REVERSE PASS

For last few days I have been watching ISL football in TKS, along with my quota of dosas. As a marketing technique, Shish has put up a big screen in his ThattuKada Shish. (TKS)

No, he is not showing the European league or Spanish league or anything. I asked him why.

Sh: See I have not opened this TKS for showing football to people. Football on a big screen is an additional incentive but our main business is Dosas and the other mouth-watering dishes. Still I would have liked to screen all the European football live but they are all late at night or during the early hours of mornings.....

N: Of course, ISL is OK.

Sh: I know if I screen them, people will sit through and the business will be brisker. Many people would like to watch European football compared to the diluted version.

N: Who says ISL is diluted version? There are many international players.

Sh: Ok,Ok. I did not say it is inferior. But comparatively it is slow and low on most of the aspects of the game.

N: Of course, it is low in speed comparatively. It is low on thrills probably. But it is low on fouls also.

Sh: You see, the thrill that you look for will need some speed and fouls. Couple of players falling, getting hurt, couple of players getting yellow and red cards.... All these are major parts of football which create the thrills.

N: I am sure the players are not thrilled..

Sh: Don’t be too sure. They also get the thrills but the main thing is they get paid. We get the thrill!

N: The problem is if someone gets hurt seriously and his playing career ends. That would be very bad, no?

Sh: But you know usually things like that happen very rarely. All these people are trained to take a few fouls as if it is a routine activity for them. They are trained to make a foul too. And moreover, I was told that they are also trained to fake an injury so that referee would award their team a free kick or a penalty stroke. A few times I have seen the guy who was in so much pain gets up and continues to play as if nothing had happened, after the free kick was awarded.

N: My God! What has the world come to?

Sh: Also I think that they are getting some training for acting. After committing a foul, you should be able to have that innocent look as if you didn’t know anything about it. Or you should look indignant that how anyone could accuse you of committing a foul! If a free kick or penalty is awarded, a few players will go and crowd the referee.

N: And you ay, this is all part of the sport. In our childhood, we were encouraged to take part in sports because that would infuse some discipline and sportsman spirit.

Sh: What is this spirit that you are talking about? You know very well I don’t serve spirit because you don’t allow me to.

N: Not that spirit..... I am talking about sportsman spirit.

Sh: Oh, that! And what do you think of the reverse passes? I have seen in this tournament too many reverse passes. Sometimes I felt that the goalkeeper gets to touch the ball more from own teammates than from the opposite team.

N: I have also noticed that. But that is only a strategic retreat.

Sh: Most of the time some of these players do only the reverse passes as if it is a new game. One day I got confused which team is playing against which side!

N: True. I have also seen it. But see it is all fun, no? Interesting things happen in football! In one of the matches long back I had seen, one goal keeper came all the way down to the centre line and.....

Sh: And what happened?

N: What would happen? One of his team player made a reverse pass and scored a goal!

Sh: Did you see what happened the other day? The goal keeper was collecting a reverse pass. An opposite team player was walking around and just put his foot forward and it became a goal!