UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI FINAL LIVERPOOL VS CHELSEA

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1

kuyt 43' Riise 94'(OG)

Last night was another magical night of European football. For the third time in recent years Liverpool met Chelsea in the champions league. For Chelsea it has been a case of so near yet so far for many a year in the champions league, running into likes of Barcelona and Liverpool. They have been on the wrong side every single time. Nothing much seems to have changed between the two teams since the last time they met. Anfield is still a fortress, Steven Gerrard is still Liverpool's inspiration and Chelsea still keep finding a way to win with likes of Lampard and Terry at the center. As expected clear cut chances were at premium, both teams possess stingy defense records and this was very evident during the game. It was a cagey affair with midfield being the focus of the battle. As it generally happens goal came when chelsea failed to clear their lines, Dirk Kuyt the ever opportunistic striker scored when a deflected shot from Alonso fell to him. By putting ball through the legs of Peter Cech. The goal came at 43rd minute just before the end of the first half. Liverpool went in to the break on top. The pressure was now on Chelsea again.

The second was not very dissimilar from the first one. Liverpool's Ryan babel almost added to Liverpool's advantage by unleashing a rasping shot in the second half which just missed the goal. Chelsea had their share of near misses too with the attempts from Lampard and malouda. Then in the dying minutes, Steven Gerrard hit the crossbar and torres forced a big save from Peter Cech. Then when you just thought it was all over and Liverpool had put in an another tidy performance. Avram Grant brought on Anelka and Kalou to help Chelsea find the elusive and valuable away goal. A hit and hope cross from Kalou in to the box with less than a minute left of injury time left forced a quite inexplicable defensive ground header from John Arne Riise went past Reina. And in a blink of an eye Chelsea had become favorites for going through to the final.

Now Chelsea sit firmly in the drivers seat with a crucial away goal. But to say that the tie is done and dusted is definitely premature. Liverpool as we have come to see over the recent past just refuse to go away when it comes to European football. It will come down who scores first at the bridge, only thing one can be sure of is that they will be an English team at Moscow in may.

Indian Premier League -A New Chapter in Cricket

The inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) flagged of in Bangalore on Friday 18 th of April. To say that the opening ceremony was spectacular would be an understatement of considerable magnitude. It seemed that Lalit Modi had spared no expense in ensuring that the league was to start of with a bang. At this juncture one acknowledge the manner in which Mr. Modi has marketed the league. The success of which can be seen from the fact that teams like the Rajasthan Royals also are playing in front of packed stadiums.

It was very evident at the end of T20 world cup that this format of the game was here to stay. The IPL has clearly shown that it not only here to stay but is the future of the game. The part that gives me most is pleasure is that, finally the local talent in our country gets to play in front of packed stadiums. The initial few matches have shown that there is no lack of cricketing talent in this country players like Ashok binda( Kolkata Knight Riders), R. Jadeja (Rajasthan Royals), Karan Goel ( kings XI Punjab), Shikhar Dhawan( Delhi Daredevils),Virat Kholi ( Royal Challengers Bangalore) standing out with their performances. Till the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL) the chance to play to full stadium and ever growing T V audience was reserved only to chosen few who have been lucky enough to dawn the Indian colors.

One also has to give due credit to the administrators as they have ensured that the league was not turned into a monopoly of foreign players. I guess the the real test of the league will be whether the initial euphoria and excitement can be sustained over a period of 44 days. Time will be the best answer to this question, but till then all i can say is that support your team favorite team and have a blast doing it.

Chargers!!!
And for all of you who would like to watch it online

here are a few LIVE STREAMING LINKS FOR CRICKET (IPL)
http://acricket.com/
http://livecricketzone.blogspot.com/

T.V JOURNALISM vs SENSATIONALISM

Of late there has been an explosion of news channels on the Indian television. At fore front are channels like NDTV, CNN IBN, TIMES NOW and quite a few Hindi one's too. I am no expert on journalism but as a normal person who uses the television to stay abreast with happenings of the world. I just feel that the line between covering stories that need to be covered as a case of responsibility and the one's that boost TRP's is getting absurdly blurred!

It was not that long back when, the American journalistic media was the laughing stock of the world. For running stories about Paris Hilton & her lets say "adventures". The point being she seemed to be getting more air time than mr. bush or even news about the war in Iraq. Of late news about Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan seem to be all over place. Starting from when they heard of their sentencing. For God's Sake! One channel covered Salman's flight journey from Mumbai to Jodhpur. Seriously, I am sure there were better stories than that. One news channel actually ran a piece which was about what would be Sanjay's diet, what would be his clothing his room etc. Guess what? They were the same as the remaining inmates of the prison. Common guys it was not always like this.

At the end of the day, I know that it necessary to go this way because at the end of the day money rules. But you should also remember that TV has great impact on society, so please look at the Bigger picture guys. You have a greater responsibility to society.

123 Agreement Boon or Bane

The 123 agreement between the United States of America and INDIA is said to be a monumental landmark. But not surprisingly the idiosyncrasies of Indian politics have got the better of it. The left (CPI[m] & CPI ) seem to oppose it because they just have too. As they are anti American and not because the deal is detrimental to the interests of the country, in its present state. It is true that the legislative intent of the Hyde act has been cleverly side stepped by careful wording in the 123 agreement. Which was brought to light by presidential democratic candidate Barrack Obama. Thus arises the question as to will the Americans live up to their end of the bargain?

This is Definitely up for debate as the, agreement would still has to be passed by the congress. The very same body that approved the hyde act. So the "run around as headless chickens" statement by Ronan Sen may be a little premature at this point of time. There is also the question, will this be passed before the change of government in the United States? Also who will come to power? On the question as to, if we are giving up 2 much?I feel we are being asked to give very little in return if the deal goes through. Look at what china had to offer in return, in their nuclear agreement. A better human rights record, continuous inspections by US and so on.

Basically I feel one shud make hay while the sun shines. With respect to the Indian political scene who better to trust than the man. Who saved us from economic disaster. He has put himself behind the deal and for once it seems the government is looking to the future. The term "political consensus" is a need of the hour and to hold the government hostage, is an act of immaturity. At the end of the day the discussions with the IAEA and NSG have to happen. Till then all one can hope is that the elderly statesman use their wisdom and common sense prevails.