Sport is an art of a simple kind. It’s governed by success, measured in results and other parameters. Sportspersons steadfastly pursue excellence in whatever form to meet their desired end. Some excel, some don’t. In sport, there is seldom something that’s called failure. Sport after all aspires to teach and educate.
Certain countries fetch more medals at the Olympics while others lag behind despite getting similar exposure, inheriting certain traits from a select gene pool, and pursuing certain disciplines as a vocation. There are multiple forces that seem to be acting while determining that success like the relation between GDP and success. The United States, one of the most developed nations, is usually on top of the Olympic charts in terms of gold, while China, one of the top developing nations, too figures on top. India, on the other hand, is nowhere close.
Binoo K John, the veteran journalist, tries to unravel such mysteries that have baffled us for quite some time. “How do all the existing theories, postulations, the contraindications pan out in each sport? Can we conclude that in one sport, genetic influence works and in another just practice? In a skill sport, does practice play big part? How do some people excel while others fade away?” These questions broadly shape the book. The author says, “Genes have no role to play in the sporting excellence.”
Examples and arguments peppered in equal measure form the nucleus of the book. Reading it was an education. The writer talks about tennis which he considers the most evolved game. “Tennis comes first because it is perhaps the most advanced of sport, due to the high levels of skill and strategy and also because it is an individual game, where the player fights alone.” He draws examples from the dusty gravel roads of the Great Rift Valley of Africa where Kenyan athletes train where Eilud Kipchoge defied human endurance to run miles without signs of fatigue. Or he takes us to Jamaica, the cradle where sprinters are born and nurtured, where one Usain Bolt has managed to mesmerise the world with his 100m and 200m darts that defied human limits. Both the countries are not developed nations yet produced world champions.
The narrative is simple and there is no hyperbole to distract. The writer’s deep understandings of sports and its nuances and his years of research are meticulously woven into one fabric in this book. He picks up instances from Mohammad Ali’s fights and tries to find out what makes Michael Phelps’ swim a beautifully constructed poem, the dominance of the US in Olympic sport. He talks about the mind and how gene is not the only factor determining the success of an athlete.
John talks about how a coach’s proximity to an athlete helps in building his or her career. He heads home the point drawing parallel to boxing coach Cus D’Amato’s touching gesture when he takes home Mike Tyson and tells his wife, “here’s a son for you”. The writer believes that “those who reach the top have the usual degree of ambition, self-confidence and resilience.” And for him these are some of the reasons or lack of them that usually lead to failure among Indian sportspersons. “They have little ambition,” he says.
In short, the book was quite a revelation too. It was both educating and entertaining in equal parts. A must-read for those who love sports, including coaches, players, parents, disciples and enthusiasts.
Top Game: Winning, Losing and A New Understanding
By: Binoo K John
Publisher: Speaking Tiger
Pages: 280
Price: Rs 499