It must have been love, but is it over now??

When I read SwB's post about sports, my mind raced back to when I was young. Maybe like 7 or 8 years. When sports was nothing but pure passion.

When the walls had posters (courtesy Sportstar) of Roberto Baggio, Valderrama, Careca, Canniggia and Enzo Scifo! When I did not talk to mom and skipped breakfast after she did not wake me up to watch Argentina play Romania in the 1990 World Cup! When Argentina's losing to Germany in the 1990 WC Finals and seeing Maradona's tears made me want to thrash Mathhaeus and Voeller.

There was a time when waking up at 4 am to watch Srikkanth and Shastri take on McDermott and Reid and Marshall and Patterson in Australia was routine. When the only one who used to watch cricket in my 3rd standard class was a guy called Chetan.

There was a time when each time Sabatini lost to Graf, the hurt was so much that tears would fill up and flow much to my embarassment! When watching the semis and finals of the French Open and Wimbledon was always accompanied by the sound of pouring rain and when any sport that was shown live on Doordarshan was devoured compulsorily.

When the highlight of Saturday was World of Sports at 3.30 in the afternoon and when sports like billiards and golf and equestrian were watched with zeal just because they were sports and were on TV. And when watching the Rovers Cup finals live on Doordarshan meant less marks in the midterm Dictation exam the next day. There was a time when the sole ambition in life was to play doubles with Leander Paes in the Davis Cup.

That same magic is not there anymore. Maybe Cristiano Ronaldo can never be Diego Maradona. And the joy of watching Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabakhar bowl to Kepler Wessels and Andrew Hudson is not the same as watching Manish Pandey's heroics in the IPL. But maybe its gone. That love for the game that came above everything else. Maybe I am a spoiled fan now. Because now, at the click of a button, I can check the cricket scores and the football scores and the tennis scores in less than a minute. Keeping track of sports across channels robs the charm and the thrill of watching a sport as though your future depended on the result. Watching sports on DD meant undivided attention. Nothing else came in the way, No meal times or phone calls or fights for the remote or the guilty feeling of not having prepared for the exams. It was a simple uncomplicated world where nothing else came before sports on TV.

Times have changed. Now I see kids in Man U jerseys rattle off the names in the EPL at the drop of a hat. They know who Paul Conchesky is and which club he is playing for and what position. And I make a mental note of googling Paul Conchesky because I am too embarassed to say I have no idea who the guy is. When I was their age, no one in my class was as crazy as I was. No one cared about Maradona and no one knew who Sabatini was. In the 6th standard, I was asked to frame a set of questions for the class on sports. It was raining, so PE class meant doing something indoors like a sports quiz where all the 5 rows were seperate teams was and I asked what I thought would be easy questions. Much to my amazement, not many knew what was going on. The tables have turned now. When friends discuss sports, I am forced to pretend that I know who the men's singles number 1 is, which team Ryan Harris plays for, and who is the captain of the men's hockey team. When everyone discusses Formula One, I have to keep quiet because I dont know the F of Formula One.

The lesson is, I guess, this - When you love something with all you have, never lose touch with it. Else, its a hard long road to get back to where you once were. The same passion, the same magic and the same nothing else matters attitude. Its gone and I dont know whether I will get it back.

P. S. -> I miss blogging. I miss the world of the blogs. I have missed out on all the blogs I once used to religiously read everyday. I am getting a hang of what all I have missed out as I read the posts on Swb's blog. Its a lesson for me to never lose track of the blog world. Because sometimes when you can relate and identify with bloggers and have no contact with them except through their blogs, its a pain once you stop checking your Google Reader feeds and you realise you have lost touch with those people. So now on, no more ignoring Google Reader. My favourite blogs which I have missed the most - Swb, Mizohican, Katchucrap, India Uncut and many many more. I have missed you. Also, I will post here more often. With all my willpower and might. I will try to.