Exception(al) post 2
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Sahara, an Indian company, announced a prize of 2 lakh or 0.2 million Indian rupees to each player after India's 4-1 win over Pakistan. In the very next match India lost to Australia 5-1.Too much burden you know ...
12 comments:
And now.. 5-2 to spain too.. the burden is really too much for them to handle.
@ Trideep______________There's something wrong-- be it in the System, player mentality or the new game dynamics.
Like Systemic insufficiencies include poor training facilities, playing infrastructre and planning and management.
Wrong player mentality: In India people generally take hockey as some card to get Govt. jobs. It's only after they get Govt jobs, they start thinking about the country and winning. To summarize, professional integrity towards the profession, i.e. playing hockey is absent most of the times. Patriotism gets awakened just before major tournaments.
New game dynamics: Game has become too fast with long passes, which has affected negatively for India and Pakistan.Poor infrastructure, aggravates this aspect.
Here I want to mention the revolt hockey players did just before this tournament. Is this the way to represent a country. How can they expect to play well.
Most of the times games like hockey compare themselves with cricket, and that is entirely illogical.Certain things go in favor of cricket -- 1)it's more popular 2)Unlike hockey it's not too technical 3)it needs less equipment 4)it doesn't need very specialized playing infrastructure 5) It can fend for itself.
Sachin Tendulkar gets a 75 lakh per annum annual contract, as people buy tickets to watch matches. How can hockey players expect the same money for them.
Hockey is India's national game, that's why Govt accords patronage, no matter how small it's, to it. People don't watch hockey in general and don't buy tickets, that's why Govt. supports hockey from tax payers money and supports players with jobs.
So it's time to get realistic, either shed off the patronage and fend for themselves; or else be contend with the status quo. Whatever patronage a poor country like India is providing, it's a sufficient reason to perform well, if not brilliantly.
AB,
What Indian Hockey needs is money. Not from the govt or tax payers.. But in the way of sponsors or business groups... No matter how unlikely it seems.. its true.. Money would bring in infrastructure.. money would bring in better facilities.. it means players are more committed...
I think that in this era.. no sportperson plays for the country.. the players are professionals and play to earn.. Just like we work in organisations and we dont have much loyalty towards the company we work for.. so don't expect players to do it for the sake of country.. You pay them money and they will play better...
However, in the two loses for India in this WC.. I feel the skill mattered a lot.. They were slower than the opponents.. lacked the determination to win... and in someway marred by old bad habits..
Hope hockey gets money from somewhere.. and we see better performances from them in the future.
Trideep,
In addition to money you need leadership.. There is enough talent in the country to harness, if we so choose to.
Look at cricket.. Till 83, cricket was a city based sport. Hockey ruled the roost then. What did the BCCI do? They were ot bound by the Govt dole outs and so they went about and carved a market for themselves, cashing in on the opportunity that the WC win afforded them.
In 1993, Dalmiya and Bindra took on the GoI when they said that DD should pay them for TV rights and not vice versa.. Since then, they have monetized cricket to such an extent that the GoI now wants to tax the BCCI :).
Also, at the same time, cricket has become a pan Indian sport, with representation from every nook of the country.
HI has a golden opportunity to propagate hockey on the back of this WC, irrespective of the result...The question is, will they show the leadership reqd?
Cheers,
@ Trideep_________I agree with you Trideep on certain points like -- players play for money, as at the end of the day, everyone has to arrange for food and living.
But I want to put a pov—the reality is Hockey can never compete with games like cricket (and football). Why? there are some strong reasons to it.
If a child adopts any game at childhood, then hockey is not suited to be mass game.
1) Unlike cricket which can be played with a single bat and a ball; Hockey needs same number of sticks as there are players.
2) Unlike cricket which can be played anywhere, all it needs is just some plain stretch of land; and any child can dream of playing a country with such a humble beginning; Hockey needs advanced infrastructure right from the beginning. It’s not that moving from gali cricket to playing on a mat is easy, but the adaptation is easy and takes less time. But the adaptation from a grass ground to Astroturf is difficult and takes time.
3) I can’t say of the golden years of Indian hockey, but the level to which cricket has reached in the country; hockey will find it even more difficult to get some hold now. Entire generations in the country have passed their childhood, without holding a hockey stick. So from where will one get spectators? If fathers have not played hockey, from where will they get motivation to give sticks to their wards. And if some one says, for the revival of hockey, people will buy tickets for long and tell their kids to lay hockey then it seems highly unlikely.
Players also know that that’s why ,most of the times they are content with the Govt patronage. But when they see cricket in all glory, then they start feeling they are being neglected and not shown much love.
@ Homer_______ I agree with you that more than the money (as money comes only when there is hope of magnified returns; money without expectations only comes from comes from benevolent country)it's some bold steps that includes leadership to revive Indian Hockey.
But Cricket like surge seems unlikely, as entire generations in the country have passed their childhoods without ever holding a hockey stick. They don't know, if a player plays well, how tough it's to play that well. So a large number of people don't relate to hockey at present.
Monies play an integral part. But the intent to play for country should be loud & clear. Our Indian Hockey Players are talented enough, but again the intent is not that clear. If they play with pride, they can overcome all the shortfalls of sponsors, training facilities etc. For that there’s only one way, play with commitment and win more often than not. Yesterday some one was saying "Hockey seems to getting more fast paced and interesting than cricket" Agreed that its fast paced, but at no point it can be compared to cricket. The number of hours is a huge differentiator. Its because the cricket team is winning matches, creating records that no one has made, and in all records, we Indians tend to come closer, its popular. Look at the commitment level of some of the cricketers and look at the way they handle stardom
There’s lots to learn from cricketers for our Hockey players to bring the sport to the level where cricket is.
@Paresh__________I agree with you, more than the money, it's the intenet which needs to be made non-ambigous.
It's also a realization of the fact that, not every profession or career is as lucrative as some other. It's all about choices one makes in his/her life. If a person has chosen a teacher's job, he/she can't expect to have money like Ambanis. Or else if you want to earn enormous , then start something innovative.
Teh problem with hockey is players want teh same riches as is with cricket players. But they forget that cricket fends for itself. And sitautions turn bad, when hockey players adopt the mendicant atttitude.
@Paresh____________Almost all national hockey players have good Govt jobs, which by no terms are bad, Instead they are good. And the Govt gives such support to Hockey players as it knows, Hockey is not cricket.
So I think there is ample reason for hockey players to remain motivated. A poor country like India can't support a game like cash rich nations.
@Anil
Skills cant be taken away whether u have govt job or not. One cant be stripped of the natural ability. Ya but sense of security motivates one, and that motivation needs to be in Indian PLayes
there are many fathers of success... but the failure is an orphan...
@Straight Point_______________And if the orphan has a Govt job; then what you said becomes more prominent. :)
jokes apart,
hasn't the current state of Indian hockey, has to it more than success and failures ?
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