SantaBanta Forums - Sports

Cricket's Darth Vader

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:15:06 GMT

Cricket's Darth Vader

Chris Gayle's power-hitting ability can be matched only by a few. Presenting some of his breathtaking knocks in fast food cricket.

When Age Is Just A Number

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:53:29 GMT

As Sachin Tendulkar turns 40, he is playing his 24th year of international cricket for India, but the master batsman has made no indication of quitting the game any time soon, and so we can expect him to continue playing into his 40s. He won�t be the first cricketer to do so. Here�s a list of some cricketing greats who proved that age is just a number.

Cricketers Who Became Politicians

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:30:53 GMT

Cricketers who became politicians

We decided to take a look at eleven cricketers, who entered the field of politics, riding on the popularity they gained on the cricket field.

Sakshi Dhoni 's Style Statement

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:10:37 GMT

Sakshi Dhoni's Style Statement

MS Dhoni's wife Sakshi has been a permanent fixture at all her husband's matches and IPL 6 has been no different.

One Cricketer, Two Nations

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:42:16 GMT

Ranjitsinhji: Born in Kathiawar, India. Played for England

Cricket's Hall of Shame

sheikh — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:04:10 GMT

Cricket's Hall of Shame

Three Rajasthan Royals players have been arrested for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing scandal. Here's the list of cricketers were involved in compromising the integrity of the game. Take a lo

Sports captured at just the right moment

rishabhd — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:08:57 GMT

Paralympics Ski Champ Makes 2,000 Foot Climb

rishabhd — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:55:35 GMT

The Manitou Springs Incline in Colorado is one of the nation's most difficult hikes, even though it is less than a mile in distance. The challenge is making the climb of more than 2,000 feet in elevation. Now imagine doing that with your hands. Tyler Walker, a Paralympic ski champ who has no legs, can tell you all about it. "Unfortunately, on your hands, it's a brutal experience, because your arms are not designed to bear weight like that," Walker says Wednesday, four days after finishing the climb. "I'm pretty strong already, but that -- I mean, I'm still feeling it."

Climbing this old railroad track is clearly an amazing accomplishment, but Walker, who has won multiple gold medals in the Mono Skier-X event at the Winter X Games, downplays it. "This is kind of normal for me," Walker says. "I've always been doing that stuff ... I just wanted to go hike this thing, just because it's there, and to hang out with my friends. I wasn't really trying to prove anything."

Walker, 27, was born with lumbar sacral agenesis, a condition that affects the spinal cord. That means Walker has no spine after the first vertebra. When he was 4, Walker's legs were amputated at the knees because he had no control of his legs. But because he grew up this way, Walker has never let his condition get in the way of living the life he desires. "I've always wanted to do active, outdoorsy things," Walker says. "Growing up my friends and I would hike around the backyard and go explore all sorts of stuff, whether it be a mountain or a mine or a lake."

Walker, a member of the United States Adaptive Ski Team for 10 years and is a national and international ski champion, says he isn't out to prove anything to anyone. He just wants to enjoy his life. And if his story and accomplishments help to motivate others? Well, that's just an added bonus. "It's great that people find it inspirational," he says, "but that wasn't my goal at all. To me this was just a normal hike that everyone was doing, and I was like 'I need to go see that,' so I did." Despite his condition, Walker stresses that he is a regular person with obstacles just like everyone else. "I have the normal motivation problems," he says. "Like some days, I'm just having a lazy day."

Next up for Walker is World Cup season, which begins in August and will be held in Australia and New Zealand, followed by the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

Rome Masters: Bhupathi-Bopanna advance, Paes-Melzer out

rishabhd — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:40:20 GMT

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna entered the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters, but it was curtains for Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer

The sixth seeded Indian combo of Bhupathi-Bopanna scored a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the unseeded British team of Dominic Inglot-Jonathan Marray in the second round of the euro 3,204,745 elite clay-court tournament.
Paes-Melzer made an early exit after a narrow 6-7(4), 6-7(3) defeat to Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez-Scott Lipsky.
Bhupathi and Bopanna, who rejoined forces after splitting, next face unseeded the Czech pair of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.

How players are lured into spot-fixing

rishabhd — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:39:01 GMT

A report by the Financial Intelligence Wing, and interrogation of several arrested bookies, has revealed the manner in which players are lured into spot-fixing and how money is parked in financial institutions.

The report states that a set of bookies are chosen for the operation. These persons belong to a cartel controlled by the underworld. When this cartel targetted the IPL, it threw in Rs 3000 crore into the market and recovered Rs 6000 crore.
The amount slowly increased as the popularity of the event grew, and for IPL 6 around Rs 48,000 crore is at stake.

- The money generated by the cartel is earned through a flourishing drug and arms trade, run mainly by the D-gang. Almost 30 per cent of this money is thrown into the market worldwide, depending on the magnitude of the event.
- Bookies bet on almost every cricket match, but prefer the shorter version of the game as money rolls faster there. They have even thrown money into the Bangladesh Cricket League.
- Pakistan continues to be the hub for the generation of such money. However, now money flows in from Dubai and Bangladesh too.

- Money often reaches through a hawala vendor, normally based in Delhi or Hyderabad. The touts collect this money and park it in banks through a concept called money laundering.

- For the IPL, which run into two months, the bookies chose to park it in banks and withdraw as per need. They do not prefer a hawala transfer for such an event since it involves multiple transactions and the chances of getting caught are higher.
- The money that is earned goes back to the source. First, the money invested is given back to the source. The profits, after the deduction of expenditure, is shared, a major amount of which is given to the head of the cartel, who is an underworld boss.
- Be lavish: Bookies are instructed not to bargain or compromise too much at the time of fixing a player. They select a vulnerable link in the team and then go about their work. This person is told to look for persons who are ready to fix a game. In case the stakes are high, the bookies deal with the player directly.
- The most popular tactic used to lure a player is a woman. There have been reports of players asking the hotel staff for women during a tour. These touts in hotels, at times, inform the bookie, who gets in touch with the player and assures him of a woman. When he meets the bookie he gets down to discussion.
- Bookies have often used Bollywood starlets to lure players, who readily agree to meet when this tactic is used. However, investigators have found out that players who refused such offers did not report the matter to the police.
- Bookies normally have underworld links and players often are scared to complain. They just disagree and return. However, bookies have had an 80 per cent success rate. Investigations have shown that they pick and chose players carefully and only go ahead when they are sure. This is why they place moles in teams to find players vulnerable to fixing.

9 Memorable NBA Playoff Blowouts

rishabhd — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:34:24 GMT

9. Bullets over Sonics by 35 (1978)

1978 NBA Finals, Game 6
Washington Bullets 117, Seattle Supersonics 82
Coming in at number nine we have the third-most lopsided game in the history of the NBA Finals. And what�s really interesting here is that, except for this one game, this series was really close. Through the first five games, the point differential was just five points, and the Bullets would win Game 7 by just six. Game 6, however, was a different story. Apparently Seattle forgot to eat their Wheaties that day or something, because Washington crushed them by 35 points.