RUN, JUMP AND PLAY*

*(CONDITIONS APPLY)

So,we have come to the end of the greatest show on Planet Earth.Unless you were on a vacation to the Moon or had stolen a ride on NASA’s Mars rover aptly named Curiosity, you would have known that. And for those of you who still haven’t figured it out,I am talking about the Olympics. The endless discussions about which athlete did what and by how much dominated conversations everywhere. It was not as if everybody understood what they were talking about or infact what they were listening to but when countries do battle against one another,everybody becomes a patriot and everybody has an opinion.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you but the problem with us Indians specifically is that we are all just armchair pundits.Everybody has an opinion,everybody has a way out but nobody has the guts to do anything about it. So,while we swooned at male athletes who would have converted a nun and female athletes who would have converted Elton John, our own athletes cut a very sorry figure.  It was with disdain that I watched a country with a population of more than 1.2 billion people fail to produce even a single Olympic gold medalist.

Sure, we have our excuses. The number one excuse is that we are a race that is not built for sports,that we just don’t have the physical stature to compete with others on a global stage, that we are just too small. That argument  might perhaps have had some validity if we were a country of a hundred million people.But,in reality we have a population of more than 1.2 billion.The law of averages states that ,if you start looking for a person over  7 foot tall from this population,sooner or later you surely will hit the jackpot. We just need to look at the Chinese for inspiration.They are a race who perhaps have a smaller built than us. But look at the way they are performing – Participation in every single event and medal hauls good enough to finish 2^nd in two consecutive Olympics. They follow the exact same philosophy.They go looking around for genetically exceptional parents who are either very tall,strong,flexible or have had a noticeable sporting history  and as soon as their child is born,they provide complete care for the child and his family including education,financial assistance and world class infrastructure wherein he can grow up learning and mastering his chosen sport from a very young age.Its a sureshot way to make champions. Of course,this method followed by the Chinese has significant flaws too, as the child usually has to live away from his parents from a very young age. Moreover  the mood in these camps are akin to that of a military camp where the children are harshly punished if they don’t excel. But, if we were to learn from their mistakes and take this concept and put it into practice in a very organized,understanding and sophisticated manner,we would no longer be the sleeping giants that we are today.

Another favorite argument is that we just don’t have the infrastructure to match other countries.That statement is not even an excuse.If we don’t have enough infrastructure, we don’t have anybody else to blame other than ourselves.There is reason for this dire lack of infrastructure and that is the shameful lack of interest and the subsequent lack of funding that the Government invests in sports other than cricket. The Union Budget for the year 2012 put aside only a measly total package of Rs 1,152 crores for sports in India.I call this measly for good reason  as the Indian Olympic Association had requested for around Rs 4,000 crores as the total package.This deficiency of nearly Rs 3,000 crores makes it very difficult for the various sporting federations in India to do what they actually need to do for the betterment of their sport.In stark contrast,the annual income for the BCCI is a staggering Rs 868 crores and they also just deposited a whopping Rs 1175.86 crores in various banks in the country.It is estimated that the interest earned with just this single deposition will be around Rs 97 crores per year. This gross neglect of sports other than cricket will only make us more of a laughing stock in front of the watching world every 4 years.

Now, just forget all these arguments and excuses and let’s focus on what I consider to be the most important reason for the failure of sports in India – The Mindset. In India, sports is not considered as a means to earn a living. It is considered as a pastime and as soon as a child starts loving it or starts spending more time on it,he/she is crucified by their parents and asked to sit down and learn, for that is the only thing that can make him successful.  Sure,there are exceptions but this is the sad fact in most Indian homes. In countries like the United States, almost every kid plays a sport of his liking every single day after school. It is understood that parents and schools have to encourage children to play more and they take the utmost pride in doing everything possible for the same. Parents find time and joy in dropping their children and picking them up from various sporting activities. Whether the child goes onto become a professional athlete is another matter altogether as it is quite understood that all children do not have the capacity to become one. But it’s this intent and mindset that is sorely lacking in our country. I know for certain that there are some people in this very college, who have the requisite level of raw talent needed to perhaps have a career in sports. But sadly, none of them made it, primarily because nobody was there to harness that raw talent and make it into something more. Many of them are even in this college just because their parents forced them to. That is the sad reality plaguing our country. Everybody wants their child to be a doctor or an engineer as soon as they are born. Their career is basically decided for them while they are in the womb itself. Any deviation from this train of thought is considered to be haram. It’s this very mindset that we should all try to change.

At the end of the day, there’s  no point in blaming each other and pointing fingers at a multitude of different factors as a reason for our failure in sports. The fact of the matter is that, whatever said and done, it’s not going to change anything. Change will only be brought about if we decide to walk the talk and be more pro-active. The only thing that is in our hands is the future. A future, that we should not allow to be plagued by the same prehistoric mindset that has ruined our past. We, as the youngsters of this great nation have a moral responsibility to do so. So, let’s not overthink decisions and let’s learn to enjoy the moment. More importantly, let’s promise to bring our kids up in the same way. Let’s encourage them to make decisions for themselves and allow them to do what they truly love. After all, we all just have a single life, don’t we?

The story of a Newcastle fan in India.

Greetings lads and lasses.

This is my first blog post and I wanted it to be about something close to my heart. This article has been published on one of Newcastle United's fan blogs already but I wanted to share it all the same.Hope you all like it. This is the story of how a boy living so far away and with absolutely no connection to Newcastle United or the area became an ardent and fanatic supporter of the club.

Now, I was born into a middle class Indian family in South India (Kerala to be precise), one which had a strong lineage of doctors. Both of my parents are doctors, as is my uncle, and we have a hospital, so it’s fair to say that sports was not exactly paramount in the family. Incidentally it was my Dad who introduced me to the beautiful game almost 12 years back. I remember the first match I saw on TV was Leeds United against…well..uhmm..somebody I really don’t remember.

Moving on, the manner in which I became an NUFC
fan was purely coincidental. I remember glancing at the league table that popped up on the TV one night while having dinner with my family in the year of 2001 and right on top of the table was Newcastle United. The name instantly struck to my head partially because I thought we were the best and partially because….well, I just simply liked the name to be honest.

At this point of time, I knew nothing about various clubs and who were the best and all that, so I decided to support NUFC, although I vaguely remember my friends were all Manchester United fans – I actually thought then that they were being stupid and I was the intelligent guy for supporting the best team around!

We subsequently threw away that lead in true Newcastle fashion and finished 4th in the league that year behind only Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, but by then my mind had been made up. I had fallen in love and I still remember the lap of appreciation that our boys took that night around St James Park. I vividly remember the emotions on the faces of Nobby Solano and Laurent Robert and also the fans. It was then that it struck me just how much it meant to everyone.

The next season was even better and we managed to give a real title push, at least for about half of the season before fading off and finishing 3rd that year. The legendary Sir Bobby Robson was doing a great job with the team and I was starting to dream. Trophies, goals, top scorers and everything in between was drifting through my head.

I couldn’t have been more wrong though as from then on started the dark days in the club’s recent history. The 2003-04 season wasn’t a disaster by any stretch of imagination as the club finished 5th and wasn’t too bad in the Champions League but it still provoked Mr Freddy Shepherd to fire the much loved and admired Sir Bobby Robson. It was true that we hadn’t qualified for the Champions League and that we failed to get past its group stage, but it was still not a big enough reason in my books to fire the great man.

The club then chose to appoint Graeme Souness as the manager and we finished 14th in his first season. That season will stick in my mind for the fight between Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer on the pitch in the match against Aston Villa. I remember almost being in tears as I saw two players who were supposed to have the club at heart fight like that in front of the watching world. And to add insult to injury, every single one of my gloryhunting friends had a field day teasing me about it!

That summer signalled the beginning of the arrival of the money grabbing losers at the club with Michael Owen and Albert Luque amongst others. My hopes, like every other Newcastle fan, were raised sky high only for it to come crashing down.The great Alan Shearer also retired at the end of that season and that left a gaping hole in our team which has yet to be filled and which I doubt will be filled in the near future. A finish of 7th that year was followed by a 13th placed finish and then a 12th placed one as Souness was replaced by Roeder who was then replaced by Big Sam Allardyce.

The Mike Ashley express then came to town and was met with a sense of optimism from me, and he actually made some pleasing moves by sacking the unpopular Allardyce and replacing him with King Keegan. It was a hugely spectacular and popular decision which turned out to be a match made in hell. Keegan resigned within six months leaving us with Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and Alan Shearer in a desperate attempt to stave off relegation, which was subsequently unsuccessful. I remember sitting in front of the T.V and literally crying as the scenes of relegation unfolded after a spineless effort from our team.

That was a time when, if I am being honest, I took stock of my love for the club. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see any matches as the Championship was not telecast in India and I was in hostel doing my Medicine degree and hadn’t bought a laptop yet. I knew I would face a lot of teasing and bugging from everybody around and I had no idea whether we would bounce right back. But, all those doubts lasted only a few moments as I realised that if there was one club in the world I could support, it was Newcastle United.

That year was particularly tough as I couldn’t see even a single match live and literally had to follow every match through live text commentary on the Sky Sports website or on my phone, most of the time at 2 or 3 in the morning. Those were hard times but I managed to get a laptop by the time we won the final game and lifted the trophy and I also managed to see us win a huge trophy in pre-season against Deportivo.

The season that has just gone by was a highly fulfilling one. I managed to watch almost every match and we played some decent footy. Although I got a lot of stick from many fans for the sale of Carroll and sacking of Hughton, I believed that we had enough to see us through, and eventually we did come through.

So, to sum up, I am now 22 years old and have been a fan for 11 years now and I have never met a fellow NUFC fan face to face all this while. I don’t have an NUFC jersey as Puma or Adidas don’t sell our jerseys in their stores in India and its too expensive to buy from the official store as the delivery charges are double the cost of the shirt. I have never been to a top level football match in my life and can only dream of how St James’ Park will be in full voice.

Despite all this, I believe I am as ardent a fan as anybody. I am so interested in the club’s news that I keep updating Newsnow, Twitter and this ‘blog every five minutes just to see if something new has come up, so much so that my friends tease me saying that I would even know when a player has gone to the loo!

I love my club and I stand up for it against anybody, even if I am outnumbered 10:1, which is mostly the case. I know that although every single fan of the other so called “BIG” clubs take the piss out of me for supporting Newcastle, deep down they admire me for sticking with my club.

I am fiercely proud of my club and looking back, I am actually happy that it was Newcastle at the top of the table on that fateful day in 2001 and I didn’t go on to become a gloryhunter, because despite the results, the passion and love that is associated with Newcastle is unique and special. My dad is ruing the fact that it was him who started my craze as it has become the first love in my life, surpassing my medicine course.

I have big dreams of doing my residency in Newcastle or in the UK, or at least coming to St James’ Park one day and seeing our heroes and the stadium with my own eyes. God willing, I hope one day I will be able to.

And if anyone is wondering if I am an optimistic or a pessimistic fan – I am an eternal optimist. I believe that God gives you only one life and its up to you make yourselves happy, even if that means letting yourselves go and dreaming for sometime.

My name is Deepak Venugopalan and this is my story.