Blog Posts by Princy James

  • Tennis: American Glory a Thing of the Past?

    By Princy James | The Playing Field – Thu 26 Aug, 2010

    My habit of reading  the newspaper backwards hasn't changed, unless there's some sensational news. Blame my love for sports for that.

    I started watching Tennis in the so-called 'Doordarshan era' when people weren't lucky enough to get a taste of most of the tennis tournaments other than the 4 Grand Slams. I had to rely on TV news and newspapers or magazines like Sportstar to follow the Championship series (now the Masters Series) , the  Monte Carlo Open or the Lipton International (since renamed as the Sony Ericsson Open). At the time, I obsessively cut out articles and stories on Sampras, Agassi and Jim Courier — and those treasured clippings are still with me now, despite this being the age of the Internet, and a simple search can provide me with more information than I possibly could need.

    Sampras once mentioned that Agassi was the one responsible for taking tennis to the masses — very true, in my opinion. Andre's funky hairdo, earrings and those funny antics on court

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  • Sports and Superstitions

    By Princy James | The Playing Field – Fri 9 Jul, 2010

    People still talk with awe when they mention Nostradamus — the 16th century French astrologer. Wonder what would people talk about Paul the Octopus a few years from now. Hopefully, if he doesn't end up on somebody's dinner table, we can expect more of him the next Euro Cup when he grows wiser with age. Is there any truth behind the so-called predictions? Looking at the way the Germans played against Spain, I was left to believe that the octopus had taken up their mind eating away their confidence. Psychological effect? I'm not kidding.

    Bastian Schweinsteiger, the magnificent midfielder was nowhere near his usual form in their semi-final against Spain. And Klose, who was on the verge of making history, couldn't, unfortunately. Hopefully he can score some goals against Uruguay on Saturday and earn a place in history becoming an all-time top scorer. Coming back to superstitions, now even I'm scared to support my favourite teams. Starting from Italy, all my favourite teams have stumbled on

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  • Is Maradona ‘Messing’ with Messi?

    By Princy James | The Playing Field – Fri 18 Jun, 2010

    The King should be delighted and take pride in his best soldier. But unfortunately this case doesn't apply for the Argentine squad - where the greatest player in football history and the greatest player of the times come together - Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

    On field, there are many things that unite both - the talent, the agility, instinct, and how they dribble past the defenders; one can draw lots of parallels here. In fact,we can see a carbon copy of Maradona in Messi. Strange it might seem, but there are more things other than their short stature that unites Messi and Maradona. In 2007, with disbelief in its eyes, the world watched Messi replicating Maradona's 'Goal of the Century' against the Spanish club Getafe. Is it mere co-incidence or a miracle that the touches (13), duration (13 seconds), and the number of opponents (6) were identical to that of Maradona's?

    It doesn't stop here; weeks later, Messi even did a 'Hand of God' goal by punching in a score against

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  • Is Early Success a Curse?

    By Princy James | The Playing Field – Wed 9 Jun, 2010

    The world received with shock the news that former American tennis player Jennifer Capriati has been hospitalised after overdosing on drugs. Her family has stated that she overdosed on her prescription drugs accidentally. Luckily, she is out of danger and didn't have to end up with the same fate as Brittany Murphy or Heath Ledger.

    Police mug shot of Jennifer Capriati and her friend Tome Wineland when they got arrested

    At 14, she became the youngest ever semi-finalist at the French Open. An Olympic gold medal winner at 16, Jennifer Capriati's accomplishments defied her age. Back then, the media hailed her as the next superstar of American tennis, and the prodigy had great expectations heaped on her. But then her career took a roller-coaster-like plunge . Capriati was arrested for possession of marijuana and once for shop-lifting, too. It turned out that the pressure was too much for her to bear; the fear of having to live up to expectations took a toll on her.

    Fame — it's

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  • For Love of the Game – Ale ale ale!

    By Princy James | The Playing Field – Thu 3 Jun, 2010

    This fever is dangerous and in fact more contagious than the H1N1 Virus; the most vulnerable ones are the football buffs. The virus spreads faster than anything and only days before the kick-off, I got hit by this deadly thing. It travelled all the way from South Africa and manifested itself in the form of 'mehendi' on my palm. Crazy I say, but love is blind — whether it's a person or the game.

    Symptoms vary from person to person — from haircuts to tattooing. When Beckham was in his prime, we had many lookalikes of the English star trying to copy his trademark mohawk. For me, it was limited to playing K'naan's 'Waving Flag' , Ricky Martin's Cup of Life, collecting posters and applying the World Cup logo mehendi. I even placed a cute little football in my messy cubicle. That's Football World Cup! The 4 year-long wait fuels your frenzy.

    Football is more than a game — it's a religion of the masses where people worship and adore their idols. For Argentines, Messi is their

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