Fairy tale to Scary tale - The many hues of Retirement

Michael Ballack, the architect of the 21st century German footballing renaissance, retired this week. His retirement was, mildly put, silent and subdued. More truthfully put, it was a sad, sad anti-climax, not befitting the stature of the midfielder. What is sadder is that Ballack is no exception. The art of retiring is something that has eluded many a sportsman, irrespective of the game, the era or the nationality. Subdued and ordinary retirements are many in number. But the scary and the fairy swansongs are few and far between. Taking the examples of some of the greatest sportsmen, let’s go through the entire range of the pH meter and have a look at the good, the bad and the ugly farewells.

Retiring on a high is every sportsperson’s dream. But it is easier said than done. Stopping abruptly when one is in the “zone” as they call it, seems irrational and illogical at the same time. Retiring is much easier when one no longer has the will to go on. When one realises that the body doesn’t obey the mind anymore. Thus, the timing of calling it a day is of supreme importance. Some listen to what others have got to say. Some others move on instinct. Some soldier on. Some others chicken out. Some hate to face the D-Day. Others see it as a stage to script one last, beautiful story. Some scripts go right. Some almost right. The others, downright awry.

Talking of awry farewells, no sportsman deserves a calamitous end – legendary or not. That one game that haunts him for an entire lifetime. Every sportsman’s nightmare. The one sportsman who immediately comes to my mind when talking about a disastrous swansong is Inzamam ul Haq. One of the greatest wielders of the willow, Inzy was the batting mainstay of the Pakistan team for well over a decade. Also, a reasonably successful, yet controversial skipper. Any top-10 test batsmen list in the 90′s and the 00′s figured the burly batsman’s name. Inzy was at the helm of things for Pakistan’s campaign for the 2007 World Cup, held in the Caribbean. Losing the opening match to the Windies was seen as nothing more than an aberration for the Men in Green, coached by the incredibly successful South African, Bob Woolmer. Ireland and the Zimbabwe were next. But then, just like their counterparts right next to the border, Pakistan ended up losing to minnows Ireland, and crashed out of the tournament. A terribly disappointed Inzy announced his retirement right after the match. Already, a sad ending to a stellar career. But the incident that completely destroyed what should have been at least an ordinary ending was the mysterious death of Woolmer in the team hotel the next day. The whole team was questioned. The game was in dire straits. Amidst all the finger pointing and the speculations that followed, retired a broken man, walking into the sunset after a magnificent career. Pakistan won the dead rubber game against Zimbabwe, Inzy’s final match. Small consolation for a phenomenal player.

Another miserable retirement was that of Sydney Olympics’ Golden Girl, Marion Jones. Caught for illicit use of drugs, Jones’ case is not worth talking about. She retired on the wake of pleading guilty in a drug case in 2008. An athlete who should have been a role model to many a budding star, ended up languishing behind the bars. But unlike Inzy, Jones brought about her own downfall. As they say, from Hero to Zero. Or even worse. Mohammed Azharuddin and the late Hansie Cronje are two other legends, whose careers ended due to off-field activities.

Moving slightly higher from the bottom of the pH meter, we find those swansongs that are less than the ordinary yet definitely unhappy. The retirement of Paul Gascoigne, is a case in point. After his fantastic performance in the Euro’96, Gazza took the train that was hurtling down from marvellous to mediocre. His actions off the field led to the then coach, Glen Hoddle dropping him for the ’98 World Cup squad. The ensuing spat between player and coach meant Gazza never donned the England shirt again. His free fall continued for the rest of his career, taking him to USA to China and back to USA, where he retired in obscurity, having played a handful of games for Boston United, a League Two side.

Other legendary figures who retired on a low, sans the dominance and the greatness that epitomised them, include Ballack, Mike Tyson, the boxing counterpart of Gascoigne, Andy Roddick, the perennial under-achiever, and Wasim Akram. These players deserved to retire on a resounding roar. It ended with a meek whimper instead.

Moving on, we find the curious case of “retirement after coming out of retirement”. Barring the exceptions of Monica Seles, Super-mom Kim Clijsters, George Foreman, Formula 1 legend Nikki Lauda, Pakistani legend Imran Khan and a few others (Lance Armstrong can no longer be added here), the players who have engaged themselves in this hazardous endeavour have almost always flopped. The typical example is that of Bjorn Borg. Borg was the perfect example of a player retiring on a high when he shocked the tennis world in 1982 by announcing his retirement at the age of 26. 8 years later, Borg shocked the tennis world even more by attempting a comeback, apparently forgetting that the graphite racquet era had begun. Borg, wooden racquet and all, failed to win a single match. Here was the unique case of a player being an example of both sides of an oft-repeated cliche – “Retire when the world asks you why? And not when they shout Why not?”. Others who failed doing this, include the likes of Muhammad Ali, whose image of being belted around by Larry Gomes still lingers, and Aussie Rules legend, Tony “Plugger” Lockett. I’ll daresay Micheal Schumacher and Ian Thorpe?

Now, we move to somewhere along the middle of the meter. Most farewells in sport have been simple and dignified. The player in question either announces retirement prior to a contest or retires right after it, in a most gracious fashion. Andy Roddick falls on this list too. But the group of players who embraced this method to perfection, were the Indian cricketers who called it a day over the past few years. Right from Javagal Srinath in 2003 to Kumble and Ganguly in 2008, Rahul Dravid early this year and VVS Laxman last month, their farewells have all brought a tide of sadness, with well-wishers swarming all around them. Just like their careers, their way out of the game had class written all over it. Another retirement, among the most poignant in sport, was the tearful farewell of Andre Agassi after the 2006 US Open. Agassi is among the greatest ambassadors of the game even today, 6 years after retirement. Other players who have retired in this neat, yet not so movie-like manner, amidst much fanfare, include Steve Waugh, Brian Lara, Pele, Goran Ivanisevic and many others.

Now, we take the case two modern day sporting greats, whose final matches were sad, due to no fault of their own. Just like the former Indian cricketer of yesteryear’s, Nari Contractor, South African wicket keeper Mark Boucher had to end his career in a most disappointing fashion recently, due to an on-field injury. The glovesman nearly lost his eye after a bail struck him during play. Boucher had to call it a day in a very, very sad and abrupt manner. Another retirement, belonging to an altogether different realm, yet no less disappointing was that of former Italian and AC Milan captain, Paolo Maldini. The Rossoneri’s captain had announced that he would retire after his 900th appearance for Milan, against Totti’s AS Roma at the fag end of the 2008-09 season. Milan, unfortunately lost the match, and the greatest player ever to wear the Red-Black stripes was jeered and boo-ed off the field in shameful circumstances. The reason for this disgrace, remains, annoyingly, a mystery to this day.

Now, we move higher to the happier farewells. These swansongs were almost, almost perfect – but for minor glitches that ruined their aura towards the very end. Called the greatest footballer of modern times, Zinedine Zidane was an absolute magician. Coming out of retirement and guiding a team that was languishing in the dark, Zidane took the team all the way to the final of the 2006 World Cup. All the gods were smiling on the French genius with a fairytale ending well on the cards. Alas! A moment bordering on passion, madness and instinct meant that the Jules Rimet Trophy slipped through the French hands. A classic case of so near, yet so far. Another retirement, that is now a fabled part of sporting lore was that of Sir Don Bradman. 99.94 will forever be remembered. The batsman who bravely withstood Jardine’s Bodyline Boys, lost his wicket to an innocuous leg spinner. Those 4 runs show what a reality check sport can be.

Finally, we talk about the PERFECT farewells. Perfect in every sense of the word. Heavenly. Glenn “Pidgey” McGrath, among the greatest fast bowlers of the world, had won 3 World Cups and an equal number of Ashes before his last season in international cricket. The 2006-07 season. The season having both the Ashes and the World Cup, back to back. The pinnacles of Test and One-Day cricket. The Aussies won both. And how? McGrath retired from Test cricket by “clean-sweeping” England 5-0 in the Ashes held Down-Under. It was only the second time in the long history of Ashes that a whitewash had taken place. A perfect farewell. As for the World Cup in the West Indies, the Aussies did not lose a game. Or rather, they never even came close to losing one. McGrath bade farewell to the game in a manner that would put even an outlandish dream to shame. Moving on to an equally perfect swansong by an equally legendary figure, the retirement of Pete Sampras was another story that never went awry. He called it a day by winning the 2002 US Open. In his backyard. And that too, against his greatest peer, Andre Agassi. I don’t think Hans Andersen could have written a fairytale with a happier and more dramatic ending.

Not everybody can retire like a McGrath or a Sampras. Sport is not a Cinderella story. All sportsmen deserve a decent, if not a magnificent farewell. It would help a lot if the media would not go for their throats at the slightest stumble, like they do now. Yes, “their” includes Sachin Tendulkar too. Rather than breathing down their neck, the public and media should leave sportsmen in their twilight alone, so that they comeback, deliver and give us more joy. And by not deserting them at times of adversity, and backing them till the very end, can’t we give them more joy? Don’t they deserve it? Let’s do our part. The rest, as they say, is all about hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.