KB's words meant the world to our footballers

Last Saturday I went to the Cooperage to attend a 430 pm condolence meeting in memory of the late sports writer K Bhaskaran who had passed away earlier in the week Since I checked in early I was called to an area where the prematch press conference ahead of Sundayrsquos Mumbai FC vs Pune FC ILeague match was being heldTo get there one had to walk either in front or behind the stands I chose the latter and couldnrsquot help thinking about how often Bhaskaran would have frequented the Cooperage in his active years It was a venue close to his heart as dear as the Nagpada and Indian Gymkhana basketball courtsK Bhaskaran was probably the last surviving sporting institutions who worked for The Times of India till their retirement Picmidday archivesBhaskaran was probably the last surviving sporting institutions who worked for The Times of India till their retirement Yes they were institutions as famous as the people they covered Sample this lineup KN Prabhu cricket Sunder Rajan cricket tennis Cecil Hendricks horse racing Joe Crasto athletics John Crasto hockey boxing Leyland de Sousa hockey golf Pradeep Vijayakar who joined them in the 1970s is no more too but GK Menon a former Times man who ended his career with the Indian Express is still around aged but sharpBhaskaran was the quiet man from this group He knew his sport but never indulged in lecturing Nor did he misuse his platform He was candid without being hurtfulFormer journalist Bruno Goveas recalled lsquoKBrsquo arriving well before time for football matches and being well prepared for the starting whistle ldquoHe never waited for the lineups to be delivered to him in the press box He would go down to the Western India Football Association WIFA office and collect it himself And if you were late hersquod share the sheet with you and in a subtle humourous manner remind you that you should have been in the box much earlierrdquo said GoveasFormer India footballer Henry Menezes now the WIFArsquos CEO remembered how he improved his game reading Bhaskaranrsquos reports and if he dished out some praise you knew you had done well Several in the football fraternity felt that if they missed a game at the Cooperage Bhaskaranrsquos match report the following day told you everything that happened move by moveFootball in India has undergone a sea change English clubs want to make their presence felt here and the Indian Super League has attracted some level of glamour and awareness Bhaskaran would have been happy but he would have just like he did to one of the gamersquos promoters not long ago emphasised on the need to invest a good amount of those profits to talent spotting and infrastructureBhaskaran was an antithesis to his bestloved sport While football can be rough and its practitioners brash he was forever calm and tidy He walked at a brisk pace his wellcombed hair was never out of place and the lens of his spectacles was spotlessHe wrote regularly for this newspaper and in the preemail days his copies were immaculately typed and delivered many a time by himself at our Tardeo office Irsquoll miss those phone calls whose conversations used to be prefixed always by ldquoBhaskaran hererdquoHe was quick with a piece on systematic problems in football or an obituary to do justice to a football personality who deserved to be recognised I remember calling him late in the evening as he got ready to sleep for a piece on a fellow football writer who had just passed away He obliged with the condition that someone would have to take it downAlthough he covered football and basketball extensively he loved cricket literature A few years ago he called to say that hersquod like me to have some old cricket books from his collection and sent them through a common contact When I opened the packet I discovered they were classics including Ray Robinsonrsquos Between Wickets Richie Benaudrsquos A Tale of Two Tests and a 1955 bound volume of World Sports magazinesOne of his last pieces for this newspaper was a tribute to footballer KP Krishnan in 2008 Bhaskaran started his piece like this ldquo lsquoif you have to go to a place you know to be dangerous you shake with fear If you go to the same place accompanied by a friend you do not visibly shake though you still have fear If you go to the same place with three or four friends you do not know what fear isldquo lsquoIn similar vein if you knew that from VT station only bus route No 81 would take you to the Cooperage ground you would be awaiting that bus for long sometimes far too long and let other buses go by But if you knew of other buses that can take you to the Cooperage you would have reached your destination much earlier more relaxed and comfortable Likewise in football the greater your knowledge and skills the quicker will be your progressrsquo Thus did KP Krishnan the football evangelist who breathed his last at Kozhikode on 7 June 2008 aged 88 explain to his wards the concept and practice of teamwork and the need to expand and master skillsrdquoBhaskaranrsquos bus to lsquoElysian Fieldsrsquo two words his sports editor at the Times of India K N Prabhu used ad nauseum in his tributes arrived last week Bhaskaran would have loved that to be replaced with CooperageClayton Murzello is middayrsquos Group Sports Editor