Veena Reddy - Marathon Runner

Btw, I saw this girl at the Boston Marathon yesterday. I figured she probably made it well within 3 hours. (Anything within 3 hours is an absolutely amazing time in my books!). She went past us in 2.30-2.35 or so... while the winners (women) had gone past us at 2.20.

The last name indicates she is of Indian origin. Hence it perked my interest.

And sure enough, a quick Google search for Reddy gave me the desired info.

Veena C. Reddy, United States, 2:45:46

She came in 16th yesterday!

IMPRESSIVE! A job well done! Like I said.. she HAD to have done it within 3 hours! (Btw, I had never heard of her before yesterday.)

Also, some career notes (last updated 2008)

Reddy was a member of the track and tennis teams at the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI, but took time off from running while studying at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She later joined the cross country and track teams at Wesleyan, and entered her first marathon while in college, which turned out to be a painful 3:40 experience. She has since dramatically improved her time, placing sixth at the 2004 Ottawa Marathon (2:49:14), and finishing as the sixth American at the 2004 New York City Marathon (2:49:55) while starting behind the elite field. She set her marathon personal best at Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota in 2006, finishing fifth in 2:41:30. She rounded out her marathon season with a strong 20th-place finish at The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2:42:03. Reddy, who ran the Boston Marathons in 2002 and 2003, has already qualified for the 2008 Olympic Team Trials in Boston with her performances at Grandma’s.

Personal Notes:
Reddy was born in Rhode Island and attended the Moses Brown School in Providence where she ran track. She attended Wesleyan University where she received her bachelor’s of arts degree. She later earned her master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and works as an architect at Ballinger Architects in Philadelphia.

Difference between the impossible and the possible

I had a great outing all day first at the Boston marathon & then celebrated the birthday with dinner with friends.

Most amazing sight at the Boston marathon today - Richard Whitehead. Incredible trail-blazing 3:02 hour marathon run by this indomitable man!

You ask why 3:02 is trail-blazing when the winner Deriba Merga of Ethiopia did it in 2:08:42? Go see this pic.

Please credit Rob Larsen with a link to Drunkenfist.com, if you use this picture anywhere

Another picture via Boston Globe

©Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

He was blazing by in sub 2.5 hours when I saw him at the 23-24 mile mark or so. It seems in 2008, Whitehead completed 4.5 marathons over a 6-week period in 3 continents -- achieving marathon on marathon personal best's of 3hrs 54m (Kilimanjaro), 3hrs 39m (Rome), 3hrs 36m (Georgia) and finally 3hrs 22m (London). Seems he broke the 3 hr barrier recently at the 2009 Rome marathon in March, improving on his 2008 time of 3:38.59!

Also check out Rick Ball.

P.S. More stride-by-stride updates and pictures through boston.com. [Sorry no pictures from me as I forgot to take my camera but I am hoping Boston.com's Big Picture site will have some gems soon!]

Listed below are the top 10 men and women. (Notice the odd man out in top 10! :) Ryan Hall's third place was the best finish by an American since Meb Keflezighi's third in 2006. His Olympic marathon teammate Brian Sell of Woodbury, Pa., finished second among Americans, in 14th place with a time of 2:16:31. Patrick Rizzo of Rochester Hill, Mich., was the third US finisher, right behind Sell in 15th with a time of 2:17:05.)

Slow race today because of strong headwind, btw.

Here are the official times for the top 10 men's finishers:

1. Deriba Merga of Ethiopia, 2:08:42
2. Daniel Rono of Kenya, 2:09:32
3. Ryan Hall of Mammouth Lakes, Calif., 2:09:40
4. Tekeste Kebede of Ethiopia, 2:09:49
5. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya, 2:10:06
6. Gashaw Asfaw of Ethiopia, 2:10:44
7. Solomon Molla of Ethiopia, 2:12:02
8. Evans Cheruiyot of Kenya, 2:12:45
9. Stephen Kiogora of Kenya, 2:13:00
10. Timothy Cherigat of Kenya, 2:13:04

Salina Kosgei, 32, of El Marakwet, Kenya, captured the women's crown in the 113th Boston Marathon, edging defending champion Dire Tune, 23, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by less than two seconds. Kara Goucher, 30, of Portland, Oregon, finished third, several seconds after Tune. The 2:32:16 time posted by women's winner Salina Kosgei of Kenya was the slowest time recorded by a woman in Boston since monetary prizes started in 1986.

The top 10 finishes in the women's division:
1. Salina Kosgei, 32, of Kenya: 2:32:16
2. Dire Tune, 23, of Ethiopia: 2:32:17
3. Kara Goucher, 30, of Oregon: 2:32:25
4. Bezunesh Bekele, 26, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 2:33:08
5. Helena Kirop, 32, of Kapenguria, Kenya: 2:33:24
6. Lidiya Grigoryeva, 35, of Cheboksary, Russia: 2:34:20
7. Atsede Habtamu, 21, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 2:35:34
8. Colleen De Reuck, 45, of Boulder, Colorado: 2:35:37. With this finish, De Reuck won the women's Masters Division.
9. Alice Timbilili, 26, of Moiben, Kenya: 2:36:25
10. Alina Ivanova, 40, of Cheboksary, Russia: 2:36:50

Notable: A third American, Sheri Piers, 37, of Falmouth, Maine (Joan Benoit's town) finished in 11th place with a time of 2:37:04.

Last but not least...here are the times for the wheelchair races:

MEN
Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa, 1:33:29
Masazumi Soejima of Japan, 1:36:57

WOMEN
Wakako Tsuchida of Japan, 1:54:37
Diane Roy of Quebec, 2:01:27

I believe Van Dyk (who was miles ahead of the guy who came 2nd when they passed by us at the 23-24 mile mark) has been winning the wheelchair race for many years!

South African Ernst Van Dyk breezed to his record eighth win in the men's wheelchair race of Boston Marathon. Van Dyk led from the first mile Tuesday and finished in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 29 seconds. Van Dyk extended his own record for victories in the men's wheelchair division and matched women's wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll's record for most Boston Marathon victories ever. Van Dyk has won eight of the last nine Boston Marathons, with his only loss during the streak coming in 2007. His easy victory was also the slowest of his eight wins. His previous slowest time was 1 hour, 28 minutes and 32 seconds.

P.P.S. Found some more amazing pictures through the boston.com website. Might as well share them here!

Stan Vancelette, 72, finished his 33d consecutive Boston Marathon.

(© Globe Staff/Matthew J. Lee)

And then there was this amazing guy!

Forty-eight-year-old Paul Gaunt, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, completed the Boston Marathon.

(© Globe Staff/Matthew J. Lee)

Btw, there were MANY such army kids.... all had huge heavy bagpacks on their back. Impressive!

With full packs and in boots, members of the US Army crossed the finish line.

(© AP Photo)

I did not see this woman but that's pretty amazing too!

Leslie Nordin of Hingham wore a blindfold as part of her fundraising effort for Perkins School for the Blind, as well as her son Sawyer. She was guided by her husband Dayron. Family members said Nordin raised $30,000.(©  Globe Staff/John Blanding)

Btw, after all these awe-inspiring pictures, you can now go enjoy some funny scenes from the marathon too.

And flickr has lotsa pictures, of course..
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"Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds." - Orison Swett Marden

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination." - Tommy Lasorda 

"The only good luck many great men ever had was being born with the ability and determination to overcome bad luck." Channing Pollock

Daring to win

We all saw opening ceremony and games... on TV and even saw some great pictures online...

...but I don't think the Paralympic Games that followed the main Olympics in China and ended just yesterday, have got as much coverage in mainstream media.

Well...at least you can now enjoy some amazing pictures from the Paralympic Games, thanks to Boston.com. [Hat tip to Kaushik Gala, who shared the above link with me on an email-list]

Amazing people; perhaps even more amazing than Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Shawn Johnson, and even the Dara Torres's of the world!

Btw, top 10 medal winners at the games...

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	89	70	52	211
2	Great Britain	42	29	31	102
3	United States	36	35	28	99
4	Ukraine	24	18	32	74
5	Australia	23	29	27	79
6	South Africa	21	3	6	30
7	Canada	19	10	21	50
8	Russia	18	22	23	63
9	Brazil	16	14	17	47
10	Spain	15	21	22	5

Table from Wikipedia.

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Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win. - Bernadette Devlin

"Is it plastic? Is it magic?"

I am glad NBC seemed to have toned down the sappy saccharine feel-good background stories of the athletes during the recent Olympics but this one is worth highlighting (not sure NBC covered it - if they did, I missed it.)

I was beginning to wonder who this time's Eric the Eel would be. (See the video of his swim from 2000, with some buffoons commentating! How can one not cheer for the underdog and instead laugh at him, in such a case!)

Somalia's Samia Yusuf Omar probably takes that spot and deserves her few minutes of limelight on the international scene. Quite a different and harsher return to reality for her than for any of the other Olympians, huh!

Samia Yusuf Omar headed back to Somalia Sunday, returning to the small two-room house in Mogadishu shared by seven family members. Her mother lives there, selling fruits and vegetables. Her father is buried there, the victim of a wayward artillery shell that hit their home and also killed Samia’s aunt and uncle.

This is the Olympic story we never heard.

It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water.

Read more at the article. Like she says: she does not need our pity. Quite condescending to even highlight her story like this in some ways. But in my mind this is what the Olympics are and should be about - people from all over the world coming together to give their very best and compete hard.

It's a wrap

In a distinct contrast to my reactions after the opening ceremony, which blew me away, I am not raving in awe after the closing ceremony. It was a let down of sorts -- maybe because I expected too much, or maybe I tired of all the traditions (raise this flag, raise that flag, shut the flame, pass this on, pass that on, give some Brit musicians some TV time, etc.), or maybe because of too many ad interruptions (more frequent than any other Olympic coverage or at least felt like it) . Overall, there were some great moments but it just didn't capture my attention and was disappointing in many ways.

However, I'd still like to take this occasion to link to Boston.com's amazing pictures from the two week extravaganza. London's definitely has a tough act to follow:

We now know what can be accomplished by a nation of 1.3 billion people imbued with nationalistic pride and governed by a no-nonsense leadership.

Such a nation can run the most efficient, if not necessarily the most joyful and spontaneous Olympics yet known. Such a nation can trot out an endless stream of blue-shirted volunteers (at least three people for every one that was needed and three more behind them, just in case). Such a nation can send out battalions of skilled and dedicated athletes in more disciplines than any previous country ever had mastered. Such a nation can justify its presence on this earth to itself, while announcing to everyone else, without specifically saying so, that it is the future and the 21st century will inevitably be theirs.

Presenting itself to the world with a stupendous opening ceremonies that told the story of its honorable and ancient civilization in the most modern of technological ways, China put on an Olympics that will not soon be surpassed. Who else will commit $43 billion to the cause?

And yet, there was something lacking and something lost in all the clockwork efficiency and rigor - more in terms of the performances by the Chinese athletes, which I followed closely on TV across various sports than in the organization of the Olympics, which I have read was exceptional. Until the closing ceremony, I do not think I saw Chinese athletes celebrating and smiling, with not more than a cursory smile or a brief exultation by the Chinese gymnasts after a great routine. The Chinese divers were supreme and so much better than the rest of the competition but perhaps under the pressure and expectation set to win all 8 diving golds (they won 7; with an Australian upsetting them in the last event - the men's 10m platform), they never broke into even the cursory smile we saw in the case of the gymnasts and other athletes after winning medals! I'd take the joie-de-vivre of participating and not winning over the pressures of winning that seemed to bog down many Chinese athletes any day!

Anyways, to wrap it up, here's a list of 36 facts about the Olympic medal count (scrambled out of order by me)

12) India has 17% of the world's population. They won 0.31% of Olympic medals. (ouch! don't rub it in, dude! - sanjeev)

13) China: 19.8% of population, 10.4% of medals.

14) United States: 4.6% of population, 11.5% medals.

15) Jamaica: 0.041% of population, 1.15% medals.

7) Per capita, China won one gold medal for every 25 million people in the country. The United States' per capita rate was one gold for every 8.5 million. The tiny island nation of Jamaica, which won a staggering six golds in Beijing, had a per capita rate of one gold for every 450,000 residents. Had China won at that rate, the country would have earned 2,889 golds.

29) From 1980 to 2008, Jamaica won three Olympic golds. In a span of six days in Beijing, Usain Bolt won three.

16) Iceland was the least populous country to win an Olympic medal.

17) Pakistan was the most populous country not to win an Olympic medal (164 million residents, sixth-largest nation in the world).

18) Michael Phelps would have finished tied for 9th in the gold medal count, ahead of countries including France, Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Brazil and Mexico.

19) The rest of the world won seven golds in men's swimming events. Phelps, of course, won eight.

20) The United States won the most golds (7) and most total medals in the track competition (23), despite having what was widely considered a disappointing meet

Later in the list is another PATHETIC attempt to trivialize the Chinese medal wins by discounting and separating out golds at 'judged' events as not being 'real' golds... but let me not get started on that kind of nonsense in the US media. Lets celebrate the winners - from all countries - instead of whining about other people's wins for once! Despite a sub-par track and field performance, the US did very well, I think and ended up with almost a record tally of total US medals. In addition to all the much celebrated swimming and gymnastic wins, there were some great team performances in basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, softball, and even water polo and women's soccer.

Lightning Bolt

Twenty meters from the finish line, his celebration began. He relaxed his arms, looked toward the crowd and slapped his chest. And despite those theatrics, he still covered 100 meters faster than any man ever has.

Little wonder then that Usain Bolt is celebrating his country's first ever gold medal.

He was dancing before the race even began.

Shimmying in front of the starting blocks, Bolt struck a pose during pre-race introductions as if the race was over before it started. Turns out it was, and Bolt had post-race entertainment planned for the enthralled sellout crowd of 91,000.

It took him fewer than 10 seconds to run 100 meters but at least 10 minutes to complete his victory lap. He pulled off his gold spikes and held them aloft, wrapped himself in a Jamaican flag and clowned as if he were on stage at a karaoke bar rather than on the biggest stage of the Olympics.

“I like to have fun,’’ he explained.

Munching on a post-race snack during a press conference, Bolt said there would be plenty of time to test his limits and lower the world record. That’s the most mind-boggling part about it – what might come next.

And here is what he had to say when asked how fast he could have run if he had not eased up:

“I didn’t come here to run the world record because I am the world-record holder,’’ he said. “I came here to win.’’

Yah maaan! Came here for the gold. Got the gold. And how!

Unfortunately, thanks to an email from a friend, I knew the result of the 100m finals before I just saw it on NBC. I had seen Bolt bolt ahead of every one in the heat yesterday, casually looking right-and-left as he relaxed after the first 60m or so and easily winding up first. Unbelievable that he relaxes once again with 15-20m to go and yet beats the world record again -- finishing at an unbelievably fast 9.69, with the silver and bronze medalists coming way behind at 9.89 and 9.91! This has to be the most dominating 100m run in years and should make the updated list of the top 50 greatest Olympic moments along with a few of Phelps's races!

I can't wait for the 200m finals now. Here's Bolt in the 200m earlier this year - the lead he has on others is almost as good as Johnson's 200m in 1996. And though NBC won't make available the 100m finals from Beijing any time soon, you can see Bolt setting the 100m record in May this year.

8 is a lucky number in China

wooooohoooooo........... 8 for 8. I do not believe in destiny but after yesterday's 7th gold with the 0.01 second win, I think he was destined to be here today!

8 days. 17 races. 8 finals. 8 golds. 7 World Records. UN_FREAKING_BELIEVABLE. Like the visa ad said: we need some new adjectives for this!

His mom must be the proudest person in the world today!!

Too many adults looked at Ms. Phelps's boy and saw what he couldn't do. This week, the world (will be) tuned to the Beijing Olympics to see what he can do.

Onto the LIGHTNING BOLT race now...finally; after some horrible programming by NBC for Saturday prime time. Was it really necessary to show the whole woman's marathon from 7.30-9.30 - couldn't you have shown the 100m finals from last night somewhere during those two hours even if the American favorite had failed to make it to the finals! So many people have gone to bed by now! RIDICULOUS!!

"He's not from another planet, He's from the future."

Technology may be helping swimmers break world records but Michael Phelps has been absolutely mind-boggling.

On the fifth day of swimming at the Beijing Games, Phelps collected his fourth and fifth gold medals, becoming the career leader in Olympic golds with 11. He broke his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly of 1 minute 52.03 seconds, trimming 0.06 off his 17-month-old mark even though his goggles filled with water when he dived into the water.

Less than an hour later, Phelps led off the United States' 4x-200 freestyle relay in 1:43.31, almost three seconds faster than his nearest competitor, to set the tone for the Americans' rousing victory. The squad of Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay clocked a 6:58.56 — the first sub-seven minute performance — to finish 5.14 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Russia, which was only 0.46 seconds off the listed world record.

5 races, 5 golds, 5 world records...so far! Even I am buying into the hype and rooting for him to go for 8 golds now. Maybe 8 is a lucky number for Phelps too. Maybe he can get to 8 golds and 8 world records in 8 finals races; which I suspect may be his personal goal for the Olympics!

"My goals are very personal, very private"

Whatever they are... I'm rooting for him to get to 08-08-08 at these Olympics which started on 08/08/08. :)

The Chinese pull a Milli-Vanilli

Looks like there's all kinds of people nit-picking at the details of the Olympic Ceremony! Now there is talk about a "Olympic Ceremony fake-out."

How the Chinese pulled a Milli-Vanilli during the Opening Ceremony (Here is an alternate link tothe story, for whenever the above link from Yahoo expires.)

Two girls — one cute, one deemed less so — were part of a plan that fooled Olympic viewers.

The unquestioned star of the Opening Ceremony was a little girl who performed "Hymn to the Motherland" in front of the entire world. I remember watching her and thinking how adorable and talented she was, the "poster child for all of China." Well, it turns out that she wasn't as talented as we all thought. It was in fact, a seven year old singing to the whole world on a pre-recorded tape, not the cute, pig-tailed Lin Miaoke (left), whom we all came to know and love according to a report from The Telegraph.

Blaah...whatever!

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And this does not take away from any of my awe after watching the opening ceremony but it seems the show featured "fake, computer-generated fireworks"!

The nation that gave the world counterfeit toys, fake toothpaste and poisoned pet food also gave 3 billion television viewers a bogus fireworks show of Olympic proportions Friday night, according to media reports Monday. The spectacular fireworks telecast to billions of viewers around the world at the end of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics Friday night were largely faked using computer animation and the audience wasn't told, the Beijing Times newspaper revealed.

Reminds me of a comment I read last week at some blog that went something along the lines of 'the Chinese will fake everything - they'll even fake your orgasm for you!' ;)

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And then there is the story of the Chinese "sex symbol" (sensationalist headline!) ...

A handsome but anonymous guardian of the Olympics torch on its troubled world tour has won legions of Chinese female fans -- and plenty of marriage proposals. only as "Second Brother on the Right" because of his customary position by the flame, the young man with boyish looks and cropped hair is an Internet sensation and nationalist hero.

Enjoy the Warhol moment, kid. Hopefully the Chinese government does not want a cut of your fame. :)

Spitz better swallow that pride!

Mark Spitz has got some attitude! Agree that his is a great achievement and he has a record that has stood for over 3 decades...(in fact, I just realized in addition to winning 7 golds in Munich, he broke the world records too in all 7 events!).... but I do not know why he feels entitled to being flown to Beijing just because he's the record holder. I'd understand him taking offense if it were a meeting for past Olympic record holders that he was not invited to...but whats his beef now!! And it does not look like he cannot afford to go -- he just does not want to go watch this "anonymously".... wants someone to pay for the trip and/or make a big hoopla and invite him to the games!

Spitz, once the star, upset over Beijing snub

"I never got invited. You don't go to the Olympics just to say, I am going to go. Especially because of who I am," Spitz told AFP in Hong Kong. "I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost -- it is."

Spitz said the International Olympic Committee, a US television network or FINA -- the international body that governs world swimming -- should have brought him to the Games this year, with Phelps making a go at his record.

And this is rich! He's so full of himself that he thinks Phelps will make it because ...well, Phelps is like Spitz! ;)

And Spitz thinks Phelps will succeed -- for one very good reason."He's almost identical to me. He's a world-record holder in all these events, so he is dominating the events just like I did," Spitz said. "He reminds me of myself."

Not sure he realizes how narcissistic and silly he's coming across as through his comments!

Go Celtics!

2008 NBA Champs - Celtics Rolling Rally.

Some great pictures at the above link.

Let the bells toll

RIP, Bobby. Hope you find peace (wherever people go when they die.)

Amazing to see him as a teenager in this 1958 clip from a TV show.



Found the video through a comment at a blog post by the famous woman prodigy chess champion, Susan Polgar.

Money can't buy you love

.. or a championship.

Some interesting numbers from MLB in the US

The most expensive team in baseball, the $189.7 million New York Yankees (and that's a pre-Roger Clemens figure) went down this week with a whimper. The team with the third-highest opening day payroll, the New York Mets ($115.2 million), collapsed long before that.

Nos. 4 and 8 – the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs, respectively – couldn't win a playoff game. Nos. 5-7 (Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners) didn't even make it to October. Neither did No. 8 to 12.

People like to decry baseball's salary disparity and lack of championship opportunities for small-market teams, but once again the playoffs are proving otherwise.

Yes, the $143 million Boston Red Sox, with the second-highest payroll according to USA Today's salary database, have reached in the American League Championship Series. But they're joined in the final four by the Cleveland Indians (No. 23), Colorado Rockies (No. 25) and Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 26). Those three payrolls total $168.2 million, $21 million less than the Yankees' entire outlay.

Tigers the champ

Great picture...perfectly summarizing the day.

13 majors.

Tim Henman retires

forever the British hope... forever the British source of frustration....

Gutsy Brit Tim Henman announced his retirement on Thursday in New York, saying "I was as good as I could have been."

.... which was just not good enough to win a Grand Slam. Thanks for the good (and the frustrating) times, Tim. That's quite an emotional retrospective press conference (based on the article above!)....

Now, the British tennis fans can have their emotional upheavals based on Andy Murray's ups and downs :) Why do I get the feeling Fred Perry's record as the last Brit to win Wimbledon (in 1936!) will remain intact for quite some years to come.

Red knickers in a twist

Wimbledon officials are getting their knickers in a twist (or as Americans would say it...panties in a bunch!)... only the Brits could create a fuss not over the visibility of panties during tennis (which is one of those things that happens and is not like a Victorian era exposed ankle!) but over its color!

Tatiana Golovin had the Wimbledon referee reaching for his rule book when she sought to appear on court wearing red underwear. Was she violating the "predominantly white" dress code laid down by the tournament that is such a stickler for sartorial etiquette?

Chess World Championship - Update

Man..crazy! The high stakes of chess - who would have known that geeky geniuses could get so competitive, huh? :)

Today, I read this Amit Varma's blog:

I'd written earlier about the curious turns the World Championship unification match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov had taken, with Topalov accusing Kramnik of taking too many bathroom breaks, and implying that he cheated in the loo. Well, the action has hotted up since, with Topalov's manager having done an analysis that supposedly shows that 78% of Kramnik's moves were also the first choice of Fritz 9, a computer program. That hardly sounds like evidence to me: if another top player was put through the same situations, I imagine there would be pretty much that many moves in common. Something like 95% would have been more convincing.Here's the reaction of Kramnik's camp, which no doubt cheered up a bit after Evgeny Bareev and Peter Svidler, two top grandmasters, publicly took Kramnik's side. Former world champion Garry Kasparov put it all in perspective in a piece in the Wall Street Journal, while Yasser Seirawan, once a formidable grandmaster himself, explained the roles of the officials involved, and where they went wrong.

I had posted earlier about the Chess World Championship here.

Roddick rumors

Maybe those rumors about him & Sharapova were just that...rumors... because when you can 'flirt' with or 'date' (or whatever else they allegedly did) Sharapova...why'd you go for white-trash like Paris Hilton. It can't be the money (he has enuf)... And ugggh - save me the details, please!!

Paris and  Andy
After dating billionaire Greek heirs, rockers and actors, hotel heiress Paris Hilton reportedly has a new man in her life – tennis champion Andy Roddick. The couple were spotted flirting at Las Vegas' trendy Tao nightclub recently, and were also seen getting hot and heavy on the VIP bed in Vegas’ Pure nightclub.

Chess World Championship

The World Chess Championship is upon us and

Kramnik vs Topalov are ready to checkmate

After a 13-year split in the game, Vladamir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov will settle the World Championship battle over the chessboard in a 12-game match in Elista, between September 21 and October 13. The rift in the chess world occurred after Garry Kasparov played a title match against Nigel Short in 1993 outside the auspices of FIDE, and the world chess federation organised a separate World championship, which soon became a knock-out event. The Classical chess world champions were Kasparov, first, and then Kramnik; Kasparov beat Short in 1993 and Viswanathan Anand in 1995, but lost to Kramnik in 2000. Kramnik went on to retain his title after a draw against Peter Leko in 2004. The FIDE knock-out World champions were Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov, in that order.

Apparently this match-up is in the Russian republic of KALMYKIA! I've never heard of the place!! Read more about this country* & its president! (The article also has more details on the split-up mentioned above.)

Chess governing body, FIDE's president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is president of the Republic of Kalmykia. Ilyumzhinov's election platform for the presidency of Kalmykia included a promise of a mobile phone for every shepherd and the affirmation of his belief that he had previously been abducted by aliens.

* KALMYKIA FACTS

• Republic of Russia
• Descended from Mongol hordes
• Mass deportations to Siberia by Stalin
• Main industry livestock rearing
• Europe's only Buddhist nation

Soccer World Cup Wrapup

Now that the FIFA Soccer World Cup, the focus of much attention & discussion over the last few weeks, is over, it's time for a quick wrapup and then back to boring old baseball on TV!

The finals between Italy and France was a mediocre one but will be remembered due to the the Zidane head-butting incident (Now you can play the Zidane-Head-Butting game!). I missed seeing the first two halves but caught the overtime, the head-butt, and the deciding penalty kicks thereafter...

So.. its Viva Italia... and we wait for 4 more years (I didn't realize next one is in South Africa - they didnt even qualify this time - how do they get to host the next one!) before we see any soccer (MLS boredom notwithstanding) on American TV!!

Italy celebrates even as France mourns
Italy welcomes its heroes - Pictures from Rome

And expectedly, all news from France is around Zidane..

Zidane: still an enduring hero for French immigrants
Why France still loves Zidane
Materazzi admits to insulting Zidane
Materazzi 'wished death on Zidane's family'
Lipreaders brought in to decipher Materazzi's comments
Materazzi denies terrorist insult
Mad Materazzi
Zidane silent as Italy celebrates
How will Zidane be remembered?
Zidane the flawed genius Zidane the flawed genius departs world stage

Zidane returns to adulation, intrigue and calls to tell all
Chirac forgives Zidane 'the virtuoso' for his World Cup madness
France forgives Zidane
Zidane's actions understandable in flop-filled match
Legacy should overshadow final shame

Stats & Awards

• Germany 2006 in numbers
• Germany 2006 analysis: The tactics
• Germany 2006: The award winners
• Klose takes the adidas Golden Shoe
• Buffon collects Lev Yashin Award
• Brazil and Spain share FIFA Fair Play Award
• Users declare Portugal most entertaining team

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World Cup official shoots himself Berlin's top World Cup official shot himself in the head just hours after the tournament ended and is now fighting for his life, police say.

Man becomes third Thai World Cup fan to die

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And speaking of Thai football fans... read this!

Thai monks mix Buddha with Beckham
This article reminded me of a Bhutanese movie I recently taped on IFC.. I haven't seen the movie yet but seems really well made, based on the little I saw as it taped.

(Did you know that Bhutan, a fascinating place to visit and often deemed the last Enchanting Eden on earth, (see the documentary the last Shangri-la), lived in isolation till recently. However, in the last 5 years, the Bhutanese king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck (known to me since I was in grade 5 as the youngest ever king of a country in the modern world, coming to power in 1972 at age 17. He recently celebrated his 50th birthday last year... buddhe ho gayein hum sab!!) has taken some drastic measures (Read: No blood, no coup; Bhutan king gives up power!), after giving up absolute power in 1998, has abdicated more and more of his powers, unveiled a new constitution, that even allows for his impeachment, announced elections in 2008, and has progressively led the country on a road to democracy. Due to changes made in the past 5-6 years, people now enjoy modern amenities like the TV & the troubles that come with it, and the country has also made a creditable foray into movie-making with a few really good movies so far! I had also picked up another good Bhutanese movie, Travellers and Magicians, from the public library but didn't get to see it either!)

Another interesting Bhutan-related movie is The Other Final, which documents a football match involving Bhutan.

On the same day in 2002 as Germany and Brazil played in the World Cup Final in Japan,the national teams of Bhutan and Montserrat met in an official FIFA sanctioned, friendly match in Thimphu, the Bhutanese capital. Ranked at the very bottom of international soccer, they played strictly for the love of the game. The film (released in 2003) follows the two teams in their respective countries as they prepare for the match, travel to the stadium and play in the Other Final.