Want Inspiration?

The past few weeks have been a treat for sports fan across the world. It just leaves me flummoxed and gaping in astonishment the commitment, energy, mental-strength and belief that the world best sportspersons get/bring. Let me start with tennis. Mr.Fed-Ex, has been trying extra-ordinarily hard to win the ever-elusive French Open. He lost the past 2 finals to Nadal and was hoping to be third time lucky. I myself have been rooting for him to win the French Open. But, that was not meant to be. The stupefying ease with which Nadal brushed aside Federer was remarkable. I did not expect it, not even Federer's harshest critic must have. But thats what Nadal was all about. He played almost flawless clay court tennis. Federer had no answer and just had to admit the fact that on court, "Nadal is King".

More recently, there was a baseball game. NY Yankees, 7-8 down. 2 outs and 2 strikes for Jason Giambi. And what does Giambi do?? You guessed right, a home run!! Yankees, score 2 and win 9-8. Isnt this stuff supposed to happen on TV only? Fairy tale stuff isnt it?

The you have the legendary, Tiger Woods. Trails all week in the US Open. Finally it all comes down to one single putt. 12 feet, drop it or drop out. Champions like this kind of challenges and they deliver, dont they. Tiger like the many times before did. He sunk the ball into the hole and tied for the lead. This meant, another 18 holes for the play-off to decide the champion. And what happens next day. Same story. After exchanging leads for the last 17 holes, it boils down to this. Tiger is 1 shot behind Rocco going into the final hole. At this moment, most if not all sport guys would have quit. A hurting knee, a weekend full of tough shots and tense putts. Who needs more of this? Tiger does!! He makes up that one shot on the final hole and we head to a sudden death. Tiger wraps up the US Open Championship on the first hole itself. No doubt this guy is the worlds most paid athelete. I mean, he even has his own freaking Gatorade!!!! Champion Tiger, we salute you.

Add to this, the performance of the Italian Football team and the Boston Celtics and we know why these guys are given so much respect and adoration around the world. The money they make is absolutely worth the talent and effort these guys put in so that they can entertain us and show us new levels of performance. Beating the lakers, or rather, thrashing the lakers in game 6 was no easy feat. Lakers had demolished almost all the teams en route to the finals. They did lose a couple on the way, but today, they were smashed! The big 3, Allen, KG and Pierce alongside Rondo were all over the lakers, and their desire to win, was overwhelming. Beating the lakers anyday is a tough task, beating them by a margin of more than 35 points, is unimaginable.

A hurting knee (Tiger), a non-favorite surface (Federer & clay), a massive opponent (lakers for the celtics) dont stop champions. They only make them more grittier. They wont whine, they wont make excuses. All they do is go out there and perform. And perform so damn beautifully that you stand and clap. Not always do they win (ask Federer), but their desire, appetite, self-belief and out-of-this-world performance makes humble beings like me realise that sports is indeed the best way to get inspired. Just when I think I am recovering from the Tigeresque performance, we have the quarter finals coming up. More moments of inspiration, more glorious moments to treasure and epic battles to cherish.

Ballack, we look forward to another wonder goal soon!!!!