Sunday, March 20, 2005
Tennis! The Gentleman's Game..
One of the main pros of the tennis game is that one never makes oontact with the opponent. It's an absolute, yes! Finally, one cant debate me on this. It's confirmed, the hypothesis of no contact in tennis.
Ok, the reason im saying this is that there was a mini-brawl yest while i was playing soccer wif me fellow lads. My team, made of Mayel between the posts, sapek(fauzi 62nd min), chengwei and his friend reached a point where we colonised and terrorised the court by continous winning streaks.
Then came this team, thy shall not mention who. It was in fact an intensed game, with both teams gunning and hungry for victory to keep their feet within the court itself. But, like many other games, CONTACT was made between two, i should exaggerate, well-build gentlemans. From my position, it was obviously maximum contact where shoulders were boulded amongst each other and bodies shoved in order to win the ball. Every inch of muscle and every piece of energy were devoted to that 2s tangle between the two, well that i suppose. Let's juz name the two characters Ajax and Valencia, with Ajax being my team mate. I was flabbergasted after a series of matches and was asking for a substituiton when the unthinkable happened.
In what seems to be a friendly match, ironically filled with building tensions, Ajax, like many great wrestlers, belly flipped Valencia to the ground. Awkward silence broke out, and the 2, staggered in a conversation with it being the centre attraction.
Ajax: Hey, you think i scared of you ah?
Valencia: But i kick the ball what?
Crux of the matter is this. How can Singapore soccer closed the gap with the rest of the world when even it's social form of soccer as mentioned above, has elements of violence in it? How can we produce Ronaldinhos, Eto'os, or even Robben's when inspiring lads like Ansarinho and Super Pippo Avente, Sapek and Nasdinho are traumatised by such incidents. *evil laugh*
Soccer is about having fun, whilst others like Nike in particular, builds on the notion of soccer is about money. Their latest campaign, based on the grounds of racism, and the 2 baller IDs which bear Stand Up Speak Up, seems inappropriate and cant be applied in SEA soccer scene. Social football, sadly, has no forms of protectionism in it. If , in any case you twist your ankles or tear your hamstring, you have to pay it yourself when you visit the clinics. And worst case scenario, is when u engage yourself in a brawl, and you physically, mentally and emotionally hurt by other parties as a result of soccer itself, the FAS aint gonna intervene in that matter or motivate you to continue playing because fact is: It is none of their freaking bussiness. So how can one Stand Up and Speak Up when one is being threathend, while at the same time playing and in contact with his "enemy".
This is the social etiqutte SIngaporeans are living in. If not for the fact that Singapore has shifted from butter trade to an industrial intensive and knowledge based economy, we might just create slumps and ghettos in certain parts of Singapore. Well, we may not live in ghettos or slumps but the characteristics of the indigenous natives in well-developed towns in Singapore are considerably no better than those in the present day back alleys or ghettos in Latin America.
Singapore soccer, i shall deeply elaborate, would not make any progress in the near future. The recent triumph of the Tiger Cup was pure luck for me, not forgetting the fact the Singapore team recruited 3 foreigners in the lights of Bennet, Agu and Itimi. It was a tournament, designated not to crave the best out of SEA soccer, but rather to display an obnoxious and disarray performances by the countries involved. Sadly, when the Singapore team took to the field at the final, they adopted a meek defensive option whilst the Indonesians kept whining and moaning for a goal. Well, indra scored but, looking back at it, the Indonesians aimed at coming out strong but something seemed to held them back. But, its all over now, with the Singapore clubs plying their trade in the Asians' Champions League. Ze Roberto once said that if you're playing for a club in England, you gotta play like them, if not you aint gonna win anything. As for my case, I am playing in Germany and I have to adopt to German tactics and strategies.
Come to think of it, is there a Singaporean brand of football? Well, at the back of my head says gangsterism and violence, glittering on the outside and shallow on the inside. One brand you can relate to Singapore soccer though, TIGER BEER! muahhaahha...
OK now, back to tennis. Amz wants some enlightement on Tennis and here it is.
But first, Amz, imagine you and Ronaldinho are in a tennis game. You are playing against him. hahaz..The scenario: He serves, but you managed to score a point during his serve. That's a break point. Alternatively, you serves but Ronaldinho gets a point while you serve. That's a break too. The idea of a break point is that, theoratically, when one serves, he or she should be on the offensive and the probability of scoring is higher. Serving is also an integral part of the game, where players like Andy Roddick only knows how to score with aces and nothing else.
An advantage occurs when there's deuce: 40-40. And when a player gets a point in that situation after a serve, its adv for him. Its the same like saying 50-40 but i think the whites are more comfortable with saying adv. If u and Ronaldinho are tied 40-40(deuce situn here), and you score, they say advantage Ameera. I think such phrases do psyched you up and with the crowd behind you, chances are you might juz win the point. Imagine the umpire says, disadv ronaldinho...hahahaz
tapi pak kita anak muda! Ada cita rasa tersendiri!
tapi tok, sampai bila mahu jadi gini!
tapi mak, kerana ibu peritwi, maka tercetus revolusi ini!
Yassalam!
