Gimme Mo Money!

Remember the notorious advertisement that Nike carried during the Los Angeles Olympics? "You don't win silver, You lose gold". That is America and materialism at its very best. USA, the first amongst the first world and baseball is their ball game. And us Indians lost in the third world find that cricket is our ball game. Cricket is going the baseball way and there are lessons to be learned.

Baseball has been through what cricket is going through now. Over the years the umpires have taken the cues from the powers that be to keep the game moving. The reason is not about the game, but about the broadcasting conglomerates that buy the rights to the games. It's obvious where the power is being held here, isn't it? The game of baseball slowly changed as all things do. When it comes right down to it, the same thing changed baseball that is changing cricket, soccer, the Olympics and all other entertainment. MONEY. But as the MO MONEY thing becomes the idol that is worshipped, the game is losing its subtle eloquence. The home run is the instant gratification that has caught the limelight and the attention of the new fan and of course the hungry network. The long ball, the big thrill, the quicker, farther, more spectacular is now starting to edge out the subtle undercurrents and dramas that baseball once held. The fan is becoming a shallow, inpatient and greedy - for the big play, and the next big play and the next big play. These days, they even wind the balls harder and stretch the covers on tighter so that they'll travel farther and produce more home runs and yes, MO MONEY. You see that in cricket too. A top edge flies over third-man for a six, they have made it a batsman's game (The one day game is for the instant nirvana). They have made new rules that favour the batsmen, that he can put his foot forward and heave-ho!

In America, where baseball was once called the national pastime it's jokingly called juicing the ball. There are a few that complain about the decline in the substance and the purity of the game, but most just smile and knowingly wink, because those home runs - that's what gives the fan that quick gratification and the big thrill. Now you know where cricket is destined to go. The sixer in cricket is what a home run is to baseball. All entertainment is a drug, and to make the entertainment sell, the drug must be stronger so that yes, you know, it will skyrocket profits and interest and make MO MONEY. The winner takes it all and there isn't a place for the loser. How often do we see a batsman walk after nicking the ball to the keeper? Gone are the days of decent cricket. And it is the greed for the MO MONEY that caused the downfall of men like Hansie Cronje and Mohammed Azharuddin. You will agree with me that there is still the joy in watching cricket at its best. In watching a laidback David Gower coverdrive or for that matter a Mark Waugh on-drive. Or just watching the bowler demoralising the best of the batsmen; people who have been around would remember the one over which Michel Holding bowled to Geoff Boycott at Barbados in 1981 or when Allan Donald had a go at Michael Atherton in the 1998 Test series played in England. Cricket is a beautiful game but not strong enough on its own to withstand the winds of change.

Where the leader goes, the rest follows. Money and the greed for MO MONEY being the driving force to success in a highly material world. Where fulfillment stands nowhere near success. This is the world where young kids are told "nothing succeeds like success". And success being the riches measured by the widely accepted standard called 'Money'. Progress in cricket and baseball (and all other sports and children's games played by adults) is marked by the mega-increasing salaries of the players. Cricket has time on its side to learn from the mistakes of baseball and other big sports. Though we are in the fast forward lane to full-time consumerism, there is still that ounce of honour in this world. We saw it in Delhi Police, and three cheers to the 'unsung heroes'.