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Journalism of Courage
Passing the buck
THE Games have still not begun, but already everyone here is tearing their hair in frustration. It is a battle against all odds to get even the simplest of things. And the suffering is the same for all, be it the participant, the officials or the media. But for the media, the cliche, 8220;groping in the dark8221; became a reality, as there was a blackout at the media centre. It took more than 12 hours for the power to be restored at the centre and some other sub-centres, too, suffered because of cable faults. Then there is the problem about accreditation cards. The media cards meant for the scribes were being generously given out to all and sundry and outstation scribes arriving into Bangalore over the last two days have been made to made to wait for hours at length before being given their cards.
THE National Games may be viewed with a great deal of scepticism by many officials and participants, too, especially those who chose tro stay away. But for those who did take the trouble to come to the Garden City, and put up with countless problems, which include poor facilities at the village, uncertain fixtures et al, there is still something to look forward to. The main sponsors, Videocon, have put up a lot of incentives in the form of the products they manufacture. Each gold medallist will recevie a 100 T washing machine and a silver medallist would get 250 DX washing machine and the bronze medallist a 400 W washer. Record breakers will also get cash awards. Those breaking Asian Games get Rs one lakh, while breaking a National Games record will mean rs. 10,000 for the achievers. More than one National record in the bag will increase the takings to Rs. 50,000.
Instant replays
INSTANT action replay became a rage because of cricket, but there will be some of that here, at the National Games. A giant hi-tech colour video matrix display screen has been put up at a cost of Rs 5.5 crores at the Sri Kanteerva Stadium. Other than replays, the screen will also show frequent messages and possibly some results from other venues. The screen brought in from Hunghary has the facility to show slow-motion replays. After the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, the Salt Lake Stadium Calcutta and Wankhede Stadium Mumbai have screens, but the one here is Bangalore is believed to have more features.
Data Link
LESS than 24 hours before competition begins, everything is a mess, but the organisers hope to set it all right soon. And the sop is: they are putting it all on the computer, which will then give us all past records besides daily results, statistics and the medals tally. The information will be available for the scribes at the media centre and at the sub-centres at other venues.
Stars in style
P T Usha in a saree and Pargat Singh in sun glasses. Little wonder then the two superstars of Indian sports hardly got any cheers till their names were announced as their respective state teams 8212; Kerala and Punjab took the salute from the chief guest, the President of India, S.D. Sharma. Accustomed to seeing them in sporting gear, the fans were, however, quick to appreciate the presence of these stars.
27 states!
If the lady at the microphone at the Kanteerava Stadium is to be believed, there are 27 states in the country!. At the inaugural function, she announced on more than one occasion that 27 states and Services are taking part in the Games.
