How To Know When...

How to know when you are a guy studying in an IIT...

When, at any given point of time, you open your chat list to always find around 50 people online but only 3 or 4 of them are girls.

Guti Haz. - A Tribute

Roughly about a month ago, I was in Madrid and as any football fan would, I found myself roaming around the Mecca of football, Santiago Bernabeu. Love them or hate them, you cannot deny that Real Madrid F.C. is the place where every footballer worth his salt dreams to be. They are what Led Zeppelin was to rock n roll, what the Lakers are to the NBA, what arguably Austin was to WWE... they are in short, THE Franchise. So there I was, in the Bernabeu, and I happened to walk into the player's section of the museum where all the kits and details of the players are archived. Everyone was taking pictures of the kits of their favorite players and I immediately looked around for mine fearing that there may be a lot of people there. After all this player, along with a cetain Raul Gonzales, has been here for more than two decades and is arguably synonymous with the club. Then I realized... the crowd was somewhere else.

Now the thing that struck me most was not the fact that all people were crowded around Cristiano Ronaldo's or Kaka's boots and kit, but the fact that this person's kit stood alone, and almost to a certain extent, neglected. Was I merely lucky or was it a sign of the times ?

Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez, or Guti to all Real Madrid fans, joined the club at the age of 9 and came through all the youth structures till he broke into the first team at the age of 19. With his amazing skill and talent, he could have been one of the best players ever.. but he was always overshadowed. Anyone who has seen his backheel pass to Zidane against Sevilla will have that piece of play forever etched in memory... and more recently his blind pass to Benzema at the Riazor, which helped Madrid break a two decade duck against Deportivo La Coruna, flatteringly called "the Heel of God". Maybe words cannot do justice to the amazing piece of brilliance.. as Goal.com put it..

"No one saw it coming... no one. When Enzo Maresca cleared the ball away from the penalty area, he must have thought that the danger was over for Sevilla. Cicinho had put in a cross that Zinedine Zidane had failed to control and the Sevilla midfielder hoofed the ball away, but only as far as Guti. 25 yards out, with a host of bodies blocking his view and with his back to goal, surely Guti couldn't do anything except spread it wide?

Wrong. Guti did a 'taconazo', the outrageous back-heel split the Sevilla defence, Zidane was at the end of it and Real Madrid were on their way to bagging all three points. Guti conjured up the unimaginable, that one moment of genius that etched itself forever in an observer's memory. That pass, and that pass alone, defines Guti, the temperamental genius who could never fulfill his gift, the "eternal promise".

One of the best final passers that the game has seen, maybe he was always destined to be overshadowed by names like Figo, Zidane , Beckham and more recently Ronaldo, Kaka et all. Today after 20 years at the club to which he gave his all, he is deemed surplus to requirements, his kit stands alone... not appreciated by the younger fans, the neo-galactico supporters. But this is a man about whom Zidane and Ronaldo (the Brazilian legend) had nothing but praise. Maybe he represents a dying breed of players, those that believe that, in the words of Danny Blanchflower, ‎"the game is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom"..for whom its as much an art as a sport. Maybe he is too old for the fast paced game that is championed today. Maybe. Maybe not. As he moves on to Besiktas for his swan-song, it is heartening to see that atleast he gets recognition while leaving... the eternal curse of the genius. Till then I'm happy I got the time to take a good pic... :)

From the amazing solo goal against Bilbao or the delightful volley cum lob against Villareal to coming on as a substitute and single handedly beating Sevilla to that amazing night against Valladolid where he scored 2 and created 4 in a 7-0 mauling...you can't help but wonder what he could have accomplished had he the same dedication and determination as Raul, another legend. Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder who ? But sometimes its just not meant to be...

Here's to one of the most talented players of his generation. Take a bow Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez !

5 Reasons why I did not want Spain to win the World Cup

Let me start by saying that even on paper, I believe Spain were the only team really deserving to win the World Cup. Uruguay, Germany, Ghana all lit up the World Cup with their play but in the end they either over achieved or were stars in the making who will rule in he coming years. But for now, the superior team won. Still that does not stop me from putting forward my 5 reasons why I did not support Spain a.k.a. THE 5 (or more.. its just that 5 is a good number. I like it.) REASONS WHY I DID NOT WANT SPAIN TO WIN.

1. Sergio Busquets. Dont like him. Nor should you.

2. Iniesta is a very good player. He dives a lot. How can you criticize Robben and not Iniesta ? And to say that Iniesta dives less is wrong on two fronts. Firstly, he dives more. Secondly, you dive once or you dive ten times doesn't matter. Bottomline is that you dive. He is a horrible little cheat who is constantly rewarded with free kick after free kick for his diving and playacting, not to mention the fact that he can get away with his petulant little kicks on the opposition when a match official has the gall to not make the call you want. Again Iniesta is a really skillful player and really good with the ball at his feet but maybe sportsmanship doesn't come naturally to many. Holland were disgraceful yes but so were Spain with this man leading the way. And just because he is Spanish doesn't put him above reproach, sorry. (P.S. before someone brings up Ronaldo's name, this does not concern Ronaldo at all. Yes he dives. He did not dive in this WC. The only reason that he gets criticized *more* than others is because he scores 40 goals a season and has a magnificent right foot, very good left foot, power, pace, bags of skill and brilliant timing in the air... in short he is better than you can ever dream to be.)

3. Italy are criticized all the time for their catenaccio system. What Spain play is just a form of anti-catenaccio. The only difference being that Italy defend while Spain retain possession. Oh, and by the way, retaining possession does not equal attacking football. Before pseudo-intellectuals come up with the technically beautiful and tactically superior argument let me just say the Italian catenaccio system's success is based on two things : being technically and tactically superior. If you appreciate one and not the other then you are a stupid poser. If someone gave me a penny for everytime Xavi passes sideways to Busquets and vice versa, Bill Gates would have had a competitor.

4. Just because its become a fashionable thing to say that you support Spain even when you have no idea what position Javi Martinez plays in or who he is for that matter. (He played in THIS woorld cup for heaven's sake). I am willing to ignore the fact that 90% of them can't even name 5 players from FIFA WC 2006.

5. Did I mention Sergio Busquets ?

6. Barcelona. The football club (apart from Messi) has no class. I have said it for a long long time and now atleast the Arsenal fans (if no one else) will agree with me. Loudmouths like Pique and Xavi make it worse. (Before someone starts about Real Madrid... yes they are bad in this department too but they don't claim otherwise. Barcelona, on the other hand, are two faced.)

7. Their opponents, Holland. If you noticed by now that my dislike has very little to do with the footballing aspect but more with other things, I would like to ask one question... what has Spain ever given you ? Let me say two words that should make you pledge eternal support to Holland... Amsterdam. And Heineken.

8. I did mention Busquets right ?

Dedicated to facebook.

everyday someone pokes me. i poke them back. repeat cycle in 2 days. wtf is this "poke" thing anyway ? in the meantime.. i poke you again. its like night of the living dead. just with pokes and no brain eatings. thats disgusting. not the pokes. the brain eating i mean. or is it the poke ? i have too little work. POKE.

R.I.P. Octopus Paul

It perhaps needs no explaining that Octopus Paul has overnight become a huge celebrity but as a German supporter (yes I hate Sergio Busquets that much), theres nothing better that I'd like right now than octopus soup. Not just any octopus soup, but Octopus Paul soup and I daresay every other German supporter on the day would agree. But then again, did we really need an octopus (yes an OCTOPUS) to tell us that Spain were the superior team ? If we did, then the world needs a major reality check ! For me Germany had lost the match with the suspension of Muller and no matter how important Ozil and Schweinsteiger are to the German team, Muller is the man who does it. Without him, the counter attacks just lacked that pace and focus. Be that as it may, come this weekend, we shall crown a first time champion in either Netherlands or Spain... which brings me to the point that I have a problem with. Read the next line carefully (I shall even highlight it for you) :::

On the 11th of July, either Khalid Boulahrouz or Sergio Busquets will be crowned the champion of the World !

Please, read that again. Let it sink in. Now say those 3 words... WTF ??!!

ADD : Attention Deficit Disorder (?)

First of all... A NEW LOOK ! WOOHOO ! Instant like :D.

Anyway, I was just randomly surfing the internet when I came across a list of things that are supposed to be 'indicative' of whether or not you have ADD or attention deficit disorder. So I think to myself, I have no work as of now, nothing to do, well lets see if I qualify or not. So here's what I found out....

Predominantly inattentive type symptoms may include:

Be easily distracted ..check

Miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another ..check

Have difficulty focusing on one thing ..not really

Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something enjoyable ..always, check

Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new ..not really

Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments ..Check

Often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities ..Check

Not seem to listen when spoken to ..check

Daydream ...Check

Become easily confused, and move slowly ...not really, the move slowly is more out of being lazy

Be very impatient ..absolutely check

Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences ...check

Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games ..check

So that's a solid 10/13 for me. Wait a minute... does that mean that I have ADD !!!?? No way.. that can't be true because I know that I do not have.. hey what's that ? ooohhh shiny...