This is a HUGE week in sports. Here are my thoughts, alphabetically by sport.
***
Cricket:
(If you’re not familiar with the sport of cricket, here is a little primer I wrote a few months ago. Or you can just scroll down to read my comments on other sports.)
Rather than this specific tournament, my first comment is on Twenty20 cricket itself:
If you’re going to limit the overs, then why the hell don’t you limit the wickets along side of it?!
I understand that the whole point of Twenty20 is to speed up the game, make it more intense, more high-scoring, and thereby attract a new audience. I’m cool with that; after all, I’m part of that new audience–I’m young, I’m a cricket neophyte, and I’m American. I think cricket is a great game, but, while I’d be willing to give it a shot, I’d be skeptical about actually spending a whole day at a match. Twenty20, though, is something I’m dying to see. I wish ProCricket was still around.
But while I’m keen on short-form cricket, I think the current version of Twenty20 sacrifices a too much of the integrity of the sport by essentially turning the game into a slog-out.
How to fix it? Limit the outs along with the overs. Say, 5 or 6 wickets per side per match. It would at least make the fielding and running count for something. And even with only 5 or 6 wickets to sacrifice, the batsmen would still be far more agressive than in ODIs.
Downsides? The only complaint I could think of with my idea is that it makes depth in the batting lineup less of a neccessity. But how much much of a neccessity is it now, anyway? Furthermore, if it’s that big of an issue, you could allow, or even require, teams to shuffle their batting lineups during the match. Sure it’s unorthodox. But so is the current form of Twenty20.
–
Now, as for this tournament, it’s going to be interesting. From what I’ve read, the South Africans have done a *gasp* good job organizing the event. That’s a good sign, especially condering the controversies about RSA’s preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I’m looking forward to it.
That said, retirements (Lara, Inzamam, McGrath), scandals (Shoaib Akhtar), and miscellaneous absences (Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Panesar) do take away somewhat from the star power.
(Aside: Notice how most of those players are from South Asian teams? If the Indian Cricket League really does take off, the PCB and BCCI will really have no one to blame but themselves. Honestly, I think I’m pulling for the ICL to succeed where Packer failed.)
I’m going to try to follow it as best as I can. And I’ll be cheering on my WIndies.
(I get good mileage out of this photo.)
Australia should take it without much trouble, although I’d be looking for an upset or two in this tournament thanks to the nature of Twenty20.
***
Football: I have mixed feelings on football. I love following it, but actually sitting down and watching a full game can be brutal. It’s not so bad on TV, but I just don’t like going to games. Regardless, the season just started, and I’m excited about it. A few comments:
- Syracuse sucks. I mean, we’re just plain awful. How does a team fall that far, that fast? And how did a new AD and new coach not change things at all?
- The Philadelphia Eagles need to make Andy Reid aware that this is his last chance. He’s 90% perfect, 10% terrible. That’s great 90% of the time, but that’s not something we Eagles fans should settle for. Today it was special teams. Last game last year it was clock management/playcalling. Same with the Super Bowl. He’s just not getting it done.
- My fantasy team is, once again, incredible. Go White Hor*R*se Homebody!
***
Ice Hockey: Stateside, rookie camps are underway, and training camps are opening very soon. The Flyers’ rookies actually have a real scrimmage this Wednesday against the Washington Caps rookies just down the road for me!
The European pre-season is wrapping up, and the Swiss regular season opens on Friday! I can’t wait. I really have no idea how Fribourg-Gottéron will do this year, but I’m hoping for th best. Their new website, by the way, sucks something fierce.
***
Soccer: The Women’s World Cup opens this week in China. I’m not sure I’ll be up early enough for the games, but I’ll be trying to follow it anyway. They say group B is going to be damn near impossible. I’m certainly no expert, but I just can’t see the US having much of a problem. Also, this is supposedly going to be China’s warm-up for the Olympics. Let’s see how it goes.
The officiating today in the USA-Brazil men’s friendly was horrible.
(Yep! It was a FIFA weekend, the same weekend as NFL openers, and just a few days before the Women’s World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20. See what I mean about it being a huge sports week?!)
Today’s Netflix Pick was Bend It Like Beckham. (I figure that’s slightly more excusable than normal since my previous pick was a classic exestential drama). The girls were cute, the message was good, and the movie was entertaining enough overall. But the acting of Jess’ mom and sister was a little too over-the-top, and I hate movies where thing after thing after things goes wrong (Meet the Parents is one of my all-time least favorites).
2.5 stars out of 5. But I’m definitely not the target audience.
DC United just finished a stellar week. It is absolutely killing me that I haven’t been able to see this team this year. Hopefully I’ll get to see them at least once this year. I’m also hoping to visit DC for the MLS Cup in early November. I’m hoping I get to visit DC one more time before that, but it’s not looking too likely. I miss it down there.
Filed under: Cricket, Current Events, Ice hockey, Movies, Soccer, Sports
