Having a ball

Whatever I post on this blog I suppose comes from inspirations, and sometimes they can come flowing non-stop, or they can be so dry you might as well call me kayu. Today's inspiration came about when I joined Zeb for his regular golf practice at the range (no, I wasn't there to play, just to be the proverbial fly on the wall) and the moment he asked me to swing a try, as expected I appeared like a total klutz. No, wait, I WAS a total klutz at it. Just one of those times I was thankful there was practically no one watching me, and of course I basically wasted one of Zeb's balls.

I think the word 'klutz' is just the perfect word to describe my experiences in sports. It pretty much summarises my whole sporting life, or the lack of it. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as someone being born with sports genes (ie even if it's not a sport of their choice, they can still friggin' play reasonably well, damn these people), but I can guarantee I definitely have no genes of such sorts. Of course like how the evolutionary theory will tell you (this is an unsubstantiated claim), people are products of their genes and the environment. I guess since my parents are not the sporting type, I never grew up with that sort of culture embedded in me. So no genes + no environment = BIG klutz. It's not that I've never even tried any games, I've just never been good in any of them. In fact, my only fond sporting memory was the time in primary school, when me and another 'well-fed' classmate were often the pick of the crop as defenders in football. Yes size does matter back then I guess, so the rare feeling of being wanted on a team back in those days was often a proud moment haha.

I vividly remember absolutely hating the annual Sports Days practices where they wanted to choose the potential participants in the various events. As if it's not morale-sapping enough doing the jog around the field as warm-up and lagging behind everyone else while wearing a tight school sports T-shirt (as usual their sizes don't cater for the plus-sized), they have to further degrade people like me by forcing us to do the 100m sprints and high jumps. I mean is that even necessary? Do I LOOK like I'm gonna sprint pass everyone in the 100m and/or perform a miraculous record-breaking jump over the pole?

I think psychologically the build-up of such embarrasing and often intimidating (well at least back then) moments have sort of contributed to my low self-esteem sports-wise. In fact, the only sport I can play and agree to join an invitation to play that I would not be worried about embarrasing myself is bowling. Well not that it means that I'm super-good in it, but at least I know I CAN play reasonably ok, and chances of me putting up a fight are there. So yea, when it comes to bowling, I don't really have to shy away from an invitation to play, except if you're talking about playing with players who score consistently higher than 140. In fact, if I had the time and extra spending money (which is obviously unlikely), I would really like to take up proper bowling lessons, and maybe, just maybe, one day I can experience the glorious moment of thrashing someone in a sports event muahaha :)

Now, while I don't play sports often, people are often taken by surprise when they realise I DO know what's happening in the world of sports. So yes, I do know who's winning the Super Series tournaments in badminton, what teams are leading the various football leagues, the teams in the Champions League, the F1 controversies, and one of my favouries, the latest in tennis updates!

Tennis has always had a place in me, and at some age I just started to really enjoy watching the game. Of course, it would be great if I could actually play it, but refer to story above. So it was indeed a pleasant surprise when I found out about the Federer vs Sampras match on our local shores. I'm ecstatic to say that I AM GOING!!! I really have very few friends who are remotely interested in tennis, so when Yan Seen couldn't make it because she's landed in KK, it was really a bitter disappointment. So Zeb, a BIG THANK YOU for coming with me! Oh this is gonna rock, though I'm not too sure if Sampras is still able to play a competitive match.

While I really enjoy the intensity of the men's matches, I am also very fond of watching the women's. And it would have been awesome if there could have been an additional Sharapova vs Venus/Serena/Henin match. While Sharapova isn't really up there with the best yet in my opinion, I enjoy watching her play, and the grunts that she makes are always comical to watch. For someone who grunts loud enough for decibel measurements to be revealed in the press and official complaints lodged by her opponents as distractful, isn't it un-befitting of the glamour queen? And nothing beats the matches between Sharapova and Venus, when it comes to the battle of the grunts I mean. Damn entertaining...

While we're on the topic of tennis, has anyone seen this video before? It's the impressions Novak Djokovic have made of his fellow tennis superstars and they're hilarious! The Roddick, Sharapova, Nadal impressions are spot-on, I say.

Start the countdown to Nov 22!