Lesson Learnt

I learnt a valuable lesson about Journalism today. This blog was all set to be posted tonight. But with events taking place over the past few hours , everything written below is now redundant. A new story is born with each passing second. No need to feel sad over the time spent in writing the article. Will learn from this.

England's Top Prize

This won’t be the first article on this topic you’d be reading and considering the pedigree about the people that you’re going to read about, I’m sure this won’t be the last. There’s still a lot of time for the present to end but speculating about the future has always made for good fodder to write and speak about. May is four months away and with each passing day, stories about these three great men will intensify.

It seems a battle never imagined, predicted or witnessed will commence come August. A three way battle of the beautiful game will be fought at the place where it was invented. What makes this rivalry more intense is the love lost relationship between its 3 contenders fighting for England’s top honour – The Barclays Premier League.

This is no ordinary battle. It has all the ingredients required for it to go down folklore for future generations to marvel at. This story involves The Emperor, A Special One and a New Kid on the block.

The Emperor - Reigning Supreme

This Emperor has reigned supreme in the land for the past 26 years. The journey hasn’t been easy. He too, like the others has faced defeat. But what sets him apart from the rest is his hunger to win and wrestle back what he has lost. Time has been witness to this. Victory was within touching distance the last time he set out to battle but fate, luck and destiny had other ideas. But The Emperor has shown his expertise and his ‘hate to be 2^nd’ mentality in the ongoing battle. The past has certainly taught him an unforgettable lesson, one that has made him wiser and more aware of the threat posed by the enemy.

As things stand, The Emperor is on course to remind the world why he’s still the undisputed champion of the land. Age surely plays an important role in his reign. With each passing battle, talks about his retirement have done the rounds. This summer won’t be any different. Will it be time for him to hand his thrown to a worthy successor or will the King of the Jungle be motivated enough to face the two hungry cubs who have set forth into the Promised Land.

This battle has another very interesting element to it. Should The Emperor decide to call it time, these two candidates are prime contenders to take over his reign. Should The Emperor want to stay, these two will make sure that come August 2013 the world will get to see a 3 way battle to the finish. How this battle will pan out only The Emperor can tell for he holds all the cards to the game.

And here’s a heads up on what to expect from these two.

The Special One - Time for unfinished business

The first candidate is ‘Special ’. He seems to have the Midas touch for whatever he touches turns to gold. When he sets out to battle in foreign lands, he makes sure that defeat is not an option. The Promised Land is not something he has not set foot on. He made the move after conquering his hometown. Such was his expertise and attention to detail during battle that The Emperor was made to look second best when the two fought. It was only when this ‘ Special One ’ left the Promised Land did The Emperor start winning again reminding those watching that there’s only one boss in town.

Despite having won everything one could ask for, this promising contestant is still hungry for more and has some unfinished business to settle. And it seems this will only be achieved if he makes his much awaited return back to the place which he still calls home.

This makes it an interesting angle from the Emperor’s point of view for he knows the threat posed by the Special One. This candidate is seen by many as the perfect successor to the Emperor’s throne. If given a choice, the Emperor won’t get a better replacement to take his place.  The Special One keeps setting higher standards after every victory at battle. Succeeding The Emperor might just be the last thing he longs for. But The Emperor still nurses those wounds inflicted to him by the Special One and would want to stay on and show the world that this time the special won’t be so special.

The Kid Next Door - A New Neighbourhood beckons

Battles are normally fought between two armies. This one has three. Enter ‘New Kid on the block ’. This kid has proved himself in his neighbourhood making mincemeat out of the challengers. Being a newcomer, he has not made his young age be a handicap. Kids grasp things very quickly when they are young and put it to use when the time comes. Mr Kid is no different; he learnt something during his childhood and made it into a philosophy, a style during his rule, one, which the world watched with amazement and awe.  The faith showed in what he learnt was rewarded in triumphs over The Emperor and The Special One. He soon realized that he’d only be mentioned with the greats should he make the move to the Promised Land. The Kid is ready and waiting to strike.

But the land he enters now is unchartered territory. Will his ‘backyard tactics’ work with a different army in a different environment. He’d want to prove that knowledge can be taught anywhere, including the Promised Land.

Like the Special One, Mr. Kid shares the same credentials required to be The Emperor’s successor. He’ll be at the tip of the mountain with his sights on the things below.

Will he be able to resist the lure should the spot for the throne be vacant? Or will the Special One have taken that place? Will The Emperor still be there come August? If not who will be his successor? Regardless of what The Emperor does one thing is certain, we will get to see these two adversaries fight each other in the Promised Land. Time is going to move at snail’s pace for the next 8 months. But once the holy date arrives, there’ll be no looking back.