Atleast Sri Lankan board is sensible

This is an interesting story, The first time a country has come out and openly said that they don't have to go along with every whims of the BCCI.

There is a WTF quote from Niranjan Shah in the same article.

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo. "We will now refer the matter to the ICC, which is already debating the issue of unauthorised cricket."

I don't understand what he means by unauthorised cricket - what's wrong with a group of people getting together and playing cricket, in the process making some money by providing entertainment to people?

Nadal reaches the top

Nadal is guaranteed to become the No 1 tennis player in the world. It is good to see after a few years of Federer domination that new guys have come up and really put forward a worthy challenge to Federer.. This year's Wimbledon final was an all-time classic. It really proved that Nadal is here to stay and he is not just a one surface wonder. Given that hard court is his least favored surface, it should give Federer a good enough chance to recoup some lost territory.. All in all a wonderful competitive year for tennis :-)

End of Soccer Season '07-08

The soccer season 07-08 ended with an exhilarating match in the UEFA Champions League final between ManYoo and Chelsea.. and the season ended the same way it started.. a penalty shootout victory for Manchester United. They had done the same against Chelsea in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season.

Yesterday's final was one of those matches where you wanted none of the teams to lose. I was a happy neutral yesterday, having found that my past seasons' loyalty towards Chelsea was more towards its charismatic ex-manager Jose Mourinho than towards the team. As many critics have already pointed out, Drogba's red card was the decisive moment. Terry would never have taken the final penalty had Drogba been available and you never know what could have happened then.

The transfer period is going to be interesting as usual.. lets see how the teams shape up for next season.

Some reflections on the past soccer season:
1) Best Player - Cristiano Ronaldo ( it would have been grave injustice had his missed penalty had a serious effect, though his arrogance shown while taking the penalty was justifiably punished by his miss )
2) Best Team - Man Utd. You cant argue against the double winners..
3) Disappointment of the season - Barcelona.. From the lofty heights of 2006 European champions to this year's shambles. Can't just be bad luck. AC Milan comes a close second for having missed champions league qualification.

Expectations for next season.
I hope someone other than ManU/Chelsea win EPL, just to add more spice to the league. Also expecting a good show from Real Madrid in the Champions League. After dominating Europe till 2002, they have disappointed badly.. lets hope they do better next year.

Djokovic is really good

After the US Open I posted asking how good Djokovic is.. Now with his triumph in the Aus Open he has proved that he is good enough to be regularly competing with Nadal and Federer for the top honours. His win has set up the year nicely.. Lets hope it is a great year for "competitive" tennis.