Welcome to The Jerky Loudspeaker - an independent sports and culture newsletter, I’m super excited to have you here! Before you dive right in, let me quickly break down how the newsletter is structured. Think of it like a mini newspaper, with three sections:
Balls, Bats & Baskets - Sports comes first, and in this section I’ll geek out about the happenings in this world of balls, bats and baskets.
Consumption Corner - A weekly review of what I’m watching, reading and listening to.
Deep Dive - Each piece/series in this section will be an in depth analysis of the thoughts and emotions that arise from my interactions and experiences with the arts.
Balls, Bats & Baskets
Kohli, penalties and some life lessons
Everyone likes a good anecdote, so here’s one to start off the new year!
It was the summer after 10th grade, a period in my life that was completely dominated by football. My daily routine was fixed; I’d go to a football coaching camp with my school friends in the morning, spend hours playing career mode on FIFA in the afternoons, go down to play with my apartment friends in the evening and then come home to watch the Premier League. Playing took precedence over everything; I’d skip family gatherings, opt out of dinners and movies and avoid making any plans in the evenings.
So when my parents told me we’d be going for a week-long family vacation , I wasn’t pleased. It was far too much football to sacrifice.
While on vacation, I was informed by one of the camp coaches of the Adidas Flag Bearers Program - a countrywide competition in which participants would be tested on the basis of their football skill and knowledge - that was going to be held in the city. The selected winners would be flown to Brazil for the upcoming World Cup.
It was a tantalizing prospect and luckily for me, the competition was to take place a day after I landed. Desperate to make up for lost time and engulfed by this primal urge to get back on the field, I was dead set on going for the competition. The problem was that none of my friends was.
They saw it as a waste of time. I tried to reason with each of them individually, but to no avail. I began having second thoughts myself; it’d be a few more years before I got comfortable doing things alone. After some vacillation, I was eventually coaxed into going by my parents.
Held at the biggest stadium in the city, more than 500 participants turned up on the morning of the competition. It was a melee of kids, parents, organizers and coaches but there seemed to be an order to the chaos. There were groups spread out all across the field, with kids being put through various passing and shooting drills. Everywhere I looked I saw footballs and bright jerseys.
I don’t recall the specifics of the competition, but I remember that my Brazilian dreams didn’t last beyond the preliminary stage. It was early afternoon and I was getting ready to leave when suddenly news filtered through that Virat Kohli would be arriving in a couple of hours to promote the event. The steady buzz of excitement that had been present in the stadium all day instantly transformed into a cacophonous frenzy.
Kohli was as much a cultural icon as he was a cricketer. Indian cricket had always been classy; he was one of the first ones to make it cool. He personified the mentality shift taking place in the country at the time. The hundreds of boys and girls present that afternoon were a perfect representation of the age bracket that most identified with Kohli’s cockiness and cussing.
So you can imagine the hysteria when he arrived. Swarmed from all directions and serenaded by chants, Kohli seemed overwhelmed. He was still a couple of years away from superstardom and I’m guessing such receptions weren’t commonplace at the time for him.
We all went even more ballistic when the organizer announced that Kohli would take a few penalties with someone from the crowd. Amidst all the raised hands and ‘ME!’ screams, the organizer’s eyes fell on me. And before I had even processed what had happened, I was shaking hands with Virat Kohli and then heading over to keep between the makeshift goalposts. Yes there was definitely luck involved, but I also think that the conspicuous nature of my wildly unkept afro had some role to play in being chosen.
He took three penalties and I saved two of them. It’s a fact I intend to pin on my LinkedIn profile. We shook hands after this epic battle and I disappeared back into the crowd. The whole thing must have lasted less than 10 minutes, but it gave me a story I know I’ll be telling my grandkids.
As we enter the first week of 2021 and fall prey again to the ‘new year, new me’ fad, what are some learnings that can be taken from this little anecdote and incorporated in our lives?
Always shoot your shot. Just make sure it’s better than Kohli’s
Stop using every incident/anecdote in your life as an opportunity to impart a life lesson on LinkedIn.
Consumption Corner
What I’m reading: If like me, you too watched the raucous NYE celebrations in Wuhan with incredulity, then this article on how China successfully defeated the virus is a must read. Below is an excerpt from the piece about how how drones were utilized to promote awareness:
“Yes Auntie, this drone is talking to you”, one device proclaimed to a surprised woman in Inner Mongolia. “You shouldn't walk around without wearing a mask. You'd better go home and don't forget to wash your hands”.
What I’m watching: I’ve escaped into The Crown rabbit hole in recent weeks. I’m weirdly attached - I can’t stop watching when I start but when I do stop, I tend not to return to it for weeks at end. I watched the first season more than a year ago, but didn’t get around to watching the other seasons. I’ve conveniently skipped over to the recent fourth season and goddammit, it’s good. Episode 8 on the escalating tensions between Maggie Thatcher and the Queen is phenomenal.
Read this piece in The Atlantic of the fine line between fact and fiction in The Crown.
What I’m listening to: The Guardian’s Audio Long Reads, true to its name, is a selection of long form Guardian articles in a podcast format. If you’ve ever wondered what an audiobook is like, then listen to an episode. Ranging from arts to politics to travel, the topics covered are quite diverse. This past weekend, I listened to the episode on the history of FIFA (the game) and the impact it had on football.
Tweet of the week:
Deep Dive
Four Things I want to see in the Arts this year:
A new Frank Ocean album - It’s been more than four years now since Blonde and I don’t think I can spend many more nights going round the clock anymore.
A newsletter boom - As someone who likes reading the work of independent writers, I understand that there’s no better medium to project the voices of those that get lost in the mainstream. As an independent writer myself, I also know that the scope and reach offered by newsletters is unparalleled. Newsletters are the new blogs.
Covid content - I’m ready for the onslaught of pandemic themed shows, books, movies and documentaries that’s going to come our way this year. There are countless stories from all across the world that need to be told.
A good sports show/movie - While docu-series are currently in vogue, it’s been a while since we’ve had an actually good fictional sports show or movie. Despite being released in 2005, Goal! still remains the gold standard for a sports drama.
Three Things I don’t want to see in the Arts this year:
Online concerts - I hope our vaccination is accompanied by their extinction.
Kindle hatred - Unpopular opinion, but I think there is a world where E-books and independent bookstores can co-exist in.
More streaming platforms - It’s hard enough as it is to keep track of subscriptions. Further scattering of TV shows and movies across new platforms will make viewing a very expensive and cumbersome affair.
Two things I want to try/expose myself to this year:
Masterclass - I’ve seen far too many ads of Masterclass on YouTube and I’ve decided to finally take the plunge this year. I have my eyes on the writing course with Malcolm Gladwell.
Check out this article on Longreads about a professor who went on a six month binge of courses on Masterclass
Internet groups - I’ve always been hesitant about interacting with strangers on the internet, but I think Discord channels and Reddit communities are a good way to expose yourself to new art, artists and ideas.
A consumption habit I intend to leave behind in 2020:
Binging TV shows - The problem with binging is that after a certain point, the show begins to feel tedious. It changes the goal of the viewing experience from enjoyment to completion. This year I intend to just watch TV shows, not binge them.
I’d love to hear what you thought of this week’s edition! To share your thoughts, comments or if just want to chat, hit me up at shubhank4@gmail.com!
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter !
Last week’s edition:
On Pain - The Chronicles of the Class of Covid
Easily the most difficult piece I’ve ever written. It took me nearly six months to process and then articulate all the emotions that came with graduating into a pandemic.
Read it here !