If at some point in the next 24 hours you notice that Facebook and Twitter are facing major downtime you should point your fingers towards the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Chandigarh, India. The PCA is the venue for one of the biggest sporting events in history, a World Cup semi-final clash between Pakistan and India. I'll do my best to not to make too much of this post about Cricket statistics as most of the people who read this blog regularly are not cricket fans. I just wanted to give you guys somewhat of a background on what is transpiring half way around the world.
The Government of Pakistan has announced a half day holiday for Wednesday so people can get home in time to watch the game.
Cricket just may be getting bigger exposure in the US. ESPN just secured a deal to stream games online as well as show on TV.
While the media and fans on either side of the border hardly ever think or act rationally the players have become far more friendly over the years. Perhaps it is the circumstances that have made that way but the men on both of these rosters serve dual roles as ambassadors of their countries while the two governments are knocking heads. Cricinfo writer Sambit Bal looked back at an incident from 2007 earlier today.
I remember a conversation I had with Younis Khan, then captain of Pakistan, a couple of days after his team had beaten India in a Champions Trophy match in Pretoria in 2009. Younis spoke of chiding a couple of Indian television journalists who'd been chasing him for a quote that would damn MS Dhoni. "Why are you after Dhoni," he asked them. "Winning and losing, it keeps happening. Today it is his turn, tomorrow it could be mine."
The pressure to win is extremely high in both countries. Heads will likely roll in whichever camp comes out short on Wednesday. It is the nature of the beast and all parties involved know this going in. Lets not forget that these two countries have been to war three times, have had many more border skirmishes. Sometimes the fan base tries to equate cricket to war. I can't think of many sports rivalries that are bigger. I've tried to explain to American friends how much more intense this rivalry is compared to pretty much anything in North American sports. Pakistan/India cricket matches make the Yankees/Red Sox, Redskins/Cowboys, Lakers/Celtics, UNC/Duke, etc. seem like minor league stuff. It is a rivalry that goes even deeper then sports. Saad Shafqat of ESPNCricinfo put it to words better then I can at the moment,
Sports ultimately are a form of make-believe, but here we have a sporting rivalry with roots so deep that it is no longer clear which is the genuine conflict and which is the proxy. If you took a survey of Indians and Pakistanis today, they will not be clear whether it is more important to defeat your neighbour in cricket or war. Quite likely, a majority will prefer victory in cricket. To this extent, the goal of any cricket diplomacy has already been achieved.
The hype surrounding this match has been immense but unlike the hyperbole that gets used a lot in sports this match really is that big of a deal. I am as big a sports fan as any and I honestly can't think of a more highly anticipated sporting even in my lifetime. Just how highly anticipated is this match? All hotels within a 25 KM (15.5 miles) radius were sold out a week ago. As this article goes on to mention, tickets are selling for well over face value by scalpers. This part really caught my eye though,
According to the Times of India, space at Chandigarh airport is limited so private jet owners have been asked to arrange for their planes to drop them off, then head off to places like Amritsar or Delhi to park for the day, before returning to pick them up after the match. Those fans who have to fly commercial airlines should be prepared to pay a huge premium, reported Mint, a business paper. Business-class tickets are sold out, and an economy ticket for the 30-minute flight between Delhi and Chandigarh will cost between Rs 7407 and Rs 10,482 on March 29. A flight to Chandigarh from Delhi on any other day costs about Rs 3200.
You have to check out this border ceremony that happens every single day. It is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The two nations have been at war 3 times and tensions are always high politically but this ceremony at the border draws a crowd from both sides of the border.
I always laugh at people to claim that a billion people watch the Super Bowl. Sure, there are 100 million people in the US who watch it but where are the other 900 million people coming from? A lot of Americans seem to forget that not everyone cares about American sports. Soccer and Cricket are a bigger deal around the world (in terms of audience). This game tomorrow will most likely be watched by well over a billion people. How am I coming up with that number? There are approximately 1.5 billion Pakistanis and Indians around the world. A large majority of those (including me) will be watching this game Wednesday. Add to it people in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Canada and right here in the US and it adds up to a fairly large audience. Twitter faces several down periods throughout the course of the average day, I am expecting it to face even more troubles Wednesday. So if you're logging in from work in the morning hoping to get on Twitter......sorry! The game starts at 5 AM eastern time and should last until about 12:30 PM. I would expect Twitter issues for far longer then that.
This brings me back to my original question. Will this go down as the most watched sporting event ever? As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
I honestly don't know why this exists but there is actually someone out there compiling statistics from basketball movies. I haven't watched Space Jam in like 13 years but I need to find it somewhere fast. By the way, did you know that the Space Jam website is still online?
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
A good and correct argument from Nate Silver knocking those who are mocking the Big East. Here is a direct quote:
During the regular season, its 16 teams (counting also-rans like DePaul and Rutgers) went 34-19 against N.C.A.A. tournament entrants from outside the conference. This compares favorably, for instance, to the Atlantic Coast Conference, whose teams went 19-29 against tournament competition.
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
So this is Nic Robertson confirming what we already knew about Fox that they don't actually do any research or proper "reporting".
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
Absolutely disgraceful but doesn't shock me one bit. With a lack of volunteers in the aftermath of the last decade plenty of war criminals like this are wreaking havoc in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
What a crazy finish to the Butler/Pitt game. The refs did make the right calls. Those were definitely fouls. Butler coach Brad Stevens was a class act during his post game interview but he did celebrate when they got back to the locker room.
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
Earlier this week ESPN unveiled President Obama's bracket for the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. Earlier today they officially did the same for his bracket for the Womens Tournament.
It took a while but I have finally finalized my NCAA Mens Tournament Bracket.
2011 NCAA Mens Tournament Bracket
I can't remember another year where I changed my bracket around as often as I have this year. I didn't pick any 12/5 upsets as I just am not that confident in any of the 12 seeds. I did go back on forth with Richmond though. I did pick two #13s though. Listening to and reading to the Oakland stuff the past couple of days got me. I ended up taking them over Texas. I wasn't sold on a long BYU run in the tournament so I am taking tiny Wofford over them. People who know me know that I love the underdogs. A school of 1,500 kids (my high school had more students), a good run against Wisconsin in the tournament last year, three returning seniors and a lack of faith in BYU pulled me into making the pick. I was looking at a poll earlier on ESPN.com and 48% of the participants thought BYU is the most likely top 3 seed to fall today.
For the 3rd straight year President Obama has filled out NCAA Tournament brackets for ESPN.
ESPN College Basketball analyst Andy Katz (you can find his blog post here) was at the White House yesterday to host the segment for SportsCenter and the other ESPN platforms. The video is embedded below. Two years ago he correctly picked UNC to win the NCAA Tournament. Last year his pick of Kansas got knocked out in the second round.
You can find Obama's brackets for both the Mens and Womens tournaments on the White House website. He will appear on SportsCenter again tomorrow morning with Doris Burke to unveil his Womens Tournament bracket. Earlier today on Sportscenter John Buccigross and Doug Gottlieb said that Obama's signed bracket from two years ago is displayed in the ESPN cafeteria. I'll post my bracket at some point between now and tip off on Thursday. Really struggling with it this year and coming out with a lot of chalk results and that is why I am not really surprised that Obama is going with the four #1s
Obama's Mens Tournament Bracket for ESPN
Obama's Womens Tournament Bracket
From ESPN's SportsCenter earlier today.
ESPN has entered Obama's bracket as an entry into their Tournament Challenge. How well will he do? In a usual year I may have criticized Obama for going chalk with his bracket but in talking with other college basketball fans most of us are coming out with brackets very similar to his. Andy Katz has had some nice exclusives with Barack Obama over the past few years.
Neil Best of Newsday pointed out, it is worth noting that Obama picked Kansas to win it all again. They are the only one of his Final Four teams that doesn't play in a battleground state. Reid Wilson noted earlier today that one of Obama's first round upsets is Marquette over Xavier (the alma mater of Speak John Boehner). I am not a of over analyzing the bracket from a political angle but sometimes it just can't be helped.
What I absolutely have to laugh at is those who criticize Obama for filling out a NCAA bracket. A large chunk of the people criticizing him are probably in a office pool of their own. Just take a look at this clip from Fox "News".
Just because Obama spent a small part of his day with ESPN we are to believe he is not paying attention to what is going on in the world? That sentiment is even more ridiculous when Obama asks people to donate to help the victims in Japan as part of his segments on ESPN. How many people do you think Obama reached out with that message by going on ESPN? I just don't understand the people who act as though just because he is the President he shouldn't do anything "normal". I always point people out to this (and this).
One of the things I wanted to do on the show was, as people are filling out their brackets -- this is obviously a national pastime; we all have a great time, it’s a great diversion. But I know a lot of people are thinking how can they help the Japanese people during this time of need. If you go to usaid.gov -- usaid.gov -- that will list all the nonprofits, the charities that are helping out there. It would be wonderful for people to maybe offer a little help to the Japanese people at this time -- as they’re filling out their brackets. It’s not going to take a lot of time. That's usaid.gov. It could be really helpful.
That is what Obama told ESPN about the events that are unfolding in Japan. What more do people want him to do? Do you have a problem with Obama filling out a bracket? Let me know here.
Houston Chronicle takes a look at just how hard it is to predict the NCAA Tournament. ESPN also takes an interesting look at the NCAA Tournament. I honestly had forgotten that it has been nine years since a #15 beat a #2.
As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or .
For the 3rd straight year President Obama has filled out NCAA Tournament brackets for ESPN. I am guessing the clips will air tomorrow on ESPN. I will post the videos when they become available. Two years ago he correctly picked UNC to win the NCAA Tournament. Last year his pick of Kansas got knocked out in the second round.
I'll post my bracket at some point between now and tip off on Thursday. Really struggling with it this year and coming out with a lot of chalk results and that is why I am not really surprised that Obama is going with the four #1s.
While browsing twitter a little while ago I came across the following picture.
According to these ignorant people this Tsunami happened because God was angry about Japan bombing Pearl Harbor. Do these people even realize how many natural disasters strike the US every year? Can one of these ignorant people point out which of the disasters over the 70 years happened because God was angry at the US for dropping Nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? I guess Katrina was Dubya's fault after all for the mess he created in Iraq?
Earlier today President Obama welcomed the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks to the White House. As he mentioned in his remarks he's welcomed a lot of teams and athletes to the White House but this one was different.
This one is a little sweeter. ... It's the first time during my presidency I get to welcome a world champion from my hometown, Chicago.
President Obama brought attention to Chicago's history of long championship droughts.
Finally, I want to congratulate all the fans. We have a proud tradition in Chicago of believing that no matter how long it takes, how much we have to endure, it’s only a matter of time before our team finally wins it all. (Laughter.) The waiting builds character. We have a lot of character. (Laughter.)
The Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup in 1961 and that led President Obama to take a stroll down memory lane.
Now, I have to say, even by Chicago standards, 49 years, that’s a pretty long time. (Laughter.) To put that in perspective, the last time the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, a movie cost 69 cents. JFK had just moved into the White House. I was still in diapers. (Laughter.) And when the legendary Glenn Hall played goalie for the Hawks, he did it with a wooden stick and no mask.
To be honest as big a sports fan Barack Obama is I highly doubt he knows who Glenn Hall is. Since become President he has attended MLB, NBA, WNBA and NCAA events but the NHL has not received the same love from him. He hasn't attended a Washington Capitals game despite them having one of the best players in the league Alex Ovechkin. He even passed up on watching the Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run last year when he was on a trip to Chicago.
. 
in like 13 years but I need to find it somewhere fast. By the way, did you know that the 
