Early in high school I weighed about 105 lbs soaking wet. I know, laugh if you want to. I am descended from two bean poles so I was at a genetic disadvantage. This was, after all, long before my collegiate boxing, my climbing adventures, and before I started appearing shirtless in “Boys of Blogging” calenders (ahem…cough cough). So just how does a 105 lb boy make his way in the brutal world that is high school? By laying low, very low. Most people don’t notice a scrawny little kid in high school (as many of our readers might sympathize with). I was also very very very shy.
I hung out with the nerd/geek crowd at the first of the two high schools I attended. It wasn’t much fun as nothing exciting ever happens in the nerd/geek crowd. One day however, my friends and I hatched a plan. The only way that we could raise our station in life was to be on a high school sports team. Even JV would do. This would be our ticket out. But what could I play? Basketball was definitely out. I was a fierce defender but way too short. Baseball? I could play infield but could barely hit the ball out of the infield. Football? Ha Ha Ha. I was pretty good at indoor hockey on the gym floor and rough enough that one kid even tried to fight me for high-sticking his friend until the PE teacher broke it up. However, there is no gym floor hockey team in high school. And then, like a ray of light the answer was revealed. My high school would be holding try-outs for the…Badminton Team.
I was pretty good at badminton and my odds were good because none of the cool kids (who were also the more athletic kids) would EVER be seen anywhere near a shuttlecock. My svelte body would dart back and forth pounding that birdie mercilessly. The fact that it looked like a tiny upside down Apollo capsule re-entering through Earth’s atmosphere was just a bonus (although I could’t say that out loud or even the geeks would make fun of me). The problem was that the competition was cut-throat. All the other geeks were gunning for the same few spots. Many of them were also Asian or South Asian since, for some strange reason, Asians have a fascination with racket sports. Every day I practiced and practiced, honing my skills while huffing like a young Boris Becker of Badminton. Then, the day before the try-outs I came down with a cold and was battling flu like symptoms all day. After watching television while slumped in a couch I got up too quickly, got a massive head rush, passed out, cut my head open on my metal bed frame as I fell, bled all over the place, and had to get stitches in the ER. The doctor ordered me to miss tryouts the next day. I didn’t make the team. This was the single most scarring failure of my life. And that brings me to the point of this thus far depressing post: American Olympian Raju Rai. Geek has been replaced with chic.
Sport: Olympic Badminton
Nation: United States of America
DOB: Feb. 3, 1983
Residence: Anaheim, Calif.
Events: Men’s Singles
Career Highlights: 2006 – U.S. National Champion, men’s singles; 2005 – U.S. National Champions, men’s singles; 2004 – U.S. National Champion, men’s singles, mixed doubles; 2003 – U.S. National Champion, mixed doubles.
Personal Notes: Participated in a Badminton World Federation training program in Germany. … [Link]
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p>That’s right! We have two Rajs in Red China right now and this one is teaching Beijing some shuttlecock diplomacy. Rai seems to be a new breed of Badminton player, much different than I was in the early 90s. Back then I assumed I should maintain a thin figure to retain my speed. Conversely check out Raju’s huge quads:
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p>According to this video (set to the music of R. Kelly) this guy is as close to a sex symbol that there is in the world of Badminton:
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My years of pain and disappointment end today. My dreams live on in Rai. Good luck and kick ass in Beijing!!
Here is the bracket y’all. Our boy is up on August 11th at 11:55a.m. I expect someone to be on the satellite feed and report results back to us here at SM.
P.S. It would just be a bonus if it was an all brown final.
There was an article recently (NYT?) on how squash scholarships are the backdoor into the Ivy League for foreign undergrad prospects. Most of the kids interviewed were subcontinental prep school types
Good article. best of luck for beijing. I like badminton game.
I think you are making too much of the video. It looks like one person (Rai’s girlfriend?) made a bunch of placards (“marry me Rai” etc), asked a handful of chinese and american passersby to hold them up and made a simple video. Rai is ranked 68th in the world, he is not a contender. Are there any desi contenders, from any country, with a chance in any sport in this Olympics?
Considering that India went from zero medals to a single bronze medal to a single silver medal in the last three Olympics, a gambler could bet that India is due for a gold medal in this Olympics.
Meanwhile China has won two golds already in the very first day of competition…..
Didnt know you had such a knack for geek-portrayal.
Watching the Beijing Olympics should disabuse even the most stubbornly delusional of indians of the fantasy that India is in the same league as China. The quality of the olympic venues, the magnitude and brilliance of the opening ceremonies, the collection of world leaders witnessing the event in person, etc etc, exceeds anything that any other nation has achieved so far or is likely to achieve in the near future.
I for one was gratified to see the chinese emphasizing their three ancient belief systems in the opening ceremonies: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Buddhism links China to India, just as modern science, technology, commerce, sports, music etc link it to the West.
5 · Valmiki said
This is the least hyperbolic statement ever made or likely to be made in the history of this world.
ah abhi – you’re hilarious!
*Was reading (well, skimmed a bit, then quit reading) I Love You Beth Cooper, this book by a Simpson’s writer, about a geek in high school. Anyway, my point is, I agree with the commenter above – you do have a knack for portaying geekdom and your post is as funny as his book (the parts I skimmed, anyway).
**The Olympics opening ceremony was amazing, eh? Reading the British papers online today and the commenters were all, like, ‘how are we gonna compete with that?’ I guess 40 billion buys you a pretty nice opening ceremony….
Well, Valmiki does have a point. It was almost chillingly awesome and the best opening ceremony I have personally witnessed. Makes the last several look rinky-dink. However, 40 billion ought to buy you something like that, so, it’s not the niceness, it’s the fact that they have the money to spend on an event like this that is more impressive. Or, rather, why are socialist/communist countries so good at spectacle?
*Still, kudos to the wonderful designer of the opening ceremonies. Lyrical and lovely, although, some of the regimentation toward the end was a bit cold for my taste.
Okay, sorry, by personally witnessing, I mean, watch on t.v.
That opening ceramony was awesome. I cant imagine what London is going to do to top that at the next Olympics. China is known for all that karate and flippin shit so you would expect this, but what is England known for?
Are they going to have a synchronized fox hunt? Maybe a giant bowl of baked beans that everyone can eat out of. How about a synchronized fancy tea party. Drag the queen of England out there and put a LED encrusted hat on her head and then spin her around. I seriously cant imagine a thing that England is going to do. [Deleted by admin]
Re 1:
I find that rather surprising, since the Ivies prohibit any form of athletic scholarships.
From the Ivy Group Agreement signed in 1945 and extended in 1954 to all intercollegiate sports:
Now, expertise in squash might garner one a few more points from the admissions committee, and since admission is need-blind, provided one is admitted, it might eventually get one some form of financial aid, but depending solely on just one’s talent at squash and not having an above-average academic and extra-curricular record is unlikely to achieve either.
Moving back to badminton, we’ll have to see how Raj does. Frankly, there hasn’t been a South Asian world-class competitive badminton player since Prakash Padukone in the late 70s/early 80s. It’s a game that has almost entirely been dominated by the Chinese, the Indonesians, and the Danes, with South Korea putting up some nice shows recently.
5 · Valmiki said
Hmm… So you spend $40 billion for what? to buy the presence of a few elected leaders and ome wierd shaped monstrosities of steel and concrete, and a few 1000 humans turned automatons? Somebody else tried the same about 72 years ago. If anything Indians should be as realistic as ever – and firmly grounded. Do everything you can to feed and clothe the teeming millions, but don’t ever try to support a corrupt and drug soaked aristocratic obscenity like the Olympics. Call it making a virtue of necessity or sour grapes, but I would much rather go with the honesty of a Little League in my backyard, galli cricket, or touch football than take pleasure in a monstrosity nurtured by Naziphiles like Samaranch and Avery “Slavery” Brundage.
8 · MD said
and if you think you liked the Great Wall of china, you will just LOVE the little walls!
11 · Shaad said
it is for the edge plus the fact that all things being equal, a college might prefer a squash player since they need to fill spots on the team. i found it a pretty sad story, actually.
Parents, Mr. Sher said, like the idea “that not everybody can play it, not everyone can afford it — it’s almost like it’s a more upscale product.â€
Parents of squash players tended to be guarded when asked by a reporter about any careerist aspects of their children’s squash lessons. (Q: When are parents not thrilled to discuss their children’s athletic endeavors? A: When they think it might reveal the trump card that could get their kid into Dartmouth.)
Sometimes I wonder if the much more deterministic path that monomaniacal classes like kota provide for the jee are better than the stressful uncertainty that aspiring ivy leaguers go through in acquiring skills in trombone playing while simultaneously jugging 5 knives and fencing, in the hope that it might matter on the day of reckoning.
Does anyone really follow the Olympics anymore? I think reruns of Grey’s Anatomy will get higher ratings than any of the upcoming events.
Although props to Raju Rai for making it to Beijing.
You are acting as if “rea;istic and firmly grounded” indians are actually doing”everything they can” to feed and clothe the teeming hungry masses of India. Which of course is an outright lie. India lags behind the world in that department as well.
What you seem unable to grasp is that nations can, should, and actually do, shoot for all these goals at the same time. India has a sorry record in practically every field, yet there is no shortage of indians boasting of the superiority of the indian system!
Please, this will NOT become a thread about why India doesn’t produce Olympians. I will start deleting comments that speak to that. We’ve already ruined one thread with that discussion which has nothing to do with this athlete.
Abhi, your post was hilarious (and sad!). I still have a hard time considering badminton a real sport. Something fun to play at a picnic, maybe. But seriously, whose idea was it to use a ball that doesn’t bounce? Just weird, I tell you.
Few americans are interested in badminton. Gymnastics on the other hand is one of the olympic sports americans follow avidly and it will be shown on prime time. Which is why Raj Bhavsar will now become the most well known desi-american athlete, thanks to the Beijing Olympics.
This is I agree with 100%. India and China are not even close. I was thinking exactly that while watching the Opening Ceremonies too.
17 · SM Intern said
I realize that discussions get heated, but it seems a bit heavy handed to try to stop anyone from conducting a certain discussion (that happens to be at least tangentially related to the topic at hand). And how does one “ruin a thread”? Threads aren’t some fantastical creations that have to protected, cleaned, and polished. Their value is based on the fact that one can generally speak on any topic and have others respond with their opinion in kind. The dirtier and murkier it gets (excluding personal attacks), the better.
I do wish the two Rajs the best of luck though.
p.s: did anyone else catch the sweep of the women’s sabre?
My friend Ankur alerts me to an ESPN article on the subject:
I disagree and since on this field of play my powers are omnipotent mine is the only opinion that counts 🙂 There is more than ample evidence that shows that websites turn to shit when comment threads become free for all chat rooms. That will not happen on SM. Over four years we’ve cleaned up a lot of garbage that you never see because we are usually pretty fast.
What bugs the shit out of me is when a post turns into a nationalistic attack or defense on India. This post is about an American. So I will thus start deleting comments about India.
23 · SM Intern said
My reply was to Shallowthinker’s post on comparing this Olympics to the next one in London that hasn’t even happened.
I don’t see how that can be allowed and my reply to it cannot.
Uh, it’s your website, SM intern (well, you and the rest of the proprieters), but one of the main reasons I love this blog and have been reading and commenting on it, since it’s inception, is the free-wheeling and wide-ranging nature of the comment section. It would be entirely boring if the comments section only commented on the post and didn’t take on a life of its own. Still, it would be terrible if it turned into one of those, ‘who is better’ threads…..
Abhi, this post was hilarious, and I swear my parents played “spot the desi” with the U.S. national team during opening ceremonies last night. It’s really interesting to see the diversity of the teams, many of which have athletes with desi-roots. There was all sorts of commentary on “buying athletes” and “medal compensation” last night, and it made me wonder what kinds of policies different countries have, as well as what the “norm” tends to be for countries who have historically put a lot of $$ into winning medals.
Ok, Abhi. Firstly: 1. I hate you forever for coming up with this title before me. Cocks of Fury, eh? Just wait until I find a way to write about the pole vault. Game on, brotha. Game. On.
Secondly: 2.
I had no idea slapstick like this happened outside Maxwell Smart, Leslie Nielson, and Farrelly Brothers movies. So very impressed. Not sure if the space program should know about it though…I mean, if getting off a couch was this challenging, I’m a little nervous about your first spacewalk 😛
Thirdly: 3. I’ll see you nerd/geek and raise him a loser/loner. The latter shall be defined as the former, minus fellow N/G friends or any sense of placement (however lowly) within the cast-iron framework of highschool hierarchies. A true pariah.
(College shall be eliminated forthwith from this discussion. Like a venus fly-trap in bloom, I came into my own.)
Ante Up!!
23 · SM Intern said
And while you get bugged out, try not to be selective about what you delete, even if this is your blog.
coming to badminton it is a v.tough game, not so much because of the power you must exert but because of the v.high levels of ac(de)celeration you must sustain, horizontally, the flexing required of your joints – springing, crouching – all that jumping – saps you out. Squash too is bad enough although badminton purists would argue otherwise. But not when they play with the 3-dot ball that bounces just a little better than a block of putty. Like in warfare, so in sports, contact combat i considered more “manly” and much tougher, but projectile combat is smarter, more lethal and more effective. If anyone has doubts ask the French chevaliers who survived the English longbowmen at Poitiers.
i just hope our boy raj doesn’t get matched up against papi. the experience of a cock thrust pretty hard between one’s legs all the way to the base seems far more scarring than the experience of banging a head against a bed. jus’ sayin’.
27 · Cica, tha Street Regulator said
clearly, abhi got his start on weightlessness waaay before the rest of those space cadets.
Yuuck to another anglophile showoff
Shaad, you are correct. It’s not scholarships but apparently an eagerness on the part of Ivy admissions committess to fill varsity teams. Here’s the article
Here you go.
Cica, you’ll note that above I refer to the high school I attended as the first of two. The second high school I attended I ate lunch by myself behind a bush every day for two years. All in Cica. All in.
It was much later that I blossomed into a hyper-extrovert 🙂
You haven’t heard of Gopichand?
35 · evander drumfield said
Also, Prakash’s daughter can certainly make cocks do her bidding. Even without feathers.
31 · Shakes Spear said
Bandhu, that is simply the way of warfare. Knights were cut down by cheaply armed archers, and then when artillery (still the King of the Battlefield) and muskets came on the scene the knights were history. The French learned their lesson after Poitiers and a few other reverses and finally threw their Norman cousins from across the channel out of France.
How about Pullela Gopichand All England Open Badminton Champion in 2001
I’m still waiting for an NYC Badminton Meetup to be formed…
Erm, that would be Two Yellow Dots. The rest is for beginners or high altitude.
Abhi: That was hilarious mate; you made my day. Aren’t you due for a haircut 1, 2 ?
18 · anandi said
You are thinking Ball Badminton when you say that the ball doesn’t bounce. Badminton on the other hand does not use a ball but a shuttlecock and hence the title of this article.
Saina, Sridhar move up on a dismal day. Badminton to the rescue for India? At least, the shuttlers for Indian are still in the fray after the second day. Anup Sridhar among the men and Saina Nehwal among the women.
it may seem cool to bang the birdies hard, but once you realized the feathered object coming at you hard is a dnagerous shuttlecock, badminton becomes just another crying game.
8 · MD said
i dunno MD, the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show was pretty awesome. I mean, Tiberlake’s no Humperdinck but he really made a point everone could see, if not appreciate.
…symmetry and regimentation is not cool anymore, which made the opening ceremony cold and dated to me. Or, maybe i do not have the rirght kind of telly. Ezcept for the Li Ning part which was genius. And…that flame thingy looks right of a Vegas Christmas show.
BTW, 10k of the performers were PLA.
If anyone is awake out there you can watch the desis playing live right now.
Saina Nehwal here.
Raju Rai here.
Abhinav Bindra of India wins the Gold in the 10m Air Rifle. So India gets at least one gold this time.
well, see you in london then. i was the unparalleled champion of air guitar in the greater tri state area all through high school.
Abhinav Bindra’s Blog is here.
Great post!. I can completely relate to your story.. I used to be the “fat kid” in my school!
raises hand, another late bloomer here 🙂