Come on You Reds

There has been much vitriol about the Glazers family’s ownership of Man U and the huge debts they have saddled Man U with, not to mention the increasing interest payments. There has also been talk about an Asian consortium putting together a 1 billion dollar bid to buy out the ownership from the Glazers family. The jury is still out on the pros and cons of both the options, but I have a different take on the subject. While it’s not rocket science to comprehend how these spiralling debts can hasten the demise of a football club (look at Leeds, Newcastle and now Portsmouth) it becomes imperative for fans to get a grip. Man U definitely needs to get into new hands where the revenues from the Theatre of Dreams aren’t used to service the debts or personal loans of the owners. I propose the fans all over the world to take over the club through a trust/ association ala the MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust). Here is my plan:

I assume Manchester United has 500 million fans worldwide. (Wiki Answers lists the number at 320 million, but let's assume). If each fan were to contribute one dollar’s equivalent, we could garner $ 500 million. This is neither enough, nor practical. Here is how/ why. Being a fan of Man U doesn’t mean one has to have money; what about children or people from third world countries and fans that’re actually trying to make ends meet or don’t have money to spare? A practical model for this would be equity. Fans buy shares of Man U according to their appetite, wealth and fancy. Assuming each share’s face value to be $1 and further assuming about 8.65 million fans do not buy any shares due to reasons mentioned above or otherwise, we can raise $ 1.10 Billion. Here is how:



Now, it is safe to further assume that there will be some wealthy/ affluent fans that will be willing to buy 1,000 shares each while there will be some fans too that would barely buy a single share for $1.

So, here is the deal: Buy out the Glazers by paying them $ 1 Billion. That leaves us with $ 100 million in cash. This can be used as the transfer kitty for the summer window. These shares bought will not be the actual Man U shares traded on the exchange. They will be the shares/ equity in the Trust – the MUST or other such investment vehicle. The shareholders of the trust will vote for the executive council – CEO and other officials through online voting or other such means so that it is purely democratic. The people elected as a result will run the club. Although I agree it’s a half baked idea and lots of fans would have thought about this idea or even worked on it, I though I should share it with you so maybe someone can fine tune this proposal. After all, fans know best(at least better than the Glazers)!

Weird Dreams...

We all dream, we see nightmares. Some remember them, some don't. I usually have dream free sleep; dunno if I dream or not, I don't recollect anything when I wake up. But there are those so called "recurring dreams" or nightmares that, as the name suggests re-appear every once in a while. You may think I'm stupid, but I constantly dream that I've been asked (dunno by who) to count from 1 to a billion in order to proceed( dunno where!).It only gets weirder. Sometimes I dream that I'm asked to count from 1 to a billion between in one breath! It's as if the agent of death won't allow me to breathe unless I count!
It doesn't only sound suffocating, it feels suffocating as hell when I wake up. I mean how the hell can anyone count from 1 to a billion in between two breaths!??!

To be honest, I have never divulged this to anyone. But believe me, it is an overpowering feeling second only to the recurring dreams during my school going years. So, when I was in 10th grade, I used to dream I was walking somewhere and BANG! There is no more land to walk on. Instead, there is a wall like cliff in front and I had to scale this wall to get ahead. Quite metaphorical IMHO. With no ropes, no protective gear, I forge ahead... scaling the wall step by step. And finally, I emerge at the other side, don't ask how. I remember seeing this particular dream during the run-up to my Board Exams. And I remembered this dream when it was announced in school that I had topped!

This cliff dream has eluded me since then. There are times I urge myself to dream about this fantastic "overcoming the odds and emerging victorious" kinda dream only to wake up empty handed. I guess I'm not that ambitious anymore, and so life doesn't present challenges seemingly impossible at first that can be overcome in dreams - leading to reality.

This is what I'm working for...

...this is what I got as a raise this year!

Time to wipe the dust off my résumé...

Is Michael Phelps really the greatest Olympian in history?

Is Phelps eight times greater because swimming decides that getting from A to B in the fastest possible way needs to be subdivided into all manner of bizarre strokes?What if we say to Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay that they can win multiple gold medals if they run 100m, then run it while hopping like a roo, then dancing like a chicken, (not a duck, of course, because the locals would soon have them roasted, wrapped in pancakes and covered in hoisin sauce)?

While not taking anything away from the Big Mike, I quite like what the author has to say here...

Songs I'm listening to currently

A handy music streaming widget, Radioblogclub gets 5 stars for being a saviour for a lot of people who would like to listen to their favourite songs without having to download tons of mp3s.

The best part? You can customise the Radioblogclub player to create a playlist of your favourite songs and post them on your blog, like I've done here. You can also add mp3 songs from your own library to be streamed on the radioblogclub's servers. I'm in love with this little number, Hey there Delilah by the Plain White Tees. And this song is what prompted me to put all the music I like in one place and share it with the rest of the world at the same time.

Pretty neat, eh?

p.s. It's been bringing quite a lotta traffic lately on this forsaken blog, this tiny music player here! :)

Have you ever wondered...

... how would someone else do if he/she would be in your shoes? Would he/she(we'll use he from now on, just for convenience; he/she is too much work!) be any better than you. And who would he be? Anyone you know, or some stranger?!?

Truth is (at least for me) no one can fill the other's shoes. I can't imagine myself in someone else's shoes for sure. I rant, I curse, but still I am me. I won't change anything in me, but changing circumstances, I'd love to!

I digress. Just back from another one of those humiliating team meetings. How I wish I could be insulated from all the crap I get. I've managed teams myself and I've given shit to my team sometimes but I've always been most approachable and pally with my team. I used to play hard with them and I also partied hard with them. I was genuinely interested in their progress and they would certainly know me as an amiable boss(hate that word!)

Which brings me to my present state. What to do now? Things just aren't going the way they are supposed to be(leave alone "the way I want"). I said it before, I say it again, I don't deserve this.

Yes or Know

When you know they know, its best they know you know.

When they know you know, its best they know you know they know.

When you know they know you know, its best they know you know they know.

Should I beware?

Been reading a lot on how blogs have come to define their authors and how a lot of agencies track blogs to better understand a person and all. What I'm trying to say is this - recruitment agencies / job consultants etc now have another tool for their background check of a candidate - blog!

So I was just wondering if and when some recruiter does get to see what kind of emotional outbursts (mostly related to my pathetic work life) Ive been piling up on this blog; he/she will definitely have a good idea who I am and what I've been subject to. They can write me off by saying I crumble under pressure, am stressed out, cannot work under chaos, am unsettled etc. Which is true for most of us, right? Its just that I use this blog as a famed punching doll, to vent out my frustrations and to bare all my work life emotions in front of everybody at the risk of appearing weak & vulnerable.
So be it.

I have been giving serious thought to go see a career counsellor and find out what I'm really supposed to do with my life. The resolve is stronger with support from Sid, who claims he is in the same boat as me. Of course he is still single which makes him much less of a competition when it comes to finding a true calling; i mean he still has time, lots of it! There are times when I think all my creative juices & sense of humour etc have dried up in this never ending quest for that one more sale, that push for incremental target achievement and all that crap at work. I mean I wanted to be in media & advertising for god sake!! What the hell am I doing here in a BANK!?!?! And then there are times when I get my pay cheque and am led into believing I am bound to this life, this ever repeating sequence of 24 hours every day rut in which I am just rotting. I've heard a lot from a lot of people that this shit happens to all of us, and one gets out of this eventually but frankly this has taken so long with me I think I will remain in this forever.

Toota Sanganak

Thats devnagari for a broken computer. Its been more than 3 long days since I used my PC - its broken. Lots of things which seem wrong with it. All I hope is the data remain intact. You know, with all those endless searches on the world wide web trying to fill up my 80 GB SATA, I won't wanna lose out on any of that.

Pakistan is going to fight it out with the Windies tonight (at least here in India) for the opening match of the 2007 World Cup. The timing couldn't have been better - matches start around 7 p.m.!!!! I guess a DTH service on a new LCD / Plasma TV would well be worth it, wotsay? Aaah, if only chlorophyll had monetary value!

Have you ever had this feeling when you are blogging and dont knwo what to write? I have this now. So..... what should we write here....... ummmm..... how do I fill up this window with characters..... erm.... well, yea... cigarettes prices have increased in Indi after the Budget. The once Rs 2/stick Wills Navy Cut is now Rs 3!! Benson Hedges Lights is still an afordable Rs 4/stick.

Have I lost it yet? What else...hmmmm.... ,..