Hootagalli Hawks

All work & no play makes Jack a dull boy!
Every company understands this and constantly tries to organise some fun event at reguar intervals. One such event organised by the STEM team was the League Cricket - the Super Eights.
(8 teams; 8 players (1girl+7boys) to a team; 8 overs to an inning)

We were very excited about this. (well, we're ALWAYS excited about anything that has no remote connection to work!) Each phase was enjoyable indeed!

Phase 1: Putting together a team
It was already mentally decided i guess that the BB gang would form the team. There were 10 of us; decided to take turns among ourselves to play/sit for matches. Anant was to captain the team.

Phase 2: Christening the team
The team name was decided - "Hootagalli Hawks". Hootagalli is the location of Infy,Mys. Don't know till date HOW the HAWKS part fit in place...somebody just mentioned it,sounded good, and LO! we were christened! :-)

The next 2 phases just go to show our OVER OVER enthusiasm!!!

Phase 3: The HH Logo
Sri's creativity @ its best, i believe :)

Phase 4: Team T-shirt
Started as a 'joke' @BB headquarters, motion put to vote and actually passed! We got out TEAM T-SHIRTS made! :-) With the logo in the front and our name & number @ the back.



Well, what can i say! :-)

Phase5: Practice
Well, we were so consumed by the third and the fourth phases that we forgot all about the main thing - the game of cricket. No one was a regular player and until then all my cricket experiences had been limited to the idiot-box :-)

Only then did it dawn on us that it was HIGH TIME that we started some practising as well. It was decided that it would be done over the weekend. Some guys "sacrificed" (i quote) their trip home that weekend and stayed back in mysore. "That displayed serious commitment and dedication from the team" (i quote again!)

Phase6: The First Match
Monday, the most dreaded day in any IT professional's life, was made all the more worse by the fact that our first match was scheduled that afternoon. We had practiced well, nevertheless, that fear factor somehow managed to creep in. Our captain rose to the occassion and gave a pep-talk :-)

A part of us was scared and the other part was excited to be wearing our t-shirts. By now it/we had become the talk of ST. :-) The girls had made banners as well...for 4s and 6s!!!

After winning the toss, our captain chose to bowl first. The first over was supposed to be the girl to bowl/girl to bat over. The rules were like this -

1. The girl had to play the entire over; everytime she was made out, her team would lose 2 points (yes! negetive points! might as well have been the GRE, eh? ;))
2. In the event of an all-out, the girl had to come back and bat once again - this time the guy would bowl to her.
(toooo complicated!!)

I managed to finish my over with 1 wkt, 1 extra and 7 runs. Phew! not bad! :-) We played really well and our target was 66 in 8 overs. Our batting was good too; but we did struggle a little to get the 60 runs. The last over was a-run-a-ball situation. We managed to score 65 and level the scores.

The bowl-out:
For the un-initiated, each team would get 3 chances to bowl and knock off the wicket/stumps. After the first bowl-out, the score was nil-nil. Every attempt was testing for the bowlers and nail-biting for the rest.

We were to have a second round of bowl-out. (If this turned stalemate again, we were to divide the points for the match) In the very LAST attempt, Karthik managed to do the trick!!! We scored. WE WON!!! and what a victory it was! Mind blowing! Stump knocking!! ;-)

Who would've thought our first game was to be scripted just like the India-Pak match in the T20 WC! AWESOME!! This euphoria lasted all day/all week; until the next match...

Phase7: The Second Match
We were a little too over confident for his match. No heebe jeebes this time, though i fail to understand why! We had just managed to scrape through the last one, and we hadn't even thought about cricket, let alone practice!!
On top of this, we got to experience the most @#$%^&#$% umpiring there could've been. No excuses; the outcome was inevitable and well-deserved(in my opinion atleast :-)). We lost!

Phase8: Strategy Planning
We realized the next match was do-or-die for us. Lots of things were discussed about the different permutations and combinations of other teams winning/losing/our chances...i'm NOT going to get into the details. Still no talk of PRACTICE!

Phase9: The D-day
It would suffice to say we lost. I'm not saying anything else about that ill-fortuned day!

Phase10: The Award Ceremony
All participants were given a stress-buster ball. We, the Hootagalli Hawks, were awarded the Best Team Spirit award!

So, haarke bhi jeet gaye hum! :-)

All in all, the entire experience was just unforgettable!! All i have to say, or rather sing (for this became our team song) is:

Hoota Hootagalli Hawks
We will, We will give you Shocks!! :-) :-)

The Hootagalli Hawks

P.S. STEM - SunTrust Event Management
P.P.S. SunTrust Bank - our client
P.P.P.S. BB - long story ;-)

WC 2007

"Ban the effing game!"
"I swear I aint gonna watch it ever again!"
"Its those effing ads these guys are more worried about!"
"yea! this too much! they need to be taught a lesson!"
"WTF is the BCCI doing??"

Yes, I am still unabashedly writing about the great debacle!! Couldnt help but comment on the afore-mentioned nonsense...all these the statements lifted out of posts in the INFY Bulletin Board....emotions expressed by "disheartened", "outraged" "FANS"!

“Ban cricket!" cries; "Chappel Go Back" (influence of the freedom fights!!) slogans; talks about boycotting products endorsed by the players; thoughts/advices to change the team, captain, etc…
whoa! Loads of things on our hands....but, before we get 'em "dirty", let’s take a breather. . . . a reality check, shall we?

“Ban” Cricket??? Just becoz India has failed miserably?? In throes of “patriotism”??? Blue Bullionism?? Does cricket solely mean Indian team "performance"??? If you’ve answered yes, there’s no need to read further! You can go back to brooding over your failure. Personally, I have always relished every match, irrespective of the nationalities of the players (classic example was the day before yesterday's AUS/SA match...was pure pleasure...cricket of the highest class) The game, in itself, is still entertaining, promising, enjoyable....only the Indian Team is not.

Boycott cricketers-endorsed products?? Wat good could possibly come of it? The sponsors had also bet their money on the players...little did they expect their “ducks” to prematurely stop laying the golden eggs. The brand ambassadors for their products are selected based on the public “affection” for these people...so, who to point the finger at anyways? We've equally spoilt the "heroes"!
On another note, bollywood stalwarts also have disappointed /still keep disappointing us....we stop using their products as well?? :-) We might as well stop buying anything off the racks, then....

Changes in the team....
Agreed! A major revamping is called for....but this is something the BCCI has to do....where, unfortunately, more than the P-word “potential”, looks like the P-word “politics” is what plays a major role!!!

Stop watching the game!!! HAHAHA :-D This cracks me up! All our fretting and fuming will be forgotten after a few victories by the team....after they bag 2-3 meaningless tri-series/tests.... the Indian “hopes” are raised once again, new ads aired with the same team endorsing different products....it'll be like the WC2007 never happened....
Once again the midnight oil will burn 4 years later, in the hope (confidence??) that the past performance will not be repeated!!

Chill dudes!!