Football! There might be many of you who are into football and watching the NFL 2009. Being born in India and having seen soccer, American Football is new to me and so far I have not been able to develop an interest to watch and understand this game.
It’s not that I don’t love sports, I do. But I am more into what I call the “debonair” sports. These games basically do not have displays of raw brute force or fights. Hmm, okay, these do have a lot of heated verbal exchange from name-calling to dropping an F-bomb to even a racial slur. Even better, ah?
So, how can these games be debonair?
Very simple, these are games that have a lot of style in not just players making style statements (that too, a lot!) but even in the way the games are played. Debonair is defined as “having a sophisticated charm”. From the way these players stand, to the way they bat, serve or even catch a ball or the way they jump, run or swim is a visual treat. A bonus treat is that these games have good-looking players, both men and women.
Okay, I am simply referring to games like tennis, cricket and those that I catch during Olympics like gymnastics, swimming, track and field etc. The beauty of the serves and the returns in tennis – does anyone remember Goran Ivanisevic’s beautiful aces or Pete Sampras’s returns? And, who can forget the style statements of Andre Agassi with his long hair-do and colorful outfits and need I say more about all the Russian women tennis players? As far as I can remember, this idolizing of beauty in tennis started with Gabriella Sabatini, ring a bell? 
Coming to cricket, wow, where do I begin? The shots from Sunil Gavaskar, Steve Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar etc are stunningly stylish. The bowlers too, have a way to impress the viewers. My favorites are Kapil Dev, Brett Lee and Anil Kumble. Who are yours?
Moving on to other sophisticated sports (as I like to call it), can we ever have enough of America’s swimming sensation, Michael Phelps? When I heard a commentator describe his body, I was dumbfounded. I was like, is that an automobile or is it a human being that you are talking about, such sophisticated details, wow! Phelps is supposed to be like a fish having paddles (his arms) and flippers (his 14 inch feet). His short legs act as a hydrofoil enhancing his speed while swimming. Nice!
The only exception to this taste of mine (debonair sports) is Soccer and Basketball. I used to love playing basketball at school and now I never miss watching the NBA playoffs. As for Soccer, even though this game has quite a few brawls, pushes and some head butts every now and then, I simply love it. I mainly watch the World Cup for the main reason as Olympics because I enjoy the competitiveness and camaraderie between the countries that come together to play. I feel exhilarated to see my birth country and my adopted country win gold medals and championship titles. But I must admit that it’s disappointing to see my birth country (India) losing more games than win because of unhealthy politics that surround the players and the games. Oops! No, No, No, I am not going to talk about that ‘coz if I do, it’s going to be the longest blog ever. I will leave it to someone else to pick up from here.
Before I bid adieu, I have to share this awesome video of Usain Bolt. Cheers!
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