Who won?...Who cares?
How exciting is it to see a driver drive through his opposition en route to his fifth consecutive world title? A tennis player in his sixth straight Grand Slam final? Or knowing who is going to win his seventh-in-a-row cycle race? Or maybe .. 22 matches unbeaten in a lottery called one day cricket?
Sure, any of these acheivements needs a lot of talent, hard work and dedication.. maybe a bit of luck also thrown in. No doubt, it is what we call perfection. But is sport all about perfection? Or is it about competition?
Every champion needs a challenger to make his mark on the stage. Else what would remain would just be statistics, mere numbers in a record book. Would Sampras have been remembered if not for Agassi? I would say not. Five years from now, no one would remember any of the 16-in-a-row test wins, but I dont think many will forget the 17th game at Calcutta. Federer might win a lot of matches, but it is his games against Nadal that are most eagerly anticipated. Even Schumacher needed Hakkinen and Montoya, just as much as Alonso needs Kimi. It is the final ingredient needed to make a great career into a memorable one.
Sure, any of these acheivements needs a lot of talent, hard work and dedication.. maybe a bit of luck also thrown in. No doubt, it is what we call perfection. But is sport all about perfection? Or is it about competition?
Every champion needs a challenger to make his mark on the stage. Else what would remain would just be statistics, mere numbers in a record book. Would Sampras have been remembered if not for Agassi? I would say not. Five years from now, no one would remember any of the 16-in-a-row test wins, but I dont think many will forget the 17th game at Calcutta. Federer might win a lot of matches, but it is his games against Nadal that are most eagerly anticipated. Even Schumacher needed Hakkinen and Montoya, just as much as Alonso needs Kimi. It is the final ingredient needed to make a great career into a memorable one.
posted by Praveer @ 6:23 PM
9 Comments:
Good post Praveer...good perspective ..splly for Tennis..Federer seems like he will never b defeated...cut above the rest...
good post..applicable to eevry walk of life..as they say:
Better to be a pauper amongst kings than a king amongst beggars
@kavin: federer might be unbeaten amongst the rest of the field, but it is against the guy who has beaten him 4 times, that the game is most anticipated.
@mtalpz: it might be good for the ego to be the best in the pack, but it leaves almost no incentive for improvement. rather have a situation where you have to constantly evolve to stay in the hunt
@praveer: thts wht my comment meant! to be explicit...if u r a pauper amongst kings..u will keep striving to be at the top..as opposed to the other scenario!! duhhhhhh!!!!!!!
@mtalpz: i never disagreed with you. i merely reiterated what you had written.
:-)
the but confused me :-)
@anon: which 'but' are you talking about? there are 3 of them.
well said!
Its needs that person to give u a fight, in order for u to prove ur worth. I would like to add a few more:
Steffi needed Seles, Sachin needed McGrath & Shoib Akhtar, Shane Warne needed Sachin, etc. too to display their flair.
@sal: The list can go on and on. These were just a few examples to illustrate.
:-)
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