Defying Everything - A Tribute to Two Legends
There are so many times you get so fed up with things, you want to move on. Probably they have felt it - one faced the brunt of billion expectations; the other had a legacy to live upto. Child prodigies in their own right, both have gone on to become arguably the best their sport has ever seen. They have shattered records - redifined them, to be more appropriate. As a person who has grown watching them on TV, I feel an attachment to them - which I find hard to describe in words. I am talking of two stalwarts who keep managing to defy age, logic and sport - a Mumbaikar known by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, and a Hürth born driver known as Michael Schumacher.
What the two still wish to achieve is anybody's guess. Sachin has got the most number of centuries and runs compared to any second person, and Michael, likewise, has amassed 91 victories. The next highest is Alain Prost with 51! A materialistic motivation, thus, is not the case. Much has been written and said about Sachin, and I would like to just add that such is his aura that people boo when he is left stranded on a 98, no matter if India wins comfortably! Having grown up along with him - its just hard to imagine an Indian side without him. Perhaps he realizes that is true for certainly every second Indian cricket fan - and that's why he just gives us that one more special inning. It's like that last perfect peg of alcohol when you are high - no matter how good the last - one more would be special.
Same is the case with Schumi. But unlike the alcohol, he has managed to bottle (or is that button) himself up for three years - probably improving with wine! The pundits are already out with the verdict - this will probably ruin his legend - he is crazy etc.. However, whatever be the case - the Brawn-Schumi partnership is what all of us wanted more of. That one more performance - that Schumi jump once again.
The way he infuses life into a race is simply unputdownable. The duels he has had with Mika Hakinnen, Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna go into the annals of F1 as the greatest duels of all times. So, when someone, or rather three people on the grid are being compared to him - and he gets the chance to prove it - the race winner in him will obviously take the bait and go for the kill. By letting his driving speak.
And its not the first time he's coming from a sabbatical. 1999 at Silverstone - the horrific crash which nearly cost him his life - he took just 3 months to come back - and when he did - he guided Ferrari to a constructor's championship and started the route to the 2000-04 "Schumacher era". Let's see how things pan out over the next 10 months. But Brawn, Schumacher, La Source and Eau Rouge - the best combination in F1, and guess what - we have it all over again!
So, when the five red lights go out on 14th March in Bahrain, no matter where the silver Mercedes is, you can bet all your money - the eyes will be on it, hoping for more silverware and vintage stuff. One more thing is certain. The man behind the wheel will not fail for want of trying.
What the two still wish to achieve is anybody's guess. Sachin has got the most number of centuries and runs compared to any second person, and Michael, likewise, has amassed 91 victories. The next highest is Alain Prost with 51! A materialistic motivation, thus, is not the case. Much has been written and said about Sachin, and I would like to just add that such is his aura that people boo when he is left stranded on a 98, no matter if India wins comfortably! Having grown up along with him - its just hard to imagine an Indian side without him. Perhaps he realizes that is true for certainly every second Indian cricket fan - and that's why he just gives us that one more special inning. It's like that last perfect peg of alcohol when you are high - no matter how good the last - one more would be special.
Same is the case with Schumi. But unlike the alcohol, he has managed to bottle (or is that button) himself up for three years - probably improving with wine! The pundits are already out with the verdict - this will probably ruin his legend - he is crazy etc.. However, whatever be the case - the Brawn-Schumi partnership is what all of us wanted more of. That one more performance - that Schumi jump once again.
The way he infuses life into a race is simply unputdownable. The duels he has had with Mika Hakinnen, Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna go into the annals of F1 as the greatest duels of all times. So, when someone, or rather three people on the grid are being compared to him - and he gets the chance to prove it - the race winner in him will obviously take the bait and go for the kill. By letting his driving speak.
And its not the first time he's coming from a sabbatical. 1999 at Silverstone - the horrific crash which nearly cost him his life - he took just 3 months to come back - and when he did - he guided Ferrari to a constructor's championship and started the route to the 2000-04 "Schumacher era". Let's see how things pan out over the next 10 months. But Brawn, Schumacher, La Source and Eau Rouge - the best combination in F1, and guess what - we have it all over again!
So, when the five red lights go out on 14th March in Bahrain, no matter where the silver Mercedes is, you can bet all your money - the eyes will be on it, hoping for more silverware and vintage stuff. One more thing is certain. The man behind the wheel will not fail for want of trying.
Well said Dev-D. Both of them r greatest in their Sports.
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