INDIA FINISHES LAST IN THE OLYMPICS

INDIA FINISHES LAST IN THE OLYMPICS 

HOCKEY vs CRICKET? Or HOCKEY vs MONEY?

EIGHT TIME CHAMPION SUCCUMBS

         

          While the whole India has been rejoicing in the glory of the six medals got by Indians in the Olympics, no one wanted or rather cared about the end of the hockey team. Why? They all new it already, didn’t they? The Indian hockey team was playing badly already! Why should they care about the failure when there are other merrier things to indulge in!

           India, once this name will elicit only one thing in the memory of the people. Hockey. That game the people play with sticks, trying to hit a ball that weighs many kilos, into a goal post that is guarded by a goalie. Many of them didn’t know more than this. But the word hockey gave them a pride that they shared with the whole nation. They were proud to say that they lived in the same nation as the Indian hockey players. Winning in Olympics was like a jewel added to crown already thrust with precious stones.

          But that is history now. Indian team played in 6 matches totally in the 2012 Olympics, just to lose in all the matches. And adding insult to the injury was the last match with South Africa, where they were thrashed with a score of 2-3. At the present stage, the Hockey team has lost their once established glory .What are the people saying about the loss? Aren’t we busy worrying about the cricket team selections to the world cup!

         Do we know any of any game, where people worry themselves right from the team selection to the distribution of prize money? Yes. We do. The game is cricket and the people are Indians. We have embraced the cricket at the cost of other games. We have totally forgotten other games and we don’t even realise that.

        As soon as a kid wants to play, he goes and gets himself a cricket bat. He watches cricket matches with such vigour and jumps and pumps his fist into the air when the Indian team wins a cup. We are proud of that. We should we. But the problem lies in enthusiasm driven only toward cricket. When have we spent our time watching hockey matches late into the night?  Blasted crackers for the wins? Pulled long faces when the hockey team lost? Have we? The answer is – these are unheard of. But there is an exception to our beloved cricket team. When did we change? What made us change? Do we even care?

         Do we smell money here? BCCI. Yes. BCCI, the supposedly richest cricket organisation in the world is the parent body for Indian cricket team and it is fetching out tons of money towards the game. We have not heard of any cricket player being poor. And because of the popularity that surrounds it; many sponsors and millions are exchanged for the telecast rights. We have evolved to a different level in this field. But look at the hockey scenario here. Many disputes between, the parent bodies of Indian hockey. Not enough encouragement.  Just has been facing the wrath of the Indians, for not playing well. But do we even have a say in that?

       I don’t think so. We don’t because we have never been the ones to accept the blames. And in the end there has been no development in the field of sports. In the dictionary of an ordinary indian kid, the word games translate into cricket. And other games are the ones they see in newspapers. The problem lies with the attitude.

    Why does, a country with a huge population struggles with medals? We are happy at having achieved 6 medals so far and the 6^th one is from Sushil Kumar in the 66kg freestyle wrestling. He has created history by getting consecutive medals in the Olympics. The Indian team to have achieved this honour already is the Indian Hockey team.

  It is high time we change our attitude towards games and start playing. When we don’t want to support our own national game and still embrace the leftover cricket game of the English people, we still have a long way to go in the world arena.

Medal Count, as on AUG 12, 2012.

Medals Breakdown

Total medals: 6

Current position of India overall: 56

	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
Shooting Vijay Kumar Gagan Narang	-	1	1
Boxing Mary Kom	-	-	1
Wrestling Sushil kumar Yogeshwar Dutt	-	1	1
Badminton    Saina Nehwal	-	-	1