Inspirations...

Four of the biggest stars in the sporting community decided it was time for them to quit the sport during this year. This is a small tribute to all of them ......

To start with the most shocking of them all, was a record exit by a very young athlete. Ian Thorpe’s retirement announcement shocked the Australian sports world and the world of swimming in general. This is by far the youngest age for any athlete to retire.
Ian Thorpe aka “Thorpedo” had a dramatic entry into the world of sport when he became one of the youngest swimmer / sportsman to win the Olympic gold medal. He also holds the record for maximum number of Olympic medals.
His announcement hit his fans like a thunderstorm on a clear night. I literally kept staring at the monitor for 120 whole seconds, after reading the news on BBC. I could not quite believe what I was reading. “Thorpe Announces retirement at 24”.
We don’t know what really triggered this decision. Perhaps time will help unravel this mystery. One thing is for sure, Thorpedo made sure that his exit from the world of sport was as dramatic if not more as his entry into it, 10 long years back.

Contrary to the Thorpedo-exit, Andre Agassi’s swan song was well published. With his age and clearly losing physical ability required at the highest level of competition, it was a matter of time before the legendary las vegan would call it a day. Discussions were rife all over since last year, when he started losing tournaments in the final round. The formal announcement came just before this year’s Wimbledon, where he got tremendous publicity. Even the all England club so famous about its rigid traditions, for once saw no hitch in making way for some on court interviews, bypassing tradition.
The end however, when it came, was far from sweet. It was painful in more ways than one. His obvious physical pain at reaching the not-so-difficult balls in the second set, was mixed with the pain of his fans (me included!) who were trying to savor the memory of seeing him for the last time on any kind of tennis court. It was really hard to see a man of Andre’s caliber and athletic abilities in his last match, struggling merely to reach the ball, not to hit any of those trademark return shots.
His tearful adieu draw curtains on an all-American era of tennis long dominated by most players of his generation, his buddies at the tennis academy and most notably his arch-rival the legendary Pete Sampras.

By far the saddest of all the retirements was the one man whom every one of the people watching the world cup (excluding all Italians) would have wanted to walk away with that trophy. Of course, all those fans also knew that there is a fair chance that France might not make it there, but it was a chance after all. However, as France moved up through the rounds the expectations started rising and with a reason. Because they were able to raise the level of the game along with winning the games. The expectations sky rocketed when France beat brazil 1-0 and people thought that was the end of it. Now France could win any cup. But again, the most unusual circumstances came into play. That invisible plot, call it destiny, call it god or call it Satan, if you may, came into play and not only kept France from winning that cup once more but did so in the most unforeseen and unwanted manner. I don’t want to repeat whatever happened on 7th July, cause I think whatever that was, one thing was certain. It was a defeat for any and all kind of sportsman-spirit. Whoever “architected” that “glorious plan” to win the most coveted prize in the sports history did a brilliant job, because not only did he / she actually succeeded in winning the cup but got away with it as well.
Following the disgrace and the grief of losing in the final,Zidane vowed never to come back on the international soccer scene again. Thus ended an era in football. An Algerian brought up in Marseilles shot to fame for the right qualities like few people did, plunged into eternal disgrace for something which was not his doing ……completely!
So went Zizou into retirement, France’s most celebrated and beloved sports man!!

While all of these was happening, the last exit was already being choreographed in typical perfectionist style (read: german!). Michael Schumacher aka Schumey has a fan following as few have had in their life time and sporting careers. His personal charm coupled with his technical perfection made him an Icon for millions around the world.
He has received all possible accolades and many more, in one of the toughest sport, if not the toughest and beaten many to create his own in the last dozen years. From 2000 till 2005 he was not just winning the world championships, but so convincingly winning everywhere that he made one of the most competitive sports in the world look like a farce! His competitors were left to talk about the spoils and less-than-perfect cars! Schumey ruled the F1 world,….. but no one rules this world indefinitely as does uncle time! Who monitors everyone and calls “time” as required! Schumey heard the call, indeed he did, among the sounds of the Renault engines and cheers of Alonso & Kimi (raikonnen) fans, oh yes he heard it alright! He took the call as calmly as he has done most of the things in his driving career and decided his own course was now moving away from the high energy, high stake environment of the F1 circus! Being the ambitious German that he is, he sure wanted one last hurrah and he tried like hell to achieve it despite repeated protests from uncle time! He was fighting against it literally and then came the time to show who was greater. Uncle time responded in typical manner and Schumey for once found himself running out of luck! His punctured tyre, ah …punctured luck showed that none of us are infallible against the greatest of all generals, uncle time! It was inexplicable to see the man who has had all the luck in the world for the better part of last 12 years or so, was falling short of so little luck.

That felt like a special moment, one of those where you can feel you are watching something out of the ordinary. I felt something similar almost 7 long years ago, when Pete Sampras ("Pistol Pete" ) won his record seventh Wimbledon title in fading light and in front of his proud parents. I had the privilege of seeing an emotional Sampras; not a normal sight and I sure had equal no of tears in my eyes as much as he has in his!
Coming back to this special deciding moment, I felt like it was all over. Someone up there had made a decision about the world title that Schumey was trying to win for a record 8th time;it simply wasn’t to be. He must have got it as well, cause despite his all year long best of the best efforts, the tide simply turned against him. In that one moment, even this great sportsman looked as helpless at that point as any of us. I am dead sure, he would have given all the luck he has had in the last dozen years, just to get those 10 points. But life’s scripts are neither known in advance nor can be controlled!

So really what’s the deal here? Thousands of us retire from their own chosen or un-chosen professions everyday and no one blinks an eye. Why so much fuss and time is put into these retirements? Why am I putting my time writing this and asking you to invest your time reading it?
The answer to me is but obvious:
Just like no one remembers or mentions all the houses and buildings that exist around the world but surely can’t miss the Eiffel tower or the pyramids, the human race with its billions of living and breathing members would not be worth a mention had it not been for the exceptional performers among us. The Michal Jordans, Tiger Woods, Pete Samprases, Michael Schumachers, Andre Agassis of this world are those monuments who would stand out in this crowd of breathing and living sea of human genes and bodies and continue to inspire millions of common people in their own way of life. These inspirations are something that would help a common life transform into an extraordinary achievement.

These gentlemen and many others like them are the tall statues we would look up to and say “ I want to be like him“ and something invisible to us, call it God, almighty or destiny, would simply say “Amen”!

Cheers!

PS: Retiring in 2006 seems to be a special thing for some reason.While I was drafting this write-up two of the biggest names in the cricketing world decided to join the long list of celebrity retirements. Australian spin legend Shane "Warney" Warne and paceman Glenn "Pigeon" Mcgrath have announced their retirements already. Some other time i would put in some words as a tribute to these two legendary kangaroos!