Weekend Bites: Of The Apprentice Asia, Cricket plus Beauty and the Geek!

Last week, was an extremely busy week, I just couldn't find any time to blog. I'm back now :)

Tony Fernandes, Asia's Donald Trump?

I'm actually involved in updating The Apprentice Asia unofficial Facebook page, so if you follow the show, do drop by for a visit.

https://www.facebook.com/TheApprenticeAsia

Inevitably, comparisons will be drawn between the Asia show and the US or UK show, quite often unfair. It's easy to criticise the quality of some of the contestants but let's face facts: Anyone who auditions will always attempt to make themselves look better than they are. The audition is actually more like a job interview than the show itself, which tends to show what makes good viewing on TV. It's a TV show after all. Even in the International shows, contestants have been found to be just plain bad, not to mention with questionable morals to the point of attempting to cheat to win.

Personally for me, the only real frustrations I've had with the show were the refusal of the Project Manager to identify the weak members of his team in week 1, and the withdrawal in week 3. Again, these occurences are something the producers really have no control over, if anything, I'm annoyed at the participants really. Otherwise, it's been pretty good viewing!

Regardless, feel free to tune in on AXN 701 Wednesday 9pm for the Malaysian viewers!

Cricket: Champions Trophy

IPL has come and gone, and here comes the Champions Trophy. Only 4 matches in and it has already served up a nail-biter! Yesterday, I was able to catch more than half of the match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. It was a crazy match, advantage shifted from one side to another, but in the end New Zealand pulled through. These are the matches that have kept me as a cricket fan.

Here's a blinder from Brendan McCullum:




If anyone wants to actually understand how cricket actually works, let me know, I'll fill you in!

What's a reality show, really...

During the cricket innings break, as well as the early lunch break, I flipped between channels and found this.

If you're having trouble feeling good about yourself, watch this. The silliness can be downright hilarious. Otherwise, probably best to stay away, your brain cells might suffer. I did get a bit worried by the fact that I could relate to some of the guys though...

I'm also trying to understand what exactly constitutes a reality show? For example, why is American Idol a reality show, but Miss USA isn't?

Having said that, there's definitely a solid viewership out there for Beauty and the Geek as this is apparently season 3!

Now wondering if there are reality shows out there that will never be shown here in Malaysia...

Test at Lords!

The Ashes is on full blast and once again, my viewing of the event is limited to live text updates on Cricinfo.com. My cricket tv time will come soon though, patience is key.

The 2^nd Test at Lords is certainly living up to The Ashes reputation as intense contest. After a frustrating draw (for Aussie supporters anyway), the Lords instalment is helping to pile on the drama. As it moves on into the final day, Australia are still on the ropes, but hell if they haven’t made a decent fight out of it.

Have to admit though, I’ve been underestimating Haddin’s batting, which may have been due in part to myself being a huge fan of his predecessor’s batting, Mr Adam Gilchrist. So far though, he has proven me wrong in this tour, to my delight. My only worry now is that at first glance he doesn’t seem to do very well if he’s batting with the tail, with his performance so far, Australia might want to consider moving him up the order. Haddin’s keeping however, was distinctly AWFUL, and will surely come into question.

Australia’s bowling definitely needs to improve though. Something needs to be done with Johnson especially, his form lurches between average to ridiculously poor. Not sure if his off-field issues are encumbering him, but someone definitely needs to sit down with him and thrash out his concerns. If Australia’s squad was unchanged in the 2^nd Test due to the fact that Australia were so close to winning the 1^st, then for the 3^rd Test the Aussies must seriously consider doing something different with their bowling lineup, given their inability to take wickets fast enough.

Cardiff was Australia’s to win, and their bowlers (or Ricky Ponting’s choices) blew it. Lords is now England’s to win. It is in their power. Let’s see what happens.

For my part I’m hoping England blow it of course!

And now for the Cricket!

The WorldT20 Tourney has experienced more twists and turns then I expected. We are currently towards the end of the Super 8s phase, and after the events of last night I feel it’s about time we take a look at some of the happenings.

India:

Surprise surprise, the defending champions have been bundled out, thanks to a weakness towards short balls, exploited by first West Indies, then England. Popular theory points to the Captain as the person at fault. I’m inclined to agree, and the fact that two teams exploited the same weakness shows a failure by management to not identify this problem early on. To me, Sehwag’s absence cannot be used as an excuse, as India has enough talent to compensate, as showcased in the recent IPL. The constant shuffling of the batting order, the captain’s baffling decision-making such as the failure to utilise his part-time bowlers enough, and failure to deal with the weakness towards the short ball all contributed to their team’s demise.

Ireland:

They are out of the tournament, but I expect their departure today to be given the due respect it deserves. Kudos to Ireland, and looking forward to seeing more of them in the future.
For all their lack of real talent, they have more than made up for it, showing the drive, motivation and hunger that has been sorely lacking in some of the top sides here, like this next one.

Australia:

Case in point. Adam Gilchrist needs to come over and teach them a thing or two about T20. Clearly the upcoming Ashes is a distraction, but to enter into a tournament with such a high reputation and play the way they did reeked of overconfidence and a failure to adapt.

Pakistan:

It certainly pissed me off when Younis Khan said what he did after losing the first match against Ireland, but, on hindsight, it seems to have been a tactic that has caused other teams to underestimate them. Pakistan are clicking well at the moment, their bowling has been amazing, but their batting remains a concern. Abdur Razzak’s return seems to have helped, but they’re gonna have to have a lot more batting practice in the nets if they plan on making the finals.

England:

Suddenly The Ashes doesn’t look a distraction as it is to the Aussies, yet they still look terribly fragile. At the moment they seem to be the least talented bunch in the Super 8s after the Irish, but they will make it to the semis if they beat West Indies. Not bad after the Dutch howler.

The rest of ‘em:

South Africa has been clinical, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies are performing more or less as I expected.

 All in all, it’s been a fun tournament, my main regret is not being able to watch the matches, hopefully I can catch the finals. My predictions for the semis other than SA who’ve qualified, are Pak, NZ and WI.

In closing, here's the Cricinfo recap as to what each team needs to do to make it to the final four:

Cricinfo recap

Enjoy the matches!

More Cricket!!

Note: This should've been posted last week, but somehow slipped through my to-do list. (I usually draft my post out elsewhere before sending it to my blog)

World T20 Cricket is upon us, and begins this weekend!

 Should be fun I may not be able to watch it I’m following the tournament really closely. Hopefully the next time it comes around I’ll be able to enjoy it on my own Astro :)

 Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how Australia stacks up against the rest of the world. Their T20 track record so far has not lived up to the reputation of their Tests and one-dayers, but the warmups have been promising. OZ don’t have the living metronome that is Glenn McGrath anymore, but Mitchell Johnson is doing a pretty good imitation.

Aside from Aus, I’m also hoping that the Bangladeshis do well. I think this is the format that is most suitable for their style, and they need to step up. Their warmups have been wide of the mark though, they need to step up quickly. Eliminating their suicidal running between the wickets would be a good start.

I’m also in 3 Cricket Leagues for the tournament, Sportal, Fsports and Cricketweb. At the moment I’m paying more attention to Fsports simply because the initial setup is extremely important due to the limited transfer policy.

Wishing everyone involved good luck, and hope I do well in the fantasy leagues!

Cricket or football? Or...

Cricket or football… Cricket or football… Cricket or football? Such is the dilemma I face today. Arguably both of them are at different times so it shouldn’t be a problem, but I really can’t spend a possible 6 hours plus in front of the TV on a weekday can I?

 

Two cricket matches, one at 6pm, one at 10pm. The footie’s at 2:45am. With the cricket, the current matches on are the cricket equivalents of a football league run-in. Football is the Champions League Finals. I haven’t watched cricket in ages. The football is a Grand Final. The Cricket’s early. The football is only 2 hours. Cricket’s everyday till June. I might doze at work if I have to watch something til 5. Choices choices… And isn’t it American Idol finals later in the evening ? I wasn’t following it much until the weekend, where they ended up running an American Idol season marathon, I pretty much managed to watch a lot of it.

 

It’s been a very hectic morning today so it’s a bit of relief to be able to squeeze some blog time in. A getaway device that I’m delighted to re-activate.

 

Screw it, maybe I’ll just ignore all of it and get myself a good night’s sleep!

P.S: Trying out this tag thing, seeing if it's any good to maintain.