Cruelty of Sports (Life)

Those who are close to me know I am a big fan of sports. I absolutely love the way I was raised ; outdoors! I was never really a homey person who plays computer/video games albeit a period of time when i was all crazy over fifa, prince of persia and the blue brothers to name a few:)

First and the only game I still play frequently these days is badminton. My dad drew a badminton court at the backlane of my home and I started playing with my brothers and dad since I was 3! Then we would cycle around the neighbourhood together with my cousins, even made new cycling friends:) When I moved to Pulau Tikus (where the all so good chiu chang ka char koay teow is btw), there was a nearby army training camp. We would go there on the weekends and play war games. It does sound pathetic now as the furthest we have gone was using gunpowder. It must have been great if paintball was already famous back then lol! Not to mention the frequent swimming sessions as well. Hiking up no.84 (halfway point of pg hill) was almost a weekly affair with my dad and siblings.

I think kids my time were pretty creative when it comes to the outdoor games. Kids these days I see are all computer/video gamers...boring. then again, i think it's a non-city kid thing too considering when I share my stories with my kl friends, they sounded pretty amazed. haha
badminton can be played over the house gate, ping pong using the dining table and tennis at home, how about that!:) I have to say we were pretty resouceful and we would settle for anything just to play. short dining table? extend with a platform supported by chairs!

My cousins, brothers and I would also gather for mini-futsal sessions as well at my cousin's pretty huge garden. Sadly, I have not played much football ever since I started wearing specs. No contact lens for me as my eyes are too sensitive:p I used to play tennis and squash too, basically i get interested in whatever is thrown at me, but the only game I really like was and is still badminton.

So now I have to settle at only watching football. A big fan of Man Utd, supported them since I was young. I remember those younger years when their style and never-say-die spirit really impressed me and got me following. great players have come and gone, yet the team's still at the top! 3 years running and they just thrashed arsenal 3-1 last night, totally outclassing Ars. Which was my point of the title having detoured quite a bit (lol), I am also a fan of Arsene Wenger's style; attacking football, a great scout and the ability to develop young players. If there had to be one opposing team to win the league, I would respectfully give it to Arsenal. I think they deserve it after all the hard work Arsene has put in. Sadly, football and sports generally are cruel. Winners will continue to win and losers will continue to lose most of the big competitions. I reckon it has got a lot to do with having a strong winning mentality.

It is something that great winners like Sir Fergie, Roger Federer and Lin Dan have that you can't take away from them too often. You can only give credit to these winners as they always seem to up their games in major competitions. More so when they are written off by the media critics. Just look at federer, he had a bad end to 2009 and most people thought he's off with a total of 15 grand slams. It was just amazing seeing him play yesterday, back to his best and adding to another grand slam. Nobody knows how much more will he go on to win!

I am also a big fan of Chong Wei as I think he has been the most consistent player Malaysia has ever seen since Rashid. I honestly think it's just too bad he is in the same era as Lin Dan. I feel people just got to understand that there are some natural talented winners like Lin Dan but at least Chong Wei makes it up by training hard. The coach has always been very proud of his training ethics and that alone earns my respect. I've always been very critical of Malaysians who criticised him for losing so badly in the olympics final. Yes I was disappointed too but I thought he lost most of the matches against Lin Dan only down to mental strength. These highly critical people did not even watch how he got to the final! Skill for skill, I think he's better but he just got to play the same attacking way against Lin Dan which he has failed to do so far. Hopefully he can get the better of him this year, especially it being a Thomas Cup year.

I sure hope most people understand the level of commitment sportsmen have to put to get to the winning level. It's obviously not as easy as people who sit at home munching on junk food highly criticising the players. As life has taught me, hard training/work does not guarantee you success, that's the cruelty of life! some people are just smarter or more talented in whatever they do. Don't know about you, but I prefer supporting someone who is down to earth and true worthy champions like fergie, federer and chong wei!