India Cricket and such
Being Hotel bound in the evenings gives one some down time to watch some of the local TV. They have some American shows to be sure – I watched some of the Red Sox – Indians series the other day. Same as before the ever popular cricket seems to be on several channels in the evenings. It is a game as baffling to me as I am sure American football is to the native Indians. It seems to be a leisurely game. Now the pitcher does start off with flurry – running helter skelter to the line he pitches from as though he were going to charge on and run into the batter. But instead draws short and hurls a pitch at the batter.
But from that point the game slows down – the ball one hops on it’s way to the wicket. Some of the batters are garbed in enough padding to make any American football player envious. They are covered head to toe – helmets, shin guards, and even wear padded gloves. Maybe the ball is made of depleted uranium or some other hard and dangerous material – I’ll have to check wikkipedia and find out. Now when they do hit the ball they trot leisurely back and forth between the lines, maybe from the weight of the shin pads. I’m used to baseball, where you break out of the batters box and tear down to first with all of your might. Not these fellows, my grandmother puts out more effort running to the bathroom. I find myself wanting to yell at the TV – run, darn you, run… now slide, slide into base!
I give up trying to tell what is a hit and what makes a run. Some hits, they shrug their shoulders and it’s like a do over. Other hits go out to the outfield, and here goes the outfielder trotting along as though he was angry at being bothered by having to go retrieve a ball. Other times there is a flurry of activity as though a swarm of bee’s had suddenly descended on the field – players are flying after the ball, the batsmen are running as though some one had stuck them in the backside with an icepick. There is no rhyme or reason to the speed of the game. One minute your ready to nod off to sleep, the next you wonder if some one had snuck crystal meth into their Gatorade.
Apparently they score runs by the bucketload. 100 to 200 points is just another days work. And they have overs – no unders, but apparently the overs are a big deal. The referee’s hand signals I find rather curious. I suspect they copied their handiwork from watching the three stooges. Lots of hands waving up and down through the air and sweeping gestures. One play they make the throw to a player at the wicket who stretches to touch the wicket while the batsman races to the line. It’s a close play and the camera zooms in on the umpire. I am expecting to see a sweeping safe call or an arm come down forcefully for an out. Instead he stands there, extends his hand palm down, and flutters it in front of him. Go away don’t bother me now??? I don’t have time for this??? Be gone?? What the heck kind of call is this? Apparently he was out as the fellows on the field were all jumping up and down.
There is some hope for the sport. I saw one segment that shows me that there is some possibilities for the game. They have foul balls and foul tips just as they do in baseball. But the catcher wears nothing to protect him but an oven mitt. And get this, the batter is allowed to try and make him drop the ball. I forgot to mention the bat is basically a big old 2X4. So this one pitch, it carooms off the 2X4 and hits this catcher guy in the shoulder and bounces in the air. The batter with all the padding and the 2X4 is rooting around trying to block the guy from making the catch. So this poor catcher is taking a beating while this guy is flailing around with bat to make him drop the ball. But that got me thinking of a new sport combining baseball and cricket – crickball.
Now we allow the batters to put on helmets and padding and carry their 2X4’s when they run just like in cricket. We still have the bases and all the rest like in baseball. But now we have more action. Now when a runner comes into second base to break up a second play, they come with bat at the ready and lay into the second baseman. When a play is broken up, I mean it is broken up. And a play at the plate – the batsman and the catcher have at it, the winner gets to step on home base. Now there is an international game that both cultures can appreciate.
Besides their cricket the Indians really like their music. There are several music channels with videos that young men the world over will enjoy. Scantily clad females dancing to the beat of the music is a recipe for success where ever you call home. Most of the videos seem to have large choreographed scenes with like hundreds of dancers – all in sync. And its not only in the music videos, but in the movies. You’ll be watching a show and all of sudden every one jumps out of their chairs and start doing a dance number. Then they all sit down and it’s back to the show. Only you can’t remember what the story was about because you were distracted by all of the dancing. Indian movies are not for those with short attention spans.
On a more serious note, the food has been good so far. I have ate both Western and Indian food at the Hotel. Datamatics has been great about providing us with lunch each day. Each meal has been excellent. The stray dog that Todd noticed on his first visit, and showed to me on my visit, seems to be gone. Gone to find another building to hang out in front of, or maybe roadkill with all of the traffic. The last Thursday that we are here, they are going to take us to a shopping mall. So we are looking forward to that.
If I were ever going to stay here, I think that I would change occupations. Either a cricket referee – lord knows that I have watched my share of the Three Stooges, or a dance choreographer – I don’t know anything about it, but it would be fun trying
Posted by christ77
at 12:02 AM EDT
energetic
celebratory
sharp