Soccer Scene

Just like the other metropolitian cities Kolkata has many faces. People of Kolkata are crazy about sports and when it comes to football, Kolkata is the mecca which is infamous for its sheer enthusiasm of its people , passion, fan following and emotions that run deep and high exhibited in all forms of sport. A player can turn into a  villain or a hero in a moment’s notice. It is this sharply contrasting degree of emotion that makes Kolkata football unique. The crowd can exert pressure on a player as well as inspire him to do wonderful things. Another thing that typifies Kolkata football is the derby, the “Boro match”.

The frenzied excitement of the Indian club football scene with crowds that turn up in tsunamiseque proportions is a scene worth witnessing. Its only befitting that Asia's biggest stadium, the oval shaped Salt Lake Stadium, popularly referred to as the Yuva Bharathi Krirangan has a seating capacity for 1,20,000 spectators.

The Kolkata derby is contested between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal – two neighbouring yet viciously rivalled clubs. It doesn’t matter if the derby is a title decider or not. On a derby day, only the derby matters; everything else pales into oblivion. A club might finish 7th in the table, but a derby win will always give its fans bragging rights. The derby will generate a sizable crowd irrespective of its importance. Even on an  unofficial derby match sans star players a crowd of above 70,000 can be expected.

Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have contested in hundreds of derby matches. Some matches have been forgettable drab affairs. However, there are some matches which has become part of the folklore of Indian football. 

Ever since its inception, The Salt Lake Stadium has primarily ben hosting football matches. Some of India's renowned football clubs like Mohan Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting are all based in Kolkata. Important football matches both at the local and national level are regularly hosted at this awesome stadium.

The huge size of the Salt Lake stadium will overwhelm you, along with the state-of-the-art technology, seating arrangements, to the electronic scoreboard and lighting, the latest technological gadgets have been used making it one of the finest stadiums in Asia.

The ideal way to witness the magical appeal of this great stadium is when a football match involving two local Kolkata clubs are held. The entire Salt Lake stadium is filled choc-a-bloc with tens and thousands of spectators who go berserk right from the word go. They chant, clap, do the customary Mexican dance and if a goal is scored, the entire stadium witnesses a euphoria of sorts.

The Salt Lake stadium has not only been a citadel of sorts as far as Indian football is concerned but has also a pioneering role as far as promoting atheletic meets are concerned. Apart from the football ground, this magnificent stadium also has a synthetic athletic track surrounding the football ground. This is the only stadium in the whole of Eastern India which has the facility of synthetic athletic track.

The stars of Indian football like Baichung Bhutia, Vijayan and company have left their indelible mark on this stadium. Many a great matches have been played in this magnificent stadium which is forever etched in the memory of die hard football fans.

When Brazil won the last World Cup in 2002 the streets and bylanes of Kolkata resembled to the ones in Rio-de-Janeiro, replicate with the national flag of Brazil and the famous yellow jersey being displayed on every nook and corner of the city. Perhaps there was more celebrations and fanfare in Kolkata than in 'Rio' itself. 

The great footballers of yesteryear and today are regarded as demi-gods in this highly opinionated and football crazy city of India.Be it the 'para club' or the common man on the street, there is no dearth of knowledge about the 'Great game' and everyone has his opinions and predictions on the game. The craze for football in this city is beyond compare with other Indian cities. 

. . .

IPL Entertainment

Update: To get the official ticketing partners and the links for IPL tickets for 2011, scroll below.

Here is the new era of Cricket in India and the world. On this journey, things are not going to be same anymore. As players from across nations unite in this new found bonhomie, international players once rivals all playing for the same team, boundaries are getting redefined now. Players once sharing the same dressing room will now fiercely stare at each other all in a drive to win for their home teams.

Curtains have already risen over the most extravagant cricket bonanza cricket buffs have been waiting with bated breaths for! Its cricketing buzz redefined. Cricket was said to be losing its sheen to Football in the country, especially in the urban areas but IPL promises to get back all those football crazy youth once again to cricket. It is BCCI’s magnum opus for everyone to watch over with friends. IPL has made a ‘crore’ look very tiny now!

IPL has commercialized cricket like never before: players were auctioned, corporate team bosses snubbed icons icons and big money rolled in. It is all about segregating the Cricket crazy nation that we are into clubs and creating entertainment in them. With the likes of Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan, Preety Zinta helming various clubs, the maestros of entertainment at IPL are unveiling their wares with mega entertainment bonanzas also nicknamed as the 'manoranjan ka baap'. A huge amount of money has been spent by them on bidding for players on their team. IPL has brought Cricket to every possible untrodden field and created several ways to flaunt your loyalties.

Initially 8 city based teams are sweating it out and are involved in neck to neck battles with the likes of Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super Kings, Chandigarh Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. IPL has thrown up another set of loyalties, even alternate, loyalties – the club as in professional football. For many the individual games appears to be as alluring as an Indo-Pak encounter.

Cricket and Bollywood have always been India’s premier mass entertainers. Now with Bollywood stars as owners millions of middle-aged moms and pre-pubescent teenage boys know who to cheer for, city loyalty be damned and Bollywood brand ambassadors available at a discount along with the cheerleaders shimmying heard, the marriage between glamour and cricket is all but complete.

IPL has also become the hub for popularisation of local content. Not just big names but players are coming from everywhere, from outbacks, small towns to state backwaters. These clutch of nerveless unknown talents are taking the IPL by storm as they outscore all the big names. They are to be seen, recognized and admired!

Everyone thought Twenty20 is just slam-bang. But it has shown that Twenty20 is not easier: it’s just a different ball game. It isn’t just improvisation and instinct but much more about planning and teamwork than one never thought.

The first edition of the IPL has also received its fair share of controversies with it now termed as the ‘Controversies ka baap’. From the already infamous costliest slap of the century termed as the slap gate, by Harbhajan Singh on his IPL rival S Sreesanth, which saw the formers exit from this edition of the game. Then the skimpily cheerleaders who shaked their hips and jived to the music during the games. They quickly became the darling of the crowds and cynosure of all eyes, but how can the moral police of the country stay behind which forced them to jive in long outfits for a short period.

The Bangalore team also nicknamed the ‘Test Team in T20 disguise’ never royally challenged any team which initially saw the sacking of its CEO Charu Sharma and a few more heads would have rolled in the form of Venkatesh Prasad, had not ‘The Wall’ in the form of Rahul Dravid had come in between the owner and the team. Martin Crowe added more fuel to fire by asserting the team was too old and slow and wholesale changes are expected in this team for the next season.

As teams went on exiting one after the other at later stages, gossip mills ran hayware with portraying conflicts between team owner’s coaches and the captains. Shahrukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly, John Buchanan, Preity Zinta, everyone was on the firing line. SRK even threatened to take on the ICC when he was banished from the dugout and the dressing room and SRK’s counterpart Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia was also not far behind with controversy after controversy running each other.

In all this how can players be left behind. They also wanted to share the limelight and be a part of this ‘Controversy ka baap’ with Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly publicly slamming each other and teaching each lessons from the ‘Spirit of the Game’ textbooks. The ever so silent Sachin Tendulkar slamming the third umpire for losing a crucial match by one run. The IPL has seen it all…

Now with so much success of the first edition of the IPL other nations are trying to emulate the implementation of this format with the likes of Australia and Pakistan. England is also believed to be reviewing its County Cricket structure.

Cricket has hardly ever been a global game like football but with this red hot bonsai version, cricket finally has a chance. Beers, Bollywood, cheerleaders, and thrills IPL is one glare example of big time marketing around the world. IPL has turned India into world cricket’s premier big bucks destination, the place where all top global professionals want to be.

All in all, there is unlimited entertainment on the cards - both on-field and off-field - for all of us. This version of cricket is generating a lot of appeal because of its fast entertainment providing way. No more waiting for days or hours to watch the outcome of the match. Like in popular sports like soccer or tennis, less boring moments can be expected by the spectators. The IPL has succeeded in providing a lot of cricketing entertainment to spectators.

Visit the following links as per team preference, by clicking on the links on team names.

• Kings XI Punjab : bookmyshow.com
• Deccan Chargers : ticketgenie.in
• Rajasthan Royals : bookmyshow.com
• Mumbai Indians : bookmyshow.com
• Delhi Daredevils : bookmyshow.com
• Kolkata Knight Riders : ticketgenie.in
• Chennai Super Kings : csk official site 
• Pune Warriors : kyazoonga.com
• Royal Challengers Bangalore : ticketgenie.in
• Kochi Tuskers Kerala : kyazoonga.com

. . .

Indian Olympic Quest

India was the first colonized Asian nation to take part in the Olympics, beginning in 1900, with Norman Pritchard as the lone athlete, who won two medals in athletics. From the very beginning participation in the games has been linked to the formation of the country’s nationalist identity.

Then after a gap of 20 years India again participated with three athletes in 1920 Antwerp Olympics and with eight members in 1924 Paris Olympics. The credit for this rests with Sir Dorabji Tata for starting the Olympic movement in the country who sent three runners to the Antwerp Games in 1920 at his expense.

Since then India has participated in every Summer Games and also competed at several Winter Olympic Games since 1964. But the more organised, official representation by India, was made in 1928 Amsterdam, with the formation of Indian Olympic Association in 1927 with Dorab Tata as its first president. That year, Indian Hockey team participated in their first Olympic hockey event and won the gold medal under the captaincy of Jaipal Singh.

 

Pic1: Dhyan Chand scoring a goal in the 1936 Berlin Olympic hockey final
Pic2: Dhyan Chand in India vs. France in the 1936 Berlin Olympic semi-finals. India won 10-0.

For the next 6 successive Olympics spanning 28 years from 1928-1956, Indians retained their gold medal for the hockey event. Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand played a major role in Indian victory in the first three successive wins. It was definitely the golden era of Indian Hockey in Olympics, during which India played 24 matches and won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. India again won two more gold medals in Olympic hockey in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics with a total of eleven medals in twelve Olympiads between 1926 and 1980.

 

Pic1: Milkha Singh (second from the left) in the 1960 Rome Olympic athletics final
Pic2: PT Usha (centre) in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic athletics final


Another event in which Indians has left a mark is the athletics, where they have reached the finals of their events in different editions of the Olympics with the likes of Norman Pritchard in 1900 (two silvers in sprint and hurdles), Henry Rebello in 1948 London, Milkha Singh 1960 Rome, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Sriram singh in 1976 Montreal and P.T Usha in 1984 Los Angeles, to name a few.

 

Pic1: Leander Paes with Bronze medal in 1996 Atlanta Olympic for tennis singles.
Pic2: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore with Silver medal in 2004 Athens Olympics for shooting.

The Beijing Olympics proved to be one of the most successful Olympics for India after a long time. India registered its first Gold Medal in the Olympics here and after 1952 India won more than two medals on the same edition once again. This edition saw its first ever individual Gold Medal by shooter Abhinav Bindra. It also saw three individual medals for the first time by wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar providing the Bronze Medals and Abhinav Bindra, the gold.

You can watch the video of Abhinav Bindra getting Gold medal in Beijing Olympics.

Popout

Players like hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, the flying sikh Milkha Singh, P T Usha, women with the golden legs and the more recent medal winners such as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Leander Paes and the master with a golden eye Abhinav Bindra have made a mark in the different editions of the Olympics for India and will be remembered for a long long time.

In an effort to churn out more superstars, Indian sporting icons Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone  have started the Olympics Olympic Gold Quest program to identify and support Indian athletes with a proven track record and who have the potential to win Olympic gold medals. In 2010 Leander Paes and Vishwanathan Anand also joined the Board of Directors. Olympic Gold Quest presently supports 21 athletes in the four disciplines of athletics, badminton, boxing and shooting.

. . .