State of the Union

If things weren't so outrageous, they would be downright hilarious, almost straight out of the National Lampoon series of slapsticks. Of course, I am referring to the state of the various "Sports Bodies" in the country. The BCCI and the IHF, being the two most important of these bodies, natually lead the way. We don't have Chevy Chase or Judge Reinhold, but no worries, mate. We got Dalmiya, Gill, Mahendra, Muthaiah (he's still hanging in there somewhere), Rungta et al who can do more damage. Throw in a few fringe characters like Azharuddin, Gerhard Rach and Batra; corporate 'khandaans' like Zee, ESPN and Doordarshan. You have a complete package. We're talking some serious fun stuff here. Name calling, court cases, elections and bloody palace coups. And sports to top it all off! Okay, okay...I guess it's not that interesting. In fact it is utterly frustrating. But hey, like they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...which in this case would be to see the funnier side. You see, it's an existential comedy, so the plots are not readily obvious. So play along, and somewhere down the line, you'll get it, even as the central cast continue to lose it (that's the whole point). We'll leave the criticism to passionate (like us) but serious (very unlike us) people like Harsha Bhogle on ESPN-Star. Oh by the way, Jason Dasey has a nice piece on an NFL player who does not quite fit the mould and has a global outlook. - NK