A worthy reply

A friend of mine replied by email to the India-South Africa match report that I wrote. The mail was so awesome that I had to put it up here.
For the record, he is a psychiatrist who loves photography and you can check out his blog here: http://lensored.blogspot.com/
And here is his reply

Read your piece on the India-SA fuckup - excellent writing, but I feel compelled to provide an alternate viewpoint.

Let me be clear first up - I broke up with cricket a decade ago. Far too many games, far too little drama - even excellence got predictable.

Then I moved to the US, and cricket became harder to come by. I started following baseball and American football instead and developed an unhealthy affection for the Boston Red Sox - a star crossed team for 86 years. Then in my second year as a fan, they overcame 86 years of adversity and won the World Series! That remains the second greatest of my sports-fan life and the greatest moment where I clearly remember all details. The greatest remains the 83 cup - I was 5 then and a lot of memories of it are hazy, though I remember standing on Annie Besant road, outside my grandmas house and cheering as the team bus drove by, Prudential Cup on proud display next to the driver, and Kapil standing behind it, waving through the windscreen. This is one of my earliest memories. That was a time when India dominated cricket. The Asia Cup and Shastri's Audi and Champion of Champions title also helped. Then, as I grew up, the losses started to pile up. Futility in Sharjah, the Rise of Miandad, PAkistans 1992 Cup win - all added to a general disillusionment. Intermediate highs like the Titan Cup and some individual records helped, but it wasn't true Glory! My feeling of self-worth was defined by the fact that in the end we were former World Champions. Over the decade, I've broken up with cricket - I no longer know all players on all teams, and have followed only from a distance the rise of all our 'next big things' (including Dhoni, Raina, Irfan, Munaf and Yusuf). One the other hand I know everything that David Ortiz, Josh Beckett and Tom Brady have done.

Ultimately though, I have realized that these were rebound relationships - albeit happy ones that will probably last.

Truth is, I am once again waking up at 1.30 am to watch India play Holland, now that I have the opportunity to watch. Truth is, I again bite my nails when Sachin hits the 90s. I am again waiting to hear eagerly about Pakistan's collapse...and again, I am developing severe apprehension about running into Pakistan in the elimination rounds.

And the instant return of all those dysfunctional symptoms has led me to realize an important fact...and this is where I disagree with you.

You say that cricket is my whore, when in fact it is the exact opposite situation.

Cricket is not my whore...I am its bitch!