Monthly Sports Round-up - October 2006
October 1 - Tiger finishes off the season with his 6th straight victory at the Amex PGA Championships. This was almost a landslide victory for Woods, as he led the field from round 1 and kept increasing the distance between himself & the rest of the field with each passing round. At the end of the 3rd round when he led by a good 5 shots, the tournament was as good as over. His record of not losing a tournament when he is leading after 3 rounds, remains intact. Now, Woods heads into a well-deserved off season, after what has been a hectic but hugely successful season for him.
October 1 - Schumacher wins the Chinese Grand Prix (a race that Alonso should have won if not for the technical problems with his car & the pit stop) and thus ties Alonso atop the season's driver's championships leader board, with 2 races remaining. This is the first time that Schumacher finds himself in here - at the top of the leader board, since late 2004.
October 7 - The Champions trophy starts with an expectedly lop-sided match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Mumbai. The only thing I used to like about the past editions of this tournament was the fact that it was mostly instant elimination. You lose a game, you are out of the tournament (partly a reason why Australia's cricketing resume is incomplete without a Champions trophy victory). But this edition of the tournament looks to me as though it is too long (it spans almost a full month), bcos the instant elimination or sudden death concept has been put away with. Plus, bcos of that, the teams have so many days between games, which makes following the tournament a not so fun proposition. I would like India NOT to win this trophy bcos of the fact that no Champions trophy winner has won the world cup before.
October 8 - Alonso makes a strong comeback, by winning the Japanese Grand Prix and thus, with Schumacher not finishing the race due to a very rare Ferrari engine failure, he is now 10 points clear of Schumacher in the drivers Championships table and only a miracle in the final race of the season - the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 22 - can stop him from winning his 3rd consecutive drivers' championship. Schumacher is almost all set to go out into the horizon without a victory in his final F1 season. The only good news is that Ferrari can still win the constructors' championship. For Schumacher to win the Championship, both of the following need to happen - Schumacher should win the final race and Alonso should finish outside the top 8 spots. But what he said when asked about his chances in the final race of the season shows us what a great sportsman he is : As for the drivers’ (title) it is lost. I don’t want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title. I simply loved that attitude.
October 21 - The Baseball world series begins with the 1st game of the series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It has been a dream run for the Tigers who were not given a chance against the supposedly best-lineup in the Yankee history. But the Tigers defied the odds in beating the Yankees in 4 games and now are all set for playing the ultimate prize in baseball - the World Series. The Cardinals, after a loss to the Astros in the National League Championship series last year, now they get a chance to redeem themselves after last year's loss, going in touted as the best team in baseball.
October 22 - So, Alonso, it is. The Renault driver wins the driver's championships, after Schumacher fails to win the last race of the season which was won by team-mate Felippe Massa. That brings an end to one of the most glorious chapters in the history of world sports. It would be a fair statement if I were to say that it was bcos of him, that most of us took to watching & following formula one as a sport in the first place. He will be missed and I was sad that he didn’t get a chance to get out on a high, winning the driver's championship. And with Alonso's second place finish, his team Renault also won the Constructor's championship for the season.
October 28 – The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Series champions, by defeating the Detroit Tigers in 5 games. The victory gives the Cardinals their first World Series win in 24 years. The Detroit Tigers who went into the series with a full 6 days’ rest and who were touted as the favorites, failed to put it across a determined Cardinals team, who virtually limped into the post season with a mere 83 regular season victories. The Tigers committed an uncharacteristic 8 errors during the series, the most that any team had committed in the world series in 50 years.
October 29 - The 2006 NFL season just had their best game of the season which had the Indianapolis Colts play against the Denver Broncos at the Mile High stadium. Peyton Manning finally breaks the myth about the supposedly invincible Broncos defense, lighting them up for 3 TDs and 345 yards. It was a typical Peyton performance, with him clinically dissecting the Broncos pass defense. The game did live up to the level it was hyped up to, with the Broncos offense too having a field day. But in the end, a minute and 40 seconds proved too easy for Manning, as he drove 60 yards down the field and set up a game winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. It is amazing to see what this guy can do, right up to calling plays on the field and one shudders to think what the Colts would do without him. The one difference between Peyton and other quarterbacks that I have noticed is that while other quarterbacks throw to places on the field where there ARE receivers, Peyton throws the ball to places on the field where there WOULD be receivers. Many a time, you will see that at the time Manning delivers the throw, there would be no receiver in the area he is throwing to. That to me is the biggest difference. His wide receiver core is just so solid, that he is able to do that. All this sets up an intriguing match-up this weekend between the Colts and the Patriots, starring easily the 2 best quarterbacks in the league.
October 29 - India is knocked out of the Champions trophy, after an insipid bowling performance hands over the game to the Aussies on a platter. Defending a score of 249 on a good batting pitch, India let Australia off the hook, by conceding 100+ runs in the first 15 overs. After an amazing last season, where they even broke the record with 17 consecutive successful run chases, this has been one season the Indian team would like to forget. I am not sure what happened to the team over there in the Caribbean bcos ever since they returned from the West Indies, they have not been their usual self. The batsmen have consistently failed to put up good scores on the board and even on the odd occasion when they were able to, the bowlers botch it up. The dip in the form of each of the players has been alarming to say the least. Except for the last 2 innings, Dravid has struggled and Yuvraj & Raina's total lack of form just adds on to the woes. Those to me are the important reasons behind India’s downfall. Sachin struggled after 2 wonderful innings in Malaysia and as a Sachin fan, it pains to see McGrath get the better of Sachin one more time. Dravid and Chappell have the South African series, to set everything back in order before the big tournament begins in March. Something tells me that India is going to record their first test series win in South Africa in the upcoming series. Any takers?
October 1 - Schumacher wins the Chinese Grand Prix (a race that Alonso should have won if not for the technical problems with his car & the pit stop) and thus ties Alonso atop the season's driver's championships leader board, with 2 races remaining. This is the first time that Schumacher finds himself in here - at the top of the leader board, since late 2004.
October 7 - The Champions trophy starts with an expectedly lop-sided match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Mumbai. The only thing I used to like about the past editions of this tournament was the fact that it was mostly instant elimination. You lose a game, you are out of the tournament (partly a reason why Australia's cricketing resume is incomplete without a Champions trophy victory). But this edition of the tournament looks to me as though it is too long (it spans almost a full month), bcos the instant elimination or sudden death concept has been put away with. Plus, bcos of that, the teams have so many days between games, which makes following the tournament a not so fun proposition. I would like India NOT to win this trophy bcos of the fact that no Champions trophy winner has won the world cup before.
October 8 - Alonso makes a strong comeback, by winning the Japanese Grand Prix and thus, with Schumacher not finishing the race due to a very rare Ferrari engine failure, he is now 10 points clear of Schumacher in the drivers Championships table and only a miracle in the final race of the season - the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 22 - can stop him from winning his 3rd consecutive drivers' championship. Schumacher is almost all set to go out into the horizon without a victory in his final F1 season. The only good news is that Ferrari can still win the constructors' championship. For Schumacher to win the Championship, both of the following need to happen - Schumacher should win the final race and Alonso should finish outside the top 8 spots. But what he said when asked about his chances in the final race of the season shows us what a great sportsman he is : As for the drivers’ (title) it is lost. I don’t want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title. I simply loved that attitude.
October 21 - The Baseball world series begins with the 1st game of the series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It has been a dream run for the Tigers who were not given a chance against the supposedly best-lineup in the Yankee history. But the Tigers defied the odds in beating the Yankees in 4 games and now are all set for playing the ultimate prize in baseball - the World Series. The Cardinals, after a loss to the Astros in the National League Championship series last year, now they get a chance to redeem themselves after last year's loss, going in touted as the best team in baseball.
October 22 - So, Alonso, it is. The Renault driver wins the driver's championships, after Schumacher fails to win the last race of the season which was won by team-mate Felippe Massa. That brings an end to one of the most glorious chapters in the history of world sports. It would be a fair statement if I were to say that it was bcos of him, that most of us took to watching & following formula one as a sport in the first place. He will be missed and I was sad that he didn’t get a chance to get out on a high, winning the driver's championship. And with Alonso's second place finish, his team Renault also won the Constructor's championship for the season.
October 28 – The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Series champions, by defeating the Detroit Tigers in 5 games. The victory gives the Cardinals their first World Series win in 24 years. The Detroit Tigers who went into the series with a full 6 days’ rest and who were touted as the favorites, failed to put it across a determined Cardinals team, who virtually limped into the post season with a mere 83 regular season victories. The Tigers committed an uncharacteristic 8 errors during the series, the most that any team had committed in the world series in 50 years.
October 29 - The 2006 NFL season just had their best game of the season which had the Indianapolis Colts play against the Denver Broncos at the Mile High stadium. Peyton Manning finally breaks the myth about the supposedly invincible Broncos defense, lighting them up for 3 TDs and 345 yards. It was a typical Peyton performance, with him clinically dissecting the Broncos pass defense. The game did live up to the level it was hyped up to, with the Broncos offense too having a field day. But in the end, a minute and 40 seconds proved too easy for Manning, as he drove 60 yards down the field and set up a game winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. It is amazing to see what this guy can do, right up to calling plays on the field and one shudders to think what the Colts would do without him. The one difference between Peyton and other quarterbacks that I have noticed is that while other quarterbacks throw to places on the field where there ARE receivers, Peyton throws the ball to places on the field where there WOULD be receivers. Many a time, you will see that at the time Manning delivers the throw, there would be no receiver in the area he is throwing to. That to me is the biggest difference. His wide receiver core is just so solid, that he is able to do that. All this sets up an intriguing match-up this weekend between the Colts and the Patriots, starring easily the 2 best quarterbacks in the league.
October 29 - India is knocked out of the Champions trophy, after an insipid bowling performance hands over the game to the Aussies on a platter. Defending a score of 249 on a good batting pitch, India let Australia off the hook, by conceding 100+ runs in the first 15 overs. After an amazing last season, where they even broke the record with 17 consecutive successful run chases, this has been one season the Indian team would like to forget. I am not sure what happened to the team over there in the Caribbean bcos ever since they returned from the West Indies, they have not been their usual self. The batsmen have consistently failed to put up good scores on the board and even on the odd occasion when they were able to, the bowlers botch it up. The dip in the form of each of the players has been alarming to say the least. Except for the last 2 innings, Dravid has struggled and Yuvraj & Raina's total lack of form just adds on to the woes. Those to me are the important reasons behind India’s downfall. Sachin struggled after 2 wonderful innings in Malaysia and as a Sachin fan, it pains to see McGrath get the better of Sachin one more time. Dravid and Chappell have the South African series, to set everything back in order before the big tournament begins in March. Something tells me that India is going to record their first test series win in South Africa in the upcoming series. Any takers?
posted by Filbert at 10:21 AM
5 Comments:
Any takers for India winning "test" series. thats a joke and I would laught it off! India is struggling to win a one day match on its home turf, how can you even think of India winning a test series in SA.
Deepak, do not write off India yet. I am actually happy that there are no expectations on the Indian team, entering the world cup. About the test series victory prediction - just a gut feeling. Nothing else.
vj: i doubt
i doubt india winning the test series in SA. To me test match is a bowlers game. SA bowlers are always better compared to India. Also hope you remember how we fought to level the odi series against SA in home turf.
Like I have commented previously, its just a gut feeling-da. My instinct says that we will win it. Kumble and VVS will make a difference. Just like SA bowlers are always better than our bowlers, our batsmen are always better than theirs. Whatsay? :)
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