Comments on: Indian sport headed in the wrong direction ? http://www.indianteam.com/2008/08/12/indian-sport-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/ News and information about cricket and other sports in India Sat, 26 Mar 2011 10:14:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: SSV http://www.indianteam.com/2008/08/12/indian-sport-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-3626 SSV Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:11:02 +0000 http://www.indianteam.com/?p=1509#comment-3626 I strongly agree with the above statements and the facts. But I hope this site is viewed by many people so that they can understand and can start seeing other sports and encourage them which will bring Laurels to our nation world wide. I will definitely appreciate if the big companies came out and provide sponsorship to those players/athletes who have the potential to bring out the best. I strongly agree with the above statements and the facts. But I hope this site is viewed by many people so that they can understand and can start seeing other sports and encourage them which will bring Laurels to our nation world wide. I will definitely appreciate if the big companies came out and provide sponsorship to those players/athletes who have the potential to bring out the best.

]]> By: Swathi http://www.indianteam.com/2008/08/12/indian-sport-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-2404 Swathi Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:37:01 +0000 http://www.indianteam.com/?p=1509#comment-2404 Lets accept tht corporations, politicians are in the game of catching maximum eyeballs...and hence will sponsor the "Flavour of the month" only...i think cricketers should take the responsibility of promoting other sports...attend hockey matches when they can...even their presence will help the sport more than any donation...sad state of affairs but true..when "chak de" released last year i thought mr. khan would b able to revive hockey but he immediately focused on cricket and actually lost an amazing chance to focus public attention on the national sport..i hope abhinav bindra doesn't go to see cricket matches n instead focuses on getting max attention at least for air rifle shooting. Lets accept tht corporations, politicians are in the game of catching maximum eyeballs…and hence will sponsor the “Flavour of the month” only…i think cricketers should take the responsibility of promoting other sports…attend hockey matches when they can…even their presence will help the sport more than any donation…sad state of affairs but true..when “chak de” released last year i thought mr. khan would b able to revive hockey but he immediately focused on cricket and actually lost an amazing chance to focus public attention on the national sport..i hope abhinav bindra doesn’t go to see cricket matches n instead focuses on getting max attention at least for air rifle shooting.

]]> By: CF http://www.indianteam.com/2008/08/12/indian-sport-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-2384 CF Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:26:14 +0000 http://www.indianteam.com/?p=1509#comment-2384 I completely agree with NJ. Cricket has been, for too long, given the pride of place in our newspapers, on our tv’s and virtually every media outlet. We are a nation of over 1 billion people. Surely there are people who are talented in sports other than cricket. The sad part is that they will probably never have the spotlight shine on them as they have no stage on which to show India, let alone the rest of the world, what they are capable of. For a country that is so crazy over cricket and for a governing body that is the richest in the sport, India are still not the BEST at a sport that less than 15 countries play professionally. That is just an indicative of how far we have to come in other sports that aren’t as “rich” and publicized. The non-cricket facilities in India are poor to say the least and the government needs to create and maintain world-class facilities to grow world class athletes. Gold medals don’t just fall from the sky. NJ has given the classic example of our most recent gold medal winner which proves this point. Other countries invest millions of dollars in sports where they believe they have a chance to earn a medal. Until the government pumps more money into sport, any medal success or any sport success other than in cricket (which generates its own funds) is a bonus. Rewarding a medal winner sends the wrong signal. I’m sure Abhinav Bindra would have appreciated that money a lot more if it came in the form of support before the Games. So what can we do? We have the population and we should use that to our strength. We need to keep an open mind to other sports. We need to do away with the term, “national sport”. Making a sport our “national sport” makes us focus too much on it. We have to try and excel in every sport. As members of the public, the best that we can do is WATCH other sports and our own athletes that play it. If we watch, spectatorship goes up, an interest is generated which helps put the sport on tv. If more people watch, ratings go up, sponsors want to get involved and this results in more money being invested in the sport and its athletes. I completely agree with NJ. Cricket has been, for too long, given the pride of place in our newspapers, on our tv’s and virtually every media outlet. We are a nation of over 1 billion people. Surely there are people who are talented in sports other than cricket. The sad part is that they will probably never have the spotlight shine on them as they have no stage on which to show India, let alone the rest of the world, what they are capable of.

For a country that is so crazy over cricket and for a governing body that is the richest in the sport, India are still not the BEST at a sport that less than 15 countries play professionally. That is just an indicative of how far we have to come in other sports that aren’t as “rich” and publicized. The non-cricket facilities in India are poor to say the least and the government needs to create and maintain world-class facilities to grow world class athletes. Gold medals don’t just fall from the sky. NJ has given the classic example of our most recent gold medal winner which proves this point. Other countries invest millions of dollars in sports where they believe they have a chance to earn a medal. Until the government pumps more money into sport, any medal success or any sport success other than in cricket (which generates its own funds) is a bonus. Rewarding a medal winner sends the wrong signal. I’m sure Abhinav Bindra would have appreciated that money a lot more if it came in the form of support before the Games.

So what can we do? We have the population and we should use that to our strength. We need to keep an open mind to other sports. We need to do away with the term, “national sport”. Making a sport our “national sport” makes us focus too much on it. We have to try and excel in every sport. As members of the public, the best that we can do is WATCH other sports and our own athletes that play it. If we watch, spectatorship goes up, an interest is generated which helps put the sport on tv. If more people watch, ratings go up, sponsors want to get involved and this results in more money being invested in the sport and its athletes.

]]> By: nj http://www.indianteam.com/2008/08/12/indian-sport-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-2381 nj Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:10:25 +0000 http://www.indianteam.com/?p=1509#comment-2381 Here is what Abhinav will get from the states : Punjab – Rs. 1 Crore Haryana – Rs. 25 Lakh Bihar – Rs. 11 Lakh Chhattisgarh – Rs. 1 Lakh Other income and benefits : BCCI – Rs. 25 Lakhs Railways – Free lifetime 1st class tickets for travel within India Here is what Abhinav will get from the states :
Punjab – Rs. 1 Crore
Haryana – Rs. 25 Lakh
Bihar – Rs. 11 Lakh
Chhattisgarh – Rs. 1 Lakh

Other income and benefits :
BCCI – Rs. 25 Lakhs
Railways – Free lifetime 1st class tickets for travel within India

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