Monday, March 15, 2010

Chak De!


Finally, I think, things might now be looking up for our forgotten national game - hockey. Above is an amusing sight which I captured for you - children playing hockey & each one armed with a cricket bat!! Talk about one game at the cost of another!
On a serious note, it is surely the result of the good performance of our national team in the recently concluded Hockey World Cup and the much needed marketing efforts, which have resulted in to a revived interest in the game. 
Even though our team is obviously leagues behind the Germans and the Australians, I have the feeling Hockey in India is this time on the verge of attaining the critical mass, which would get things going. 
     

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Rahul,

I don’t agree with you regarding performance of the TEAM. It has rather gone worst.

After getting so much moral support (from the general public & business houses) to the cause of HOCKEY players - Most of the players just showed their interest in MONEY instead of GAME.

Prabhjot Singh was more interested to grab the CAPTAINCY instead of supporting the new talented RAJPAL SINGH. On many occasions, some old players were just interested to show their individual game – This affected so many GOAL CONVERSIONS – We lost TWO MATCHES because of this approach.

Other Key areas responsible for this debacle :-
1. Showing Team spirit.
2. Games technique.
3. Poor conversion of Penalty corners – We are having this problem from the last 2 – 3 decades and this is the basic cause of failure.
All European teams have learnt the GAME from us and very frankly they analyse our mistakes in the much better ways.
4. Poor Management
5. Poor Marketing - As only typical govt babus (With narrow thinking) are handling these areas instead of professionals like Lalit Modi.

I think hockey and all other supports should be run by PROFESSIONALS.

Dinesh

Rajesh K Thanua said...

Sir ji

When Team demanding "Cheque De" before a month, how we can expect chak de.

Life ka funda bada hi saral hai "pahle pat puja te kaam duja"

and Hockey winning is not like mango shake where you can add cherry and fruit at the end and taste will increase,
if our politician (offcourse not) or bussiness houses ( who announce prizes only before the game) really want to grow Hockey they should gear up our team from today till the next CUP then only we will CHAK DE.

Anonymous said...

Why don't we just chuck the game which has brought only national shame and a lot of heartburn?? Can't flog a dead horse.

The westerners have beaten us fair and square in every sphere which they learnt from us ......... science, mathematics, yoga.........

Babus can only mess up with the marketing or financials. What do you have to say about talent/skill. Nobody can take away that.

Best to move on............

Anonymous said...

The picture you have captured is quite good,it really depicts an ammusing and pleasent sight. Isn't it sybolic of future popularity of the game. Now the children are taking interest in this game and that is something great. Hope for the best.
S.V.Bhatt.

Rahul Gaur said...

Dinesh Ji / Rajesh / Anonymous
Thanks for your passionate comments. What I have tried to bring out is that more than the performance of our team this time, what seems to be really making difference is the general public attitude towards the game.
You would all agree that more people this time are taking interest in the game. If this continues, it would surely work, like it has done for cricket. Then, everything - professional management, money etc. would pour in.

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