Sport

So what is Sport for you?

Is it an activity requiring physical or mental exertion (or both) and competition with fellow men? or is it merely an occupation for athletes who compete? or is it just a man made opera to satisfy the man's ego for being hailed as a winner or supreme or is it just some fun?

Sport for me is triumph. Triumph not of the mind or of the body or of the game involved. For me its the triumph of the spirit.

It could sound unconventional cause sport is supposed to be played to be competitive and victorious and not just being a also ran. But at times the triumph overtakes all the other factors and all the other reasons.


Monday morning i was flipping through the TV channels and stopped at the Sydney test match being played between Australia and South Africa. Of course being a historic series there have been millions of reviews on all the cricketing aspects of it. Even though i enjoyed South Africa beating the Aussies, one moment stands out for me.

The 3rd day was about to end, the Australian openers in Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich were playing. There were around 2 overs left for the day and Australia were looking to end the day without any wickets. Katich was non existent. It was all on Matthew Hayden and his bad luck and poor form and all the stats being shown around on TV and in cricketing terms he was quite unsure and vulnerable and frankly appeared that he could get out on any ball. Still he was trying to hang in there...


In the distant in one the stands was one woman sitting alone, looking as tense as anyone trying to show a calm nerve on the outside. It was Kelly Hayden, the openers wife. She sat on a lonesome bench watching her husband fight the day. The gloomy evening was descending on the arena and gloomier things were being spoken around for the player who obviously is in the twilight of his career. There was an air of uncertainty across the stadium.

The guy in the middle was fighting it out and the lonesome woman in the stands was standing by his side. The empty seats behind the woman appeared to be the seats of well wishers who suddenly evaporated.

The end result wasn't an issue i think, it was just those few moments before the match ended for the day. I wish i had a pic of the moment but that wouldn't have done any justice perhaps.

I mean i don't know why i write this because you expect a husband to stand for his wife or vice versa in trying times even if the world appears to be against one of them or both but watching it was great.

Sometimes the spirit too runs dry, it needs fuel....