Team Dynamics

So, the day I had unknowingly been waiting for finally arrived. That is another story that it took my room mate four-five attempts to wake me up on this particular day.

I was finally going to get to play ! And that too a team game, something I have rarely done. FYI, I am no sports person. I don't have medals to speak of. But, I love Sports. And yes, like loads of other professions that I could have excelled in, I have often dreamed about winning the Wimbeldon or an Olympics medal.

Move on to the day. There was going to be a throwball and a volleyball match. Throwball for the ladies and Volleyball for the men. All geared up to play for my team, Team Blue Monks ( Yaah, I knowwWWWW, its silly! ), I came to know that there was going to be some shuffling because of some missing team members. One of my team had to go to the other.

Numbers were assigned to every person. Whoever's number was called out had to play for the other team. I was assigned five. I went away to practice not expecting a five to be called out when there were Eight numbers to be chosen from. I mean what are the odds!

"FIVE", I heard a voice shout. NO !! This can't be. They call Not three ... Not seven .... FIVE !

With a funny feeling, I went to play for the other team. It was a sudden shift from what I was mentally prepared for. My solace? I was going to be playing with one of the best sportswomen I have come across, my room pal, Al Arab Ballafi.

Game 1 begins. Instead of going into the details, Ill make it easy. We were Royally screwed.

And then it happened.

God sent us an angel. An angel who was dressed in pink, truly representative of something called as 'Victorious Secret'. Yes, it was Vinnensota, our very own Mir Ranjan Negi.

Innundating us with his wisdom-ous wisdom, he pumped us up to play as a team, to shuffle players and to attack the other team on its Achilles' Heel. No later, tables turned. From being down to a very shameful score, we went ahead and took a lead in the score. There was a definite shift in the momentum and the team was visibly gelling together. There were hi-fi's all around and an urgency to defeat the other team.

And me? Well, Not for a split second did the thought come into my mind that I was actually playing against my own team. All that mattered during those few minutes was that I give it my best and get the team I was playing for, home.

We lost eventually, but not before putting up a big fight. The team (under the able guidance of our coach, Of Course) stuck together and fought well. As for me, I did not know exactly what to feel. I wanted to be happy for my actual team, but it was not that easy!

It was a Team Win, but a Personal Loss.

I got a good taste of team dynamics that day. Like I said, I have never played official team games. Except for the time when my two bodyguards ably defended me during PaintBall. That actually makes for another interesting story.

Anyhow, my team stands at position 2. The "Monks" are meditating ( Bah! ). Looking forward to more team games.

Till then, Adios !

The Ways of cricket

The past couple of months and the coming up months have been and will be a blessing for sports lovers. With awesome action promised in a wide range of sports, people have another excuse for gluing to screens and downing gallons of beer.

By the way, the above statements aren't meant for the typical Indian sports lover. The typical Indian fan's love for sports ...err... sport is heliocentric. It revolves around that billion dollar baby called cricket.

I don't need to state what has been stated again and again. Cricket is religion; cricketers are revered, with a certain player amongst them achieving the status of the infallible. The craze is sometimes claustrophobic, so much so that it was actually refreshing to meet someone who neither looked once at the screen showing twenty two men in green battling it out to stay alive in a cup chase nor passed a single, mind you, a single cricket-related comment during the three hour battle. There was a bet though. It was quite interesting that with such cricket infested brains all around us, someone successfully resisted the escapist and usually less painful route of "Religion" conversion. But, I won the bet. :)

The morning papers had totally lost it. Apparently, the ominous clouds overcasting India's world cup hopes suddenly had a silver lining. That sliver of hope, I think, had made the cricketing world mental. From analysts to 'experts' to commentators to ex-captains, everyone was out there giving their valuable opinions to the one-time champions and proving how complex calculations, performance of other teams and application of laws of probability could make India scrape through. The stage suddenly looked so perfectly set for the betting fraternity to keep the cash registers ringing. Surprisingly, India's almost promised premature exit had felt relieving. Not so surprisingly, the sudden flutter almost inconsequential.

But the real show stealer turned out to be the newspaper editor! After dedicating pages and never-ending lines to the above-mentioned, he finally selected Page 4 of the sports edition to give the Indian hockey team some respect for defeating the world champions for the first time in seven years. The respect was succinctly contained within fifteen lines.

Such is the madness. But like I say, there is always a charm in madness.

:)