Disporting pages

These days, there's no point in turning to the last pages of the daily Times of India first thing in the day's newsgathering, for those 3 pages at the back have deteriorated so badly that it sometimes threatens the place of the Pune Times of India at the bottom rung.

The typical layout of the sports pages these days are: one large photograph, preferably of female sportsperson in "inviting" clothing, three or four news articles printed with permission from foreign newspapers or from news agencies, a couple of useless insets about some past English or Aussie cricketer talking about the Ashes, or some "proactive" reporting about whether every municipal ground in India is willing to hold a Twenty20 match. There has been the odd useful news report, such as about the recent efforts of the Maharashtra Cricket Association to give their Ranji team a boost, but on the whole, some hapless trees being sacrificed.

Gaurav pointed out that this was a direct fallout of people like Ayaz Memon leaving for fresh pastures in the warzone of Mumbai. Still, I'm appalled it got so dismal.