Anything can be posted here! We'll talk about politics, some sports (football, basketball, & tennis), Movies, & TV! Posts framed w/ "***" are from other contributors! - - (Comments)
Current News: Djokovic: Murray as Coach! Sinner YE #1! - Italy defends DC! - KC d Steelers (29-10)
***Interesting that a convicted felon can run for President, but that, in many states, convicted felons can't vote.***
ReplyDeleteThey m/b wrong as I've surfed around the news, but it appears Trump w/b still able to vote if he isn't sentenced to jail! House arrest or given probation, he can still vote to his heart's content! I couldn't care < about this a-hole, my problem is w/ the populous that find nothing wrong w/ this guy who's skated & gotten away w/ being a criminal all his life! I'm > disgusted by that! I'll never forgive women & minorities that support the man when he has such bigotry & loathing for them as he asks for their vote!
***From what I hear convictions for this crime in NY State typically get custodial sentence, & b/c this particular case is @ the > egregious end of the spectrum, it w/b a massive surprise if a custodial sentence isn't given. Doesn't mean he's going to jail any X soon. He w/b able to appeal.
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Frump will prob. get fines & probation--I don't see jail X. Recall this is a misdemeanor that the DOJ & former NY prosecutor declined to bring. Bragg came in & announced he'd bring charges & +ed this thing to turn a misdemeanor into a felony. I don't see jail X on a largely pol.'ly motivated charge.
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I agree w/ you about fines & probation. However, what Bragg brought was not a "new thing." Existing law. And it's been tried & convicted this way B4, though not often. It's the underlying motivation for the crime which makes it a felony...buying the suppression of info from the voting public, a federal crime, & then fiddling the books to disguise the $$, (misdemeanor, elevated by the previous.)
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These are class E felonies in the state of NY. Trump's a 1st X offender & will NOT be sentenced to jail X for his "white collar" crime. He'll lose his right to vote in the state of Fla. & can't carry a firearm, but he still has the US Secr. Serv. detailing him everywhere he goes. He CAN'T pardon himself b/c these are felonies @ the state level. The charges in Georgia where he's on trial for trying to reverse the election results & attacking democracy is a higher level class charge.
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There's no way Biden is going to intervene in state pol., esp. to pardon a 34 Felonies convicted Trump to get a few extra votes. Most folks have already made their minds up about these two aged & flawed dinosaurs.
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The GA charges are > serious, but also > > difficult to prove. Mens rea is always tough when you have no direct evidence, only circumstantial & inferential.***
WTF are you talking about? No direct evidence? Didn't Trump call down to GA personally begging for help getting 11+ K votes? Am I having a Sr. moment & only believe in my head this man was soliciting an illegal act from the AG? IMO, this is like pleading "not guilty" w/ video showing him shooting someone!
***I recall it well. I don't believe Trump meant it lit.'ly, but, rather, he wanted everything looked @ as he believed there was evidence of wrongdoing. That video that went around @ the X had a # of his supporters ??ing what was going on in that heavily Dem. county that was captured on a video. He talks a lot of crap someX's. It's not meant t/b taken lit.'ly. So, a jury has to decide what his true intent was. Was there coercion to back up a criminal intent; i.e., I won't do this or that un< you fabricate votes in my favor as I have demanded? I'm unaware of that. He lost the election & thought it was rigged B4 it = began.***
SEEK serious help! When did you start drinking the "Kool-Aid?"
***Those "natural ventilations" @ Wimbl. blew a LOT of rain, not just onto the outer ramps, but actually onto the spectators. They could still play tennis, but it wasn't necess. pleasant for spectators. BTW, that was the day I say Berrettini in person.***
ReplyDeleteWhen is this nonsense going t/b cost prohibited? Assuredly NEVER! ...We got along w/o rooves for well over 100 yrs., now it's almost mandatory to make sure an event comes off on X no matter the conditions! It's gotten so out of hand, the self-indulgence of individuals & the masses! ...In my day you'd take a family of 4 to a baseball game/tix, get hotdogs, drinks, peanuts, popcorn, cotton candy, & a plastic souvenir; barely brk. a $20 BILL! Bring the mortgage to your home to guarantee anything you get today! The public helps grow tennis events & team franchises; their reward's inflated ticket & concession prices! Wimbl. was always cutthroat from very early on! IIRC, TV rights alone in '77 got them a staggering $7M; @ the X HUGE for tennis! All they gave to the Brit. Fed. to advance locals, those generous heads of SW 19 gave a whopping $100 K to the cause! And they wonder why it took the overachievement of Sir Andy Murray to actually put them on the map in Men's tennis?! Wade was > for the ladies in her day doing her part, but they needed a dude so badly, they rented one from Can.; Rusedski! ...I've lit'l reason to = watch after 50+ yrs. of LIVING THE GAME; playing, watching, teaching, & promoting since '71!
***Old man whinge. W/ climate change, we need rooves. Also lights are a modern improvement, if that doesn't insult your sensibilities too >. Do you recall some Monfils (or Fognini?) match a few yrs. back @ RG lit by nothing but the scoreboard? That's just > quaint > I think we need t/b in prof'l tennis. Shall we just sit out the rain in Paris til Wimbl.?***
Lights aren't that innovated; had 'em back @ '75 USO! I can still picture Court & Wade playing dubs. under the lights for the 1st X! I can also recall the bugs that are attracted as well! Inhaling mosquitoes was no fun back then! Hopefully they've gotten > advanced in preventing the lit skies from attracting every flying insect & bird in the vicinity! They've a hawk @ Wimbl.!
***OMG, w/ you & the old stories! Anyway, the bugs are worse. Did you miss the bee invasion @ IW this yr.?
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...TBF, for a tennis player, a forearm or wrist injury's a scary injury b/c it can affect the way you hit a particular shot (Delpo & Thiem are prime ex.). Now, hip injuries aren't >er by any means either. Basically, both Alcaraz & Sinner's injuries B4 RG aren't something to mess around w/.***
I keep telling you guys, today's players will've serious & chronic injury issues due to the speed of the game & the grind of long, lengthy pts.! Been suggesting to Carlos since very early on to pull back & try not making the "highlight reel" w/ every match! Sinner needs some bulk or he'll end up just "breaking!" I'm so glad I w/b letting tennis go pretty soon! Only a handful have the skills worth watching while most are just elevating ball bashing to new hts.; = the women! Swiatek barely got by Osaka who was playing out of her mind & held a MP B4 Iga roared back to take it in 3! I thought it was all over for her!
***Was a real shame Osaka bottled it. She was killing her w/ laser like BH's, but I just knew she'd lose once the MP was blown.
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Basically, if Djokovic does NOT reach RG Final, then Sinner w/b > likely be the new #1 after RG.***
It matters NOT! As I've been saying, Djokovic is only extending recs. he owns already! ...I think he'd be quite satisfied w/ finishing w/ 1 > FO to make 4 CGS's! Chk'n the latest LIVE rankings, Sinner's overcome Novak after he lost 2000 pts. from last season! He'd have to really crash & burn not to officially take over the #1 ranking by next wk.! ...What are fans of other players gonna do w/ these recs. which are so out of sight?
***...Entertaining as always, Fiero. Out of curiosity, who'd you rank ahead of Rafa? And are you talking Open Era only?***
ReplyDeleteSo many players really! I've had so lit'l respect for Nadal due to his limited game of mainly outlasting opps. over actually beating them! He's allowed too many players outside the top 50 to extend him to the limit! I don't give him as > credit playing the game due to tech. advan. that he's taken advantage of! The rackets are very stiff & durable, but it doesn't stop there! From what I understand, Nadal's using strings w/ literal teeth on them to help impart a lot of his topspin! Borg gets all due credit & applause due to his winning w/ lit. a stick & kite string in comparison! His game was limited as well, but he did as > as he could to reach his hts. w/ the tech. that was avail. which wasn't a signif. advan.! When it comes to players of the past, I believe >'d destroy Nadal if all things being = w/ age, rackets, etc.; going back to Tilden & Kramer! Gonzales & Sampras'd embarrass Nadal; esp. on choppy grass! Put Rafa on grass that isn't so manicured & slow, he'd go out in the 1st 2 Rds. like he did 10 yrs. ago! So much hbd to facilitate his so called >ness including Masters' events going BO3! We saw what happened when BO5 & run ragged, he always WD from the next event! I'd go on, but it all sounds nonsensical as it's all "PIE IN THE SKY" dreaming! It's all over w/ Novak on top, Fed a distant 2nd, & Nadal not = in the top 10 all X IMO!
***You just HAD to tee that one up for him, didn't ya? Where did you think that was going to go? Another excuse to slag Nadal, & then, basically, all over the place.
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You get an A for entertainment, a D for logic. I say this w/ love & respect for a lot of what you usually say, but this is just kind of silly.
The main fallacy is that you're penalizing Rafa ...The corollary is that Borg dom. w/ "stick & kite strings" vs players who also used the same.
The one thing I agree w/ is that Sampras, @ least, would've dom. Rafa on grass, whether in the 90s or 2000s. He was about as good as Roger on grass, but w/ a stronger clutch mentality IMO, & whb < bothered > Roger was by Rafa's game.
Rankings w/b forever argued, but I think the gen. consensus' moving towards Novak or Laver as #1, w/ Fedal rounding out the top 4. You'd throw Tilden in for being so dom. during his X, but there's no way Rafa isn't in the top 5, or if we don't want to rank indiv.'ly, but rather in tiers, in the very top tier of "GOAT level" players.
...I personally think that peak Borg & McEnroe were as good as the Big 3, but behind them overall due to the latter trio's remarkable longevity (& moreso, sustained excel. while playing for so long).***
OCO! All things were not = when Borg played! He lit. played w/ a WOOD racket & strings so tight, Bud Collins called the racket face "a pane of glass!" From '75 on metals & fiberglass rackets w/ so much "touch & feel" were being produced! "The Comp I & II" by Head, used by Arthur Ashe was quite common in the Am. ranks where I played! Graphite was introduced later, while Connors stuck w/ his Wilson T-2000 thru > of the 80's B4 upgrading to something oversized! McEnroe gets all kinds of kudos from me using that Dunlop woodie & def. Borg thoroughly by '81! I'm back from "my rave!" I go off on Nadal so disresp.'ly don't I? Can't be helped!
***...All things were = for Borg & the players he faced, just as all things were = for Rafa & the players he faced. In other words, Borg's opps. played w/ the same equip. that he did, so any deficit he had, so too did his opps. The same w/ Rafa.
...we can't say that Borg "only" ever winning 2 Slams in a yr. is autom.'ly the Big 3's 3 Slam yrs. Borg only played the AO once, & B4 ('74) he reached his very best level ('78-80). This is one of the many reasons why it's difficult to compare players & seasons across wide eras.
But we can say, "How dom. was Borg rel. to his peers, & how does that compare to Rafa rel. to his peers?" Not an easy ?? to answer, but the key is comparing them to their peers, not to each other.***
***I don't think seeing the Nordic Brat across the net'll mess Sascha up. So my $$'s on Zverev, but I wouldn't be totally shocked if Holger stepped up.***
ReplyDeleteWhy's Holger > of a brat > any of the others in this latest gen. of stars? Is it "he can take it" b/c he's been good enuf to challenge the top players? IMO, they're all petulant kids whb coddled since birth! I'm shocked the "hatahs" have been totally sedated & quieted by Djokovic! If it were Nadal who triumphed w/ 2 5 set wins, the adulation, applause, & lauding w/b insufferable! I don't blame them! I felt pretty > the same when Nadal was able to steal his last 2 majors in '22! Novak wasn't allowed to play "down under" or @ the 1st 2 Masters of the season! I think I'm going to "coin" myself the "reverse hater!" Loved Borg coming along to shorten Connors' stay @ #1, then Lendl knocked McEnroe down a peg, Sampras owned his era over Agassi, & I can't say enuf of how I apprec. what Novak's done to make sure Fedal's pedestal stay was short-lived! He's brk'n most, if not just about all the top recs. sooner > either Roger or Rafa could!
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Skill & exper. 'won out' to make this a strong Men's QF w/ the 4 top seeds making it! Only Novak & Sascha were in danger of being upset IIRC! Djokovic survived Cerudolo in 5 sets after Musetti took him to the limit in the 3rd Rd.! The tourn. must be thrilled; esp. w/ Novak hanging on in his last 2 matches in 5 sets! The women held as well w/ their top 5 seeds getting to the QF & only 1 unseeded player! It's been amazing for this to occur in Paris on clay these day!
***Looks like Stefanos lost in str. sets to Carlos. Very similar score to last season, which means zero improv. from his side. He s/b able to take a set off Alcaraz; @ least that.***
It's a shame that the state of affairs hasn't changed much! Way back when "The Lost Gen" was coined w/ all kinds of talent, but no signif. wins they'd tout! We actually gave them excuses for their limited success! Injuries were rampant w/ some of our best like Milos, Grigor, Del Po, & Kei, but > of them given a pass due to the "Big 3-4!" Another wave has come thru, but they can't blame it on Fedalovicray! Only Novak remains & he hasn't produced a ripple of success this season! Tsitsipas, Zverev, Thiem, & Medvedev are on the verge of being classified "The Lost Gen II!" They've already been surpassed by kids; Sinner & Alcaraz leading the way! I'm afraid Stefanos will end up about as irrelevant as Ferrer; good, had talent, was fit, but making only 2 major finals! Dom & Danill @ least stole 2 majors, but = their Masters' success has been stunted!
***I lean Alcaraz in the FO SF vs Jannik. W/ Sinner getting the #1 ranking this wk., I think it'd make it spicy if Carlitos were to win. However, if Jannik wins, he's got the CYGS in play. I think the winner of SF takes the title.***
It's a shame this is a SF! Novak being win< so far this season reminds me of '87! Navratilova was having an odd X of it where she was in final after final, but lost them all until Wimbl.! She held the #1 ranking thru that per. w/ Peter Graf threatening to create a new tour since Steffi didn't acquire the #1 ranking until later that Summer! IIRC she was the #1 seed @ the USO, but still lost to the "old lady" in str. sets!
***The women's FO SF will begin someX after the concl. of the MxD. Final.***
A shame the 1st match S/B the Final instead of a SF; #1 Swiatek vs #3 Gauff! The other's wide open w/ a 17 yo kid (Andreeva) & 12th seed! I'm not familiar w/ Paolini! Whoever wins early w/b heavily favored in the final Sat., but you never know! Upsets do happen!
***On all known form Swiatek wins comfortably. Shame that Sabolenka was badly off color vs Andreeva, but brilliant though she is, Aryna has not yet found a way to beat Swiatek. Alcaraz looks back to full match fitness & should win the mens singles. I like Zverev, but = though he also back to full match fitness, he's prob. not going to beat the amazingly talented young Spaniard. -(Iga d Gauff / Paolini d Andreeva)***
***Women's Singles Chp. - FO: Iga Swiatek (Poland) 4th RG title in 5 yrs.***
ReplyDeleteAmazing how saving a MP or 2 along the way vs Osaka makes winning = > satisfying! Iga's a real champ! She might brk. all the ladies' recs. for Paris! I thought Evert's 7 Chps. was safe!
***The curse of the NEXT GEN lingers on. El Dude, is there a thread for the ineptitude of the Next-Gen. players in GS's. Only Med winning the USO's the only GS Champ. - NG's > >er > the Lost-Gen., & TBF they've still had to deal w/ late prime Novak & Rafa (Roger, a bit). But yeah:
Slam Finals:
Players born '89-93 (Lost-Gen): 1-5 (Thiem 1-3, Raonic 0-1, Nishikori 0-1)
Players born '94-98 (Next-Gen): 1-14 (Med 1-5, Zverev 0-2, Ruud 0-3, Tsitsipas 0-2, Berrettini 0-1, Kyrgios 0-1)
Players born '99-03 (Mil.-Gen): 4-0 (Alcaraz 3-0, Sinner 1-0) - Carlos def. Sascha in 5 sets in FO Final.
For Next-Gen., 15 Slam final app., only 1 title. At least they've been reaching finals - Lost Gen only made 6, & Thiem arguably belongs w/ NG. (then it w/b 0-2 vs 2-17).
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Here's a rather excl. club: players who've won Slams in 3 cons. yrs. (Open Era):
Rosewall, Vilas, Borg (8 yrs.), McEnroe, Lendl (4), Wilander (4), Edberg, Agassi, Courier, Sampras (8), Fed (8), Wawrinka, Nadal (10, 4), Djokovic (6, 6), Alcaraz.
Conspicuously absent about ATGs are Connors & Becker.
And of course only Borg, Wilander, Nadal, & Alcaraz did it B4 turning 22.
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Very few players reach their peak @ 21. Some do, but most greats further fine-tuned their skills and peaked a few yrs. later. Or consider the best seasons of every ATG (or near-ATG) of the Open Era, w/ their age @ the mid-pt. of the season (B4 Wimbl.):
Nastase: '73 (26)
Vilas: '77 (24)
Connors: '74 (21)
Borg: '80 (24)
McEnroe: '84 (25)
Lendl: '86 (26)
Wilander: '88 (23)
Edberg: '90 (24)
Becker: '89 (21)
Agassi: '99 (29)
Courier: '92 (22)
Sampras: '94 (22)
Federer: '06 (24)
Nadal: '10 (24) or '13 (27)
Murray: '16 (29)
Djokovic: '15 (28)
So really only Connors & Becker had their best yr. @ 21, both turning 22 later in the yr. Both had > seasons after, but they didn't get >er after that. Most >s get >er until about 24 or so.
...In terms of accomp. @ his age, his closest comps are Borg, Wilander, Becker, & Nadal. He hasn't been quite as good as Borg & Nadal @ his age, but he's been about as good as Wilander & Becker. ...While I think it unlikely that Alcaraz ends up w/ a career as good as Rafa's, it's hard not to compare Rafa's '05-07 w/ Alcaraz's '22-24. And who knows, m/b he wins Wimbl. or the USO & another big title or 2, & his '24's > like Rafa's '08, when he rose to a >er level > began his true peak. Certainly a Chan'l Slam w/b an impressive feat for the 21 yo! I mean, it's a bit early, but I think Carlos is the fave heading into Wimbl.
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I’m Greek so I want any American to win to win RG 1st, then
9. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Then anyone but #1 (seed) Djokovic***
Looks t/b the beginning of the end for Djokovic! He hasn't won anything this season so far & needed a quick surgery to repair his meniscus tear in his knee; reported 15 min.! Not sure he w/b ready for Wimbl., but should make the Olympics which is heavy on his mind! It w/b back in Paris on clay! This m/b the last we see of Nadal!
***I just saw an entry on FB claiming that Caitlin Clark's adored b/c she's white, pretty, & straight.***
ReplyDeleteNo matter what Caitlin's doing, accomplishing, or failing at, she's brought eyeballs to the WNBA where player families couldn't care < about these broads! Due to Clark, they're getting > $$, fans buying tickets, & TV exposure! Instead of comm. flights, the players are now on charters! You'd think they'd apprec. what Clark is bringing w/ her! On the contrary, they're being what women tend t/b; envious, jealous, selfish bitches! Women proved to me the "self-hate" was real when a > many thought a psycho like Trump should run the world when Hillary was prob. the > accomp. & knowledgeable pol. of this era! I threw away my feminist card knowing now it's a waste of X! Times have been the easiest for women in going to school, work, careers, etc.! They're still disgustingly unhappy & needing psychological care! Their best friend is social media & it just isn't enuf to satisfy them! They're beyond fk'n help! When they run Clark off, they'll go back into obscurity!
***Woke racist Sports media is trying so hard to bring race into everything. It’s pathetic. All of these angry activists in the media who undermine Clark for her race, & spew conspiracy theories, are just miserable jealous losers.
This is about women, not race! They're jealous, envious, manipulative, delusional POS! Clark has brought the WNBA > $$, fandom, & notoriety! It's not the Vets leading the way so they want to punish Caitlin! I'm no fan of any of them or the sport, but = I can tell the diff. from the past to now! They s/b lauding this girl, not trying to hurt her w/ cheap shots!
***Clark wasn't selected to the Olympic team. - She's the ult. team player, & I can't understand the resentment from the league.***
It's all about typical female emotions going on! The myth is their "sisterhood," but that's for the phony personas they create for family & the Nat'l cameras! Behind the scenes they resent one another w/ jealousy, envy, & outright hate! All you need do is go back to '16! They selected Trump over Hillary, unable to get past their own animous of another successful woman! I didn't think it possible! Women are always in comp. w/ one another over $$, men, school, work, & popularity! IDK why people are surprised that Clark's receiving the typical welcome of a rookie?! It doesn't matter that she's brought > eyeballs to the sport, $$ is up, & they can take charter flights instead of comm. airline fare! When I lived in Sacto, I traveled a lot in the 90's & ran into our local WNBA team 2 or 3 X's over the yrs.! It was pathetic! Caitlin should teach them all a lesson; take a contract abroad & see how the league does w/o her!
***Durant has been > of an assassin > James. I wish him, Westbrook, & Harden would've stayed together.***
Like Golden State, w/ that much EGO on the floor, you need a destructive force to deal w/ like a Drayond Green! I'd've told you that Brooklyn Net dream, turned nightmare was gonna be a huge fail! Players trying t/b GM's of their own team gets you "The Lakers!" When will they learn? The $$'s too plentiful so winning is almost secondary! I barely watch the reg. seasons! Just surfing by periodically shows a "comedy of errors" on the floor which really ticks me off!
***Tim Duncan w/b underrated by modern sports fan absolutely. He lacks the style factor that youthful content creators look for when they spew their ideals of what a great basketball player is to the masses. I've seen many players who are exalted by street ball culture but aren't as high of status in NBA history as Duncan... such as Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, & Kobe Bryant.
ReplyDeleteI think it's been proven that Durant was semi overrated. His career on the ascent was just how he, or anyone'd want it to be. He & Westbrook led the Thunder to the finals & lost, which's no crime as they were a young team. Then Durant kept losing the playoffs until...
Until he made the choice that completely neutered any claim he may've wanted to make that he's an alpha dog. He lost the W. Conf. Finals to the 73-9 Warriors, then tucked his tail btwn. his legs, took his prime MVP self, & joined another MVP in his prime Steph Curry & GS.
Durant'll never outlive that. Not only b/c of what it was when it happened, but what he's produced since. He went to the Nets & played w/ other stars & completely bombed, & now's in Phoenix w/ tons of talent & getting bounced in the 1st Rd.
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How about Kyree? Like, if Kyree wins another one. Should he be put in the top 50? - And basketball's way > scoring Tatum affects the game in diff. ways. They're the > bal. team I've seen in a long X.***
Jealousy; nothing but! He's rich, talented, & > too good looking! They can't stand it!
***I'd LOVE to have Tatum on the SUNS. We might have a chance then.***
Y'all just want to snatch up all the talent into The West! I don't pay much attn. to reg. season B-Ball after the days of Duncan winning! Even though The East has won their share of Chps. w/ The Celtics, Pistons, Bulls, Miami, & Phili, the overall Conf. has been weak for decades! The West owners spend $$ a lit'l > liberally & it's paid off w/ The Lakers, Warriors, etc.! I remember visiting Chgo. 20+ yrs. ago when the Bulls were terrible after Jordan & the Jordanaires scattered! There was this strange anomoly of only 2 teams in the East above .500 after the month of Dec. games played! The West had obviously gotten fat beating up on the East who sent @ least 1 team into the playoffs finishing under .500! It hasn't changed that > un< I'm missing something!
***I'd care < about the other teams in the West. I just want Tatum & Maxie on the Suns so we can finally win a damn ring! - Tatum's supposedly one of the best players in the league & habitually shrinks on the >est stage. W/ the roster the Celtics have/have had they arguably should already have 2 rings & they have none. In large part b/c Tatum chokes.
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I'll take that "choker" on the Suns any day of the wk. He's averaging 25 pts. & 10 rebounds a game in the playoffs & drawing double teams which opens up the floor to his teammates.
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And choking in the Finals. He's missing lay ups & has no mid-range or 3 pt. shot either. 31% from 3 is a bad %, he's shooting that from the field. He barely has 25 pts. over 2 games in the finals. He's taken 38 shots for 32 pts. If Dallas wasnt a one man show this series w/b @ a min. tied & Dallas m/b up 2 games going home. Either way the Celtics are winning despite Tatum not b/c of him in this series. He's at best the 3rd best player on his team & m/b the 4th right now in this series.***
Believe it or not, I've liked the Suns since the days of Majerle, Sir Charles, Ceballos, & Kevin J.! I liked the team & their uniforms! They've just been rather unlucky for the last 30 yrs. = though winning 2 of 3 in Chgo/NBA Final of '93 during their "hey days" of the 90's! CP3's cursed so that isn't on them when they blew it 2 seasons ago!
***It looked promising on paper when they pk'd up Durant & Beal to make a "Big 3" w/ Booker. M/b Durant has 1 > good yr. in him & Beal can manage to stay healthy, but I'm not holding my breath.***
***Kid riding in a golfcart late at night! They froze him out in a car w/o heat to torture info out of him! Every cop on the scene who knew what was being done to the 13 yo shb fired & charged w/ child abuse.***
ReplyDeleteThis kid had t/b trained "to the extreme!" Older men have cracked under < duress! This kid had to know, the longer these fools treated him this way, the worse it w/b for them in the lawsuit! I never would've hesitated to answer the cop's ??'s! These vids have taught me, they're capable of anything! Wise-cracking isn't = needed for them to have an attitude so you coop. & go about your business as soon as possible! If they can treat a 13 yo like this, they're truly capable of ANYTHING!
***I saw Rep. Tom Cotton (R. Ark.) on "Meet The Press" this morning. He whinged on about how unfair the Trump's trial was, how the judge was "compromised." (Apparently he donated $20 to the Biden campaign when he ran in '20.) But, when asked if he'd deem the judgement fair if Trump were t/b acquitted on appeal, he refused to answer. He knew he was painted into a corner, but this is what they've done to themselves. The judicial system's only fair when it gives you the outcome you want. The elections are only fair when you get the win.***
What a Fk'n embarrassment! Sen. Cotton & all the rest being shills for Trump can't look any worse! They're like kids pt.'n fingers feverishly @ others to allow Trump to play the victim! "What about Hillary, what about Hunter; that judge & his daughter?" Unfort.'ly they're allowed to act like idiots b/c that's what their constituents seem to apprec. & want! Democracy's on the wane w/ them! I think they're looking forward to Trump's dictatorship!
***They're such sheep @ this pt., they actually m/b looking for a dictator. In effect, they have one. He says jump & they say, "how high?" He doesn't = hold office now & he controls them. They pretend not to care about his outrageous claims. I think it's a lot of "head in the sand," which's being generous.
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Those GOP pols are giving Trump's ego > attn. > Stormy Daniels could've ever tried. - Have you ever seen B4 a single individual can highjack an entire party like Trump has = in def. & all his criminal conspiracies + convictions? I'm curious what's the POV from across the pond. I have a pretty good understanding of why the GOP's so spine< including a large # of the Dems are afraid.
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But the confluence of democracy, a large portion of society & a spineless political party that puts winning above patriotism? Trump's part Mussolini, part Hitler (but w/o the courage). No... it's like they say.. history rhymes, but it's never exactly the same!
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Very much like Hitler & Mussolini's reign of div. of the racial & social classes. If Trump doesn't win, there m/b an Insurrection 2.0 if one of the 2 remaining Fed. cases (Fanni Willis in GA. & Jack Smith's cases ) doesn't indict him for class A Felonies. The doc. case will never come to fruition b/c he has the chick the so called judge on his pol. retainer.
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I actually think that if he loses people w/b > ready to run away from him. Even if he wants to, he won't succeed in trying to run again. It's one thing for people to try to launch a coup to assist a sitting President & quite another to go up vs an incumbent President. There's no pardon, & you're opposing the State? And you've seen 100's of people already jailed for the prev. attempt. Nah, the > interesting thing if he loses again's going t/b the blood bath as people try to take up leadership of the GOP. I w/b sitting, watching, & nibbling my popcorn!
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This race is a lot closer > you can imagine. The majority of American voters are not fluent on local or gov't pols. They go w/ the flow of Sleepy Joe. They still think Trump's funny w/ his name calling & Tweets. The insurrection I believe b/c no One in Congress was injured was nothing > a rally protest that went a bit far. They feel the gov't s/b overthrown to protect their so called "white heritage." They've forgotten about C-19 & state of the country during the pandemic.***
***Fed: "I didn’t give Novak respect he deserved – neither did my fans"***
ReplyDeleteWhat choice did Roger have but t/b magnanimous & give Novak his props? Tech. Fed's in 3rd pl. behind Djokovic & Nadal, but I'll put him in 2nd due to his longevity, consistency, & ability to win on all surfaces w/ > success! I recall Roger, A-Rod, & Kyrgios giving such grief to Nole, his lack of character, injury complaints, etc.! Now they're his >gest cheerleaders touting him as THE GOAT! I can't see Carlos, Jannik, Daniil, Sascha, or any other newbie being able to sustain the >ness of The Big 3!
***...Fiero puts Roger 2nd, due to "longevity, consistency, & ability to win on all surfaces w/ great success." ...Consistency: who spent the most yrs. in the top 10? Who won a Major in every yr. for 10 yrs.? Roger's best streak is 8, & Novak's is 7.***
What next, "when the moon's in the 7th house...?" You guys find new ways to elevate Nadal = though he has only 1/2 the wks. @ #1! Come on!
***All 3 are in the exclusive "GOAT tier" -something well beyond garden variety ATGs (Edberg, Becker, Agassi, etc) & solidly ahead of the inner circle >'s (Borg, Mac, Lendl, Sampras, Connors, etc). Looking at all of tennis history, the only players who were comparably dom. during their X were Rod Laver & m/b Bill Tilden (Rosewall & Gonzales are close, but I'd put them in the next tier down).
The caveat is that Novak gets the statistical edge in just about every category. On a purely statistical level, he's the singular GOAT. There's really no logical, reasonable argument vs his status as being if only a bit >er > Roger & Rafa. It m/b rel. small, but it isn't negligible - and it's across the board in nearly every single category. In other words, in total, the statistical argument is overwhelmingly for Novak as being above the other 2. ...This is why when push comes to shove, I put Novak as--@ the very least--"1st among near ='s," w/ Roger & Rafa being 2a & 2b.***
I advocate for Novak b/c few others did until recently! For yrs. it was all about Fedal while Djokovic was the "interloper" crashing the party! Around the world it's still all about Fedal w/ just Djoker an afterthought! The dumbest tennis fans only recognized Roger @ the top while the "tennis intelligentsia" around the world promoted the sport thru Fedal alone as if Nole didn't exist!
***I have no issue w/ folks who want to assign singular GOAT to Novak. I don't particularly agree w/ it. I think they, all 3, are interwoven. They - together - tell a story of tennis that's so incredibly awesome = attempting to separate them is a non-tennis action IMO. ...Each of them has done things that poss. no one else will ever do. Rafa's 14 slams in one major will almost certainly be never done again. Roger 5-peating in 2 slams (10 cons.) will prob. never be done again. Novak's #'s? All great. ..."Novak's the Goatiest of them all."***
True enuf the Big 3 are now & forever inextricably linked! Roger owned the tour @ 1st w/ those 5 cons. wins @ Wimbl. & The USO along w/ taking 3 majors in a season 3 X's! It was purely natural to believe him the Goatiest @ the X = w/ 15 Majors, just 1 > Sampras! Unfort. for him Nadal came along; not as successful overall, but a true rival who def. Roger on all surfaces from the beginning of their rivalry! It looked as if they'd face each other in final after final until they retired! Along came Djokovic who tested them a lit'l @ 1st, but wasn't changing the status of the top 2! He was a perennial #3 for a few yrs. until '11 when a switch was flipped! He not only started beating both Fedal, he was embarrassing them while still @ the ht. of their powers! He alone has a Double GM's, took 3 majors 4 X's, has 3 CGS, 7 YEC's, & 8 YE #1's! They're still linked, but Novak's def. the Goatiest!
***3 Old Goats...w/ Alcaraz lookin' on.***
We can only hope there's a legit. transfer of tennis powers, but = though Carlo has all the talent, I'm not sure of his health & body!
***There were really 2 diff. "Big 4 Eras": Not just the recent one, but the Connors-Borg-McEnroe-Lendl era, which saw those 4 players dom. the top spot for a decade & a 1/2, w/ @ least 1 of the 4 ranked #1 w/i every yr. from '74-90 (17 seasons). Not quite as impressive as the recent Big 4 ('04-24, or 21 seasons), but close.
ReplyDelete'99 was kind of crazy, w/ 5 diff. #1 players. There were 4 in 2000 & '03, but no other yr. had > 3.
Fun fact: '18's the only yr. that 3 of the Big 4 were all ranked #1.***
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...I'm not sure of Alcaraz's health & body!
***...You just never know who's going to emerge as the next > player. We do know that > players are inevitable, & not only is the game never w/o a cohort of >'s, but you always have overlap of gens. We m/b underselling the incredible start that Alcaraz has had to his career, unmatched by any, but just a few players in OE history: Borg, Wilander, Nadal. What remains t/b seen is whether he's > Borg/Nadal-like, or > Wilander-like. Or if, as you say, he can stay healthy.
And a bit of clarification: I group Borg & Nadal in terms of talent & peak dom., = though Nadal has had the far >er career. I think you'd = make the case that Borg's peak of '78-80 was >ter > Nadal ever was, though I'd counter & say that Nadal had sev. seasons just as good, but they were > spread out (Borg's '78-80 the 2nd best 3-yr. span in OE history, behind only Roger's '04-06 or 05-07).
Anyhow, when I look @ tennis >'s of the OE, I think in terms of the following tiers:
GOAT TIER: Fed, Nadal, Djoker, Laver (FC)
INNER CIRCLE >'s: Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras, Rosewall (full career), Gonzales (FC)
LESSER >'s: Newcombe (full career), Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Agassi, Murray
NEAR >'s: Ashe, Nastase, Smith, Vilas, Courier, Kuerten, Hewitt, m/b 1 or 2 >
Tilden w/b inner circle or GOAT, & guys like Kramer, Vines, Budge, Perry, RIggs, Emerson, Hoad, Trabert, Sedgman, Drobny, etc as 's, but I think he has a real chance of being in the inner circle. While Sinner c/b just as good, until he wins that important 2nd Slam, his floor is that of a near >. And who knows who might join them...Medvedev really only needs another Slam to join the near >'s.***
Looks as if you're elevating Murray due to the comp. he had to deal w/! Makes sense, but IMO he's nowhere near as accomp. as others listed as "Near >," much < "Lesser >!" He was only #1 for about 5 min. in comparison to Courier & Hewitt alone! Agassi, Wilander, Becker, & Edberg have so many > majors as well being "Lesser >'s!"
***I think all things told, he's on a similar level as Edberg & Wilander - so many deep runs, & that > '16 season which's poss. the best single-Slam yr. of the OE.
One of the things I like about stat systems ...deeper pict. of overall results > the usual discourse, that >ly focuses on Slam titles & occasional other titles. I figure that reaching a Slam final is arguably > impressive > winning a Masters. It involves winning 6 BO5 matches vs 5 or 6 BO3. In that regard, the ATP pt. system does a good job, = if we don't normally consider a Slam final worth 60% (or now 65%) the value of a Slam title. But in terms of difficulty, it's pretty accurate, IMO.***
Who or WTF are you talking about? Novak was the 1 w/ the stellar > yr. of '16 only to drop the YE #1 to Murray in the final of the YEC! Novak won 2 majors, was in the final of the USO & YEC, took 4 Masters titles, & completed his Nole-Slam @ the FO earlier!
***I didn't say anything about Novak's perform. in '16 or how it compares to Andy's. I was merely saying that '16 was arguably the best single-Slam season in the OE.***
Whatever! I can't argue w/ your kind of logic!
***"What's the best season involving a single Slam title?" Andy's '16 gets my vote. Do you have a >er option? But instead, you took it as an opp. to vituperate about Novak being robbed/underapprec./etc.***
***The thing w/ the Olym. Games is that it forces diff. calc. & choices. If it were "just" Wimbl., then a rest, it m/b worth the risk. But we know that Novak, of all things he is, he's the GOAT of ambition, & he doesn't like holes in his trophy case. He wants that OGM.***
ReplyDeleteNovak lives for those challenges where we are telling him what he "should do!" ...Nole has nothing > to prove! He doesn't have to do anything else to cement his mark & stave off any challenge to his position on the pedestal of GOAT-dom!
***Both Sinner & Alcaraz have 14 career titles. Puts into perspective how impressive Rafa winning 11 titles @ age 18/19 in '05.***
Sinner & Alcaraz are a lot > impressive > the early days of Rafa! I'm not saying that b/c I'm no fan, but the rec. shows it w/ both getting to #1 & winning majors outside of 1 surface! Carlos' talent's off the charts, but it's also inflated his head trying to make the "highlite reel" every match he plays! Let's hope both Carlos & Jannik warrant all the talk we're giving them! I'd hate to have one or both drop off the side of a cliff due to injury or en nui!
***...I don't really begrudge Alcaraz loving to show off his tools, of which he has many. He'll get smarter & > judicious. Hopefully he & Jannik both stay healthy, but I don't see "ennui" being a problem for either.
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Rafa was the >est Super Teenager tennis player of all X...@El Dude, do U have the data to support this hypothesis - I had a chart @ 1 pt., but couldn't find it. I think you have to give that title to Borg or Becker, w/ Rafa 3rd, Wilander 4th, then Alcaraz rounding out the top 5.
Start w/ Slam titles. 8 players have won GS titles as teenagers: 2 each by Borg, Becker, & Wilander, 1 each by Nadal, Alcaraz, Edberg, Sampras, & Chang.
But here's where it gets a bit tricky: Rafa won his 2nd 8 days after turning 20 in a tourn. (the '06 FO on 6/11) that started when he was 19. So if you ct. his age as when the tourn. started, he gets 2 Slams. But...is that fair to Borg, who won his 3rd Slam a few wks. after turning 20? ('76 Wimbl.).
So we should prob. keep it strict, which means Rafa has the 1, & 2 vs. 1 is significant.
After Slam titles, you have Masters. Rafa won 6, Becker & Alcaraz 4 each (or their =lents), Borg 3 + the WCT Finals which is =lent, so 4; Wilander won 2; & the others 0 or 1. For overall big titles, that 7 for Rafa, 7 for Borg & Becker, 5 for Alcaraz, 4 for Wilander. So I think that makes it > of a 3-way race w/ Rafa, Becker, & Borg.
Looking @ er tourns. (he was a Tour Finals Rnr.-up twice...in 1 year! And also @ 4 Masters, & reached 2 Slam SF).
Just on pure title ct.:
18 Nadal
13 Borg, Wilander
12 Becker
10 Alcaraz
I think overall Becker gets the "Super Teenager" crown. His extra Slam > makes up for Rafa's 2 extra Masters; same ATP 500s (or mid-level tourns.). Rafa's extra titles are mostly low-level stuff, & then Becker was going deep in a lot of events. Borg vs. Rafa vs. Mats is a bit closer.***
Mats dropped off the face of the map after winning 3 majors & the YEC over Lendl in '88! He got to #1 & lit. disappeared off the rankings w/i a yr. as he lost early & often, w/ bggest upset a 2nd Rd. loss to a very young Pete Sampras @ the '89 USO! I attributed a lot of it to burnout playing his def. game, the passing away of his Dad, culm. in a failed drug test! I was surprised he was = out there on tour his results were so poor!
***Good grief, Bill Maher pisses me off someX's. He keeps harping about why didn't the DoJ prosecute Trump earlier. It's like he's not aware that Trump's entire legal strategy has been to delay delay and delay more. And SCOTUS has helped him along the way. I think he's so invested in being perceived as balanced that he's lost his way a lit'l bit.***
ReplyDeleteOh, Mahar's aware of all this stuff, but it still shouldn't have taken this long to prosecute Trump! IMO, the incompetence of all prosecutors rear their ugly, collective heads as someone like Trump & not too bright has held off the consequences of his actions! This man has been fk'n up since the 70's & this is as close as we've gotten to making him pay for his crimes! He's paid fines, gotten chastized, & been humiliated, but he never cared! The only thing that'll impress him is jail & we all know that ain't happening! They'll talk about his age, then all of a sudden maladies will justify leniency! I went thru the change w/ Dennis Miller! The man hated & made fun of all Reps & cons., but as he aged he softened his stance! IDK what's to become of us as The Supreme Court has been corrupted beyond recognition! As a Sr., I can't see another wave of change as cons. have lied onto the court & don't seem to care when it's pt.'d out how hypocritical they've been! We laud our justice system, but I started losing hope ages ago!
***Biden gaffes are child's play in comparison to the filth we get from the orange turd.***
That's all "the right" have in their arsenal; accusing Biden of being doddering! I'll take him as a disembodied head in a jar over a psycho like Trump!
***...Hillary wasn’t = the > shameful person to run in the '16 election cycle.***
In the end, The Dems sabotaged themselves in '16! When they lose a race, there’s usually a lot of “self-destruction” going on! I’ll never forgive Kennedy in '80 or his family allowing him to campaign vs Carter who was already dealing w/ the Iranian hostage crisis! The man was undersiege w/ oil shortages & prices skyrocketing, college libs revolting, & a cons. wave w/ the Moral Majority that assisted Reagan into office in ‘81!
You’d think w/ running vs a narcissistic POS like Trump, she'd just coast into office becoming the 1st woman president! Again, w/ all that going for her, she was catching it from all sides; > any candidate past, present, or future! People forget her own staff was fk’n up! That perv Rep. Weiner was married to Hillary’s closests aide! You had FBI Dir. Comey investigating her & her staff, & holding press conferences during the closing of the presidential campaign!
The > ridiculous thing was Trump was being investigated as well, but Comey stayed quiet on him “fearing” Trump accusing him of aiding Clinton! Hillary also had Bernie Sanders undermining her until the very end! Her almost fainting in public didn’t help matters as she was campaigning while ill & tired! There’s >, but this is enough OTTH! This changed the course of our history like no other X in this century! Trump got 3 Supreme Court Noms. thru, who immed. killed Roe v Wade sending it back to the STATES, & now = birth control is under attack! Women did it to themselves as they lit. chose Trump over a > successful & intel. woman! So > for the sisterhood!
***So a black woman won an Oscar long B4 a black woman won an Emmy (Gail Fisher) or was = nom. for best actress. Now that's crazy! Thanks for this info. I never knew this.***
We're not that far removed from segregated water fountains & bathrooms! Civil rights legis. was the last biggie B4 "Roe v Wade" in '73! It took < 50 yrs. to set the country back in race relations & abortion issue! It's been painstaking X to get anywhere near =lity out there & it's still going on in some levels! End rant!
***No no no! You can keep going. It's a rant well worth hearing. M/b if we all ranted, we'd get > things done.***
***What the Dems need is about 3-6 > Jasmine Crocketts. She represents the new aggressive Dems that'll challenge the right-wing blowhards like Jim Jordan & the rest of Trump's goofy GOP cronies.***
ReplyDeleteWho isn't? It's not like we should get a badge of honor for it! We've allowed this class< animal to "cow" the country w/ attacks! Every institution has been vilified & undermined by Trump! He's promised to fire a ton of veterans to appoint Trump-sters ready to take his lead of foresaking the Constitution! The Supreme Court's a lost cause already! Women & minorites will pay for being so flippant to allow such a person the power to change the course of history so arbitrarily! When Obama was elected, I thought the country had turned a corner! How wrong could I be? The man hadn't taken office B4 Reps. organized how they'd treat him w/ so much contempt, it w/b unprecedented disrespect! They = used "liar" & the "N..word" @ will! The kids weren't spared, catching it from the Rep. leaders in Congress! "My kid doesn't get Secret Service escorts!" They couldn't look > ridiculous @ the X, but they've outdone themselves over the yrs.! Dems haven't really been in charge of the country's morality since Clinton! Hypocrites, liars, narcissists, & psychos have taken over the lead as cons. trash laws & common decency! One lit'l girl from TX won't be enuf! Unfort. the Dems will have to wallow in the mud to get any respect from an electorate that's truly lost! They don't know WTF they want going back & forth w/ the pol. parties!
***I said 3-6 > Jasmine Crochett (s) not just her. Jasmine, just like AOC has shown that the new gen. of Dems.; well the women are coming out @ the GOP instead of being pol. correct. I think during the X of President Obama, Barrack narrative was to stand on Business not wasting X t/b the angry black man. If you thought a country where the majority is over 60% Caucasian voters were going to turn this country to center of diversity, > my friend you haven't been paying attn. Trump gave the majority what they WANTED, a voice that championed their white privilege perseveration by any means necessary.
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..the name of Trump will become synonymous w/ treachery.***
What does that say about the supporters of Trump? In normal happenstance, you try to see the other POV! Since this is psychotic, where these guys can ignore obvious treason, IDK what to do or say for 1/2 the country! They were always there, lurking & plotting, but something’s happened! IMO, when Obama got elected & re-elected, the loons rose up! The frustration got to them & they started telling each other, “be proud of being white, don’t placate minorities, lets lock down the borders, etc.!” Who'd think the disloyalty to a country'd go this far as to try & elect a “FELON?”
***Mostly R. Limbaugh & Tom Lykess. r.l. blamed Clinton for EVERYTHING; weather, groceries, LGBTQ.***
Reps. totally lost their collective minds during the Clinton yrs.! Bill was teflon & overcame all their BS; = FNC out there w/ propoganda desparaging the Clintons around the clock! Even though actually busted, the people still supported him! Now they have a psycho like Trump they support, but are claiming everyone’s being unfair! The disgust I have for cons. know no bounds!
***Some are just victims of the low-info. echo chamber. It's sad to me that seemingly intelligent people can get swept up into such conspiratorial nonsense. But that is where we find ourselves.***
Not sure that c/b used as an excuse! When supporters see their leader being prosecuted, all he needs do is call it a “witch-hunt” that c/b overlooked! Yrs. ago, a single LIE could cripple an admin.! Trump proved Reps. are over that as the man didn’t just exaggerate or massage the truth, he perpetrated over 30 K outright LIES & falsehoods while in office! Again, it’s the medias fault they cut him off & fact chk'd him! How can the country allow such behavior in a major pol. party?
***Is Trump the closest thing America has had to Hitler?
ReplyDelete1. His VP, Mike Pence: “The American people deserve to know that President Trump asked me to put him over my oath to the Constitution. … Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the US.”
2. His 2nd AG, Bill Barr: “Someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system & to our self-gov't shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”
3. His 1st Sec. of Defense, James Mattis: “Donald Trump is the 1st president in my lifeX who does not try to unite the American people – does not = pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.”
4. His 2nd Sec. of Defense, Mark Esper: “I think he’s unfit for office. … He puts himself B4 country. His actions are all about him & not about the country. And then, of course, I believe he has integrity & character issues as well.”
5. His 2nd Chief Of Staff, John Kelly: “A person that has nothing but contempt for our Dem. institutions, our Constitution, & the rule of law. There's nothing > that c/b said. God help us.”
6. His former acting Chief Of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, “I quit b/c I think he failed @ being the president when we needed him t/b that.”
7. One of his many former Comms. Dir., Anthony Scaramucci: “He is the domestic terrorist of the 21st century.”
8. His 1st Sec. Of The Navy, Richard Spencer: "The president has very lit'l understanding of what it means t/b in the military, to fight ethically, or t/b governed by a uniform set of rules & practices.”
9. His 1st Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert: “The President undermined American democracy baselessly for months. As a result, he’s culpable for this siege, & an utter disgrace.”***
This is only the tip of the iceberg!
***Who had the >er economy; Trump or Biden?***
It doesn’t matter to Trump supporters! They’d rather the country go down in flames w/ this psycho than have a properous & content nation!
***Where the Hell was the energy yesterday for Biden @ the debate w/ Trump?***
Biden must've missed out on his afternoon NAP! It had to happen to the old guy! Every performance couldn't be >; esp. after that magnificent SOTU effort! If our country's willing to judge Biden too harshly now & resign to support Trump, m/b we deserve to "go under!" If we're that stupid, I have no words for us! ...We're truly a screwed up society!
***Gavin Newsome's too Cali. for the centrists. Gretchen Whitmer is @ least Mich. Neither's tested on the Nat'l stage. However, if they shit-can the unpopular Kamala Harris, it looks bad in a lot of ways. ...It can't be a fight @ the convention. But, as we have argued here, if either party put up someone other > Biden & Trump, they could win. But that was in the past.***
It's deja vu! We w/b in Chgo for an all out battle @ the Dem. Conv. just like in '68! I can already see the growing riots being formed in such turbulant X's! This country has always been the "def. of insanity;" seeking a diff. result from a premise that makes no sense!
***During the recent presidential debate. Pres. Biden repeatedly made misleading statements about former Prez. Trump.
Also from Snopes:
"After Trump ...for supposedly having callously mocked a disabled reporter in public (that Trump was mocking Kovaleski was undeniable...)."***
You knew the country had lost its way when we allowed Trump to disparage the military in so many ways! He insulted Gold Star rec. families, called servicemen suckers & losers, & about destroyed the hierarchy of the military when so many Generals quit rather than perform unethical & illegal acts! "W" & Trump have about handicapped Defense for yrs. to come! Lucky only incompetents like Russia & China are the >est threats! Russia too busy w/ Ukraine & China still trying to hold onto Taiwan! Their X is usually deaing w/ that when not interferring in our elections!
***I can see both Charlie & Bean winning the remaining 2 slams. Whoever wins Wimby, the other will bounce back & take the USO, really making that race for #1 a thrill ride.***
ReplyDeleteFunny, I instantly thought of Novak going on a tear to snatch up the remaining Masters & 500 level events to steal YE #1 like Murray did back in '16! I don't think he's motivated to do something like that! It w/b hilarious though!
***His form this yr. has shown he doesn't have that fire to do what you're referencing. I'm not saying he can't turn it on, but we all know how hard that is as a 37 yo. Besides, he's pumped up the tour w/ belief since he's been mostly MIA this yr. It'll prove a bit > difficult to get that OGM. BO3 is where the > upsets happen anyway.
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Yeah, @ this pt. I imagine it's all about the Olympics & Slams. I mean, he's already de-emphasized other tourns. for the last few yrs. He hasn't played in > 4 Masters since '19. That said, he's only played 24 matches this yr. If he decides to forego Wimbl. & getting into match-shape for the Olympics, I could see him playing 1 or 2 of the er or out of his ability to consistently make QF's, SF's, & 2 Finals! Djokovic did quite a bit > taking 7 titles w/ 2 prime rivals thwarting his early tries @ all majors! I'll have to agree Novak's been terr. lucky t/b as successful; esp. as the #1 seed so often! That's usually the Kiss of Death when it comes to defending a grass court event! He came thru w/ flying colors many X's; going right thru the KING, Roger in 3 finals! Djoker made just about every challenge "his Bitch," save OG! Paris' his last chance! I'm going to doubt him just so he can rub yet another accomp. in our faces!
***Ivan Lendl m/b the > underrated > of the OE. Just about every stat system I've dabbled w/ has him right there w/ Sampras. I know, 14 to 8 Slams, but...Lendl did everything else as good or >er & played in a harder context > Sampras did, facing late prime Connors & Borg, prime McEnroe, Wilander, Becker, & Edberg, then early prime Sampras, Agassi, & Courier. I see him in a similar tier as Sampras, McEnroe, Borg, & Connors.
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...Alcaraz & Sinner are the most promising players to emerge since Andy & Novak showed up (ct. Del Potro - who had > promise, but it didn't actualize).
Anyhow, I went on a bit of a deep-dive to see what the typical pattern was for new Slam winners and new big title winners. A few facts:
There has been @ least 1 new Slam winner in 39 of 57 OE seasons (68%).
Since '06 it's a bit <: 8 of 19 (42%), though in 4 of the last 5 seasons (80%).
Of the 18 seasons w/o new Slam winners, 10 of them have come since '06, including 5 yrs. in a row in '15-19.
In all 57 yrs., there have only been 5 seasons w/o @ least 1 new big title winner - & all in the '07-16 range (or '07,'11,'13, &'15-16 t/b exact)
Conclusion: The recent era of '17 - present has seen a ton of breakout players.
'24's the 1st yr. since '14 that @ least 2 of the Slams have gone to players other > the Big 4.
Here's another crazy fact I hadn't realized until now: Since '04, there have only been 3 seasons in which @ least 1 of the Big 3 didn't win X Slams: '12 when the Big 4 all won a single Slam; '14 when Cilic & Wawrinka won Slams, & Novak & Rafa split the other 2; & '20 when there were only 3 Slams, w/ Rafa & Novak winning 1 each, & Thiem winning his 1st & only.
Un< Novak can win both Wimbl. & the USO, '24 w/b the 4th--just the 4th--in 21 seasons w/ none of Roger, Rafa, or Novak winning X Slams.***
***Ivan Lendl m/b the > underrated > of the OE. Just about every stat system I've dabbled w/ has him right there w/ Sampras. ...facing late prime Connors & Borg, prime McEnroe, Wilander, Becker, & Edberg, then early prime Sampras, Agassi, & Courier. I see him in a similar tier as Sampras, McEnroe, Borg, & Connors.***
ReplyDeleteIMO, Ivan played the same spoiler role as Djokovic! Novak had to tame Fedal whle Lendl did all he could to limit the success of Connors & McEnroe! It's like Deja Vu; pretty > the same dynamics! Even though Lendl has plenty of accomps. never mentioned, his making 8 str. USO's, winning 3 in a row is what's impressed people the >! He had to go thru a lot > comp. as you mentioned w/ vets, new-gens., & future stars! At any given tourn., a dozen players who won @ least 1 major was in his draw!
***For sheer magic w/ the racket, Roger has t/b the GOAT.***
Roger’s the GOAT when it comes to the beauty of the game & how it c/b played in an artistic way! Other > that he’s in 3rd place, 2nd @ best w/ 2 rivals that own him; esp. Nadal who took him out early & often on all surfaces! It wasn’t just a clay situation! That’s what Roger’s fans tried to do to explain how this kid from Spain took out their boy! When Fed went down on GRASS @ Wimbl. in '08, that argument fell thru! Novak caught up to both in '11 & took over their rivalries taking 12 majors in just a few yrs.! By '16, Fed had 17 majors, Nadal 15, & Novak w/ 12 after completing his Nole-Slam @ the FO in '16! Roger was in his prime, but lost to Novak twice in Wimbl. finals; '14 & ‘15! Roger’s supposed t/b @ least the GRASS GOAT, but that was disproven as well = though he owns the > for a man @ 8! Novak has 7 & isn’t done yet!
***Djoker's another iconic player who came after/later & when the superstars Fed/Rafa are still around!***
After/Later? OCO, Nole started beating them B4 they got old! You seem to forget Novak’s just a yr. older > Nadal! Unfort. for Rafa, his game's > draining & has aged him B4 his X! Roger’s game was ageless & he remained comp. to the end taking 3 > majors during Novak’s per. of en oui & elbow injury in '17! Djokovic reasserted himself in the Summer of '18 to win Wimbl. & the USO, racing past Fedal in majors, holding 24 now to Rafa’s 22 & Roger’s 20!
***...I'm saying that Matteo SHOULD have NEVER been consider t/b a serious contender. His game's too predictable & he's extremely overrated.***
How overrated could Matteo be making a Wimbl. final? That was no accident & he stole the 1st set off Novak coming back to take the TB! His game is as good or >er > others we try & elevate; FAA, Tiafoe, & Taylor! He has a bangin' serve, a wicked FH, & can hit his BH w/ 1 or 2 hands! His "Tyrone Powers" good looks are just a bonus!
***I apprec. your backing Matteo, & reminding folks not to underest. him j/b he's pretty. However, as a reminder, Berrettini did NOT "steal" that 1st set off of Novak. He won it....I find it tiresome to insist that someone "stole" the set, j/b the guy you like lost it.***
In the normal scheme of things I'd agree, but this was Novak Djokovic! He's #1 in the World, playing yet another major final w/ a brk in the 1st set! I'd think it overwhelming for Matteo w/ it being his "1st & only major to date!" He kept his head & allowed Novak to donate a lit'l bit to capture that 1st set! ...I can go down a # of major finals where he's in control & inexplicably allows it to tighten up; m/b up 2 brks! In the end he just made his job harder & extended it to 4 or 5 sets when he shb off the court 2 hrs. B4!
***...Don't demean the performance of another player by end<ly saying that it was only your man who failed. It's insulting to the other player.***
***OK, Novak. Anyone listening to this? The "Gooooood night" was kind of funny... Its that old chip on his shoulder for being < loved > he (thinks he) deserves.***
ReplyDeleteAnyone = @Fiero425...Can't believe you make me do this again! The MAN certanly has a freakin' chip on his shoulder! True enuf he's never gotten "The LOVE" that Fedal enjoyed & never will! He c/b on his last legs @ 40 yo & the detractors will continue to annoyingly detract! If this was Fedal playing anywhere near this level, the accolades w/b plentiful! Like Gauf after winning her USO, she gave credit to "the haters!"
***Fearnley took the 3rd set vs Novak who's grumpy about it. Windy on Centre Court, so that's prob. not helping his mood.***
Lendl was pretty > the same way which is why he excelled indoors owning the YEC during his day! Like I said, Djokovic c/b in total control, was a pt. away from a brk. to close out the 3rd! Sure enough I nodded off, but woke to find he blew the set & had to win it in 4! Happens all too often; mainly due to his MOODS! He's not been in the best frame of mind for 2 yrs. now as he ranted @ Ivanisovic B4 leaving last yr.!
***And here’s the thing too: players who'll play 3rd at CC will have to think the curfew b/c of the org.’s stupid sched. decisions. ...in my head, this wouldn’t be a prob. if CC matches start @ 12:30 pm or earlier.***
I'm sure the officials of Wimbl. have explained this, but OTTH, Centre Court being "the featured" court, the Royals & Celebs need extra X to get to their seats after glad-handing, drinking tea, & munching cucumber sandwiches!
***So, are you justifying it or agreeing that it's utter BS?***
Of course it's BS! From what lit'l I've seen of Wimbl., the last few yrs. hasn't = been mentioned The Royals! It was prob. Bud Collins keeping the tradition of observing the Royal Box! I can't = remember seeing it as being anything diff. from the rest of the stadium of late!
***Does it have anything to do w/ the health of the players?***
These tourns. don't GAF about the health of the players! Look @ what Ameli Moresmo did to the male top seed during the FO! Djokovic was out there playing into the wee hrs. of the morning twice causing his meniscus injury! If the "powers that be" can allow that, it's been proved that the tourns. can get away w/ just about anything since they're footing the bills & paying the players "crazy $$" to basically give a tennis exh. to an audience!
***Novak's Origin Story is that he came up when the tennis world was already divided in loyalties btwn. Fedal. After he rose up to full potential in '11, & starting beating everyone's faves, ...but it seemed to create that chip on his shoulder he can't shake. ...It's hard not to admire his tennis, but he's just not that easy to like, or admire, in gen.
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Al> everyone on TC wt.'d in. Courier was trying to go for the angle that Djokovic finds motivation in adversity, which I believe he does. ...Sure, he makes a lot of $$ for tennis, but those people also butter his bread. He just can't decide if he wants t/b the bad guy or the good guy. Or, he thinks he's the good guy, & everyone else has it all wrong, so he keeps acting like the bad guy, and can't figure out why it never turns around. Also, he walked out of a BBC interview after 98 secs., in a total snit.
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...If you take Roger @ his abs. PRIME.. (I think El Dude had it prob.'04-12) Rafa's PRIME ('07-15) Novak was in those same ERAs. What was Novak's rec. vs those 2. Do you feel Novak would've beaten those guys @ GSs in their prime? if not, I don't think his stats'd make him the >est ever. JMHO!
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I'd take a moment & step away from the slam ct. & look @ the Masters 1000 wins. Novak's 1 win away from a career 3 Golden Masters. Neither Fedal = have 1. Add to that the fact that he owns the rec. of 7 ATP YE wins. The whole fitting players into other players primes' conjecture @ best.***
***I'm going to tell ...you called Sampras a serve-bot!***
ReplyDeleteIn Pete's game, it was his serve that made the diff.! How many X's was he down a brk. pt. or 2 &'d somehow come up w/ a 2nd serve ACE? On Pete's >er days, his serve was just a bonus! He'd wear out Agassi from the baseline when "in the zone!" It's every day fare on every pt., but back in the day you only had a handful of > pts. that lasted 20-34 balls in a rally! I can still see Pete running Andre around like a chicken w/ his head cut off! Sampas'd rocket a FH cross-court leaving it open for Agassi's weak reply! Another fave match w/b Pete out-thinking the master, Nichael Chang @ Wimbl.! Sampras'd run him around a lot, but needed to show off his touch & feel @ the net making Chang look foolish!
***Players w/ 2+ Slams in a yr.:
Rod Laver (1*): '69 (4)
John Newcombe (1**): '73
Jimmy Connors (2): '74 (3), '82
Bjorn Borg (3): '78, '79, '80
John McEnroe (2): '81, '84
Ivan Lendl (2): '85, '86
Mats Wilander (1): '88
Boris Becker (1): '89
Jim Courier (2): '92
Pete Sampras (4): '93,'94,'95,'97
Andre Agassi (1): '99
Roger Federer (6): '04 (3),'05,'06 (3),'07 (3),'09,'17
Rafael Nadal (6): '08, '10 (3), '13, '17, '19, '22
Novak Djokovic (7): '11 (3),'15 (3),'16,'18,'19,'21 (3),'23 (3)
Carlos Alcaraz (1): 2024
*Laver won all 4 in '62, + 2 of 3 Pro Slams in '64 &'66, & all 3 in '67.
**Newcombe also won 2 amateur Slams in '67.
But the big jump comes w/ 2 such yrs., which has only been done by (Laver), Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Sampras, & the Big 3. Meaning, the 9 or 10 best players of the OE. It sort of is that clear-cut: the 2 multi-Slam season players are the top 10 of the OE.
At 21, it seems rather likely that Alcaraz makes that 10 or 11. Of course after '92, there was no reason to think that Jim Courier--then just 22 yo--only had 1 > Slam in him.
Or to put it another way, Alcaraz already has 20% of Roger's Slam total B4 the age Roger was when he won his 1st Slam.
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Having seen both players in their prime, I've no doubt Pete'd hold his own w/ both Fedal.***
Just not for the same # of comp. yrs.! Sampras was on life support his last 2 seasons, unable to win any title from 2000 Wimbl. until '02 USO! I think there’s been a bit of a backlash when it comes to Pete! Yrs. ago when he was anointed the best ever after he surpassed Emerson’s 13 Majors, finishing w/ 14, he hadn’t = played a FO final > < win 1! The experts don’t look too good after 3 players came along who easily zipped past him in the majors ct., but've X FO’s to their credit! He had to suffer somewhat in perception except having those 6 str. YE #1’s which stood the test of X until Djokovic overtook him; now w/ 8 in total! Who’s gonna catch him?
***Novak's run to the SF:
ReplyDelete1R: Qual. Vit Kopriva, CH #111
2R: WC Jacob Fearnley, CH #271
3R: Alexei Popyrin, career high #38
4R: Holger Rune, CH #4, current #15
QF: W/O - de Minaur hip injury - CH #6
Quite an easy path to reach a Slam SF. He lost a set to both Fearnley & Popyrin, so I'd suggest that it's hard to assess what his actual level is.
I tend to think that luck =s out in sports, for the > part, but Novak certainly got lucky this Wimbl., & just when he needed it. The 1st really good thing that happened to him was that Alcaraz was drawn on Sinner's side. The 2nd was that overall, the bttm. 1/2 was by far the easier half. ...And, w/ the way things are going this Wimbl., every X you step on court, there's an injury risk. Esp. w/ a dodgy knee.***
Was there any real doubt? Djoker/Alacaraz rematch! Novak def. Musetti in str. & Alcaraz took out Medvedev in 4 sets! Novak's getting over that Meniscus surgery, but he's looked sharp from the beginning!
***...Rafa in '07 vs Carlos in '24. Born w/i a month of each other (17 yrs. apart!), so I think we can compare those seasons to each other.
El Dude said:
In terms of pure accomps. thru those yrs. (w/ caveat Carlos isn't done w/ '24):
RAFA: 3-2 in Slam Finals (+ 2 QF), 2 TF SF's, 9 Masters, 23 overall titles.
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CARLOS: 4-0 in Slam Finals (+ 3 SF, 3 QF), 1 TF SF, 5 Masters, 15 overall titles.
...As far as ability, outside of your PEP calc., it's harder to say. My guess' that '07 Rafa would've handily beat Carlos on clay, but Carlos would've handily beat him on grass. Rafa whh the edge on slower hards, Carlos on medium to fast.
I'd mention that '07 Rafa made the finals of Wimbl. & took Roger to 5, so I wouldn't say that Carlos c/b projected to have "handily beaten" him that yr., in the imaginary world where they are both 22. Otherwise, you're saying that Carlos' > >er > Roger on grass.
My sense's that Carlos' a > complete player > Rafa @ the same age. Rafa was ungodly on clay, approaching > elsewhere, & then filled out in '08 as an all-courter. But I do think there's still a big gap btwn. peak Rafa on clay & Carlos anywhere, but that c/b said about any player.
I think Carlos is a > complete player > any of them @ this age. He's got lots of tools, like Roger, but he's handled them >er from younger. He's got a champion's mentality & ability to raise his game. As to peak Rafa on clay...I think you're right that that's hard to reach. There were yrs. when it didn't = look like he was playing the same game as anyone else. And many yrs. when he looked beatable, & still wasn't.***
I have to give Rafa all kinds of props for his tenacity to not give up when on the ropes! A # of other players can say the same for themselves, but Nadal obviously is on another level! It's what makes me sick to see him take over Borg's rec. @ the FO; TWICE over! He's a freak of nature; so was Bjorn w/ his low pulse rate at 40! Djokovic has become the "artisan" of this gen. of players; Lendl B4 him! They worked hard to get >er until they def. the top echelon & supplanted them! Lendl dealt w/ Borg, Connors, & McEnroe! Djokovic had to deal w/ = > w/ Fedal, Murray, Wawrinka, & now Alcaraz & Sinner!
It's obvious Alcaraz has an early start of brilliance unmatched by any player this gen. or in the past in Open Tennis! He's ahead of the game w/ early success @ 3 Majors on 3 diff. surfaces! Rafa was woefully behind getting his 1st Wimbl., USO, & AO > later while getting fat on early clay success in Paris!
***"Woefully" behind? He had Fed in front of him, @ his peak. He won Wimbl. @ barely 22. AO also at 22. And the USO @ 25. I don't think anyone'd call that "woeful." Yes, Alcaraz has 3 Majors on 3 surfaces. He's one AO away from the CS @ 21. Nadal's the youngest to have won it in the OE, @ 25. It seems imposs. that Alcaraz won't brk. rec.***
***A lit'l sad inside that this is going t/b the last yr. of the Atl. tourn. I hope Atlanta gets a 2nd look if Miami is really up for sale. I just feel that Atlanta's misplaced in July, w/ all the heat & humidity, & w/b a >er fit for a late March/early April tourn.***
ReplyDeleteThe smaller events in the States will continue to suffer & disappear until we get some top flight players! Right now we have all kinds of potential, but they haven't broken thru yet! We don't have a McEnroe, Connors, Sampras, Agassi, or = a Roddick who just had a serve & FH! The only reason we have any players close to the top is b/c the tour is truly "wanting" w/ the absence of the Big 3! I miss those smaller events like The Trans Am. @ the Cow Palace out in SF on carpet! We could have a final w/ McEnroe & Connors! Where are those days & will we get them back?
***Did y'all catch Andy Murray resurfacing docu. on Prime. It was pretty good = a non-Murray fan like @Fiero'd apprec. Sir Andy's dedication.***
Murray has had a very commendable career! He got the > out of the game he "decided" to play back at the beginning almost 20 yrs. ago! ...His last gasp was @ Wimbl.! His Olympic effort won't amt. to > > being a 2 X OGM winner & symbol! If not for the Big 3 he'd/shd > & @ least matched Edberg, Becker, Wilander, or McEnroe! Connors, Lendl, or Borg territory? I don't see it!
***So, is Nole embarrassing himself @ this stage, as you said Roger was? X to retire?***
You're kidding? Nole was 1 match from having a CYGS! He ended the season w/ his 7th YEC & an 8th YE #1! There's no comparison in the 2!
***It's weirdly ironic that the Fed fans'd lament how Roger was so much "older" > his arch rivals (Nadal, Djokovic) to excuse his losses & yet here we had a 16 yr. diff. in age (37 vs 21) which really stood out, but > fans seem to shrug as in, "if you are out there, no excuses, including age."***
I laugh thinking of the hypocrisy, but = > so of the "haters" who got nervous when Djokovic broke back facilitating a TB in the 3rd set!
***Novak's a true champ so of course there was going t/b speculative buzz about if he'd somehow pull out that 3rd set. It's not like he hasn't done it B4. Alcaraz *did* get a bit nervy dropping 4 MP's, but the head games are so much of tennis. My overall pt. is Novak's legs are not going to drastically improve or get magically >er by '25.
TBH, only Fed fans trotted out that he was ancient to excuse his losses in SF's & Finals of Majors. Nadal wasn't given that backdoor excuse either = though he also faced opps 10-15 yrs. younger. I think Ruud was a similar age diff. when Nadal bested him @ RG 2 yrs. ago.
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...= Djokovic's having difficulty keeping up w/ Alcaraz & Sinner. But something tells me this feels like the '02 USO, & somehow, Nadal & Djokovic w/b playing for the OGM.***
It w/b a fitting conclusion to their era as it looks as if the batons have been passed on by Fedalovic! Novak's as prepared as much as a 37 y.o. man c/b after menicus surgery last month, w/o a single title under his belt! Nadal's in = worse shape struggling to get past the lower level riff raff out there in Bastad last wk.! The game's sped up so >, his delusion thinks "it's all good" when he actually takes a swipe @ the ball ripping a winner! Doesn't he reaiize every pt. has the potential to being so draining? IMO = he won't be able to withstand the onslaught of offense there is in today's game! It was unfort. he had to play Sascha in the 1st Rd. in Paris in May, but = w/ the fragile psyche of the German, he wrapped up Rafa in str. sets!
***Novak has had a poor season to date, his clay season also poor, regard< of his knee surgery, he had a favorable draw @ Wimbl., a w/ov to the SF where he wasn't tested. He hasn't won a title this yr. ...Quite frankly I can't see Novak or Rafa w/b playing for the GM @ the Olympics.***
***My all X top 10 list w/b:
ReplyDelete(1) Djokovic (> slams, > Masters, has done the CS twice)
(2) Nadal (2nd highest # of slams, king of clay, 29-30 h2h w/ GOAT, >est artisan)
(3) Federer (streaks @ USO & Wimbl., > Wimbl. titles, broke Sampras's rec., > elegant player in history)
(4) Sampras (Best serve in history, 4th > slams, slam dunk, did not lose a Wimbl. final)
(5) Laver (11 slams, but he was the 1st man to do the CYGS)
(6) Borg (11 slams, made the >est streak in Wimbl. titles @ his X, hybrid BH)
(7) Agassi (8 slams, won 5 slams after turning 30 yrs. of age, > FH, BH & compact game)
(8) Connors (> titles, the guy does not have a FH)
(9) Lendl (8 slams, was a > player = though he didn't manage a Wimbl. title)
(10) McEnroe (7 slams, 3 Wimbl. titles, graceful serve, cutest BH ever, good hairstyle, flamboyance, charisma).
An honorable mention: Wilander. He also won 7 slams & actually had a winning rec. w/ McEnroe in slams & >er longevity > him.***
Agassi has 8 majors, but wasted so many yrs., not really ever dominating! A lot of his winning occurred late after Lendl, Sampras, Courier, Edberg, & Becker "waned" or left the tour! The top players around then came & went rather quickly like Hewitt & Safin OTTH!
***Updated Mens Singles Seeds Paris'24 OG (Sinner (tonsilitis) & Rune (wrist) WD)
1. Djokovic
2. Alcaraz
3. Zverev
4. Medvedev
5. De Minaur
6. Ruud
7. Fritz
8. Tsistsipas
9. Paul
I think all the pressure in the world w/b on Djokovic in that 2nd Rd. match vs Rafa. Even if Nadal loses, he still has the singles Gold in his pocket. If Djokovic loses, not only will he still have the hole on his resume of no singles OGM, he'll no longer have the career H2H advantage on Nadal.***
Not earning a "vanity OG Medal" isn't really a HOLE in Djokovic's resume as far as I'm concerned! I've always had a problem w/ millionaires playing in the Olympics; esp. athletes in tennis, basketball, baseball, & hockey! Other events have pros, but how > $$ is someone making as a swimmer, diver, track star, or = a bobsledder?
***It goes too far to call an OGM a "vanity medal." But I take your pt. about what matters in "$$" sports vs. sports that get to shine every 4 yrs. Novak wants it. He's made that clear. But he's got a rough draw. I don't think this is his yr. either. But, no, it won't damage his resume.
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Weirder things have happened @ the OG, but he'll prob. have to get past Alcaraz, & whoever survives the top 1/2, of Novak, Zverev, & Nadal. I wouldn't bet $$ on him.***
Truly! We have so many memorable winners of OG like Massu in '04! WHO? Fed was in his prime, but still found ways to drop matches to 2nd & 3rd tier players! Prob. helped Rafa in '08 to win his Gold w/ Blake upsetting Roger in the QF! Novak's had some bad luck getting Del Po in Rd. 1 back in '16! I still don't watch > of the Summer games! I wasn't one who thought Novak should push it in '21 w/ a CYGS on the line in wks. of flying back from Japan! I think it hurt him > emotionally as he = dropped the Bronze Medal match B4 falling the final of the USO to complete his 2nd go round of a GS! I didn't think he could get past Medvedev! Going 5 long sets vs Sascha didn't help! The feature match of the entire Olympic draw thru & including the final w/b that 2nd Rd. thriller w/ Djokodal! I hope it lives up to the hype! Looking forward to it! This m/b their last meeting in > of any venue as I don't believe they're BUDS!
***In '08 Rafa was trending. Roger was his pigeon, @ that pt. It doesn't matter that Blake took Roger out, IMO. Rafa also beat Novak in the Sfs. It was his yr. Basically no one thought it was wise for Novak to push for the OG in '21, includ. his father. ...I do hope we get the Rafa v. Novak 2nd Rd., & I hope Rafa wins. It may well be the last X they play, given rankings & form, = if they carry on playing.***
***...I'd look @ Operation Northwoods Moxie. It's declassified & didn't happen, but the fact that all the US Joint Chiefs of Staff signed off on it B4 JFK rejected it (whatever happened to him) s/b enough to raise some pretty big alarm bells in itself. Kennedy made long speeches about dark elements manipulating the world. Eisenhower had warned of it a few yrs. earlier.***
ReplyDeleteThe country's history is too littered w/ attrocities not to believe anything's poss. when it comes to our gov't; esp. w/ bad presidents in charge! From the genocide of the Native American & Slavery to Jap. Intern. Camps & The Tuskegee Exp. in the news, underground conspiracies have t/b quite prevalent! Let's not forget Iran Contra w/ the CIA busted selling drugs in LA & diverting the $$ to Central Am. Freedom fighters, while Reagan's making under the table deals w/ Iran! We just have to hope the powers that be don't annihilate us all as we perpetuate an altruistic demeanor to the world!
***I only entered this thread to state a case that malovelent actions w/i gov't aren't uncommon & the cattle (us) are expendable. That's why I showed the declassified Northwoods document. It wasn't smoke & mirrors, just an ex. @Fiero425 showed a bunch of others. We've already discussed on other threads about Gov't experiments on their own populace - ones which are declassified & acknowledged.
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Biden has dropped out. Wow. Forced out by the democracy loving Dems.! I'd think Gavin Newsome w/b the VP ticket to appeal to the few white men. White women put President Obama in twice & voted Trump out.***
Women put Trump in office in the 1st place! It was their duty to remedy the situation 4 yrs. later after they betrayed their own sisterhood overlooking Hillary! I understand their self-hate where > women have trouble w/ each other! The big sisterhood they have is a myth & it's always been that way as they're taught early on to compete vs one another w/ their beauty, charm, & ambition! It's > prevalent in the black culture where girls are taught to get a > education, keep men @ a distance, & t/b independent! The result has been tumultuous as the marraige rate has gone down w/ the divorce rate way up! The > ridicuous thing concerning women is their collective believe something's >er around the corner resulting in many just living & dying alone w/ a cat or dog!
***IIRC that's right. White women didn't like or trust Hillary Clinton. So that became a vote for Trump, but they voted that Evil Heifer out. So it's not about Sisterhood b/c the WHITE WOMEN did not want that woman t/b President. The Dems. will > likely get a Gov'r from one of the SWING states like Penn., MI., & OH. No need to get Newsome b/c Calif., Il., & NY will always vote BLUE.
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The stats for Trump’s X in office:
The economy lost 2.7 M jobs. The unemploy. rate increased by 1.7% pts. to 6.4%.
Paychks grew faster > inflation. Avg. weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.4% after inflation.
After-tax corp. profits went up, & stock market set new recs. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%.
The Int'l trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods & services in '20 was the >est since '08 & increased 36.3% from '16.
The # of people lacking health ins. rose by 3 M.
The Nat'l Debt incr. from $14.4 T to $21.6 T.
Home prices rose 27.5%, & the homeownership rate increased 2.1 % pts to 65.8%.
Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the SW border rose 14.7% last yr. compared w/ '16.
Coal production declined 26.5%, & coal-mining jobs dropped by 25%. Carbon emissions from energy consumption dropped 11.3%.
Handgun production rose 12.5% last yr. compared w/ '16, setting a new rec.
The murder rate last yr. rose to the >est level since '97.
Trump filled 1/3 of the Supreme Court, nearly 30% of the Appellate Court seats & a 1/4 of District Court seats.
During the Trump Admin., there were no new major overseas wars or invasions. But during his presidency, there were still conflicts w/i Israel, & Russia & Ukraine.***
***Voting is over once Trump's in? He's said he w/b a "dictator for a day" when he gets in. Now he says "Voting w/b over" after he's elected. He's telling us what he intends to do. He's threatening us w/ dictatorship. I honestly think that he believes it's a good idea. And so do some of his supporters. "...Are you still behind this?"***
ReplyDeleteBehind WHAT? I can't = watch NEWS these days trying to avoid Trump & the a-holes that support him! I was told to look @ each side of an argument! When it comes to Trump, it's like the worst things out there that have 1 side; Hitler, child mol., spousal abuse, RAPE, & bad/corrupt Gov't!
***Trump has NEVER said he'll appoint himself monarch, despot, or dictator! End of discussion--it's just fear mongering for votes & it's ridiculous.***
If you truly believe that, pls seek serious help! I can't = watch news anymore, Reps. are so disingenuous POS! I lost one of my BF's & ex-college roommate who I discovered was "proud to vote for Trump!" We haven't spoken civily since & I've known him for almost 50 yrs.! This is no dummy, who's been a MENSA member for decades, but him & 1/2 the country are suffering from something truly mental! You have t/b a special kind of crazy to believe anything a sociopathic liar has to say! The Rep. Party lost their souls long B4 he came along, but since Trump, they're irredeemable & need to just start over like the WHIGs!
***I don't need to seek serious help j/b I disagree w/ you politically. Trump has done a lot of damage to the presidency & the American political system by virtue of his loose talk, his mean-spiritedness @ X's, his seemingly unquenchable thirst to have the spotlight on him @ all X's, etc. ITA on that w/ people who despise him. Is that enuf for me to vote for someone whose policies I think are bad for the country? No-- b/c as much as people hate to admit, some of his policies were good for the country. Donald Trump's unique in our pol. history & there's no one else like him. So, the world isn't going to end if he's reelected. ...Trump has told lies, but name me a pol. who hasn't in the last 50 yrs.? Hell, go back 100 yrs. ...If the comes down to the VP vs the former Pres., barring something highly unusual & unexpected, I believe the former Pres. has a >er plan for the future of the nation over the next 4 yrs. I don't vote for Pres. based on a personality contest.***
...Or intel. for that matter! Fine, blow it all up! I couldn't GAF! I'm old & just hanging on as a Sr.! So many out there are desperate to end the democracy, have @ it! You took "choice" away after 50 yrs. of b!tchin' in some states while women are dying, election laws are under assault due to "the right" not being happy w/ results, & Trump's a laughing-stock Int'ly! He's been fleeced by Putin & Xi, so if you can overlook that, something truly is wrong w/ you; no doubt about it! I won't bother you again! Some people you just can't debate when seriously WRONG!
***Trust me Trump supporters are "all in" w/ this clown. White privilege plus 2025...perfect pitch from the deranged anti-Christ. - - Rep. Crocket s/b running for Prez.***
M/b, but the South would have a serious problem w/ it! If they wouldn't accept Hillary, I doubt if the South could handle & deliver enuf votes for this Black woman! No apologies for the truth!
***Agree; same thing w/ Kamala, but I still think she’ll get it done. Hillary was universally unliked.***
What I don't understand is why scumbag Reps. & cons. are so concerned about what the Dems do from here on out? They have Congress & the SC in their pocket, but all you hear is them bitchin' about what the Dems are doing or not doing! I find it disgusting that women have allowed them to villify, demonize, & undermine the accomps. of Kamala Harris w/ an inability to stick to issues! Name-calling, lying, & making asses of themselves in the media & social platforms show how pathetic they truly are now!
***Btw, I was on Rafa's side today & shocked to see him go down in flames like that on clay @ his fave venue; given that he has a pos. h2h w/ Djokovic @ RG. It just took me some X to wrap my head around it. But then I figured Rafa's form is very bad & he also might have been injured. I also realized he played a lot of tennis recently &'s getting exhausted.***
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding? I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone w/ all this hype on this last match btwn. these 2 ATG's! Novak has just made a Wimbl. Final while Rafa was sitting on his ass for over a yr., then struggled to get past riff raff in a 250 event earlier this month! WTF? Why are people surprised @ this blowout?
***IDK who's surprised. I'm just gutted.***
Rafa's final match shb in Paris back in May after Sascha dismissed him in the 1st Rd.! He wasn't going to get any >er! He should've known that along w/ his sycophantic training staff! Why wasn't he talked out of this? It made no sense taking up space in the draw; esp. after his efforts in Bastad! It was a 250 w/ lit'l in the way of top pros to = give him a test, but got to that final after top seeds elim. early! I suppose he thought he'd bluff his way thru a few Rds.! It didn't happen & he was embarr. by Novak today, 4 & 1!
***...Why were you shocked Rafa was blown off the court? @Fiero425 was correct. Rafa hasn't played in over 2 yrs. while Novak has been competing for #1 ranking in the world & in GS finals during that X. Did you think that Rafa'd beat anyone in the top 5 or = be comp. vs the current lead of the 3-headed GOAT. This had only the chance of being just a glorified exh. for the 2 of them. It's gonna take a lot of tourns. & GS matches B4 Rafa'd = begin t/b challenge for the top 5 if his body can hold together. I'm not attacking you, but let's be realistic = for Rafa fans.
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Do you know how many yrs. Rafa, Fed and, & Novak has taken off my life from staying up to 3-5 AM watching those matches?***
After all these yrs., I'm still trying to recover from that long night into day here in the States watching & recording the '12 AO Final w/ Djokadal; 5:53! I lit. didn't get to bed until after 9 AM! As usual back then when serving for the match, Novak made it harder on himself allowing Nadal to brk. & take that 4th set TB! IMO, it's not nerves; > bad luck, bad calls, & his opp. "red lines" it for a bit!
***Man, it took me days to recover. I had brain fog & didn't want to watch another sporting event includ. ft.ball for wks. I know that loss still haunts Rafa. It's the 1 that I can still vividly recall the last 7 games of the match. How did Rafa miss the passing shot up the line when the prudent move whb to hit the ball directly @ Novak.
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M/b Djokovic's a bit nervous in the Olym. final vs Alcaraz b/c he was stuck in Semis 3 X's. Anyway, I will not put the $$ on him in the final. For me Carlos is the clear fave.
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Renee Stubbs thinks that he'll be < nervous on Sun., having got this bugaboo off his back. Who knows? He knows he's got @ least a Silver Medal, so that's an upgrade. Plus, Carlos will have his own nerves. Novak's knee did seem t/b fine today, & Musetti was running him around. Now they finally get a day off for rest, too.***
It seems Novak isn't ready to retire quite yet! It's a huge accomp. to make it to the OGM final match! He's guaranteed a Silver! I hope people keep predicting an annihilation so it can all turn on them! I think Djokovic has a great chance to surprise us all!
***So much for hoping for the younger gen., you old hypocrite. Whatever happened to your position of "move over, old man" when it came to Fed, i.e.? You keep saying you're not a Novak fan. You just are! Own it.***
ReplyDeleteDjokovic hasn't embarrassed himself yet! He's making a Wimbl. final, now Olympics! Why should he go? Fedal was struggling vs riff raff! STOP! It's not hypocrisy as > as I root for "underdogs" & he'll continue t/b that while most believe Fedal rules the fandom!
***If you're still calling Novak an "underdog," you've lost the plot.***
Who favors him anywhere? He's going after the latest KING = though still #3 in the World! Novak had his head handed to him on his fave Centre Court just last month! If that ain't an underdog IDK who is! When I say "underdog" concerning Novak, it's really about how he's perceived & accepted; or not accepted as "The GOAT!" There are plenty of delusional people out there that believe Fedal will always lead the way = though woefully behind in many of the accomps. that they can only dream about; GM's twice, 7 YEC's (when Nadal has NADA), 8 YE #1's that may never be topped, w/ 7 YEC's! These over & above his rec. in the Majors, it's hard to read posts that still deny the guy! I'm really not as > a fan as I can apprec. what he's done; just like Nadal @ the FO (which is his real claim to immortality), while Fed'll have to settle for his 8 Wimbl. wins! It doesn't look like Djokovic w/b +ing any> of them to his resume! I think his last best chance is to win in NY & call it a career! We all know he won't which is what makes him >; always trying to prove us all wrong about him! Who knows what he might do if he claims OG Sunday over Alcaraz!
***Congrats to Novak for taking OG def. Alcaraz 7-6,7-6! I'm sure that in 10 yrs you'll still be physically beating 20 yo's!***
Shocking again, but not shocked! Wow, what an accusation after Nadal's rep. writtled w/ suspicion he's been on PED's since the beginning! SAD!
***Djokovic was absolutely belting the ball too so the usual "pushovic" bs from the same poster can't be said either. - Some of those fhands Novak hit in the TB were lazor-like. When Novak gets to a TB, he just finds an extra gear & that's what happened in the match.
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I'm glad he's still enjoying tennis, but I have a twinge of @Fiero425 in that I don't want to see him carry on this way for too long. He's such a giant in my eyes & = though there were moments I rooted for him to lose (so he wouldn't beat Roger!), I don't want to see him lose in early Rds. & to shot next clay season. Rest & train for the rest of this yr., staying healthy & improving fitness as much as poss., but nothing that risks injury. Then, m/b get some matches in after the AO, & go hard during clay season w/ the hopes of peaking, winning, & retiring @ RG. I suppose that's sort of a repeat of this yr., but m/b he has a >er sense of what he needs to work on.
But I don't have the deep emotional attachment to him, so I'm wondering where y'all are at. I will say that = though I knew Roger was done winning Slams after '19 Wimbl., I was still bummed out when he announced his retirement. I'm not sure how I would've felt if he carried on in '21 & beyond like he was playing, though, which was pretty similar to Rafa's current level.***
***I don't understand these Masters tourns. scheduling any>. When it starts, when it ends, how long it lasts? Which day is the final? Which day is QF's? It's all scrambled up.***
ReplyDeleteThey're going thru a change! Two Masters events in Europe have already gone to 2 wks.! Canada & Cincy will follow suit > likely! The tennis schedule's so cramped as it is! As I said, I'm not sure how much I w/b watching in the coming yrs.! The game's already a ball-bashing fest! It's only gotten worse as these players are going "full out" crushing the ball during rallies that are interminable as sets routinely go over an hr.; not just w/ Nadal & Djokovic! The women are getting there! The players will continue brk'n down IMO w/ plenty of WD's occurring > frequently!
***Canada & Cincy are going 2 wks. starting next yr. In fact, Canada's sched. to start on July 28th. I think part of the prob. is that this is an Olympic yr., & the ATP/WTA didn't really have a plan around it. I hope they don't make the same mistake in '28. The Olympics are going to start on Fri., July 14, so they'll need to decide what's going to happen to Wimbl. (I mean, it prob. can't be held at it's normal slot that yr. for starters).***
Why's it American players can only make a short run t/b noticed, then can't win the simplest of matches vs a WC? Big fail on Taylor Fritz!
***Too many players in today's gen. (sans Sinner & Alcaraz) aren't built mentally tough, & are just unable to sustain great play for an extended per. of X.
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Nadal's 11-7 in slams vs Pushovic & 10-4 in slams vs Frauderer.
That's 21-11 total. Unbilibable, no?***
OMG, the desperation! I thought m/b I had gone back to the 1st page of the Thread it's such an antiquated take on what history w/b looking @ in the future! Was Djokovic "pushing" the ball vs Alcaraz in the Olympic final! I saw Carlos stretching for balls totally unreachable! Is that your idea of pushing the ball? Novak has a losing rec. vs Roddick and Vesley! SO? What else ya got? After snatching OG, I'd think the Rafa-fans'd pull back on "puffing out" their coll. chests trying to find "something" to compare & celebrate! It's getting embarrassing DON'TCHA THINK? Djokovic has all the recs. owned w/ #'s unsurpassable! The 8 YE #1's alone immortalizes him, but + on the 7 YEC's, 24 Majors, a double GM, a Nole-Slam, capped w/ an OGM, the debate's squashed, buried, & eviscerated!
***Rafa's 1 of the >est to ever play, as are Nole & Roger. I'm just happy I was there to watch, just like I was when it was Connors-Borg & McEnroe (m/b Ivan the Terr. too).
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Novak wins the race overall. It isn't only surface, but we can sort of simplify it this way:
Clay: Rafa, Novak, Roger
Grass: Roger, Novak, Rafa
Hards: Novak, Roger, Rafa
Now, while Rafa's 3rd in 2 of the surfaces, he makes up for it by being > further ahead in clay > the other 2 are on Grass & Hards.
Novak "wins the race" b/c he's 1 or 2 on all 3.***
Weak; very weak! Roger had an advantage early on fast HC! Later; esp. in '18 when Nole annihilated Roger in the Cincy final completing his 1st GM's! Djokovic also has X wins in Shanghai & Paris where the courts are lightning fast! The BIG 3 fans have got to give it up to Djokovic no matter the lame ex. displayed trying to equate them! He won the war of attrition; doing it systematically & balanced! He won 12 majors early & 12 majors late! He took 3 of 4 of them twice early & late in his career! He amazed me by taking 2 > YEC's, an 8th YE #1, then finally an OGM closing in on 40 yo! Roger was the KING of 250's in comparison! Novak won BIG events to lead the way while Nadal's only close due to his prowess on clay!
***Coco Gauff declined to do a press conf. today after her tough loss. ...There's warranted criticism & being overly critical. You're entitled to your opinion & I'm not stopping you from criticizing her. My perspective is diff. from yours b/c I think it's not a big deal.***
ReplyDeleteSome c/b down on a player who embarrasses their pick! Heaven knows Davenporte on TCC didn't think Putintseva did anything to worry Coco! After Djokr took OG w/ no one on his side, we should learn never t/b so bold as to dismiss another player; esp. if they hear about it!
***...This was a Tricky match for Gauff, who hasnt been playing well at all for awhile now. She committed 21 UFE in the 1st set of tennis vs Poots. She had a 4-2 advantage in the 3rd set & imploded? Coco had 51 UFE in 3 sets of tennis? ...Commentators need to do their homework on players. Of course Davenport forgot to mention that Poots has also had good wins vs Swiatek of late? Davenport needs to go back & do her homework on players B4 making Laughable Comments.***
Alcaraz upset by Monfils finishing up their match from last nite in Cincy! M/b this w/b a > conventional era w/ the top players truly vuln. to upset periodically! It was an anomaly the resilience of the Big 3 going 20+ yrs. at the top of the rankings trading the #1 ranking! I've already said it w/b routine for players to have success 1 wk., make or win a final, then go down in flames the following event! They might as well WD which we're seeing > often w/ the of the match, but later Fed complained about a bad ankle! Not sure if on "a shot," but back then, every loss of Fed had to have an explanation! Even I gave him cover concerning his rivalry w/ Nadal that wasn't as Rafa owned Roger "lock, stock, & barrel" from early on!: We tried to rationalize > of the wins were on clay when Roger was going down, = on nhis beloved grass to the "GOAT-in-waiting" after Sampras set Major's rec. @ 14 just 3 yrs. B4! I give Roger a lot of credit w/ a string of wins over Rafa late when they were on their "Fedal Redux" tour while Novak was wandering the desert in search of his game, his personal life, & a healed elbow!
***Fedal Redux Tour, haha. Love it. - Tbh, other > that '17 season when Fed bounced back, Rafa really owned him. Fed's '17 season however was special.
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Djoker practically killed himself to play in Wimby & took OG. Now he's got to take X off.***
WTF are you talking about? It's been no secret that Djokovic has drastically scaled back his schedule! He's pulling "a Nadal;" just taking X off from the tour as he's almost 40! He has all the recs. so why waste his X in smaller events like Fed picking up somewhat meaning< titles just to overtake Connors' 109! He's proved he doesn't need the extra work as he made a Wimbl. final, then won OG!
***LOL! When did 37 become 40? Novak turned 37 in May this yr. BTW, cant help yourself mentioning Nadal can you? lol! BTW, Novak hasn't won a title this yr. When did winning a OGM ct. as a title on the ATP tour?
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He's okay, just pacing himself. He was spotted in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a wk. ago, running shirt< in the streets on +35 degC in the mid'l of the Summer. People were like who's this maniac running around?...Oh wait, it's Novak Djokovic.
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He paid the price B4 when he overplayed in OG yrs. during the Summer. M/b he wants to do "< is >" this yr. He might come in rusty though, who knows. - I get that, but he did kill himself in recovery & rehab trying to get ready. A bit out of the ordinary for an old man. No doubt he w/b rusty, but we've seen him shake it off B4. I suspect he w/b fine un< he gets a draw from Lucifer.***
***The NFL's apparently thinking about an 18 game schedule. I disagree.
ReplyDeleteGive us NFL football each wkend for 18 or = 19 wks., but go back to 16 games & give each team 2 or 3 BYE wks. Football's better for everyone when players stay healthy. Too many games wrecks that. The BYE wks. help. Fans will watch NFL Football if their team's on BYE wk.***
That'd make too much sense! The Owners proved ages ago they don't care about the players; esp. the ones who use artificial turf which might as well be cement! They've changed the rules to protect QB's, but the rest of the players are quite vulnerble to injury; esp. making them play 2 extra games! Elim. those exh. jokes! The top players sit out anyway! What're we missing besides our $$ as the league rips off the consumer?
***18 or 20 games' fine. 17 games is confusing trying to keep track. Even #'s >er. Bye wks. + > confusion trying to figure out who's leading WC or Divs. & predict winners. A game's about 10 mins. of sprints over 3 hrs.? If they can’t handle that... For $2 M/ game? Come on! Use your full 80 man roster. Most of the clock ticks away on dead X. Kill pre-season completely. Get your own team ready. Quit coddling these animals. Play your 5 yrs. & get out; hurt or not. No one owes these steroid stuffed robots anything. When did the USA turn into a pile if pansies? Who wants to watch 40 yo. QB who has not won a playoff game get $60 M/ & lasts 4 > yrs.?
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It's actually quite violent & results in severe & not so severe injuries. The ability to take wks. off can heal an injury & prevent the injury from recurring over & over. Beaten up football players are highly prone to becoming addicted to pain killers, etc.
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Going after the QB & putting a hurting on him. ...Running QB's or ones who could run & "out of the pocket" guys was a tough road. I'm not knocking Mahomes. The sport's diff. in that it has eras.***
I've had a serious problem w/ defenses catterwalling about how the game's changed & how their hands have been tied! IMO, they brought it on themselves w/ their ROTTEN attitude of pretending to care about other players as they lit. try to put each other in a coma! I'm surprized a QB hasn't been killed on the field! I can still see some of them being lifted off the ground, then pile-drived into the turf! Thinking of Cunningham, I still wince thinking of the guy who lowered his head going right @ the knee of the QB! Football players are true a-holes & they're all FOS!
***They may have gone too far. Many X's I see a QB barely touched & lowered to the ground...yet it's call roughing. Basically you can't touch the QB un< he has the ball.
IDK how to say it, but they've turned it pretty much into a CLOCK game? If you can get the clock right at the end & you only need a FG. The other team's done for. KC would've lost a playoff game (or >) if not for just enuf X was left on the clock.
Not sure how I like it as it is now? Almost as-if, you let them score so you can hurry up & win it? They can all get 30-40 yds. & bomb a 50-60 yd. FG nowdays.
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Who's the > feared power hitter in MLB history? I say Bonds, then Aaron. Either one of those guys'd batflip a HR on an "excuse me" swing.***
No one got > respect > Barry Bonds! The man was "intent'ly walked" 100 X's in a season w/ another 100 throwing the ball "away" so he couldn't yank it out of the yard! People forget the ult. respect was observed in AZ. where Bonds was "I.W." w/ the bases loaded to get @ Jeff Kent who was the MVP that season! That hadn't happened in over 40+ yrs. @ the X! He had already made a name for himself & was an HOF cand. B4 being busted for P.E.
***Just came in to say that USA - Serbia, OG Semi's match in basketball yesterday was amazing. Huge respect to both sides & all players.***
ReplyDeleteThe US was on the verge of being upset in that Olympic SF game! They were quite lucky Serbia missed a few open shots near the end of the game! They dodged a bullet!
***It's not all luck. The Serbs looked gassed down the stretch. Stef & the old man finally took charge of the game instead of getting bossed.
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Yeah, they turned it around in about 30-40 sec. about the 2:30 mins left of the game. Serbia was +2 & tried 3-pt., but missed. After that they were down -5, B4 they = realized what happened. Curry was unbelievable. W/o him, not sure if USA would win. Pretty strong team they gathered this OG; LeBron, Curry, Durant, Embiid.***
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Unfortunately Rune's mentally fragile as any of the last gen. w/ Sascha, Stefanos, & Dom B4 serious injury/retiring! I keep saying it; "we've become so jaded w/ the longevity & elite level of play by the Big 3!" We'll prob. never see their "like" again! Carlos has the potential to do > things, but I see him going down way B4 Sampras' level! Like Nadal, he works too hard winning the simplest of pts., which in turn wears his body down! Sinner will have the same prob. already seen over the yrs.! The men are still worth watching though = w/ the game degenerating into mind< aggression from the baseline; NOTHING NEW really! The injuries, rets., & WD's will proliferate their tour draws needing > of the losers to hang around to fill them back up! "Lucky Losers" are actually performing >er making QF's & SF in Masters events! That's a bit sad! Tiafoe may've used up all his reserves overcoming Rune last nite! "Good luck Francis! You'll need it!"
***Sinner failed 2 drug tests. The words here to research are micro dosing...***
I haven't paid much attn. to this story as I think all players need an extra boost to play the game these days! I was a bit disappointed in Cahill making out Sinner's some kind of victim & his ordeal's finally over after all these months! Sounds about as plausible as Gasquet "deep kissing" some woman on COKE! It was in the cream rubbed in you say?
***Please go & read the full report, Sinner wasn't a bloody victim @ all. Again you come in w/ crap that you havent read the full report? I strongly suggest you read it B4 passing your pathetic statement!
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You truly believe that the physio rubbed physio cream onto a cut that made him fail 2 anabolic steroid tests. Cmon @CouchPotato !
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It's still preferential treatment. He m/b entirely innocent, but I'd've liked the same treatment provided to him as everyone else who was found w/ + results. It's not a good look for the sport to have the #1 player basically getting a pass = if one is warranted.
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Why is it Cahill players always being caught doping? Halep (Patrick M.) & now Sinner. Something's stinking here, the coincidence that 2 of his players in a span of 5 yrs. are caught doping. So his win in Australia has an asterisk.***
Other players from the past & present are not happy w/ the diff. in treatment! Others w/b suspended regardless if they're aware of a PED or not! Halep who was coached by Patrick Mouratoglou got ejected off the WTA for a 4 yr. ban! After an appeal by a sport's COURT, the penalty was reduced to 9 months which she had already served! Sinner's skating away, giving the system a raspberry!
***Cheers to USO starting! Rds. 2, 3 & 4 for Djokovic are IMO far, far harder > those of the other 2.***
Looks tough, but not sure Novak'll care! I hope he gets to 4th Rd. to have a rematch w/ Shelton! "Hang up the phone!" After OGM all else is inconsequential IMO! The top of the draw has quite a few dangerous players, but not sure how motivated Novak w/b to = get anywhere in NY to taking #25! I'd still take his draw as #2 seed over Jannik who has it tough up top as #1!
***When it comes to this failed drug test, whether you like Sinner or not is irrelevant (I shudder to think around here if Novak had been caught in the same sit). ...What boggles my mind was the short Xspan he was actually suspended while the investig. was expeditiously being done. @Front’s pt.'s well taken, the minute amt. of a banned substance in his system doesn't refute it chb exiting after a prolonged per. Sinner’s excuse is “plausible” only if you assume that the small amt. found was never ever > that amt. ever in his blood stream, which IMO is a hell of an assumption.***
ReplyDeleteThey w/b talking about this soap opera for a long X! I find it amazing most players say they "have no idea how this happened," then we go to this extreme case where the excuse was "a physio didn't wash his hands!" Wow, Novak w/b run out of the game! Some are so ready to accuse him w/ his efforts these last sev. yrs.!
***Djere played Novak very close the last X they met @ the USO. Not sure where Struff is right now or his chances in best of 5. Popyrin in round 3 w/b fun to watch. Shelton or Tiafoe in round 4? His match vs Shelton was pretty str.-fW last yr. Tiafoe gave him trouble in Oz back in '21.***
OCO; you know >er > that! The match w/ Djere was a Serbian Nat'l exh. choreographed by Novak! Laslo's his compatriot & teammate! He wasn't going to embarrass him & got his lone workout as the only 2 sets lost was in this match! Any exper. player can make a match look comp.! The scores alone'd show how Nole was in control wiping out a 2 set to LUV def. w/ b2b 6-1 sets B4 closing it out in 5, 6-3! LD prob. won't get past Struff!
***I like Djere & he’s prob. underperformed when you see his potential & what he’s actually achieved. I disagree w/ your op. that their match was choreographed. The guy stepped up to give his best vs a Nat'l hero. Good on him. ITA that Struff prob. w/b the victor in that 1st Rd. match.***
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Some actually think Djokovic manufactures injuries even though the world saw some idiot fan drop a thermos on Novak's head in Paris back in June creating an obvious concussion! Even w/ the horrendous scheduling by Mauresmo making him play well into the night, it all worked out in the end w/ that OGM last month! That's all I kept hearing about from the haters, "well Rafa has his OG & Novak doesn't!" NOW what? I advocate the abolishment of quite a few sports out of the Olympics, but since tennis is a part of it, oh well...!
***Even w/ the brilliance of Fedalovic, they still needed a lot of luck. ...It's overly simplistic to blame a playing style for injury. And it's also true that Nadal had to miss > Majors > Fedovic, while maintaining a >er win % at them > either of the other 2. He still maintained winning yrs. for longer @ the Majors.***
...Novak picked up another rec. this yr.; the only player w/ @ least 88 career match wins @ each major! If not for just 88 wins @ USO, the rec. w/b min. 96 singles wins! He skipped or went out early a few X's w/ injury or DQ over the yrs.! The USO has been a lot of players' Kryptonite; usually the FO'd come into play! Lucky Roger got 1 w/ upset of Nadal! Novak might cont. on past this season, but if I want t/b consistent, "NOVAK'd retire if he steals another USO over the newbie champs of Sinner & Alcaraz!" I think he has a bit left in him, but can't see the mot.! I guess he can push all the recs. he owns to #'s that may stand the test of X! Something signif. would have to change like going BO3 @ majors or Next Gen. scoring to save their bodies! Again, no one will have the longevity, stamina, & consistency of Fedalovic ever! Their bodies s/b examined later for bionic parts!
***It doesn't take me saying it to make Nadal relevant to this conversation. You old "hateh!"***
***Rafa has overall higher winning % @ Slams, but that's b/c of his dom. @ RG. He has a lower win % @ all 3 other Slams > Roger & Novak - and is overall 3rd best @ all 3.***
ReplyDeleteThis is why I've always tried to undermine the praise heaped on Rafa w/ such good #'s overall when > of his fame achieved was in Europe on clay! Subtract that dom. & he drops quite a bit since he woefully underachieved @ Wimbl. & the AO! Fed always w/b sorta above all other players w/ X streaks of 5 in trad.'ly the 2 top majors; Wimbl. & USO! He "got fat" off players not in his class until Rafa & Novak came along! He wound up having a losing rec. vs both of them so in "the books" he's in 3rd place, but those 2 streaks elevates him IMO! Djokovic helps his case being dom. @ 2 majors & "holding his own" in a 3rd! He really represented, being quite rec. driven as his career couldn't be > symmetrical winning 12 Majors early, then 12 late! Add on 4 seasons winning 3 of 4 Majors in a season; again 2 early, then 2 late! He has almost 100 titles w/ a 1/4 being major wins, elevated w/ 7 YEC's & an OGM! The rec. 40 Masters wins takes him to almost half of his other titles are Big! He isn't the MASTER of 250's & 500's like other so called ATG's! After all's said & done, esp. a century down the line, IDK how anyone can match Novak!
***Where we diverge is in you thinking that Rafa's asymmetry takes away from his >ness. I don't think it does; my bringing it up was to nitpick Moxie's stat (about win % @ Slams), but > so to pt. out the difficulty of comparing him "1 to 1" w/ the other 2.
I also think you sell him a bit short @ the AO & Wimbl. Yes, he only has 2 Slam titles on each, but that's still > all but a handful of players. And @ Wimbl. his prob. was similar to Roger's on clay: he played alongside 2 of the 3 >est Wimbl. champs of the OE (though tbf, Novak didn't get really good until Rafa's grass peak was ending). Also, like Roger on clay, his "grass peak" was rel. short. But it was a pretty fantastic peak, w/ 5 Wimbl. finals in a row (skipping over the missed '09) winning 2 of them.
His AO rec.'s interesting, but if you look @ his 4 finals' losses, it's understandable: he faced Novak twice on his best court, Stanimal, & Roger during his '17 resurgence. Not sure why he went out in the QF so often, though. Talk about asymmetry: 6 finals (2 won), just 1 SF, & 7 QFs.
Of course we still come back to the same place: Rafa was 3rd fiddle @ the AO, Wimbl., & the USO. But he was a pretty > 3rd fiddle, & his dom. @ RG was so extreme that it closes the gap.
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PS: While ITA that it's hard imagining any player ever =ling--let alone surpassing--the Big 3, you just never know, & young Carlos has me wondering. It's waaaay too soon to think (seriously) about that, but what he's doing @ his young age is astonishing.
For one, he's still @ a pt. where he'd end up being another Becker or Wilander...
2ndly, the vast majority of >s build up 90% or > of their big accomps. B4 turning 30. Connors won only 2 of his 8 Slams in his 30s, & he turned 30 during #7. Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander, Edberg, & Becker won all of their Slams B4 turning 30. Sampras won just 1 of 14 in his 30s, & = Agassi only won 2 of 8 in his 30s. Adding all 9 together, that's 75 Slam titles, only 4 or 5 won in their 30s (dep. upon how you ct. Jimmy's '82 USO). That's 93-95% of Slams won by ATGs btwn. the '74 & '03 AOs won B4 turning 30 yo, or < 7% in their 30s.
Once we get to the Big 3, Roger won 4 of 20 in his 30s (20% in 30s), Rafa 8 of 22 (36%), & Novak 12 of 24 (50%). Interestingly, each +ed 4 > the previous 1 - pushing longevity further back, though Novak (& m/b Rafa) isn't done yet. They're anomalies if you look @ >s from the prev. 30 yrs. B4 Roger's 1st Slam, but not if you look back further @ Rosewall, Laver, & some older guys from B4 the OE.
More > anything, we don't know how Alcaraz'll age, but presumably medicine will only get >er. And B4 he gets to his 30th BD, he has to win a ton of Slams. If he averages 1.5 a yr. from age 22-29, he'll've 16+ Slams by his 30th BD.***
***2001-04 were the yrs. Roger could've "gotten fat" off players not in his class, & he had 4 slams @ that pt., w/ '04 being his only dom. yr. in that stretch. Rafa came along in '05 (he won 11 titles that yr. & beat Roger @ the FO for his 1st slam). After that, Roger won 16 slams, which is 80% of his total slams & > what Pete won in his career. So, Roger did > of his winning when Rafa (& later Novak, yes Roger won 8 slams after Novak won his 1st) came along. If anyone got fat off players not in his class it was Lleyton Hewitt, who won the 2 slams early (in '01 & '02), & never won again.
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Anyhow, I'm reminded of Tomas Berdych, who also won a Masters @ a very young age (20), then no > Big Titles. Berdych actually became a >er player & a fixture in the Top 10 for almost a decade, winning a bunch of talented & w/o the wall of the Big 4, but I'm thinking is on a similar trajectory: he's fk'n around ...prob. there w/b some development lost.
I tend to think that 1 thing that separates the >s from the "almost-rans" is continual development early on, w/ no major stalls. If that doesn't happen, I don't think it's poss. to reclaim it later. So for me Rune's falling into FAA terr. after this 1st Rd. loss @ the USO. Both are very talented & "s/b" top 5 guys, but I think they're missing too > devel. @ a crucial X, so = if they take steps forward, they never w/b what they chb.***
Some players have t/b "zoning" to = get into the top 10! I tell you when I see players like FAA, Tiafoe, Fritz, Paul, & quite a few others; they can't sustain it! I hope Taylor didn't get a big head b/c he def. Nadal in IW's final 2 yrs. ago! On a gimpy leg, Nadal was able to come back & def. him on Wimbl. grass in 5 sets! That's the one Fritz should've won! In the old days a big serve kept you in the top 10, but that means nothing today! Acing their way into prominance isn't going to keep them there! There was only 1 way for them to go; DOWN! They'll all go thru intensive therapy, find new diets, & manifest getting back to the top of the ranks! It'll be sorta like Coric coming out of nowhere to win Cinci. 2 yrs. ago; def. Nadal along the way! He's done nothing since! All that talent & it means nothing when it comes to the elites of the game! To have any staying power, you not only need a weapon, you have to have super consistency, some variety to your game, avoid serious injury, & possess a lot of luck!
***I hear you. I recall that when Coric broke into the top 100, just B4 his 18th BD., he, along w/ Kyrgios became the new hopes of the tour. By that pt. ('14-15ish), it was clear that Lost Gen. was truly lost, & Thiem hadn't yet surged & we didn't yet know about Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, etc. But as we got to know Coric, it became clear that he lacked weapons or any skills that set him apart. He then coasted in the 30-50 range for a few yrs. & by the X he started rising in '18, he was already 21-22 & other, > talented, young players were showing up.
...Anyhow, Coric's sort of a throwback to the era (90s-early 00s) when 3rd tier types would win the occasional Masters. He never had that quality like a Tsonga, where if lightning striked he could win a Slam or 2. Or even a Ferrer, who was so consistently very good that in a diff. era would likely have won 2 RG titles. Think of guys like Pavel & Portas, or = Robredo, who snuck in Masters titles.***
***I did get it, but I responded to the spirit of the ??. Harris has delib.'ly chosen to call Trump "weird." It simplifies things, appeals to the young, while @ the same X mimicking Trump's vagueness. Put it out there & let Trump deal w/ it. It's a smart tactic. At the same X, Trump has decided to attack Harris' "blackness." At a meeting w/ Black journalists, no <. When you get audible gasps in a room, it's not going well.***
ReplyDeleteThe Dems & liberal networks have learned to play "childish" name-calling so "weird" has been used, overused, & run into the ground to club VP choice, Rep. J.D. Vance OTH!
***Dems have been trying the "when they go low, we go high" for yrs., & it doesn't work. Throwing mud sticks. "Weird" isn't = close to the kind of things that Reps. call Dems. But it's a start. Gloves off. Esp. if Trump's going to ?? Kamala's "blackness." She should ?? his Christianity in response. B/c his Christianity seems t/b performative & opportunistic. At least she's actually Black.
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It was "poor form" & stupid. It's also racist, & something he's also done to Nikki Haley. He's ??ing a person's authenticity, which he has also done to Barack Obama w/ the birth certif. crap. It's a distraction from policy. But contrary to your above, I don't just detest Trump, I don't want him t/b President b/c of his policies as well. I know what he was like as a President B4, & I don't want a repeat of it. On many levels, I know we basically agree on him on a personal level, but don't for a min. think that it colors my opinion on his pol. positions. That diminishes my own pol. astuteness. I know I don't want his MAGA coalition any closer to power than they already are. And there are just the basic core Rep. policies that I disagree w/. On this we differ, which's fine.
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Trump meeting was sched. for 1 hour w/ the NABJ. During the 1st 2 mins. Trump berated the moderators saying that they delayed him for 35 mins. b/c they were late (a stereotype). Trump was trying to deflect to make the NABJ look derelict which plays to his MAGA base. The mods didn't not take the bait & carry on w/ dumpster fire of his presence on stage.
Facts: The reason for the delay was due to Trump's insistence that the "Fact checking" device be turned off. Trump bitched about this 45 mins. prior, but the NABJ wouldn't bulge. This is why when he came on stage the mod. when direct to her ?? regarding the "elephant in the room" which most def. +ed fuel to Trump's child-like behavior. When the mod tried to inquire about Project 2025, the Trump team insisted that #45 had a hard stop @ that pt. in the disc. The major newspapers have verified this & it was announced on MSNBC., CNN, & the major news networks like ABC, CBS, & NBC > def. will follow up. The one mod. from FOX, Harris said that it was a hostile environ. Really? It was all due to the ">est of Liars;" #45
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Secret Service protection stopped for RFK, Jr. when he endorsed Trump. End gov't waste. Don’t protect people who aren’t actually running for office.***
The Secret Service has been stretched rather thin since the days of Obama! His "death threats" were quad.'d compared to other Presidents! It proved 1/2 the country wasn't ready for a Black man to lead the country! The SS were caught being > a lit'l incompetent; drunk & driving into posts outside the White House, allowing someone on Obama's elevator w/ him carrying a knife, & of course the > egregious, haggling w/ a hooker in Colombia as they were preparing for a visit by the President! Trump didn't help things later by having about 20 people & 3 residences to cover! All these people have enough $$ to cover their own expenses for security, but don't!
***Many Dems say ‘walls don’t work.’ They believe the Mex. border can’t be totally secure.***
ReplyDeleteIt's such a joke pretending to care about that border! If it was a serious issue, either the Dems or Rep. whd something already! Trump killed a bill that was compromised earlier this yr. so I just laugh when I hear about a WALL! Trump mentioned it a 1000 X's & said Mexico'd pay for it! We're all FOS & know we need those illegals to help w/ work we're too snobby, weak, & lazy to do like care for our own kids, pick veggies, & keep up the grounds/lawns!
***A border w/o a barrier is like a door w/o a lock.***
There are walls down there, but part of it is desert territory & water barriers! What else you want?
***Kamala was nom. unanimously by her party @ their convention. - Zero votes. Dimwingers disenfranchised 14 M voters, Simp.***
Done under the cover of darkness last month on cell phones & Zoom Calls! During the DNC, the ct. was just overlooked & drowned out by the performances that make Reps. PO'd! All they had was Hulk Hogen & Amber Rose!
***Haley told them to vote for Trump, which they did. Just like Biden released his delegates, telling them to vote for Harris, which they did.***
They enthusiastically gave up their votes to Harris! Biden was slowly deteriorating & a change had to happen if we wanted to save our Democracy! Even the "rightwingers" of the party are throwing their support behind her! Trump's own cabinet is running from him like the plague! He's damaged so many reps., even w/ this magnanomous gesture, people like AG Barr s/b maligned until he croaks!
***Rep. Liz Cheney blames FNC for Jan. 6th getting out of hand.***
I wish I could obsolve the woman, but I’m not ready to anoint her a saint after going along w/ Trump 93% of the X! After her life’s threatened “she’s seen the light!” I don’t think so! Being a Cheney she already had strikes against her! She’s been no Princess Laia to Darth Vader! I apprec. many Reps. going on rec. supporting Harris! She was such a bad candidate 4 yrs. ago, now she’s our savior! What a comeback! The only one that could've beaten her w/b Hillary after her being maligned to the hilt by those people on “the right!” There was no mercy, least of all a SOUL in that entire Party as they couldn’t do enough w/ facts! They had to make up $#!t like a child porn org. in the basement of a pizza parlor! Reps. c/b 'not too bright!'
***...Trump’s heroes, along w/ Hitler, Putin, & Hannibal Lecter!***
That’s Trump’s destiny; t/b as noteworthy as Hitler! He thinks himself on par w/ Wash'ton & Lincoln! They’ve already rated him “The Worst President!” That says a lot about the lack of intel. & common sense to tempt fate again w/ our Democracy! Hopefully Harris will pull us out of this apocalypse!
***I'll never forgive Mitch McConnell for kneecap'n Obama, stealing 2 SC appts., & pack'n the Court w/ rightwing fanatics; not to mention his complicity w/ Trump.***
Being in such an advanced age situation, his justice will come sooner > later! He has a very high price to pay IMO! The amt. of evil in this man is incalculable after what he did during Obama’s tenure as president! He gave > respect to Putin as Trump was Russia’s pawn! The man spent > of his X watching TV & playing golf! Funny how it was Trump among others who complained about Obama playing golf! They have NO SHAME & hope KARMA catches up to them all!
***What's the secret Mitch so desper. wants us to not see? He's sliding into dementia & may not remember his motivations.***
What does that say about the entire Rep. Party to have this state of affairs w/ a senile OLD man fronting for their heinous acts vs our democracy?
***That's something rarely mentioned. The egos of some of these female {WNBA} players are as big if not >er > some of the best male players. The jealousy these women have over somebody else getting attn. is mind boggling. They don't care about how the WNBA does as a whole. Their screeds are all "what about ME" whining. They s/b thankful Clark has boosted the popularity of their sport. But petty jealousy.***
ReplyDeleteSorry, but the WNBA's a total joke! I half-heard the other day, Reese was getting praise for rebounding the ball 20 X's in 3 cons. games! THEY LOST ALL 3! So what? I'm no fan, but the league's lucky to have Caitlin Clark as she's gotten the women > $$ & >er traveling accomm.! Hard to believe these women are behaving like all the others; jealous, envious, & hateful towards her! It's a damn shame that women hate each other so much! The comp. goes beyond sports w/ them; relationships, jobs, & of course w/ MEN! It's so sad & pathetic! This is why they lose or lack getting respect & prob. why Hillary Clinton lost the Presidency to a Caveman back in '16! Women did it to themselves! They're screwed for yrs. to come as this SC's making their lives hard to bear!
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***It's no wonder that pathetic league couldn't draw flies if the seats were covered w/ fresh cow shit. Women prove t/b just that; Women. They're petty, jealous, catty, & won't listen to anyone, all while being toooootally self unaware.***
The nails & hair situation is what women fall back on when it comes to their sport attracting fans! Look @ Gymnastics & fig. skating in the Olympics w/ the costuming & tons of makeup.
***If Europe has a women's basketball league, I w/b paying close attn.***
She'd prob. make > in Europe! The WNBA obviously don't know how well they have it! Beating up on Clark is truly "cutting off their noses to spite their faces!" Totally moronic broads!
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***Just came in to say that USA - Serbia, OG Semi's match in basketball yesterday was amazing. Huge respect to both sides & all players.***
The US was on the verge of being upset in that Olympic SF game! They were quite lucky Serbia missed a few open shots near the end of the game! They dodged a bullet!
***It's not all luck. The Serbs looked gassed down the stretch. Stef & the old man finally took charge of the game instead of getting bossed.
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Yeah, they turned it around in about 30-40 sec. about the 2:30 mins left of the game. Serbia was +2 & tried 3-pt., but missed. After that they were down -5, B4 they = realized what happened. Curry was unbelievable. W/o him, not sure if USA would win. Pretty strong team they gathered this OG; LeBron, Curry, Durant, Embiid.***
The US took OG over France in the final!
***Anyone here looking forward to the USO? ESPN & the USTA have ext'd their relationships w/ a new 12 yr. agreement that'll keep the USO w/ ESPN thru 2037.***
ReplyDeleteI've been > interested in the past! I miss the tour when Osaka & Barty were on top! Fedal's gone & Novak's on his last legs! After winnng OG last month, I'm not sure what will motiv. the guy @ 37 holding so many of the tour recs.! He's just extending them every X he goes out there! We'll see what he can muster as #2 seed behind Sinner! Jannik's gotta be feeling the heat & controversy he's overcoming w/ failed drug tests from March @ IW's!
***If I had to put $$ on it, I think Djokovic will retire after the last slam in '28, whether that be the USO (or FO if it's moved to Fall due to Wimbl. moved earlier to not interfere w/ the Olympics). Djokovic's adamant about defending his OGM. Plus, I think he wants to @ least pass Roger in match wins & titles (m/b go for Connors recs. in both), which are attainable if he plays 4 > yrs. If FO's the last slam in '28, I think it w/b fitting for Novak if he retired @ the place where he won Gold.***
The seeds are dropping like flies @ The USO on both the men & ladies' side of things! Some are quite surprising as they c/b coming into NY on a heater, winning an event, but doesn't seem to matter as it once did! Novak's extending his rec. of being the only player w/ 90+ match wins @ every major event! It's now @ 90 & ct.'n here in NY as he def. his countryman Djere who had to retire in the 3rd set last night!
***Alcaraz is down 2 sets to LOV &'s barely holding on vs Van de Zandschulp @ the USO, 2nd Rd.***
Wow, Carlos is making his life so difficult! He started out vs Von de Zand. "hot-dogging," running down balls unnecess, in the early stages of this match! After all those acrobatics, he still lost the 1st set 1-6! What an idiot! He throws up a short lob, then lit. runs closer to the baseline almost getting hit! This is the same person so concerned about his health, he cut his workout short the other day, but now he's trying to run all balls down like a gazelle! He very well may come back strong to take it in 5, but this is what I'm talking about w/ him! SomeX's you just need to concede a pt. & say "good shot!" He's going to run himself out of the game early! I know I said the same about Nadal, but the ball's traveling a lot faster these days!
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Again; where's the swag? Carlos' totally subdued so far dropping his serve yet again in the 3rd set! UPSET? I guess we shouldn't be surprised! The same thing happened last yr. after winning Wimbl.! He didn't win another event & was a shell of himself barely getting to YEC SF! UPDATE: He's gone! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy so full of drama playing these matches!
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Djokovic has dropped to #4 in the World on the LIVE Rankings after drop'n his 3rd Rd. match to Popyrin! Nole'd FALL further depending on what Med or Rublev can do while in! That also means The Tennis Olym. stand of Djokr, Alcaraz, & Musetti are all out by Rd. 3! There's been a blood-bath since Day 1!
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Unbelievable; 3 Aussies in the 4th Rd.! Prob. been longer > the US who's been scratchin' for any kind of success, notw/standing the efforts of Taylor, Tiafoe, Korda, Shelton, McDonald, & Paul! The GOLDEN AGE is well behind us when > countries'd covet our A, B, & C DC teams w/ Sampras, Agassi, Chang, & Courier leading the way! I'm still sorta interested in this USO - w/o Novak in the draw!
***Fed ??'s process in 'tricky' Sinner case. He thinks Jannik Sinner's doping case raises ??'s about whether the men's world #1 shb allowed to cont. competing until he was absolved of intentionally using an anabolic steroid he tested + for twice in March.***
ReplyDeleteWeigh in? This was a huge deflection which Fed's admirers will call being "diplomatic!" It's > like a "wimp in" > anything! Typical Fed!
***I hear ya, but Methuselah's sooo corp. speak = 2+ yrs. into retirement that = ??'ing the protocol as he did here is the =alent of blockading the str. of Paris.
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...Pistol Pete is always in the convo., esp. if talking fast grass & HC's. He had an iron will & feared no one.***
True enuf! Thru his tenure @ the top, Pete was 2nd to none, = w/o playing in a FO final! At his best, he'd only make 2 good runs in Paris B4 the eventual champ. took him out in the QF & SF resp.! Even Agassi embarrassed him in an early Rd. of RG! It was a diff. story on faster courts where he excelled; esp. indoors & on grass! He still had some "Kryptonite" players that beat him on his fave surfaces; 1 being Richard Krajicek who stopped his Wimbl. runs right down the mid'l by upsetting Pete in the '96 QF! Krajicek caught him on HC's as well, but overall, Pete was the man w/ nerves of steel! Fed doesn't come close IMO!
***Fiero talking BS again. Fed's better > Sampras....put simply.
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What I fail to understand is why Sinner choose to work w/ the man who appareantly gave him the drug right up til he was cleared (6 months)? And THEN he fired him?***
In criminal parlance, the term > familiar w/b "taking the rap!" M/b he was paid quite handsomely to keep his mouth shut!
***Taylor has gotten so much >er. Sascha's going to have to take it up a few > levels or Zed's USO's Dead today.***
Any & all players have bursts of bril.! Fritz = did it 2 yrs. ago winning IW over Nadal! At Wimbl., he came back to Earth = though Nadal was injured! It's wishful thinking Taylor will cont. some kind of grand ascent! IMO, Sinner's doing it all w/ mirrors as well since it's > about his defense; lit'l > adequate off. weapons! He'll cont. having trouble dealing w/ "old man" Nole who does it just a lit'l >er w/ >er consistency! If Djokovic gets some rest & motivation to have a finishing kick this FALL, he might excel again @ the YEC! He'd embarrass everyone like he did last yr.! As for Sascha, he just makes his job harder by being care>, allowing someone like Fritz to take him to the limit! He's #2 in the world for a reason while Taylor's scratchin' to get back into the top 10!
***Sinner gets it done in 4 over Med.***
I thought it'd go longer! Oh well! Interesting SF; the lone top seed going against a dangerous "also-ran" while the States snuck in 2 Americans to make sure NFL Sunday leads into a USO w/ a citizen in the final after all these yrs.! Who'd've thunk Roddick was the last to do us proud B4 Europe took over the Men's Tour! Daniil was not @ the top of his game! IMO, he's still one of the craftiest players out there, shocking us all w/ his court speed & winners out of nowhere!
***I think Fritz/Draper chb a comp. match had he not been ill. Sinner may still be the fave, but he hasn't looked imposing in any match, unless I'm wrong.
I just surfed by a few X's @ crucial X's close to end of the 1st set! I didn't see that he had been sick! I feel for him! It's the worst when in a tourn., the heat's beating you down, & something's going on in your guts! I've only won 2 or 3 of those, but only b/c I knew to attack & cut pts. short! Better players will know & just keep you running! Draper did himself proud!
***...The Assoc. Press says that WADA & Nado Italia, the Italian anti-doping body, have just a couple of days left to appeal it, so we should know soon.***
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the Ialian A-D body will get right on that! Don't make me laugh!
***There's definit. some bias whether it's sex, #1 player, or Italian. I can't say def., but something about this whole process stinks.
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After Sinner def. Fritz in str. sets, he has #1 all but locked up; almost 3000 pts. ahead. He could coast w/ mod. results & still win it.
For remaining tourns., there are 2 Masters, the YEC, 4 ATP 500s & 7 ATP 250s. Remaining tourn. "slots:"
...Sept. 30th (1000): Masters (Shanghai)
...Oct. 28th (1000): Masters (Paris)
Nov. 4th (250): 2 ATP 250s (Belgrade, Metz)
Nov. 11th (1500): ATP Finals
That's 5250 poss. pts. Zverev's 2885 & Alcaraz 2990 pts. behind, so they have to surpass Sinner by about 3,000 pts. thru the rest of the yr. to win the #1 ranking crown. A tall order.
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...For the foreseeable future, the Slams look like Sincaraz's to lose. Surprises can & (eventually) will happen. M/b 1's hurt & the other gets upset, & someone else takes home a title. But there's a real poss. that we're @ the beginning of an era not that diff. > Fedal in '05-10. After Safin won the '05 AO, Fedal won the next 10 Slams, 17 of 18, & 21 of 23 (thru'10). I'm not sure Sincaraz w/b that dom., but right now it doesn't seem impossible, m/b not = unlikely. But it's hard to access the younger guys - the Mensiks & Fonsecas. We're in a Sincaraz era, w/ really only Novak being a serious contender--& m/b Medvedev, though I'm not sure he can beat the Big 2 any> on the big stage.
The next Slam's 4 months away, so let's see how the rest of the yr. plays out. Still X for players to take a step forward or brk. thru. Of esp. importance is Novak, who is hard to place, though in terms of Slam chances next yr. he'd still be my #3. But after him, Zverev & Medvedev still lead the pack, but it isn't signif. ahead of a 1/2 dozen other guys. But again, some moving parts B4 I'm ready to predict the AO beyond Sinner/Alcaraz/Djokovic being the top 3.
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I'm not sure if Novak w/b able to fight w/ Sinner & Alcaraz in BO5 going forward. My feel is that Sinner & Alcaraz's game has become too fast & too physical for aging Novak. Next AO will tell a lot, but I think he might fare >er in BO3 currently. He did win OG in that format.
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There's no debating the GOAT. There c/b only one choice, & that's Novak Djokovic. He has far & away > “Big Titles” > any other player (72 compared to Rafa’s 59 & Roger’s 54), wks. @ #1 (428, compared to Roger’s 310 & Sampras’ 287), YE @ #1 (8, to Sampras’ 6 & Fedal's 5) & wins over top 5 & top 10 opps., > any other male player in history. It's not just the # of titles, but the incredible balance. He's the only man to have completed the CGS 3 X's. Laver, Emerson, & Nadal each completed the CS twice, but Novak completed it 3 X's. He's the only man to have won all 9 Masters 1000 events. Agassi, Fed, & Nadal have won 7 of 9. Not only is he the only man to have won all 9, but he has won each of those 9 X X's. He has the rec. for the # of majors w/ 24 (Rafa 2nd w/ 22 & Roger 3rd w/ 20), the rec. for the number of ATP Tour Finals with 7 (Roger is second with 6 and Lendl and Sampras are tied for third with 5), and the record for the number of Masters 1000 w/ 40 (Nadal's 2nd w/ 36 & Roger's 3rd w/ 28). And now, OG, the last of the “Big Titles” that he hadn’t won.
Then there's one based on feelings (subj.). For those who ascribe to this argument, there's always going t/b a debate. Laver? Borg? Sampras? Fed? Nadal? Djokovic? Each of those legends makes a compelling case, but since all subjective arguments c/b contested, there's no way to estab. a clear cut GOAT.***
***There's been > attn. in that league the last month or so than the total since its founding. It's near totally subsidized to exist.***
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, these women don't see or acknowledge this fact! They're a losing product, but got a huge boost w/ the "coming of age" start of Caitlin Clark! Swoops embarrassed herself so much showing her jealousy & outright animus of Clark to such an extent, she was fired by ESPN! She still has this look on her face like "WTF did I do?" Women c/b delusional AF & this whole drama epitomizes what I've been saying about them! I feel for guys who have to deal w/ these psycho bitches! They can't be satisfied w/ what they have & are always looking for better!
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I just heard Molly Qerim's been fired from ESPN (1st Take)! As she walks away from an interview outside, she kept up that stupid smile acting as if not devastated by being canned! I wonder will Monica MnNutt survive? She embarassed herself just as much as the rest of these jealous 304's who can't help "hating" on this new girl stealing the show! I don't = watch WNBA games, but find so much entertainment in seeing sports videos, blogs, & brk'n news as women openly make fools of themselves! You give them a platform & this is what they do w/ it! They've made Cailin Clark = >er making Nat'l news!
***Wellll her skills as a player are pretty impressive. She's broken almost every rookie rec. there is, & just set the WNBA rec. for assists.***
I love how this girl has exposed the pettiness of women! Clark brings in fans, discussion, & overall gen. exposure to the masses, but it's women who are "hating" on her the most! Past players, sports personalities, & bloggers are embarrassing themselves talking down her talent & acknowledgement of fans! Jealousy has run rampant thru the WNBA & many can't stand how Clark has taken over so quickly! Sending old fogeys to the Olympics again & again also's a travesty! Players like Taurasi really needs to go to the Games 5 or 6 X's? Idiotic, but that's women for you! Such idiots as Clark has upgraded the conditions, $$, & fandom of the WNBA!
***I guess many WNBA players don't like heterosexual white women.***
I'd take it = further! Women hate other women; PERIOD! They judge one another's looks, work, families, clothes, hair, & choices! Women will backstab each other w/o guilt & justify it later! They'll fk. each other's BF's or husbands & brag about it! The sisterhood is FAKE!
***Ohtanis having a > season in LA. '24 so far: 50 hrs, 50 SBs, .300, 15 wins, 100 games in the field. Wow!***
Has it brought fans back into the game outside of jersey sales? I can't recall the last X I watched a game from beginning to end! Others feel the same w/ the "so called" crowds immitating "empty seats" when I surf by! If I didn't know better, I think the WNBA has picked up > fans in the last few months!
***Racist Player Eye-Gouges Caitlin Clark 90 Secs. Into A Playoff Game - Dijonai Carrington has been posting nasty tweets about Caitlin Clark & white people for months. Now, she appears to have stabbed Clark in the eye w/ her nail on purpose.***
I've been saying women have a serious issue w/ each other! Chris Rock made it part of his "stand up" that "women hate women!" Clark has brought eyeballs, fans, $$, & Nat'l interest in the WNBA after having losing season after losing season! They're still losing $$, but due to exposure w/ Clark, the players are getting >er accommodations, charter flights, & endorsement deals! They can't be happy w/ that due to the "green-eyed bandit" @ work w/ the other women of the game who weren't getting the coverage B4 this! How sick is it for the other players to sabotage themselves running Clark away eventually? She should think of going to Europe where she won't get so beat up!
***Tyreek Hill detained by police. Who's in the right? Who's in the the wrong? - You s/b able to cuss out cops w/o getting rough'd up.***
ReplyDeleteTrue enough, I've seen videos where someone cussed the cops out! You can get away w/ that when you have well trained & reasonable cops! If you get an a-hole, expect him/her to feel disrespected & will act accordingly! It's best just to keep your mouth shut, ask what the problem is, then comply to their orders; esp. if speeding like that! Tyreek fk'd up just by leaving KC! He made out financially, but he lost out on 2 SB's! What an idiot! He chb immortalized like Montana/Rice! Instead, he makes a few extra bucks & gets accolades about his speed & catches when he's elim. in the playoffs yr. in & yr. out!
***I thought it was reported that he was doing 60 mph in a 40 mph zone.***
Regardless, this didn't need to go to such an extreme! Tyreek was being a common POS & thought his celebrity could afford him being disrespectful to these cops! I hardly condone such behavior from either side, but it def. chb avoided! As far as I'm concerned, he shouldn't have = been in that freakin' State! Why'd he leave KC & Mahomes just for a lit'l extra $$! IMO it just wasn't worth it; esp. losing out on the last 2 SB's! What an idiot!
***KC weather, night life vs Miami's night life, weather & women, is it really a choice? Who really cares about another Chp. @ this pt. in his young career is his mentality. The man had 4 kids w/ 4 diff. women last yr. while married. IK what any of this has to do w/ Tyreek driving 60 mph in a 40 mph zone to get slammed to the concrete regardless of attitude. Yet, the need to teach the cocky athlete to obey the law & directions of the police officers took precedence.
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I was amazed how well Rodgers moved out of the pocket & threw lasers on the run. I gotta root for the old guy, esp. after that disaster last yr.***
Looking at the Jets/Pats game now on You Tube! Looks like the Rodgers of old! Too bad he's a jerk!
***Few players have made the job of QB look as easy as he does. And yes; it’s too bad he’s a jerk.
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Why do you call him a jerk?***
I had a lot of sympathy for Rodgers dealing w/ Farve "playing Hamlet" those last few yrs. B4 takng over QB in GB! He started winning games by himself B4 failing all too often in the playoffs due to the Defense; or lack thereof! Scoring 44 pts. wasn't enough so GB only took 1 SB w/ Rodgers well over a decade ago! As he got older, he started behaving like Favre! He'd take his sweet X coming into training camp & demanded huge $$ contracts! Covid took over the counry & the World a few yrs. ago, but he decided t/b a "denyer" so he lied about being immunized! He picked up C-19 at Halloween Party & missed 2 games!b I could go on! You asked!
***Tua gets ANOTHER concussion - The problem is that it gets worse w/ each concussion.***
Tua ran into that concussion > getting hit! The collision wasn't that impactful! Tua's brain has j/b scrabbled too often to take any kind of hit! He should've retired earlier! His mom called it!
***Aaron Rodgers accused Jimmy Kimmel of being on the list of people who visited Jeffrey Epstein's island. It is a very serious allegation that needs serious proof.***
I recall Rodgers making a fool of himself on Pat McAfee's ESPN show accusing Kimmel! He looked so bad! Hard to believe I supported his X in GB as he's no longer a victim! He's a perpetrator now!
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Buffalo w/b begging for some of these pts. heaped on The Jaguars, 47-10! The real squeaker was Cincy's comeback try vs Wash'ton! The Commanders'd feel good about themselves! They really moved the ball when needed @ the end; esp. get'n that late TD!
I used to think we'd reach a threshold when it comes to politics, but somehow we keep scraping just a lit'l bit deeper into a sewer. I've seen the degen. begin early w/ the Reagan era as religion started taking over the "rightwing." It went as far as acceptable practice to have "Free Speech" zones "away" from "W" so he wouldn't hear dissent over policies after "911." I still marvel @ surviving Trump's "reign of terror." Being older & knowing our retched history, supporting the banana rep. gov't during those yrs. is soul destroying. There's a sense of hopelessness w/ groups seeing nothing wrong w/ how this man comports himself which represents us all = if we didn't want him.
ReplyDelete***We need to learn from history. Make sure 'Orange Head's' tied to that horrible doc., Project 2025.***
What kind of people agree w/ such a doc? The crafters have no shame after packing the SC. Only a true radical would believe their impartiality after lying during confirmation. "I never = discussed R vs W, though I went to law school & now preside over Appel. CT." Yrs. ago I'd easily have faith in Rep., but now that they've sold their souls to retain pol. power, I'd sooner vote for a chimp over a creature like Lindsey Graham. Bill Barr & so many others gave up their reps. coddling Trump. After he's gone, IDK how Rep. can redeem themselves.
***Dems. need to continue to tie 'Orange Head' to Project 2025 b/c this fascist doc. w/b his downfall.
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Gore forcefully told Clinton that his "sex scandal & low personal approval ratings were a major impediment to his presidential campaign." Clinton, according to people close to him, was initially taken aback, but responded w/ = force that "it was Gore's failure to run on the admin.'s rec. that hobbled his ambitions.” B/c of this, Gore refused to endorse Hillary.***
Gore can’t blame anyone but himself! IIRC, he didn’t = win his home state! Gore was a bore & hadn’t transitioned into President-mode! His stilted speaking style was off-putting & he wasn’t comfortable in his own skin! Clinton had a swagger that the Reps. couldn’t destroy = w/ the help of the incompetent Supreme Court allowing that civil case to proceed vs him! It was obviously being supported by Repuklicans, but they shunned their responsibility & integrity by letting them get away w/ it! Now that same corrupt court is protecting Frump; & he isn’t = president anymore! I’m so disgusted by them as a Body of the FED!
***...MAGA's absolutely not the problem, although not perfect, but in no way are we like the Democrats.***
No, you're not like the Dems! You're a lot worse! Scum-Suckers as a moniker comes to mind! Rep. & Cons. play "gaslighting" games trying to tear down their own economies, making up stories about "pet eating" in Ohio by Haitians, & trying to make out that Trump is SANE! They started losing their collective minds in the 90's unable to upend Clinton & they got steadily worse over the yrs.! Now they have the Anti_Christ running their party & they don't know WTF to do! Their support's waning as old-X'rs like Cheney, Bush, Romney, & others side w/ the Dems & Harris for President to save our Democracy!
***No one's gaslighting America like you people are right now. So far we've had Obama serve 12 yrs. as president & now he's trying to go for 4 >. Kamala, just like Joe, are empty suits ready to swing by the puppet strings of the machine being controlled by a cabal that has Obama as the head puppet master.
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SomeX's it feels like Trump was installed by an enemy to sabotage our country. Anyone else feel that way?***
I’ve always thought it was a Rep. thing! Look at how they try to tear the country down & increase the Nat’l Debt w/ impunity! They kvetch about budgets & spending, but they never seem to cut any of their shit when in power! They’re disgusting IMO & I have nothing to say to anyone who confesses t/b a part of that CULT of insane POS! Fk. ’em all! Reps. have proved t/b disgusting, traitorous A-holes! Their support of anyone w/ an “R” behind his name proves they’re irredeemable!
***Alcaraz's FO win in June made him the youngest man to win Slams on all 3 surfaces (HC, grass, & clay). When he won his 2nd Wimbl. title a month later, it made him the youngest man in the OE to win the "Chan'l Slam." And if he wins either the USO or the '25 AO, he'll become the 1st person to ever win 5 Slam titles B4 his 22nd BD. (Winning the AO'd also make him the youngest by far to win a CGS). Alcaraz appears t/b the standard bearer for the future of the sport. This is apt considering his game is a futuristic mix of Djokovic's speed & flexibility, Nadal's passion, & Fed's shotmaking.
ReplyDelete---
America’s full of psychosises that go back to the “Founding!” Hypocrisy’s nothing new along w/ “Bros,” ‘projection’ & ‘deflection!’ Unfortunately like the Jews wandering the dessert for decades in punishment for their transgressions, we’ll have to allow the current “Tennis Intelligentsia” of tennis to die away! It may take 2 decades for them to knock Fedal off that pedestal of GOAT-dom! Fedal’s behind Djokovic in just about every catagory! W/O Rafa’s clay success, he wouldn’t = have surpassed the feats of another clay GOD, Bjorn Borg! He just didn’t perform w/ = success as the other 2, Fedovic! Even w/ Rafa holding 22 Majors, he’s not in the running for THE BOAT w/ his obvious shortcomings on HC, grass, & indoor results! Novak isn’t my ATG or hero, but I can apprec. what he had to do to overcome & achieve ALL his GOALS! ...I just can’t imagine anyone coming too close to the recs. of Fedalovic!
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...An ex., when Korda started coming up, @Front had to bring up his father's doping, & wonder about him. ...What happens if WADA wins their appeal & Sinner gets a 1-2 yr. suspension? Meaning, what happens to his USO title? Just...oops, oh, well? Tennis needs to think about that. And I think Italian tennis has a bit of soul-searching to do, too. Attn. has been cast in their direction, & they need to think about how to deal w/ their PR prob., & to elim. any whiff of taint.***
ITA when it comes to unfairly referencing Petr! The man has t/b so proud of his offspring as their name goes on thru his daughter, Jessica in women's golf & his son, Sebastian in tennis! I'd personally never bring up his dad if interviewing him, but today's society demands the press to ask "stupid & irrelevant" ??'s b/c they're sensationists & love to put athletes on the spot! Their popularity has a lot to do w/ how much pressure is put on them to answer & so far I haven't seen too much in the way of trying to get Sabastian's "goat" so to speak!
***Watched the replay of China Open w/ Alcaraz & Sinner on TTC. He gave away the lead so many X's, I was wondering if he really wanted to win.***
Alcaraz reminds me of Hana Mandlikova! They're both super-talented, have all the shots, can hit w/ power, & has > touch & feel for the ball; esp. @ the net! Hana'd never have lost to Evert on any surface; esp. grass, but her head was scrambled w/ too many options! I'll always have Navratilova on top w/ #'s that never w/b surpassed includ. 167 titles in singles & 177 in dubs! The only diff.'s Carlos ends up working too hard to win matches; sorta like Nadal! He makes it look easy, but he's killing himself out there running down shots unnecess.! He's a 'hotdog' TBH & it's going t/b the premature end of him trying to make the highlite reel w/ every match he plays! No way will he keep this up for 20+ yrs. like the Big 3!
***Yes, Alcaraz is as “flashily” brilliant & free flowing as was Hana; "OMG shots" from every corner of the court. However, Hana was a real headcase, had no sustained brilliance the way Carlos has already demonstrated so far.***
Alcaraz was made to really work today going down in str. sets to Tomas Machin in Paris Masters! ...I truly wonder will he have the same issues as Nadal when it comes to playing tennis in the Fall? So far his success has ended in the Summer allowing "old man" Novak to continue his dom. of the FALL season winning another Paris Indoor in '23 & 2 > YEC's, eclipsing Roger who had 6!
***Nadal to retire. Of the 2 AO finals he lost, I'd wish he'd won the '12 over Novak >. The WTF's barely raise my BP, so hard to care that much.***
ReplyDeleteI guess you'd say that since Nadal never won a YEC! The same went on w/ Novak fans when he didn't have that OGM! Now it's his crowning achievement! Amazing how that works! It's always something w/ Nadal & his fans! "He's hurt, he's had lit'l practice, & his family drama w/ divorce of his parents was on his mind, blah, blah, blah!" I wish all players got so > in the way of consideration!
***The OGM any of them won is a cheap trinket that boosted their ego & cost them a shot @ the USO title. Rafa in '08, where he had a > chance, & Novak this yr. Then Carlos this yr.***
Tell me about it! I think = his old man tried to talk Djokovic out of going to Japan in '21! He was going for a CYGS & wouldn't pass up the chance to elevate himself just a touch > over Fedal! It was a wonder he made the USO Final, but I said B4 the event started, "someone needed to upset Medvedev" & I was right! It wasn't = a contest w/ Nole going down in str. sets! He'll prob. keep telling himself it was worth the try! Even coming from Paris, all 3 medalists lost early in NY! That'd tell future gens. something! I'd just assume tennis was elim. from the GAMES!
***Amen. It’s a vanity project. Even Rafa playing singles when he was supposed t/b having fun w/ Carlos playing doubles. What did Rafa think he was going to achieve there? Then the doubles became > difficult for Carlos & he swamped outta the USO yawning from lack of sleep.
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Look how disastrous that AO Final match became for Medvedev vs Nadal! He never recovered. He’s reduced to cracking jokes at the net w/ Carlitos after another thumping by Alcasin. He’s a jovial, cowering loser that doesn’t want to provoke the bullies. Please like me. The future has abandoned him & left him behind.***
It's unfortunate, w/ all his skills, Med has never met his potential, winning a gift major @ the USO in '21 due to Novak overplaying @ OG's in Japan!
***Novak was an idiot & it’s disappointing to us all that he didn’t try rig the jury on the USO to try influence them to help him get the title anyway. But in fairness to Medvedev, he knew his man was under pressure & poorly prepared. He deserved that win.
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There have been < 20 truly > players in the OE. The fact that Daniil isn't 1 of them doesn't make him a disappointment. It just means he's in the next 10 or so.
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Jannik has now won 5 Big titles this yr., becoming only the 12th player to do so. Most 5 Big title seasons:
7 Novak (10, 8, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5)
5 Federer (8, 7, 6, 6, 5)
4 Lendl (7, 5, 5, 5)
4 Nadal (7, 6, 6, 5)
2 McEnroe (9, 5)
2 Laver (6, 6)
2 Sampras (6, 6)
2 Borg (5, 5)
1 Murray (6)
1 Nastase (5)
1 Connors (5)
1 Sinner (5)
Obviously if he wins either Paris or the WTF, he becomes only the 10th player w/ a 6 BT season. If he wins both, just the 5th player to win 7. A tall order though.***
Great post! Just another way to set the Big 3 above & beyond the rest of them in tennis history as they continued their excel. well into their 30's! Nole's clone (Lendl) was the only one who measured up to them! Djokovic actually doing this at 35, al> winning a CYGS! All these players got to # 1; Nastase for about a min. early on in the so called "computer pro rankings!"
***I'll maintain that Lendl's the > underrated > in the OE. He wasn't just consistent, but truly dom. for '85-89, except for Wilander's big yr. in '88, & an elite player for over a decade.
Nastase gets the YE for '72 &'73, so > just a "min." I know, the ATP rankings didn't start until '73, but he would've won it in '72 as well. He's def. a guy who is >er > his 2 Slams, & prob. would've won > if he played in an era that emphasized Slams >.***
***'82's 1 of the worst instances of the early rankings being wonky. Actually, McEnroe shb 3rd. ...Lendl won 15 titles, > Mac (5) & Connors (7) combined. Quite a few were minor titles, but he also won the Masters final, the WCT final, & 3 Masters =alents. Mac only won a single Masters =alent.
ReplyDelete@El Dude Prop. Stats:
PEP: Lendl 43, Connors 38, McEnroe 30
PEP%: Lendl 64%, Connors 62%, McEnroe 52%
Title Shares: Connors 40, Lendl 36, McEnroe 11
For "real" stats:
Titles: Lendl 15, Connors 7, McEnroe 5.
Win %: Lendl 92.2% (106-9), McEnroe 88.8% (71-9), Connors 88.6% (78-10)
Baffling, honestly.
In '84 Mac lost in the 1st Rd. of the Cinci Open to Vijay Amritraj. Other than that he played in 14 finals, losing only 1 of them ...thus his 82-3 rec. The highest win % (96.5) in OE history, & prob. all of tennis history. It's the 4th best season of the OE, after Novak in '15, Fed in '06, & Laver in '69.***
Lendl also "owned" McEnroe until '83 & '84 seasons! John was given a pep talk by Budge or Kramer about attacking Lendl > improving his results for 2+ yrs.! After the '85 USO Final, Lendl rebounded to take over their rivalry again! Connors fell by the wayside too after his '83 USO win over Ivan!
***Gauff really needs to work on her attitude & complete lack of game face. She absolutely radiates negativity too often.***
Coco's a "neg. Nelly!" The > I recall about her winning her USO was the acknowledgement of "the haters out there!" I was appalled!
***She isn't the only one. Throw in Quinwen too. Rannae Stubbs too is very neg. & doesn't seem to have control over her mouth.***
That's so lame! This child's too young t/b this jaded & secure enuf in herself to lash out as if she's been around as long as Rennae! Pls spare me!
***I don't think Rafa ever learned the word “quit,” so his vocab.'s slightly limited.***
Oh pls; Nadal's vocab.'s limited b/c he didn't go to school! They sold him to his uncle to raise on a tennis court = w/ a congenital foot injury that was supposedly painful that he had to live w/! Novak & Fed OTOH seem t/b quite educated & speak sev. languages while Nadal can barely chop together a lit'l English outside his native Spanish!
***Sum up your kind words for a tennis > on Rafa's retirement.***
OCO, Nadal's gotten his "flowers" from me! He's done > enuf t/b thought 1 of the true >'s! I just didn't particularly care for his style or "act" on the tennis court! The tour facilitated a # of his comebacks by forgetting how to play when close to def. him! ...I personally'd put him in 3rd all X = though he owned #2 Fed! As for Novak, he's re-written the rec.-bks & ext. those #'s out of sight w/ no real hope of ever being overtaken IMO!
***Gimme a well earned brk. When Rafa went finally lame @ Wimbl.'22, he was 2 slams ahead of Djokovic. ...That’s how he gained the > slams; by his >est rival becoming lame.
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...They barely, any of them went to HS, > < finished it. Novak's a gifted linguist, I'll give you that. Roger's mother is So. African, so he's a native English speaker. Rafa does speak 3+ languages.
As to opps. "forgetting how to play" when they seemed to have an advantage? What a coincidence it happened when they couldn't sustain their level vs an all-X >, right? Sorta like Tsitsipas forgetting how to play @ that FO final vs Novak, huh?***
That so much BS! Where was Nadal def. Novak off clay? It had been 10 yrs. of dom. w/ Novak destroying Rafa on grass & HC! "Free major indeed!" What I was referring to concerning Nadal was how young he was @TX & didn't have anything to do w/ $$! I well know Novak was "low man on the totem pole," living in a war torn country, hopscotching landmines, & ducking bullets & missiles! You well know Djokovic is a master of languages; actually giving them a lit'l Mandarin when playing in the Orient! I think he can pretty > converse in 11 languages! His speeches in France are the longest in French than any other player outside of m/b Yannick Noah back in '83!
The outright ignorance of such a large swath of the pop. is just about unbearable to deal w/! It's all about what makes them comfortable instead of what's good for the country! It's pathetic & we deserve whatever happens if that orange POS ever gains power again! Lucky I'm a Sr. & don't have to deal w/ so many treacherous people surrounding me acting like total morons! It's pathetic that all c/b forgotten & forgiven like Jan.6th, a fight during the transfer of power, & count< illegal acts perpetrated by that ape & his minions! I have no words how dusgusted I am w/ all of it! Having "W" was bad enuf; now we see all you need is an "R" behind your name & it's all good! FK. that & fk. all of them!
ReplyDelete***Which is the warmongering side? - Are you for real? The so called Dems obviously. You know, the idiots supplying weapons to Ukraine & on the verge of authorizing them to launch long range NATO supplied missiles into Russia. A massive red line. ...Sadly both Trump & the dipshit "Dems" are both Zionist scum supporting Israel, but Trump's still the lesson for those animals to learn!
***Yes, I’m embarrassed by the country I live in. A rule of thumb for you to follow: when the modern pampered mob goes screaming hysterical down the street in favor of anything, they’re bound t/b default setting wrong. ...The loud ones aren’t the majority. They’re the inarticulate idiots. And in this, like in everything else, they’re wrong. ...When they screech in American Uni's & in the Irish Parliament for “Palestinian” people, they’re simply useful idiots.
And Jew haters. Used to be they could hide it by claiming that they were only criticising Israeli policies. That lie has been been blown wide open now.
...Putin's a tyrant. He assassinates any oppos. he faces in Russia, so you can barely believe him when he gives a lame excuse for trying to extend his countries borders. He’s threatened the Baltic states too. This is what tyrants do. They know his type well, in these countries. That’s why they joined NATO.
Now BTW, what has any of this got to do w/ US politics? About as much as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has to do w/ Nazis.
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Is Obama's pension under scrutiny? Yes, b/c he accepted a $4ook speaking fee, & last yr., the Rep. Congress tried to get him to sign a reduction in his pension, about 1/2 of his gov't salary as president. He didn’t sign it, & now the Reps. are going to try again to see if they can extract their # of flesh & cut his pension. They seem to want to keep the President under a certain limit & if they make > that limit, end his pension. The $200k isn’t all that much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just a terribly petty thing to do. If anything, once again reduces the chances of any but the already filthy rich to run.***
The hypocricy's expected! Someone like Reagan was given a house by his Calif. buddies, was still accepting millions from foreign entities, & collecting Soc. Sec., but Obama’s at fault in some way! Reps. disgust me! Hard to believe I ever had respect from these scum suckers! They keep scraping the bttm. of the septic tank & find new ways to get > loathesome!
***Here's a deaf man w/ cerebral palsy being attacked by the police. And apparently the judge is on pd’s side. WTF?***
It's the same reason Cops get away w/ murder all over the place, "the police protect those same judges!" No matter how aggressive the act, 9 X's out of 10 they'll get away w/ it! Cops ask for a "bench trial" so the only person deciding their fate is the judge! A jury'd find them guilty of something, but that isn't what happens > of the X across the country! If a judge actually puts a cop away, he's likely to catch the wrath of cops w/ trumped up traffic offenses, their homes being a target, & the kids being used as pawns! Anything's possible when it comes to Americans not wanting to pay for their crimes! "Not guilty" is always invoked no matter how much evidence is gathered! The feeling is always, "I can beat it!"
***In an era where not all the top players considered it obligatory to play all 4 Slams, the USO was the tourn. the elite played. The depth of top players who'd win a Slam in Lendl’s day was IMO the deepest of the OE. From a span of Borg, Johnny Mac, & Connors through Becker, Wilander & Edberg, etc. Lendl reached a jaw dropping 8 cons. USO finals, unmatched in nearly 100 yrs. (Tilden accomp. this feat by 1925)***
ReplyDeleteThe USO m/b a top tier event, but players aren't thrilled about it I can tell you! It's been a trash event since the 70's being played on grass in Forest Hills! A stray bullet fired into the place made them rethink a move I guess! Way back then it wasn't a big deal, but @TX the SF & Final were played on cons. days! Even w/o all the conditioning done today, it was do-able! By the X it moved to Flushing Meadows in '78 to HC's, it got harder which is why the same players made the SF & Final yr. after yr! Some handled it >er like Evert, Conners, McEnroe, Lendl, & Navratilova! I can still hear a player saying the best idea for the place was to get hit by an A-Bomb; esp. w/ the constant fly-overs by airplanes throughout the event! The admin. +ed to how trashy the event was back then w/ controversies dealing w/ seeding, "suspect draws" that had t/b re-pulled, & scheduling that was incomprehensible! I can still remember some guy finishing his match well after midnight, but they had him play early @ noon vs Connors! It had nothing to do w/ catching up due to rain; just plain ineptitude on display! NO BS, all this happened!
***Hmmm. ...Of all the Slams, the US Open had the >est % of top 10 players for > of the decade. Just about all of the top players showed up. Of course by "trash" you seem t/b implying something more qualitative, but in terms of depth of comp., it had an edge over = Wimbl. during > of the 70's & into the 80s.
The AO was basically a glorified ATP 500 thrp = of the 70s & into the early 80s. In the 1st few yrs., esp. '69-71, there was still a good # of top players who attended, prob. b/c it was still w/i the end days of Austr. dom.. Plus, Arthur Ashe usually played there. But after the great Australians were out, it got really bad.
In 1 yr., '76, not a single YE top 10 player participated. That was the yr. Mark Edmondson won, beating a post-prime Newcombe in the final, as well as a 41 yo Ken Rosewall in the SF. According to Ult. Tennis Stats, 13 of the 14 weakest Slams of the OE were the AO's of the 70s & early 80s. There was one weak Wimbl. ('73) sprinkled in there, & then starting w/ #15 you get some RG events from early on, when a lot of non-clay specialists'd skip it.
The AO started picking up a bit in '83-85 when Wilander went, Edberg emerged, & = McEnroe finally joined them, but was still > of a weakish Masters =lent. Then the skipped yr. in '86. When it returned in '87, it was a bonafide Slam - if 4th among near =s really thru the 90s & until Big 4 Era.
Anyhow, it's one of the things that's good about this era: All of the Slams are of basically = merit, w/ only minor oscillations due to player injury. Wimbl. will always have the patina of the 1st, but really the differences are > specific to the court. I do wish there was a bit < surface homogenity though, but there's still enuf of a diff. to make things interesting & to have clay and fast court specialists. So we could see a Hurkacz sneak out of a Wimbl. trophy, or = someone like Sebastian Baez win RG w/ a lucky draw.***
Ivan Lendl's in the mix bringing AO into prominance making SF's & Finals on grass; finally winning 2 on HC in '89 & '90! Edberg gave Lendl the > heartburn; esp. @ Wimbl.! Like Novak, he had losses to a few people in Majors like Wilander, Becker, & Edberg, but overall owned them w/ winning recs. all over the place H2H! He had a very resp. career & results, labeled the villain in the piece! It didn't help that he actually wore black early on in '80!
***True though IIRC > skipped Wimbl. (the clay court specialists) or the FO (HC players) in that era, & the AO wasn’t really top tier.***
***Jannik clinched the YE #1 ranking w/ his Shanghai win.***
ReplyDeleteSinner's been far & away the best player if results are the only dynamic! It isn't as cut & dry w/ a WADA invest. hanging over his head! Carlos needs to "pull back" a lit'l to make his results > consistent! I guess winning China Open helped, but his results in the FALL have reminded me of Nadal's; totally spent going into the YEC! Sinner & Alcaraz have officially taken over it seems as they're making final after final! X may have run out on The Lost-Gen II, w/ Sascha, Stefanos, Dom, & Daniil! They had their chances only taking 2 majors, 4 YEC's, & an OGM btwn. the 4 of them OTTH! Carlos'd get his CGS very early in his career by taking AO next yr.! Normally the FO's the 1 major needed to complete this feat! Very impressive start!
***TBF to what you call "Lost Gen II" (formerly "Next Gen"), they've been unlucky on both ends, chronologically speaking. On one end, they had to deal w/ prob. the 3 >est players of all X having ext.'d prime yrs., then taking turns having career renaissances starting in '17 w/ Fedal, just as they were starting to come of age. Really, going back to '05, there hasn't been a Slam in which @ least 2 of the Big 4 were in prime form -- all the way thru the '22 Wimbl., which was Rafa's last SF.
On the other end, it is that exact Slam that saw Carlos Alcaraz rise & win his 1st. Carlos was still a pup & beatable in '23, but Novak had 1 of his best yrs. By the end of that yr., Jannik Sinner was rising fast & in '24, he & Alcaraz fully took the reigns of dominance.
The pt. being, there was really no gap btwn. the ext.'d hegemony of the Big 3/4 & the rise of Sincaraz. The baton got passed over 2 gens.
Certainly a truly > player will find & take his shots. That's pretty > the def. of a >: a player that finds a way to win big tourns.--esp. Slams--regardless of the context. None of Next Gen will go down in history as ATGs, but there are sev. that are >er > any Lost Gen'r.
Still, I chuckled @ the appellation - they are a bit lost, but far < so > the Nishikori-Raonic-Dimitrov gang.
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Here are the players born '80 or > to have been #1 (YE):
Carlos Alcaraz ('03)
Jannik Sinner ('01)
Daniil Medvedev ('96)
Novak Djokovic ('87)
Andy Murray ('87)
Rafael Nadal ('86)
Andy Roddick ('82)
Roger Federer ('81)
Lleyton Hewitt ('81)
Juan Carlos Ferrero ('80)
Marat Safin ('80)
There's a huge gap btwn. Novak & Medvedev, then a sizeable gap btwn. Medvedev & Sinner - totally skipping over Lost Gen (no 1 ranked >er > #3, which Grigor & Milos did; Kei ranked no >er > #4). At least Daniil made it, & Zverev & Ruud reached #2, Thiem & Tsitsipas #3.
Going atw back to Rosewall-Laver (b. '34-38), Lost Gen's the only 5-yr. cohort to not have a single #1 player, & Lost Gen 2 is the 2nd in a row not to have a single YE #1.
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Sort of like Rafa being sandwiched btwn. 2 other ATG's on either side, but, he, being a Great, managed to find his way.
I think you're a bit generous to them, but you did say that it's on them for not finding a way. Thiem didn't = win his by beating 1 of the Big 3. That's only Daniil. So, what it comes down to, then, is talent, right? At least Lost Gen I had a younger Big 3/4 to deal w/. And yes, they were out-classed. I think Lost Gen II is a fair appellation. They had older Big 3, & STILL couldn't get past them, but for 1. Now they have very talented ones coming up in Alcaraz & Sinner. It's unlucky for them, I guess, but they could try harder to make their own luck. Can we just concede that they simply aren't good enuf?***
***If Mahomes retires today, Montana is prob. ahead of him. - Mahomes already has all the individual accolades. His legacy w/b based on the # of SBs he wins.***
ReplyDeleteMahomes' #'s are a lot >er > Montana's; regard< that he has 1 > SB > Patrick! Even w/ his dismal rec. this season, Mahomes has already surpassed Brady IMO except in the # of SB's! KC's won 17 games in a row, including the SB from last season, so all who ?? his ability looks like a fool regard< of his efforts this season w/ KC 6-0!
***Damn str. anybody that ??s his ability is a fool. b/c of the refs' horr. officiating. I don’t watch the NFL EXCEPT the Chiefs. They are the exception & that's b/c Mahomes' saving the NFL from being boring. ...He's a once in a gen. QB.
Mahomes had no faith whatsoever in his receivers last yr. He rightly so didn't feel they'd catch the ball = if he hit them in the #'s & he was running for his life cause his off. line couldn't protect him.
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IDK Brock Purdy's t/o to TD ratio is, but I'd bet my life savings that he has > t/o's > TD's as well. Purdy's dealing w/ the same adversity Mahomes is, his 2 starting receivers & RB out due to injury as well the diff. being him & Shannahan can't handle the adversity where Mahomes & Reid can.***
I just don't understand why Purdy gets so much heat from ...experts on sports' shows! Com'tors eat him alive for some reason = though he took SF to the SB! His adversity's def. affecting his efforts, but Mahomes' "The Magic Man" & can will his team to victory! He's really quite amazing as he wins as a "T/O machine" this season!
***B/c everyone crowned him as this amazing QB touted him as a possible MVP. He wasn't = the 5th > valuable player on his own team. That's coming to light this yr. Their drop off just losing McCaffery is crazy. It's also b/c Purdy has essentially the same success as Jimmy G in this system. He's just not as > of a bone head w/ the ball.
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...Brady had a MAJOR HUGE advantage BOTH X's Mahomes faced him & lost to him when it counted?***
Montana didn't do anything in comparison to Mahomes! The Defense of TB had Mahomes running for his life in that SB & the other loss in the CHP. game, KC had the game won but for an offside by the Defense when Brady thru an interception! We need to stop trying to blame QB's for what goes on w/ Defense & Special Teams as FG's win a lot of these games! QB's get them in position of course, but there's still a bit of conflation!
***Yeah, they had him running for his life b/c as I said, the Chiefs didn't have 2 of their starting Offensive lineman where the Bucs were completely healthy. That makes all the diff. in the world. ...The Bucs defense does not dom. that game as they did if the Chiefs are healthy & don’t have an unfair homefield advantage.
And you of all people know the Cheatriots ALWAYS had the refs in their pockets in big games. They NEVER had critical calls go vs them where the other teams always did. ...And facts are facts that a skirt was put on Brady where the refs allowed a bounty hunt on Mahomes. The refs want teams to take out Mahomes. Teams couldn't = breath on Brady w/o a yellow flag being thrown so his 7 SB wins are not impressive in the least w/ that skirt he had on all those yrs.
W/ Mahomes though, he's constantly roughed up & the refs never call flags as they do for the other QB's which makes his 3 SB wins all the > impressive.
...Montana played in an era where QB's were thrown around like ragdolls &'d get speared in the back all the X which is WHY him & Bradshaw are tied @ 4 a piece for all X SB wins. The TRUE all X wins in SB's for > wins the fact they played in an era where QB's didn't have skirts on them.
You give Mahomes the luxury of a skirt like Brady had for over 20 yrs. He'd've 5 SB wins by now. ...Montana to me was the > exciting QB I ever saw b/c of his magical touch he had when he threw short passes.***
***...ITA w/ you about Kamala BTW. You’re on sounder ground there. But Trump? Nah! They’re all lousy options. There’s none of them interested in healing divs.***
ReplyDeleteI'm no fan of Kamala's, but the alt. is unthinkable! I barely got thru Trump's 1st term as he was running the gov't like it was his plaything! The criminality of his actions were on display everyday! He didn't try to hide it! Anyone supporting this dispicable human being s/b excomm'ted from society, but we're talking 10's of Millions of people! IDK how they redeem themselves! ...I just don't think we'll survive as a democracy if Trump's allowed anywhere near the Oval Office!
***Bro, the other side says the exact same thing about democracy being under threat from your side. Y'all need to start trying to understand what the other side thinks & see why you both can’t try the divide & discuss things. That w/b a start.***
I couldn't give a shit what those a-holes have to say about anything! Their accusations are FOS while they're all lying to themselves & each other!
***They say the same thing brother; that’s the pt. Your side don’t own a monopoly on morality, far from it. Your side aren’t > intelligent…***
OMG, I hope you don't compare them! I have stats, facts, video, & end< media to prove my pts.! These MF'rs "on the right" make up shit out of whole cloth! "Dems are Gawd<, lib. deviants who drink infant blood! They hate life so > they abort babies after they're born! Watch your cats & dogs, Haitian Illegals are snatchin' them up for meals!" You can't poss. be that naive or stupid to think there's anything comparable btwn. the sides! Dems aren't saints, but things work! Reps. are about throwing a monkey wrench in the works to sustain the emotions of their grievance section of the country! I well understand those fk'n rednecks off the Appalachian Trail being PO'd Obama was in office b/c it's "inbred" into them! It's still all about hate rather > being unhappy w/ the job performed by him! They look absol. NUTZ when they can imagine bad X's when things are good in the way of unempl., inflation, & lack of a recession! They c/b told things are going > when in fact the country is barely surviving the admin. of gov't under cons. as they "shut down gov't" costing them > they were trying to save in a budget deal! Then there's the de-rug. of business that invariably catches up to us when institutions like BANKS go under due to malfeasance! Notice the BS happens when Rep. Presidents are in office! The BIG # that'd shock the senses is that under Clinton, Obama, & Biden, the country produced 50 M jobs while under Bush, W, & Trump the grand total was 1 Mil. I seem to recall Bush barely stayed above water w/ 500 K over his 4 yrs.! This is why America's clinically diagnosed as insane as Dems are punished for fixing what Rep. brk! I'd go on, but it's a hope< fight & a losing battle as it's gotten so bad LIES c/b corrected over & over, but there's no penalty for lying! No matter how happy & satisfied people are w/ something like the ACA, Reps. wear people down constantly bitchin' about how it's failing us! McCain's last > act was going "thumbs-down" on the repeal of Obamacare! After all this X & repeatedly speaking of replacing it, we still see nothing on paper! Replace it w/ what? Trump said "the concepts are out there" when looking the fool trying to debate Harris last month!
***Donald Trump was on Joe Rogan, overnight.***
It was > important to do this interview > show up to a campaign rally, disappointing his loyal followers as they left early! He was well over 2 hrs. late, placating them w/ a video from his plane! IDK what to do or say to such delusional people! Defending this felon is incomprehensible; esp. the women! What does he have to do to get on their bad side; drink blood from a child on the Capitol steps?
***...Guillermo Vilas' the only player to win 2 clay GS's in a yr., in '77 when the USO went thru its 3-yr. clay era (Orantes & Connors won '75 & '76 resp.). Vilas played 100 matches on clay that yr., going 95-5 overall, includ. 14 clay titles. It's hard to compare it to Rafa's clay era when he played 25-50% as many matches, but certainly it's a top 10 clay season of the OE. I think the top 10 clay seasons'd all be Rafa seasons, except for 2: Vilas in '77 & Thomas Muster in '95. Muster won RG, 2 Masters, & 11 clay titles overall, going 65-3 on clay.***
ReplyDeleteI hate to undermine Vilas, but '77 was a weird season! The AO was t/b moved to Dec. so there were 2 of them that yr.; 1st one in Jan. won by Roscoe Tanner over Vilas! Borg owned Vilas @TX so all of his wins were vs lower ranked/skilled players as he played the "B circuit" where his top comp. was Brian Gottfried wk. in & wk. out! Vilas played & won well over 100 matches, but none meaningful until he def. Connors @ the USO in the final yr. of the event @ Forest Hills!
***I think @Fiero425 will remember & apprec.: Connors was on a roll vs Borg in the mid-70's until Bjorn won an exh. vs him, the Pepsi GS Challenge, & it changed the dynamic of their rivalry. I believe that Borg lost only 1 > vs Jimbo, @ the USO final in '78.***
You got it! I well recall the Pepsi GS in FLA! You're correct, Conners only won 1 > match from Borg after this in '77 & that was tainted since Borg had an injured thumb! He'd barely hold onto his racket, smacking it into the court on some serves @ that USO Final in '78! The court was new @ Flushing Meadows & played like a pane of glass giving Borg no chance to come back from a deficit as he normally'd vs his closest rival @TX!
***This match & tourn., 6 Kings Slam feels like a big title in terms of the fierceness of comp. I guess the Saudis are trying to emulate the GS Cup from the 90s, which didn't offer ATP pts., but was akin to a Masters, but w/ better $$.***
I didn't hear about this event until recently! As I've said in the past, > players are so FOS complaining about the length of the season, but then they get involved w/ these $$ grabs where they seem to work as hard as any event on the cal.! Alcaraz & Sinner >er hope this doesn't take away from their efforts the rest of the season w/ Paris Masters & the YEC! Djokovic has had all kinds of rest so this was a > practice match, that SF w/ Sinner!
***Exactly. Bad enuf they’re whoring in a sandy prison, but they also get to complain about scheduling. Always did. I understood players back in the early days of the pro tour wasting their bodies on lucrative exhs., but not any>. I know the $$'s immense, but...they’re shame> now. I said this back when Rafa became ambassador for tennis in Saudi Arabia in May, I was sorely disappointed in him. And of course we all remember the stupid Indian exh. after the season ended, in '13 Rafa played it, & paid for it in full in Australia. Senseless.
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I’m not opposed to a no-Ad scoring system. I think it +'s a new type of pressure to the scenario. If they were going to implement a BO3 w/ men, I w/b on board for earlier Rds. I'd say 4th Rd. forward it s/b BO5 sets.***
It's been done @ the USO back in '76! It was the 2nd yr. of the clay (Har-Tru) exper. @ Forest Hills B4 moving to Flushing Meadows' HC's! They almost lost Bjorn Borg early to Jaime Fillol, Sr., but he was able to come back in a 3rd set TB! IMO, this is a desperate attempt to overcome the recs. set by Fedalovic if they go BO3 or = worse go to the "Next Gen." scoring used in their YEC tourney! I'm a traditionist & wouldn't care for any of the proposed changes! It's already bad enuf the tech used in rackets & strings! Fooling around w/ the scoring is unnec.! Just limit the stalling & other X wasting on court like toweling off incessantly! That will help the opp. who's in >er shape physically & mentally!
***I hate that you always have to hate on the USO. ...The X-wasting has been shortened quite a lot by the X clock & tighter restrictions.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we all have lots of ex. of top players who'd've gone out if not for the luxury of the 5 sets. It does favor the top players. But I don't mind that. You get to the top, & there're lots of things that favor you, such as byes, & >er seeding. It's a reward for top play. That's fair.
IDK where you're going w/ racquet & string tech., though. Would you rather they still played w/ wood racquets & gut strings?***
You call it "hating" on the USO! Am I lying about anything? Changing the court twice in 4 yrs., re-done DRAWS over controversies, DQ of Djokovic in '20, Serena's bad outings causing Int'l incidents, bad scheduling, going to BO3 for the men for those few yrs. on clay, a couple stray bullets shot, muggings, & of course the murder of someone @ the train stop there! I'd go on, but it'd sound like "hating!" I'm just reporting my observations watching the event from '75 on & it's been a fk'n mess compared to the other Slams! Yrs. ago certain string tech was illegal! Rafa actually uses a string w/ teeth, imparting > spin! Nuff said as I stopped caring yrs. ago!
***...So it happened once w/ the draw. At least they did make up their own seedings like Wimbl., for all those yrs.***
I listed a lot > instances of the USO being a JOKE IMO! Are we living in another reality? You totally ignored the multi-assaults on the senses over the yrs.! They've embarrassed themselves over & over again from '75-'22 (not getting spec. disp. to get Djokovic into US to play the event)! Even Biden thought it made sense IIRC!
***I don't see how the US Open was going to get Novak some special dispensation into the US when he was in violation of US vacc. requirements. How do you = know they didn't try behind the scenes? But Novak knew what was required to get into the US, @ that X, & he refused. This was a matter for the gov't &, last I chk'd, the USO has no sway over them. Same w/ you being mad @ them for DQ-ing Novak out in '20. He hit a person & hurt them. That's a straightforward DQ. ....He's skirted being DQ'd > a few X's. And he has lost opportunities due to his refusal to vax. His choice.
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Tons of upsets in Paris Masters. Djokr skipped while Jannik WD w/ virus! Lost Medvedev, Rublev, Ruud, & Khachanov early. - Am I wrong, or is this Khachanov's part of the season? I'm sure his >est title came late season.***
You well know Karen's >est win came @ this very event in Bercy back in '18! Novak had his 1st resurgence after taking Wimbl. & The USO earlier! He had been "in the weeds" as Fedal went thru a "Redux" of fortune "splitting the spoils" as they had free reign w/ The Lost Gen II's early performances! Roger & Rafa traded #1 ranking & took 3 majors each '17-18!
***Actually, as one who doesn't really care about Silent K, or catalogue his career, I didn't recall that. I remember he beat Novak to win the title though, whether SF or F. I'm surprised, & not surprised t/b reminded that was 6 yrs. ago. Has he done anything interesting since?
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...I said @TX that Rafa cried @ the LC for the end of his > rival's career, of course, & clearly that was an ending for him, too. Of their rivalry, but also, clearly he knew he was staring @ his own tennis mortality. I think he was crying for that, too. That takes nothing away from the sentimentality of the moment, which was lovely. It was the end of something big in tennis, & what it meant to them, in part, only they can know. At a certain altitude, >'s only have each other to share it w/.***
Rafa was crying b/c he was losing his major pigeon! Roger had a lit'l run in '17 vs Nadal, but overall he was owned; esp. on clay! I think I was banned from the Nadal's apprec. thread! Being a stupid Sr., IDK! I just never cared for Nadal! He stood in the way of the GOAT @TX back in the mid-late 2000's! Djokovic took over whipping him X & X again in important moments thru the 2010's!
***Ever the sentimentalist! Clearly, you weren't banned.***
Diana Taurasi's OLD! WTF was she = there? Did she really need to go to the Olympics for a 5th X! That makes no fk'n sense! They barely won w/o Clark!
ReplyDelete***What evidence do you have to make us believe they would've done >er?! But, we do have evidence that Clark shrinks under the big lights!***
Obviously none, nor do I care! I barely watch the NBA! I had > exposure w/ the WNBA while waiting for a flight as our TEAM in Sacto was hoofing on "Commercial!" At least now they have Charters w/ the help of Clark! I know that for sure b/c WNBA's been out there for almost 30 yrs. of futility & now they're on "the map!" All on Clark, not old lady Taurasi!
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Now it's being reported Molly Qerim's being sent on holiday as they announce her replacement on "First Take" being Christine Williamson! Why's this so hard to get a handle on?
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After Clark knocked out of the playoffs, I doubt anyone will care about the rest of the series! I just don't understand why the WNBA is sabotaging their own league by not promoting her? I hear Angel Reese got a 1st place vote for MVP! That tells me all you need to know the biases going on behind the scenes! It's not like I care they're cutting their own throats, but I enjoy seeing women doing this on a Nat'l scale to show how petty, jealous, & pathetic they c/b!
***Is Clark going to Barcelona? Is she allowed to play in both leagues?***
I've been wondering! It seems t/b an open ?? w/ them dancing around the answer! The WNBA, NIKE, & "haters" in front & behind the cameras are looking like REAL fools! I don't = care about women's basketball, but Clark's story went Nat'l, elevatng a team who normally misses the playoffs! She brought in fans, merchandise flying off the shelves, & inflated the pockets of businesses around the arenas where Clark played; @ home or on the rode! I love the ex. of how women sabotage themselves w/ their petty jealousy! They lost the Golden Goose that would've elevated all of them, but they couldn't take her leading the way! Swoopes embarrassed herself just making up shit as she went along when asked what she thought of Clark! This story has gone viral & being shot around the world daily!
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***All sports are corrupt. All the way back to the 1919 World Series if not B4. Steroid use, cocaine useage, amphetamines, etc, loaded bats, spitballs, lit'l electronic devices to make a horse go faster; amongst other things. They complain about the refs in basketball constantly. Pete Rose was betting against the team he managed & assuredly made sure they lost those games. It's why they wouldn't let him in the HOF. Mickey Mantle bought a lot of loaded bats. But now w/ gambling in control, it has gotten > worse. The blind call these people heroes. If they only knew the reality of it all.***
At least they did a >er job in the past w/ the exposure of just a lit'l bit of corruption @ a X where it seems t/b rampant now! My brain short-circuited when David Stern manipulated the '01 season when the Lakers were a bit down = w/ Shaq & Kobe playing! Right in the mid'l of the season he decided to go BO7 in the 1st Rd. w/ The Lakers barely holding on to make the playoffs! They'd have to go vs Sacto w/ Chris Webber & they needed those extra games! The officiating couldn't look > corrupt > in those last games of the ConF. Chp.! Kobe busted Cristy in face, blooding his nose! Who got the foul call? Kobe got free-throws!...The Kings were robbed! An investigation was sanctioned, but the refs were never asked about their calls!
***Yeah, I’ve heard that about the NBA. The NFL back in the 70s & 80s wasn't bad like it is now. You never saw the horrible "Pee Wee League" officiating back then you see now. Not @ all close, so it was fun to watch back then.
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Yeah, they did a better job in the past. It was indeed just a lit'l bit of exposure to the corruption of sports back then. It wasn’t constantly rampant, out in the open to the naked eye as it is now.***
***...That's how abusers control the victim. - That's how it starts, making excuses for him hitting her.***
ReplyDeleteHappens all the X, then when it gets worse, these same women are shocked. Dumb! = I can't believe she'd lie to her father so easily! She was about to argue w/ her sister who's only trying to protect her! M/b she wants t/b a victim! Idiotic!
***A DV survivor NEVER wants t/b abused. Use some damn common sense.***
I'm not going to be roped into some BS argument women use to get sympathy for DV! It all starts somewhere; usually real early in a relationship! It's not like he came home 1 day & started beating her out of nowhere! Sooner or later women are going to have to start taking responsibilities for their own choices & actions; esp. when family & friends are there to help! END RANT!
***@Fiero425 as a woman I agree w/ you totally. Some women keep making bad choices. Her dad didn't do a good job teaching her to make right choices. Women who will cover up for abusers either are used to abuse or have poor self esteem.***
I can't believe she'd lie to her father so easily! She was about to argue w/ her sister who's only trying to protect her! M/b she wants to be a victim! Idiotic!
***Hold men acct.able for being so free about hitting women. Stop victim blaming.***
Total lack of acceptance of what I had to say! Typical! Some can't discuss this subject but from one side! There are 2 sides; acknowledging it! Victims can make themselves into victims w/ their eyes wide open.
*** @Fiero425 I'm a woman of 50 yrs. & ITA 💯 w/ you.***
Again, it happened over X! She can get warnings from all around, but like this clip, she's ready to forget the abuse! He's given license to do whatever he wants w/ her!
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***Funny how people would hide details to a doctor, but let a pol. know all your private info.***
People are idiots or like me forget symptoms. I was asked if I had a heart attack & said "NO." I forgot I had a serious tension headache that I just sat out & recovered. EKG said it was an attack.
***What!? Please explain >!***
I'm a medical anomoly you'd never believe! Never gotten good enuf rest outside of surgeries & illness! I've never enjoyed sleeping, living on 4-6 hrs. of sleep which wasn't restful! After 40, diagnosed w/ apnea! Even w/ the C-Pap system, I was dragging! I've had an irreg. heart beat w/ high BP to boot! It's a wonder I've made it to 67! Had an implant done earlier this yr. called Inspire! Again, helpful in dealing w/ the snoring by shocking the tongue! In comparison to others my age, I'm holding up well! Can still run for a bus or train, eat pretty > what I want, & haven't dealt w/ any serious aliment taking me out pf circ. for > a wk.! I hope that BIO helps in the lone post about forgetting symptoms! Doctors will ask me about problems & I say NO b/c I'm accustommed to how I feel! It just doesn't register > as anything worth remembering I guess! Gotten to SR.-hood ok w/ lit'l effort expended above being chronically tired overall; mostly mental! Not in a fog, but apprec. my singlehood! My sleep patterns can't be matched!
...The only thing wrong when it comes to this mass insanity w/ Trump is that the ct. reaches millions of supporters!
ReplyDelete***I told you B4 what you can do stop the name calling & actually listen to each other. People used to do that all the X in politics, until they stupidly became entrenched in divisive “wings”***
The words "compromise" & "collaboration" became "dirty words" in the Rep. party! Dems always spoke of wanting to make agreements w/ the other side, but that all changed w/ the "Contract on America" back in '94! Newt Gingrich demanded total loyalty to the party so much that if you = spoke vs them, they'd have them "primaried" out of politics! You saw what happened to Rep. Liz Cheney j/b she sat on that committee dealing w/ Jan.6th! No one was > cons. & voted 93% w/ Donald Trump! It did her no good & she was run out of Congress along w/ our own Ill. House member Rep. Adam Kinzinger! ...no patience w/ their party! They don't want to talk! They want to have grievances & talk about how the country's turned into a "garbage dump!" We have a sickness that's infected 1/2 the populous & Trump has spread the disease to new hts. as we actual have to choose btwn. him & a > qualified cand.! I'm no fan of Harris', but she has to >er > him!
***@Front242, who spent months cataloguing Biden's every misstep, declaring it clear evidence of his unfitness for the job. So, Trump can't open the door of a garbage truck. Fit for the job?***
Being a "hypocrite" is just one of the mid'l names of people like this! Trump's graded on a "curve" that no one else fits! It's obscene & disgusting!
***"Obscene" & "disgusting" are 2 of Trump's best #'s. Did you see him blowing a microphone the other night? His mentor was Roy Cohn. He waxed poetic for sev. mins. over Arnold Palmer's penis 2 wks. ago. One of his theme songs is "YMCA" by the Village People, & yet, str. men think he's bringing "masculinity" back to the public discourse.
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Harris grabs unexpected last-min. lead over Trump in Iowa poll. In shocking result that'd reshape the race, ex-president falls 3 pts. behind in a state he won in '16 &'20. - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/02/harris-unexpected-lead-over-trump-iowa-selzer-poll -***
It does bode well for Harris! This pollster in IOWA, Ann Seizer's rather accurate! She was ahead of them all in '16 giving Trump the edge over Hillary! I still don't feel good about the situation as Trump has already riled up the masses to burn the country down if he's not anointed our Savior & King Tue. nite! ...Proves women might not be able to truly lead here if their own sisterhood who chooses these things wimp out yet again going against Harris!
***If Harris wins, & women help put her over the top. Will you stop slagging women in this country?***
Not a chance! I was an apologist for women when they haven't grown in the least over the decades of my life! They still make the same stupid mistakes & never seem to take resp. for their choices! Back in the 60's & 70's w/ the feminist movement, all it did was empower their mistakes! It has nothing to do w/ $$, class, or IQ. They're all =ly irresponsible, manipulative, & selfish creatures! They can't help it! It's bred into them from birth thru silly mothers who keep the same stupid shit going into the future! Men are far from perfect, but they do have > common sense, know no one's going to help if they fk. up unlike women who always have a fall-back! Men have to find their way by working hard, saving, & being grown-ups! It's not the same w/ women where they're born w/ value! They're spoiled, coddled, & made to feel special which makes them > & > delusional as they grow old! No offense!
***It w/b interesting to see if other States surprise us, such as Iowa, No. Carolina, or perhaps = Texas (@ least in terms of Cruz).***
ReplyDeleteThe Dems need a surprise or 3! That's all Kamala needs is split gov't right away! Repuklicans are notorious for not = allowing a grace period of "The 1st 100 Days" to give the new President a brk.! Dole squashed that back in '96 announcing how "no Rep.'d vote "up" for anything" from day 1! ...We should @ least know how the HOUSE will fall out = w/ how tight things are right now!
***I love watching elections as the results come in. Even as a kid, I used to stay up w/ my mother late into the night watching the election unfold, projections, stats, charts... esp. when they zoomed into the ct. results being read out. Still enjoy it, = though I believe an oligarchy run the whole realm. Currently got Fox & CNN open on diff. tabs.***
I used t/b entertained & watched elections into the wee hrs. of the night w/ pleasure & satisfaction! I can't say that anymore as the system has been so corrupted in every way imaginable! Even though legit, it's been undermined by 1 man spreading a disease of fraud into anything he's not happy w/! I was so looking to move abroad yrs. ago, but stayed for family reasons! I wished I had escaped the insanity of the last 3 or 4 Nat'l elections! Just seeing this being so close is nauseating! It gives credence to the accusation that things aren't in the "up & up!" It seems like Reps will take back the Senate w/ none of the upsets thought to be possible! Cruz (TX) & Hawley (MO) held on though as empty & corrupt as you can get! W/o the Presidency & House, the country w/b on the verge of collapse; not so implausible! We barely suvived Trump's last term w/ how incompetent & selfish he was in overlooking Obama's Pandemic Plan! We lost 1M people; mostly elderly! He was suggesting injecting bleach & going under Black Lite to deal w/ Covid! What are people thinking by supporting this monster?
***IDK that it's fair to say the Dems'll blame everyone but themselves. Esp. when the Reps & Trump blamed everything but themselves for '20, including election fraud. And, never minding blame, why do YOU think Harris lost?***
I refuse to listen to the post-mortem, but every X I surfed by results, the ct. was drastically lower for the Dems. compared to what was given to Biden! It's no one else's fault but Dems! We did it to ourselves; m/b thinking Trump had embarrassed himself enough that his own party would reject him! Guess what? It didn't happen! The only Reps. that meant it were the ones who announced in the media! The rest voted him in as if he's their savior! They'd rather have this embarr. over Harris! Fine! Heaven help the country! We just sold out the entire world as this fool will totally humiliate human-kind from the Capitol!
***@Front242 - I guarantee that you are making that up. Or better put, you read things that are untrue & simply believe them.***
I've finally decided it's a losing battle to = fight these kind of folks! They make up shit as they go along, then repeat it over & over again! They begin to = believe it & are so self-assured & emphatic in their BS! Everyone knows Trump lied about everything including the implementation of Project 2025! The whole World will prob. pay for the hubris in electing this monster! As a Sr., I won't have to deal w/ the consequences! It's been a trend of the last decade or so for the populous in diff. countries around the world to voluntarily allow miscrients to take over their gov'ts to shake them up! I thought Italy & England were insane enuf, but we've done it twice! Well we got what we asked for! DJT won the pop. vote, not just the EC.! So that means = the women who were given pleas to stop this from happening spit in our coll. faces! They have no idea WTF they've just done! Repercussions w/b felt for decades to come if we survive @ all! I've stopped watching the news &'ll do my best to ignore anything pol.! Heaven knows what'll happen! Good luck out there! We'll all need it!
Alcaraz on the path t/b use< in the Fall! Unbelievably he lost in 3 sets to Hubert! He was "hotdogging" all thru the match & when it counted, was prob. under duress where his serve was easily broken to lose 3rd set 5-7! Rune ended the run of the LL, Cazaux in 3 sets! Sascha & Stefanos made it thru to the QF's comfortably though taking 3 sets as well!
ReplyDelete***Zverev reached the "10 Big Title Club": 2 Tour Finals, 1 Olympics Gold, 7 Masters. Most big titles w/o a Slam:
10 Zverev
6 Rios
4 Okker, Mecir, Medvedev, Davydenko, Tsitsipas
3 Gottfried, Solomon, Clerc, Chesnokov, Corretja, Enqvist, Nalbandian
So he's sort of in his own category. Of course the diff. btwn. him & all those other guys ('cept Tsitsipas) is he's just playing & 27 yo, so he has X. But the clock's ticking. Sascha takes Paris Masters over Hubert in str. sets.
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Zverev's playing @ the top of his game. He's the man to beat, @ the moment. Interesting, w/ the YEC coming up.***
Who'd've thought Sascha w/b "the Nastase" of his era? Not quite #1, but has X YEC's! AZ has 2 already; Nastase ended up w/ 4!
***Nastase was the legit best player on tour in '72 &'73 & a top 10 guy for > of the 70s. Slams weren't as heavily emphasized back then, and players also racked up a lot of very minor titles - = some w/ just 4 players, & 1 that was just 2! Actually, that happened to involved Ilie - he beat Jimmy Connors in 4 sets in Las Vegas in '77.
...As for Nastase, '72-73 were interesting yrs., b/c Laver & Rosewall were fading & Connors/Borg hadn't reached their prime yet. So you had guys like Nastase, Smith, Newcombe, Ashe, Okker, Orantes, Kodes, etc as the top guys, w/ Laver & Rosewall still in the top 10ish mix & Connors starting to make some noise. Or according to Ult. Tennis Stats:
'72: 1. Nastase, 2. Smith, 3. Ashe, 4. Orantes, 5. Laver
'73: 1. Nastase, 2. Newcombe, 3. Connors, 4. Okker, 5. Smith
...That said, Zverev's a very unique player. He's won 10 Big Titles but no Slams, & the next Slam< guy won just 6 Big Titles. Or conversely, he's won > Big titles > all but 16 players - including guys like Courier, Muster, & Kuerten (9 each); Ashe, Vilas, Chang, & Medvedev (8 each), Smith & Safin (7 each). Two > & he w/b tied w/ Nastase & Newcombe (though Newk's best yr. was B4 the Open Era in '67, & he prob. won another 5-10 Big Title =valents in the Am. Era).
Zverev has a chance of tying or surpassing the Big Title totals of guys like Edberg (14) & Wilander (15), though I don't see him getting to Andy Murray's 20. It's really hard to imagine a guy w/ 10+ BT's not winning @ least 1 Slam, but w/ Sascha, you just never know. I still suspect he'll "do a Cilic" @ 1 pt.
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We're in a weird situation where Zverev is currently ranked >er > Alcaraz, despite having 0 Slam titles to Alcaraz's 2. Looking @ the breakdown of the Race ranking pts.:
Slams: Alcaraz 4450, Zverev 2700 (Alcaraz +1750)
Masters: Zverev 3500, Alcaraz 1710 (Zverev +1790)
ATP 500: Zverev 630, Alcaraz 550 (Zverev +80)
ATP 250: Zverev 150, Alcaraz 100 (Zverev +50)
United Cup: Zverev 335 (Zverev +335)
Overall: Zverev 7315, Alcaraz 6810 (Zverev +505)
So interestingly enuf, > of that diff. is due to the United Cup, which offers about ATP 500 pts. Zverev got 335 presumably b/c he lost 1 of the RR matches - not sure why he didn't get the full 500, though, as I can't find anything for the specific brk.down beyond that it is =valent to an ATP 500.
He'd still be a bit ahead, & only +40 by big titles. Meaning, he's up >ly due to er on indoor HC's, so it might just be one of those things.***
***What do you think of the deportation of Djokovic the day B4 the AO starts?***
ReplyDeleteSomeone in authority “down under” told Novak/team he could “come on down” = w/o his Vax! As for that 3 yr. ban, that b/c a weak/moot threat as he won the event in '23 & lost SF to Sinner earlier this yr.! He lost out on playing the 2022 USO & he still wizzed past Fedal to get to 24 Majors! Only Novak could have haters out there irrationally speaking of his decisions as he won OG in Paris def. Alcaraz fulfilling all his GOALS! He has 72 Big Title wins w/ his rivals a distant 2rd/3rd! Get real people!
***4-Slam winners:
1 Laver
3-Slam winners:
4 Djokovic
3 Federer
1 Connors, Wilander, Nadal
2+ Slam winners:
7 Djokovic
6 Federer, Nadal
4 Sampras
3 Borg
2 Connors, McEnroe, Lendl
1 Newcombe, Vilas, Wilander, Becker, Courier, Agassi, Alcaraz, Sinner
---
I think we'd make this the Big 5 for both eras, +ing Wawrinka to the top & Wilander to the bttm chart.
Wilander deserves t/b in that group w/ Connors, Borg, McEnroe, & Lendl. Plus, his dom. yr. in '88'd fill in the gap & paint a > accurate pic; a natural fall off from '84-90, rather than a 1-yr. dropoff in '88 that really didn't exist. Putting Wilander as an other, esp. in '88 is misleading.***
Sounds good on paper, but living it, Wilander didn't show up until Borg was long gone! Not to mention this era of the Big 4 was rather short in comparison to FedalovicRay! ITA Wilander s/b included in some way by getting to #1, won 7 majors, & took 3 of the 4 Big titles in '88! His accomplishments were obliterated by Fedalovic though!
***Wilander didn't really arrive til '82, after Borg was basically retired, so doesn't overlap w/ him. His prime is really '82-88, overlapping Mac & Lendl's best yrs., but also some of Edberg's & Becker's best. Age-wise, of course, he's closer to the younger guys.
Anyhow, I see Wilander > in the Edberg/Becker group in terms of dom. level. '88 was >, but he was never really consistently "the guy" - just for that 1 yr. He was pretty > otherwise the 3rd, 4th, or 5th best player during his prime.
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Do you agree w/ Alcaraz that he'd prefer to win the OG over Wimbl.?***
The Status of OG for tennis has been elevated artificially by Top Players, fans, & ‘Tennis Intelligentsia!’ IMO it was inconsequential very early on w/ it lit'l > an exhib. sport initially in "1984" when Edberg won as a Jr.! Even when Agassi winning, it did nothing! It wasn’t until Nadal won that it gained some importance! It was something to hang over the heads of Fedovic who hadn’t taken OG! Finally, Novak threw everything into winning it this yr. after 5 tries! He warmed up by making final of Wimbl., losing to Alcaraz! By the Olympics in Paris, back on clay, Novak outdid himself @ 37 to def. Carlos & cap off his career w/ a OG! He has everything else; X's of them really! He can rest knowing now he’s accomp. all his GOALS!
***I know there are folks around here who don't = give Nick Kyrgios credit for talent. I do.***
Haters w/b haters! Nick's talent is obvious which makes it "a curse!" When you have every shot in the book, then updated chapters manifest, his brain had to short-circuit! I think he def. Nadal in a 3rd set TB down 5 MP's! I think it was Acapulco, then + on his Wimbl. upset; the guy's talented! It's why others like him, m/b Hana Mandlikova, prob. should've won a lot >! She had tons of talent, but Evert owned her by just getting that extra ball back! Hana gave Martina tons of heartburn b/c "in the zone," she'd humble any player! Check out their SF & Final @ the VS Chp. in MSG in the 80's!
***Nick's main prob. isn't having too many shots @ his disposal, but having far too lit'l discipline, too lit'l respect for himself, his opp., the fans or the game.***
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Wow, as you well know I haven't paid much attn. to the women; esp. w/ where they're holding the WTA Chp.! Surfed by to see Swiatek go down to Gauff, but I had totally forgotten about Iga! Haven't heard or seen anything of her since the USO! She won 2 matches, but wasn't good enuf to make the SF! So > for her dom.!
***Dallas went down to The Lions 47-6! This is a team that Derrick Henry wanted to play for & Jerry was too miserly. I'm so glad this dude is getting his ass kicked. Wash'ton & Dallas is going t/b interesting, watching Prescott & his big contract getting kicked around by a rookie.***
ReplyDeleteThe Boys are like the Yankees of old; all history & legend w/ present day wins rare if any as they lost yet another HOME game! What team has been like this over such a long period of X? Jerry World is like a house of horrors for Dallas as they lose Nat'l TV games like this again & again! This has been their curse after firing Jimmy Johnson! I wasn't = a fan of Dallas', but I had to acknowledge their >ness over 30 yrs. ago! They had a free-spending new owner, a coach who was the best assessor of talent ever, & athletes in their prime who couldn't be stopped! The visitors c/b in the huddle & it wouldn't matter! They had Jimmy's players so got to 1 > SB & won it in '95, but have been wandering the desert looking for playoff wins as they've gone down in flames for over 30 yrs. in embarrassing fashion! Jerry's made a ton of $$, but it's done him NO GOOD when it came to bringing back "hardware" to the city!
***Even with their 2 best WRs injured, and not playing, the Bucs played the Super bowl champs (undefeated this year) to a TIE (24 to 24) in regulation time.
At the 2 minute warning, the Chiefs had the lead, and thought they had the game won. The Bucs used their timeouts and scored a touchdown, with just a few seconds remaining.
KC was lucky they won the coin toss, and thus only had to face the Buc's lousy defense, instead of the Buc's good offense.***
In the last 2 min., I didn't understand the conservative play calling by KC of 3 runs that went nowhere! They only needed 1 first down for Gawd-sakes! Instead they kicked the ball back to TB who tied it up in a long drive! KC was lucky to have survived their own ineptitude in the waning moments of the game!
***The Chiefs are good at being lucky. - The Bucs shg for the 2-pt. conversion instead of the pt. after @ the end of regul.***
That was so weak of TB to just tie the game! Reminds me of a Cowboys/Vikings MNF! Green decided to tie just before time ran out in regulation! Dallas got the ball 1st in OT & on the first play Emmitt Smith ran for a 65 Yd. TD! Gutless on Green's part! The Boys were still pretty good back then!
***I'm not sure I like the OT rules--- it essentially enters a huge element of LUCK into the game. If you are LUCKY enough to win the coin flip, and if you march down to score a TD first, the other team never even gets a chance to play. GAME OVER.
Bottom line is that the Bucs should have tried for 2 points instead of kicking that FG, but apparently didn't feel confident in their doing so. They gambled on LUCK in OT.***
It happened to Mahomes vs Brady way back when! It happens! It's not fair, but it's the rule!
***Yes, but bad rules are meant to be changed and I don't like the new OT rules. The OT should continue on as a FIFTH quarter without a coin flip contiguously and just play out the 15 minutes. Ever who is winning then is the winner, or it remains a tie.***
Trying to eliminate a tie, that's what's done; an entire 5th Qtr. being played! It happens; a tie!
***The Chiefs really haven't played all that great this year as in past seasons, they've been pretty lucky so far that things just worked out for them.
The case can be made that Detroit is a better team.
Maybe luck counts for something in the NFL.***
The problem is Detroit's never sniffed a Super Bowl! When they were good & had a > chance to get to their 1st 30 yrs. ago, they were annihilated by a bk.up QB on Phili; Pete! Mitchell must've thrown 6 interceptions & had the nerve to ask "why" when replaced in the 3rd Qtr.! They were down 51-7 @ 1 X B4 being put out of their misery 58-37!
***...Women may have underperformed for Harris, but let's lay the blame where it s/b...dudes. Give me a miss w/ your constantly complaining about how women vote. Men have a stake in this race, too, & don't just keep giving them a pass. We can't do it by ourselves.***
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying t/b mean or judgemental, but are women responsible for anything w/ you? I hear the same refrain of a lack of repres. by women, but w/ their #'s, female pols are dropping by the wayside! Men are idiots & I have no excuse for the stupid pols they choose, but it's not the same! Our rights aren't being curtailed! Women have special med needs, but men are making the decisions mainly b/c women are voting against the feminist agenda! I was all for it seeing the independence of my mom, but overall I've seen women who have > choices are terribly unhappy, on meds, or under a psychologist's care! The delusions are real it seems! They're looking for their happiness unable to get it from w/i! Am I lying or making this up? What's your take? If I'm a hater b/c I'm pt.'n a few things out, are women allowed t/b criticized @ all? What are the limits I'm not seeing?
***@Kieran, you attribute a lot of what is "culture wars" to the Dems. This is not really fair. It's not part of the party platform. There is a difference.
Your ?? to Fiero was how he can prefer the Dems, which I think he spelled out fairly well. You laid out the things that you fear. I understand if those things make you fearful, but they are not all actually true. In fact, a lot of them aren't. And a lot of them don't have much to do w/ politics, but the culture wars. ...Trump has never conceded the 2020 election. He's a man who massages his grievances, over & over, & has threatened to go after those who have aggrieved him. He has said he w/b a dictator "for a day." He has professed his love for strongmen.***
I've been hardly able to read this stuff, > < react to it in a post! ...I've already survived 2 heart attacks & don't need to push myself = > going thru the recriminations of this disaster we call LIFE here in the States! The level of corruption that w/b waged vs the Const. w/b unprecedented due to the SC giving Trump carte blanche to act the fool w/ impunity! I'm trying not to go back to how I felt in '16 almost putting me away! I wasn't eating, just sleeping, unable to watch the news! It was > for my diet @TX! It w/b easier on me this X as something must've happened underground making this acceptable! The pop. vote won out over the Elec. Col.! There is no doubt where we stand! I said yrs. ago, I found out my own college roommate & bestie was a Log Cabin Rep. during the "W" era! It distanced us a lit'l, but when he went Trump, we were done! Almost 50 yrs. of friendship down the drain b/c I find this so objectionable! ...It makes me regret not moving abroad when I was younger, but this sort of cultural insanity is mushrooming all over the planet! I just never thought this possible! TWICE now here in the States! I need to stop being shocked by anything from here on out! End babbling rant!
***It’s only politics, bro. You’ll see them all off, & none of them are worth getting upset about. My old mother used to get very worked up about it all until she realised that getting worked up about it didn’t make things diff.
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He was spot on. But remember, though we all hate tyranny, the tyranny of the left & their fatwas, excommunications, intolerance for anyone who doesn’t engage in their brand of groupthink, cancel culture & ostracism, job losses, violence - all weapons of the tolerant and the compassionate - this is why their loss was so complete.
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Indeed. Most of your reality is created by yourself - = if you get pulled into these dramas that are pumped out 24/7. Old @Fiero425 here says he hates tyranny... yet cuts off people - long standing friends by all accts. who don't buy into his world view. Isn't that a mark of tyranny in itself?
@Moxie wonders why white males don't vote Dem... yet spends her entire existence denigrating males & whites... a fine mixture of overt sexism & racism.***
...Are women allowed t/b criticized @ all? What are the limits I'm not seeing?
ReplyDelete***...I never said women can't be criticized. It's just that you blame them, & repeat that blame over & over, for the last few election cycles. My pt. is that men vote, too, & in a larger majority for Trump, & Reps., in gen. You might consider spreading the blame a bit, is all, if blame the electorate you must.***
M/b I'm overcompensating for giving women the "benefit of the doubt" for 50+ yrs.! I've watched them "pass the buck," rarely taking responsibility for their own bad choices! Of late it does appear women, w/ other minorities are voting vs their own best interests! ...No one can justify the current state of affairs as this country elected a FELON! He's a pathological liar, sexual predator, con man, & racist POS! We've condemned the planet to unimaginable poss. b/c the Dems. give > credit to the common sense of the people! Repuklicans take advantage of how selfish & grievance driven a > deal of the populous has become! It doesn't make sense, but people feel >er about themselves when unemployment is >er, the stock market's crashing, & inflation out of control! It doesn't make sense to logical folks, but a > many have a weird psychosis going on looking for the worst in every situation! I think some m/b happier w/ > school shootings, assassinations of lib. judges & abortion Drs., & clinic bombings!
***While I share a lot of your astonishment as to how people can fall for Trump, & for all the reasons you say, it m/b X to stop telling people that they're voting against their own interests. A lot of people felt unheard & unseen, & that's their major interest.***
You're not getting how sick this is! The last few wks. it was about self determ. of the body for women! It was hammered home the consequences of allowing Trump another opp. to lock down the SC for the next 40 yrs.! Horrific ads showed how overturning R v W had put them in jeopardy! Women were dying waiting for court apoproval to permit a surgical procedure! This is why I obsess on the women's angle! This campaign centered around this one issue over the economy & Illegal immigration! The other side was insulting or being neg. about everything & everybody! This doddering old fool called the country a 'garbage dump' while slurring his words! It's just incompreh. we're in this situation! ...Dem luck finally ran out w/ Kamala after wins in '20 & '22! It's the double whammy of a female candidate w/ > women voters! Both X's they didn't just lose, they were punished! I've seen > all the major elections; '68 here in Chgo. & the McGovern late night disaster of '72! It doesn't seem to matter if the Dem. selection is selected in an orderly fashion or it's chaos w/ infighting like Carter/Kennedy in '80? If the Dems are meant to lose, they can't be helped!
***@Kieran - No, you are acting rather superior, pretending that you're =-handed, & others aren't. You're not. You criticize the Dems in my country, often, brutally, & w/ a lot of distain. ...I'm very worried about the loss of rules & norms of law. He's going to pardon himself, which is frightening enuf, & everyone who's convicted in the Jan. 6th insurrection.
...Where it has flown off into madness is people like yourself calling out things that are marginal, @ best, & acting like they're big problems.
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What exactly did Wertheim say?***
Nothing worth losing his job over, but in these days & X's, anything can get you in trouble w/ a politically correct, snowflake society! This is what gives MAGA candidates power! They pt. out this shit & these weak-minded, aggrieved a-holes feel they're being listened to! This is what you've been trying to tell me! I GOT IT finally! This is why Dems are going down in flames! This reminds me of women running Sen. Al Franken out of office sev. yrs. ago! No one did > for them over the yrs. in Congress, but b/c they saw a pic taken during his comedy days making fun of a sleeping woman, he was ostricized & he lost his job! We're cutting our own throats w/ this kind of stupidity!
***I'm sorry my friend, but in your top 10 of "Big Servers" you forgot Ivanisevic.***
ReplyDeleteThat’s going to be the norm! Someone’s always going t/b left off someone’s list! Since I go way back, Roscoe Tanner has t/b on everyone’s list or it’s incomp.! lol! - We had inferior speed guns that prob. measure the speed of the ball off the racket instead of as it crosses the net; I’m not sure where! I can recall Tanner's normal high was btwn. 140 & 148 mph, w/ a topper of 153 @ Wimbl. in '79! He took Borg to the limit & if not for a missed BH, he'd've stopped Bjorn’s run @ the 1st “Breakfast At Wimbledon!”
***Sampras was >, obviously, but this is where context matters. Compare his comp. to Lendl who, I think, had the toughest career opps. of any > - in terms of other >s @ or near their peaks. He came up when Connors, Borg, & McEnroe ruled; Borg was replaced by Wilander, & then Edberg & Becker joined. His last few yrs. saw the rise of Sampras, Agassi, & Courier. Meaning, he played alongside the primes of 3 gens. of >s, & there was never really a per. of tie when @ least 2 other >s were in prime form.
I just think the "14 to 8" Slam titles for Sampras & Lendl only tells a part of the pic. The other part's "18 to 19," which's Slam finals - which alone doesn't bridge the gap, but illustrates just how good Lendl was.
Jeff Sackmann actually ranks Lendl (as well as Borg & McEnroe) ahead of Sampras, but his rankings are solely based on Elo. But = if we don't buy Elo as a def. ranking system (I don't), it does imply that Sampras was overall < dom. > those other 3 were. A lot of that has to do w/ his rel. weakness on clay.***
Yep, Borg & Sampras are in a separate catagory from all others! Borg was immortalized for his > play @ such an early age, becoming an ICON B4 turning 20 by winning the FO & Wimbl. so many X's & making both > relevant; remember Brkfst. @ Wimbl. in '79! Sampras was also super dom. as well owning his top rivals! We were so impressed, we overlooked him never = playing a FO final! Back then it was a rarity to get to double digits in majors, but since then the Big 3 have blown all the recs. out of the water unfort.! Borg & Sampras'd never be forgotten = though their #'s have been dwarfed in so many ways! Lendl's another player totally overlooked as he was a consummate prof'l & worked hard to overcome the conditions of the day to outdo other >'s of his era! The list's long w/ just a few being McEnroe, Connors, Wilander, Becker, & Edberg! Even the Big 3 playing longer didn't have to deal w/ such comp.!
===
Wow; no one seems to care there was a huge upset this morn. in Turin! As I've been saying, Carlos reminds me of Rafa; physically/mentally spent after FO & Wimbl.! True enuf both have won the USO, but the success' nowhere near as impressive from earlier in the season! Going down to Ruud sorta proves what I've been talking about! Crazy result in the RR!
***I watched a practice video of Carlos yesterday, he was slow, & sitting down a lot, & blowing his nose. All players @ this X of yr. are tired & carrying niggling injuries, & of course you cant help yourself mentioning Rafa for the 100000000th X. lol! Ruud took his chances & played well for his 2 set victory 6-1,7-5. That was Ruud's, Maiden top 3 win on HC's.***
***I thought I'd miss Nadal in the ATP finals, but Alcaraz's filling that gap.***
ReplyDeleteYep; a perfect fit! Almost a total waste of a trip! ...I'm not surprised he went down in flames! He may've been ill, but that "Breathe Rite" on his nose tells me he wasn't up to the task @ hand! M/b next yr.!
***TBF to Rafa, he came close to winning it twice & went deep 4 >...2 Finals, 4 SF's. He = beat Roger in the '13 SF. Meaning, he wasn't a pushover @ the Tour Finals, he just never won it.
Fun fact: Roger, Rafa, & Novak all lost 18 career matches @ YEC's, though w/ rather diff. resumes:
Rafa: 11 events, 21-18 (53.8%), 2 finals, 3 SF's
Novak: 16 events, 51-18 (73.9%), 7 titles, 2 finals, 3 SF's
Roger: 17 events, 59-18 (76.6%), 6 titles, 4 finals, 6 SF's
Andy: `8 events, 15-12 (55.6%), 1 title, 3 SF's
Kind of crazy that in 17 events, Roger didn't make the SF only once - all thx to losing to Murray & Simon in '08.***
Roger played longer w/ a weaker tour 20 yrs. ago & I thought w/ his leads in recs. that he w/b immortalized! He's on a pedestal, but his #'s have been wiped out by 2 players, not just the 1! I SMH every X I look @ the totals where Djokovic not only surpassed Roger, he obliterated him! The YE #1 alone is a marvel! Connors held it artifically for 5 str. yrs.! When the Big 3 matched it, Novak +ed 3 > as an old guy! Who would've thought it poss.? I really expected Roger t/b the king of the indoor chp., YEC, & held the rec. w/ 6 for a while! ...Djokovic again did his thing in the twilight of his career, taking 2 > to now having 7 YEC's! I guess Roger's been lucky that Alcaraz came along to stop Novak's run @ Wimbl. @ 7 so he'll prob. hold the rec. for men @ 8, but you never know w/ The Real GOAT!
***You'll have no argument that Novak's the GOAT. If anyone deserves the title it's him (or Laver). But your hyperbolic dismissal of Roger (or usually, Rafa) is just absurd. "Roger is on a pedestal - he is @ worst, 1 of the 4 >est players in tennis history. His name does "hold up."
@Fiero425 attitude is:
Peak Borg, Novak = good
Everyone else = sucks***
Yep! Fed's anointed The GOAT in '09 after his win @ Wimbl. over Roddick! That gave him 15 majors, 1 > Sampras! Poor Andy had that match w/ X set pts. to go up 2 sets - luv! He blew that high BH volley in the TB & gave Roger life! If you consider A-Rod his best rival @TX, it's perfectly valid for me to critique his comp.! You & I were prob. giving him cover when destroyed on clay by Rafa; esp. in those FO finals! He's still one of the >est, but he's still owned by 2 other players! No doubt about that as they got where they are in < X, overcoming the Lost I, II, & Next Gen. of players! Borg will always stand out due to getting to dub'l digits in majors 1st in the Pro Era! Novak just owns the other recs. & +ing to them all the X!
***Roger's hardly “owned by 2 other players.”
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...But Zverev's resume's >er ? any other non-Slam winner, & >er > quite a # of 1-3 Slam winners.***
By far Sascha's been > successful > any other Non-Slam winner, but that isn't saying a lot! Players like Kriek & Johansson have AO's! They didn't do > > help fill a men's tennis draw! OTTH, the only thing notable besides Johan's looks was '80 SF @ the USO vs Borg! Kriek was up 2 sets to luv, but allowed Bjorn to run him over 1,1, & 1 to take it in 5! ...I expected a lot > out of Sascha due to his serve alone! W/ his ht., he s/b obliterating Del Po, but he truly was part of the Big 5 but for health issues! ...Sascha'll still out-perform JCDP, just not w/ a major un< he sneaks 1 in his waning yrs. like a Gomez @ '90 FO final over Agassi!
***It's really too bad that we never got to see what a healthy JMDP career whb like. I mean, we saw him healthy 2 X's & he was a bonafide top 5 guy.
Sascha's career isn't over, but w/ the baton being passed to Sincaraz, he's going to have to earn it. But one thing that's diff. now > during the Big 4 Era, is that there are only 2 "super-elite" players.
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Sinner, 3rd man in history to win the AO, USO, & ATP Finals in a single season.***
***OCO now! Fed's right up there w/ Novak, Borg, Rafa, & Laver. When he broke Pete's rec., he did it having won on every surface, including @ the majors. Rafa had just joined Roger @ that level by winning the AO earlier that yr. Nadal's his >est rival & young Novak was already pushing his elbows out as to both Roger & Rafa. Roger was just the > complete player & played the >est pts. best from late '03-09, except for '06 Rome final (he had 2 MP's), '08 SW19, & naturally any battle w/ Nadal on clay save Hamburg in '07. Nadal ended up peaking in '08, '10-13 (but Novak had a yr. for the ages in '11) & since then has mostly still dom. on clay. (Yes, I know he also won 3 add'l HC majors--but he largely fell short on those surfaces after '13, esp. vs Roger & Novak). Nadal was clearly Roger's > rival for a long X, not Andy Roddick. He was a 2nd tier rival & really a major rival the 1st 2 yrs. of Roger's dom. Novak also became a >er rival across all surfaces. He has a slightly >er rec. vs Fed, but not by much, & > of it post-'13 when clearly Roger was not the same player from yrs. earlier.***
ReplyDeleteOh, for sure I'm not undermining Roger to relegate him outside of other greats! It's how I feel about commentators & the Tennis Intelligentsia that believe tennis begins & ends w/ Fedal; actually joining them @ the hip when Nadal owned Federer early & often! The rivalry was a farce to some extent; esp. on clay! When Roger couldn't finsh off Rafa @ Wimbl., I thought the nonsense would stop, but that match has now been proclaimed "the best ever!" Yeah, right! People say that only b/c of the participants IMO! I think Novak's win in '19 @ Wimbl. s/b up there, not just b/c of the saved MP's, but b/c Fed was playing well & was so close! Novak owned TB's then, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat!
***I've always thought the Fed-Djokovic battles on the grass courts of Wimbl. in '14 & '19 were >er matches quality-wise > the '08 final. Roger really felt deflated losing w/ 2 chp. pts. on his service. I don't think anyone could believe that whh if they were asked to bet on it. Fed had been the >er player up to those 2 pts., which was astounding in & of itself.
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...I agree about DP, but I don’t think Soderling was ever going to win slams. I just felt he had a perfect temperament to upset players in the early Rd., but when the bright lights were on him, it wasn’t his scene. - There's a bit of a cult of Robin Soderling amongst some, w/ the wondering of "what if?." He found his high watermark as a spoiler.***
I m/b part of that cult! I think Roger owes Robin; BIG X! If he hadn't bull-dozed Nadal earlier in the tourney, Roger had lit'l hope of ever getting = 1 FO Chp.! I thought anything < a huge house back in Sweden, bought & paid for w/ Deed in Soderling's name w/b outrageous! I'm betting Roger has done something for the guy on the QT!
***Nobody had to pay Soderling to beat Nadal. There was revenge in that. You must've missed their just prev. meeting in Rome, when Nadal beat Soderling 1 & luv. ...Roger himself said, B4 that RG, that if something took Rafa out of the FO, either by upset or injury, that he'd have to seize his opport.. He nearly didn't, when Tommy Haas had a MP over him. But he did what he had to do, & that's what champions do.***
It's not about getting paid, it's being "pd. off!" Soderling gave Roger his chance to steal his lone FO in '09! ...Our opin. about the subject won't be = considered outside the "cold, hard #'s" many decades down the line! They w/b talking about Fedal like Bud Collins used to muse about Laver & Rosewall! The Tennis Intelligentsia would like to forget Djokovic, = w/ the #'s to back him! Everyone knows "Standalone" might as well be part of Novak's name as he owns any & all extraneous recs. out there; 1's that matter to you & others that don't!
I just saw KC squeaked by 16-14! A tough win over the Broncos! Div. rival game so it makes sense! It was what's called "a trap game!" It was Denver's best chance to upset the Chiefs!
ReplyDelete***I could care < who won, but something looked fishy on the Left side of the line. Sure looked like the Chiefs were offside. You don't put linemen flat on their back like that on a normal play. - Cope & haterade; it’s a bad combo. - Who’s the Chiefs fan?***
I go back to the days of Marty Schottenheimer! Those were > days back in the 90's along w/ my other fave, The Buff. Bills! Marty was about as unlucky as it gets in the playoffs going back to his days in Cleveland!
***Marty never learned to kill his opponent. His strategy of getting a small lead & then going into a shell playing "not to lose" is let one that’s going to win Chps.***
Both KC & Balt. went down in flames today! Chiefs lost to Bills & Ravens dropped it to Steelers! Hopefully the Raven's rec. of 7-4 will end the MVP disc. & bring in other players to mind other > Mahomes & Jackson!
***Who’s having a >er yr. > Jackson? Saquon Barkley m/b, but = w/ the most current loss Jackson is playing lights out so far this season.***
They keep talking about Lamar as if he's the 2nd coming, but his playoff act has been lame!
***That's fair, but the MVP's an individual reg. season award, not a playoff team success award. Why does P. Manning have > MVP's > Brady. Can you say Aaron Rodgers?***
I guess m/b I'm missing something! It's not like Jackson's #'s are that great! He has bad losses; Cleve. & LV def. @ the top of the list! Rodgers' act, though egotistically @ least over-performed other QB's by "a lot;" same w/ Payton! Brady deserved MVP in his 1 > yr. w/ Moss in '07 though we find cheating was involved in that undef. reg. season! Give it to Saquon!
***Jackson's smoke ck'd Buff., Wash'ton, & the Broncos.
Which starting QB has >er #'s > Jackson? He's 2nd in passing yds. 25/3 TD to INT has the best RTG of all starting QB's & has 600 yds. rushing w/ the NFL leading rusher on his team. I'm not sure how his #'s really c/b > >er. BTW he's played 4 of the top 10 defenses in the league so far to put up those #'s.***
I'm just not impressed by Jackson listening to how he's fawned over @ X's! Mahomes gets = > attn. > his #'s warrant, but @ least he's winning! I guess I'm just stuck on the Playoff rec.! It isn't fair, but that's why we're called "fanatics!" We all have an opinion on players! My thing is, it's getting harder & harder to care as $$'s "out of control," the egos of the respec. leagues 'AOC,' & winning obviously doesn't matter as much!
***After beating Balt. on Sun., Pittsburg only get 3 days to rest B4 going to Cleve. this Thurs. nite. Cleve.'s a bombed out team w/ no hope, but it w/b interesting to see how the Steelers can rally playing 2 games in only 4 days w/ everything on the line for Cleve.
All the Steelers need now is to improve their 'red zone' offense TD capability to bring it up to the same level as their defense & special teams. They c/b a real threat going into the Playoffs.***
Overall I haven't paid much attn. to the team, but they've obviously been the > consistent ever! The fact they've only had a handful of coaches since their incep. is quite noteworthy! Some teams would have that many in a decade alone! Like KC, Pitts' just getting it done in all facets of the game w/ new life in Wilson! Can't wait for the playoffs!
***Rafa's achiev.:
ReplyDelete- 14 titles @ 1 GS - I just can't see anyone ever matching this. Anything's poss., but to me this is Rafa's > untouchable rec. - or @ least his > distinctive.
...It is poss. that Novak'd get to 14 @ the AO, though that's looking unlikely. But still, it's not @ RG, so that rec. will stand for a long X. I believe this rec. won't be beaten.
@El Dude:
2. Win % in BO5 on clay (97.1%) - this is arguably > untouchable > the above.
137-4 in Bo5 on clay has t/b untouchable, for 2 reasons. The 1st is obvious, ... the 2nd is that Nadal played in an era when DC & MS1000 finals were also played in Bo5, so there was > opport. But as to the win %, = if you put the min. # of matches @, say, 50, (which is the =lent of 7 FO+,) it w/b hard to see someone beating 97.1% over a career. Djokovic, by comparison, who has won the FO 3 X's, has an 85.19% (92-16) win rate in Bo5 there. IDK how many other clay Bo5 he played & won, but it can't be many, & there are likely to have been losses.
@El Dude:
3. Most titles on clay (63) - a 1/2 step behind the 1st 2, only b/c a "21st century Vilas" (or Muster) could theoretically come along & dom. lower clay titles. Still very, very unlikely.
4. Most wins vs the #1 (23) - This one is a step down, but still prob. untouchable - b/c it combines not only requisite >ness, but also a certain combo of other factors: namely, sev. truly > players playing @ the same X - but not too many (or too few). If you had 1 guy who dom., he w/b #1 all the X & therefore never have a chance to beat the #1 (e.g. Roger in '04-08); if you had too many #1's swapping around, then 1 of them wouldn't be > enuf t/b beating everyone else a lot w/o being #1.
- TBF about this stat, Rafa spent 3 solid yrs. as #2 to Roger's #1, when he was beating Fed a lot. That popped out to me, right away. And then there was a lot of trading #1/2/3 btwn. the Big 3. As you say, it takes truly > players playing @ the same X, so when Rafa was #2 or #3, & beat #1, that was also about the X'ing of the win & their rankings. But, again, that's why it c/b hard to match. It w/b sort of pathetic if you had a player who beats #1's regularly, but doesn't get to #1 often enuf to off-set the #.
@El Dude:
5. Youngest to win GS - this 1 is prob. untouchable j/b it requires X'ing, in +tion to ability. Meaning, the Olympics has to come @ just the right X in combo w/ enuf Slams won. Alcaraz missed the cut, unfort., b/c he w/b 25 @ the next Olympics.
- W/ the Olympics, it's a lot about X'ing, & Rafa was hitting a peak in '08, which also happened t/b an Olympic yr. Still, he completed the career-Slam in '10, @ 24, so that's still younger > Laver, in the OE. However, as has been pt'd out, Alcaraz can do that 1 younger, either this coming AO, or @ either of the next 2 after that.
@El Dude:
6. 10 titles @ 4 tourns. - this w/b hard to touch, but is a bit > poss.
7. Most cons. wins on a single surface (81 matches on clay) - a > rec., but touchable, though very, very difficult.
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Most titles as a teenager - this is a rec. if they mean in a single yr. (11 in '05), but not "as a teenager" like it's written, as Borg has 1 > (17 to 16).
GS title on every surface (clay, HC, grass) in 1 yr. - Novak did this in '21. The article got it wrong about Laver in '69, b/c the USO was on grass.
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There's no telling what sort of med. advancements will occur, & how those might impact longevity. Alcaraz & Sinner have the benefit of learning from the Big 3, all of whom won Slams after turning 35 yo (though all were @ their very best in their 20s).
Meaning, the Big 3 aren't the culm. of tennis history. I mean, they're up to this pt. But history continues, & 50 yrs. from now, they m/b viewed as new standard setters > the end of tennis evolution - really not unlike how Connors & Borg changed the sport 45-50 yrs. ago.***
Just taking Dallas Cowboys, they haven't done shit in 30 yrs., but like the Yankees, the season begins & ends w/ them! You have 2 players taking up $120 M in cap space alone, & the owner holds press conf. as if he was right in the mid'l of the action! What other owner has his own radio show? It shows the delusion of TX as he hasn't been punished in the least for his interf. & lack of winning for so long! We're old enuf to recall, Jimmy Johnson & his "Boys" were out celebr. their latest SB win! Jerry walks in trying to insinuate himself into their comradery, then gets offended when the entire room just stops! Next thing I see is Johnson leaving the clubhouse w/ a garment bag slung over his shoulder telling the Press he's "been fired!" They haven't recovered = though they snuck 1 > SB out of his players in '95!
ReplyDeleteI hated the Cowboys so I didn't mind, but I respected Johnson who I consider the best assessor of talent I've ever seen! He pk'd & utilized players for as long as they were productive, then cut bait as soon as they slouched in any way! I was a Bills fan back then so it hurt like HELL that it didn't matter if they telegraphed their plays, they couldn't be stopped! Smith had holes opened that a truck could lit. roll thru & not be touched! I can still remember a MNF game where Minn. was keeping up w/ them in TX! There was the ?? of going for the win @ the end of the game w/ a 2-Ptr.! He settled for a tie! Dallas got the ball in OT & in the 1st play Emmett ran "to the house," 65 yds. untouched! The Boys would have owned the League if not for Jones letting his feelings rule the day that ended their Dynasty B4 it = began! Now it's all fake; the attn., the expect., & inevitable autopsies after they go "down in flames" for yet another season!
***I still believe our Bills can get the #1 seed if we beat the Chiefs tmrw. it'd make getting to the SB > easier thru Buffalo.***
You got the win today in Buffalo 30-21, but it remains t/b seen if they can snag #1 seed!
***I think this X the Bills will win @ home in the playoffs.***
You can't get > unlucky than kicking off w/ just 13 secs. left on the clock & you still lose the game in an OT that never should've occurred! Mahomes def. not his normal self, but he wasn't last yr. either, but KC still defended their SB easily! This kind of dominance is not seen too often! NE had it going on, but their rep.'s been sullied w/ Spy-gate, Inflate-gate, & Cell Phone-gate! No one a bigger fan of Brady's, but I never saw him the same after all that drama behind the scenes! I truly hate "boy-scouts" who allow villainy to go on around them, taking advantage of it as long as it helps them win w/ no conscience! I don't blame him for "Giselle ending!" Typical bitch looking for a big pay day when she earned > $$ > him! We're supposed to feel sorry for her since she has so many regrets! What an idiot!
***Sure they can. I’m just not so sure they will. The Chiefs likely lose a game or 2 >, but so do the Bills > likely & tbe Chiefs have a game lead on them currently. This upcoming stretch for the Bills is tough. - Why? The Bills are 4-1 vs Mahomes & Reid in the reg. season & 0-3 in the POs.
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We Bills fans finally get a bye w/ a smile on our faces w/ a 9 & 2 rec. in the hunt for the #1 seed. The Bills have given Buffalo & W. NY something t/b joyful about while dealing w/ the snow & cold. Hopefully the Bills will give Bills' fans a SB win to help deal w/ the rest of Winter.***
***These things are ultim. unknowable. For JMDP, we don't know if he whb >er > he actually was if not dealing w/ chronic injuries. ...For Soderling, I tend to think he peaked in '10. He's 26 already, but he dipped a bit to start '11 - & B4 he came down w/ mono. He was a good candidate for a late career Slam or 2, but he's really in a lower category than Del Potro & Murray.***
ReplyDeleteTrue enuf, so much concerning Del Po is unknowable, except he did have a weapon; Murray did not! Even Novak feared DP's FH & stayed away from it! Murray'd run all day & nite, but that's not a real weapon over frustrating the BIG 3 will always be in comparison to history & future of tennis! Alcaraz's talent can't be debated, but like so many other players, his body won't hold up to the "new grind" of the tour! Back in the day you could have a beer belly & have lousy footwork! First strike tennis has elim. those folks so you'll never see the sustained excel. of Fedalovic which lasted 20+ yrs.! Sinner & Carlos w/b lucky to hold it together for 10 yrs. IMO!
***ITA w/ you. What the Big 3 did, esp. Novak is phenomenal. New Gen. have a long way to go.***
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Oh my, just saw 3rd set TB from KOK & Shelton! Both had X MP's, but Thanasi took it giving Aussies the upset of the US!
***...A TB to end all tie-brks. Kokkinakis for Australia def. Shelton 7-6 (14) in the final set. Kok saved 4 MP.
Australia will play the winner of Italy v Argentina.
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Was the Connors-Borg-McEnroe-Lendl combined waves really that much < > The Big 4? None had the longevity of prime levels, but in terms of intensity? I've said B4 that I think the peaks of those 4, esp. the latter 3--are, @ the very least, close to the Big 3. Borg in '79-80, McEnroe in '84, Lendl in '86-87. Shorter > Fed in '04-07, Rafa's surges in 08/10/13, Novak in '11-16, but comparably as dom. -- rel. to the era & context.
That tidal wave will come again. Even if Sinner & Alcaraz end up not being quite as mighty, we'll see mega-talents again...someday. And it m/b that when that happens, the context will have shifted towards = longer primes.
Again, who knows. For now I'm actually rather enjoying the new era. You might remember I was complaining about Big 4 fatigue way back in '14-15ish...m/b B4. Roger's resurgence in '17 re-ignited my enjoyment, but = so I was becoming > & > interested in seeing the shift & what came after the Big 4 Era. Well, it has arrived - and it is an interesting config., w/ a wide range of talent. I think, a wider pool of mid-range talent > we've seen in awhile (meaning, after the Big 2, there are a couple dozen players that are rather interesting, w/ enough talent to make things a bit interesting...and young guys continue to show up on the radar, which is a welcome change from the Dark Years of young talent in the 2010s).***
***Andy Murray w/b Novak Djokovic's new coach @ least up until the end of the AO. ...I read earlier that Novak was looking for a new coach & was also going to play a 'lead up' event B4 the AO!
ReplyDelete---
Let's see if he gives Murray > respect > he has some of his coaches. But I do think you're right that Novak must be feeling he has to make a stand at the AO, this yr.***
Well, "Duh!" He's 37 & didn't win an ATP event for the 1st X in 2 decades this season! I'm sure he's quite happy to at least pk. up the missing achievement w/ Olympic GOLD! The end is near, & I'm sure he wants to cap off his career w/ a 2 > majors & a few Masters 1000's +ed to his resume! Even w/ the move to go to BO3, I'm still not sure his recs. will ever be touched! It wasn't just consistency that got him those trophies; it was the longevity w/ lit'l absence due to injury!
***I'm pretty sure that despite other results last yr., he's very happy about that OGM that he really wanted. I say that earnestly! I don't think he'll care much about the MS 1000s, other > as tune-ups to the Majors. He has very lit'l left to achieve, so you have to think the focus w/b on the Majors. Sorry if the AO comment was all-too-obvious for you, but I'm sure he w/b thinking that. But you're right...it takes not just talent, but longevity & good health to rack up the kinds of recs. he has, so it w/b quite some while B4 many are broken. And some may stay untouchable.
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I think Novak w/ 10 AO Chp. is prob. just a slight level below what Rafael has done in Paris. His total wks. @ #1 blew by Rogers rec. which itself blew by Pete's rec. I'd think the # of wks. Novak has been a #1 is a largely untouchable rec. b/c somebody would have to play & be #1 for over a decade to accomplish this & that is a tall ask. Roger may have untouchable 1 w/ respect to 237 str. wks. as #1. His 3 majors a yr. 3 separate X's was prob. not going t/b matched by anybody til Novak came along doing it for 4 yrs. I've a hard X believing we'll see another player in our lifeX do what Novak has done w/ respect to winning the CS 3 X's over.***
...Nadal has the >er rec.; esp. H2H, but the tennis intelligentsia know in their coll. dark hearts that Fed's the > gifted & > desirabled gamer of grace & skill! Nadal’s a truck driver running over the curb & taking pedestrians w/ him! His >est success is on clay w/ a smattering of wins on grass & HC! He was lit. owned by Djokovic on HC, Rafa unable to = take a set off him for the last decade! - If not for Novak's OG, it w/b a total shut-out of Big Events! The elites of today can't keep the odd winner from taking a B.E.; (Popyrin an ex. in Canada)! We truly have 2 Lost Gens. out there! Sascha still the best w/o a Major!
***The ?? is 'can' Djokovic come back in '25?***
I don't understand where there is a ? that Djokovic will come back next season? He's already announced Murray t/b assisting him as the newest & latest coach! BTW, saw some click-bait about Roddick comment about this new hire! It's taken away from Nadal's retirement! HUH? Nadal's been retiring all yr.! I guess A-Rod just needed to kvetch about something during this dead per.! All we have left is the NG-YEC that few will watch! NOT ME!
***I don't think the ?? is "WILL" he be back, but "can" he come back, meaning win another Major, which, if that is the ??, is a fair one. He's 37, & went all last yr. slam<. IF he doesn't win another Major, & he's not making beating the top players, I wonder how > longer he'll stick it out?
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WTA though is very unpredictable. Next yr. we'd see 3–4 completely new winners. As for ATP, it's clear that Sinner & Alcaraz are the 2 for the future. Any 3rd act not looking clear @ the moment, but let's see if we get any in '25.***
The WTA was > predictable yrs. ago w/ Navratilova & Evert, Graf & Seles, then Wms. vs The World! I have a feeling that ATP will begin t/b just as unpredictable b/c I don’t think Alcaraz & Sinner will stay healthy enuf to own the tour like the Big 3! Time will tell, but I see the supporting players are > comp. & dangerous!
***When Donald starts deporting Latinos en mass, will he actually be rounding up the > stupid part of his voting block?***
ReplyDeleteI'll yawn when it happens! It wasn't enuf that many of these people/families were separated from one another, then caged like animals during his last tenure as Prez.! He actually increased his voting block w/ Latinos, white women, & Black men to win the popular vote! Kamala was pulverized! There was no doubt, so when scandalous & outrageous things happen next yr., know it now that he has the majority backing of the country! No crime is out of reach w/ the SC giving him carte blanche to do whatever TF he wants w/ impunity!
***Lots of Latinos voted for Trump. If they & their families end up getting deported, they w/b yelling, "BUT, I VOTED FOR TRUMP!" - When Donald Rds. all of these Latinos, he w/b deporting a large part of his stupid ass voting block.***
That's what happened the last X! W/i months, agents were pk'n up "dreamers" & other people brought into the country as kids! A woman complained, "but I voted for Trump" after her husband was pk'd up when dropping their kids off @ school! He'd been in the States since 6 yo.! I guess some call that karma; the new def.!
***Yeah, & I'm going to LMAO as they're putting them & their families onto the trucks. You voted for this, so FK. YOU!***
The insanity has begun! First there were the unqualified nominations of potential cabinet members, now Biden's being blamed for something that hasn't happened yet like nuclear war! The country, m/b the world is Fk'd, but many quite happy w/ themselves! We'll see how they feel in a few months!
***ITA that Trump's trying to appoint people who aren't qualified or experienced, neither in the public sector, nor in the depts. he's trying to have them head. But you can't just gut these agencies b/c you want to. They serve actual functions. And appointing incompetent people to head them is the way to disaster.
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It's crazy that Biden is being blamed. There's a culture of appeasement in the world. One could reasonably argue that Biden's messy WD from Afghanistan is what encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine. And over the last few yrs. Putin has been allowed to push & push. Constantly letting him have his way is the PROBLEM. That's what will get us to World War III. You simply can't allow Putin to bring the No. Koreans into this war w/o permitting Ukraine to escalate. Otherwise what's next? It's been known for yrs. that the only thing Putin respects is strength, & everything during this war confirms that. People act like Putin is the victim here. It's weird!
Nuclear bomb option is a one X thing. The moment Putin uses it he knows it's over. The Chinese & Indians do NOT want this. Manchuria w/b lost to the Chinese, & IDK if Russia = w/b able to retain their Near East territories. Chechnya & Dagestan are already eyeing each other. It w/b a monumental disaster for him.***
Like Putin, it appears Netanyahu has been finally cited by the ICC for war crimes in Gaza &'s subject to arrest! Israel's about as nutty as The States allowing this man to retain power throughout criminality going on w/ him & his family for yrs.! The world is truly LOST!
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So they finally came across someone so loathsome, = the most corrupt Party wouldn't approve his candidacy for Att. Gen.!
***Let's face it, = party loyalists gasped @ this choice for AG. It showed a bit of spine that they're standing up to Trump on this one, but let's see how far it goes. I do hope they find that FNC star Hegseth unqualified as Sec. of Defense.***
***Stupid Yankees fans. That fan must of been kicked out. 1st Inning too.***
ReplyDeleteI'm not watching the Series, but caught highlite on FS1, "1st Things 1st!" I was appalled by those class< fans trying to interfere w/ catch along the foul line! These aren't poor Schmucks, > likely well pd. prof'ls! I hope they were thrown out, then banned for life! It looks as if they were trying to injure Betts, twisting his wrist!
***Initially they said that they w/b allowed into the game tonight, but MLB intervened & they're banned for tonight's game. They s/b banned for life. That was unreal & if the Yankees were going to allow them back in (not confirmed), then this is yet another reason to hate them. - - Yeah, that could've easily ended in an injury. The way that he had his wrist held there while he'd to stay on his tippy toes @ that ht. The fan prob. got tossed.
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I can’t believe how big Judge is. He’s >er > the avg. NBA, NFL, & MLB player. 6’7", 275#? Monster.***
The Yankees had that type of "Super Athlete" B4 in Dave Winfield back in the 80's! He was a massive man that prob. shb an NFL TE, blocking downfield on runs! He was @ least 6'6" & a mountain of a man w/ muscles bursting out of his uniform IIRC!
***A-Rod was a beast too right?***
Nowhere near the beast of Winfield! A-Rod was a nice size, but I lost respect for him very early on! He was lucky to get that last WS for the Yankees!
Going back to my childhood, the Majors was always considered the Nat'l League! The Minors the Amer. League w/ a DH! I can't believe this kind of $$'s being bandied about as "the stands" c/b just about empty w/ Cable footing the bill to have baseball games playing in the background when life moves on elsehwhere!
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***The elbow to the head wasn't necess. Good way to kill a sliding QB. Lawrence barely survived that hit.
If you see the QB dropping down to slide you let him go, m/b touch him as you go by. But don't try to kill the guy by taking his head off. I played college ball. - I always aimed for their #'s.***
That was you being a smart, comp. player! Most others & the rest are scumbags as you see them going for the knees, legs, & head of players! No amt. of fines can stop all the psychos out there who just want to mame another player! I truly believe any given play c/b the last for these guys out there as the speed of the game has increased espon. w/ their athleticism!
***...Of course it was a late hit. Why do your think he got suspended for 3 games?***
He mhg the bene. of the doubt if it hadn't happened B4! The player's rep. is what caused such a long suspension! I thought w/ an appeal it might drop to 2 games!
***ITA w/ you there. His suspension was not based on this hit, but on past ??able tackles & also likely b/c they were mad that Lawrence got hit again after just coming back from a 2 wk. injury. The NFL must protect their star $$ makers & this is all about the $$.***
***The warning signs m/b there. There's @ least 30 yrs. of evidence of the WTA making huge mistakes. The cracks have been there ever since Virginia Slims left the WTA in the mid-90s: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-12-mn-19286-story.html -***
ReplyDeleteYou ain't wrong! VS was w/ the ladies from the beginning back in '71! I hate smoking, but = though I'm not much a drinker, I tolerate beer, wine, & hard liquor sponsoring sports! I don't think people realize where women's sports has come from! Way back when, they survived on expense $$, teaching, coaching, & bagging groceries! BJK was the 1st woman to win $100+ K in a season by taking 10 VS events back in '71! Equity didn't occur until the USO gave both men & ladies $90 K in '82! They're making $millions$ now, but are destined to screw it up! Their main prob., a lack of star power IMO! It helps to have a top lady from the USA, but it's been wanting here for yrs.; = w/ the Wms. out there on speed-dial into their 40's! I miss Osaka, Barty, & Andreescu!
***I don’t think Barty or Andreescu c/b =ted w/ “star power.” Unless we’re talking about the star =valent of Pluto the ‘planet’.
The women have been punching above their wt. for decades, & Osaka only became > interesting - or curious - once her schoolgirl politics became known. Then she became embarrassing during that BLM horror show. Sharapova had some measure of star power, but really Serena only transcended the sport in recent yrs., Venus too, to an extent.
A problem for > women players was highlighted during the peak of the > Martina Navratilova, that when they become super aggressive & loudly competitive, they get denounced as being manly. This is terrible, b/c these players are gen. the only ones w/ worth watching. In Gordon Forbes excel. book on tennis in Am. days, he skips to the 70's & I think it’s Rod Laver describing a woman’s match to the author, courtside:
“There’s a lob, & there’s another lob. And there’s a drop shot that’s also a lob.”
It’s very funny, but it captures what people in gen. feel about the women’s game - that it can’t help but be compared to the men & come up short (like a drop shot lob)…
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For someone who doesen't watch the 'current womens game' your comments of a lack of star power isn't completely unjustified. Nothing remains stat in our game, & we can't compare diff. eras in tennis due to the diff. variables. I believe the WTA's still transitioning from when Serena Wms. retired, & yes, she & Venus, who BTW hasn't officially retired, had Star Power & could fill any arena around the world. Even Ash Barty, who I admired, didn't have the 'star power' of the Wms. sisters.
WTA today has > depth & in the current Top 10 we have some > athletes & players; Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Paolini, Rybakina & other players on the rise. Give them X to reach >er hts. BTW, Osaka & Andreescu are still playing (aren't playing to their full potential as a few yrs. ago).***
Was there any doubt? Who TF ??ed Fed in '26 HOF? "1st Ballot" all the way using a baseball metaphor! The only ?? I can think of is will he pull a BJK or Martina & try to return after receiving this honor? I can't imagine that happening w/ the speed of the game out of reach of his old body!
***Roger is done. I mean, maaaaybe he makes a surprise visit to Basel & plays a Rd. But I doubt = that. I hate to say it, but Carlos & Jannik'd make mince-meat out of him. Gotta give respect to Martina - @ 47 yo., she beat 25-yo Catalina Castano 6-1 6-0 in the 1st Rd. of the '04 Wimbl. King only retired for about a yr. & 1/2, but cont. playing doubles. But it's impressive that she was reaching QFs & SFs almost to 40 yo.; her last being a SF loss in the '83 Wimbl. to the very tragic Andrea Jaeger, who went on to lose the final to Martina. Jaeger's career m/b 1 of the >est disappointments/what ifs in WTA history.***
Nole does own many records; that's for sure! Nadal owns Paris! Fed used to own Wimbl.! Novak owns the rest!
ReplyDelete***Novak doesn't own it all, & he didn't really own it this yr. Does anyone "own" tennis? Surely, Novak's king of the hill, for now, & the foreseeable future. If a person wants to crow that >, I'm not sure there's a response for someone that committed to it, & ignoring all nuance. There is & was a Big 3 for a reason, & a lot of Novak's passing Rafa & Roger isn't by much. Or not @ all, or not yet, as w/ RG & Wimbl. He had to win 23 Majors B4 he was ever top of that pile. It's not really a one-man convo, for anyone paying attn.***
Of course it's a one man convo! Djokovic only had to overtake Fedal by "1" to OWN a rec.! He's done a lot > that; 7-0 in YEC's alone in comparison to Nadal! As for this past season, Djokovic was being rather single-minded w/ a GOAL of winning an OGM in Paris! ,,,I think he w/b motivated to come back strong in '25 to take @ least 1 MAJOR & 2 Masters! I doubt he'll embarrass himself as some have done in the past!
***If you think Novak got to 24 Majors w/o the comp. in front of him, IDK what to say to you. 3 men passed Pete's rec. of 14 Majors by 6, & 6+. This doesn't happen in a vacuum, so, no, it's not a 1-man convo. Funny, you're so sure that Djokovic won't "embarrass" himself, in your est., by hanging around too long, when you basically accused everyone else of it. You're blinkered. ...For one who says he's not really a fan of Djokovic, you sure have the shoulder-chip of one.***
I guess I'm thinking > about the future where no one cares about who's in 2nd place! Thirty or 40 yrs. from now, who knows how they'll feel about Fedal! Sampras became KING 22 yrs. ago, but no one cared about Emerson = then! I just toot Djokovic's horn since few do, thinking "tennis begins & ends w/ Fedal!"
***Tennis' a sport of individual players, & the most successful/distinctive players demarcate diff. pers./chapters/eras in tennis. There are many ways to chop up these eras, but I think it’s fair to say that we’ve officially ended the Big 3 Era—when Roger Fedalovic mercilessly dom. the tour.
Fun fact: '24's the 1st yr. since '02 that nobody in the Big 3 won a Slam. For 21 cons. seasons, somebody won a Slam. And in 18/21 seasons, they won the majority of the slams. In '23, Djokovic won 3/4. On top of that, the Big 3 have been world #1 for a combined 947 wks. or > 18 yrs. However, after '24, I’m comfortable saying this is a new Era.
Sinner & Alcaraz have 2 Slams apiece. They’d be the 1st guys other than the Big 3 to win X Slams in a single season in the 21st century. These guys are now the face of the tour. We thought Medvedev'd usher in the new era. He prevented Djokovic’s CYGS & = snagged world #1, but his prime passed & he hasn’t won a Slam or recovered that ranking in yrs. Sinner & Alcaraz have already surpassed both his Slam ct. & his wks. @ #1, & they’re sev. yrs. younger! His reign was only a shadow of theirs.
Will this era compare to the last 2 decades? Doubtful. Considering a push'n'-40 Djokovic has a winning H2H over both (4–3 & 4–3), it’s hard to argue their tennis is the same quality as the Big 3 in their primes…but that’s alright.***
ITA that Sinner & Alcaraz own it now, compare favorably to the Big 3, but can't possibly last 20 yrs.! The quality of play is fairly nice, but the speed of the game won't allow them to hang on for > a few yrs. IMO; def. not longer > 6-7 > yrs.! Players coming behind them are playing the same game; relentlessly whacking away @ every shot if poss.! One bad step taken & the pt.'s over! After Djokovic's lead into the Olympics, I didn't have a lot of hope for his chances! He's nearly closed out his career & legacy w/ taking his last GOAL of an OGM; in str. sets! He has nothing else to prove! Sinner & Alcaraz have a long way to catch up w/ any recs. held by Fedalovic! The nest few eras w/b rather short from now on! I doubt anyone will come close to dom. near the top for any future eras lasting 20 yrs.!
***How do people like the format of NG-YEC? It certainly moves things along, but I personally hope it doesn't catch on in any significant way.
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I like the format for the Next-Gen. Lets keep it for the EOTY. It does give fans a chance to see the younger players showcase their game & for the ATP to promote the NG of players.***
I don't favor it outside of the NG-YEC! It'd undermine every rec. held by Fedalovic, Sampras, Borg, & Lendl if ext. to all tourns.! It'd make it easier to match & eventually catch up to ATG's going to this abbrev. format for scoring! M/b they can set up a rival tour using it, but not influencing ATP recs.!
***The Big 3 are a diff. kind of animal, for a whole bunch of reasons, = if the ult. argument for me is the eye test. On top of that, again, they happened to exist in a very peculiar pt. in X (right after the dawn of the ultra prof'nal age of sports).
It's a good thing that they are "substituted" by 2 early bloomers. Those 2 have a "head start" of sorts. If in 5 to 10 yrs. they don't come close to their #'s, it w/b hard to argue vs the absol. uniqueness of the Big 3.***
We'll never see their ilk again; esp. since I'm old as dirt! I wax poetically all the X about the longevity, consistency, & skills of Fedalovic! Fedal got > of the + press, but Djokovic blew them away for a while, then had a late resurgence unseen in this sport or other! He lit. bal. out his successes w/ 12 Majors won early & late, then 40 Masters spread out like a BELL Curve w/ '24 the 1st season w/o a win on the ATP Tour! He saved his entire season w/ OG @ the very end, actually dom. in str. sets on RG clay @ 37 yo! I doubt Alcaraz or Sinner will come close to the needed longevity of 20 yrs. to overtake Novak's #'s! I'm not sure how > longer I w/b watching! Even the kids are whacking away w/ such power & precision! W/ the move to Med'l East. blood $$; both men & women's tours being slowly bought by Oil Royalty, I doubt I'll really care in 2-3 yrs. if Jannik & Carlito fullfil their destinies!
***I actually don't remember anyone complaining about the length of the season since they shortened it. I think that's an old trope, but m/b I missed it recent complaining? Who, for ex.? The old guys are barely required to play anything. For the younger, top players, there's a certain requirement, & there's also a limit to how many tourns. they can play & still gain pts.***
Unfort. it's in the human DNA to kvetch no matter how good they have it! I still remember when the tour lit. cranked out events 12 months of the yr. w/ DC finale around Xmas! The AO lit. started the new sched. in Jan. B4 moving to Dec. for a decade! As I've said, I stopped listening to top player bitchin' about the length of the tour when they spent wks. playing that Ind. TT nonsense 10 yrs. ago! They looked like absolute idiots talking about needing rest when they spent free X playing exhibs. & other events that chb skipped! They have it so good making millions $$'s to play a game!
***Evidently these "kids" don't know their tennis history, or the fact that Guillermo Vilas played 147 matches in '77, & top players regularly played 100+ matches in the 70s. This dropped by the 80s, but then started trending up again a bit until the mid-90s, but has slowly dropped since. The last player to play in 100 matches was Rainer Schuettler in '03. This past season, Alex Zverev was the 1st player to play in 90 matches since David Ferrer (91) in '12.
Over the last 3 yrs., Alcaraz played in 70, 77, & 67 matches. Sinner has played in 71, 63, 79, & 79 the last 4 yrs. Meaning, neither has ever reached 80 matches in a season. Rafa's most was 93 matches ('08), & played 9 seasons of 80+ matches. Novak's most was 97 matches in '09, w/ 6 seasons of 80+ matches. Roger's most was 97 in '06, w/ 8 seasons of 80+ matches.
Anyhow, if injuries have increased, it isn't a matter of them playing >, but likely playing harder. Similar to pitchers in baseball, where Tommy John surgeries have skyrocketed over the last 2 decades.***