Three months I was involved in a minor car accident in NW-Washington DC.
I am fine.
It happened at about 9:20AM. Without going into the details of the accident, who was at fault was a function of when the accident happened. I was sure it was the other driver's fault. The traffic pattern on that road changed every day and had he done what he did after 9:30AM, I would have been at fault. So the time of the accident was critical.
I called 911. Smart move as I found out later.
The cops came. But it turns out that in most of the Washington DC Metro area, you do not need to call the cops for non-injury accidents. The two parties exchange insurance information and the fault is assigned after the insurance companies assess the evidence. The policeman gave us a standard "information-exchange" form containing details. Once he verified the details, he let us go.
I made a mistake.
I filled in all details except the time and when the policeman pointed this out, rather than enter the time of the accident, I entered the time at that moment which was 9:39AM. So the insurance company for the other party laid the blame on me! To confuse the matter further, the other party had filled in a time of 9:29AM. So my insurance company laid the blame on the other party!
How do I prove definitively that it happened before 9:30AM?
Luckily I recollected that I had called 911 on my cellphone. I called up Verizon and it turns out that they have to log all 911 in a special system and it showed that the call happened at 9:24AM. This put the time of the accident before 9:24AM which proved that the other party was at fault.
The other party's insurance acknowledged this fact. Since my car was very old and had nearly 180,000 miles on it, the cost of repairs was more than the value of the car. So they chose to pay me some money and junk the car.
Bottom line, if you are conscious, please call the police as soon as possible to establish the time as close as possible.
Naturally the facts could have proved that I was at fault. The important thing is; we were able to established the TRUTH.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
It is just Sports
A Sports Illustrated columnist wrote this article about the defection of LeBron James from the point of view of folks from Cleveland. Feelings it seems are so strong in Cleveland that I do worry about his safety.
I must say, I on the other hand took this change very maturely. It is just a professional athlete moving from one franchise to another.
It is just sports. Big Deal!
Really, let us rewind a few decades.
The year was 1978 and Indian cricket team under Bishan Singh Bedi was touring Pakistan. Our neighbors had a black and white TV set and I watched cricket live for the first time, or nearly so. In the last two matches it looked liked India could pull out a draw. In those days the Indian team had a long tail. A middle order collapse in the second innings of both matches resulted in Pakistan being set a modest target. India got creamed 2-0. Bedi not only lost his captaincy but also his place in the team.
Why was I alive to watch this national humiliation?
Fast forward to 1986 - This was the period when Pakistan owned India. One of the lowest point for an Indian fan was Miandad's six of Chetan Sharma to end the one day. I personally think no Indian over the age of thirty probably could forget this. It is seared in my psyche.
1987 also known as Gavaskar vs. Pakistan. The Indo-Pak series was tied 0-0 and India was chasing a rather modest target except that the pitch favored the bowlers. Wickets kept falling. Only the great Gavaskar was holding the fort. He was dismissed 4 runs shy of a century. India lost the match by a mere 16 runs.
This was the last test match Gavaskar played! What a way to end such an illustrious career?
Of course, I achieved some closure in 2004 when the Indian team visited Pakistan and this time they won in both forms of cricket. That was twenty years too late for me. By that point I had not seen a cricket match in nearly a decade and a half!
I will skip Indian Hockey completely. The less said the better.
We leave India and jump to Detroit, Michigan, home of my Alma mater, Wayne State University. The year was 1991. The previous year, I had the felicity of have watched the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bull in Eastern Conference Finals and later crush, the Portland Trail Blazers to become the NBA champions. This year it was payback time for Jordan; he now had a team that could out muscle the Pistons and he went about ruthlessly dismantled the Pistons.
Jordan was the type of person who would remember a grudge from pee wee leagues and would tell you about it after he ground you into the dust. I guess, I never could appreciate his greatness. I do not know if I ever watched many of his games; but when I did it was only with a forlorn hope that the opponent would win. The 90s was a dreary decade for me. Even though the Pistons went on to dominate most of the first decade of the new millennium and even win a championship, it is hard far me to forget those dark years.
Then there is my favorite team the Detroit Red Wings. How can I forget the shocker in 1994, being eliminated by the upstart San Jose Sharks? The following year, they played against hooligans masquerading as hockey players. I am referring to New Jersey Devils. Wings were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals. The ascension of the Devils to the NHL throne set up the near demise and irrelevance of profession hockey in United States. In fact the subsequent decade is referred to as the dead-puck era. The following year the Wings were the winning-est team in NHL history only to get Avalanched by a bunch of goons.
Although, the Red Wings went on to pretty much dominate the next decade and a half and win 4 Stanley Cups, it is those lost ones that rankle the most.
Do I even want to talk about the pitiful Lions? With one of the greatest running backs playing in the backfield, and in my humble and personal opinion the greatest ever, Lions went on to post some of the worst seasons. At one point it was clear to the peerless Barry Sanders that it just was not worth it. The Lions broke his professionalism and he decided to stop playing rather then be part of such futility.
He was such an amazing running back just about every running back records could have been made out of reach forever. Think about this; he was close to setting the all time rushing record and he gave up playing. He is the only running back who could make watching a 5 yard loss more exciting than a touchdown pass and make it part of a high light reel. I have added some videos to buttress my arguments. Click here, here, and here for some of his amazing runs.
I cried when he retired. Man, I have a corridor in my house named Barry Sanders Drive!
The Lions managed to break my spirit so utterly, I no longer watch NFL with any passion! I just cannot invest any more emotion in professional football.
During each of these debacles and for a few weeks thereafter, I remember going through acute depression, a general feeling that life had no purpose, and total aversion of reading the sports page or listening to talk radio!
I have believed in every conspiracy theory against my teams. How do you expect any fairness from a Pakistani umpire? Could you not clearly discern the phantom penalty that cost Red Wings the game? Jordan + 4 players + 3 umpires in his back pocket make 8. Everyone knows that 8 trumps 5. How could any team much less the much maligned Pistons win? The Lions lost because.... Sorry, I do not have conspiracy theory. The Lions just suck.
It is just sports. Yeah right!
I must say, I on the other hand took this change very maturely. It is just a professional athlete moving from one franchise to another.
It is just sports. Big Deal!
Really, let us rewind a few decades.
The year was 1978 and Indian cricket team under Bishan Singh Bedi was touring Pakistan. Our neighbors had a black and white TV set and I watched cricket live for the first time, or nearly so. In the last two matches it looked liked India could pull out a draw. In those days the Indian team had a long tail. A middle order collapse in the second innings of both matches resulted in Pakistan being set a modest target. India got creamed 2-0. Bedi not only lost his captaincy but also his place in the team.
Why was I alive to watch this national humiliation?
Fast forward to 1986 - This was the period when Pakistan owned India. One of the lowest point for an Indian fan was Miandad's six of Chetan Sharma to end the one day. I personally think no Indian over the age of thirty probably could forget this. It is seared in my psyche.
1987 also known as Gavaskar vs. Pakistan. The Indo-Pak series was tied 0-0 and India was chasing a rather modest target except that the pitch favored the bowlers. Wickets kept falling. Only the great Gavaskar was holding the fort. He was dismissed 4 runs shy of a century. India lost the match by a mere 16 runs.
This was the last test match Gavaskar played! What a way to end such an illustrious career?
Of course, I achieved some closure in 2004 when the Indian team visited Pakistan and this time they won in both forms of cricket. That was twenty years too late for me. By that point I had not seen a cricket match in nearly a decade and a half!
I will skip Indian Hockey completely. The less said the better.
We leave India and jump to Detroit, Michigan, home of my Alma mater, Wayne State University. The year was 1991. The previous year, I had the felicity of have watched the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bull in Eastern Conference Finals and later crush, the Portland Trail Blazers to become the NBA champions. This year it was payback time for Jordan; he now had a team that could out muscle the Pistons and he went about ruthlessly dismantled the Pistons.
Jordan was the type of person who would remember a grudge from pee wee leagues and would tell you about it after he ground you into the dust. I guess, I never could appreciate his greatness. I do not know if I ever watched many of his games; but when I did it was only with a forlorn hope that the opponent would win. The 90s was a dreary decade for me. Even though the Pistons went on to dominate most of the first decade of the new millennium and even win a championship, it is hard far me to forget those dark years.
Then there is my favorite team the Detroit Red Wings. How can I forget the shocker in 1994, being eliminated by the upstart San Jose Sharks? The following year, they played against hooligans masquerading as hockey players. I am referring to New Jersey Devils. Wings were swept in the Stanley Cup Finals. The ascension of the Devils to the NHL throne set up the near demise and irrelevance of profession hockey in United States. In fact the subsequent decade is referred to as the dead-puck era. The following year the Wings were the winning-est team in NHL history only to get Avalanched by a bunch of goons.
Although, the Red Wings went on to pretty much dominate the next decade and a half and win 4 Stanley Cups, it is those lost ones that rankle the most.
Do I even want to talk about the pitiful Lions? With one of the greatest running backs playing in the backfield, and in my humble and personal opinion the greatest ever, Lions went on to post some of the worst seasons. At one point it was clear to the peerless Barry Sanders that it just was not worth it. The Lions broke his professionalism and he decided to stop playing rather then be part of such futility.
He was such an amazing running back just about every running back records could have been made out of reach forever. Think about this; he was close to setting the all time rushing record and he gave up playing. He is the only running back who could make watching a 5 yard loss more exciting than a touchdown pass and make it part of a high light reel. I have added some videos to buttress my arguments. Click here, here, and here for some of his amazing runs.
I cried when he retired. Man, I have a corridor in my house named Barry Sanders Drive!
The Lions managed to break my spirit so utterly, I no longer watch NFL with any passion! I just cannot invest any more emotion in professional football.
During each of these debacles and for a few weeks thereafter, I remember going through acute depression, a general feeling that life had no purpose, and total aversion of reading the sports page or listening to talk radio!
I have believed in every conspiracy theory against my teams. How do you expect any fairness from a Pakistani umpire? Could you not clearly discern the phantom penalty that cost Red Wings the game? Jordan + 4 players + 3 umpires in his back pocket make 8. Everyone knows that 8 trumps 5. How could any team much less the much maligned Pistons win? The Lions lost because.... Sorry, I do not have conspiracy theory. The Lions just suck.
It is just sports. Yeah right!
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