well said mr. steele! now what?

Seems like everyone who is anyone wants to be the new face of the beaten and battered Republican Party. But who better than chairman Michael Steele himself? In fact, who better than an African American to take shots at the first African American president? The Republican party is leaving no stone unturned to try and rebuild their image and take shots at the ruling party and its leaders.

But there was a difference in how Louisiana Governer. Bobby Jindal followed up after Presidents State of the Union speech and how chairman Michael Steele addressed the 'Republican National Committee State Chairmen'. Mr. Steele's speech was to the point and did hold your attention span for longer than you blink your eye (which was the case in Gov. Jindal's speech). From invoking Ronald Regan to "trying" (emphasis on the air quotes) to energize the republican base, Steele talked about it all. What now? Isn't it too soon? Elections are in 2012 not 2010 Mr. Steele.

Regardless of how this turns out for the republican party I do agree with the following comments made by Mr. Steele to President Obama (as I too am not in favor of the socialist agenda) -

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift."

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong."

"You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer."

"You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred."

"You cannot establish security by borrowing money."

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich."

"You cannot build character and courage by taking away one's initiative and incentive."

"You cannot help individuals permanently by doing for them what they should do for themselves."

(Read the full text of his speech at - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/19/michael-steele-delivers-s_n_205268.html )

It seems that the 'NO-BAMA' bandwagon is going to be set on rewind for the next 4-8 years. Till then, lets hope for "change" soon or China will be all over USofA.

who is the fake IPL player?

As the current edition of IPL moves into its second half, there is unimaginable excitement on the ground in every match and off the ground after every match. As soon as a match is over (especially if Kolkata Knight Riders were playing) millions of cricket fans log onto fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com to see if their inside reporter has posted something new. Yes, it is none other than the blog of the so called ‘Fake IPL Player’. The second edition of IPL has given cricket lovers a new source for information on what happens in the dressing room during the match and in the nigh clubs after the match.

So before we try to get the juices of our brain flowing and guess who this Fake IPL player is, we first need to validate if he/she is actually who he/she claims to be? The Fake IPL Player claims to belong to the Kolkata Knight Riders squad/team and promises to reveal himself/herself on the day of the team’s last match. From seeing the way KKR has played so far and seeing them continue the trend in their own style by loosing to Delhi today, the day of revelation doesn’t seem too far. I can’t believe I am going to say this but I am waiting for that day as eagerly as I am waiting for the Transformers sequel (of course not for the machines and Michael Bay’s repetitive direction – you all know for whom, do I hear a Fox in there?). The posts on the blog are too detailed for any outsider to know. The level of detail provided on the activities that go on in the team room, after the matches, before the matches, the tensed situations and conversations after the losses don’t easily register in our minds as fiction or some ardent fans imagination.

But, if it indeed is someone’s imagination what a crafty imagination it is. The writer is definitely a big fan of cricket (if not from within the team) as even in his/her imagination he/she stays true to the characters he/she is talking about. For example, making sure that whenever he/she writes about the famous blonde Australian cricketer, he/she always mentions a pretty lady or two in the story, which is synonymous with what we have seen and known about the legendary spinner over the years. The fake names used by the writer to represent the cricketers on the blog are also inline with the cricketer’s career, playing style, etc. For example referring to Ajit Agarkar as the ‘Former Indian Cricket who will always be the Former Indian Cricketer’ (taking a shot at Ajit’s not so successful cricket career) and referring to Sachin Tendulkar as the ‘Little Monster’ (I assume for his playing style).

If it is someone from within the team (as the writer claims to be), it is definitely from a handful of names. My guess is definitely a player from the sub-continent, has given up on all future hopes of playing any form of cricket and believes he can play the sport as well as anyone else on the team. My brain registers the following names and chances of the name being the Fake IPL Player when I think of the points mentioned above –

1. Sourav Ganguly (20% - Based on the fact that he is going to retire from all forms of cricket any time now)
2. Ajit Agarkar (20% - Based on the fact that he is tired of trying to prove himself every time and still the selecters ignore him)
3. Akash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar (6% and 5% - Based on the fact that they were the original suspects but the blogging continues even after their departure)
4. Not a member of Kolkata Knight Rider (51% - Based on the fact that the blog itself belongs to the ‘Fake IPL Player’ and it might as well be the perfect end to a terrific piece of fiction)

Whoever it is, he/she has entertained fans with his/her informative and detailed posts. Even though I do not fully agree with the method used (if it is a member of KKR squad) to express his frustration with the BCCI and Indian selectors, I do read and check his blog daily. This is definitely a new dimension to the blogging world. Is this what one would call ‘Reality Blogging’ at its best?

Your guesses about the Fake IPL Player and/or comments are always welcome !!