The Common wealth games
The controversial and much maligned Commonwealth Games in Delhi (CWG-2010) has finally came to an end. The great sporting country Australia once again asserted their supremacy by topping the medal tally. Despite heavy odds and adverse conditions (and withdrawal of top-athletes), the Kangaroos dominated the show even with a 2-nd string side. The medals also rained cats & dogs for the host country India, and still they could only finish 2-nd. But the local-media ignored the achievements of the Aussies (and also winners of other nations) in their desperation to make a celebrity out of each & every medal-winner of the host-country. At least for a week - even those who otherwise not interested in sports also joined the band-wagon - blissfully ignoring the fact that standard of the competition was quite low. Thankfully, the hype surrounding CWG-celebrities may not last long. The Asian Games which starts in a few weeks time will give a clear picture about where Indian sports stands. It's also a time for Indian sports to get rid of their tag of being "tigers at home, kittens abroad".
Tail-piece: The games-mascot "Shera" (tiger) was utter flop, esp. considering that "Appu" (elephant) the mascot of 1982-Asian Games is still popular.
The controversial and much maligned Commonwealth Games in Delhi (CWG-2010) has finally came to an end. The great sporting country Australia once again asserted their supremacy by topping the medal tally. Despite heavy odds and adverse conditions (and withdrawal of top-athletes), the Kangaroos dominated the show even with a 2-nd string side. The medals also rained cats & dogs for the host country India, and still they could only finish 2-nd. But the local-media ignored the achievements of the Aussies (and also winners of other nations) in their desperation to make a celebrity out of each & every medal-winner of the host-country. At least for a week - even those who otherwise not interested in sports also joined the band-wagon - blissfully ignoring the fact that standard of the competition was quite low. Thankfully, the hype surrounding CWG-celebrities may not last long. The Asian Games which starts in a few weeks time will give a clear picture about where Indian sports stands. It's also a time for Indian sports to get rid of their tag of being "tigers at home, kittens abroad".
Tail-piece: The games-mascot "Shera" (tiger) was utter flop, esp. considering that "Appu" (elephant) the mascot of 1982-Asian Games is still popular.
