Quadrophenia

I hate baseball. It makes test cricket look interesting (not that I mind cricket anyway - I actually follow the sport). As I found out when I went to a baseball game in Denver, the audience was rather interested in beer and hot dogs, backslapping and general banter. That there were uniformed pearl shaped "athletes" running around like headless chickens was incidental. From the time someone plays his/her first game of beer pong, life and beer get intertwined irreversibly. As a result, the enthusiasm to watch a baseball game at home or in a bar comes from the knowledge that large quantities of watery beer and overdone meat will be consumed. I understand all that, and I have that concept down.

I love (American) football. It's fast, yet there's a commercial oh-so-often, which means there's time to get more food and/or beer. The rules are simple and it can get pretty interesting as the game draws to an end. Of course, that may have something to do with the beer consumption, but I digress. To me, the rivalries are - meh. I didn't grow up in the states, and so it's amusing at best when drunk Americans get all hot and flustered when they see a rival jersey.

But why does Shyamkumaran Krishnamurthy feel so strongly about the Raiders? "I fuckin' hate them with a passion" he says with the highs, lows and tongue rolls that come with the Indian accent. "Why?" I ask, expecting a tale of deception, loss of honor and a refund lost somewhere. Mostly the latter. "Because I'm from Denver man! And we Broncos fuckin' hate them!".

No. Shyamkumaran Krishnamurthy is from a Chennai (formerly Madras, formerly Chennapattinam) suburb, a hot and humid city in South India, the people of which are proud of every achiement in their 1500 year history. They invented their own language, dance form, music - even the wheel and fire but no one gives them credit for it. Shyamkumaran Krishnamurthy spent 2 years in Denver studying his MS after which he moved to San Jose to work for a well known software firm. After which his parents had him married to a well educated girl from another Chennai suburb. He now goes by the name "Sam". Or SammyK. 

So SammyK can't stand the Raiders. I guess I should have picked someone to hate by now, but I was too busy buying beer for the big game. Next season I guess.

PS : Aww, Chennai, I kid I kid. You know I love you. Kinda.