A Brother's Love

A Brother's Love...

Two months now, two months away from home. Two months away from the pain in the ass, I called my brother. Two months away from all his gross stupidity and random irritating music choices. Strangely, I miss him.

Yes, dear reader, I’m talking about the “local celebrity” as he loves to call himself. Carrying that eleven kilo keyboard on one shoulder and protesting loudly as he didn’t want to do anything that wouldn’t benefit him. As Terri Guillemets, the creator of the Quote Garden puts it: “There’s no love like the love for a brother. There’s no love like the love from a brother.” True, my brother is the most annoying creature I have ever met, or ever had the privilege to know, I can’t help but agree with Terri, he was an annoying git who kept me on my toes every single day.

Now, as any sane brother would do, I took advantage of him when I got the chance (tell me who wouldn’t?), I even poked fun at him as he bumbled his way through his crusade to get humanities started in my alma mater as he refused to follow in my footsteps and study science (which by the way was not easy, but I enjoyed my two years in higher secondary school thoroughly). Beaten down and defeated like a war veteran, he settled for commerce, which I won’t criticize, but I’ll tell you this: I laughed at him for a couple of days. I even ridiculed him publicly about his taste in music and entertainment. Making a stage for Lady GaGa out of Lego blocks was his sense of enjoyment. Ridiculous? Yes. Creative? Another yes from me.

“The younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder.” No, this isn’t my quote, it’s by Jane Austen and I will admit it’s true. If you don’t have a younger sibling, like Kevin, you’re missing out on a lot of stuff. Everyone I know, keeps commenting how the Kaisar siblings are poles apart. While I love sport and follow it avidly in addition to my hobbies of writing and photography, my brother takes to German classes, cooking and music. Different in every respect we are and this is where I will proudly say, “Unity in Diversity.”

Being the crazy sport fanatic, I will especially mention the Sedin twins (Daniel and Henrik), who have always been on the same team when playing hockey (except for the 2011 All-Star game which was the first time they went against each other. Such is unity; such is a brother’s love. And I know if they can be famous, so can my brother and I, except we won’t be making the amounts of money they do.

I’m pretty sure he misses me too, and though for some strange reason he won’t re add me on facebook (yes, our sibling rivalry went up to the extent that he blocked me for a brief period.) I know I miss him at times. Gregg Levoy couldn’t have been more correct when he said "He is my most beloved friend and my bitterest rival, my confidant and my betrayer, my sustainer and my dependant, and scariest of all, my equal"

It's for that crazy little confused human being, I call my brother, that I spent my Sunday morning writing this. It's a strange world isn't it? I'll end, leaving you with a poem I found online by Salena A. Hayes entitled "I Miss"

I miss you,
I miss the loud music coming
from your room,
I miss the warmth of knowing
You're just a call away,
I miss the way we fought and
played,
I miss seeing your big bright
smile,
I miss getting kicked out of
your room,
I miss seeing you here and
there,
I miss cooking you breakfast
lunch and dinner,
I miss hearing you come in
at night,
I miss making you wear your
seat belt,
I miss holding your hand to
pray,
I miss your smell,
I miss you with all my might,
I miss the way we would fight,
I miss my brother,
I miss my friend,
I miss you I love you and that's
THE END!

"He's my brother Kevin, the best brother you never had"

Poem Credit: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/i-miss-you-2

Quotes Credit: http://www.quotegarden.com/brothers.html
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N12UjGAzT8M&feature=player_embedded

Captain Vantastic...

Captain Vantastic Indeed!

40 goals in 53 matches in 2011, that record is not easy. Those many goals for a Barclays Premier League player is magnificent. For an Arsenal player, I’d say it’s outstanding. Robin van Persie: Respect!

"Arsenal are starting to turn their season around now. Wins at Marseille and Sunderland will surely boost their confidence. Robin van Persie is on fire at the moment" In fact i know you won’t criticize me if I have him the heart and soul of Arsenal football Club. After the 8-2 and 4-3 drubbings, many people had written Arsenal off. “Not good enough, they need to splash the cash”: stuff like this circulated everywhere on the internet as people began to list Arsenal Football Club as relegation favourites. Shocking isn’t it? For a club, nay the only English club to go undefeated in a season in the Premier League era, such a thought is offensive if you ask me.

“There is lots of time (left this season), but at some point you need to pick yourself up and prove what you are capable of, we are not doing that at the moment and are not consistent enough. It just frustrates me, and it is happening too often. Every time we start positively we just keep making the same mistakes and that is surprising.” These are words from Van Persie himself. Even as captain he knew things needed to pick up. Even if Arsenal are not favourites to win the league title this year (having fallen behind a rejuvenated Liverpool and a cash happy, “have money, will spend” Manchester City), Arsenal fans will always have dignity. That is one thing I’ve grown up learning. I won’t name any of the fans I’m talking about but I’m sure you guys have a huge grin on your face as you’ll read this.

I won’t hide this from you, whenever FIFA video games asked me to pick my favourite rival, it was never Man City (who were always the default one, for obvious reasons), nor was it Chelsea. It was the club that was founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in south-east London. If you don’t know which club I’m referring to, then you probably shouldn’t call yourself a soccer fan. Blunt? Yes but true.

“Robin van Persie is a special player and he's shown that again today. He's blessed at the moment and let's touch wood with his injuries. He's shown what a great player he is when he can be consistently playing.” Such was the Robin van Persie I saw today against Chelsea. Magnificent just doesn’t describe him enough; he was far more than that. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger regularly calls his captain a “Special Player” and the Frenchman isn’t wrong if you ask me. Van Persie is a striker that any manager in the world would love to have at his disposal. Believe me, I always launch a bid for him while playing a Football manager game, but it’s easy to pry the heart and soul of Arsenal Football Club away.

"You could see how happy we are at the end because we fought hard and every one of us showed character.” The Arsenal captain could be any more correct. It’s always nice to see Arsenal fight for the title, not a team that wears light blue and can compete only because money allows them to. I’ve always been a fan of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger’s policy to develop young player - there’s nothing more satisfying to see a player from your own youth academy make it to the very top. True, Van Persie joined as a twenty year old and you won’t consider him a product of the Arsenal Youth System, but he’s been a Gunner for seven and a half years now and that is quite a marvellous achievement.

Of course the question on every Gunner’s mind is the future of their beloved captain. Van Persie has been dodging questions about his future but there is hope that he will sign a new deal that extends his stay in the red and white of Arsenal. "I am not going to make any statements about my future. Not now, not for a while. I've been at Arsenal eight years and that is quite extraordinary these days, which is why I treasure this. What my future will bring, nobody knows.”  Such character, such dedication to the game, things rarely found in a modern day footballer.

So to end in praise of a player who’s always caught the eye of fans. Robin Van Persie will go down into the Arsenal book of fame alongside the likes of former strikers Thierry Henry and fellow Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp. To the man who is sixteenth on the all time scorers list for Arsenal, I raise my hand and salute.

Photo Credit: http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07e7b7k7oh0Ro/610x.jpg
Quotes Credit: http://www.football365.com/premier-league/7273411/Van-Persie-delighted-with-win
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/967560/robin-van-persie-has-faith-in-arsenal-but-undecided-on-future?cc=5901
http://searchtopics.independent.ie/quote/0b4A4hVfWX4D1?q=Robin+van+Persie
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyZ5c3m3IJI

Tribute To A Warrior

Tribute To A Warrior: Stadio Olimpico, Rome

I was never a big MotoGP fan. I was always more of the F1 guy. But come to think of it, MotoGP and Formula1 broadly fall under the category of motorsports. Now, I know this sounds clichéd, but it’s a point I feel I had to make. Motorsports was always a hobby for me and to this day I remember my attempt at a national go-karting championship back home in India. I didn’t do too well, I was only twelve years old, but that passion always remained within me.

The other day, while channel surfing, I came across horrific news. Horrific news from the world of MotoGP. No, Valentino Rossi had not decided to call it quits but his name was in the news for other reasons. Flashback Sepang 2011: the Malaysian Grand Prix and the incident that rocked the motorsport world. Now, not being a huge MotoGP follower, I wasn’t aware of the vast number of team changes and things like that had taken place. I saw two familiar names pop up on screen, that of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. And then this: “Simoncelli lost control of his Honda early in the race. At Turn 11, just four minutes into the race, his bike regained partial grip and swerved across the track, where he ended up in the path of Italian racer Valentino Rossi and American Colin Edwards.” I was stunned. The motorsport world was left stunned. He was just 24.

Red flags waved as spectators were left stunned. The race was off, naturally. We often tend to put a gloss on motorsport: ignoring the reality of how dangerous it really is. To be willing to race, one must first overcome the fear of death and not put it out of mind. Flirting with that fear provides some of the excitement. Mastering a vehicle on the edge of possibility, at the limits of human capability, is a reward in itself. But beyond that edge lies injury, debilitation, and death--and that edge can move without warning.

The question many of us will ask is whether the tragic incident could have been prevented. To many in the sport the answer is no. Franco Uncini, the MotoGP riders' safety representative, said in a radio interview: "I think we've done plenty for safety and we are very satisfied. Unfortunately in our hands we don't have the power to change fate. When it comes, there's nothing we can do. We must accept what comes defencelessly. Nothing else can be done. There was an abundance of safety there, the circuit is perfectly inside the limits of safety as per our requests. What happened was a crash like many others. The only problem is that the bikes were close to one another so two other riders arrived and hit Marco's head and neck. That's what made the crash so dramatic." Uncini may sound a little complacent but he was left in a coma after a similar incident in the 1983 Dutch TT-Assen. He was lucky.

The sporting world mourns a tragic loss. The news of Simoncelli’s death comes days after Indy Car driver Dan Wheldon lost his life in Las Vegas. It’s hard to come up with words to write this article. It has been a grim week for motorsports fans. "Marco was a warrior. He never gave up... that's why he didn't try to leave the bike.” These were the words of Paolo Simoncelli, a dad who had just lost his son. It takes courage to say something out this boldly when all you want to do is break down into tears.

MotoGP will go on. Italy will remember a fallen hero; a warrior. People will remember him. I know I will remember him as the ‘David Luiz’ of MotoGP, for they both had similar hairstyles. Simoncelli won the 250cc world championship in 2008 ironically clinching the crown in Sepang. He stepped up to MotoGP in 2010 and he finished eighth overall last season. I end, with sorrow...

“RIP Marco … Such an exciting talent lost forever...”

Photo Credit:  http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/24/article-2052712-0E7FC7AF00000578-680_634x423.jpg

Unicini Quote Credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/24/marco-simoncelli-death-motogp-tributes

Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkbXjqbAkYY&feature=player_embedded

A Fans' Fan...

In United He Believes....

Derby day defeats are hard to digest. A derby day mauling is even harder to digest. Such was the scenario at Old Trafford today. Manchester City were rampant, Manchester United were shell shocked. Mario Balotelli was the centre of attraction just hours after setting his house on fire. “Why Always Me?” his t-shirt read; comic relief on an otherwise gloomy Sunday to United fans like me.

Needless to say, I expected the 1-6 jokes to start moments after the game. And start they did. Slowly they came in, one by one, some were funny and some were ridiculously poor attempts at mocking United. ‘Jokes’ apart, it was a day when one would be able to filter between Man U and United fans.

While City spent the rest of the day celebrating, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea fans joined the banter as well. Joke after joke, taunt after taunt. Chelsea fans would be reminded that though they played the most amazing 45 minutes of football I have seen, with nine men, at Loftus Road, they were beaten by a QPR side who won their first game at home this season. Cue the cliché, “Chris Foy is a retard.” These were the same set of fans who laughed when Ferguson has similar reservations about Mr. Foy’s skill on numerous occasions. Arsenal fans on the other hand needn’t be reminded about their own problems so I will not dwell on that for much longer. I will also mention here that this is no way a cheap shot intended at other fans. Respect is everything in the game, and it was great to see other fans console me after the game, while the general lot just fired away!

78,487 watched from inside Old Trafford. By the time the final whistle sounded, there were just a loud bunch of City supporters in their end and a sparse number of United faithful, who fought on to stay till the end. “Manchester is Blue” was heard around the stadium and I’m sure that was the chant on the streets as well. Call me biased, I don’t really care, but it was one of those days. Nothing went United’s way and City capitalized, just as any title ‘aspiring’ side would.

What left me shocked was the number of people who left as early as the 70th minute. True United were three goals down, but you don't desert the team like that. It was strange, nay bizarre coming from United 'faithful'. It touched me to see a fan sitting in his seat long after others had left. It warmed my heart to see him, gloomy as it was, sharing his disappointment with Old Trafford; sharing his disappointment with fans who would bleed for the club every single day. I know what I'm wearing to college tomorrow. Its red with AON in front and it bears the logo I grew up to love on the left. I end, humbly like that man pictured above, with a gloomy face, an optimistic thought and a never ending belief in United. Now and forever. Amen.

Picture Credit: http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/294144_283461865009040_165684310120130_992930_573878079_n.jpg

The Rise Of David De Gea...

 David De Gea, Like A Boss! Anfield October 15, 2011, Liverpool, England

Aren’t bittersweet moments strange? Well, you tell me! The 19^th Premier League title was won by Manchester United. In the aftermath of those joyous scenes, Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes decided to call it a day. Two legends in their respective positions on a football pitch. Anyone who believed that United wouldn’t miss these two legends can easily be classified as a fool. Yes, I’ll be quite blunt when I say that. Then again, with Sir Alex at the helm, it was expected that he’d know exactly who to sign as a replacement for these two greats of football.

Tom Cleverley was an expected call up, the youngster was proving himself for the past two seasons at Watford and Wigan. There was much deliberation whether or not Wesley Sneijder would join the club and this continued right till the final day of the transfer period. Instead in came teenager Phil Jones from Blackburn (who I might add has impressed me greatly) and winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa.  But this article is not about a replacement for Paul Scholes, it’s about a replacement in my own position on a football pitch – the goalkeeper. I’ve said it often and I’ll say it again, but a goalkeeper is the most underrated player in almost any football team. Critics say all he does is stands and watches while midfielder and wingers especially cover as much as eleven kilometres in a single game. True, goalkeepers barely cover five kilometres on a football pitch (most of it is walking around their own goal line to stay focussed), but underrating them isn’t exactly fair. George Graham said that  "The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work." And boy I will tell you that he is absolutely correct. For I’ve seen when a goal is conceded it’s the goalkeeper who gets blamed. This I can say from personal experience. But when he makes a top class save, nothing!

Moving to van der Sar’s replacement, there was much talk about Manuel Neuer and his ongoing saga with Schalke and Bayern Munich. Evidently, he was on his way to Bayern, which is what almost what every German player wants to do. Sir Alex, after having failed to lure the German to Old Trafford, turned his head to a young Spaniard - David De Gea, sparking a widespread disgust amongst many United and ‘ManU’ fans. Would he be the man to fill the Dutchman’s legendary boots? Would he be able to match Fergie’s bargain of the century Peter Schmeichel?

In his early United days, De Gea took a lot of stick. Some of you’ll reading this article will have criticized the twenty year olds performances calling him scared, calling him a waste of money. Yet Fergie was adamant that he made the right move. A superb penalty save off Robin van Persie in the Arsenal rout won some fans and after the Chelsea game many of De Gea’s critics were silenced! He put in a solid performance which handed United the match, and a very welcome three points against a title rival. Twenty year old? What twenty year old? The hypocrites were quickly singing De Gea’s praises.

Weeks passed and on came Liverpool at Anfield. United hadn’t won there in three years. Liverpool was looking to end United’s unbeaten start to the season. Up stepped Steven Gerrard and boy it was great to see him in action, even though it was for those Scousers as many a United fan would put it. Gerrard scored, Hernandez equalized, which brought on a fascinating final ten minutes. Who better to deny Liverpool a win than David De Gea? The United custodian pulled off a number of vital acrobatic saves which kept the score level and ultimately it was he who preserved United’s unbeaten status. Jordan Henderson was flabbergasted, Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt left stunned as they all thought that they had scored but there was De Gea flying in bring back memories of the Great Dane and the Flying Dutchman.

To quote Phil McNulty of the BBC football blog: "Ferguson was largely indebted to young keeper David De Gea, who had had his critics this season but made crucial saves to keep United in contention as they came under concerted pressure in the closing stages.......... Charlie Adam's shot deflected invitingly into the Uruguyan's (Suarez) path, but, after cleverly wrong-footing Jonny Evans, he was thwarted by De Gea's block........ De Gea was United's hero again within seconds of Hernandez's equaliser, diving to his left to claw away Dirk Kuyt's shot as he got on the end of a superb cross from Stewart Downing."

David De Gea has surely grown in stature as a United goalkeeper. One has to remember that the Premier League is a lot more physical than the La Liga which in my opinion is a sad excuse of a league that generally has two winners only. Given his age, it was expected that De Gea would take time to adapt to a new club, a club like Manchester United. And adapt he has. Move over De Gea critics, the young Spaniard is here to stay!

David De Gea

Photo Credits: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/David+de+Gea/Liverpool+v+Manchester+United+Premier+League/bbdPKMJTBts (Liverpool Save)

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/David+de+Gea/West+Bromwich+Albion+v+Manchester+United+Premier/QH1Yftv2Udr (De Gea)

Text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15225853.stm (BBC Sport Blog)
"Like A Boss" Caption Credit: Ruhin Chatterjee

It All Begins...

Fanshawe College Logo

CFRL Radio Logo

It was always going to be a nervous day. Strangely though, I felt sleepy all morning. It was quite unnatural I felt, ten hours of sleep seemed less. I guess it was nervousness talking loud. The minutes ticked on slowly. Time almost froze. Outside the weather was lousy and wet. Oh, what I’d do to get a nice bright sunny day. The clouds outside echoed my nervousness as I lay in bed trying to focus on something.

Time ticked on; yes she did not wait for anyone. Second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour. And then it was time. It was time for a newscast: my first ever. A live newscast, this is what I signed on for. Yet, there were butterflies in my stomach and they wouldn’t go away! However much I tried, the butterflies would just not go away! Flabbergasted, I gave up and headed to Fanshawe College.

I tried to be my cool, calm self. That sure helped a lot.  It always does, and there was no bigger proof that this feeling that ran through me, an unexplainable feeling. I felt joy, nervousness, anxiety and impatience all at once. And yes, my legs were soft like jelly. The newscast was prepared slowly and surely. It had to be good. Thousands of people would be listening to it in the halls of the college and online. Oh, those majestic hallways where I’ve walked everyday for the last two months. I could mess up, I’d be embarrassed.

And then the assurance arrived. Nervousness was common I was told. I won’t mention the saviour here, he knows who he is and if he’s reading this he’ll have a smile on his face for sure. “Even we make mistakes, even we stumble on air. It’s natural. Don’t let it bother you.” And with these words, the butterflies vanished, the nervousness and anxiety took off and a smile was restored to my erstwhile fallen face.

Five minutes to four, it was almost time to go on. I wondered how many of my friends would be listening to me. Not many, I secretly hoped. A chuckle sprung on my face as I entered the news booth. Coolly and calmly up went the thumbs up to the radio announcer.  Ten seconds said he. And as he counted me down, I cleared my throat and turned on the microphone.  “CFRL News........”

Photo Credits: http://www.seeklogo.com/images/F/Fanshawe_College-logo-C41B52273B-seeklogo.com.gif (Fanshawe Logo)
https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/631355537/CFRL.JPG(CFRL Logo)