MovieNotes: Eat.Race.Win

Wading my way through Amazon’s collection of sports documentary series, found this interesting one on Tour de France. But Eat.Race.Win breaks the embedded sports documentary format by focusing not just on a particular team but instead choosing to highlight the work done by its performance chef during the course of the race. So here we go into a 6-part series covering the nutrition aspects on 1 team in one racing tournament! Talk about a niche within a niche. 

The series is narrated from the point of view of Hannah Grant, who is the Head Chef for Team Orica Scott, an Australian based cycling team participating in the 2017 Tour de France. The team has nine riders (at the start) with their chief priority being to win the White Jersey (awarded to the best rider under the age of 26, who finishes within the Top-10 overall as well). Any stage wins are treated as a bonus. Simon Yates is the chosen contender from the team. And he achieves the objective. 

Meanwhile, Hannah Grant and her crew are tasked with feeding the riders and the support staff as they journey through the Tour. Every episode is a different culinary adventure as Hannah and her team visits the local farms and markets to get the best of French healthy taste for the team. 

The highlight of the series is the way it showcases what goes behind the scenes. The usual image of Tour de France is a big peloton of bikers racing across the French countryside with cars following them and spectators cheering them by the tracks. We get to see some of the dangers of road biking and also the team work of both the support staff and the fellow riders in creating the winner. Till I watched the series, never realized that riding is a team sport. Unlike F1, the lead identified rider has to get full support from his fellow riders to achieve the overall objective! And food as the fuel for the riders makes an interesting analogy. 

This certainly was an interesting one to watch giving a different perspective to something familiar.. 

Previously on MovieNotes: Six Dreams 

MovieNotes: Six Dreams

Continuing my niche football documentary series viewing.

Six Dreams is my second foray into the world of Spanish football and La Liga after El Corazon de Sergio Ramos. But this series presents the flip side of the to the footballing royalty represented by the likes of Real Madrid and its star captain Sergio Ramos. 

The series follows six protagonists as they go through the ups and downs of the 2017-18 La Liga season. 

1. Andres Guardado, captain of the Mexican National team who plays for Real Betis. An experienced campaigner who has played in 4 World Cups, he is closer to the end of his career. 
2. Inaki Williams – the first Black player to play for Atheltic Bilbao. Somebody who is trying to fit in despite the discriminations he has faced in his career. He is rewarded with a call-up to train with the Spanish national team.
3. Saul Niguez – a youngster playing for Athletico Madrid and the Spanish national side.
4. Eduardo Berizo – who starts the season as Manager at Seville, discovers he has cancer during the season, then undergoes treatment and later hi ousted from the job. Ends the season with a new coaching assignment at Athletic Bilbao.
5. Amaia Gorostiza – President of Eibar, the only female club president in La Liga. She has to deal with the business side of her small club, which continues to survive in the top league.
6. Quique Carcel – Sporting Director at Girona, who are having their first season in the La Liga. And they go on to have the best ever finish for a debutante club in the league’s history, including a victory against Real Madrid.

Their paths keep crossing over the course of the season. The players are concerned about being fit, getting play time, scoring goals, trying also to be in national contention and sometimes looking out for a bigger pay cheque as well. The staff on the other hand try to ensure the business side of the game keeps running. For the smaller teams like Girona and Eibar, sometimes success can be disastrous as their players & coaching staff become hot properties on the transfer market! They have to keep searching for newer revenue streams. e.g. Eibar was the 3rd most popular La Liga club in Japan because they had a Japanese player. However, he is transferred to a new team who see the investment as an opportunity to get into the Japanese market. Coaches are under pressure from national squads at times, after all it’s a World Cup year! Then there are the personal tales of the players, how they came up to their current position and what they believe the future holds for them. And of course the superstitions – one of which forces the Amaia to wear yellow heels throughout the season!

Overall, it was quite an interesting watch. And a good promotion for La Liga, who showed that there is more to the League than Real Madrid & Barcelona. Although there are times when switching between stories gets a bit confusing, especially when two of these six come face to face!

Previously on MovieNotes: El Corazon de Sergio Ramos

LearnNBlog #17: Okhil Chandra Sen’s Letter

Dear Sir, 

I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with ‘lotah’ in one hand and ‘dhoti’ in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on plateform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.

This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report! to papers.

Your’s faithfully servent

Okhil Ch. Sen.

This was the letter sent by an irate Mr. Okhil Chandra Sen to the Sahibganj divisional railway office in 1909. While the contents of the letter may seem hilarious, it does have a very important place in the history of Indian railways. The authorities took note of the seriousness of the issue and decided to introduce toilets in train bogies. So that no passenger would have to suffer the fate of Mr. Sen.

Yes, major changes can be brought about by an act of a single person.

The original letter has been preserved and is displayed in the National Railway Museum in New Delhi.

Links: 

• India Today Article
• Economic Times Article 

Previously on LearnNBlog: A lesson From Sir Edmud Hillary

MovieNotes: El Corazon de Sergio Ramos

Continuing my football documentary series viewing!

El Corazon de Sergio Ramos (The Heart of Sergio Ramos) is an 8-part documentary chronicling the life of Sergio Ramos, who is the captain of the Spanish national football team and the Real Madrid team.

The documentary has been filmed during the 2018-19 football season. During the course of the season, the viewers get to know more about Ramos’s family, his roots, his non-football interests (music & horses), his plans for his legacy et al. This is about a player who knows that he is closer to the end of a glittering football career. There is even an exhibition showcasing his achievements.

The documentary comes about as an honest insight into Sergio Ramos’s life. Even though there are some bizarre elements like his wife appearing on a TV show where she is seen shooting an arrow through a flying toast into a balloon! What really makes the show watchable is the fact that 18-19 season wasn’t the best of times for either Spain or Real Madrid. Not hiding from showing failure adds to the allure of the series.

Now comes the question. Is there a Season 2 being filmed? After all, the series had an MCU kind of end with Zidane appearing in the end-credits!

P.S. The series is in Spanish. And I love how the Spanish commentators keep going “Goal! Goal! Goal!” after every goal scored!

Previously on MovieNotes: Make Us Dream 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 9

The Indian Qualifying Contingent has grown considerably since Episode 8 with both Hockey teams qualifying & additional Quotas earned in Shooting.

The New Qualifiers 

Hockey

Both the Men & Women teams have qualified for Tokyo after winning their respective qualifiers. The Men defeated Russia 11-3 on aggregate, at one time it was 4-3! The women had a roller-coaster ride. Leading 5-Nil at one point in the first game against USA, then being 5-5 at the midway stage of Game 2, before adding one goal while defending resolutely to overcome them 6-5!

Shooting

Indian Shooters picked up 6 Quotas in the Asian Shooting Championships taking their tally to an all-time high of 15!

Ashwarya Tomar picked up the 2nd Quota in Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, Deepak Kumar picked up the 2nd Men’s 10m Air Rifle Quota, thus ensuring that India should be able to field two teams in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle. Angad Bajwa & Mairaj Khan booked the Men’s Skeet Quotas. Tejaswini Sawant opened India’s account in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions & Chinki Yadav picked the 2nd Quota in Women’s 25m Pistol. 

The qualifiers have come to an end. Only the World Ranking allocations are pending. There is also a chance for re-allocation of Quotas in case NRAI chooses to send different Shooters at the Games and some Shooters (e.g. Manu Bhaker, Anjum Moudgil) eligible for multiple events. Should be an interesting exercise.

In Other News

Boxing

In the Women’s Boxing World Championships, Mary Kom became the most decorated boxer ever (male or female) with her 8th World Championships medal. Overall, India had a good outing with 1 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals. Mary Kom & Lovlina Borgaohain’s Bronze medals were in the Olympics weight categories while Manju Rani’s Silver & Jamuna Boro’s Bronze came in non-Olympic categories. Now to the first set of Qualifiers in February.

However, there is a bit of controversy with Nikhat Zareen wanting a trial against Mary Kom!

Equestrian

Asian Games Silver medalist Fouaad Mirza is currently in pole position for the regional Quota after winning the Group G Qualifying Event.

Basketball

India will play host to 3x3 Qualifiers in March, 2020 for both Men & Women

Athletics

Was reading up on the Marathon achievement of Eliud Kipchoge and how much science played a role in his breaking the 2-hour mark. Was reminded of the problems faced by OP Jaisha in the Rio Games marathon. The athletes do their bit, but who works on providing that extra boost which bridges the fine line between superstardom and anonymity! 

Total Count – Sports - 5, Events – 21, Entries -32, Participants – 60.

Links: 

• Nikhat Zareen’s Letter to Sports Ministry (Link)
• Eliud Kipchoge (Link) 
• O P Jaisha Controversy (Link) 
• Road To Tokyo: Episode 8

Episode 10 should drop in by the end of this year!

BookMarks #63: Guns, Germs, and Steel

Title: Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years

Author: Jared Diamond 

Genre: Anthropology, History, Geography

Published: 1997

Setting: Entire human history across the world

Summary

Guns, Germs, and Steel attempts to understand how the human society across the world, reached into its current form and how different regions developed differently leading to the dominance of Eurasian societies.

BookMarks

“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own” This was the question asked by a New Guinean politician Yali to the author Jared Diamond. Cargo here being a generic term for all technology & goods brought by the western civilization. Through this book, Diamond tries to answer this question.

The book attempts to trace the evolution of the modern human societies in different parts of the world and the factors which influenced their growth. As per Diamond, humans started as hunter-gatherers, then moved on to building agriculture based societies. Stable food production led to increased population and development of a bureaucratic societal structure. More people had more ideas and more innovations leading to technological advancements. Technology diffused and spread from one society to its neighbours. However, the rate of such advancement was different in various regions. Diamond attributes this to geography, climate factors, availability of suitable crops as well as potential large animals which could be domesticated. Geographical barriers play a major role in preventing/aiding the diffusion. 

Exposure to different animals lead to animal borne diseases being spread into human society. The exposed societies later developed immunity to these. Advanced military technology as well as new germs helped decide which group won the battle of that region. And how one group was able to displace the other.

The book is an interesting exercise in attempting to summarize more than 10,000 years of human history. The readers may or may not agree to Diamond’s interpretation. And there are enough evidences being unearthed regularly which present new facts to the contrary. However, the book certainly makes you think about human evolution. Is it only geography or climate which is the contributing factor or are there other factors at play too. And how does it impact the modern society which is getting increasingly inter-connected and even a bit more homogeneous. With changing climate across the globe (another hotly debated subject) how does it impact the future development. As we have seen, different regions have been the leaders in technology at various points in time. How does this equation change in the future? With increased digitization, who becomes the new leader? That’s an interesting point to ponder upon.

Previously on BookMarks: Anne Frank’s Diary 

BookMarks #62: Anne Frank’s Diary

Title: The Diary of a Young Girl

Author: Anne Frank

Genre: Diary, Autobiography

Published: 1947 (Dutch), 1952 (English)

Setting: 2nd World War

Summary

The accounts of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl in hiding in Amsterdam, during the 2nd World War.

BookMarks

The nicest part is being able to write down all my thoughts and feelings; otherwise, I'd absolutely suffocate. (Anne Frank, 16 March 1944.)

This is the line on the diaries which sums it all up. Why young Anne Frank wrote. It was the one outlet for her feelings as her world drastically changed due to overwhelming political circumstances. Her frustrations at being virtually a prisoner in the Secret Annex, changing emotions while growing up, changing feelings towards her co-hiders, her feelings of being alone and no one understanding her!

The book provides a glimpse of the impact of the War and especially the Jewish population who had to leave everything and go into hiding to escape the Nazis. One fine day, the people are free, and then they become effectively prisoners on their own account! To avoid being imprisoned by the Nazis, they go into hiding and hope to wait it out till better days come.

The diary entries are spread over two years and then they abruptly stop one day. And that is after the Allies have come close to winning the war. There is no happy ending here. Anne herself could not survive the war after being taken as prisoner. 

Previously on BookMarks: The Alchemist 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 8

Since Episode 7, a month back, we have had some significant progress in the qualifications for Tokyo 2020 with Quota places earned in Shooting, Wrestling and Athletics. This Episode got delayed by a week to incorporate results from the 2019 World Athletics Championships. 

Quotas Earned 

Shooting – 2 more Quotas arrived through the Shooting World Cup taking the count to 9. 

Sanjeev Rajput earned India’s first Quota in the Men’s 50m Air Rifle 3 Positions. This is the 4th Olympics in a row in which he has earned a Quota place, although for Rio 2016, his Quota place was reallocated. Hope this is not the case this time around. 

Yashashwini Deswal earned India’s 2nd Quota in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event. 

Given the current Quota configuration India should have representation in the Mixed Pairs Rifle & Pistol events. However, there is some confusion over the number of teams a NOC can field in the Mixed events. Would be a tragedy if only a single team from each NOC is allowed! Currently India can send 2 pairs in both rifle and pistol events and in the last World Cup, all 4 pairs won medals! 

The Asian Shooting Championships in November provides more opportunities for booking Olympics Quotas, especially for the Shotgun events, where India is yet to open its account. 

Wrestling – 4 Quotas 

Vinesh Phogat (Womens 53 KG Freestyle), Ravi Kumar (Mens 57 KG Freestyle), Bajrang Punia (Mens 65 KG Freestyle) and Deepak Punia (Mens 86 KG Freestyle) have earned quotas through the World Wrestling Championships. 

Deepak got a Silver while the other 3 earned a Bronze each. Overall, it was a creditable show for India with Rahul Aware also winning a Bronze in 61 KG Freestyle (which is not included in the Olympics). 

For the wrestlers, the Asian Qualification Tournament in March, 2020 provides the next opportunity to book Olympic berths in the remaining 15 categories. 

Athletics – 2 Quotas (Total 3 Now) 

The 4x400 Mixed Relay team reached the Finals in the World Athletics Championships in Doha thus qualifying for the Olympics. 

Avinash Sable broke the National Record in 3000m Steeplechase twice in 3 days to beat the Olympics timing cut-off after reaching the Final. 

Special mention - Annu Rani became the first Indian women to qualify for the Javelin Throw finals with a National Record throw. However, it was still short of the Olympics cut-off. 

Other Sports 

Boxing 

In the Men’s Boxing World Championships, Amit Panghal became the first Indian male boxer to reach the finals where he got a Silver medal, while Manish Kaushik earned a Bronze. Given the shenanigans of AIBA, unfortunately no Quotas could be earned through the World Championships. The Olympics qualification tournaments begin early next year. 

The women’s tournament is currently underway. However, like their male counterparts, they will not be able to qualify for Olympic spots. 

Weightlifting World Championships 

Mirabai Chanu finished 4th with her personal best. And given that there two Chinese ahead of her (and an NOC can have only participant in an event), the medal prospects seems good. 

Volleyball – Indian men have qualified for the Asian Volleyball Qualifiers after finishing 8th in the 2019 Asian Volleyball Championships. 

Hockey – The men’s team have been drawn to face Russia while the Women will face United States in a 2-match series to determine the Qualifiers for Tokyo. 

Swimming – Virdhawal Khade has achieved the B qualifying mark but has yet to achieve the A Qualifying mark and hence not included in the Qualifiers count yet. 

Total Count – Sports - 4, Events – 17, Entries -23, Participants – 22. 

Links:  Road To Tokyo: Episode 7

MovieNotes: Make Us Dream

Another football documentary from my niche Amazon Prime Video watching series. 

Make Us Dream narrates the journey of Steven Gerrard from a young boy to becoming an all-time Liverpool great. It is a biography of Gerrard but more dedicated to his life with the Liverpool Football Club from his joining their Academy to moving on to USA to play in Major League Soccer. 

The documentary also covers some of the key events which helped shape English football to its current form. The Hillsborough tragedy which left 96 Liverpool fans crushed to death, the arrival of the Premier League and Manchester United’s rise, the arrival of big money in the form of Roman Abramovich buying Chelsea, players becoming the brand rather than the clubs and money increasingly becoming a deciding factor in player loyalties.

Liverpool is deprived of Premier League success although they won nearly everything else in the interim including becoming Champions of Europe. The documentary features the incredible 2005 Champions League Finals against AC Milan, where Liverpool come from 3 goals down at half-time and go on to win the shoot-out. [Incidentally, this game also featured in the documentary series “This Is Football” with Liverpool’s Rwandan fans]. 

We get to see Steven Gerrard’s partnership with Michael Owen at the start of his career and with Luis Suarez towards the end, the team-mates exits from the club, the multiple attempts from Jose Mourinho to get him over to Chelsea, the red cards, the headed own goal against Chelsea, contract disputes with Liverpool, injuries, and disillusionment with football, the desire to bring big trophies and the frustration of not being able to win the premier league title despite coming agonizingly close to it multiple times. There is the infamous slip against Chelsea after himself exhorting his team-mates not to slip up which proved critical in handing the title to Manchester City. 

The documentary is bookended with Gerrard’s move to USA. He is called a genius, one of the very best but he just sounds exhausted by the end of it. And yes that truly is the highlight of the documentary, showing the man behind the player. 

One grouse against the documentary. Gerrard’s long and highly successful England career is not mentioned at all! At least here, we have a clear winner in the club vs country debate! 

Overall, a good watch. 

Previously on MovieNotes – Take Us Home: Leeds United 

MovieNotes: Take Us Home: Leeds United

Preface - I believe Amazon Prime Video and me have found our viewing niche – football! 

Leeds United, once giants of English Football have been struggling in the lower divisions of English football since the turn of the millennium. With demotion, comes financial struggles leading to fire sale of top players, in turn leading to poorer performances – quite a vicious cycle. Then enters Andrea Radrizanni, the new owner who plots their return to the English Premier League. 

Narrated by Russel Crowe, the 6-part documentary covers the topsy-turvy 2018-19 season with Leeds United playing in the Championship (second division of English football) and bidding for a return to the Premier League, which is worth nearly 170 million pounds. They finish 3rd in the Table and fail to secure an automatic promotion and then miss out in the play-offs. 

The owners' first major action is the appointment of Argentine Marcelo Bielsa as the team manager, who then focuses on strengthening the team and bridging the gaps. The team’s good start wins back its fans after having finished a dismal 13th the previous season. Over the course of the season they fight through injuries to key players and register many come from behind draws and wins but also keep dropping points at crucial junctures. The season is also rocked by a spying scandal. Bielsa admits to spying on other teams training sessions, which while not against any rules offend the League for which Leeds are heavily fined. 

Another side of Bielsa comes to fore in the last game of the season when he orders his players to let their opponents score a goal, because of the controversial nature of the previous goal scored by Leeds. 

There is a beautiful sequence in the second episode where Leeds are playing a crucial game against Aston Villa while at the same time local boy Josh Warrington defends his IBF world championship title! 

There are scenes which remind the viewers that the payers while being elite athletes are also human. They do get affected by the amount of social media chatter, the defeats hurt them as do injuries, there is the occasional drama of new contracts and transfers. 

The documentary focuses on the special relation city of Leeds has with the club. There are interviews of the die-hard fans who have supported the club through ups and downs over the years. There are those who remember the glory days and those who have just heard of them. How difficult it is for a club to boost its support base if it hasn’t won anything major in the past many years? And yet, these clubs like Leeds United keep finding new fans around the globe, although may not be at the same pace as the Premier League toppers. 

The series ends with the management talking about continuing the bid for Premiership while trying to retain its best players whose performances had caught the attention of various top-flight clubs. Bielsa agrees to be at the helm of affairs for another season. 

There is life beyond the top. And, now I am keenly following the 2019-20 Championship season and, of course, the fortunes of Leeds United. 

Bonus – The refrain from “Marching on Together” – the Leeds United song. 

Marching On Together!

We're gonna see you win

We are so proud,

We shout it out loud 

We love you Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! 

We've been through it all together,

And we've had our ups and downs 

We're gonna stay with you forever,

at least until the world stops going round 

Everyday, we're all gonna say we love you Leeds!Leeds!Leeds!

Everywhere, we're gonna be there,We, love you Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! 

Previously on MovieNotes – This Is Football