Cricket vs Football....

Oops!!...5 overs 60 to win...hmm Naaa!..5 mins 3 goals to score..Yes!...well that’s football. I, having followed both the games for years it’s time to shed some light onto what makes one interesting over the other. Well both requires a ball, in one you hit the ball out of the ground to score the maximum and in the other you try to kick/head the ball past a goal post. Sounds simple doesn’t it?? Yup both the games have the maximum followers globally and in every street of the world u ll find the teens playing either of these two (give it a 80% probability with 5% standard deviation :) )...Every time you keep wondering which one to watch, football or cricket. This blog aims to help u in taking the right decision:)..

Football involves 22 players..11 a side, the field is split into two and the players try to put the ball past the two large sticks, the so called goal post to put your side ahead. This continues on for 45mins then a short break for 15mins and then repeats for another 45mins. In short one just needs 2hrs to be entertained. On the other hand u have cricket a game which also involves 22 players but funny to say that only one pair plays at a time against the 11 opponents with 2 umpires, who always love doing some exercises on the field by signalling a four, six, leg bye, bye..etc. The game continues!! For how long?? Well that depends on the type of game ur playing.. ODI – a 7 hour suspense, Test Match – a 5 day comedy or 20-20 – a 4 hours action game. All forms of the game have their pros and cons..I am not here to comment on these formats.. But what really separates the two games is the suspense element, the thrill/action...in a football field u have it all – it’s a complete package, whereas in a cricket match – u need a bhajji or a sreesanth to create some REAL action!

Right now you have the UEFA champions’ league, the best football tournament going on after the world cup and for cricket you have the IPL – interestingly poised league! (Only this time around). In IPL you would have watched the matches – a score of 180 or some early wickets for you team – the match prematurely ends there. Yesterdays match between the Chennai super kings and the Kings XI Punjab is just another example of it. Even though you know it’s a tough ask but you are still hooked on to your seats expecting at least something will happen now but you find out at the end of the day nothing really happens or even if it does – IT’S PREDICTABLE. Out of the 1000s of ODI, Tests, 20-20 matches that have taken place you hardly have a handful of thrilling matches. Most of the times well ahead of the match or at least after an hour’s play; you are able to predict the winner. Its literally impossible to score 100 in 5 overs or even 60 in 5 overs..It’s really tough!! And you might soon start tuning into other channels to find out for better entertainment...Please wait there’s another game by the name FOOTBALL coming your way – better not miss it.

1,2,3 goals down, u still have a chance to get back into the game. The matches Liverpool vs AC Milan, Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Hamburg vs Weder Bremen...etc countless of them which have gone to the last minute of play. You need bloodshed, brawls, super strikes, fouls, own goals, cards (red/yellow), penalties, crowd trouble etc.. u name it, u have it all in a complete 90 minutes FOOTBALL package! No game is over till the last minute..Let’s take the example of Barcelona vs Chelsea, 3 minutes into injury time Inesta’s strike sent Barcelona through to the champions league final..Down to 10 men, not a single shot on goal but still they got it on the last minute. Is this possible in cricket??? How many times have you heard Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, the top clubs losing/drawing to the bottom clubs?? Many times!! But that’s not the case with cricket.. India, Australia, SA losing to Kenya, Bangladesh...it’s just a handful.

The predictability element always lies in a cricket match whereas in a football you always have suspense in some form or the other. A Saeed Anwar’s 180+, Ganguly 180+ etc score really shows how one person can influence the outcome of the match. You can single-handedly win matches for ur team..That’s not the with football, No Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, Henry, Raul can take the ball from one end to the other and win it for u..You need a team effort – defenders, goal keepers, midfielders, strikers to win it for you. U can keep fighting till end, if not at least foul dude!!! – you can watch tempers go high, brawls happening...do u get this in cricket?? Think Think!!!

Well u might be hooked on to the TV for tonight’s IPL.. do watch it!! but don’t forget to watch a football match tmrw..EPL, La Liga..you’ll find out why one is better over the other. There’s one match coming up which any fan wouldn’t want to miss – May 27th Barcelona vs Manchester United.. All you cricket fans its after the IPL..so better watch it :)

Now decide!!!.... Gentleman’s game (or) the REAL Game 

P.S: This post doesnt aim at promoting either IPL or UEFA champions league.

Brawn GP: A dream debut – The B Effect

When Ross Brawn, former team principal of Honda F1, announced his purchase of the team no one knew what in store for his team. The dominance of the Ferrari’s and McLaren’s had made things tougher for other F1 teams. Its new car, the BGP 001, is powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, and drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will return for their fourth year together.

Mr. Brawn had a strong background in winning. He was the technical director for Benetton when Michael Schumacher won his championships in 1994 and 1995. When Mr. Schumacher moved to Ferrari, he brought Mr. Brawn with him, and they won five more drivers’ titles together. In 2008, Mr. Brawn was hired to be team principal for Honda F1.

Saturday’s qualifying results at Melbourne showed the world who they were by occupying the front row. While teams like Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Red Bull were struggling for grip (tyre), the B’s – Button and Barichello were setting the fastest times one after one. Hamilton last year championship winner qualified at 18th.
Race day was eagerly awaited, if Brawn GP finished 1-2, it could be the most historic moment in Formula One, for the first time since inception of the FIA World Championships, a team has made its debut and managed to get the first two places in the race.

The first corner saw a fantastic start for Button and the Ferrari’s. Barichello dropped 5 places at the first corner. At the end of the first lap Button started stretching his lead over the rest of the pack. Meanwhile at the end of pack there was a silent mover Hamilton moving up every lap. The Ferrari’s were struggling for grip and were clocking 1:30 mins compared to Brawn’s 1:28 mins. Traditionally Australian GP throws up a few surprises as reliability issues hits teams and usually one expects some lower-mid rung teams to score but this year there could be a pattern which is coming in and this could be anyone’s season with Brawn GP leading the way. Button got a lead of 47 secs over his nearest rival. Soon the race turned out to be a different thing altogether, with accidents and skirmishes galore, and the safety car was called out quite often, including the last couple of laps, when Kubica tangled with Vettel.

It all boiled down to a simple fact; the one who could keep out of trouble, and keep his car out of trouble would win the race / finish in the points. Button held on to win his second race, in a 154-race career. Veteran Barichello finished second despite his first corner melee. Hamilton was elevated to third after Timo Glock was stripped of his standing after passing Hamilton under yellow flags following a crash.

Formula 1 history was rewritten, for the first time since 1954 when the Juan Manuel Fangio led home Karl Kling for Mercedes in the French Grand Prix, a debut team captured the top two places in a race.

Cheers 3 B's - Brawn, Barichello and Button

A dream debut for a new team..
Wondering if the B effect would continue @ the Malaysian grand prix!!

!Life of an MBA graduate

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MBA seems to be the best option available for all those who want to pursue a higher education. Whether you are a software engineer with a couple of years work exp in an IT company or a fresher the idea is simple – get an MBA admission - work hard for a couple of years – prepare for placements – you are placed with an average salary of around 8 Lakhs(varies on how efficient your placecom is on the subject Financial management – Number crunching).....finally you graduate and enjoy the position and the new role of being called a MANAGER...But what exactly lies in store while you do your MBA course..

Let’s have a sneak preview of the life one would have to go through while pursuing an MBA....

The toughest of all!! Especially for all the work experience guys...you get back to studies after having a worked with an IT/Manufacturing company for years!!... For all the software engineers a word of caution, Studies is more than just browsing, copying, pasting, coding and debugging (@times) and most difficult of all !! - Sending forwards...

Dont forget the Diversification concept..in your batch you have from with XYZ to VLSI specialization(People still wondering why MBA!! - One reason definitely being Money!!)...The diversification leads to minimization of risk - Atleast some would appreciate it!

In the first semester you are put through a coursework which comprises of subjects from HR, Finance, Marketing, Operations....Everyone is hyper active (Metastable state) – case studies, surprise quizzes, summer placements, assignments..The average sleep that one gets is only around 3-4 hours a days (Value calculated after a primary research from Tier 1 B school students.. Tier 1 – Definition varies from one Business magazine to the other ). Every day you are given 2-3 cases and would have to present the same the very next day. Nightouts, skipping lunch, dinner, breakfast, oh ya! Even your bath, at times becomes a routine...The most embarrassing of all, there would be a nameplate kept in the class room for every student and one’s participation is continuously monitored for internals.. Well in short..You sleep in class, your marks would also become Lt(Marks) -> 0

Within a few weeks (before you get settled), it’s time for mid sems and the most important your summer placements. Well the fact is everyone would come with the perception of specializing in CORE FINANCE but what happens when your summer placements starts is .....

You don’t know what each specialization exactly means, are you fit for the role being offered, do you understand the prerequisites required...etc etc...and once your summer placements start looking bad..u finally end up saying..all I need is to “Get placed”...I can always change my specialization during my finals (does it really happen???).....

A mistake made in one decision would make you repent for rest of your course!!

No more weekend parties, discos....Wondering what you do!!... cases studies, assignments and preparing for the so called CLASS PARTICIPATION and surprise quizzes

The only thing that remains the same (while working and studying) is “Your always connected to the internet”...with a different purpose and it being – WORK unlike it being browsing movie reviews, copying codes in the net and the important of all forwarding mails...downloading music, movies etc....

Oh I forget to tell you about the most important advantage while you’re doing your course..u come to know about DC++..Wondering what it is!...it’s a tool for sharing data...”Yo! and now you get all the crap you need at a single place – the DC++ repository”.. Name it from “Balika Vadur” to “Lollu Sabha”, from WWE smackdown to Kabbadi matches, from cricket to football..You get all the crap from !@$$ to !%$#@... Wondering what to do with so much of data!!..Watch it obviously..but where is the time..I hardly sleep for 3-4 hours a day....

Soon it becomes 1-2 hours a days...night outs become more common – reason you start getting addicted to downloading stuff from DC++...the nights become longer ( :0) )

Haan!!.soon you realise an important aspect of classes...Proxy..You start applying scheduling algorithms to optimize and effective use of resources – your classmates... Rotating proxies and achieving 100% attendance (lets be practical at least more than 75% is what I need..thats enough). Once you have cleared this phase, the final part of the semester comes... End sems!!!..Here too the concept of managing the friends around your seat comes into picture..Copying!! ..

Profs still wondering what to do with the stories written in the answer scripts by the students...They come with different strategies (different paths taken to reach the goal – Grades!!)

Correct the paper

Weigh the paper + “Name” - Weights vary J

Use excel - RAND function - Form a normal distribution

Job well done!!!! First semester results are out!

Students start wondering – How come I got so much??!!! So less (Was the paper actually correctedJ??? - it does happen @ times!!)???....Soon they realise that the grading was an execution of the option 3.

Finally it all ends...you have completed your MBA... now you are a Manager...

Hey I forget to tell you..I didn’t do any of the above ...Bunking classes, lesser sleep, class participation, working on cases....In fact I slept for 7-8 hours (not including class Sleeping participation into it), didn’t participate in class unless it was really necessary!!(that was once a semester ) u know why!!... I was a better manager, I foresighted things and completed the tasks well ahead of time....

P.S.: Everything mentioned in the above blog is to show the funny side of MBA and doesn’t try to intimidate anyone... esp the toppers!!!