Way to go

There are three sportsmen I admire bordering on worship. And none of them are new additions to my list of favourites, it's since 1989-1990 that I am amazed by these superb athletes and following them closely on a regular basis. One each from my three favourite sports, they are the incomparable, adjective-exhausting Vivian Richards, artistic Marco van Basten and charismatic Andre Agassi.

Well, I could go on with unwavered enthusiasm about each of these greats, but let's keep it for some other time. I thought of writing this as an introduction to this speech by Andre Agassi after his last match at the US Open last year. My dream was to see him in the US Open 2006 since it was his last hurrah and I could have been in New York. But, as fate would have had it, I was in India during that time. This is what he had to say to all his fans wearing his professional gear for the last time. Quite impressive and inspiring. Times changed and so did his form, appearance and image - but in each of those 21 years he was there, the loudest cheer in any part of the world would always come for Andre. When a fan would say, "We love you Andre!" he would respond, "I love you too, man!"

Watch it here..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7lO23K8wi0

TV again

I switched on the television after a long time yesterday. The channels I get here are from the basic package the cable company provides - and, hence, are not worth raving for. Morever, I am not a TV regular and do not fall in the 'everybody' group that loves Raymond. Neither am I an English movie/music buff. I am not into basketball, baseball and golf - that is shown almost always in the sports channels. This leaves me totally out of choices and I just managed a princely combined duration of 2 FIFA world cup matches and another 20 minutes in front of the TV in my apartment in five months.

Yesterday night was different. After a long time, I switched it on for the Australian Open Women's Semifinal match between Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters. The match turned out to be almost entirely one-sided as Sharapova cruised to a straight-set victory. Much to my disappointment, though - Clijsters, along with Justine Henin-Hardenne, is one of the two women I like in the circuit at present. Sania Mirza remains a sentimental favourite nonetheless.

Talking of tennis, if I were to pick just 2 of my favourite players, I'd pick Andre Agassi and Gabriela Sabatini. They remain my favourites from as early as I can recall.

I am not interested in the men's game after Agassi's retirement and would not want to watch Sharapova vs Serena Williams. So I guess I had my share of tennis viewing for now. Will Sania Mirza break into the 30s once again? Would there be any different champion in the men's grandslams this year ( other than the 3-1 between Federer and Nadal)? These are the questions I'd be having this year...