May 29, 2009
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Strategy Lessons
Strategy is the theme of today’s post… Weekend before last, one of my friends invited me to paintballing at AG Paintball Games out in Leesburg, VA. We were a total of 21 people, so we got to play against one another.
It was my first time trying this, but it was a lot of fun. I did learn a few things, though…
(1) I’m a very good shot,
(2) I’m not very good at avoiding being shot, and
(3) Being good at strategy in video games doesn’t translate into being good at strategy on-the-field.I do get now why some people are really into it, though. It’s definitely fun, even if (like me) you’re not very good at it.
Cricket Week – IPL Finale, and T20 World Cup Preview
I didn’t get around to an update before the semi-final or final, as I said… Oh well.
Anyway, Hyderabad, the Deccan Chargers, won the 2009 Indian Premier League. Interesting too, considering that in 2008 they were possibly the worst team in the league. This year, they managed to put their act together into a solid enough team to just barely make it into 4th place before the semi-finals, knock out the Delhi Daredevils, and win the final against the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
(Source: DLF/IPL)In keeping with today’s post’s theme, strategy, and consistent strategy, was the big factor here. As I’ve mentioned, my favorite team is the Rajasthan Royals. They hit a groove in the middle of the tournament as captain Shane Warne learned how to best utilize his squad (particularly Yusuf Pathan), but they started faltering towards the end–they even lost to Kolkata. Meanwhile, Kolkata continued their pattern of having great players but piss-poor strategy: they put Ajantha Mendis (my favorite player) in only 3 games, and Mashrafe Mortaza (my favorite Bangladeshi player) in a total of one game. They had a bit of a luck at the end, but that was it. Delhi managed to be in perfect form for most of the tournament, but choked at the end–still haven’t figured out what went wrong.
Anyway, enough on that. I really suggest you check out CricInfo’s Page 2 for a much better, and more entertaining, summary of the last weeks of the IPL.
(Source: AP)Many things throughout make you really realize how much of an international sport cricket has always been, and how it continues to be that way. You have the Indian Premier League, with many prominent players from Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, and the West Indies. It’s being held this year in South Africa. And, they brought in cheerleaders from the United States (hey, we got to contribute something at least!). They pushed through the “Help Educate and Teach” initiative to support local schools, and ran a “Miss Bollywood South Africa” contest.
Even the closing ceremony was pretty good. Akon performed… and Jacob Zuma gave a speech. *ehem*
All the high points even made up for some of the silliness with corporate placement (“DLF Maximum” for sixes, “Citi moments of success”, and the “Fly Kingfisher fair play award). It got to the point of just being amusing by the end. All-in-all, it makes you wonder how good it would have been if it ended up being held in England instead of South Africa–I don’t think there would’ve been near as much character to it.
But, we’ll find out next week, when the 2nd T20 World Cup of Cricket begins! In 2007, they held the 1st T20 World Cup in South Africa; and in 2009, they’ll hold the 2nd in England. So, we’ll get a taste of how different it’ll be between the two countries.
When the 2009 T20 World Cup begins, I’ll try to make another post as sort of a preview of what’s to come. ‘Til then. KF
