The Lost Art

In this world of today, when e-mails abound, cell phones ring everywhere, you can stay in touch with everyone through your Blackberry's, and PDA's the art of writing letters to your loved ones is dying. There used to be a time when people would write to each other, they would express themselves through their letters. Although it would take sometime getting to somwone, still the anticipation that surrounded the letters would give someone something to look forward to.
I still remember, when I was at a boarding school, I would come from classes back, and then i would stand in front of our boarding house, and listen to the names of the people who had gotten letters, and the day that my name was called, it was as if i had won the powerball. Nothing mattered, I wanted to read that thing right there and then, but I knew that if I did I would have nothing to look forward for that night, so i would hold close that letter as the last lifeline. I would savor every moment of that letter. I would look forward to writing one back that week to my home. This moment of anticipation and the wait, and the surprise of getting a letter were something that will always be a part of my life.

I am talking about this because e-mails and other methods of communications are all fine, they are still something that we hold on to, but in the meantime I think we shouldn't be too hasty in leaving things behind that were once a part of our lives. To me a letter is so much more personal, it expresses your feelings, and even though they are still words they convey so much more than the electronic message that you receive.

Recently I started writing letters again, and I think for me it gives me hope (and not to mention hope to USPS)

Houston Texans! The new Face

If you haven't had the chance to look up the Texans lately, you have to see the uplift they are receiving in the off season. I mean I would have been content with a couple of trades, and a shuffle here and there, but these people are going all out. First the hire Gary Kubiak, and then they land the first draft pick, and then they go out and get Mike Sherman. With Kubiak and Sherman in the offensive coordinator role, and then with the first round pick, the 2006-07 season could be something of a great fireworks display. I can understand the skeptics, you know the people who will always say things like, well your defense sucks, or the offensive line is pretty weak. Hey, I never said anything that negates those things, I completely agree with those assumptions, but what i mean when I say that the next year could be good is that, Texans can actually come across with a better season than this one.

I just hope that they don't make too many mistakes. I think that 2005-2006 season went down the drain because we as fans gave up too early. I mean just being at the game, rooting for the tea m isn't everything. You have to have faith in the team, you have to have enogh conviction in your heart that no matter what, your team will win. The Texans on paper were no worse than, any other team in the league, hell they even had David Carr in the pre season as one of the good fantasy players in the league, what killed them is the lack of enthusiasm, and the lack of conviction of the fans in the team. Many a time people went out there and when the Texans would be down by a little, the whispers would start, and then the whole house of cards would come tumbling down. Too many games I watched as the Texans about ready to win, gave it up and were invisible from the field.

Next year would be different. I hope atleast. With the likes of David Carr, Domnick Davis, Reggie Bush, Andre Johnson, and other WR's I think we would be able to atleast come up second in the souther division. I guess we will have to wait and see about that.

Chelsea! The real deal

I think that recently my blog has become more of a sports fanatic page. But for the incredulous performances and the blatant disregard for sports rules, I think that my blog could be salvaged from another sports anchor doomsday. Anyways on with it. I have been following Chelsea for some time now, and although my loyalty to the Gunners will always remain, I can't help but think that Stanford bridge is not all money and shine. Its tough hardwork put in by people who are truly committed to not only the sport but also the club that they hold so dear.

Although I admit that Chelsea look more and more like Real Madrid, where the talent pool is brimming with stars, but Chelsea actually know how to take care of their stars and how to play them. I noticed that there are no real stars in the team. Except for maybe Hernan Crespo, or Drogba who had shot to fame, but I think that there are no real stars who can impact the team in a negative sense of the way. Arsenal is always bogged down by either Henry, or for that matter someother star. Similarly Man U is also facing the problems created by the unrelenting "Sir" Alex Ferguson. I mean its like its a battle of wits between the clubs who are facing each other except for Chelsea who will steal the title away from both Gunners as well as Man U another year, when truly both clubs had not only a valid but a clear shot at the title this year.

I am not sad, on the contrary I think that EPL usually needs a wake up call in the form of a team who can beat the living hell out of others, before they come to their senses. But I think it will be long before the talent pool at Chelsea as well as the cash stream for Abramovich runs dry.

Follow the money

Growing up in a community and a world where everyone around you is Muslim and all the people have a biased view of the world around them. Even the government mandated books in the school were also biased (to a certain degree). When I came here to the US it really opened my eyes to reality, the fact that there were so many things in this world that were different than what I had previously thought.

One of those things was the living conditions in the Palestinian world. I always thought that the Muslim countries were the ones that were helping them out, that it was us who was providing for the palestinians. But recently in all the news due to the victory of Hamas, it turns out that most of the aid that is provided comes from countries and places that are purely hated by the muslim countries like the US and even Israel. I was dumbfounded when I learned that.

When you go to mosques and you listen to the scholars, as they tout the freedom remarks for the palestinians, I wouldn't have thought in a million years that the moneys were coming from these countries (and a big portion was also coming from Europe). I refused to believe it at first, you know the denial phase, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. We always are a very aggressive nation. We always believe in the fact that if we take out a revolutionary march outside some offices and embassies, and we think that its our sign of solidarity with the people over there, but we have really and truly forgotten the plight of the people over there. No one really cares about them (including me). We have forgotten as to how they are surviving, and they are taken care by the people whom the muslim world people truly hate. How ironic.

My two cents

So finally it all comes down to this. The superbowl weekend. I would never have believed someone if they had told me that the Steelers were going to be in the playoffs. Although the Seahawks were not a surprise. I imagine most people are like that. But obviously now nothing matters except the big game. All records, all kudos, everything is scrapped when you are playing the biggest game of your life in probably the biggest stage of your career. Your career can take a turn for the worst or it can skyrocket from here. But more than that you can walk away with one of the biggest honors in your life, the life that every boy dreams of when he is picking up the football for the first concious time. He dreams that he can throw the ball like Matt Hasselback, or may be Ben Roethlesberger, Run it nimbly like Shuan Alexander or maybe pound it in like Bettis, or may be emulate Troy Polamalu and tackle people before they even get off the ground. So many dreams that many people have when they play school, college, and finaly NFL. But only few make it to the big game and even fewer get to savor the moment of victory.

Who do I pick for the winning, well even before that lets take a recap of what has happened until now. The Steelers have defeated all the teams on the road (the first 6th seed to do so) and they have done it in a fashion that was suitable for the steelers. Starting with the Giants, and stomping the Bengals, and destroying the colts, and finally embarassing the Broncos. On the other hand Seahawks never had that big of a problem when they easily crushed the Redskins, and plowed the Panthers in their memorable run.

Obviously the matchup would have been easier to judge if the teams had played before this season, or for that matter had faced the same opponents. The Seahawks apparently have not faced a fast pased defence in the shape of Steelers, however the steelers have seen all sorts of offenses including the kind that seahawks will throw at them. But on the other hand the Steelers haven't seen the fast paced, high powered running game of Alexander, and more importantly the running and throwing capabilities of the frustrating hasselback.

I think that this is a great matchup. Both teams have chinks in their armor and both teams have the ability to shut the other one down. They both like to keep posession of the ball and consume time if in the lead and both teams are being run by coaches that have seen a lot and are blessed with a lot of talent (both raw and classic) .

So who do I pick. Well I pick for the Seahawks. You ask why, well my answering you with a logical conclusion would make as much sense as a monkey producing the superbowl halftime show (which actually might not be too far). But I pick them because I like their chances.