Disclaimer: If you are not a sport lover, you may not enjoy it as much.. feel free to comment with questions though!
Watching Cristiano Ronaldo in full cry on a football field is quite a sight. He torments defenders with his pace, trickery and aerial strength. Watching Messi is a different experience altogther – we still have pace, trickery but also witness genuine footballing intelligence.
If we had to think of 2 similar figures in tennis, it would be Nadal and Federer. Nadal taking the Ronaldo spot, while Federer taking the Messi..
While I’ve always been a supporter of Ronaldo(he’s ex-Man Utd after all and was made at Carrington), I know that Messi will probably stand the test of time and probably have a longer career than Ronaldo. It’s not because of his arrogance or any such thing, it is just because Ronaldo is a born athlete, Messi is a born football player. And that makes all the difference in the world..
The day will arrive when Ronaldo is 30 and will not be able to summon that lethal pace, while Messi’s intelligence would still be intact. It’s similar with Nadal.. Every fan of Federer has great respect for the man, his fighting spirit is second to none. The day will soon arrive when Nadal won’t be able to summon that dogged determination.. he can’t be a human express train for ever. The cracks are showing..
While in the case of Federer, he would have his lows – he is already no longer invincible, but on his day, he would still be unplayable thanks to his class.
There would be examples like this in every sport. I’m still looking for a life’s lesson – what I’ve understood is that, maybe when we choose a way of life, it should not be something we can just pull off when we are young – there needs to be a balance of short term and long term thinking..
for eg: we could make lots of money with a job that takes 20 hours of our life.. but is it worth being burnt out?
Where can you and I be ‘class’, ageless and timeless..?
Just as an additional note as a Man Utd and Alex Ferguson fan: For all those critics of Dimitar Berbatov of Man Utd, he would still play his languid stylish game when he is 35.. and that is why, at 27, he was worth every one of those millions paid.. :)
A Learning a Day 