Crow's Nest...

After a long wait we finally are going to get some kind of entertainment that is acceptable to all sections of our society.  We are going to have cricket played on our grounds.  We are going to have a few moments of fun and relaxation. Thank you team Sri Lanka for coming to Pakistan, to the rescue of millions of fans in this country.  If India can not be there for the fun and festivities due to political motives and gains we have at least some friends who we can look up to. Pakistan, Lanka first ODI today - GEO.tv

It should not be so but these days it is a sad thing to watch cricket matches being played under flood lights. Our country is in short supply of electricity yet our cricket board is adamant on promoting wastage of this valuable resource. I think PCB should take note of the sensitivities of the people on this issue and refrain from organizing matches under flood lit skies. It might be a spectacular experience under ordinary circumstances but during these times of trouble we must refrain from wasting resources of this country. Even if PCB is using its own generators for powering the poles the diesel used in these generators is costing our Govt. a lot of money. I think the PCB needs to look into this folly.

I have been a Sportingo follower for the past 2 years at least. All that time i had been meaning to write and be published at that portal but could not find enough momentum to get the work done. There were ideas floating here and there but nothing concrete could set in. But things have changed and i have my first work appearing on the website. It is about the decline of hockey in Pakistan. My initial draft was around 1200 words and talked about the topic in some detail but it was sent back for review and trimming down. After trimming and a very dedicated review by the editors the article is now on the website. I must remark that the team at sportingo has been very helpful all through the process and their attitude has really motivated me to write more. I plan to do so soon. Mean while you can read my article here or alternatively browse to more sports section and read it from there. Technorati Tags: Sportingo , Sports , Pakistan , Hockey

Eli Manning takes New York Giants to the finish with his nerves and extra ordinary play in the last minutes of the game. Tom Brady sacked time and again leading to his team finishing 16-1. Technorati Tags: Super Bowl XLII Powered by ScribeFire .

Following the Colts' playoff loss to the chargers , many Indianapolis players and coaches are fearing the worst -- that coach Tony Dungy will step down and head off into retirement. It is a sad day for the Colts as they lost to chargers in a game that they lead till the first half. Dungy kept on coaching after he lost his son to a suicide. His team won the Super Bowl last February . He is famous for transforming the teams he coaches into winning combinations with a style and dignity. He teaches professionalism and efficiency. When he was with Tempa Bay , Dungy turned a one-time expansion team into an annual playoff contender. In Indianapolis he turned a team into a confident but disciplined bunch. He is loved by the team members and the assistant coaches and inspires a spirit to perform into them. Powered by ScribeFire .

LSU has won the national championship in a game against OSU last night. The game was played at the same stadium that gave refuge to the people affected by hurricane Katrina. Since I reside in the winning team's state I could not be left un-affected. So much so that my 7 year old nephew was fighting with me to get him home early from his tuition so that he could watch the game. The first question he asks me, when we are home, "Moiz mamu which team is LSU?" But still there was so much gossip going around in his class about the game that he got interested even if didn't want to. such is the love for the game in this country. OSU started the game on an offensive note in the first quarter, but this was not to last for long as LSU soon recovered never to loose their lead in the remaining 3 quarters. The biggest problem with OSU's game was their offense. It seemed to work only for the first 5 minutes of the game and afterwards was completely blocked by the LSU...

He has done it! He has done it in style. He has done it in faith. Muhammad Yousaf has broken the record and he has carved a place for himself in the history books. I am away from home and have limited exposure to cricket here but even that couldn't dissuade me from reading the commentary on my computer screen, ball by ball. Great time of excitement for any Pakistani the moment he hit the ball off Collymore to the on side to hit a four and with it bring down the record that has been there since 1976. Have a look at his year in pictures and treat your eyes with a glimpse of real style and taste of trance in his eyes. The man seems to be ecstatic. There is certain something in his eyes and on his face (apart from the healthy looking beard) that makes me feel he is just asking to be given the next challenge so that he can be upto it.

I don't know if I should be writing this. Muhammad Yousuf is just 47 runs short of record that has stood for the last three decades. But the length of time itself is not as important as is the person who was responsible for making it, Viv Richards. Viv Richards is the name that strikes terror in the hearts of the bowlers of his era to this day. He is one class that speaks for itself and thus record of highest number of runs in a calendar season. Muhammad Yousuf is in magnificent touch this year. This is the golden time of his batting. And he is only 47 runs short of breaking the record that Viv Richard held for the past 30 years. He still has one innings to go in this calendar year. I hope that he is able to break this record. This will be a unique honour and will do good to Pakistani cricket. I think this gives me enough of an incentive to pick up the phone and chat with Murtaza as he will be fully able to share the essence of what I am trying to say.

In the past hour or so i have read quite some views on the cricket controversy that arose in the test match yesterday. And all that reading has just made my resolve to back my team stronger. It is a shame the way Hair acted in the match. It is more of a shame that the match referee failed to play his part. It is much more shameful the way the chairman of the PCB tried to display the picture on the ground through his useless interview. The interview that he gave will prove to be the battering rod that will be used by the world to batter Inzi and his team and subsequently Pakistani nation. I think two things are obvious. First that the flwaed management of the Pakistnai team is clear to everyone. There was no one in the leadership role and when inzimam tried to take a stand he was budged by the diplomatic bull shit of PCB board members. Second thing that is crystal clear is the failure of ICC. ICC system failed to respond to the situation and the match referee did nothing. Ther...

   Inzimam's team is complacent, pathetic, slack, off-guard and made of crappy individuals. I think his overtly Islamic attitude has turned him into what all most other tableeghis are and that is pathetically complacent and disoriented . He has given this cup to the inexperienced, divided, sloppy, no good Indian camp in a platter covered with gold. If he or his masters in tableeghi jamat think(s) that they he can convert these Indians to their pathetic version of Islam by producing such good will I think they he need(s) to rethink the strategy.    I mean look at Yuvraj Singh or for that matter Dhoni, before coming to Pakistan they were fighting for a place in the squad and they have been turned into gods whom Inzimam and his puppies might as well start worshipping.    All throughout this series he has looked clueless and sloppy. He has obviously no control over his team and can't make the right decisions at the right time. He lacks j...

The boundaries between a test match and a one day match seemed to blur when Shahid Khan Afridi was batting on the pitch yesterday afternoon and in the morning today. Magnificent piece of batting and stroke playing demonstrated by this untamed batsman. If cricket is all about entertainment then this man sure does his work brilliantly.    But I have heard that he has been found guilty of pitch tempering during the last session of the match. That is not a wise thing to do for a professional player. No doubt England team has displayed the worst kind of sportsmanship in the two days of the match but we should act civil. I just hope that he has not done any such thing and survives a ban.

   I think watching cricket is related to staying at home. I remember I never use to watch any cricket matches while I was at my university. I had lost all the interest in this painfully slow game. Since I have returned back home I have been watching cricket again and with some interest.    The match that ended today was just marvellous. I was glued to the screen since yesterday. All the members of the team did amazing job and played some professional cricket. Inzamam was amazing with his captaincy. He was quick at making changes in his attack. He used his bowlers very wisely. He got the reward. Salman Butt played an excellent knock. Shoaib Akhter finally got some wickets. He was fast as ever. Muhammad Yousaf still hasn't found his class. He needs some time to gather himself but I think it is too much time for a professional player. Hasan Raza was an utter failure. Not only in batting but in his sloppy fielding in the crunch hours of the gam...