ball races to the fence, and no one needs to move – not the batsmen, nor the fielders. Often we hear commentators say, “Ah, a stand and deliver shot! No one moved.”

In football, one hardly comes across such moments. The game is always in a state of flux that it takes more than just brilliance to produce a goal that obviates the need for anyone other than the striker to move. Ronaldinho produced such a goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge three seasons ago – a goal of such magical quality that it should have counted as two.

Earlier today, Owen Hargreaves hit such a free kick against Arsenal at Old Trafford to put United 2-1 up, and on their way to the title (hopefully). The free kick, which you can watch here, was such that it seemed that the setting was frozen for a second, so Hargreaves could measure his ball over the Gunners’ wall and into the back of Lehmann’s net, at which instant it was unfrozen. A moment to savor (and freeze in history), and one that might mean the difference between United and Chelsea in the race to the finish.

(Fair play to Arsenal, but United look like champions.)

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