WC10 INDIA x DC’s TAKE x PART 2

Part 2 of my Post-India Blog deals with some of the India experiences, an aspect that the players didn’t have the luxury of exploring as much.

Part 1 can be read here and is about the Hockey and Security around the event.

The World Cup in 2010 was in New Delhi, India. Personally I have always wanted to go to India and experience from what I have heard as exceptionally unique. Delhi has a population of around 17 million, which is not all that far off the entire population of Australia, and around 9 times that of my city, Perth. So you imagine the chaos and wonder that such a city offers.

Let’s face it. Our western diets and hygiene don’t prepare us for what a place like India and its brilliantly famous tasty food allow for. It took only one day before my first “Delhi Belly” kicked in, and as quickly as I got over it, the second round hit. The second was much harsher with fever, chills, etc… It was time to break the Anti-biotics.

Once I was over this hinderance, it was time to walk, hit the markets, culture and the unbelievable food. Eating from little restaurants buried deep in the city and its sidewalks as well as a stall or two is always the best way to experience the real food culture. India doesn’t disappoint. The vegetarian options are more common that meat and, well better.  The “Sweets” trade appears to be a massive obsession for the food culture, and entire areas are dedicated to a myriad of different varieties.

On the first Monday, it was a public Holiday in India, ummm called… well.  HOLI day.   True story.  It basically means the Festival of Colours or Spring Festival.  It has a religious basis and a great story. What makes it amazing for someone like me is that it’s about colour.  Throw colour everywhere, on anything and anyone. It’s incredibly beautiful.

Monument and Tombs – A massive part of what we as foreigners see of India.  The Taj Mahal being the big one.  In Delhi, India Gate is the main central place and monument right in the centre.

India Gate is a massive park with a monument. This is a war memorial that commemorates the lives of soldiers that died for the British Empire during World War 1.   What it seems excel at now is cricket.  The entire area around the gate have been turned in literally dozens if not into the hundreds of make-shift and proper cricket pitches.  People of all ages come to have a hit and play a social game.  In actual fact it’s chaos with the pitches being barely 10-15 meters away from each other.  It’s also a great place to hang out in general and see the youth of India, something which you don’t tend to see in central built up New Delhi.

Taj Mahal.   The big one.  One of the Wonders of the World.  Getting there for sunrise is supposedly the thing to do.  So at 1am another photographer and I took a 5 hour taxi trip to Agra, where the Taj is situated.  There’s not a lot to say except it was worth it!   We were there for sunrise and the Taj put on a show for us.

Throughout the trip numerous walks and trips around Old and New Delhi were made to get out of the confines of the Hotel and Security. From markets to food stalls, to further monuments it was all a learning experience and all it does is add to the huge and amazing tournament that the World Cup of Hockey brings.

WC10 INDIA x DC’s TAKE x PART1

Well, I’m back in Perth and recovering from an amazing 17 days in India, and one brilliant night.

I know I’m not an elite Hockey player and maybe what I have to write is not interesting for you, but I think some of you out there may like to see and hear what the World Cup in India 2010 was like from someone outside the teams

My roles in the World Cup are many with the primary directives being within official Media, mainly as a photographer but as well as to some of the guys in the teams as “that damn guy with the camera who’s not cooped up in the hotel!” My ability to have more freedom than the players gives me a different outlook on the event away from the fact that I’m not an elite hockey player giving everything I have for the World Championship.

Part 1 of my post-World Cup blog will be about the event itself and the security and controls that went with it.  I am also open to people commenting here with questions for me to answer and hopefully add more insight to what goes on around the Hockey world’s largest tournament.

The Stadium in New Delhi is a totally revamped existing structure. Personally I have never seen anything like it for Hockey. A place that over 16,000 people can cram themselves into and scream for their team in Hockey is nothing short of awe inspiring and unique in my experience. The amazing thing is how quickly the stadium fills, and without notice. One minute you are looking at a game and about 1/3 of the seats are full, then you turn around to check why your ears are hurting and the place is packed with flags, face paint and screaming.

The Hockey itself?  I am hoping that many of you were able to watch some of the games, listen to broadcasts, watch some highlights or just read about it.  It’s a long tournament with each team playing between 6-7 games each in a period of 13 playing days. Funny enough on the surface it would appear less taxing than say a Champions Trophy where the teams play 5-6 games in 10 days. A big difference is that there are 12 teams in the World Cup, that’s a lot more organising, a lot more team preparation, a lot more of everything and from what I saw it took its toll on the teams.

In my personal opinion on a whole, the quality of hockey in Melbourne was more exciting and faster, better for the neutral spectator than this World Cup. Of course when the event burrowed down to the final few games the level increased, but I think there is something about having the best 6 teams in one place, in one concentrated time. That said, a highlight game for me England v Germany in the Semis where I believe we saw some great hockey and classic “sport” emotions.

Security, what was that like?

Going into this World Cup, a lot was said, done, discussed, debated, acted upon, speculated, joked about regarding the security issues of the event. Having a directly targeted threat on the India World Cup was not what it needed only days before the first game. It was to be expected that the security would be pretty high, and well it was.

The official hotels were fortresses. The player’s hotel from the front looked like a prision with high walls, razor wire, a billion cameras and sniper nests. I’d loved to have taken photos but early on I was threatened to have my camera confiscated by the police taking a photo of a building.

To get into any World Cup venue (hotels, stadium, etc…) you’d need to have your car checked with underbody mirrors, all boots and bonnets opened and gizmos with noises waved over the contents. Once through there, you personally had to get through something like an airport security checkpoint more than once, all surrounded by many army or private security with large guns.

To get into the Stadium as Media, I had to pass through 4 metal detectors, be frisked 4 times, pass through 1 x-ray screen, have my bags opened and manually checked 1 to 2 times, be tested for explosive residue finally have my credentials read over, and double checked 5 times while all the time passing commandos and sniper nests.

The hotel I was in wasn’t too much different and as an Aussie I had two armed men at the front of my corridor at all times. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. My room was checked every day by experts and the staff were overseen when doing the room service.  It all was a little overwhelming to start with, but once you got used to it, it became welcoming and you could really see that the organisers really thought about the issues coming to India very strongly.

Where does it leave the event for me?

It’s the World Cup.  Everything worked eventually and smoothly.  Good and great Hockey was played and it was a safe event.  Really what else can you ask for. We were there to cover the Hockey and that was done.  The players were there to play, and that they did.

Part 2 will be about what I was able to do and see outside of the Hockey specifically, things that many of the players were not able to.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned, and remember feel free to comment and ask questions.

DC

FOCUS x INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our expose’ known simply as FOCUS. Here you get an out of the norm look at what makes up the lives of our players.

Shots are out of focus, flared or heavily filtered. Enjoy…

The first instalment is coming from our local photog, DC, who has decided to use his camera skills to create the effects rather than a filter. For those who care or interested these photos were created using an f1.4 lens.  Subject matter: Anything and everything. Does it matter?  In this case, a small glimpse of the nook that DC hangs around in at Gryphon HQ.

CTT09 x DAY3 x AUS v ENG

Just when you thought things couldn’t get more crazy in a day of hockey.

It did.

Australia v England.

It was media hyped as an Ashes match… ermmm yeah. Wrong sport guys.  But that said there was no less intensity out there. England NEEDED to win to stay alive for the finals while Australia did not want to flirt with form and take down the danger team. A win would put them one game clear on the top of the ladder.

The English started fast. They used their main men (Jackson and Co.) to full effect up forward and it was them that struck first in the 13th minute through Mackay’s field goal.  It shocked the 95% Australian supporting crowd here in Melbourne.

All it achieved was to awaken the Aussies and make them push. Using the wings and Des Abbott as a main target, the usual suspects used pace and carry to break the lines making life hard for the English defence.  It was from the Aussie’s second PC, that they used a variation from Doerner’s flick to Shubert on the post to level things up. The rest of the half was exciting hockey with each team busting a gut to get into the circle and have a crack. Both keepers were kept on their toes.

The second half needed to yield more, you could feel it in the air. The crowd was chanting. Tension was rising. Would the English defence hold the Aussie attack? Could the Aussies keep up with the new European Champions?

Tussle and toiled did both teams, but it was evident that the Kookaburras were the ones in control. Spearheading Turner and Abbott up front being fed by Dwyer and Kavanagh. Down back Begbie was more than impressive and Disco made more than one crucial save.

This all lead to the Aussie’s breaking clear with Turner who finished with style and sensation falling away from the goal at full tilt. It was brilliant and Ric said in the press conference it was a shame such a brilliant goal was taken away. And that’s what happened.  The video umpire deemed a back stick and the goal taken away in mere seconds.

All the did was make the Kookas more hungry. Intensity was ramped up another level and you could feel the anger and drive to show the world that no one can take away goals. Stealing selected passed created breaks. It was only minutes later that Des Abbott broke the lines again from this press (second time in 30 seconds) and his baseline run was denied, only to pop up for another strike to be saved once again, but again… it fell to Des who popped in the back of the net.

With only 10 minutes to go, it would be a hard task to break the Aussie’s down with their press in full swing. England played a great game and really took it to the tournament favourites making the most

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

DC x POST MO x THANKS

Well guys and gals, while here in Melbourne covering the Champion’s Trophy, the date has changed and well it’s now December 1.  What does this mean?  The great month of Movember has ended. It’s now PoMo. The day all of us with the great moustache shaves them off. The photo above is the last hurrah of my Mo before it met the shave.

I am sure I’ll not be alone in say that this day was wanting to come, especially for in the teams training hard in the Perth heat. Having a constant sweat-band on your face is a unique experience, but what can I say?  It was worth every minute.

A huge amount of the Gryphon guys around the world participated, from the Kookaburras, English and Dutch hockey team members as well as the staff here at Gryphon HQ.  I’m proud to say we’ve been successful in raising some great amounts of money for the cause.

Today is PoMO (Post, Mo). That first day that everything is going to feel naked. Today the Aussie’s play England at CTT09 minus the mo. Unless some boys have got attached to it.

On behalf of the all the Gryphon guys that participated, we’d like to THANK YOU, the people who donated to the Movember charity. You will hopefully make a difference to men’s health, and it’s something we would all love to see. So once again THANK YOU.

I’ll catch ya later today with game news.

DC… PoMo version.

CTT09 x DAY 2 x DISCO VIDEO

After today’s game I caught up with Brent “Disco” Dancer about the win over Holland and his first goal in Champion’s Trophy.  It places Australia firmly on top of the standings after the first weekend. Here’s the skinny…

CTT09 x DAY2 x ENG v SPN

The final game of the week, and going into a rest day here in Melbourne, the last two teams to play were England and Spain.  Both teams lost yesterday and a loss to either would severely  dent any chances for a top two playoff.

Intensity was not lacking. A great feature of these games here in Melbourne. Also not lacking are goals. Game one today netted 8, game two have 9 and tonight saw 6 goals go in.  Something to do with the new rules?  Your call on that one…

Gryphon Gun, James Tindall squarely threw England’s intentions out there in the 2nd minute of the game with Short variation putting Spain on the back foot. The thing is, they didn’t stay there too long and the Spanish jumped forward 6 minutes later and popped in their own PC making it one all at the eight minute mark. Ribas again scored from another Short in the 16th and Spain were looking dangerous.  They attacks were not as frequent but it was evident that the English defence was unable to cope totally and conceding Shorts was all too common.

In a battle of goal scoring Tindall again grabbed himself another glorious goal to tie the game.  England were on the attack and barely 2 minutes later the English captain took his team into the lead for the half time break.

In the second, the game was like a ship rocking in stormy weather with each team turbulent in attack each way. Not to say not much happened as players went flying, umpires were shouted at and in turn players were put on that little chair for all to see off the pitch.

England started to look the more tired of the two and the Spanish attack lead by Eddie Tabau kept their legs to mount breaking attack after attack until the in 66th minute a well executed play with Amat netted Tabau the equaliser goal. The final six minutes saw Spain having more chances but unable to secure the win leaving them in a draw.

Gryphon Gun James Tindall ended up with two vital goals for England taking him to equal top goal scorer of the tournament with 3.

The final placings after the today look like this.

AUS (6pts – 11f, 2a) | GER (3pts – 6f, 7a) | KOR (3pts – 5f, 7a) | HOL (3pts – 5f, 9a) | SPN (1pt – 5f, 6a) | ENG (1pt – 5f, 6a)

Tomorrow is a rest day for the teams, but don’t be surprised if you see more from me.

DC to the bar!

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

CTT09 x DAY2 x KOR v GER

Opening game of day two pits Germany (world rank 1) v Korea (world rank 6), total spectrums in this six team tournament. Germany outplayed England yesterday and Australia controlled the game against Korea. On paper and in theory the outcome of this game should have been routine.

Within the first four minutes, Korea had other ideas scoring very quickly through a FG from You.  From that point the game was a great tussle and a spectacle including an incredible triple save by the Korean Keeper. We had to wait until for minutes from half time to see another goal. Half time break the teams were tied.

It wasn’t long until Germany, through Montag, scored again in the second half from a Short to take the lead and look like they will take control and run away with the game. All but that scenario happened. Korea lifted their game in all respects taking the game to the Germans with run and skill.

Revolving around a strong counter attack and speed Korea ran through their star striker, Seo up the field over and over. In the 52nd min Seo scored a field goal to bring to game to level pegging.  That was just the start of it. Five minutes later Nam for Korea slotted in a Short and they were away again and still full of run and vigour. It was from this run that found the German keeper one on one with a player and his mis-timed slide tackle took the player. A referral couldn’t stop the Stroke being awarded and Korea skipped away to a 4 goal to 2 lead.

They weren’t done embarrassing the world’s best ranked team yet, within one more minute of the last goal Seo again scored a knock in from a powerful hit into the circle to take the game 5 goals to 2.  Even till the last Korea looked for more and more as they gathered energy from their position.

In the dying embers of the game Germany salved a last goal through Montag’s second succussful short to finish the match out.

Korea 5, Germany 3.

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

GRYPHON x ART x DC COLLABORATION x PART 3

Staff designer DC was let loose to create a GRYPHON ART SERIES for the coming Champions Trophy. The resulting collaboration is some of the coolest stuff we’ve seen in a while.Special note is that these are not computer generated images, they are all hand drawn by DC which makes ‘em all the more unique.

The GRYPHON ART SERIES will be made available in A3 size posters and will be given away at the 2009 Men’s Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia. We will be previewing one of these every week right here on G-Life in the lead up to the Trophy.

PART 3 unveils a sneak preview of break-through talent Fergy Kavanagh using the soon to be released 2010 GRYPHON TABOO BLUE STEEL.

Download the Wallpaper (Landscape Version): Art Series Wallpaper - Fergus Kavanagh (134)

GRYPHON x ART x DC COLLABORATION x PART 2

Staff designer DC was let loose to create a GRYPHON ART SERIES for the coming Champions Trophy. The resulting collaboration is some of the coolest stuff we’ve seen in a while. Special note is that these are not computer generated images, they are all hand drawn by DC which makes ‘em all the more unique. The GRYPHON ART SERIES will be made available in A3 size posters and will be given away at the 2009 Men’s Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia. We will be previewing one of these every week right here on G-Life in the lead up to the Trophy.

PART 2 has DC working his magic on two of Gryphon’s  legendary ambassadors, Bevan George and Matt Wells. These guys are both Olympic Gold Medalists, Australian Captains and teamed up to make one of the most fearful defensive pairings world hockey has ever seen, dominating the landscape for over eight years…. Introducing the Bevan George and Matt Wells GRYPHON ART SERIES POSTERS

Download the Wallpaper: Art Series Wallpaper - Bevan George (103)

Download the Wallpaper: Art Series Wallpaper - Matthew Wells (93)

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