Tom Brady, 43, ignites debate after triumph
MUMBAI: At 43, if Tom Brady isn’t the symbol for the oft-repeated acronym GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), then who is?
The National Football League (NFL) may not be wildly popular outside North America, but the legendary quarterback is now transcending his sport. He is also leading a pack of global superstars — also on this list will be Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and at a stretch Cristiano Ronaldo and Lebron James — who are defying sport’s hitherto insurmountable age barrier.
On Sunday, Brady clinched his seventh Super Bowl title after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 win against defending champions Kansas City Chiefs in front of 25,000 masked fans and 30,000 cardboard cutouts to fill their home Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Brady had already won six titles across 20 seasons with his long-time team, the New England Patriots. But to switch to a new team last year, almost single-handedly lead their charge and hand them their first title since 2002? GOAT stuff.
To throw 201 yards, complete 21 of the 29 passes and produce three touchdowns in the crunch game to cap off a season thrown into uncertainty amid the Covid-19 pandemic? GOAT stuff.
To win a record-extending fifth Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award at that age? GOAT stuff. “If you know, you know!! GOAT talk,” NBA’S Lebron James wrote on Twitter after Brady did the implausible.
Federer, who has for long donned the GOAT tag (though the discussion surrounding that may soon become complicated), wrote on Instagram: “What an inspiring achievement. @tombrady age is just a number.”
For, beyond the Super Bowl title, several athletes are challenging the idea of longevity at the elite level. Federer is 39 and preparing for a comeback after two knee surgeries and remains one of the top players in the world; Woods donned an Augusta Masters jacket at 43 in 2019; Ibrahimovic shattered the 500-mark for career club goals a couple of days ago at 39; and Ronaldo is breaking scoring records at 36.
Lebron James is 36, too, and seeking more NBA records after capturing a fourth championship title with Los Angeles Lakers last year. England fast bowler James Anderson is still running in and swinging the ball tirelessly on unhelpful Indian pitches at 38. And of course there’s Serena Williams, who is keeping at her quest of a recordequalling 24th Grand Slam singles title at 39. Competing at the Australian Open on Monday, the American was in a hurry during her on-court interview after winning her opening-round match, hoping to watch Brady’s age-defying antics. “It’s unbelievable... it’s unreal,” Williams said in her post-match press conference.
In most of sport, the norm is that athletes peak before they are 30, followed by an irreversible decline. By 40, the playing field is not your friend anymore. Yet, over the past decade or two, a revolution in research and application into nutrition, sports science, technology and data tracking physiological functions has transformed the reality.
It is rare to find athletes training without a GPS vest. Much of athletic longevity depends on how well an athlete’s body is standing up to fatigue; and recovery methods and nutrition have been radically changed by science, data and technology. Cryotherapy uses extreme subzero temperatures to combat inflammation and muscle soreness; and firms such as Athletigen do DNA analysis for athletes that is then used to tailor diets and training regimes. “Even though the tennis is now more physical, the players are playing less, athletic health care is so much better, travel is easier, and the food and drink the athletes consume has been taken to a whole new level. All of this makes a big difference in the long run ,” Martina Navratilova wrote in a column for the WTA in 2018.
MANPREET AND SUKHBIR HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNING FOR THEIR PARTY CANDIDATES
Political stakes are high in this key city of the south Malwa belt as it is for the first time that the urban local body elections, scheduled on February 14, are witnessing a multi-cornered contest with the BJP and the AAP contesting independently. The ruling Congress will also be keen to lodge its mayor in the city, where the Akalis have been doing so for the past two terms.
In the last MC elections in 2015, the SAD and its former ally, the BJP, had won 29 seats in an House of 50. Congress had won 10 seats, with 11 Independents making it to the House. Bathinda has 2.97 lakh voters, with 99,462 women. These elections are seen as preparation for assembly elections next year, with political parties considering this as the first step towards forming the state government.
Finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who represents Bathinda Urban assembly segment, has been campaigning intensively with his family members. Addressing a ‘nukkar’ meeting in support of party nominee Mamta Saini at Afeem Wali Gali on Monday afternoon, he urged supporters to ensure that Congress takes the mayoral post. Besides banking on his political role in the state government, Manpreet is highlighting the chronic problem of waterlogging and poor development of the city to corner the Akali leadership in his campaigning.
“Former councillor and late Congress leader Ram Das Halwai (Mamta’s father-in-law) was among party activists who had set a target to have a majority in the House and see a Congressman as mayor. It is a golden opportunity to have a Congresscontrolled municipality for development,” said Manpreet.
In its campaign, the opposition is targeting Manpreet for his lack of interest behind delayed development in his segment.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was here on Sunday, had charged his estranged cousin Manpreet with creating hurdles in the development of Bathinda.
“This city is like our home it is close to the heart of ex-cm Parkash Singh Badal. The then Akali government had undertaken unprecedented development in Bathinda city. Besides strengthening civic amenities, we brought a domestic airport, the AIIMS, the Advanced Cancer Institute and key projects,” Sukhbir had said.
“The city is being represented by a finance minister who has failed to introduce any development project. Winning municipal polls is important to form the state government in the next assembly elections,” he added.
On February 5, leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema and AAP MLA had launched his party’s state-level poll campaign from Bathinda to highlight Manpreet’s failures.
The BJP that had contested on 21 seats to win on 8 in the last election, is now an embarrassed and divided house.
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Monday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that the government has appointed deputy commissioners to assess damages to Reliance Jio properties during the farmers’ protests against the three central farm laws. The submission was made in the HC on a plea by Reliance Jio, seeking action against those damaging its infrastructure and other properties in Punjab.