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Bangalore, Wednesday, March 24, 2010
‘I want to contribute’ Michael Jordan, first ex-player to become majority owner of an NBA team after his $275 million bid for Charlotte Bobcats was approved recently by the league’s board of governors, tells DNA that he aspires to be the coolest owner around Does your majority stake give you the right to take all decisions? I’d like to think that my investment has entitled and empowered me to make a lot of decisions. I think I have a good handle; Rod (Higgins, GM of Bobcats) has a good handle of what’s happening on the basketball side. I think what’s imperative with me is to roll up my sleeves, understand what Fred’s (Whitfield, COO) been doing on the business side and understand the commitment that we have gotten from our team. Obviously, I played on a team, and these guys are just as important as the players on the basketball court.
Rod has, as well as myself and Fred have, is to maintain that consistency.
As someone who’s won six titles and five MVPs as a player, how are you going to measure your success as an owner? I’ve heard the criticisms in terms of what I’m capable of doing at this level, and I can never live up to certain expectations. It just starts from that point, but I think that in terms of what it takes to build a winning program, a winning franchise, I’ve learned a lot through mistakes as well as through successes. I’m not afraid to say it. If I learn from that failure and move further in life that’s the benefit that I like to think that I can utilise in this experience.
What would a post-season berth do this season for Bobcats?
Aside from championships, what do you hope to get out owning the Bobcats team?
Making the play-offs fits a certain standard. It’s not a one-time thing, you know. Each and every time you meet a certain plateau or certain goal, the expectation is that you get to that goal the next year and you maintain the existence within that goal. I don’t think this is any different. My competitive nature is not kept at that minimum. Yes, I want to make the playoffs, but once I get into it I want to go deep into the play-offs. Once I go, I want to win. So once we get into that play-off scenario, the task that
Obviously as an owner and an organisation, especially for me, I’ve got to live vicariously through the players that I put on the basketball court. I don’t expect Gerald Wallace to be Michael Jordan. I don’t expect Stephen Jackson to be Michael Jordan. The thing that I can get out of this is I want to have fun, obviously. I want to provide entertainment to the
B a n g a l o re : Jaya k u m a r struck 75 and bagged two wickets as Karnataka State Forest Sports Board scored a 34-run victory over ABB Cricket Club in the KSCA Group II, II Division leaguecum-knockout tournament in Bangalore. Batting first, KSFSB scored 196 for the loss of seven wickets in 30 overs.
When the Bobcats need a veteran off the bench, how soon can you get ready?
What is your biggest challenge heading into this off-season? The biggest challenge is to evaluate the team, but at the same time still connect with the consumer, our
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public and the city of Charlotte. I want to provide entertainment to everybody. I want us to be positive. I want us to be successful.
My playing days are over. I’m going to have fun. You know, a lot of people have questioned my participation, some basketball stance with the players. If I go down there, I’ll start shooting with Gerald Wallace and I’ll start messing around with Stephen Jackson. I’m not trying to flip out inspirations to come back. I’m having fun because of the passion that I have, and if they can get a certain relaxation. The type of owner I want to be is I want them to say, ‘You know what, I enjoyed hanging around MJ.’ They can call me MJ. They didn’t have to call me boss. I want them to ask me for advice. I want to be able to contribute some type of knowledge to our young players.
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Michael Jordan NBA legend and team owner
I’d like to think that my investment has entitled and empowered me to make a lot of decisions. My playing days are over. I’m going to have fun. I’m having fun because of the passion that I have.
Brief Scores NAL Staff Club: 179 for 7 in 30 overs (Kumar 47, Balaji 52, Shanmugam 2/20, Yadukula Prakash 3/37) bt ITC Sports Club: 156 all out in 28.3 overs (Sanjay 24, Sendil Kumar 29, Kishore 22, Muthuraman 2/32, Patrick 2/26, Krishna 2/20) by 23 runs.
public and season ticket holders, to provide an entertainment aspect so that they can feel proud about and connect the two dots.
Do you think the players give extra when they see you around? Yes. Wouldn’t you react totally different if your boss was sitting there staring at you? At the same time, when your boss walks away, don’t you have the responsibility to do the job that you were asked to do? Does that mean you can’t do the job that I asked of you? So I’m going be there. Obviously, I’ve got responsibilities elsewhere, but my number one priority is the Charlotte Bobcats without a doubt. I wouldn’t make this commitment if I didn’t have that type of commitment.
CHAMPIONS AGAIN MS Ramaiah Medical College team, which won the All-India Inter-medical Basketball Championship held at AFMC Pune. Standing (L to R): Madhavi Rao, Tanuja Salim, Varsha Masilamani, Anupama Devdas, Rakshitha, Rani Chandana, Akhila Annamma Reddy, Niveditha Reshme, Hemalatha Naidu. Sitting (L to R): Janavi Rao, Arjun (coach), Ashok (co-sports chairman), S Kumar, (principal & dean), Naresh Shetty (sports chairman), Ananth Bhandary (committee member), Mahesh Kumar (sports officer).
Apart from Jayakumar, Ananth TK (33) and Harish (31) were the major contributors with the bat. For ABB, Ashok Rao bagged three wickets. In reply, ABB scored 162 for seven and Bhaskar’s 37 was the highest score. Srinath and Jayakumar bagged two wickets each to ensure a win for KSFSB.
Advocate Association CC: 203 for 5 in 28 overs (Sunder CG 58, Afzal Khan 35, Ranjith Prakash 63, J Nagaraj 3/42) bt BEML Recreation Club, Bangalore: 138 all out in 25 overs (Srinivas 39, BS Ragotham 25*, Sathish 3/30, Sanjay Nair 2/19, Harish 2/1) by 65 runs. Karnataka State Forest Sports Board: 196 for 7 in 30 overs (Jayakumar 75, Harish 31, Ananath TK 33, Ashok Rao 3/26) bt ABB Cricket Club: 162 for 7 in 30 overs (Jagadish 21, Bhaskar 37, Dasarathy 22, Rangaswamy 34, Srinath 2/37, Jayakumar 2/35) by 34 runs. Bangalore Telephone CC: 193 all out in 30 overs (Prakash 24, Karthik 54, Sandeep G 34, CN Govindaraj 3/24, Kanakraj 2/40, MS Bhaskar 2/14) bt ITI Sports Club: 172 all out in 28.5 overs (Yogesh 27, MS Bhaskar 56, M Aruna 2/18, Karthik 2/31, Md. Farooq 3/12) by 21 runs.
CIL Sports Club: 174 all out in 30 overs (Raghukumar 23, Srinivas 31, Venkatesh 62, Mohan Kumar 6/26) bt BEML Rail Coach, Bangalore: 152 for 6 in 30 overs (Mahesh 43, Mohan Kumar 24, Nanda Kumar 24, Padmaprabhu 20*, Srinivas 2/30, Venkatesh 2/29) by 22 runs.
BHEL (EDN) Sports Club: 199 for 9 in 30 overs (R Shivkumar 23, RR Reddy 29*, G Lakshmikanth 34, BB Sunil 26, Ashwin Punja 3/27, Thanu Nanjappa 4/26) bt Reserve Bank of India Recreation Club: 167 all out in 29.1 overs (Selvaraj 31, Thanu Nanjappa 25, Ashwin Punja 29, Jaydev Mallya 36, GS Chandrashekar 2/36, R Shivkumar 2/22, Sharath babu 5/35) by 32 runs.
Remarkable comeback by Rupesh Shah Gujarat pro’s recovery helped him clinch a berth for the Asian Billiards Championships DNA Correspondent. BANGALORE
Camp for aspiring sports professionals National Academy of Sports Excellence, an ultra-modern professional sports facility, has opened in Bangalore to help Indian sportsmen/ sportswomen compete at international level. A six-month multi-sports camp will begin on April 5 and go on till May 14, for players between three and 35. NACE aims to coach fringe players who have the potential to become a professional player. Venue: Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, Hanumantnagar. Contact: Abinav/ Siddarth at 9900001932 or 9008419054.
Ajay slams big century in losing cause Ajay Saini’s century went in vain as Silicon lost to Unisys four wickets in the Giants Shriram Corporate Cricket Cup on Sunday at ITI grounds. Batting first, Silicon compiled 176 in 20 overs, with Saini (124) and Puneeth (unbeaten 38) propping up the score. Unisys however reached the target with two balls to spare. Sunil Venkat (78) and Vishwa (30) led the chase for Unisys. In another match, Reni Verghese slammed an unbeaten 66 as he helped Northern Trust overhaul Consero Solutions. Responding to Consero’s competitive total of 163 in 20 overs, Reni, helped by Nayan (34) chased the target with plenty to spare. They lost just three wickets and had three overs to spare. Earlier, Vinay’s unbeaten 60 was the cornerstone of Consero’s 163.
Brief Scores Infinite Computer Solutions 117 for 6 in 20 overs (Madan 48*, Smruthi 27, Praveen 3/13) lost to Colt Technology Services 118 for 4 in 18.3 overs) by 7 wickets.
Consero Solutions India Pvt Ltd 163 for 4 in 20 overs (Vinay 60*, Anand 41, Vinod 2/35) lost to Northern Trust 165 for 3 in 17 overs (Reni Verghese 66*, Nayan 34) by 7 wickets
Silicon 176 for 4 in 20 overs (Ajay Saini 124, Puneeth 38*, Vipin 2/14) lost to Unisys 177 for 6 in 19.4 overs (Sunil Venkat 78, Vishwa 30, Rakesh 2/13) by 4 wickets.
Summer cricket camp Seetharaman Cricket Academy will conduct its 14th summer camp from April 1 to May 27 at Jnana Jyothi Educational Institutions, Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore. The camp will run from Monday to Friday, 7.30 am to 10 am. Boys between 7 and 20 may enrol. For details contact: 9886003879 / 9884059360.
The selection trials for the Asian Billiards and Asian Games culminated in an action-packed finale on Tuesday. Until the final session was played, none could predict who the final six entrants would be, except Pankaj Advani, who got a direct entry for being last year’s winner in the Asian Championships. Top seed Advani had a mixed day with two losses and one win but managed to remain on top of the standings, though it was Gujarat pro Rupesh Shah, considered an underdog in the trials, who made a remarkable comeback after three back-to-back losses. Shah beat Advani in his first game of the day quite comfortably, 11-102 (70), 101 (97)-00, 100-98, 100 (100)-09 and then came back to get the better of Kolkata’s Sourav Kothari 101-27, 101-02, 102-03 and followed it up with a scintillating win 100 (73)-20, 100 (93)-09, 65-100 (89), 101-13 against Alok Kumar in the final frame. He had beaten compatriot Geet Sethi on Monday and apparently that had propped up his confidence. At no.7 in the national ranking for billiards, Shah’s remarkable recovery has not only helped him clinch a berth for the Asian Billiards Championships to be held in Indore from April 7 but is now placed No.3, after Advani and De-
SELVAPRAKASH L.DNA
Standings (after 1st camp for Asian Games) Billiards: 1. Pankaj Advani; 2. Devendra Joshi; 3. Rupesh Shah; 4. Ashok Shandilya; 5. Geet Sethi; 6. Dhruv Sitwala; 7. Alok Kumar; 8. Sourav Kothari; 9. B Bhaskar. Snooker: 1. Pankaj Advani; 2. Yasin Merchant, 3. Manan Chandra; 4. Aditya Mehta; 5. Sourav Kothari; 6. Alok Kumar; 7. Kamal Chawla; 8. Brijesh Damani; 9. Shahbaaz Adil Khan Overall standings (Asian Billiards Championship) 1. Pankaj Advani (7600 points); 2. Devendra Joshi (6120); 3. Ashok Shandilya (5850); 4. Geet Sethi (5516); 5. Dhruv Sitwala (5259); 6. Rupesh Shah (4785); 7. Alok Kumar (4142); 8. B Bhaskar (4126) vendra Joshi, after the end of the first camp for the 2010 Asian Games. On the other hand, Sethi, who had pulled out of the snooker trials, was placed fifth in the Asian Games standings and fourth in the Asian Billiards trials. He outclassed Mumbai’s Dhruv Sitwala 101 (101)-15, 100-71, 59-100 (79), 102-20 and bettered Joshi 101-06, 100-72, 87-100, 101-23 to end with 5516 points. The next Asian Games selection camp for billiards and snooker will be held at Goa, most likely in June, while the third and the fourth camps (for men and women) will be held in Bangalore.
billiardscamp
Pankaj advani at the Asian billiards selection camp in Bangalore on Tuesday
Final day’s results Ashok Shandilya bt Alok Kumar 101 (101)-14, 100-35, 101 (101)-00; Rupesh Shah bt Pankaj Advani 11-102 (70), 101 (97)-00, 100-98, 100 (100)-09; Geet Sethi bt Dhruv Sitwala 101 (101)-15, 100-71, 59-100 (79), 102-20; Sourav Kothari bt B Bhaskar 100 (92)-14, 102 (86)-18, 55-100, 101-03; Rupesh Shah bt Sourav Kothari 101-27, 101-02, 102-03; Devendra Joshi bt B Bhaskar 101-83, 101 (85)-57, 101 (97)-00; Ashok Shandilya bt Pankaj Advani 36-100, 100 (100)00, 05-100 (87), 101-80 (77), 101-27; Dhruv Sitwala bt Alok Kumar 100 (75)-80, 103-90, 09-100 (95), 100 (83)-97; Rupesh Shah bt Alok Kumar 100 (73)-20, 100 (93)-09, 65-100 (89), 101-13; Pankaj Advani bt B Bhaskar 100 (94)-00, 55-102, 103 (76)-00, 100 (96)-00; Geet Sethi bt Devendra Joshi 101-06, 100-72, 87-100, 101-23; Sourav Kothari bt Dhruv Sitwala 11-100, 101-36, 101-58, 100-00
‘We’re looking forward to the Commonwealth’ When Adrian Christy took over as Chief Executive of Badminton England in September 2006, he announced a ‘100-point programme’ that would propel England to the top within 10 years. While England is some way yet from the top, there has been plenty of activity around badminton, and the organisation is showing urgency in achieving its objectives with the London Olympics just over two years away. Dev S Sukumar caught up with Adrian Christy on the sidelines of the recently-concluded All England:
When you took over in 2006, you set a 100-point programme for Badminton England, keeping the London Olympics in mind. How many of these objectives have been achieved? I think we’ve delivered significantly. We’ve gone through an exercise of reviewing the plan at the end of last year. One of the big targets was to improve par-
ticipation - we’ve increased participation by 22 per cent across all categories — adults and juniors; we have more than four million people playing — it was nowhere near that before. At the outset we wanted to establish local performance environments. In two years we have put that into place; we have 1200 players in those environments, we have more coaches with them. We have three major events — two European and the World Championships. We have also increased volunteers, and we have more younger players coming to Milton Keynes (high performance centre). So we are making progress. Where we want to continue making progress is how we turn good players into great players, and great players into podium players. That’s what we are focussed on.
You pulled out of the World Championships in Hyderabad.
How difficult a decision was it? Ultimately, the decision was mine. I wasn’t in Hyderabad; the players and coaches and support staff were. They’d done their due diligence with authorities in India at that time. They weren’t able to get the reassurances they wanted. And that was one of the toughest decisions I had to take — probably the toughest decision — to bring them home. But now we’re looking forward, to going to Delhi for the Commonwealth. We’ve already been to Delhi last year, we had a look at the practice areas, the village, the arena. Andy Wood (Olympic team manager) and Ian Moss (Performance Director) went back in October, and we’re due to go again soon, and to make sure everything is as we want it to be. Of course we are mindful of security, and challenging everybody around security, but it’s no different from sending players anywhere else. Not for one sec-
ond are we thinking that we won’t be going to the Commonwealth Games. We’re looking forward to seeing what Delhi’s going to present. I’ll be there, from the beginning of October.
Erland Kops, the seven-time All England champion, said that for him, the All England meant Wembley Arena. Couldn’t you have organised the All England at Wembley instead of NIA, especially since this was the 100th year of the event? There is a lot of tradition at Wembley and it was fantastic. But we’ve moved on a lot from there. We’ve had the event here (at NIA) for 15 years. We’ve got spectacular audiences here, ticket sales have been great. We will be going to Wembley for the World Championships next year. We’re looking at one event in London, in addition to the All England - not a Super Series but a world level event. With the World Championships and
Olympics, badminton can have another event in London. The All England has an established home here now.
There has been plenty of speculation over the venue of the Olympics, after the organisers talked of cutting costs. It hasn’t been decided. We expect the decision to be made soon. That’s a decision BWF (Badminton World Federation) has to make, with the LOCOG (London Olympic organisers). Badminton England doesn’t decide that. The travel time (from the village) to Wembley is an issue. We hope a sensible solution can be made. We’re sympathetic to what LOCOG’s challenges are — we’re in a different economic climate to what we were in when the Games were bid for. We appreciate the cost involved in making what is essentially a temporary venue. But at the same time, all I’m
interested in is our team delivering medals. I want the best environment for our athletes to enable them to do that. I’m not fussed about where it is — it can be at Wembley or somewhere else - as long as our players can deliver.
In the past, there were Test matches between England and India. Is that something you want to revive? And would a world club league, like the IPL in cricket, interest you? In the past we’ve looked at what events will benefit England. That’s where we have to be focussed on. There’s been talk of a league, but with a congested calendar of Super Series, and European championships, our focus has to be on peaking for these events. We’re increasingly selective, and that will continue. If the concept of a world league came up, and we felt we would benefit, we’d be interested.