Maria Sharapova: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Maria Sharapova retires rumours of her retirement.

What she said:

“I know many of you that I would be retiring today announcing my retirement but if I was ever going to announce my retirement it would probably not be downtown Los Angeles hotel with this fairly ugly carpet.”

Tennis diva Maria Sharapova infused some humour into an otherwise sombre press conference where she announced that she failed a drug test during this year’s Australian Open. She faces penalties from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) that range from a ban of one to four years.

Sharapova added:

“For the past 10 years, I have been given a medicine called Mildronate by my family doctor and it also has another name of Meldonium, which I did not know.

It is very important for you to understand that for 10 years this medicine was not on WADA’s banned list and I had been legally taking the medicine. But on 1 January [2016], the rules have changed and meldonium became a prohibited substance.

I was first given this medicine by my doctor for several health issues I was having back in 2006.

I was getting sick a lot. I was getting the flu every couple of months. I had irregular EKG results.

I had a deficiency in magnesium and a family history of diabetes, and there were signs of diabetes. That is one of the medications, along with others, that I received.”

What she really meant:

“If I were actually announcing my retirement, I would have done it at the Oscars on the red carpet.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“Red carpet, green carpet, magic carpet, who cares? Meldonium, thy name is Mildronate.”

Go Sports Foundation’s Handbook for young Indian athletes is a must go-to

In one of my posts on the Lodha Commission recommendations to the BCCI, a reference was made to Go Sports Foundation’s handbook for young Indian athletes and how a similar publication could be off immense help to aspiring cricketers.

Go Sports Foundation is a non-profit trust established in September 2008.

Their mission is to empower India’s future Olympians.

Their board of advisors consists of Abhinav Bindra, Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand.

Their programmes are broken up into two kinds:

• Athlete Development Programmes that include Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme,Badminton Development Programme, Para-Champions Programme, Abhinav Bindra Shooting Development Programme and Athletes’ Education Programme.
• Ecosystem Projects such as Athletes’ Conclave and Beyond the Finish Line.

The Athletes Handbook 2013: FAQs for the Young Indian Athlete is co-authored by some of the top names connected to Indian sport.

Bhishmaraj Purushottam Bam, a sports psychologist, a former Inspector General of police and qualified coach in pistol and rifle shooting answers questions pertaining to Mental Conditioning.

Sharda Ugra, a sportswriter and currently with ESPN Cricinfo, advises the young athlete how to interact with the media.

Deckline Leitao, a Sports Performance Specialist, replies to question on Fitness Training.

Dr. Korulamani Santosh Jacob, an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in arthroscopy and sports medicine and once team doctor to the Indian men’s hockey side, is all about Sports Medicine.

Nandan Kamath, a boutique sports and intellectual property lawyer and a graduate of Harvard Law School, the University of Oxford (on a Rhodes scholarship) and
the National Law School of India talks about legal and commercial issues. He’s also a former junior cricketer and Managing Trustee of the Go Sports Foundation.

Finally, Ryan Fernando, a certified Performance Nutrition Expert, dwells on Sports Nutrition in the final section.

The booklet’s foreword states:

“Professional help is not always easily accessible to the community of aspiring athletes. This Handbook of FAQs is an attempt to start bridging that gap.”

Some gems from this guide are as follows:

Bhishmaraj Purushottam Bam:

“Dwelling on past mistakes builds a wrong response and the errors creep into your system. This damages your confidence. Focusing on the result of the match makes it difficult for you to handle the challenges at hand well.”

“You need not waste unnecessary efforts in staying focused before the competition. It is your focus during the competition that matters. The pressure that builds up before the match, causing butterflies in your stomach, is actually a good thing as it indicates your keen interest to perform well. Do not link it with failure. Tell yourself that you are going to do very well since you are getting the jitters. Not feeling the pressure before a match is a bad sign, as it could mean that you are either bored with your game or are underestimating your opponents.”

“…form is very elusive and fickle. It can come in one match and disappear in the other. Learn to take every match very seriously. As the saying goes, ‘The better player does not win; the player who plays better wins’. It is your responsibility to play better.”

“If you have lost to a particular player a number of times previously, that is all the more reason for you to play better than him/her and win. Do not take others’ (or even your own) game for granted. Just keep trying to win the point being played and keep your focus on the ball or the shuttle. Look for a chance to meet that player again and again for playing him/her is a test of your mental toughness. Visualise your correct movements and not the mistakes made in the previous matches.”

“Do not be afraid of negative thoughts or doubts. They can cause damage to you only if you focus on them. Keep some positive thoughts ready for introduction and focus on them. If these thoughts are coming from your own positive experience they help a lot. Write a diary of excellence and enter in it only your positive experiences. This will help you build up a positive self-talk for occasions when the negative thoughts attack you.”

Sharda Ugra:

“What the outside world particularly also likes, which you must not forget, is humility. Talking down someone or something else may sound ‘confident’ but as you hope you will have a long career, remember there will come a time when someone may talk your hard work down in the same tone and you will not like it. You don’t need to be awed by your competitors but neither must you look down on them. Be respectful. At least in the media!”

“The first step to gauging trust is to see if the journalist passes the OTR (Off the Record) test: If in the course of a conversation you let slip a comment that you do not want quoted with your name in it, and say, ‘This is off the record.’ If the journalist uses it in their article quoting you and offers an apology like, ‘I was forced to’, ‘my boss demanded it’, or, ‘it was inserted by someone else’, it is necessary to be a little wary in the course of future conversations with them.”

“How do I avoid answering a question that I am not comfortable answering?
Ans: Say exactly – and always with a smile – any of the following:
’That’s not something I want to talk about.’ ‘That’s something I would rather not speak about.’
’I have no comment to make about that.’
’I have nothing to offer on that subject, thanks.’
If they ask the same question over and over again, you should say, ‘I’ve already
indicated that this is something I am not going to be talking about, so let’s move on.’”

“Ideally the media should pursue you, not the other way around and that happens through performance.”

Deckline Leitao:

“One should never go completely off fitness training even in the off season. It is always good to maintain 50% fitness during this period as it will help you get back in shape more quickly when the competitive season starts.”

“Remember the saying – Anybody can train when he/she feels like doing it, but a champion trains even when he/she doesn’t feel like doing it!”

Dr. Santosh Jacob:

“The primary role of the physiotherapist is to prevent injuries, and he/she should be able to identify problems in posture/technique and remedy them before a serious injury is sustained. When an athlete is injured, the physiotherapist plays a key role in aiding rehabilitation, helping the athlete regain peak fitness and return to the competitive arena at the earliest; and also prevent re-injury.”

“P.R.I.C.E.S. is the acronym for best practice in first aid that is internationally accepted. It stands for:
Prevention
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Splinting (to provide an external support to an injured portion of the body usually by the use of a brace or a well wrapped bandage strapping. The aim is to immobilize, to reduce pain caused by movement or muscle contraction).”

“A healthy athlete should be able to recover completely from donating blood in eight weeks, but he/she may lose some of the ability to train for the first few days.
Following a donation of one pint, blood volume is reduced by about ten percent and returns to normal in 48 hours. For two days after donating, you should drink lots of fluids and probably exercise at a reduced intensity or not at all. There is a definite reduction in peak (maximal) performance but it does not appear to affect training (submaximal) performance after 48 hours. So, the take home message is: if you are an endurance athlete or are about to enter an elite competition, do not donate blood. However, if it is off-season or an event is not lined up for roughly 3 months, it should be perfectly safe to do your social duty.”

Nandan Kamath:

“Early on in your career, you will be tempted to take every commercial offer that you receive. This approach may not always be in your long term commercial  interest. At the beginning of a career, it is best to focus on a small number of high quality sponsorships and endorsements. These do not come knocking often and one must often wait with some patience for them. The ability to refuse the wrong relationships early on increases your long term brand value and makes you far more attractive once you are an established international athlete.”

“…contracts are not “take it or leave it”. A contract presented to you by someone else will be drafted in a manner most favourable to that person and the first draft offered to you should act as a starting point and not the last and final offer. There is (almost) always room to negotiate the terms and conditions of such a contract and it is very important that you make sure all of your interests are protected and documented in the contract. It is customary to provide your comments and feedback on a contract and to attempt to have the contract reflect the positions you want through a negotiation process. A failure to negotiate means that you are likely to leave a lot on the table and lose out value that you might have otherwise been offered were you just willing to ask. An athlete who is aware of his/her rights and is willing to stand up for his/her own interests is always likely to be taken more seriously and, in the long run, will always get a better deal.”

Ryan Fernando:

“If the duration of the activity for an individual athlete is fairly continuous for 1 hour or longer, a sports drink is the better replacement fluid. However, if the activity lasts less than 1 hour, water is the best option. In either case, an athlete should have about 6-8 ounces of fluid replacement every 30 minutes during strenuous, continuous activity.”

“Unless a particular athlete has an allergy to milk or is lactose intolerant, there is no reason to avoid 1% or skim milk. These are an excellent source of both carbohydrate and protein with very little or no fat. Having 250 ml of skim or 1% milk or yogurt up to 2 hours before a competitive event can even help boost blood sugar (forms of carbohydrate) for the early minutes of the competition. The protein will kick in with additional fuel a little later.”

Mike Tyson: Fighting

“Fighting is spiritual, but you just can’t see the spiritual in it because it’s mostly dominated by the physical aspect. We want to be Achilles in our own mind. The king of all fighters.”
—Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson at SXSW 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Federica Pellegrini: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

The Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Federica Pellegrini changes her telephone number.

What she said:

“Good. I have done it..thank-you for your messages of encouragement and congratulations. But obviously I have now changed my number.”

Italian swimmer and former Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini was forced to change her telephone number when she inadvertently revealed her contact details while publishing the results of a random doping test on social networking site Twitter.

Pellegrini was immediately deluged with tweets requesting her to hide her number while others wished to add her to their WhatsApp list of contacts.

After a few hours, Pellegrini responded as above.

What she really meant:

“Changing phone numbers was really easy, folks. The phone company is obviously first on my list of new contacts.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“What’s up with WhatsApp? What’s that, really?”

Shakira: What she said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Shakira soldiers on alone travelling the world.

What she said:

“It’s like being married to a soldier, except that he doesn’t die in battle.”

Colombian pop star Shakira is frustrated that she can’t holiday and travel that often with her soccer superstar husband Gerard Pique of Barcelona.

She explained:

“Gerard is anchored to Barcelona and can’t travel – they get a few days off a month, but otherwise he has to be there for his team every day pretty much, training and playing matches.

This has been a learning curve for me, because I like to travel a lot and I’m like, ‘What do you mean, you can’t go? Let’s go!’”

She added that she considers sports to be a good way to teach her sons, Milan and Sasha, the right values.

“But it’s interesting too, because I have been playing solo for all of my life and it’s very different to live with a person who has to think about his team and be mindful of them as well as of himself.

That’s why I want my kids to learn all about sports even if they don’t end up doing it professionally – the way it shapes the personality of children is just fantastic.”

Hips Don’t Lie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Speaking to Britain’s Hello! magazine, the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer said of her husband:

“Since the kids were born, a tender side of him has come out.

He is the one who changes the diapers and he is there for them as he is here for me – we had a conversation recently where I said that I was missing my career and he said, ‘You do your thing girl, and start making music again – I am going to be there for the kids.’

He is the rock of the family and he might be 10 years younger than me but he is also 10 years wiser.

One of the things that I constantly dream about for them (sons) and pray for, is for them to grow up really close to each other and be loving brothers, because my dream is for a united family.

I also want them to inherit a passion for what they do that Gerard and I have – whatever their path in life is, I want them to love it and to have commitment to their own ideals in life.

That’s not a bad dream, is it?”

Shakira is 39.

Pique, for his part in this tender love story, says:

“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens in the future. I’d like to sample another league when I’m nearing retirement; I don’t know if that might be in the US or South America. It’d be nice for it to be Colombia for ‘Shaki’, but no one can tell what will happen in the future.”

What she really meant:

“Being a soccer player nowadays requires not just skill but discipline as well. It’s a regimented lifestyle and Gerard simply can’t give in to my travel whims.”

What she definitely didn’t:

“When an irresistible force such as me, meets an immoveable object such as you, you can bet as sure as you live, Something’s gotta give, babe, something’s gotta give.”

BMC’s open spaces policy is controversial—to say the least

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recovered 34 of 36 open spaces by January 28 on the basis of a notice issued on the 18th of that month.

But the battle for Mumbai’s green lungs is far from over.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered the taking back of 200-plus open spaces—maintained by private organizations. He also asked that the new open spaces policy be reviewed.

The BMC intends to outsource maintenance of these playgrounds and recreation areas to private organizations and corporate entities.

This has been opposed by activists who believe that it is the BMC’s responsibility to support these open spaces. They are of the opinion that parcelling out upkeep of these facilities leaves the door open to misuse of these open spaces as in the past when they were used to generate income via commercial activities.

The municipal body, however, claims that maintaining open spaces is not an obligatory function.

The BMC’s new open spaces bill tabled and passed in its assembly hopes to improve on the previous caretaker policy.

Seema Kamdar of First Post writes:

“After all, as the corporation says, taking care of the open spaces does not fall under its obligatory roster. Rather, it’s a discretionary activity, and clearly not important. All that it expects from its lessees for such spaces – also called RGPG for recreation grounds, gardens, parks and playgrounds – is a perimeter fence, a security guard and a toilet; the rest was up to its imagination.”

On the caretaker policy, Kamdar writes:

“The caretaker policy, developed in 1991, permitted construction on 15 percent of the area, such as club, gymnasia, etc. The history of the adoption and caretaker policy of Mumbai of public open spaces is criss-crossed with stories of rampant misuse, illegal construction, controlling public access or restricting their hours of free access, exploitation for commercial benefit, neglect of maintenance, poor or no security leading to encroachment and such brazen flouting of the rules.”

Sayli Udas-Mankikar writing for DNA India terms the new policy ‘draconian’.

She says:

“A draconian policy, it puts out over 1068 spaces, including parks, playgrounds and gardens spanning over 1200 acres, roughly the size of 588 international football pitches, up for adoption. Some of these are sadly fated to become ‘clubs’ under a special clause.”

She adds:

“There is no explanation to why the BMC, the richest corporation in the country, which has set aside Rs200-crore for maintaining open spaces — calculations show it comes to Rs36 lakh per plot — cannot maintain these little patches of green.

What is disheartening is the cavalier attitude of public representatives, who will be knocking on our doors for votes during the 2017 BMC elections exactly a year later. The Shiv Sena, which is putting up a fight to open up the Mahalaxmi race course as a public park, has been at the forefront of clearing this policy. The BJP sold a pup to the citizens by first agreeing to rework the policy, and then did a volte face to back the Sena. The opposition merely took to photo-ops a day later as a mark of protest.

The BMC gives feeble arguments to justify the policy. Without any defined objective, it favours private entities to qualify as adopters over the more desirable local community organisations. The selection committee itself has no citizen-representative or an expert to veto the administrative proposals. Issues like greening missions, sport, women’s safety, heritage, local culture and multi-use of spaces do not even find a mention. This does not behove a city with global aspirations.”

The new open spaces policy envisages placing the caretaker bodies under the Right To Information (RTI) act thus making them accountable to the general public.

Right to Information (RTI) expert Shailesh Gandhi  said, “This is not an open space policy, but kidnapping policy.”

Shailesh Gaekwad writes for Hindustan Times:

“It would make more sense for the citizen groups to now demand that the maintenance of open spaces be included among the obligatory duties of the BMC and of course a policy which favours the citizens, not politicians and moneybags.”

Mohammad Amir is the lone hit-man for Pakistan

Team India may have won their Asia Cup T20 encounter—not quite in a canter—but for a while, Indian fans could have believed that there was to be a reprisal of those Sharjah days when their arch-rivals Pakistan beat them more often than not.

It was not to be.

Mohammad Amir pulling on his jumper in the outfield. Taken during Pakistan’s third Test against England in August 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mohammad Amir had a point to prove and he did leaving India tottering at 8-3.

But he lacked support.

The knocking over of the top order brought back memories of India touring South Africa when Dale Steyn and his cohorts gave Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan a torrid time in the opening overs.

It just goes to show that even the best batsmen struggle against top-class pace bowling.

And it also reminded us why Pakistan were so quick to reinstall Amir as their main hit man.

Virat Kohli showed why he’s the most reliable bat in the side.

Yuvraj Singh struggled abjectly but stuck around till the end to see India through.

The next game in the T20 World Cup is eagerly anticipated.

Commentary on Lodha Commission recommendations to BCCI – IX

Chapter Ten: Constitution & Functioning of Members

The Lodha Commission believes that there should be uniformity in how the BCCI and its member associations are structured.

The BCCI is registered as a society. Members are either societies or companies.

Four Indian boys playing cricket in the street with a new tennis ball provided to them. Photo is taken in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Problems:

Membership & Privileges

Member associations do not have uniform rules for membership. Some associations allow clubs and individuals, others only have clubs while the rest have both individuals and patrons.

There exist very few guidelines for admission. Former Indian cricketers are denied membership to these associations.

Promotion of the game is hardly the priority at some associations. Tickets to games are made available to members first reducing the number available to fans substantially.

Associations are housed on premises at stadia constructed on leased premises.

Posts & Tenures

No specified terms for posts and no limits on the number of terms for an administrator are the main problem areas highlighted in this scection.

Voting

Proxy voting has given rise to unscrupulous practices when it comes to holding elections at member associations.

Compliance

Are member associations registered as not-for-profit entities compliant? It does not appear so.

Furthermore, associations registered as societies are less transparent than bodies registered under the Companies Act.

Expenditure & Infrastructure

The exists no or little accountability for the grants for ‘development of cricket’ provided by BCCI to members.  The facilities at stadiums remain abysmal and very few wickets or grounds outside of existing stadium are developed.

Lack of professionalism

There exist no separate layers for governance and management. Accounting systems are maintained on an ad-hoc basis.

Member associations lack vision and drive to generate revenue streams for themselves. They depend largely on the BCCI’s largesse.

Dual posts

The Lodha Commission prefers that when an administrator is elected to the Board, he/she must not be allowed to continue as an administrator at their respective state associations. This would prevent conflict of interest situations arising. National interest must come first.

Interference in selection

Merit is ignored when it comes to selecting players. Influence appears to be the main criteria. States are not fielding or selecting their best available talent.

Transparency

Transparency is lacking.

Constitution, bye-laws, accounts, expenditure, ethics guidelines and player statistics are rarely available or up to date on association websites.

The Lodha Commission states:

“Each State Association will necessarily have a website that carries the following minimum details:

1. The Constitution, Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations, Bye-Laws and Office Orders and directions that govern the functioning of the Association, its Committees, the Ombudsman and the Ethics Officer.
2. The list of Members of the Association as well as those who are defaulters.
3. The annual accounts & audited balance sheets and head-wise income and expenditure details.
4. Details of male, female and differently abled players representing the State at all age groups with their names, ages and detailed playing statistics.
5. Advertisements and invitations for tenders when the Association is seeking supply of any goods or services (exceeding a minimum prescribed value), or notices regarding recruitment, as also the detailed process for awarding such contracts or making such recruitments.
6. Details of all goals and milestones for developing cricket in the State along with timelines and the measures undertaken to achieve each of them.
7. Details of all office bearers and other managerial staff (including CEO, COO, CFO, etc.)
8. Details of directives from the BCCI and their compliances.

These websites will have to be maintained and updated at least on a quarterly basis. All the above information will have to be maintained at the registered office of the State Association and when sought, the same shall be shared with the applicant on the payment of a reasonable fee, as may be prescribed by the Association.”

The Lodha panel further dictates that the BCCI should encourage State associations to have as many cricketing grounds and fields instead of multiple stadia. This will enable greater usage and access. Existing grounds and facilities should be renovated and converted to turf wickets thus making international standard facilities available at a young age.

Furthermore, existing stadium should be made multi-sport facilities enabling other games such as hockey and tennis to be hosted if necessary.

Why best friends don’t necessarily make best teammates

Once upon a time, Shane Warne and Steve Waugh were fast friends.

As part of the mighty Australian side of the 1990’s and 2000’s, they were unconquerable, united in victory presiding over the world of cricket.

Right?

Wrong!

Shane Warne, in a reality show, called his former skipper “the most selfish cricketer I have played with”.

The reference was to his axing from the final Test in 1999 when the ‘kangaroos’ toured the West Indies.

Waugh initially preferred not to respond issuing a curt statement that read:

“I’m not justifying his comments with an answer.”

He later opened up to Triple M commercial radio.

He said:

“To be fair, not only Shane, any player I had to tell was dropped wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy telling Adam Dale he was dropped for a Test match or Greg Blewett. There were a number of players I had to tell they weren’t playing. As a captain, that is the hardest thing to do. But it’s also why you’re the captain, because people expect you to make the tough decisions for the benefit of the team. You have got to do that at times and you have got to be prepared not to be liked by everyone.”

He added:

“I guess, the main thing as a captain and leader, as long as people respect your decision, that is all you can ask. You have got to take a bit of a risk sometimes. It’s not always the obvious thing to do. Sometimes it can be gut feel, it can be based on facts…at the end of the day, you are a leader because people expect you to make a choice.”

Great teams need great players. And it goes without argument that these two giants of Australian cricket count among them.

Shane Warne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But it doesn’t necessarily mean that they always see eye to eye on all matters.

Even the best of friends fall out when their interests collide. And Warne was a strong contender for the top job in Australian cricket, only to be denied by the establishment.

The Spin King would have made a great skipper. Better than Waugh? That’s debatable.

Whatever the case, for a team to do well, their stalwarts have to  subsume their differences towards a common goal.

Waugh and Warne were able to do that and how.

Soon after their rift the Aussie side lifted the 1999 ODI World Cup with Warne coming good in the semis and the final bagging man-of-the-match awards. This after the side were almost knocked out of the tournament by South Africa.

Yes, they weren’t the best of pals. They still aren’t.

But they were also seekers of excellence in their respective fields.

Just goes to show that you don’t need to be the best of buddies to be teammates.

Just able to meet on common ground to get things done in the best manner possible.

Teammates, yes. BFF, no.

It’s possible that team-members become best friends.

But it’s not necessary that best buddies make the best teammates.

Paradoxical, yes. Untrue, no.

Leave your comments below.

Commentary on Lodha Commission recommendations to BCCI – VIII

Chapter Nine: Match-Fixing and Betting

While the Lodha Commission recommends the legalization of betting, it also urges making match-spot-fixing a criminal offence.

The panel prescribes amendments to the BCCI and IPL regulations on Corruption, Betting and Misuse of inside information.

The following safeguards would have to be provided while making betting legal:

• Regulatory watchdogs to check betting houses and bettors.
• Players, administrators and others closely associated with the sport to give income and asset details.
• Bettor licenses.
• Penal sanctions on offenders of bettor licenses.

To sensitize young players to the dangers of betting and the benefits of ethical behaviour, the following measures are to be adopted:

• A Cricketers Handbook on the lines of Athletes’ Handbook, 2013 (prepared by Go Sports Foundation) containing the Do’s and Don’ts and FAQs.
• Lectures and frequent interactions with cricketers and sportspersons with regards to game ethics.
• Integrity unit consisting of former players of repute to act as guides and mentors to young players.

BCCI must coördinate with States and their police departments to create a special investigating unit to probe betting and/or spot/match-fixing incidents.

The database of undesirable elements (bookies, fixers, etc.,) maintained by BCCI-ACU is to be shared with players and officials.

Every prospective franchisee owner has to be verified for criminal antecedents.