Op-ed Page 7

What is an NFT? How do NFTs work? Is it worth the investment?

In today’s fast-paced world where everything is getting digitised and mass marketing campaigns are a common trend, it is hard to read the newspaper, browse the internet, or watch TV without the words “blockchain”, “cryptocurrency” and “NFT” flashing in front of your eyes. I’d assume you’ve already seen multiple ads and TV commercials where famous athletes and actors would be telling you to buy cryptocurrencies or NFTs, or seen stories on the news about people buying crypto and NFTs for increasingly mind-blowing sums of money. Today, even most of our favourite brands and companies have NFT offerings to offer in exchange for exclusive benefits. But what do these terms mean, and how do these technologies work? The rate at which these technologies are evolving makes it almost impossible to predict how the state of the market will be next week or next month in comparison to today.

Op-ed

May 8, 2022 Rahul Saha

2022 F1 Predictions

The first draft for this piece was prepared on the eve of the New Year gone by, way before any of us got a look at the new 2022 cars. While the predictions were not off the mark by a great deal, being someone who takes pride in his work, analysis and subsequent predictions, I took my time gathering lap times and telemetry data of all the teams to update this piece. Things have changed dramatically over the six-day pre-season testing period. At the end of the Barcelona testing, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes were the teams who stood out as the frontrunners, while Williams looked to be one of the favourites to make the jump into the front of the midfield pack as Haas and Alfa Romeo looked devoid of ideas. However, the testing in Bahrain spread out the field further, with Red Bull and Ferrari standing out as the top dogs followed by eight-time champions Mercedes, who looked more vulnerable than assured with their sidepod-less design, while McLaren were one of the biggest losers with Daniel Ricciardo sitting out with COVID and persistent brake heating issues that hampered their already-curtailed testing progresses. History suggests that often one or two teams unearth some groundbreaking innovation and blow away their competitors like Brawn GP did in 2009 or Mercedes in 2014, while the rest end up playing catch-up throughout the year. Experts and the F1 community in general feel it will again be a Mercedes vs Red Bull two-horse race for the World Constructors’ Championship, although there is renewed optimism around Ferrari to deliver their first title since 2008. Teams like Alpine and Aston Martin could also spring a surprise or two and become frontrunners come Bahrain, while the optimism around Haas makes them one to watch as well when the cars hit the track on March 18. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2022 F1 season.

Formula 1 News Op-ed

Mar 21, 2022 Rahul Saha

The Curious Case of Chelsea: Deserved or Double Standards?

Chelsea are run exactly how a football club should be run, with everything like a cog in a well-oiled machine — a testament to the system set in place. One of the main reasons they have reached the status they hold today is obviously down to their excellent management led by Marina Granovskaia and the support staff and players, but there has been one individual who has built the club from the shadows and remained there for quite a while, until the spotlight fell on him, anyway. Yes, it’s none other than Roman Abramovich. When he bought the club in 2003, Chelsea, despite already being a historic club, weren’t even half of what they are today. Yes, the legacy and trophies were there, but investing heavily, making sure the best people were brought in for the jobs, and setting up a flawless system are some of the things Abramovich brought with him that transformed the club. During Abramovich’s time as the club’s owner, Chelsea’s men’s team have lifted five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Europa League titles, one FIFA Club World Cup and one UEFA Super Cup. The women’s team, on the other hand, have also enjoyed unparalleled success and won multiple trophies which include the FA Women’s Super League four times, the Women’s FA Cup three times, the FA Women’s League Cup two times and one Women’s FA Community Shield.

Football News Op-ed

Mar 17, 2022 Aditya Chaudhuri

<strong>Impact of war-like situations on the sporting world</strong>

Loud explosions, aerial attacks, closed airspace, crowded bomb shelters and vital services at a standstill: this is the present situation in Ukraine amid incessant Russian attacks, much to the shock...

Op-ed

Mar 7, 2022 Nitisha Thakwani

<strong>Djokovic and the ensuing fallout from his anti-vax stance: reaction of his sponsors</strong><strong></strong>

World No. 1 tennis player. Splendid fitness icon. Age on his side. Oozing with energy. A global figure. Twenty Grand Slams. With such a reputation, it is but inevitable that...

Op-ed Tennis News

Feb 19, 2022 Nitisha Thakwani

Russell v Hamilton 2022: Can George Russell emulate what Charles Leclerc did in 2019? 

Can George Russell, who has three years of experience driving in Formula One and thousands of miles under his belt in that Mercedes car, beat Lewis Hamilton in 2022? In...

Formula 1 News Op-ed

Feb 14, 2022 Rahul Saha

A history of Super Bowl commercials&nbsp;

The Super Bowl is more like a national holiday than a sporting event. Every year as we inch closer to the big day we see products and applications with one...

Op-ed Other Sports

Feb 13, 2022 Rahul Saha

About Mason Greenwood…

You have read the title. If you’ve been following football even remotely, you know what this is about. “Disgusted” does not begin to define how I have been feeling over...

Football News Op-ed

Feb 1, 2022 Anshuman Joshi

IQONIQ’s liquidation and the murky waters of crypto assets — fungible or otherwise

One of the well-known companies in the “crypto-based fan engagement platforms” space has gone bust. Here’s why the recent boom of crypto-based technologies entering the sporting world needs to be...

Op-ed

Dec 9, 2023 Anshuman Joshi

India among favourites for 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup

India’s premature exit in the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup shocked the fans in the cricket fraternity. Some of India’s performances from the batting side of things were questionable. The...

Cricket News Op-ed

Jan 27, 2022 Rahul Naresh