Five Moments In Time - Part I

"Now I'm not a fanatic about sports, but I'm no casual observer either....lemme tell ya I'm enough of a sports fan....." - George Carlin

This post is really a tribute to an RV senior of mine, Shomodipta Biswas aka Shom. Yesterday at Casa's, the topic somehow turned to 'earliest sporting memories' and he was telling us (Gowda, Ashanka and me) about his five earliest defining sporting memories, and how they..well...converted him. I've decided to put down my own reminiscences, but first a reflection of sorts on what it's all about.

It's about childhood recollections, particularly of those pre-STAR TV days. It's not really a 'those were the days' sort of thing. It's about loyalty from a young age. I mean, why do we support the teams we do, and why do we always remember the players we do? Shom gave us the gist of the answer yesterday, something like "Back then, you know nothing about the sport. But someone comes along and provides that special moment of magic, which wins you over." That moment becomes a part of you, an indelible stamp in your head. After all, it's an impressionable age, and it sticks with you forever. A bit like seeing your first Elizabeth Shue or Katy Mirza picture and being able to recognize them years down the line. I've been a supporter of the New Zealand Cricket team for fourteen years now (yes, even when they play India), and having seen umpteen lows and a few highs in that period, it sets me thinking about the whole loyalty from a young age thing. For example, thanks to the suitably aggresive marketing of ESPN STAR's telecast of the Premier League, English Football is suddenly 'in'. Enter Roman Abromovich, and Chelsea FC effectively buys rather than creates a star team (OK, they are a good side with a great manager, but..). And in the process many a football watcher suddenly discovers he's a die-hard Chelsea fan. He now can't stop defending Mourinho's comments in the press, or talking about the 4-5-1 formation. For me, however, it's never been about either the best team or the underdog. It's always been about who or what captured my imagination at some point in time. Someone to identify with.

The five I've selected are not necessarily my favourite sporting moments. They're simply a random set of five that somehow hit me hard, in a personal sort of way. They are not quite my earliest memories either, but they all go back a long way. I've decided to split them into two posts.

1. The Kiwis' dream run in the 1992 World Cup
Specific moments:The opening game at Eden Park against Aus - Martin Crowe getting his hundred, and Chris Harris' throw from the boundary to run out David Boon.
I had to put this at number one because it's made me a kiwi supporter for life. This was a tournament in which the Kiwi's could do no wrong, until Inzamam ul Haq happened. I started following cricket only a couple of months earlier, watching the Indian's getting thrashed in Oz. Here was the team that gave it back to the aussies, beating them comprehensively. As the tournament went on, Crowe pulled off some daring tactics which worked brilliantly on their irregular shaped grounds, and I was spellbound. As for this match, Crowe's hundred will always be my favourite captain's innings. Prior to the tournament, he was at war with the selectors and the media and public thought he shouldn't have been the skipper. Chris Harris is probably my most admired cricketer. I guess his quick fourteen in this match, not to mention the stunning direct hit from the boundary sums up why - a real oddball of a cricketer with a gutsy manner and a certain odd flair. An eccentric looking bowler who (at that time) sent down teasing medium paced leg cutters, he was simply one of the world's best fielders, even though that tournament is remembered more for Jonty Rhodes' fielding. He's now been told his career is practically done, but that's another story I'll blog about later. For the record, I watched only the conclusion of the NZ innings and the entire Aus innings in someone else's house since we didn't have STAR, and saw the entire highlights package in the evening.

I've stuck by New Zealand ever since. In the last decade, their numerous defeats at the hands of the Aussies have been particularly hard to swallow. However, it makes the victories taste sweeter. Following the kiwis has been a roller coaster ride, a bittersweet experience that seems to keep my loyalties even more firmly grounded.

2. Wimbledon '93 Final - Sampras beats Courier
My tennis initiation was 1991 when I saw Jim Courier taking on John McEnroe in some ATP tour match. The match, complete with McEnroe's outbursts, was won by Courier and I found myself rooting for him thereafter. It was then, a big disappointment for me when some fellow American called Pete Sampras (I just knew the name at the time) ended his Wimbledon dream with a 7-6 7-6 3-6 6-3 victory in the finals, exhibiting a perfect serve and volley game as flawless as his temperament. Now, Sampras lifting the Wimbledon trophy for the first time was essentially a defining moment as far as my tennis loyalties went, rather than the match itself. So I somewhat resented Sampras and his domination of the sport after that, and firmly put myself in the Courier-Agassi camp. But my anti-Pete stand was a bit unfair, in retrospect. Courier had been the world numero uno the previous year and his career went downhill after this. In the mid nineties, Sampras beat Courier in two epic five setters (Aus '95 and French '96), both of which had similar patterns; Sampras trails by two sets, breaks down when told "Do it for your coach", and heroically comes back to win in five. Again, it turned me against Pete. Courier had the matches all but wrapped up, and after all this courtside drama from pete, he finds the crowd cheering for his opponent and the match taken away from him. From then on, nothing that Pete Sampras achieved could ever endear me to him. I remember cheering out loud in '96 when he lost to Mark philippousis in the 3rd round of the australian, and in that Wimbledon Quarterfinal against Richard Krajicek. I was also a firm supporter of Agassi when he and Pete had their rivalry going on. But Pete could still do no wrong. To me he was like the annoying teacher's pet who stood first in class every time.

Pete was considered one of the game's 'gentlemen', the nice guy who still finished first, but I never did fully appreciate his value to the sport till the turn of the century maybe, when his apparent decline began. In 2002 when he seemed down and out, he still had enough gas in the tank for one last grand slam title (the US open). I'll remember him as the sportsman I once loved to hate, but he eventually won me over through his sheer guts and the quality of his game. I had a similar quirk against Steffi Graf at one point of time, but when spoilt brats like Martina Hingis took over, I found myself celebrating Steffi's comeback, culminating in that French open final of '99 where she beat Hingis.

(Tailpiece: Hingis has returned now, and I now find myself gunning for her. I really wonder why.)

Part II coming up soon.