" The passing of champions can be cathartic; it is part of the large, primitive theatrics that sports perform. "
Sports is an activity in which even the greatest winners, finally lose, if only because their bodies eventually give out on them and they can no longer do what they once did with what seemed such magnificent ease that set them apart from other mortals.
Although we are all aware that some athlete heros in team sports are primarily selfless, some largely selfish, it is very possible to have a hero who has it both ways, fulfilling his own hero's destiny while fighting unrelentingly for his team. Such a mythic man, is Anil Kumble.
Kumble's decision to retire has plunged the Indian Cricket fans into pathos. The moment carried an accumulation of memories and meanings that are involved in the drama of great athletes aging, failing and retiring.
There will be no way of estimating Kumble's value to the Indian Cricket team from a dignity and morale standpoint and Ganguly's value for getting under the opposition's skin. There are relatively very few athletes like Kumble and Ganguly whose glories and declines seem to acquire an emotional importance.
I shudder to think of the day when the "Great Man" bids farewell to Cricket. It will certainly be a day of national mourning.
Sports is an activity in which even the greatest winners, finally lose, if only because their bodies eventually give out on them and they can no longer do what they once did with what seemed such magnificent ease that set them apart from other mortals.
Although we are all aware that some athlete heros in team sports are primarily selfless, some largely selfish, it is very possible to have a hero who has it both ways, fulfilling his own hero's destiny while fighting unrelentingly for his team. Such a mythic man, is Anil Kumble.
Kumble's decision to retire has plunged the Indian Cricket fans into pathos. The moment carried an accumulation of memories and meanings that are involved in the drama of great athletes aging, failing and retiring.
There will be no way of estimating Kumble's value to the Indian Cricket team from a dignity and morale standpoint and Ganguly's value for getting under the opposition's skin. There are relatively very few athletes like Kumble and Ganguly whose glories and declines seem to acquire an emotional importance.
I shudder to think of the day when the "Great Man" bids farewell to Cricket. It will certainly be a day of national mourning.
1 comment:
...well written. lets hope the Great Man's day does not come anytime soon...2011 world cup beckons.
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