A taller and more talented Sumukh Torgalkar?I like to play sports. Sometimes, I play sports in recreational leagues. But, according to many people mostly my teammates (including Golak), I'm a “dirty” player. I don't agree with this labeling at all and I would like to address this accusation by explaining the circumstances that have led to me being referred to as “dirty.”
Most of “dirty” Sumukh comes from my time playing in flag football leagues. For a couple seasons, our team was not very competitive in the league. Other teams looked at us as an easy win. That's fine. We weren't as talented nor had the chemistry of some of the other teams in the league. It's one thing to beat us and play with class, but it's another thing to beat us and then not show respect or sportsmanship. If that happens, then yes, in my mind, it's necessary for me to “send a message” to protect and honor my team. I've done that and there hasn't been an incident, but let me bring up some misunderstood moments.
There was one instance where on an interception, I took a guy's legs out. This was completely accidental. He was a nice guy. He was just really huge and fast, and when I totally whiffed on grabbing his flag, my whole body went into his legs.
Did I pants (or de-pants) a guy? Yes. Again, that was purely accidental. I was going for his flag. In the process, I only got the top of his shorts, and they came down. To his credit, he didn't seem too angry about it. He said, “You gonna play me like that?” and I said, “I was going for the flag.” We continued on with the game. If anything, I can be faulted for being a poor tackler or him faulted for the way he puts on his flag. In the heat of the game, it was a moment. Now I look back on it and I laugh my ass off. I pantsed him!
There was an incident where on a jump ball I basically had no chance of catching it against a guy several inches taller than me. When he out jumped me and grabbed the interception, I wrapped my arms around him and began punching at the ball as we both went to the ground. I have no excuse for that. That was dirty. But, that was my one and only time.
The other reason I am called dirty is because I play physical. In basketball, despite the fact that I'm 5'9”, I find myself being the one playing in the paint or getting scrappy and going after loose balls. Again, I seem to find myself on undersized teams to begin with. So, if I'm 5'9” and I'm going up against a guy a few inches taller than me, am I going to try to push him around a bit? Sure. There are no fouls going on (okay, maybe there are but they are not getting called), and you're the bigger man. You can't deal with a guy my size putting an elbow into you for leverage? I think one of the most pathetic examples of this was during flag football when a guy that was double my size was defending me. He claimed that I pushed off on him on an out pattern, which I then caught for a 2-point conversion. Did I push off? Yes. Should he be complaining about it? Hell no. You weigh 250 to 300 pounds and you can't deal with a push off from a guy half your size? You can't stay with me? That's your fault. Learn how to play D.
I think what irritates my opponents even more is that, other than these factors, I'm a good guy out there. I help guys up or congratulate them on a good play. Hey, I was a 3-time sportsmanship award winner in high school for tennis. Yes, tennis – a game where you have to be a complete maniac to violate rules of sportsmanship.
So, all in all, I'm just an undersized player on teams that normally get disrespected, so I get physical to make a point. Is that dirty to you? I don't think so. If that's dirty, then this isn't America anymore.
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