The return of the prodigal

FROM THE STANDS

S R Khelkoodkar

Michael Schumacher, king of Formula One, seven time world champion, erstwhile retired superstar, is back. And F1 needs him more than ever. What with all the internal politics, the threats of a rival Formula One organization, the new rules and the upheaval in the team standings, F1 was just not the same this past year.

F1 needed a fillip, and that fillip was named Michael. (Is it just a coincidence that the Michaels in every profession do well? Eg. Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher, Michael Ballack, Michael Douglas and Michael Caine?).

Anyway, it’s big news that he’s back and the motor sport world is buzzing. The newspapers got wind of the fact that Schumi was approached by Ferrari, but let’s see their reactions at the acceptance. How have they treated this news?

The Times of India, who give a big story all it due, had a flashy scarlet main sports page with a large photograph of Schumi and many different stories on his return. The main story was about his return, giving the background of Massa’s accident, and BMW’s exit from next season onwards. There were little stories about Schumi’s fitness and how he’s going to be fit to drive by the next race (Sunday, 2^nd August), and Nicki Lauda talking about what Michael’s return will do to the ailing F1. 

It was a tasteful, by TOI’s standards. The King needs fanfare when he returns. The rest of the sports pages were more mundane. However, there was a big story, importance-wise, tucked away on the third sports page that needed some more coverage. Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricket’s ace spinner, is retiring from Test cricket next year. While not unexpected, this should be shouted to the world, not hidden in a corner. As much as Schumacher was a genius in a car, Muralitharan was a maestro with a cricket ball. His announcement deserves at least a shout, if not fanfare. He is retiring next year, after all.

The Indian Express had Schumacher on the second sports page with a large-ish photograph and a brief story. No respect, I tell you. As you can see, there is no doubt about my allegiance to team and driver in F1. Ferrari and Schumacher all the way. But, biases aside, this is the most exciting and different sports news story out there. The IE sports desk has to catch the right story and make it their lead, or they’ll repeatedly be outdone by their competitors.

There was no mention of Muralitharan’s announcement. Zero marks for that.

The Deccan Chronicle came into my purview recently. Not because it was so famous or brilliant that I just had to read it. I read it because I needed variety. This is a sports writing analysis column, or it has something to say about sports coverage in newspapers, at least. But when the main papers themselves cover sports boringly, then this column has the option of either becoming boring too, or looking for alternatives. Of all the main newspapers, the Times of India is the only one that is exciting to read, even if the content is usually rubbish. They wrap rubbish in pretty wrapping paper and sell it to you. The rest of the papers may have a little more on the content side, but their likelihood of getting read are less. And so, the Deccan Chronicle was read, as an alternative.

It disappointed.

The last update on the F1 developments was that Massa was stable and was likely to recover. There was no word of Ferrari’s decision to call Schumi to the rescue! Follow through, lads, keep an eye on the ball or you’ll be left behind by the big boys. Needless to day, the Murali story wasn’t carried either. While this may be the case that they simply didn’t catch it, like the Express, missing out on the F1 story was just abysmal.

If the Deccan Chronicle wants to play with the big newspapers like the Times of India, Indian Express, and the Hindu, then it had better start acting like a big newspaper and follow up on its stories. Such mistakes are inexcusable at that level.