Ramblings of a maverick

First up, what's with this sport of Hockey? Twenty two players chasing a pimpled ball on carpeted artificial turf,  to pump that ball past a heavily padded Goalie onto the back of a net?  Or a sport that perpetuates nostalgia on a dwindling set of  Hockey-mad partisan fans in India, who can't but reminisce about the 'good old days' when India / Pakistan dominated the sport worldwide? Or, in an arguable viewpoint, one of the fastest sports to be played and with the toughest umpiring rules? Or a team sport that can expose the weakest links or  the strongest team member pretty quickly? In India, we had/have several 'pockets' of prominence in Hockey. Punjab/Haryana & extending into Delhi; Kodagu, Bangalore; the typical tribal dominated regions in Odisha and Mumbai to name a few. And over the past several years, Odisha have taken upon themselves to back this sport unquestionably. It is well documented as to how the current Odisha dispensation has not only sponsor