Carnival of Sports #1

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the first edition of the "Carnival of Sports". Although this is a new carnival, I am happy to receive 8 great entries that are fit to be here. Sports is an important aspect of life that has been ignored by many bloggers for long. I appreciate and congratulate my fellow bloggers who have displayed courage to write regular posts on sports defying all odds. I hope that the "Carnival of Sports" will attract more readerships in the days to come.

I will start with Cricket. My post "Indian Cricket: Battered, Shattered and Bruised !!!" depicts the saga of Indian cricket, which is going through a new low. That despite the fact that Indian cricket board BCCI is financially the strongest cricket board in the world. India is a sensitive country where cricket is considered as a religion. The people of India are deeply hurt over the team's depleted performance and the issue has snowballed further to a bigger controversy.

If you are a betting freak, you must read Matt Allen's "Betting Tips - Going Dutch" at SportsChump. You will get to know more about how to bet and where to bet. Since betting requires careful planning and proper scrutiny of the circumstances, this article with a number of useful tips is a must-read for the readers who are into betting or are set to join the fray.

Mat Allen presents another scintillating post titled Latest Comic Strip - Home, Away and Draw posted at SportsChump.

For baseball fans, Neil Keefe has come up with an interesting post titled "Red Sox Gamble, Yankees Win on Matsuzaka" at Bleacher Report. Neil has taken a fresh take on the Boston Red Sox' decision to bid $42 million for the exclusive rights to negotiate with Japanese star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, and how this decision could ultimately work in favor of Boston's rival New York Yankees.

Sports Crazy presents an interesting post titled "Pimp my sports drinks - cheap and tasty DIY solutions" at SportsCrazy.net. Athletes drink a lot of sports drinks in training. The important ingredients of a sports drink are: water keep the body hydrated, salts to both aid in that hydration (salt makes the solution isotonic) and to replace lost salts from sweat, and carbohydrates (sugars) for energy. To know more, read this great informative post.

Swimming champ Ian Thorpe's sudden decision to retire shocked his fans. Milo Paulo presents a post titled "How Could Swimming Superstar Ian Thorpe Retire at 24?" at Milariono, in which he argues that Ian should not have retired at an early age. I agree with the writer that Ian still has a lot to show to the world and more importantly to his fans.

Tom Hall presents an interesting blog called "The Scottish Football Blog". Tom provides regular updates, news and events related to Scottish Football league. Don't miss out his post "A New Era For Scottish Football?".

Chris Dolley presents "Three-Legged Football and The Giant Wrigley's Spearmint Gum Relay" at Author Chris Dolley's Journal. These two new games are really interesting.

Last but not the least, Starling David Hunter presents one of the interesting sports posts of the week, "End It Like Beckham" at The Business of America. To know more about the new "Beckham Rule", go ahead and read the entire post.

I thank all of you for participating in the first edition of "Carnival of Sports". I need your cooperation and support in making this carnival a successful one. Keep reading my blog and submit your entries to each edition of the carnival. Submission link is given on the side bar. Keep up the great blogging!!!

Indian Cricket: Battered, Shattered and Bruised !!!

The humiliating defeat at Durban gave a massive jolt to India's World Cup preparations. India's formidable batting line-up crumbled like a pack of cards before the South African pace battery. The sound of India's crushing defeat was echoed in the Indian Parliament where members across party line expressed grave concern over Indian cricketers' declined performance. It seems that Indian cricket is heading towards a premature death under the leadership of Greg Chappell and Dravid. The Indian "tigers" are answerable to the billions of this country who gave them the status of god.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Indian cricketers were never comfortable against a genuine pace attack on bouncy pitches. However, yesterday's performance only showed their lack of confidence and inability to learn from the past mistakes. If things continue to run this way, Indian cricket will meet the fate of hockey, which has almost become a dead game in the country despite bringing glory to the country for several decades. If performance is the key, then what players like Sehwag and Raina are doing there? It's time for the selectors and BCCI officials to take lessons from Lara who single-handedly converted an inexperienced team to a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Carnival of Young Politics

Hi Everyone! If you are interested in reading amazing political news, opinions and reviews, visit this week's 'Carnival of Young Politics' at eFIPO, which is hosted by Jeremie Beaudry. Fortunately, my entry 'Verdict on Saddam' is also featured on this carnival.

It's not Ethical, Mr. Jethmalani !

It's an irony that a maverick, infamous lawyer like Ram Jethmalani is holding the entire legal system of this country to ransom. His definite intention of bullying the court and the public is not only condemnable, but also unforgivable. Here the question is should there be any code of conduct for the lawyers who compromise on their ethics and morality for cheap publicity or monetary benefits. Perhaps, it's the right time to think on this sensitive issue, which is related to public interest.

(Jessica Lal, Photo: AFP)

The whole world including the intelligentsia, media, legal community and common people have no doubt that Manu Sharma, the son of a former Union Minister and ex-Haryana Minister had killed Jessica Lal in Tamarind Court bar seven years ago. He was first acquitted by a trial court, thanks to the manipulations of the evidences by some policemen. However, the media pressure shifted the case to the Delhi High court where it was proved that some influential people played spoilsport to weaken the case.

When the case finally seemed to be on right track, Ram Jethmalani jumped into fray saying that a tall Sikh man killed Jessica, not Manu. Before that he also sought the transfer of the case by questioning judges' integrity. To the shock and surprise of millions of the country, he did not hesitate to malign the character of a poor girl who is no longer there to defend herself. What types of ethics Mr. Jethmalani is following? Would he have done the same thing had her own daughter or daughter-in-law been a victim of such atrocity? Even his family members denounced his action. Mr. Ram Jethmalani may win this case by his shrewdness and unethical practices, but he will lose the trust of an entire nation that will remember him as the most notorious person after Nathuram Godse.

Best and Worst Companies in Customer Service

In the increasingly competitive world, customer service has become an important tool for the companies to boost their growth and development. It is said that it takes months to get a customer, but it takes seconds to lose one. CRMLowdown presents an interesting article titled "The 10 Best (and 10 Worst) Companies for Customer Service", which listed 10 Best Companies and 10 Worst Companies in Customer Service. This is a must read for all types of readers. The article has become highly popular among netizens.

Management Strategies

When it comes to manage a blog network, management strategies play a vital role to determine the direction your company will follow. If you falter at this point, it is more likely that you will end up on the losing side. The competition is high with a large number of blog networks coming up day by day. Recently, I have written an article titled "Management Strategies: 18 Tips to Manage Your Blog Network" at BizNicheMedia. Don't miss out reading this article. It will provide you valuable tips on the management of a blog network.

Democrats' Victory: End of The Road for Bush?

As expected, Democrats finally managed to wrest the control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate from the Republicans led by George Bush. It seems that the Bush era is moving towards a sudden demise. It is more likely that Bush will be forced to step down before his term expires. The anti-Bush wave blowing in the US may sink him forever. Let's wait and watch.

Ponting to Apologize

Media pressure and the criticism worldwide (including Australia) forced Ricky Ponting to break silence and offer to apologize to Mr. Sharad Pawar for Australian cricket team's objectionable gesture. We hope that Ponting learned a lesson from this episode and in future he and his team will show good etiquette while dealing with people.

Arrogant Aussies

There is little doubt that Australia is the Champion of world cricket and no country can challenge its supremacy. However, the Australians are not at their best when it comes to politeness and humility. Success and fame made the Australian cricketers arrogant and rude, which is clearly visible from the incident occurred during the prize distribution ceremony of the ICC Champions Trophy final.

In a shocking gesture, Australian captain Ricky Ponting waved his fingers at BCCI president Sharad Pawar, asking him to come to him and hand over the winner's trophy. Pawar gave a smile and asked Ponting to come forward to receive the trophy, which is customary. The issue did not end there. After receiving the trophy, Ponting and his teammates pushed Pawar out of the stage, which sent a shockwave across the cricketing world.

Now the question is whether the action was accidental or deliberate. Even if the insult and disrespect shown to Pawar are not intentional, the Australians cannot be forgiven. They should immediately apologize to Pawar and more importantly to their fans, who celebrated with crackers and drum beating at Australian victory. However, it is most likely that the Australians deliberately insulted Pawar to avenge the removal of Darrel Hair from the Umpires' elite panel. Cricketers including Anshuman Gaekword, Kiran More and Sachin Tendulkar have condemned the rude behavior of the Australian cricketers in hard terms. Now it's time for the BCCI to fight for its dignity and take the matter with the ICC and Cricket Australia. The haughty Australians must be brought down to earth. Otherwise, there will be no let up in such incidents.

Should Muslim Countries Empower Women?

It is an open secret that Muslim women do not get the rights they deserve. Barring a few countries, most Islamic countries failed to revive the fortunes of their women. In the past, Pakistan had Benazir Bhutto as its leader. In Bangladesh, both the ruling party and opposition party are led by women. Still, Muslim women always lag behind others in terms political, social and economic empowerment. In this context, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's urge to the Islamic world makes sense.

Musharraf has urged the Muslim countries to empower their women - both politically and economically. While conservative forces in the Islamic world reject calls for greater rights for women in different spheres, Musharraf's call is seen as a bold step towards achieving total empowerment for Muslim women. According to Musharraf, it is necessary to mainstream and empower the women in the Muslim world. He made this call at the World Islamic Economic Forum. It is to be seen how the Islamic world reacts to this call. Before that, you people make your own judgment and comment on this issue.

Democrats Still Leading

The verdict on Saddam Hussein failed to twist the voters in the US. If we are to believe the latest reports, the democrats are still leading over the republicans in the run-up to the mid-term elections in the US. Now it will be interesting to see what the result will have in store for Bush and his political future. Will it be the beginning of the end of George Bush, who gained more critiques than followers during his tenure. The democrats are all set to cash in on the anti-Bush wave blowing in the country. For the time being, it seems that they will sail through.

Verdict on Saddam

Not surprisingly, the US-sponsored court in Iraq pronounced the death penalty for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. However, the question is whether he got a fair trial or not. There is no denying that Saddam was a dictator and used heinous measures to suppress his opponents. But irrespective of his stature as an oppressor and dictator, it is not right to deprive him of his basic rights. If this is done, then what is the difference between Saddam and the "liberal democratic government" of Iraq?

Had Saddam received the punishment in a fair trial, everyone would have welcomed it. But the US pressure on the judicial proceedings made the entire system a mockery before the public eye. The whole world is watching Iraq with curious eyes. The American intrusion in Iraq forced Iraq into a turmoil and the country is burning. Now, the death penalty for Saddam will further aggravate the situation. The US may soon leave Iraq after Saddam's hanging. However, there is little doubt that the situation will remain unchanged in the years to come. The history will never forgive the US for what it has done in Iraq.