IPL: Money for something

This article in CricInfo by Dileep Premachandran discusses whether cricketers deserve their astronomical salaries.

Doesn't the answer to the question - "Do they deserve such high salaries?" - depend on whether we, as spectators, are willing to watch the games on TV and sit through the commercials and whether we are willing to pay for the tickets, merchandise etc. If we are willing to pump in the money, then why should they not be paid so well?

But on the other hand, Dileep brings up one other very interesting point: Are we paying certain cricketers too much, too soon?

The sort of money thrown at young players in the IPL - is Tiwary really worth twice as much as Michael Hussey, even if Hussey only plays half the season? - should also make us wary

I agree with Dileep that some players are paid more than their talent-display thus far. But I don't see why franchises would not invest so much on MS Dhoni. He is talented, powerful, dedicated and aggressive. If the gripe is about the pure $ amount, then at this point I would reserve my judgment and see how the whole series pans out.

Alongside, Dileep also suggests a cautionary lesson to be learnt from NFL on rewarding unseen talent:

American Football offers the greatest cautionary tale of too much, too soon. A few years ago, Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons was the most exciting quarterbacking talent around, the future of the league, and in possession of a contract worth $130 million over 10 years. These days he languishes in a penitentiary in Kansas, after a federal investigation exposed his involvement with Bad Newz Kennels, a pit-bull fighting and gambling syndicate. No one should expect young sportsmen to be role models, but you also don't want them to end up like Vick

This comparison between Michael Vick and Tiwary seemed a little baseless to me. Micheal Vick had played 4 full seasons before he was offered the then league high $130 million. Where as, Tiwary has so far played 1 ODI and 6 20Twenty matches. The main problem I have with the above argument is, what could Atlanta Falcons have done differently with Michael Vick when they decided to pay him so much?

Dileep is also skeptical about the ability of players not playing for their home franchises to create "fanatical" fan following. Why don't we look at NFL for example tales?: Peyton Manning was born in New Orleans (home team: Saints) and played college football at Tennessee (home team: Titans) and plays professional football for Indianapolis Colts. He is probably one of the most revered quarterbacks in the league's history and his fan following doesn't just stop with Indy. Tom Brady, born in San Mateo, CA was a "fanatical" fan of the 49ers and he now plays for New England Patriots - he now commands the most loyal fan base in the league[1]. So, I, as a Chennai franchise fan, will root for anybody wearing the SuperKings T-Shirt and plays cricket. I don't care if he's from Ranchi or Jupiter.

All that said, it took me years to adjust to franchises and leagues after having supported "countries" in cricket and football. And I think IPL is a healthy first attempt to promote the game of cricket amongst youth and general public worldwide. Like someone pointed out, this is the first season and it is difficult to pull crowds without big stars and big bucks. But whether the whole affair is worth the time and money invested (money mainly), is yet to be seen.

[1] Of course, agreed that Rohit Sharma is no Peyton Manning and Robin Uthappa is no Tom Brady. But at least Brady, when drafted, was a no-name player.

PS: I'm a loyal reader of Dileep's articles and, of course, occasionally dare to disagree with his expert opinion. Overall, I consider him to be one of the best critics and Sports journalists.

Sivaji's re-entry

Latest addition to the list of actors entering the film industry by virtue of personal networks is Sivaji, grandson of the legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan. Sivaji is making his debut as a hero in the movie Singakutti. Gowri Munjal stars opposite him and it is said that Vivek and Malavika also have important roles in the film. Music composed by Prasanna Sekar is mediocre, although 3 of the songs are already claimed to be hits. Sripriya is the producer and Venkatesh is the director.


Honestly, I don't think he appears very smart or charming, but I hope his genetic histrionic skills keep him afloat in the extremely competitive Kollywood industry and I wish him the best!

Drink Coffee, Drink Smart

In the past 5 years, not a day has passed without caffeine consumption. The teasing aroma of hot stimulating coffee every morning is unmissable. I wouldn't have completed my thesis if not for coffee. And, I don't dare to think about how much would tech companies and academia suffer without the regular supply of caffeine to its people.

How to make coffee (caffeine) work for you? How to optimally consume coffee (caffeine) so as to maximise its benefits? Well, Drink Smart.

PS: I'm no lobbyist.

HD DVD - Strike Out?

The battle between Blu-Ray (Sony) and HD-DVD (Toshiba) formats is almost over, especially with Amazon extending its support to Blu- Ray. This has been very similar to the VHS- beta war in the 1970s where the now familiar VHS tape format erased Sony's beta format out of existence.

This time, luckily for Sony, history is not repeating itself - Sony Corp's Blu-Ray format has clearly emergied as the winner. With many stores and online rentals such as Netflix backing Blu-Ray, we can all expect a Blu-Ray monopoly quite soon.

Societal effects of management philosophies

According to Matthew Battles' report in the Boston Globe, management philosophies have a more far-reaching effect than we perceive them to:

...new research suggests that business can have an important -- and positive -- cultural impact as well. Companies that empower their employees to cut costs in the workplace not only improve their bottom lines, but also may foster civic engagement and contribute to peace in the societies where they operate, according to research published in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Organizational Behavior.

The article also touches upon how the research has unraveled a concept that, maybe, strikes the middle-ground between Milton Friendman's view of businesses and John Mackey's view of businesses.

Interesting, huh?

Marudhanayagam trailer

Godsend.

Haasan & Chan

I believe that it is easy to beat all expectations if you set them low. But setting-low-expectations and Kamal's-movies don't go together. As with any other Kamal movie, either advertently or inadvertently, Dasavatharam has gathered enormous hype around it. To add to the pre-release aura the movie created, The Hindu reports that Jackie Chan will preside over the Dasavatharam audio release function to be held on March 14. But, I don't see why Jackie? Do you?

Beauty of Math

Brushes and paints are tools of the past to create an appealing art. These days scientists use rules of Mathematics and the computational power of computers to achieve the same result.

Random browsing can be very enlightening.

Sabermetrics and Clemens

This article on NY Times by a group of people from Wharton uses Sabermetrics (the statistical analysis of baseball data) to arrive at the following conclusion:

Our reading is that the available data on Clemens’s career strongly hint that some unusual factors may have been at play in producing his excellent late-career statistics.

Such conclusions may make good coffee room discussion topics, but are no substitutes for hard evidence and human testimonies in Roger Clemens' steroid abuse case.

Kamal or Rajini

This is not an analysis of the two stalwarts. If you were expecting one, I'm sorry to disappoint you. But on the other hand, I'm sure you'll be wearing a smirk on your face after seeing the following pic :)

(Courtesy: www.behindwoods.com)

You can find more incarnations of Kamal here at Behind Woods.