A load of crap from an idle brain

I hope i got the title correct.  Spain are the Champions.  Blame Google translator if its wrong

The once in 4 years extravaganza comes to an end and Spain get the bragging rights for the next 4 years.  The 2008 Euro Champions and now the World Champs, Spain deserve all the praise and respect.

Didnt bother to wake up at 2:30 in the morning to watch the match.  I do love the sport, but not as crazy to wake up at unearthly hours to watch the sport.  Though i had woken up at more or less the same timings last World cup to watch Italy – France battle it out.

In these times of Financial crisis (with Spain being one of the worst affected countries in Europe), this win will come as a soothing balm for the Spanish people.

Viva Espana.

PS: Thank God, this was not the IPL finals and thank God there was no Lalit Modi.  Imagine him droning on and on being the best thing since sliced bread and all the hard work he did to ensure the tournament’s success.  Class is surely not something to be associated with either Modi or IPL.

Above pictures courtesy: FIFA

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The South American giants, Argentina & Brazil have joined their counterparts from Europe (England, France, Italy) in being knocked out of the world cup.  The only surprise in the line up happens to be Uruguay.  The perennial underachievers, Spain and Netherlands are also into the semis.  The only consistent team to appear in the semis are the Germans.  But at the beginning of the tournament, they weren’t the favored team.   The young German team has belied all expectations by battering the favourites Argentina 4-0.

So, this is how the semi final line up stacks up.

Uruguay  vs  Netherlands on 6th July 2010

Germany  vs  Spain on 7th July 2010

My money is on a Germany-Uruguay final.  But then, have the Germans peaked a bit too early? Spain might be looking at making it a grand double after winning the Euro-2008.  The Dutch with all their egos and infighting are capable of making it to the final too.

Pictures courtesy: FIFA

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At a time when the Indian sports fans were mourning their overhyped cricket team crashing out of the Twenty20 World Cup, Viswanathan Anand gave a big reason to cheer.  Anand retained the world chess championship beating Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria by 6.5 to 5.5 points.

After playing exhaustive chess for over three decades, Viswanathan Anand has assured himself a place among all time greats as he retained the World Champion title with consummate ease against Veselin Topalov in his own den in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tuesday.

With the win Anand has accomplished something which no other chess great, not even Garry Kasparov has done. He has asserted his supremacy in the world by winning the title in every possible format of tournament including winning the world chess title three times in a row and against various opponents including two different ones in match format.

He has won in knock-out, round-robin and two matchplay formats to give an apt answer his critics that he cant stand the test of time. Anand now has to his credit a rare combination of the consecutive three World Champion title and four in all including the knockout format that he won in 2000.

He has been awarded many prestigious titles like Chess Oscars for three times on the trot. He is the only non-Russian other than Bobby Fischer to win the award after the tradition was reinstated.

He has also been bestowed with the inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, in 1991, besides the Arjuna Award, the Padmashri (the youngest recipient of the title), Padma Bhushan, the Soviet Land Nehru award, the BPL Achievers of the World, Sportstar, Sportsworld “Sportsman of the year 1995″ Award.

Anand, who shifted to Spain in — for better opportunities, has received the ‘Jameo de Oro’ the countries highest civilian award given to a foreigner.

Read the full news here

To watch all the matches, go here and click on the animated moves.

Above picture courtesy: Telegraph

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After a spectacular 100% rise from 2008 levels, the markets moved into a bubble territory.  The Greece debt downgrading to junk status might be the needle that would prick the bubble.

For an ordinary man on the street, its a disaster.  For the newscasters, its breaking news.  For a long term investor, its a good time to buy some great stocks at fabulous prices.

A leading credit agency lowered Greece’s rating to junk status, dealing a blow to an international rescue plan for the country and hammering U.S. and European stock markets.

The junk rating, unusual for a developed nation, deepened fears that big fiscal deficits and debt burdens elsewhere could threaten the economic recovery in Europe. Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic tumbled about 2 percent or more after the downgrade by Standard & Poor’s.

The downgrade fanned investors’ doubts that the proposed economic reforms in Greece will go far enough to prevent the country from spiraling into even deeper trouble. It also presented a new obstacle to the planned $60 billion bailout from European governments and the International Monetary Fund.

Full news here

As i write, the BSE Sensex is more than 250 points down from yesterday’s close.  Portugal also has been downgraded. With Ireland, Italy, Spain also in the line, there seems to be long dark days ahead.

Hope the Sensex collapses some more over the next few weeks to settle around 15-16k. So that i can do some bargain hunting

Above picture source: Tribune

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On one hand it was a great feeling seeing Deccan Chargers back to their winning ways by trouncing Mumbai Indians by 19  runs. A stupendous bowling effort by Rohit Sharma who took 4 wickets for 6 runs which included a hat trick was the main reason for the DC win.

And on the other hand, heartbreak to see Chelsea miss yet another seat to the Champions league finals.  Andreas Iniesta’s injury time goal meant that Barcelona drew 1-1 with Chelsea and thus moved into the finals with a better away goal record.

Earlier, Michael Essien scored for Chelsea in the 9th minute to go 1-0 for the English team.

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