No spark without that star

Charisma of world champions

We all enjoy watching various sports based on the country we reside and other factors. The question which came to my mind is whether we watch any match for the game and/or for its heroes and what happens to the sport once that superstar hangs up his boots..Here are a few instances..

I was a keen follower of Formula-1 a few years back but somehow I have lost interest in the sport the moment Michael Schumacher stopped wearing that red Ferrari jersey.

Men tennis was lucky to get someone like Federer-Nadal after the departure of Sampras-Agassi; but no one has been able to meet the likes of Steffi Graf in women tennis and we are all witness to the falling interest and quality in women tennis since then..

We are all a witness to the falling domination of Australia in cricket post the departure of that dream line-up …The most important question before us now is will the game of cricket continue to be treated like a religion in India once that little man calls it a day ??? Will India retain its no 1 test rank after Dravid-Sachin-Laxman go off the field?

How can a sports authority deal with the decrease in interest levels post the retirement of charismatic figures ? Comebacks have had disastrous history in all fields—Schumacher, Hingis, henin are a few names..One of the ways is to shift focus to emerging sportsman a few years before the stars leave the field so that there is no visible gap post retirement…They need to be grooved as per their own skills–trying to emulate the great ones will only lead to their downfall..They may not be as great or charismatic as the previous stars but may be good enough to restrict the falling interest of fans in the game till someone else arrives at the scene and changes the way the game is played….India probably has done that..the match now no longer ends once Sachin gets out.Australia probably didnot anticipate the effects of retirement of all its stars at around the same time..Football seems to be secure now from any fall in interest levels post retirement of stars

Efforts need to be thus made to take the game beyond a few noted players.More people need to be made passionate about the sport itself and not just for a few stars. The stars will leave the field eventually but as they say “The show must go on..’