***DEL POTRO YOU MUG!! He had every chance in the world, was up a break in the decider, but just didn't bring out the intensity that was required to finish off Djokovic in 2nd RD. The burden is on Nadal now.***
Del Po was the 1st to be touted as good enough to break into the "Big 4" way back in '09, but he's about as brittle as they come! He just can't stay on the court long enough to make a lasting impression! He doesn't have that many wins over them, but when he does it's BIG! DP worries me more than the rest of them w/ that FH! It doesn't matter if you know where it's going; it's just tough to track those down again & again!
***Once I got over the frustration b/c of Delpo's choking, I forced myself to watch the highlights. His FH's literally unplayable. Hahaha. He needs to recover that BH t/b able to hit winners even occas. The slices he hits are so weak, = this power< version of Novak can hit them for winners on demand basically. ---
Hey PM I noticed that although JMDP slices his BH, it was somewhat effective b/c it was deep until Novak X'd & ran around to crush it for winners. JMDP still makes the game of tennis very uncomfortable for Novak. He does it a ton better than Rafa could have ever imagined. ---
...The players that Nadal doesn't have a winning H2H vs him played just twice each. Nadal's critics like to mention Davydenko, but Nadal only slipped behind there in that June '09 - March '10 period when he couldn't beat any top 10 player apart from Tsonga (going from 4-2 vs Davydenko to 4-5).***
OMG, the violins are playing! Nole gets lit'l to no credit for beating Fedal in the last sev. yrs due to everything from X, injury, & luck making excuses for his opps & the so called "weak" era! Such hypocrisy! Historical records aren't going to go that deep & find out Nadal was going thru personal strife in '09, just that he dropped his 1st FO in 4 yrs to Soderling & has had some awful losses at Wimbledon! If he can't hang, QUIT! I don't want to hear anything else about injuries, age, & the like when you have Grampa Roger still winning a major this late in life!
***What happened in '11 when Nadal was reaching final after final (arguably more consistent than in '10), but was getting rolled by Djokovic in each & every 1 of them. Did you = watch what happened in the 1st few Rds @ RG where he was low on confidence & scraping by or the Wimbledon/US finals? He was reeling. It's very evident how he doesn't play thru spells of bad form to prevent getting drubbed & his confidence from dropping = if it means skipping a few slams completely. No momentum from NY all the way to Melbourne & lack of faith probably explains why he only has 1 title in Australia. ---
...You just validated my original argument regarding the H2H. You really think Nadal's going to have a winning record vs Novak & Federer @ their fave events? And just like Sampras was taking advantage of playing Agassi more often in conditions suiting his game & not being consistent enough to make it further in RG/Melbourne. Nadal has had the same luxury of fixtures being in his favor. If Andre & Pete played in the 2000s, Agassi w/b ahead in the H2H dept. probably & we'd be pointing out how the conditions favored him instead.
If Federer ducked Nadal on clay or wasn't good enough to meet him there (just like Pete), they'd still have the same # of slams. The H2H w/b = & there wouldn't be a G.O.A.T. debate = though I'm not a believer in that kind of concept. I'll be more than willing to give Nadal a slight edge overall vs both these guys if they played an = # of matches on all the slam surfaces since as far as being a big match player, he's probably as ruthless & tough as they get, all I'm saying is that the H2H doesn't tell the whole story. It's no contest indoors in favor of Roger & Novak, but that's besides the pt.***
***The big ?? seems t/b: Are players peaking later, both in terms of when they start peaking & how long their prime yrs last, or are the older players staying in charge of the tour b/c of a weak gen. of younger players? I think some of both.
It's inarguable that we're seeing 3 of the GOAT's in Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic. Their dominance as a group - winning 44 of the last 55 Slams (80%) is probably unparalleled as a small group, @ least since Laver & Rosewall on the pro tour in the 60s; for the sake of comparison, Connors, Borg, & McEnroe won 26 of 44 Slams (59%) from '74-84.
...The 1st thing that stands out is they were all in their 20s. Now there have been players who were #1 in their 30s, although a rather short list: Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Fed, & soon-t/b Murray. ...here's the # of X's YE #1 was accomplished by diff. ages:
...You can see which gens were strongest, w/ 4 having 8 yrs @ #1 (& the '84-88 1 w/ a great chance of making that 9, = 10). But most importantly, the '89-93 gen. hasn't had a YE #1, & thus is the only gen. of the ATP era to not do so.
It's well known that the '74-78 gen. is rel. weak, but also sandwiched btw 1 of the strongest gens ('69-73) & Roger's group which is also a strong gen. ...Another very weak gen. is the '39-43 group, w/ only 3 Slam winners & 1 (Ashe) multi-Slam winner. That gen. came on the heels of the most dominant gen. in all of tennis history: the '34-38 group which included Laver, Rosewall, Emerson, & Hoad.
...#1 in the early yrs of the Open Era: Laver in '68-71, & then Smith ('44-48) in '72. Before the Open Era it's all Laver, Rosewall, & Gonzales going back to '54, so Ashe's group was never #1. That said, both the sportswriters & TennisBase gives him #1 in '75, & TB also disagrees in a couple other yrs in the 70s, giving the #1 to Vilas in '77 & Borg in '78, so Jimmy Connors was only #1 according to that site's deeper statistical reading twice rather than his ATP 5 X's (altho Jimmy gets 1 back later from McEnroe in '82).
...But = the previous weak gens--'39-43 & '74-78--found ways to win Slams. If we look only @ the '74-78 group, we have Kafelnikov (2), Kuerten (3), as well as single-Slam winners Moya, Costa, Gaudio, & Johansson. Consider this: These guys played during a X when the courts were < homogenized, & there was no clear "King of Clay" - but rather a group of "<er kings." Of their 9 Slams, 7 were @ the FO.
...I think the players of the '89-93 gen. w/ the best chance of winning a Slam are: Thiem, Dimitrov, Raonic, Nishikori, & then Busta?
...The '89-93 gen's historically weak; certainly it's the weakest since the '39-43 group, far weaker than = the relatively weak '74-78 group. But the '84-88 group is also historically strong, certainly up there w/ the '68-73 group as the strongest of the Open Era, altho neither quite compares--in terms of era dominance--to the '34-38 group. But here's the pt: A strong gen. looks = stronger w/ a weak younger gen., & a weak younger gen. looks = weaker w/ a strong older gen. So both are exaggerated by the extremes of the other. ...At least a few of those guys will win Slams & be #1.***
***Novak Djokovic - In '03, Djokovic started his career & so far has made over $102 M. As of late, he has 66 career titles & 12 GS singles titles: 6 AO, 3 Wimbl., 2 USO, & 1 FO. When he does finally retire, he'll go down as a top player of all X. During his '16 FO title, Djokovic became the 8th man to secure a CGS. ===
...It's coming to a pt he'll need a good draw to win a GS, while just 2 yrs ago or even < it wasn't really important who he'd meet.
...IW/Miami w/b another matter, it looks like it w/b a full-on massacre w/ all sorts of guys needing to make up for lost pts. Good X's ahead, surely. ---
It w/b very nice to finally see the changing of the guards, all big players of today are 30+. ---
You're right about Djokovic's vulnerabilities these days. Even a slight physical decline could significantly affect the results of a player who relies on his movement a lot - we've seen this in the later stage of Nadal's career & we're witnessing the same outcome in Novak's. Also, his serve is not the weapon it was in '15 & no more easy pts as much as before yr 1/2. He needs to put a lot more effort in order to win the matches. All these factors make his life much tougher on tour, esp. in B05. But, nothing unnatural here, he's following the path of decline that all the other ATGs have gone. ---
Everyone knows that '17 w/b a more open yr than there has been for many yrs. There are more players like Donskoy who can cause an 'upset' (but these are no longer really 'upsets' - he nearly beat Pouille as well as Rog). Even someone like Querry can have a late upsurge - though beating Thiem in T's current state isn't so unexpected - & Kohlie nearly beat Murray (how I wish he had). ---
Who're the top players to keep matches close in losses? - Fed easily. W '08, AO '09, AO '13, USO '10 & '11 come to mind.***
I haven't read the whole thread, but I thought the topic was keeping a match close! These examples OTTH seem more like "chokes," not keeping it close! Isner winning serve & losing a match 6-7,7-6. 6-7 is a great example of keeping it close in a loss; done X X's by him!
***Definitely Isner. King of losing in TB's. ---
You can show up & get a good payday for an appearance. What motivation is there to go above & beyond if you're a pro player in most any sports. This just doesn't go for tennis. ...You can SUCK balls & still make millions in app. fees. Why kill myself when I c/b a millionaire for just showing up? Start giving these bum ass players a few 100 $$ for showing up & I'll guarantee they'll improve their games.***
It's why I've been calling the past gen. of "also-rans," gutless! They have all the ability in the world w/ BIG serves & killer FH's! It does lit'l to no good = if Fedalovicray were "under the weather" & allowing themselves t/b stretched needing to save X MP's! I can remember tons of matches where some nobody has X MP's & choke an upset away! Just a few days ago is a great example in Kohlschreiber! He must have had 7 MP's vs Murray before & into the 2nd set TB in Dubai & he just couldn't close it out! ...All of them don't have to win squat today t/b millionaires!
***I wouldn't put it past Nole. He'll play for a long X yet & tennis is very fickle/unpredictable.***
Obviously if you can have such late success! After 5 yrs to take a major like Roger did @ the AO; OTTH can only be compared to Connors back in '82! He had gone 4 yrs, totally dominated by Borg & McEnroe w/ no 1 thinking he had it in him. He went on great run taking Wimbledon & the USO, then defending Flushing in '83!
***When Federer is winning a slam in '17 & Venus is in the AO final, anything can happen.***
...and says a lot about the level of comp. w/ their lack of heart to allow something like this to occur in this high tech world of nutrition, conditioning, & advances in equipment! ...The big 4 or 5 have dom. the Open era like no others when we thought 14 MAJORS made a player "THE GOAT" w/o = a FO final! Now we have Fedalovic owning the Masters tour recs & 80% of the majors over the last decade or so!
***@Fiero425 When the experienced players gets lit'l bit of help from tech to maintain their physical strength, this is what happens. One would then ask why Fed lost to Novak. It was simply b/c Novak was & is another ATG. ---
Nah, they grew into the same/= better tech. I just think the drive isn't there, & they're the 1st gen. to grow up w/ Twitter/cell phones/limit< distractions that make it easy to slide under that fine line of where >ness lies. How many just don't care enough? ---
...All we know is that the '84-88 group is very strong & the '89-93 group is very weak.
*Roger: Yes, he just became the 1st 35 yo to win a Slam since the 70s, & yes he's still elite @ a X when most great players have retired. But consider that "decline" is relative. Roger was so damn good during his peak that a late career plateau is still very high. Furthermore, there's precedent for great players still remaining very good into their 30s: Agassi & Connors, & Roger is >er than either (or both put together!).
*Stan: He's an outlier, no doubt. But again, he could just be an unusual player.
*Ferrer: He peaked in his late 20s & early 30s, but again, others have done that before. It isn't totally unusual for a 2nd tier player to have a late career boost. Not typical, but it happens.
...Ages shift over X. We could also look @ the 80s-90s as the historical anomaly, as players were winning Slams @ 17, but some of those same players were done in their mid to late 20s, whereas earlier on players were maintaining peak level deep into their 30s, & before the Open Era some players were playing well into their 40s. ---
...The era was actually weak at the end of Sampras/Agassi's reign. There was a 3 yr period roughly from '01-03 where things weren't @ their best, but then Fed's very talented gen. quickly came of age & rescued tennis from the geriatrics & the lack of Kuerten et al who shb in their primes.
This pretty strong state lasted until about '06, where some of Federer's talented compatriots started to fall off the map a bit, & the old gen. retired, ... & the younger gen. were still 18 yos & a lit'l too young. A few yrs later ('08, '10+), it was very strong again w/ the rise of the "Big 4" & the beginning of a golden age.
All of this ebb & flow is pretty normal. I'd say it was normal @ least ATW thru '12. ...Tennis players normally lose some of their wheels after 24-25, but we have guys now that look basically as fast as they've ever been.***
***Let's all go easy on Nole. The guy had a brutal 3-4 yr period of focus onto tennis. Now, he might j/b burning out a lit'l. And, by balancing his love for tennis & family, he's just taking things easy & @ the same X trying to heal & rejuvenate himself by taking some of his focus off from tennis. ---
Djokovic claims tennis is no longer his major focus as he seeks to find a balance btw being a tennis player, husband & father. He became only the 3rd player to hold all 4 GS titles @ the same X in June '16 following his win @ the FO, as he sat atop the world rankings. Since then, the Serbian lost his #1 spot to Murray in Nov. & has not had the best '17 so far.
..."Tennis was my #1 priority, when Stefan was not born," he said as quoted on Tennis World USA. "Now it's completely opp.. I have a son, a wife, a family, & I'm extremely grateful for the blessing of being a father. ..." ---
Djoker's career on clay is superior to Roger's, there can't be an argument there. And in '11, peak Djoker annihilated near-peak Nadal on every clay court except RG. Djoker also beat Nadal at RG, something Roger never managed to do. ---
I personally think peak Roger on clay (Rome '06 vers.) would beat any version of Djoker on clay. We know he did it in '11 when Novak hadn't lost a single match all yr. Essentially, I see Roger as the greater clay player, but Djoker has more titles & more wins over Nadal on clay. ---
Peak Nadal on clay by default makes '07 stronger than '15/16. '15/16 had no ATG-caliber players on any surface besides Djokovic & none @ all the 2nd 1/2 of '16. Also Nadal @ Wimbledon was tougher than Fed @ Wimbledon in '15. Djoker/Fed probably similar @ USO (both spurts of decent play, but not as well in the big moments in the final. ...). The rest of Fed's USO draw was much tougher. So really no case @ all. '15 @ least had some decent strength. '16 was just a joke. Every single slam win was weak in terms of opposition for the winner besides maybe Stan's USO, although he faced a well-below 100% Delpo/Djoker physically as well as snowflake Nishikori which makes it more name over form. Roddick in '07 would have won that USO. Djokovic may have as well t/b honest, & Davydenko in terms of level may have won too although mentally he probably wouldn't have sealed the deal in B05, which is where Stan is very impressive. ---
Overalk: - 70's belongs to Borg - 80's belongs to Lendl - 90's belongs to Sampras - 00's belongs to Federer - 10's belongs to Djokovic
Wait, wait for a sec. No Nadal here? --------------------------------------------- 4 players that w/b successful in any area (I can't say dominating) Federer (just too talented) Nadal (too arrogant w/ non-stop BH serving, but works perfectly) Lendl (never gave up) Djokovic (no expl.)***
...In the final Bjorn got up 2 sets to 1 & I thought he'd be ok! Then there was a sea-change & Connors stole the 4th set! IIRC, Borg went up 4-0 in the 5th, but Connors charged back to tie it up! Connors double faulted @ 15-all & never won another pt, Bjorn closing him out 6-4! Bud Collins complimented Borg on returning all but 2 of Connors' serves & committed only 5 FH UFE's!
***They played 13 X's after that Wimbledon match - Borg winning 11 of them, including 9 str. after '78:
'81 USO SF Hard - Borg d Connors 6-2 7-5 6-4 '81 Wimbl. SF Grass - Borg d Connors 0-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 6-4 '81 ATP WTF's SF Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-4 6-7 6-3 '80 ATP WTF's 10 Carpet - Borg d Connors 3-6 6-3 7-6 '79 WCT Challenge Cup F Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-4 6-2 2-6 6-4 '79 Tokyo Indoor F Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-2 '79 Wimbledon SF Grass - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-3 6-2 '79 Las Vegas F Hard - Borg d Connors 6-3 6-2 '79 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-3 '78 USO F Hard - Connors d Borg 6-4 6-2 6-2 '78 Wimbl. F Grass -n Borg d Connors 6-2 6-2 6-3 '78 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay - Borg d Connors 7-6 3-6 6-1 '78 ATP WTF's F Carpet - Connors d Borg 6-4 1-6 6-4 '77 Wimbl. F Grass - Borg d Connors 3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4 '77 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay -n Borg d Connors 6-4 5-7 6-3 '76 USO F Clay - Connors d Borg 6-4 3-6 7-6 6-4 '76 Palm Springs SF Hard - Connors d Borg 6-4 6-1 '75 USO SF Clay - Connors d Borg 7-5 7-5 7-5***
...Murray's dodging linemen & ball boys 30 yds behind the baseline while Fed's on top of it ready to crack an approach & advance into the net! Murray went to a very defensive game sev. yrs ago; worked himself into condition thinking he can outlast anyone running down any shot! That's a problem when he plays like that in early Rds wearing himself out; case in pt the FO last season!
It's the reason Roger's been able to play @ an elite level w/ few injuries & for so long being more offensive! We all know Nadal & Murray are destined for early retirements & inevitable hip replacements! Nole's conditioning/stretching will extend his career a bit longer, but the wear has already begun mentally; emotionally! His goals have been reached, his priorities had to change, but I think he has another good run in him! I think he can take another 3 or 4 majors over the next 3 yrs since Roger will come back to Earth, Murray will run himself into an early grave, & Nadal's already his pigeon! The problem he'll have is w/ the new gen. which are finally starting to make their mark! Thiem is coming along nicely w/ A. Zverev! Some "middle of the road" players are having nice results of late as well; Milos, Kei, Nick, Querrey, & Grigor!
***Most brutal IW draw for Novak, starting w/ R3. Not much relief for Rafa/Fed either. Rafa gets Verdasco in R3, a potential tough customer. Roger @ least seems to have 2 easy rds in Dudi & Johnson.
- Novak's path:
R1. Bye R2. Elias R3. JMDP R4. Zverev/Kyrgios QF. Fedal SF. Cilic/Kei -F. Murray ---
There are 4 GS winners in the bottom Qtr. & they together have won 45 GSs. There are 3 GS winners in the other 3 Qtrs put together & they together have won 7 GSs.***
I was saying here & elsewhere, Nole's got a lot of hurdles in his path trying to go for the "double" Masters of IW/Miami for the 4th yr in a row!
***Fed records over Nadal:
18 > 14 302 > 140+- 237 > ? YE #1: 5 > 3 Wimbledon 7 > 2 USO 5 > 2 AO 5 > 1 WTF 6 > 0 LOL Titles 89 > 69? 5 str. slams @ 2 events 3 x 3 slam winning yrs 2nd best yr ever '06
Nadal records over Fed:
FO 9 > 1 H2H 23 > 12 OGM: 2 > 1 (still, a meaningless exh. as worthwhile as Halle or Barcelona)***
***Did Federer play >er vs Murray @ Wimbl. '15? - I'd say '15. '12 Fed played as well if not >er the last 2.5 sets, but was subpar the 1st 1.5. '15 Fed had no let ups.***
Murray's become as much a pigeon as Roddick for some reason! I understood why Roddick had a problem; the errors would come regardless of how well Roger played as long as he could keep the ball in play! Murray started out well & had a decent H2H lead on Fed, but has "gone down" & looked bad going out to the old man again & again; in str. sets no ness is hardly comparable to being beaten by Querrey or Istomin in 2 of the last 4 majors. In his broad prime Federer lost to a player of that sort of ilk once in 10 yrs in majors (Stakhovsky @ Wimbledon). Djokovic has done it twice in 1 yr now. Big diff. to a lit'l partial exo in Dubai. ---
Andy goes down to Pospisil in IW 2nd RD.
***No real excuses for the abject performances of Murray as world #1. Goes to show the true greats are the ones who cope w/ being #1. He has lost the aura he worked hard to build & sadly I can see pts dropping off the computer thru the clay season & then Wimbl. ---
...Murray's been #1 longer than Roddick & soon to pass Wilander. How the Hell you can put Murray in the same bracket as Roddick I'll never know.***
That's some #1 ya got there going down to a qualifier so early in a Masters! - I'm no fan of Murray's, but he's definitely better than quite a few #1's who may have held it for quite a while like Hewitt! He's definitely better than Safin, Roddick, Moya, and Rios with fewer or no major titles!
***Wilander won 33 titles - Murray 45 titles & counting.
- Wilander has never won YEC's.
- Slams Murray might add to what he has now.***
You can't compare the eras of these comparable "also-rans" of their X's! Wilander had to deal w/ a GOLDEN AGE of players from all over the world; McEnroe, Lendl, Connors, Edberg, Becker, Cash, etc.! Murray's had to overcome GOAT's, true enough, but he's had more opps to do well unlike past champs w/ more comp!
***...it's just that Federer was a bit more consistent in reaching later stages of slams than Djokovic.***
...thru a weaker era of "gutless" players who don't know how to finish off a top player! Roger's main competitor truly was Roddick & we all know how fruitless that rivalry turned out t/b! It's the same w/ the 1 people most assoc. him w/, a much younger player who has his # for the most part; Nadal! The H2H shows it; most rationalizing the advantage was weighted on clay! That wasn't it & isn't the reason Roger went almost 10 yrs before he defeated Rafa @ a major 2 months ago! Some rivalry!
***The hilarity of a Djokovic fan claiming a "weaker" era = though we're just going thru 1 since '14.***
It truly has t/b weak to allow Roger to make final after final in his golden years, then winning a major after 5 yrs; it has t/b 1 of the weakest! All you need to do is check the recordbks that have been rewritten in favor of Fedalovic; a trio of ATG's that have changed the face & history of tennis! There was a bit of >ness, but a lot of gutlessness helped them over the last 10+ yrs!
Federer has entered the main draw of a slam on 69 occasions & held up a slam trophy 18 X's. His strike rate, the % of X's he has held up the trophy relative to the amount of X's he has entered a slam, is 26.09%. Fed’s strike rate looks like this:- AO: 27.78% FO: 5.88% Wi: 38.89% US: 31.25%.
The 1001 wks' artificially inflated by the 6 months Fed took off last yr so I will deduct 26 wks from the 1001 wks to say that he has been on the tour for 975 wks. Fed's been @ #1 for 302 wks, which means, in the 975 he's been on the tour, he has spent 30.97% of his X as the #1 player in the world.
Comparing Fed’s stats to another ATG; Sampras.
Since Jan.'88, Sampras had entered:
AO: '89-02, DNP in '88, '91, '92, & '99 (11 X's for 2 AO titles)
FO: '89-02, DNP in '90 (13 X's for 0 FO titles)
Wi: '89-02 (14 X's for 7 Wi titles)
US: '88-02, DNP in '99 (14 X's for 5 USO titles)
Sampras entered the main draw of a slam on 52 occasions & held up a slam trophy 14 X's. His strike rate is 26.92%. So Sampras won 26.92% of the slams he competed in. AO: 18.18% FO: Nil Wi: 50.00% US: 35.71%. ---
Both Fedal's have holes in their resumes:
Fed's biggest hole is his H2H deficiency to Nadal. After Nadal made a mockery of Fed @ the FO in '08, the script shb to get his revenge over Nadal @ Wimbl. ...if you're staking a claim t/b the best ever, then you simply cannot have these demerit pts vs your name. And AO '17 changes nothing.
As for Nadal, gaping holes are cons. losses to Djokovic @ W, USO & AO before his pet event came to rescue him again. He has too many FO's & not enough of everything else. He chose to dom. the least significant slam of the 3 traditional 1's where dom. Wimbledon & USO would have given him more aura. 3 losses in the final @ the 4th slam have not helped either.
IMO, Nole's the best of the 3 in this era. Beats them both when it really matters, superior H2H when it matters & when it doesn't, + the Djokovic slam! Still got X to do alot more. This current era chp is still up for grabs. ---
Fritz is thru elim. Cilic.***
It's what I've been praying for; is it X? We have qualifiers, WC's, LL's, & other upsetees making it thru to the 3rd Rd! That's amazing; a cause for celeb.! I guess all we need is for a totally screwed up draw & ranking so that Fedalovic are in the same Qtr! Only 1 will play the semis! It's wide open for somebody new!
***Pova needs to work for her ranking if she has a conscience or is truly contrite. - She's about as contrite as Trump. I doubt if contrite is in their vocab.***
Oh please; she's been pampered & coddled all her freakin' life! Of course she feels entitled & to this day probably doesn't think she did anything wrong! If IMG didn't tell her that heart medication was on the list of banned substances, then it's on them! If she concealed her usage, then it's on her & should take her medicine (no pun intended) & work to get her ranking back! She's not entitled to any protection; = if she's a lot >er than most! Seles was stabbed back in '93 & most of the ladies didn't = want to give her a break in the rankings! Why should Pova w/ a self-inflicted wound?
***I'm sure POVA marketing team's working OT trying to salvage her image by spinning the story to make her look a victim. ...***
I won't criticize her asking & receiving WC's, but I pray she doesn't come off & act like she's some kind of victim! Her apologists w/b around enough to fan those ridiculous flames!
***To no one's surprise, Federer never managed to beat his big rival 3 X's in a row, mostly b/c their 3rd encounter was always played on clay. Tmrw the playing conditions are more favorable to the Swiss, not to mention his renewed confidence. So a win for Fed wouldn't be totally meaning< as it could make his H2H vs the Spaniard more presentable.
- All matches: Nadal, 23–12 - HC's: Nadal, 9–8 - Outdoor: Nadal, 8–3 - ATP Masters Series/ATP World Tour Masters 1000 matches: Nadal, 12–4 - BO3 set matches: Nadal, 12–8 - IW's: Tied, 1-1 ---
...OTOH, Andy lost early @ both IW & Miami last yr, but found his form on clay & grass.***
There won't be any sea change @ the top, anyX soon under the best of circumstances! Nole just has too many pts to defend until JULY while Murray has the opp. problem! To retain his #1, he has to start winning a lit'l bit now b/c by the USO he'll be scrappin' trying to hold on & defend all those 250/500's that helped elevate him to the top w/ the victory of the YEC! He lost some pts "down under," but can solidify his ranking if he wins Miami; his worst event of the Masters series it seems! I thought he lived & trained there so I'm baffled; same w/ Nadal!
***If / when men's GS matches are reduced to BO3 sets (I'd hate to see that happening, but I think it's inevitable @ some pt) then Masters Series titles clearly w/e more difficult to win than Slam titles. - Then there w/b a case to argue that, prospectively speaking, the Masters Series title count would become more important than the Slam count.***
They've already devalued Masters 1000 events by going BO3, you have this injustice of 3 players owning almost 100 of them! That wouldn't have happened if they had been required to go 5 sets periodically; esp. Rafa who's notorious for going the limit again & again! Let's leave the majors as is! I already had to go thru the bastardization of the USO; surface change twice in 4 yrs, went to BO3 in early Rds when played on clay, had 2 suspicious draws that had t/b re-pulled, someone shot from a stray bullet, & 2 pier 6 brawls in the stands! It's bad enough we've gone to TB in 5th sets; let's not lower their status anymore than they've done to themselves already! I do believe the Masters finals m/b turned into =lence of Majors due to so few going to players outside "The Big 4!" It's been obscene IMO to only have a sprinkling of "also-rans" to take either a Major or Master's title in the last decade or so!
***...It's pretty sad for the doubles players IMO that singles players can knock 'em out when their 1 focus is doubles strategy, net play, etc. #1 seeds must feel like shit going out to Nole/Troicki!***
In the old days before the tennis explosion, all the singles players from the top on down played doubles! I never saw them, but = Borg & Vilas played together & won during the era of the WCT! Raul Ramirez was briefly #1 in singles & dubs, noteworthy w/o = a thought is McEnroe, & during the independent schedules of the mid '70's, Connors hooked up w/ his mentor in crime Nastase! Doubles' players subsidized the singles' draws b/c so many were older and/or out of shape; Hewitt/McMillan, Smith/Lutz, Stewart/McNair, Gottfried/Ramirez, Newcombe/Roche! I still remember how Borg's coach would try to avoid night matches @ the USO for his charge; lobbying for a 1st rounder he got vs an octogenarian & future convicted rapist, Bob Hewitt!
- Fed the last player to win BO5 over Blake in '06
***Murray isn't an awful #1! He's done a lot >er than past world #1's. He's 29 yo & wasn't going to dom @ that age. It's tough to do. He should focus on slams & a few other tourneys; that's it.***
...A couple bad losses & dropped a final to #2 Nole in Dubai! He had >er do something in Miami or more "grumbling" w/b heard & written about!
***As #1, Murray should win tourneys, not go out early.***
We may never see the type of excellence demonstrated by Nole over such a long period of X! He truly did start outperforming Fed's best seasons, making final after final, winning 3 majors & 6 Masters (in 8 finals) in '15, adding the YEC he didn't get in '11! Completing his Nole-Slam @ '16 FO sets him apart w/ Laver the only pro in the OPEN Era to win a CYGS! If Djokovic takes another FO, he can double his CGS!
***I think it's still too early to say Roger has completely turned the corner vs. Rafa after beating him @ IW. I'm hoping Roger avoids him on clay b/c you'd figure if they meet on grass or fast HC's atp it'd definitely be an edge to Roger & he can keep this streak (3) going. But a couple losses to Ralph on clay & it can have a carryover effect like it did many yrs ago.***
Better hope Roger doesn't read that; his ego couldn't handle it! He'll go the full clay season just to prove you wrong! ...He probably thinks, "I have a chance @ a GS!"
***No way should he skip the FO or any major. He's shown yet again @ AO that you can't count him out of any tourn. He always has a decent shot @ Wimbledon &'s a contender @ USO, but no 1 figured he'd snatch another AO let alone by going thru 4 top 10 players in his 1st tourney after 6 months. ...If he wins IW I'd like to see him skip Miami & then just play Rome & RG b/c he does have 2 grass tourneys before Wimbledon & if he plays 2 of those clay MS events as well as RG. - I think he conceded he whb more successful on clay w/ a bigger stick.***
I was 1 of the purists terribly offended by the new tech in the mid 70's! I started w/ wood in '70 & continued until I was forced w/ newbies gaining on me w/ < X & practice using fiberglass & metal, culm. in the advent of "Prince" monstrosity! I still remember playing in a club final vs some dr. who was probably just a weekend warrior, but he had that HUGE headed racket & if able to get to the shot pushed it back forcing me to hit a winner! I won in str. sets, but it was tougher than it shb! I knew then & there I needed to check out something more lethal than a Bancroft Borg woody! I went w/ something only another oldster would remember; the 1st all fiberglass racket produced out of a Euro-sports manuf. called "Volkl!" I guess they specialized in skis, but I loved their rackets! It was orange w/ blue zebra stripes & ran about $150! At that X, most never spent more than $50 or so for something like the Head Comp. 1 or 2! It was very flexible, added pace to my shots, & more vers. spins on the serve! Still have them after 40+ yrs, = though I've gone thru 50+ rackets of diff. sizes & materials til I had to give it up in '01! Memories!
***Fed-Rafa H2H now is 23-13. It w/b nice if many more Fedal matches come up so that Roger can rewrite the H2H story or @ least control the damage. Roger has improved his ranking to top 8 & w/b seeded so in Miami. The problem now is that both Rafa & Roger are ranked in 5-8 range. As a result, they can't meet before SF's. In the QF's, players ranked 5-8 are drawn to play players ranked 1-4. That means un< both Roger & Rafa manage to reach the SF's in the same tourn., we won't have a Fedal match assuming they both stay in the range 5-8 for the rest of the yr.
Wimbledon w/b an exception where I expect Fed t/b seeded in top 4. Unfortunately, in Wimbledon folks ranked beyond 100 take care of Rafa & so Fedal can't happen in Wimbledon either. In WTF, if they both are drawn in the same group we'll get @ least 1 more Fedal match. But, chances are by then Rafa would've gotten tired decided to pull off from WTF = if he qualifies.
Anyway, this yr I expect a 0 or 1 more Fedal match. In the next 3 yrs, = if we get 2 matches per yr, that w/b a total of 7 matches. Assuming couple of them happens on clay, we may have 5-2 record going forward & so a final total of 25-18, which is not quite bad.***
I'm just glad Nole got to beat up on Rafa when he was still comp. in '11! Took him in 3 Major finals & 7 str. wins from '11 IW - '12 AO! He's since added another 7 win streak w/o the loss of a set believe it or not! Roger can have the scraps I guess; Rafa's ready to put in for double hip replacement! Rafa will forever be ahead in the H2H w/ Roger, but hung on long enough to allow Nole to catch up & pass him too!
***There has been some discussion about '17 Wimbl. seedings. In particular, the ?? was raised whether Fed'll achieve a top 4 seeding? It's really far too early & there are too many unknowns. Still, we can take a look @ the pts that we already know w/b +ed.
The formula: Take the pts as current ahead of Wimbl, + the previous 12 months grass court results again (i.e., '17 warm-ups + '16 Wimbl), & 1/2 of the previous 12 months ('16 warm-ups & '15 SW19).
Fed has '15 Wimbl F (1200), '16 Stuttgart, Halle, Wimbl SF (90/180/720). So pts t/b +ed are 1455 + grass-court results from '17. Fed will indeed have a significant advantage thru the seeding system. Apart from Murray & Djokovic, there would seem t/b only Raonic @ a similar level.
He has '15 Wimbl R3 (90) '16 Queens F (300), Wimbl F (1200). So he gets an extra 1395 + grass-court warm-ups '17 for the seedings.
We see that Fed & Raonic are essentially = on the extra grass-court pts. If Fed wins IW, he w/b almost = w/ Raonic on current ranking pts. Kei & Stan are >er, but have almost nothing in grass-court results t/b +ed for the formula (Kei has '16 R16, Wawrinka '15 QF, +ing 180 pts each; very lit'l otherwise).
Currently, Fed's deficit in the rankings behind the top 3-6: Wawrinka: 1800 (2200 if Stan wins IW, 1400 if Fed does); Nishikori: 825 (425 if Fed wins IW); Raonic: 575 (175 if Fed wins IW); Nadal: 240 (Roger overtakes Rafa if he wins IW).
A lot can still happen btw now & Wimbledon, but as things stand, a top 4 seeding for Fed no longer seems entirely fanciful if he wins the IW title. ---
Correction: The pts won on grass beginning from '16 Wimbl, w/b +ed. From the 12 months before that X, they'll pick the best result of a player on grass & + 50% of that. So, Fed's addition w/b 600 (1/2 of 1200) + 720 + '17 Stuttgart pts + '17 Halle pts. ---
...Clearly a top 4 ranking for Roger is now very much possible. One more good tourney before the grass-court season, & decent results in the warm-ups, m/b enough to make it a reality. Coincidentally, w/ Murray & Djokovic absent, Fed w/b #4 seed in Miami.***
***109 titles for Connors, Lendl w/ 94, & Fed coming up fast @ 90 & counting.***
I really didn't see Connors or Lendl's record going down, but as I've been saying, today's players are just plain gutless allowing the old guard to reign supreme longer than any era I can remember! ...It's quite possible w/ the burnout of Murray & Djokovic, Fed has a real chance to get back to #1; @ least win another major this season! It'll stagnate the current gen. for another crop of newbies if this continues w/ Fedalovicray! I'm still hopeful for Thiem & A. Zrevev!
***...Federer extends his lead:
- Fed = (18 x 2) + (5 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + (3 x 1) + (10 x 1.2) + (25 x 1) + (18 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (13 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 114.86
- Lendl = (8 x 2) + ((5 + 2 - 1) x 1.5)) + (0 x 1.3) + (2 x 1) + (11 x 1.2) + (22 x 1) + (11 x 0.60) + (2 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (9 x 0.72) + ((5 -2) x 0.60) + (42 x 0.50) = 99.48
- Djokovic = (12 x 2) + (3 x 1.5) + (2 x 1.3) + (1 x 1) + (9 x 1.2) + (30 x 1) + (13 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (10 x 0.72) + (0 x 0.60) + (12 x 0.50) = 93.9
- Connors = (8 x 2) + (2 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + (1 x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (17 x 1) + (9 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (16 x 0.72) + (4 x 0.60) + (49 x 0.50) = 90.52
- Nadal = (14 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (2 x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (28 x 1) + (14 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (1 x 0) + (3 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 86.06
- Sampras = (14 x 2) + (0 + (2 - 1) x 1.5) + (5 x 1.3) + ((2 - 1) x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (11 x 1) + (8 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (5 x 0.72) + ((4 - 1) x 0.60) + (12 x 0.50) = 69.0
- Borg = (11 x 2) + ((1 + (2 -1)) x 1.5)) + (1 x 1.3) + ((1 + (3 - 1)) x 1) + (5 x 1.2) + (15 x 1) + (4 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (1 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 63.32
- Agassi = (8 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + ((3 - 1) x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (17 x 1) + (5 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (1 x 0) + (11 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (6 x 0.50) = 61.02
- Becker = (6 x 2) + ((1 + 1) x 1.5)) + (3 x 1.3) + ((4 + 1) x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (13 x 1) + (8 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (8 x 0.72) + ((2 - 1) x 0.60) + (9 x 0.50)= 57.36
- Murray = (3 x 2) + (1 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (0 x 1) + (8 x 1.2) + (14 x 1) + (7 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (2 x 0) + (9 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (10 x 0.50) = 47.38
For details: - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/revised-updated-open-era-achievment-ranking-system-using-current-atp-weighting.539099/ - ---
Standings "Wimbledon seedings race" going into Miami:
...Nadal's resume only looks great from orbit IMO! A closer inspection shows most of his titles on clay; esp. 9 of his 14 Majors being FO's! The main reason he gets the nod is b/c of the H2H which is heavily in his favor over the consensus GOAT, Federer! That AO won 2 months ago helped solidify his position; esp. since he defeated Nadal who's so much younger! I was ready to anoint Nole since he was pulling up fast, holds the record count in Masters winning 8 of the 9 X X's, & has his own NOLE-Slam completed w/ FO last season! He'll soon take over lead in the # of wins over top 10'rs where Roger is 20 or so ahead for now & Nole's already taken over the H2H w/ Fedal!
***...As it stands, Djokovic has 12 slams. The gap btw him & Fed is 6 slams which is significant, but it's also not 6-20. Djokovic's in a very elite tier of players by slams alone & otot, in the top 5 by total wks @ #1/cons. wks @ #1. So he IS in the ballpark. Now he could either close the gap w/ Fed purely by matching career aggregate achievements like wks @ #1, # of slams, or by achieving a very exclusive feat that has eluded all in the Open Era since Laver. As it stands, he did NOT get the CYGS so 12 slams including a Nole-slam isn't quite enough for me. But if he wins say 15 slams, he would already be behind ONLY Fed & nobody else on slams alone. So that + the Nole-slam makes it hard to still argue that Fed & Fed alone is the GOAT & @ least I for one would then say Fed's 1 of the >est along w/ Nole. If Nole narrows the gap still further, then I'd pick Nole over Fed.
...Before Sampras, nobody chased the slam tally & former players including Connors have said they cared 1st & foremost about winning THE GS if possible or @ least a CGS. So we can't say slams m/b the only deciding factor nor only wks @ #1. I think the race isn't over & Nole's still in the reckoning. ---
...so you think the CYGS w/b worth more than 6 extra slams. Not to mention that Fed almost won it 3 diff. yrs ('04, '06, '07). ---
But Nole also 'almost' did it in '11 & '15. What does Fed have in the 3 slam a yr feat, only 1 extra yr over Nole as against which Nole has achieved something - & I'm going to repeat this until the importance of this feat is grasped again - that has eluded every player in the Open Era since Laver (not talking of Graf/Serena t/b clear). As it stands, it's a Nole-slam & esp. 1 w/o the RG-Wimbledon double in the same yr, so it's not quite enough to close the slam gap. But if he had managed the CYGS, it w/b a pretty fuk'n big deal. I mean, it's practically Laver's ticket to the GOAT argument, so why wouldn't it be the case if Nole too did it? ---
Again, I never put a slams =lent figure vs the CYGS/str. slam. Rather, I looked at Djokovic's overall achievements, including the str. slam (which Fed doesn't have). ...IF he had a CYGS otot, he would arguably match Fed's >ness. That doesn't amount to my saying a CYGS by itself is worth 6 slams. That's the wrong way to look @ it. ...it's a function of Nole's overall achievements & b/c he's already in the top tier of greats. An achievement like the CYGS c/b argued to elim. the gap w/ Fed. If you don't agree w/ this, you are basically saying a CYGS is worth nothing @ all or is worth the same as say 4 slams won every other yr over 8 years. And in that case, I don't agree & do regard it as a stupendous achievement that would put the player achieving it in a very elite category. How elite is a matter of debate & depends on his other achievements. ---
Though in this case (Fed v/s Nole), 1 extra yr of 3 slams isn't worth so much for me & I'm still leaning on it not tilting the scales if say Nole gets to 15 w/ a str. slam & Fed stays on 18. Bear in mind that I'm not saying that would make Nole the >er player, but that he w/b one of the >est along w/ Fed. In any case, the quest for a single GOAT is exceedingly unhelpful IMV. Everybody has their own take on who's the GOAT & based on what criteria, + it's fluid. It's only 15 yrs ago that Sampras was the GOAT. If the GOAT is such a moving target, IDK that we should obsess over it, myself included. ---
Currently I think Federer has the strongest case & s/b recognized as having that. But that could easily change in 5 yrs depending on how Djokovic & Nadal do. Esp. when the 3 of them have played each other in so many slam finals & SF's. One more match going in Djokovic's favor & Nadal & Djokovic are tied w/ 13 slams each.***
***...I'm fairly sure Borg will have more than 2 YE #1's. Also FYI the ATP & ITF unanimously awarded Borg their POY award 4 yrs in a row - contradicting the rankings. The only yr. in doubt is '77 due to Vilas.***
The rankings were an absolute joke back in those days! Connors ruled according to their #'s, but IMO he was too independent a player w/ no real loyalty to the ATP; tried to sue other players including Ashe! Vilas in '77 wasn't given much credit for tons of matches won at B-level tourneys outside of the 2 majors he took; FO w/o Borg & USO over Connors! Vilas was barely an afterthought & never got his due; w/ Murray-like accomplishments being that 2nd banana!
***...They'll make these definitive statements about things after 1 freak'n match, X & again, whether it's to throw dirt on a top player's "coffin" or to hype him up to unbeatable status (or to proclaim him the GOAT after he wins 1 slam...when just days earlier they were arguing he was clearly not the GOAT). As of now, people are actually writing off Djokovic, which is just ridiculous. But then there were numerous people saying Federer was "done" winning slams in '08, saying he would prob. retire soon ala Borg, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. The reality is, there's every chance Nole wins sev. more slams & regains #1. It m/b this yr. He still might end up tying/breaking Fed's slam record w/ the way things are in tennis now. ---
...the odds were far more stacked vs Fed than they're of Djokovic winning another 6-7 slams. I was roll'n my eyes when people wrote him off after every slam loss since '08 & @ people putting Djokovic in a hearse. Now, NADAL's probably done, but = he still has an outside chance @ a slam or 2. None of these guys are that far away. I mean, who's going to stop them? Kyrgios before he gets food poisoning? Zverev & his 3rd Rd exits? Thiem & his 4th Rd exits?***
Accidents or luck can always happen for anyone! I placed Fed on the list of "done" = though a consensus "GOAT" going back 10 yrs! At the X of an appeared decline, what else was t/b thought when he was dropping matches to both Nadal & Djokovic? After winning his 17th @ SW19, it took almost 5 yrs to win another! There's no humiliation in thinking he would never win again; esp. not seeing top seeds going out so early "down under!"
***USO's supposed t/b the last resolution GS & the stamp to your season. You can do well @ the AO, but winning a USO +s more completion to your yr. A 1 hit USO champ. does >er for himself then a 1 hit AO or FO champ. USO has prestige b/c it's taking place in the most important city in the world w/ major sponsors, celebrities, business people, & if you win that Slam, your tennis career does elevate to another level.***
In my day 2 AO's weren't worth 1 USO! W/ winners like Edmondson, Teacher, & Johansson, it was totally devalued as a SLAM IMO! Kriek won it twice; who really cares but Johan & his wife? I think it only solidified a good season if something else was won like a FO! Courier got to #1 winning those inferior Slams!
***Peak Federer Vs. Peak Djokovic - who's better?***
Aesthetically no one's >er than Fed, but I think Nole's run was more impressive; defeating his major rival 7 X's in a row twice, record # of victories over top 10'rs, & wasn't owned by ANYONE! He was on par throughout w/ Fedal! Fed can't say the same; w/ a pigeon in Roddick! Those were gift majors in '09 w/ Soderling taking out Nadal @ the FO & Roger accepting Roddick's choke job @ Wimbledon w/ a huge lead! Nole hasn't had gifts like that w/ comparable opps along the way to each final just about every X of significant titles won!
***AHCA - Healthcare vote cancelled @ the last moment; possible vote tmrw, but not likely.***
Was there any doubt? Reps need to hire an accounting firm; heaven knows they can't ct on their own! This goes back to Boehner when they failed w/ the 1st 3 pieces of legis. in the HOUSE & the majority! What a bunch of clowns! It's sorta pathetic; owning it all w/ Trump ready to rubber stamp anything they send over & all they've done is rename a PO more than likely! So very pathetic!
***Obamacare had its 7th ann. a day or 2 ago. There has been more than enough X for opps to figure something out. ...It's put up or shut up X for the GOP, hopefully Trump w/b able to define the parameters that he'd like to see in a bill & be able to set the legis. on course. If not, then he might as well keep to his golf course.***
I just want to know what was that legis. they kept sending over to Obama to veto over 60 X's? We all knew the Republican'ts were FOS & had nothing to offer; least of all the guts to actually take away ACA in totality w/ them owning gov't now!
***Repubs are the dog who finally caught the car. They have no clue what would "replace" the ACA. During the Obama yrs, they could put on a show for their base knowing they didn't have to come up w/ anything b/c it w/b vetoed if it ever got to the President's desk.***
Republican'ts look & sound like fools saying "it's politics" that is gumming up the works! They own it w/ the Presidency & Congress in their hands! They're shooting themselves in the foot; more like the head b/c = if it passes The HOUSE, the Senate has already promised to KILL it! So after 60+ X's wasting X, energy, $$, & paper sending this repeal BS to Obama, now that they can actually take ACA from their own constituents, they're balking! A-Hole! They'll pay 1 day for such ignorance!
***I can see the headline already: Misogynist, classist, racist bill fails despite promise by misogynist, classist, racist idiot that it'll pass & efforts by misogynist, classist, racist slightly < stupid, obsequious buffoon to fix it by making it = more misogynist, classist, & racist @ the last min. Sad!***
They need t/b called something! Heaven knows they don't seem to know what they're doing! The old adage of "it's easy t/b in opp.," but actual governing is hard! Pelosi would have gotten the job done; smacks them around & keeps her caucus in check while Republican'ts are all over the place! What a train wreck!
***...The biggest negative to the ACA was the unofficial name. This is something local Dems failed to comprehend & should've. The focus shb on the ACA & not Obamacare.***
That's what Repuklicans do; create a rallying cry to demonize & negatively treat something they're opposed! "W" was blaming Clinton yrs after he took office; "I inherited a recession!" He's still FOS; he inherited a stock market that had doubled, low unemployment, peace, & actually a surplus budget! We were paying down the debt until he took office & turned it into shit! Now Trump's going to do the same thing to Obama & keep on blaming him! Since we're so "exceptionally" dumb, it'll probably work! We prove how stupid we are every election cycle!
***It's = more stupid. Repubs didn't need Dems to pass the bill. - Why does anyone in the current admin. believe that any Dem would vote "yes" to repeal Barrack Obama's signature piece of legislation? ---
They don't; certainly not this particular bill. Trump was just talking to gullible & stupid people watching him on tv, hoping that they'll somehow believe that the failure to repeal the bill was the Dems' fault = though the Repubs control the House, Senate, & WH.***
***Both Ryan & Trump said that they are done w/ health care. X for the important stuff - tax cuts for the rich.***
This'll all be forgotten when it comes to light the collusion of Trump, his surrogates, & the Russians! This looks t/b about to blow up, ...trivializes the leaks that have come out concerning Manifort, Flynn, Page & Stone!
***What about this kind of article vs Obamacare? I don't understand much about this matter.
Like any program this BIG (healthcare), >er success is achieved if everyone participates; sorta like spreading the burden! Young people right now are the ones keeping Soc. Sec. alive; not utilized @ the X by them b/c they're younger, but paying out to older beneficiaries!
***It's just weird cause in my country, companies are expected to pay insurance for their employees. And we're all expected to pay. Maybe it has to do w/ East Asian's mentality. - The Repub. want to trash it totally, but they couldn't find a >er way to do it?***
This is why Trump looked like a fool yesterday pushing for total repeal w/ no real replacement, but @ the same X the legis. failed "b/c of the DEMS; Pelosi & Schumer own it now!" The man needs t/b on serious meds, a straight-jacket, w/ attendants @ the ready in white coats!
***Both Trump & the GOP have learned that, when they lie & say foolish things, esp. w/ regard to HC, it usually works. They just went too far this X. ... After this experience, I hope they also learned that Trump & Congress don't really care about it or them. They're much more interested in the tax cuts, which will personally affect them much more.***
...We're doomed to repeat this process of having a successful economy w/ low unemployment only t/b turned around by crazy tax cuts, dereg., & allowing rampant corruption in public office! How many X's does it have to happen? Clinton turned Bush 41's screw up into peace, a booming economy, & a budget surplus! "W" turned it all around destroying the economy, eliciting rampant unemployment, & more than doubled the Nat'l Debt! Obama got us back together & actually gleaned respect from the rest of the world! That's all changed w/i 2 months! This is a mess of our own creation & I'm so glad I'm old so I "couldn't care <" after repeating this scenario again & again! I"M SO DONE!
***Trump down to 44% on Rasmussen. And to think it took the 'no WMD's in Iraq' + Katrina to get GW Bush that low.***
I have a feeling Trump & his surrogates w/b pining for these #'s in 2 months! It's looking more & more likely there was collusion w/ the Russians w/ many of Trump assoc. closely linked to criminal enterprises! Woolsey quit in Jan. a few months after being in a "foreign" meeting w/ Flynn dealing w/ the kidnapping of someone living here in the States who facilitated an "overthrow" back in Turkey! This is blowing up faster than Watergate or Iran/Contra! The only ?? is who will talk 1st; Manifort, Stone, Flynn, or Page?
***...Trump does not need to sabotage the ACA/Obama mess. The Act is doing it to itself.***
Already being sabotaged by the Rep. party, constantly undermining the law, govs in Red States not accepting the expans. $$ of Medicare, & outright lying about the cost! Obamacare has saved people's lives & kept cost down which was already going out of control! If Reps would tweak it a lit'l, maybe go to "single payer," we w/b in a lot better shape, but they are SMALL people who'd rather see people drop dead in the streets of the country! I wished they'd stop making it like Obamacare keeps insurance companies from offering policies in diff. states! Those are state rules that keep the practice from occurring, but the truth wouldn't serve you guys!
***Garland was definitely liberal--just not considered hard left. Being a moderate doesn't mean one doesn't have a judicial lean just like judges on the hard right or left. They rule according to their beliefs just as everyone else does. ...***
I don't care if Garland was a Socialist/Commie, he deserved a hearing & I totally condone making Gorsuch nom. as arduous as possible! I wouldn't do Reps any favors after what they put Obama thru going the filibuster route on everything; = the depth ceiling! I'm done w/ the scum of the Earth on the "right!"
***...They couldn't find a President who made more baseless promises than Trump....or one who was willing to employ hackers (read felons) to break into servers, release documents, etc...***
That's the thing w/ Reps; "deflection" & "projection!" Whenever they're accusing you of something, you need to look up the exact same charge in their own history, present, or future! Seems it was Trump who thought Hillary shouldn't get a SCOTUS choice if under indictment! Now look as the scenario has juxto'd like overnight! What a present for the Clintons to see this windbag go down in flames = more ignominious & notoriously than they have after all's said & done!
***...Another bill that Trump won't be able to pass.***
I've been around for a long X & = w/ the incompetence & juvenile behavior of "W" & his admin., nothing in the last 50 yrs has been this pathetic! We can rope in Nixon & Watergate, but you can't find a more delusional group trying to run things in DC! They have a base that'll stick w/ them thru thick & thin (lies & 1/2-truths)! They own both sides of Congress, have a swath of red across the country w/ Rep. Gov's & State Houses, but they haven't been able to accomplish a thing! It's been truly a horrific start; only rivaled by a President that talked himself to death @ his own Inaugural! The only thing more comical is the finger-pting; actually thinking Dems have an obligation of some sort to try & trash legis. they passed just 7 yrs ago! Reps have sure-fire success in ripping off a SC Nom., but w/ all the Russian intrigue, the news is swirling about as if Monica's "dress" was found & sent down for DNA testing! Reps would love that, but here they are actually "poo-pooing" live investigations by the FBI of Russian involvement in our election process & possible collusion btw Trump, his surrogates, & Putin!
***...W/i the next few wks, watch & see how everything progresses w/ the budget cuts.***
Well we've heard that before; tax & budget cuts end up costing us in the end! Deficits go up, the Nat'l Debt explodes, the stock market collapses, & unemployment skyrockets! How many X's does it have to happen? We're the definition of insanity; repeating the same dumb thing thinking another outcome will result! ALL REPS m/b delusional &/or insane!
***...Trump said it w/b one of his 1st acts as President. Yet Obamacare's still here. And Trump has played golf 9 X's @ last count.***
A lot of that stuff promised was un-doable & rational people knew it! It's the slow & Ill-informed supporters that don't mind being lied to & have their hopes & dreams dashed! Reps own it all & have gotten absolutely nothing done! Executive Orders can't be called legis.! Any chimp can sign a piece of paper; still waiting for intelligent thought to come out of the WH! I think we'll be waiting a while; wake me when winter's over!
***Schiff wants a special committee now to drag this horseshit out as long as possible. ...Ryan isn't about to remove Nunes from the committee; he's the only 1 finding out how Trump was surveilled & by whom.***
Reps are KINGS of "dragging" out something! How soon we forget Benghazi, "Hillary's emails," W's "fast & furious" gun program (put Obama & his AG on the hot seat)! Please spare me!
***Benghazi & Hillary's emails were serious crimes vs the American people, but were shielded by Lynch & Comey. The surveillance of Trump is more of the same. Your party elites are criminals & traitors. ---
Hey asshole... continually bringing up Benghazi & Hillary after a dozen investigations (& THEY FOUND NOTHING) makes you look what exactly you're doing. Same thing Trump tries to do daily; distract from the extremely matter that the POTUS is under investigation for espionage.***
The party line "talking pts" will have to do for the trolls until impeachment proceedings begin soon!
***Trump Scared Shit< of a Girl Named Sally - committee meeting killed to prevent her from testifying vs him more than likely.***
What's really funny is the desperation of Trump & his sycophants to keep invoking the Clintons as of it's a shield to anything the 'Old Fuk' says or does! It's only been 2 months & scandals abound, but all some clowns can do is call out Bill & Hill who're not = in public life that much; almost never seen! Trump OTOH can't get enough of the spotlight; whether good or bad news! Talk about desperate; he tops them all! What a clown!
***There's no great mystery here. Trump has routinely laundered dirty Russian $$ thru his businesses. The Russians have used German banks to funnel their stolen $$ to Trump businesses, or he buys something directly for $60 M & then the Russians buy it for $70. There m/b other things going on too, but it all started w/ $$ laundering. Trump made millions, maybe = 10's of mills every yr by doing this. In return the Russians got clean assets. Prosecuting Trump for this crime's complicated, but the fact that Russians kept funneling $$ to him is evident by documents that are publicly available. -...When the "intelligence committees" are unconstitutional, criminal craphats, it's the POTUS' obligation to stop them.***
I won't hold my breath in anything but obstruction when it comes to this admin! Supposedly ex-AG Yates isn't being kept from speaking, but we all know Trump & his people would rather she go away & stay out of this drama!
***WTF could Yates really know that's so damaging to cause the WH to shut down Nunes committee? (and they did shut it down & don't believe for a min. that Nunes isn't acting w/o the WH instructions) So what if Flynn didn't disclose all he should have. Trump fired him. That s/b the end of the story.***
The cover-up's usually the bigger crime, but I'm not sure this X! Trump got all this started w/ idiotic TWEETS accusing Obama of wiretapping "the tower!" Instead of backing down & apologizing, he decides as always to double down & keep it going until it's now blowing up in his face! I have lit'l to no sympathy for the country since he showed his "pure ass" well before the election & we still installed him in that chair! I thought I had seen & heard it all, but I'm finally Gawd-Smacked we're in this state of affairs w/ a juvenile delinquent w/ access to the launch codes! We've survived so much in the past; not sure this X! Only a handful of Reps have stood up to him so far; most being quite gutless & embarrassing themselves trying to defend & explain what he says & does! More power to them & "save us all!"
***Should Dems filibuster out of retaliation over Garland or just bring it to a vote & say 'yay' or 'nay' based on his fitness as a nominee?***
I can't see the Dems doing the Reps any favors! They went the filibuster route on everything; including budget maintenance that normally w/b a "Cont. Res.!" Everything was dragged out just to try & make Obama look weak, but all it did was show how petty & juvenile "right-wingers" are &'ll continue t/b; such small, treacherous people! They talk about saving $$, but their temper tantrums shutting down the gov't twice cost us ten's of Bil.$$! Idiots!
***The Dept. of Energy has asked their employees not to use the phrases "climate change," "emissions reduction" & "Paris Agreement." J/b you don't talk about it, doesn't mean that it'll go away. These men are infuriating!***
That sick gov down in FLA expected anyone in his orbit to do the same; pretend there's no difference in climate! I can tell you growing up in Chgo, periodically we had to deal w/ a blizzard & sub-0 temps! We were barely touched by snow this past winter & most of the X I could leave the balcony door & windows open during the day! It's been such a mild season! Some people were literally running in shorts along the lake in Feb.! That couldn't hbd when I was a kid besides those insane POLAR Bear groups! Let Reps continue burying their heads in the sand! They w/b cursed from gens in the future if we're still here in a 100 yrs or so!
***I live in STL & it's felt like Spring since the end of Jan. I can count on 1 hand the # of X's I have worn a coat to work in the last 2 months & I work nights. I admit that I enjoyed it, but it's unsettling b/c it's unnatural. ---
I thought the odds of Trump getting anything done after the infamous repeal and replace debacle were pretty slim, but this'll probably mean that pretty much nothing will get done while he's in office. Not that I esp. mind, as I don't like his agenda, but honestly, how ineffective does he want to be?***
What's funny is, Reps obstructed most if not all legis. in the waning yrs of Obama Admin. & faulted him for running the country thru Executive Order! How the mighty have fallen! Owning it all in DC, = Trump's EOs are being stymied by the courts! They feared this which is why they were so against him being Pres.! There was a full court press around the country, but it's blowing up in their faces since he has no loyalty to the REP. brand; more concerned w/ his "own!" "It's good t/b the KING! I can bring my entire family into the WH w/ impunity & make the TRUMP brand the biggest in WORLD history!"
***He never understood what being POTUS entails; or wanted the responsibilities which come w/ the office.***
He obviously had no clue of what the job entailed! When he had his meeting w/ Obama before taking office in Jan., Trump was exhausted after an hr 1/2 of running thru the schedule of meetings, photo ops, greeting & speaking to groups, etc.! Trump must have thought "I'll take a pic here & there, shake a few hands, & spend most of my X playing golf while the kids run the show!" It's all blowing up in the faces of fools that thought "lets go the way of BREXIT!" Idiots! Now they're talking about shutting down the gov't b/c of all the lame promises to make CUTS! It ain't happening w/o the DEMS so "planned parenthood" will have to refunded along w/ all the rest! Cons aren't going to let that skate thru w/o a fight! I can see it now; Reps own it all, but have gotten NOTHING done & looks t/b as impotent as ever b/c they don't know how to 'run it!' They only know how t/b in opp. & say "NOOoo!" Ryan = admitted it; kind of pathetic for a Speaker to say!
It's all blowing up! Nunes' visit to the WH in the dead of night to acquire Intel is being discussed on all NEWS networks! How could they allow this to escalate so fast & out of control? All this over a STUPID Tweet of Trump's 2 wks ago accusing Obama of wiretapping his TOWER during the election campaign! ...the FBI is already onto them! HOW does President Pence sound? ---
WSJ reports Flynn has offered to testify in exchange for immunity! OMG! It's all over!
***It could also be just another diversion tactic.***
All true, but the problem for all concerned is that this isn't the only Breaking News out there! Something's coming to the fore every single day! I lived Watergate, but it took 2 yrs before it blew up! This is a script that's been written to resolve itself in an hr 1/2 it seems; no epic length to this story here! ;-)
***I mentioned that this is reminding me of Watergate to a friend & their response was that it was happening faster. It is, but we live in a faster world. ...I find this whole Russia thing t/b interesting b/c w/ Trump's people having so many business ties to Russia & not coming off as particularly bright about certain things, it's quite possible all these contacts were just about business deals & the lies & coverup are b/c they don't want to tell people their business or maybe some of the business deals are shady & they don't want that to come out. ...Trump's so fuk'n arrogant that I could totally see him colluding w/ Russia over the election & then claiming the whole thing's rigged (vs him) b/c that's how he rolls. ---
...this was to demonstrate Mike Flynn's hypocrisy. Yes, aware he has not been given immunity, but he's asked for it after excoriating Clinton's people for doing the same stuff.***
I've always said, whatever charge, accusation, or implication a conservative throws out there is normally projection! It's like a rapist pointing a finger at Bill Clinton or Trump trying to call anyone a LIAR! It's ridiculous, they know it, but that's how they roll; in complete denial and the arrogance of always thinking they're smarter and more moral than anyone else!
***Chaffetz isn't concerned about Trump's conflicts of interests b/c Trump's already rich.***
These people are such hypocrites! After yrs out of office, they're still after BILL & CGI; criticism & conspiracies never stop, but Trump's openly thumbing his nose @ rules & regulations w/ Reps turning a blind eye to it all! His family'll use the job in the WH as a piggybank & no one s/b surprised; esp. after they leave! The Presidency has probably been lowered as something respectable for all X!
***Can you elaborate on this what are your issues w/ Blacks voting Rep?***
I'd ?? the compentence of some voters who support Reps! I 'eye roll' the kvetchin' of women about a lack of representation when it's them that vote in "old, white men" again & again! They had a chance to elect a woman, but they'd rather put a self-proclaimed sex offender & LIAR to the POTUS! Anyone hear of the woman who voted for Trump who had her husband picked up on the latest sweeps for illegals? Idiots! Then there are Gay people supporting Reps; esp. after the "right" went on a hate-fest Jihad back in '04! Log Cabin Rep. need to have their heads examined! We have to thank them since the overreach only escalated the acceptance of Gay Marriage; = relented on by Scalia! Another case of expecting the country t/b full of "cave men" holding onto the 50's mentality & values! I could go on, but I think you get the gist of it! Reps "hate" everything & everybody outside their own lit'l bigoted world &'ll accept the support of boneheads who overlook their core beliefs, but won't be anymore accepting! We proved we have plenty of troglodytes floating around to this day; look where TRUMP's sitting!
***Putting Fed aside, do you think that there was a version of Rafa that played at the same level as '15 (or '11 if you prefer) Djokovic?***
For a so called ATG, only Agassi has had a more fractured career than Nadal w/ some success to make a name for himself! Both underachieved for diff. reasons! ...W/ Fed's '04, '06, & '07 seasons which are legendary, I just don't think they measure up to Nole's '11 & '15 w/ the consistent opp. of 2 other ATG's! Nadal's '08, '10, & '13 just don't measure up IMO! I just can't ever imagine another player coming close to 3 majors, playing 8 Masters' finals (winning 6), winning over 30 matches vs top 10 players! The $20+ M in a season w/b busted before I pass on; the $$'s so out of control!
***The 2 have played each other that often that this topic is Actually boring. Fed has been vulnerable to Djokovic @ every stage of Djokovic's career & vice versa. ... ---
...Federer hasn't won an WTF in that period; 1 GS & 4 ATP 1000s. That win record's impressive for his age, but is roughly on par w/ what Agassi did in a comp. stage of his career.***
At least it made sense w/ Agassi; he was from the States! Fed's an Int'l figure! I've been involved in tennis for over 45 yrs; ya have to move on! No 1 player lasts forever = though Both Martinas seem t/b trying their bests! We adjust from 1 fave to another; ya have to or you might as well give up on the game when they retire! I started w/ Laver, Borg, & Goolagong, moved onto Martina, Lendl, & Edberg! Hingis took over for Nav., then +ed Sabatini & Sampras! I loved the way Fed played, but have been nauseated by the so called rivalry of Fedal which is still overhyped & untrue! Nadal owned Fed from day 1 & beat him on all surfaces! These last 3 losses of Rafa only proves "he's more done" than Roger who's won a major & Masters @ this stage in his career! Can we promise the same from Nadal? Anything's possible, but not likely!
***One thing that seems diff. about Fed this yr is that he's not fading in the 5th set. Not sure if that is borne out by the stats, but let's take a look @ 5-setters over the last few yrs:
What's interesting to note is that he has already played 3 5-setters this yr, which is as many as he's played in a yr since '09 - & he's still got 3 Slams to play. Actually, the '17 AO is the only X he's ever played 3 5-setters in a single tourney. I think his performance @ AO speaks to some combo of >er physical endurance and/or mental fortitude. His career record in 5-setters isn't exactly stellar (for comparison, Rafa's 19-9, or 68%, & Novak's 27-9, or 75%). And if you take out his 1st few yrs & '17, from '02-16 he has barely won more than 1/2: 18-17. ---
Most Cons. Yrs Winning a GS, GS Final, GS SF - Most cons. yrs for Men in just Open Era:
Winning a GS - Nadal - 10, Borg/Sampras/Federer - 8 Reaching a GS Final - Lendl & Sampras - 11, Federer & Nadal - 10 Reaching a GS SF - Federer - 15, Connors - 12 Reaching a GS QF - Federer -15, Connors - 14 Reaching a GS 4th Rd - Federer/Agassi - 18, Lendl - 16 Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - Agassi - 19, Connors/Federer - 18 Reaching a GS 2nd Rd - Agassi - 20, Connors - 19
Of course, from SF on down, all of Fed's streaks are active. Active Streaks of Djokovic & Nadal:
Djokovic - Winning a GS - 6, Reaching a GS Final - 7, Reaching a GS SF - 10, Reaching a GS QF - 11, Reaching a GS 4th Rd - 11, Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - 12, Reaching a GS 2nd - 13
Nadal - Reaching a GS 4th Rd - 13, Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - 15, Reaching a GS 2nd Rd - 15***
***...Difference there is, Nole actually lost 2 GS finals to his pigeon Murray. Fed completely owned his pigeons (Roddick, Hewitt) @ GS's. Then Nole was quite lucky @ both USO '15 & RG '16. In the former, Grampa Fed took out Nole's daddy Wawrinka & the latter Murray did (setting up a nice pigeon in the final for that RG title gift in '16).***
So we're calling Murray a pigeon now? Seems a bit of an imbalance; Roddick 1 USO & #1 ranking for a min. compared to Murray's 3 majors, beat Djokovic each X, owns 2 OGM's, holding #1 ranking, & a DC! [hand wavers back & forth] - Heaven knows I'm no fan of Murray, but = I have to acknowledge he's a lot >er than Roddick! As for Nole beating Roger; if he's being called Grandpa Fed now, he beat his son @ IW to win tourney! He's leading the RACE w/ an AO!
***Came across another ranking list, compiled by AP in Dec.'99, for the top players of the 20th century. There was a 6 member panel; ...Shriver, Turnbull, Wade. Here they are w/ # of votes, + # of 1st place votes.
Only 4 players received 1st place votes, Laver, Tilden, Hoad, & Gonzales.***
Gonzalez career was the most enigmatic of all X IMO; top player of the 40's, becoming a pro in the 50's! He got sour & bitter on the tour & didn't cultivate friendships,! Only @ the end as a commentator, he got some real exposure in my era when tennis took off in the 70's! He gets kudos for his ability, but just wasn't well liked after starting out quite affable!
***Just watched a replay of Berdych vs Fed..@ MP, Tomas served a body serve to Roger..he just casually blocked the serve to the service line ..why didn't he follow it into the net or why was he not attacking the ball..makes no sense ..this one'll haunt Tomas forever.***
This is what I've been ranting about for yrs; the gutless play of pros like Berdych & Ferrer who have all the ability in the world, will have X MP's, but'll always find a way to give it back to the "BIG 4!" It happens to them again & again no matter how poorly they're playing @ the X! ...NOLE a huge recipient of those chokes, owning players like Cilic, Tomas, & Ferrer! These guys are too good to have such a poor rec. vs the elites! = Davydenko won 2 Masters events & a YEC in their "hey day," but this era of wannabes just stress me out; NO GUTS!
***The best chance of Fed becoming #1 is if he keeps playing amazing for the rest of the yr - probably having to win another GS - & also Murray & Novak's slump continues, w/ the avail. pts being distributed among more players so that fewer pts w/b required to reach #1. ---
A player definitely won't need 12,000 pts t/b YE #1 this yr. I suspect it'll require more like 10,000, m/b = only 9,000. Remember, #1 only needs more pts than #2...it isn't like there's a set amt. required. Given the weak starts of the current 1-2, un< 1 of them comes back & wins 2 Slams & sev. other big titles, I could see a scenario where the YE #1 wins only a single Slam, 2-3 Masters/WTF, 2 other titles, & good showings @ most Slams.
Now let's say Roger only wins AO, IW & 1 other Masters, 1 of Halle or Basel, & Stuttgart. That's 5750 pts from titles. Let's + to that a Slam QF, SF, & F, & 3 wins @ the WTF (SF result). That's another ~2800 pts, which brings him up to around 8,500. Now + in solid results @ 5 more Masters (say F, SFx2, QF, 3R), & that's another 1500 pts that brings him up to 10,000 for the yr. In other words, un< someone else utterly dominates from here out, Roger only needs to stay healthy & play pretty well, not = winning more than another Masters & a <er title or 2 to earn YE #1. Now if he wins Miami, Halle, & Wimbledon, all of a sudden he's the fave going into the last part of the yr. ---
Fed's sched. to play Rome, Cinci, Shanghai & Paris - so 4 more. So far he's got the following pts:
He'll have either 3645 or 4045 pts after tmrw. We'll go w/ 3645 to play it safe. Here's a look going forward:
For clay season, he's scheduled to play 2 tourneys; Rome & RG. Let's be cons. & say that he's a bit rusty for Rome & goes out in the 3R (45), is decent @ RG, but loses in the QF (360). That gives him 4050 pts going into grass season, during which he's scheduled to play Stuttgart 250, Halle 500, & Wimbl. Let's say he wins Stuttgart (250), loses in the Halle final (300), & loses in the Wimby final (1200). That gives him another 1750 pts, so 5800 total.
OK, on to the US tour. Cinci's 1 of Roger's best tourneys (he's won 7 of the last 11 he's played in), but we're being cons. so let's say he loses in the SF to a young punk (360). Similarly, he goes out in the SF of the USO (720), so adds another 1080 pts, so is sitting at 6880.
Next up is Shanghai. We'll also say he loses in the SF (360), but then wins Basel (500). Next is Paris, which he loses in the QF (180). So that's 1040 more pts, so 7920 total, going into the WTF's. If he wins the whole tourn., he's over 9,000 pts. If he goes out in the SF, he's @ 8320 or 8520.
...he's going to finish w/ @ least 8,000 ATP pts - & that's winning no more Slams or Masters, just 1 ATP 500 & 1 ATP 250. Chances are he wins @ least 1 more Masters, or = a Slam. 8,000 is a good baseline for Roger being healthy & not collapsing.
He's in contention for YE #1. Why? Well, un< someone else gets really hot & wins 2 Slams; enough to win it? ...The rankings come Oct. c/b very tight, w/ sev. players in the 7-8,000 pt range. We may come down to another WTF decider, which w/b a lot of fun.
Another scenario: Roger wins Miami tmrw, reaches the SF of Rome & RG. All of a sudden he's @ 5125 pts going into grass season, instead of the very modest 4050 in the above cons view. If he then wins Halle & Wimbledon & does well in Stuttgart, he's then at ~7700 & can cruise to the YE #1. It isn't a stretch to get Roger to the YE #1 & it may require < than we might think.***
I do believe if Nadal allows "Gramps" to beat him tmrw in Miami final, Rafa might as well give it up! His humiliation w/b complete!
***Humiliation? ...Nadal has some serious thinking to do. The only humiliation s/b for Roger (on clay mostly) as he took til he was 35.5 yo to improve his BH. ---
H2H: Nadal leads 22-14 vs Federer:
'17 Miami M1000 F HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-4 '17 IW's Masters R16 HC Fed d Nadal 6-2 6-3 '17 AO F HC Fed d Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 '15 Basel F HC Fed d Nadal 6-3 5-7 6-3 '14 AO SF HC - Nadal d Fed 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3 '13 ATP WTF's SF HC - Nadal d Fed 7-5 6-3 '13 Cinci M1000 QF HC - Nadal d Fed 5-7 6-4 6-3 '13 Rome M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-1 6-3 '13 IW's M1000 QF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-2 '12 IW's M1000 SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-4 '12 AO SF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4 '11 ATP WTF's 10 HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-0 '11 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1 '11 Madrid M1000 SF Clay - Nadal d Fed 5-7 6-1 6-3 '11 Miami M1000 SF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-3 6-2 '10 ATP WTF's F HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 3-6 6-1 '10 Madrid M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-4 7-6(5) '09 Madrid M1000 F Clay - Fed d Nadal 6-4 6-4 '09 AO F HC - Nadal d Fed 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 '08 Wimbl. F Grass - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7 '08 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-1 6-3 6-0 '08 Hamburg F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 6-7(3) 6-3 '08 MC M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 7-5 '07 Masters Cup SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-4 6-1 '07 Wimbl. F Grass - Fed d Nadal 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(3) 2-6 6-2 '07 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4 '07 Hamburg F Clay - Fed d Nadal 2-6 6-2 6-0 '07 MC M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-4 '06 Masters Cup SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-4 7-5 '06 Wimbl. F Grass - Fed d Nadal 6-0 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-3 '06 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4) '06 Rome M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-7(0) 7-6(5) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5) '06 MX Masters F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(5) '06 Dubai F HC - Nadal d Fed 2-6 6-4 6-4 '05 FO - RG SF Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 '05 Miami M1000 F HC - Fed d Nadal 2-6 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 6-1 '04 Miami M1000 R32 HC - Nadal d Fed 6-3 6-3 ---
Murray is a bigger, faster, stronger, & more consistent player. He's separated himself from Courier by a LARGE margin @ this point, in an arguably more difficult era to reach the top in.***
That's the only thing in Courier's favor when it comes to situation or era; his tougher path w/ a dozen GS winners in a major draw @ any given X! We haven't been able to say that since the 90's! It's been lame; stronger GOAT's, but weaker minded opp.! You can give them X MP's & they'll always find a way to give it back to the >er player; just a gut< era here! Allowing Fedal redux in '17; who would have thunk it?
***Roger's 35 & just won the 3 biggest tourneys of the season so far. Nadal? You can see the limitations in his game now that for yrs he got away w/ - esp. vs Roger. Djokovic has exploited them for yrs, but as long as Nadal was still beating Roger & Andy he didn't bother to make any changes. He literally has no Plan B to speak of. Hit more top & harder just ain't going to get it done off clay vs Roger, Andy & Nole anymore. X to go back to school & make some adjustments - starting w/ NOT standing 15 feet behind the baseline to return serve. ---
It's like Roger goes into the match w/ the game plan to hit over the ball more. ...And that's sort of where Nadal is right now. It's like he can't believe he's NOT in Roger's head anymore & Roger has stopped ALLOWING Nadal to out-psych him. If you look @ Rafa's face - he ain't happy about that. He really thought he'd go the rest of his career being able to out-tough Roger. Poor baby.***
***...Rafa had nothing to lose today, I would have thrown the kitchen sink @ Roger.***
...At X's, both Nole & Roger have been unhittable, but @ this stage, it has t/b a lit'l embarrassing to Nadray to keep going down to the same people over & over? Truthfully, Nole hasn't played "sky-high" tennis since his 'beat down' of Nadal @ '15 Qatar; barely holding on after his FO completed the Nole-Slam! We'll have to see what happens w/ Murray; pressure has t/b huge since he's not a "real #1" IMO!
***...He's not a real #1? Murray's the Wimbl. champ, won the WTF, beating Nole. It'll def. be interesting to see how Murray & esp. Djoker return b/c they might find it hard to reassert themselves over the summer.***
JMHO that it all came down to 1 match; making lit'l sense to me since Nole had 2 majors & 4 Masters under his belt w/ other finals! Murray took over when Nole went into hibernation winning only a Masters 1000 in the 2nd 1/2 of the season! It still shb enough but for the system that almost penalizes success! The following season after setting all kinds of recs in '15 had Nole falling to #2 w/ a more noteworthy season! Reminds me of the old days when Vilas owned 2 majors & had won well over 120 matches in '77; was barely a footnote behind Borg & Connors! Maybe majors should award more pts to the winner!
***Over the yrs Fed has done a # of lit'l adj's that have bothered Rafa, but it's rare that he could chain them together consistently enough to get pts to win. ...He started hitting down the middle more (which Del Potro had used effectively vs Nadal) & repeatedly pounding Rafa's BH (= when the FH was wide open) but always the same matchup problem @ the end of the day which Rafa could go to on the big pts.
...The way Fed now buys himself X w/ his own deep loopy high floating FH's is a page str. from Nole (has visibly frustrated Nadal sev. X's). ---
Rafa's showing his age. Injuries have taken a huge toll on him. He's looping & lopping the balls short. It isn't an issue of surfaces, more of confidence. He may get it back. ---
The H2H differential is now in single digits. It's 9 now &'s a good chance of decreasing further. However, I don't expect another Fedal match this yr until we get back to the HC's. - - Rafa missed another chance towards completing the resume. ...***
...It wasn't enough Laver owned 2 GS's; '62 Am. & as a pro in '69! It was like we were supposed to feel sorry for him b/c he'd never won a WCT Chp which was =lent to the ATP Masters; run by Hunt out of Houston! The most classic & noteworthy matches wound up being played down there in PT & 'the place to go!'
Rosewall prevented Laver in 2 very memorable finals; separated by a pt or 2 after all was said & done in 5th set TB's! After that, Laver wore down & started going out earlier to the likes of Smith & a new "Wonderkind" by the name of Bjorn Borg in 5 set SF in '75! We have more great players lacking a title never having much of a chance; save McEnroe who was as close as you can get to FO win! I could never see Wilander @ Wimbledon; heaven knows he was lucky to = make a QF! Like Nadal today, players of that era made their bones by elim. Wilander on grass! In '85, the newly crowned FO Champ went down in flames on CC to lit'l known Slobodan Živojinović; WHO?
Lucky Nole's goals are few by now w/ a need of only 1 or 2 Cinci Masters & another FO! He'll have it all; TWICE! Roger & Nadal have a long way to go save their OG's they can flash in his face!
***Slobodon had a giant serve. He was a tricky bloke to face early @ Wimbo w/ their fast grass back then. Don't forget both Rafa & Mats are the only players to have 2 slams on each surface - HC's, grass & clay. It wasn't a minor achievement for Mats to win 2 Oz titles on grass!***
***Remember how far Novak was ahead of everybody after the FO! Lots of pts in the Fall.***
I've said before; tennis' a sport that almost penalizes you for having a great yr like Nole in '15! The pt defense isn't attainable when you get 3 majors, 6 Masters, playing in final after final, ending the season w/ 30+ wins over top 10 players! If you don't match that, I guess you have t/b relegated to #2 = w/ 2 majors & 4 Masters in '16!
***True. Which is why Fed's 237 & Pete's 6 yrs in a row are damn impressive and underrated. ---
...Out of the others who are @ least 3000 pts behind Roger (+ whatever he earns @ RG), the only 1 for whom it isn't unrealistic to overtake Roger's haul is Nadal. But if he takes 4000 pts in the clay-ct season, it's hard to see Wawrinka also winning a Masters. So, on balance, I think it's more likely than not that Fed w/b in a top 4 spot in this "race" by the beginning of the grass-ct season. ---
The only players who have at least 1200 ranking pts are Roger (4045), Rafa (2235), Stan (1500), Grigor (1365), & Jo-Willie (1255). If we expand that to 1000 we get Thiem, Sock, & Goffin. Andy is ATW down @ 840 & Novak @ 475. The only 2 players who have a legit shot @ 10,000 pts are prob. Roger & Rafa. ...For Roger to get to 10,000, he needs to win another Slam, another Masters, & the WTF...that's 4,500 &'ll get him to 8,545, ...I'm thinking 9,000 w/b enough. ---
How many pts did the #1 have @ this pt in the yr? ...ATP Race pts thru the Miami Masters:
...Novak's on nearly 8000 despite having almost no result @ Wimbledon. Both of them are defending just 1 GS title in that period, so in principle they're clearly capable of doing it (= w/o winning 2 GS).
Now, their form so far this yr doesn't give any indication this'll happen - but the yr's young. Hence my pt is that Roger would need some help from them, in the form of a lower level of form than we know they're capable of in order to return to the top of the rankings.
Un< Fed wins another GS this yr, I really struggle to see a realistic route to #1. = if he does, it's no guarantee (Novak won 2 last yr & still ended it #2). It's also clear by now, if it wasn't before that #1 isn't a serious goal of Fed ATM. He'll put everything into winning Wimbl. ---
...Djokovic won 4 str. GS's, then he lost in the next 3. Do we really think he won't win another in the next 3 attempts? It's possible, of course, & stranger things have happened, but I'd be very careful counting him & Murray out! ...The other thing to consider is that if Andy & Novak come back @ least relatively strong, it's unlikely that any 1 player will dominate for the rest of the yr. Consider:
*Roger already has an over 3,000 pt lead over the current #1-2. That's a lot to make up.
*Rafa's playing well enough t/b a force during @ least clay season.
*There are sev. young(ish) players who're chomping @ the bit & look poised to take @ least a Masters or 2 away from the Big(ish) 5: Thiem, Kyrgios, Zverev, & of course Dimitrov, Raonic, & Nishikori. Then there's del Potro.
The bottom line being: no 1 but Roger's looking dominant enough to go on a tear & sweep the yr. Chances are the Masters & remaining Slams w/b split up among X players - not only the Big 5, but maybe 1 or 2 younger players. Now if someone wins 2 Slams, that changes things - esp. Roger, w/ his 2 Masters already in the bag. But I think it w/b a dogfight & not only will the YE #1 not be clear until the WTF or @ least Shanghai/Basel/Paris, but Roger w/b in the mix ATW to the end.***
***Obama Off's Made List of Secret Russia Probe Documents To Protect Them. - The left wing media is so flustered that they can't keep their story straight.***
If the LIBS are in such disarray, why's Trump & his Rep. Congress floundering? What's the reason now w/ a Rep. bonehead in the POTUS chair? NOTHING's DONE! HOW weak? No amt of badmouthing Trump or bitchin' about what Obama admin. did to protect the country from this Manchurian (Ruskie) Candidate can change how inept, incompetent, & impotent all those losers have shown themselves t/b when in complete charge of DC! They probably won't = be able to elim. funding for Planned Parenthood b/c they'll need Dems to help raise the Nat'l Debt limit & passing of the next budget; due end of April! W/o Schumer & Pelosi, Reps will wind up presiding over "shutting down the gov't" 1 more X!
***Actually a whole Hell of a lot hbd, but the lying libtards won't report it.***
You already dropped the ball on repealing Obamacare! ...For a majority of women to continue to support Reps, they have no one else to blame but themselves when services are cut!
***...Now they say the Obama Admin. spied on Trump & leaked info "b/c they wanted to keep the docs secret." ---
No, sparky, President Obama had the Trump-Russia docs cataloged by serial #'s to keep them SAFE from destruction. BTW, do you think Adolf Trump would have destroyed any docs that supported any of his conspiracy theories, fake news, & lies?***
This is what happens when you make enemies for no other reason but t/b a bully! Obama wanted to help Trump become a decent President! Insulting the man as he walks out the door & continuing to blame stuff on him long after he's left office! I'm so glad Obama's people cat. that stuff b/c we all know Bannon would have had a bonfire by now! Someone on the news is pretty sure there are indictments to come down!
***...They have to find something to cling to. It's better than admitting their candidate was a disgusting, corrupt, lying bitch that nobody could stand to look @ or listen to.***
Trump & his TOOLS are all about to be exposed as Ruskie sympathizers & you're still railing about Hillary who hasn't been in office w/ any real power since '12! Things are ready to explode & indictments w/b coming down! Flynn's already assured of being pros. since he was being paid as a foreign agent! It was discovered & told to Trump who allowed this NIT to wander about for about 2 wks before firing his Ass! Your priorities really suck "on the right!" If this was = mused about in relation to Dems, Reps w/b losing their shit! Now evidence has been produced & dessiminated by INTEL & the FBI the many connections btw Trump's goons, Putin, & other foreign parties looking for favors! Get a grip babe & watch Watergate dissolve into nothing after this fiasco!
***Tell us how big bad Putin stole the election from St. Hillary the Inevitable***
If I were Hillary, I wouldn't care! We already know Congress w/b on her ass the entire tenure! What good would it do to win but aggravate & fuel the HATE-fest w/ cons losers? It's a complete joke Speaker Ryan gave a Mea Culpa the other day saying in essence "we have to learn to govern!" ...it's easy t/b in opp. to bitch, moan, & obstruct, but it takes maturity & brains to actual govern! Reps are woefully short on both; just look @ the HOUSE! It's a mess & can't be trusted to get anything done to = send over to the Senate! What a coll. of idiots!
***Thank you Schumer & Pelosi for being such pathetic opp. leaders.***
If they're pathetic leaders, what does that make McConnell & Speaker Ryan? They own Congress & it seems we're being led into another gov't shutdown b/c they don't have a handle on their own multi-caucus! Absolutely nothing's been passed except maybe the renaming of a PO! These losers, w/ the whole of DC under their control, can't get a thing done! The Reps tried to "repeal & replace" Obamacare & Trump promised that w/b their 1st piece of legis.! Congress sent over 60 of those lame BILLS to Obama knowing he'd VETO it, but when they have the actual power, NOTHING! FAILURE! Call me when they pass something meaningful!
***The Dems have been decimated for passing Obamacare in the 1st place. And now you think it's our job to fix this clusterfk? - Now you know how Obama felt w/ the war in Iraq.***
+ on the DOW crash; IIRC it dropped to 6600! Unemployment soared well over 10%, now well under 5%! The whole world hated our fk'n guts & Obama brought us back where World leaders couldn't wait to see him! They were burning "W" in effigy if anyone has a memory! All that needed repair & what did the right-wing nuts do? Fought him in every way possible; actually filibustering normal admin. fair like raising the debt ceiling & CR's! They shut the gov't down so they could listen to that pinhead from TX recite Dr. Seuss', "Green Eggs & Ham!" That's just OTTH! If I were Obama, I'd resent it that they tried to delegitimize his very Presidency! If I were him I would laugh & say "this country deserves someone like TRUMP so they'll see what fools they were when I was in charge!"
***Reps have very short memories. They don't remember how Bush left the USA. - ...The Demon-crats just want to kick a dead horse as long as they can & to hell w/ the country.***
Oh please; it was Nunes who's hair was on fire telling us how disgusting & unbelievable the info he had received was that he had to run to Trump to let him know! Supposedly his committee members were trying to hold him back! We later found out he stopped by Ryan who didn't stop him either, so both their reputations are up for scrutiny! This is Intel & oversight! Nunes doesn't work for the Prez!
***Accepting Int'l $$ by an Int'l foundation does not violate the law. The Clintons received no emoluments from the CGI. - How do you know what the Clinton's received or didn't recieve? The woman destroyed 33,000 e-mails for goodness sakes. LOL.***
Still on the emails when Russia operatives inside the WH? Hard to believe this is still the Rep. Party! Commentators said Trump would drag them down! They're a mere shell of themselves w/ lit'l integrity or common sense! Their patriotism flew out the door ages ago trying to undermine Clinton over the same BS they were doing; later t/b found out! ...And speaking of dead horse; BENGHAZI anyone?
***...If Obama had "enough evidence," Trump would've been charged last yr.***
You guys s/b shaking in your golf shoes! This investigation's going t/b coming to a close sooner or later & it'll not be pretty! Trump's in serious trouble & he's inflaming resentment all the X thumbing his nose @ nepotism charges, an inability to get his shit together & hire qualified people to 100's of open jobs in the West Wing, & to stop exposing the US to ridicule, acting stupid on the world stage! He's fulminating distrust & insecurity amongst NATO & the UN!
***...Now it's clean up X.***
The "rightwing" delusions continue I see! They conveniently forget the state of affairs in '09; rampant unemployment, stock market crash, budget indecisions in Congress, & gov't shutdowns! The cleanup was done by Obama "thank you very much!"
***R's will regret it if they use the nuclear option to confirm Gorsuch for SCOTUS. - Agreed, its a sad day if we change the rules to cater to a completely partisan Senate. It's bad enough already. The "60" rule @ least makes each party work w/ each other & build consensus. ...how lazy & worth< is our leadership? It wasn't right when Harry did it & it's not right if the Reps do it.***
We wouldn't be in this position if McConnell & the minority party under Obama hadn't filibustered everything! It was over-utilized & abused, actually shutting down the gov't, so Reps can KMA whining about what a horrible day this is where the Senate w/b as common as the HOUSE from now on! That's their lowlife choice! I gave up yrs ago that we set ourselves on a course of disaster; culminating in a Trump presidency! We're TOAST!
***I agree, it has been an ugly & frustrating show of oppression & ineffectiveness from our leadership. Complete hypocrisy as the Reps move off 8 yrs of obstruction & the Dems now seem t/b continuing their playbook. At some pt we need to grow up & unfortunately we don't have a leader who's capable of helping that problem. He's a bigger child than the rest of our politicians so its only going to get worse.***
Reps proved they really didn't give a shit back in '09 when Obama took office! They decided before he took the 'oath of office' that they would obstruct, delay, & fk over all concerned as a way of being relevant! ...Today, McConnell & his TOOLS think it's worthy of shutting down the gov't & costing us $$! All they did was undermine the lit'l confidence left of DC! Their seats have been so Gerrymandered they don't fear losing elections so they have no incentive to act like responsible adults! We have no one else to blame but ourselves; esp. women, minorities, & Mensa members who thought it w/b beneficial to back & vote for Trump & this coll. of losers wearing Russian Red! "Thanks GUYS!"
***Dems have 41 "no" votes for Gorsuch which is the filibuster threshold. Of course, since it's made out t/b about partisanship & not the nominee, there's talk about changing the rules instead of reconsidering the nominee. I know it's impossible, but I'd love to see how things turned out if no one knew each other's party affiliation.***
It makes about as much sense as when the Reps wouldn't even "hear" from Merritt Garland, but it's a "no win" situation! Reps have counted on the Dems being "the grown-up" in the room, but those assholes on the "right" have just been abusing progressives & a stand has t/b made or they'll continue walking all over us!
***Before changing the rules, Reps should think about what that would mean long-term. It might seem appealing now, it might not when you look ahead. Why's it so simple to change the rules on such an important matter anyway?***
Reid only relented & changed the rules back in '13 due to years of minority obstruction to filling Obama cabinet positions & appeal's court vacancies! McConnell wanted to get that done & was looking forward to it! I just hope it comes back to burn him in the foreseeable future! Trump has t/b at risk in 4 yrs & a bunch of these old fogies will drop dead or retire soon on the SC!
***If McConnel gets rid of it for the lifeX appointees to the SC, it's gone forever for advise & consent positions, ALL OF THEM. That's not good & makes everything < fair for Americans on the whole and MORE PARTISAN....and makes Senators weaker, just like the partisan House of Representatives. ...Ridding the filibuster simply means the Minority will never have a voice in the Senate; never been that way. It prevented a simple majority shoving crap down the minority's throat. R's will REGRET THIS SOME DAY!***
***Novak's impossible to predict. He could continue struggling or he could come back & win RG. ...Novak had been so dominant of Rafa, winning 7 in a row, but he's somewhat resurgent & Novak's struggling. Either Rafa gets his revenge or Novak uses the opp. to find his form.
...Novak'll still be dealing w/ a player who last plumbed the depths of his >ness @ the '14 FO. That's a long X ago. X losses vs some & I don't only include Novak or Fed in that list.***
...After near perfection for 2 seasons after winning '14 Wimbl. final, we've had high expectations of Nole! I'm not a big fan of his style, but he makes me root for him since he's rivaled Lendl in being the top player for yrs, but in that era it was still about Borg, Connors, & McEnroe! If not for his 8 str. finals @ the USO ...he might have indeed faded into obscurity! = Fed couldn't keep that up w/ the weak era he's been able to inflate his #'s! IMO Roger's still the GOAT, 'A' #1 of all X, but **'s will mentally be affixed to his name for obvious reasons IMO! I wouldn't be surprised if Novak doesn't come back focused & ready, but physically I think he still has it in him to win 2 more majors! I know I will look forward to him competing again; to at least stem this retro-Fedal tide! It was boring to me 10 yrs ago; it will again! The only thing diff. is Nadal's fallen on very hard X's & has started losing to his personal "pigeon;" the last 4 X's! WOW! It's over for him!
***I think Novak & Andy will bounce back, but to what level? That is the crucial ??. They're both far enough behind that they have to significantly out-play Roger (& Rafa) for the rest of the yr. The prob. for both is that they're not just competing vs Roger, but each other & Rafa & the rest of the field, so un< they're super-dom. &/or Roger collapses, it's going t/b hard to catch up to the ol' maestro w/ that 3K++ pt advan.
Now the good news for Andy, Novak, & moreso, Rafa, is that Roger won't be playing for the next 2 months, which includes 3 Masters, an ATP 500, & a bunch of ATP 250s. But theoretically those 3 could win as much as 3500 pts; it's unlikely that any 1 player earns that much before RG, but that's what's up for grabs in a "Roger-free" period of X (assuming Roger skips Rome) - not counting the ATP 250s, most of which are concurrent w/ bigger tourneys. If any of those 3 are going to catch Roger, they need to get some pts during this next stretch, & continue playing well after.
...For Novak or Andy to get the YE #1, they have a similar task: do well in clay season & improve until the end of the yr. Both would need to win @ least 1 Slam & 2 or 3 Masters, + prob. The WTF to clinch it. ...we'll have a >er sense of things after RG. If Rafa doesn't do very well during clay season, he has virtually no chance of the YE #1. If Novak or Andy don't @ least hold their own & earn 2K pts, I don't see them catching Roger. ---
I don't agree w/ tennis penalizing you if you have a great yr, followed by a bad 1! In Nole's case 1 guy takes all that he left behind. Nole went #2, not b/c he had great yr in '15, but b/c he had 1/2 a yr in '16.***
B/c of parity, it was easier to become #1 w/ just a single major back in the 70's & 80's! Vilas a rare player who didn't get a sniff of #1 winning 2 majors w/ over 120 matches in '77; mostly on clay! We've been spoiled by the latest feats of ATG's w/ Fedalovic each winning 3 majors in a season w/ X Masters events 6 X's btw them! Those kind of career yrs happened just once a decade in my day; Connors '74, Wilander's '88, & an honorable mention of Borg's '78-80 winning FO/Wimbledon combo 3 str. yrs w/ a wood racket & 1 wk btw the events!
***Had they kept the USO on clay for another 2 yrs, Borg'd have bagged it. But yeah, 3 of the 4 finals he lost, he should have won. He lost on clay in '76, had a bogey shoulder in '77, thumb issue in '78, & choked in the 5th set in '80.*** ===
This is about as topsy turvy as anything I can remember w/ the rankings, the players, & the situation! At no X in the Open Era can I compare NOW save Connors "rising from the ashes" in '82 to take Wimbledon & USO; then acquiring #1 ranking! After '78, he was relegated to 5th wheel IMB w/ Borg, McEnroe, & a newbie who led the WCT tour by the name of Lendl! When Connors fell to Vitas G. in the semi's of the '80 FO, I figured he was done! He had never lost to the guy & that's a sure sign you've overstayed your welcome! As old as Laver & Rosewall were back then in the mid 70's, they still owned top players like Ashe & Nastase respectively! I couldn't understand it @ 18-19 yo! Nastase won once that I can remember over "Muscles" & it was only 1 of those TV events w/ RR where they initially played on clay! Ilie won that match over Rosewall, but the rematch on HC in the final had the old man making him look bad! Rosewall won last set @ love IIRC! MHB Hong Kong TC in '76!
***Connors was only 29-30 when he "rose from the ashes" in '82, so what he did at that age wasn't what I would deem "physically impossible." It wasn't = remarkable & was surely down to Borg's absence + McEnroe's inability to keep his focus while he was pining romantically for Borg (to hammer again). Connors didn't have so many miles on the clock. Nastase, Ashe; these are players who're more famous than "great." They won slams, but they had their fragilities, though Ilie is probably - just after McEnroe - the most naturally gifted tennis player I've ever seen. ---
'17: A most unusual yr so far - & presumably ahead
A few factors are combining to create a truly unique & perhaps historically unparalleled:
1. The current top 2 players have been injured &/or struggling; have fallen way behind in Race rankings.
2. The previously assumed-t/b fading elder statesman is having his best season in at least 5 yrs, if not 10; his younger compatriot's also resurgent, if to a <er extent (@ least so far!).
3. The gen. that s/b dom. is historically weak. 4. The younger gen. is starting to show its claws.
The end result is that the rest of the yr is a complete unknown. Anyone want to speculate what lies ahead? I see more ??'s than clear trajectories. For instance:
*Can Roger hold his current form? Or rather, return to it when he plays again? *Will Rafa rise to the challenge & take back his mantle of King of Clay? *How strongly will Novak & Andy come back? *Are Kyrgios & Zverev ready to win a big tournament? What about Thiem? *Are any of the "lost gen."--Raonic, Nishikori, Dimitrov--capable of winning a big title?
*Which of the younger group (Fritz, Tiafoe, Coric, Rublev, etc) will distinguish themselves as serious prospects to join Kyrgios & Zverev as the future of the tour?
Certainly the most exciting yr in a while, in terms of how open & unknown the rest of it w/b.***
***Finland Figure Skating "Worlds" were never kind to Michelle. :( ***
OTTH, IIRC Helsinki is like Denver; very thin air! I seem to remember Yagudin & Plushenko going @ it in '99 Worlds! Both were "taking their X" during performances! I have a very vivid image of Evgeni jumping in slow motion; really holding each landing & taking deep breaths!
What's going on @ Worlds? Fernández & Medvedeva are leading after the SP's, but the rest of the results are shocking outside of Chan in 3rd place! MHB a splat-fest for both the men & ladies! Hanyu in 5th; Chen in 6th?
***At Worlds, The Ladies' event wasn't a splat-fest. The Men had a few more splats, but not that bad - just that others skated really well.***
It was just a bit of a shock after seeing them flying high @ 4CC last month! That was the best event I've seen in yrs & was obviously the most comp. w/ performances that just "outdid" the 1 before! I haven't paid much attention since last Olympics in Sochi! I had no idea the men had finally taken the sport to new heights w/ jumps I thought would eventually cripple these poor kids! I still SMH from about 20 yrs ago; I believe it was Trophy Lalique! The spoils were usually split =ly among the top skaters & this event was obviously already relegated to Maria Butyr.! Jennie Kirk couldn't have been > than 16; a petite lit'l thing like Tara L.! She not only performed well, it was flawless, ending on a triple Lutz! Not = a pro skater does such a thing on tired legs! Maria was her usual stiff self, held onto a couple landings, & probably hit the ice @ least once! She not only took the gold, Jennie was relegated to BRONZE! She wasn't est. yet; probably her 1st Int'l event since Michelle K. usually just did Skate Am. & CAN.! It's 1 of the reasons FS's still hard to watch! = w/ the new scoring system, it's still 1 of the shadiest Int'l sports!
***Hanya came back to win setting a new World Rec. - Chen had so many problems w/ his skates. ...it has t/b very dangerous to skate a full Sr. program on broken skates.***
The yr I resumed watching comps was '94 @ Lilehammer w/ Tonya Harding & her broken laces! I can still see her leg up on the wall showing the judges, crying w/ "that" over-made face! They allowed her to fix it & come back; totally messing up Josee Chouinard who had to run out onto the ice due to interruption! At another comp, a male skater broke his blades during warmup! IDK how he got autho, but they had an exhibit on display & he was allowed to take a blade & used it! ANYBODY?
***That's sacrilege. Why would you take a piece of history &... I can't... I think now in most comps there are skate & blade manufacturers on hand that can sell these things quickly or make overnite repairs. Unfortunately Nathan's skates were beyond repair by that pt. ===
Kobe was a poor man's Jordan. He just wasn't anywhere near Jordan despite copying His Airness' style. ...Kobe has 5 rings, but he was top dog for only 2. Lebron's more a hybrid btw Magic & MJ. He's a freak athlete & very big & strong, but if you think he's just a Bull in the china shop, you're ignoring his insane court vision, passing ability, ball control, & all around B-ball IQ. He's the closest thing to Jordan in terms of >ness since #23 retired, yet he's still pretty far off IMO.***
IMO today's B-ball's almost unwatchable! I can't remember the last X I cared about a season; = when GS was threatening my Bulls' record winning season of '96! San Antonio the only team I have any real respect for = though the media dismisses them w/ sev. NBA Champs! They just aren't flashy enough for the social media junkies! They don't have top players assaulting people @ "night spots" in the wee hrs of the morn, getting suspended for missing practice, or committing flagrant fouls in a Champ. series costing them the title!
***Anything else tennis related, including the WTA is just in the background right now w/ Fedal resurgence. Personally, I enjoy watching women's tennis.***
I used to prefer women's tennis & in my day, picked up more by watching them play the game! Women were in the forefront when tennis exploded in the 70's! Tennis became a way of life w/ men getting more press, but women's game a lot more entertaining and diverse believe it or not! This was before the Navratilova/Evert era took over in '82! There was the waning yrs of Court, Wade, BJK, Goolagong, Stove, Casals, & Durr! Then came Martina, Chris, Mandlikova, Graf, Seles, Austin, & Novotna! Each took turns winning & not only played singles, many were accomplished doubles' players! The women's game was just more fun IMO; chessboard strategy going on before the latest evolution of mind< aggression!
***If the ladies can't play BO5 & they bring in WAY < revenue due to various elements (lack of interest, sponsors, promotions, etc.) they s/b payed <. To make these events BO5, event organisers w/b embarking on a move w/o much, if any financial gain.***
BO5 is just painful to watch in women's tennis after Navratilova retired! It just made no sense to "go there" since their matches could last well over 3 hrs in BO3; Sharapova & Azarenka preferred t/b in a war of attrition always going LONG! When they did go BO5 in the mid 80's @ the VS Chp., it was just a ruse to keep Martina on the court for a lit'l while longer since she was destroying players in 40 mins! By the '84 WTA Chp. & FO, Martina was toying w/ Evert on clay! That 1 event went BO5 in '84, but it still looked like an exh. where Navratilova just embarrassed Evert indoors, 6-3. 7-5. 6-1! In the WTA clay ct. it was 2 & 0 in < than an hr, w/ the crowning jewel of '84 FO where Chris was destroyed 3 & 1! It didn't bore me, but women's tennis took a hit w/ Martina winning everything in sight; 6 majors in a row from '83 Wimbl. to '84 USO when AO was @ the end of the season! No CYGS for her = w/ that many slam event wins in a row!
***Roddick beat prime Djokovic @ AO & prime Murray @ Wimbl. Put him in '14- present weak era & he'd have 2 Wimbledons & a couple USOs.***
Prime what; hair growing? Please! If Roddick beat anyone, it was almost a decade ago! The only one in his prime then was Federer! Give me a break!
***Nadal entered his prime in '05; aged 19 winning the FO & 4 other Masters (incl. 2 on HC's) Djokovic entered his prime aged 20 in 07 when he won 2 HC Masters, reached 2 GS SF & 1 final. Federer entered his prime aged 21-22 in '03 when he won Wimbledon & the YEC.***
You & I have diff. ideas on PRIME! Nadovicray were barely rookies for the most part when Roddick played!! To me t/b in your prime, you not only have t/b physically @ your best, your mind has learned to win when not nec. playing well or on "best surface" and that takes some maturity IMO! My thought is, mid 20's is more like it! J/b someone wins early, that hardly makes it their prime! Chang won his lone FO @ 17; who's prime is @ that age besides maybe a gymnast?
***Nadal's grass peak '07-08, HC peak '07-09 & '13, as well as '10 USO; clay peak '05-10. I say prime not only thanks to those GS wins, but the overall consistency, Masters wins, title wins, etc. I.E. remove Fedal & Djokovic in '07, likely wins 2-3 majors (Roddick could win '07 USO making it 2 at FO/W) & 2 majors in '08 @ both HC; m/b a 3rd @ RG too.
The only reason Nole won 3 in '11 was A: Tsonga took out Fed for him @ Wimbledon & B: Fed choked 2-0 & 40-15. Prime Fed wins that in 4. I think Nole inflated his total w/ the decline of his major rivals & things going his way.***
***Can't we say that all of the current greats have benefited from the "gutlessness" of the 2nd tier? I mean, if Novak did, then Roger & Rafa did.
...We know Pete was a lousy (relatively speaking) clay courter, but it goes beyond clay: he went out in the 4R of the USO twice in the heart of his career ('94 & '97), & the 3R AO loss ('96). Novak, OTOH made it to the QF or later in every Slam from Wimbledon in '09 to the FO in '16.
...Sev. options arise:
1. Novak was simply a >er, or at least more consistent, player - both in terms of court types & gen. consistency.
2. The courts were far < homogenous, leading to more specialists & upsets.
3. The 2nd tier players are more gut< in the current era.
4. The Big 4 are simply that much >er than the field.
M/b it's a bit of all 4, but I'm thinking that #2 is the primary factor, but it doesn't fully explain why the Big 4 have been as dom. as they've been. I think we need to + in the idea that they're simply that good, but also--& perhaps more importantly--that there's a bit of a snowball effect in terms of their confidence, which in turn feeds into the so-called "gutlessness" of the 2nd tier. Winning begets winning. The homogeneity of the surfaces has enabled the success of the current greats, which in turn has made them confident on all surfaces, which in turn has improved their overall level.
Now we have seen cracks as they've started to age which will continue. Rafa's no longer a good grass court player & Roger's diminished on clay. But again, this is entirely age-related.
1) But, people need to consider that Nole also benefitted from Rafa's lack of form mid-'14 onwards esp. in '15 & '16. And that lack of form did make those yrs that much < tough.
2) Look @ Sampras' slam-winning span - 12 yrs Djokovic's slam winning span - 8.5 yrs (as of now) On the same note, Roger's slam-winning span as of now - 13.5 yrs (as of now)
Here, slam-winning span only considers the X elapsed btw the 1st slam & the last slam of a player. The density of titles is not factored into, b/c the X btw 1st & last slams s/b considered simply in its own right, its a noteworthy statistic.
Djokovic has had 2 seasons of utter greatness. That does speak much in favour of his candidacy for GOAT. But, I would say longevity is another factor. And players s/b given their pts for longevity also. In order for Djokovic to match Pete's slam-winning span. He should win his last slam @ least as late as in AO '20. If he would want to match Roger's longevity he would have to win his last slam @ least as late as in Wimbl. '21 (provided Roger doesn't win another GS, otherwise this date gets pushed further).
IMO, un< Djokovic matches Roger's longevity, I wouldn't think he s/b called the GOAT. And that is in +tion to beating Roger's slam record. Djokovic's 'weak era' in '15 & '16 is comparable to Roger's 'weak era' in '05-06.*** ---
Nole was choking like a dog @ '14 Wimbl; up 2 brks in the 4th & lost the TB! I hated that it = went 5! The same thing almost happened @ the '15 USO final; up 2 brks in the 4th, lost 1, but was able to close out the match! I think Novak's still ready to beat his old rivals Rafa & Roger; making me feel he lost a couple to Stan & Andy due to missing Fedal @ crucial events & X's where he still could rise to the occasion & overcome their mystique!
***...Roger of '11/12 could still go toe-toe w/ Nole anywhere except AO. As to choking, hey Roger's chokes vs Nole are =ly stellar & outstanding! ...To me, where Nole exceeds Fedal is in his insane, sick consistency '11 thru '15, wk in & wk out 365/7/24. Still, Nole became Nole b/c he had to deal w/ those 2. His winning rec. vs Fedal can't blind us to his losses to Stan, Murray & = Nishikori.***
I w/b so glad when this blows up in all of the faces of people who = "think" Trump's credible @ this pt! Trump led the 'Birther' movement for 5 yrs & only 'let it go' just before the transfer of power!
***American journalism is dead. How can a 'credible' news entity become an 'opp' to the President? That's not credible journalism.***
The only thing killing "truth in journalism" are the daily press conferences held by Sean Spicer for his LYING boss!
***All Press Secretaries are Propagandists. That's their job.***
These losers have taken it to new heights of BS; sorta like the latest vote of the ACA "was very close, but we're going to drop it after 17 days! Oh, BTW it's back on again!"
***...Every X you want to make something seriously scary, you find the darkest skinned guy to post up.***
...but they say they aren't "bigots or racists!" Tell that BS to Lynch, Rice, The Obamas, & Holder! They had to deal w/ unprecedented disrespect & I won't ever let that "scummy" Rep. Party forget it!
***...63% fewer illegals coming into the country from last yr.***
Why migrate to a flushed toilet? Trump just the bathroom attendant for now until new management takes over!
***Just heard Sec. of State Rex Tillerson say “steps are underway to form a coalition that would remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."
I'll believe it when it happens! Been listening to this BS since the days of "W!" ...I'm waiting for Trump to take out the air force & landing strips, but I'll believe it when it occurs! - Shocking enough it happened; 59 Tomahawk rockets were lobbed on 1 of their airports!
***...I guess I'm very skeptical & cynical when it comes to conflict in the Middle East.***
I hate feeling so help<, but these a-holes in the ME have been @ war for gens! We can't really stop them & every X we do intercede in some way, the situation is usually exacerbated! It's almost as =lent as some Russian mediator coming in to try & get the USA together when we all know this country's as fractured as any in the world! ...It looks as if we'll be having more budget drama @ the end of the month w/ pending "shut down" of the gov't when the "looney" rightwing won't support a clean "Cont. Res." After ACA repeal bombed, the savings couldn't be incorporated into a new budget that doesn't exist yet! Reps are in charge so the Dems will just sit back & bide their X when Ryan & McConnell come sniffing around looking for votes! I would spit in both their faces! They s/b conciliatory all the X; not just when needed & it suits them!
***...I don't have any expertise on the 'ME' so I'm just watching all this, not judging what should, could, or should not be done. I'm opposed on principle to unilateral US military action un< the US is directly attacked.***
Trump had been saying for yrs we should stay out of the Middle East! ...Funny how these "America First" a-holes always wind up turning over a new leaf once they're President! This particular a-Hole constantly talked about AF, but none of his shit is made here; suits, ties, steel used in his buildings! ALL produced abroad so him and his stupid ass supporters are FOS!
***McConnell really comes across as despicable. His objective shouldn't be to block a President. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...8_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.fe717f28b6f8 -***
He's one of the main reasons I think Reps w/b forever marked as despicable animals who are obstructers & hypocritical liars! He has taken on the mantel of a HOUSE member, all but giving the finger to the country! He cost the country $$ allowing the gov't t/b shut down & infrastructure of the country to fall into disrepair! The Senate will never be the same after he's led it into DARKNESS!
***I'm torn on Spicy. OTOH, he's not doing a very good job.***
...Dana Perino was just as bad in the 1st term of "W!" They misstep a whole atrocity w/ the Holocaust & they just want to say "people make mistakes!" That's true except w/ how they punish people they don't like if 1 word's out of place! People like Rice, Hillary, & Obama have left office, but they still have to deal w/ these a-hole defaming them @ every turn! I've no sympathy for any of us to = allow this farce to occur!
***Trump said that he has confidence in Comey, but it's not too late to fire him.***
It means lit'l to nothing! Thanks to Obama declassifying & spreading a lot of this info around, there's no way Trump can conceal or hide his complicity w/ Russian agents he hired to run his campaign!
***...evidence is circumstantial, so if Comey job is in jeopardy, then the invest. could not go any further than it is now.***
Nixon tried that 35 yrs ago! The Dems didn't run him out of office! Trump is cutting his own throat & pretty much has a gun pointed @ his own head trying to prove a lie; OBAMA did not bug his tower! The Reps are in charge & it doesn't seem like they're doing much to protect him! The Congressional investigations continue, FISA warrants were approved & extended!
***Of course it doesn't look good for Trump. At the same X, I don't think that you can compare the Nixon days to now. ...The Senate investigation was off to a good start, but I haven't heard anything about it lately. Rep. Chaffetz said that Trump's already rich, so there's no conflict of interest. ...I think they've had more than 1 opp to throw him "under the bus," but they haven't. ...And they won't have to cut him loose un< someone provides indisputable proof.***
Nunez already has thrown Trump "under the bus;" unintentionally, but he definitely ran over him & backed over the body! He allowed the Dems full reign to ask any & all ??'s w/ lit'l retort @ the X so it just hung out there! Chaffetz did a masterful job while Nunez showed he wasn't quite ready for prime X! He embarrassed himself later running to the White House w/ his investigation findings; putting him in jeopardy now of being investigated himself for exposing Intel that way w/ press conferences & musing aloud about the data! After it was shared w/ the rest of the committee absolutely nothing has shown he was entitled to behave this way as its Chairman! He's history! As for the Senate committee, they're obviously more prof'l & doing a much >er job! We're not supposed to hear anything out of them; it's INTEL for Gawd-sake!
***M/b next wk we'll hear a story that Obama has extended his vacation for another 4 wks.***
You mean like Trump who spends about as much X on his golf course in FLA as he does @ the WH? The $$ being blown to protect him & his extended family all over the place is costing tons! They're actually raising taxes in county where Mar-a-Lago resides due to overX needed to help w/ security! I knew these jerks were going to pay in the end! Trump travels around like a billionaire on the tax payers; SUCKERS! What a bunch of idiots! We're so deserving of this!
***...I'm in favor of the 5th set TB. You can win a match via a TB in sets 3 & 4. I think the USO has it right.***
The USO can't be used as an good ex. about ANYTHING! As long as I've been in tennis, it's been a complete joke! Since '75 it's been the most inconsistent & most controversial of the Slams! They've been an embarrassment concerning the draw, going BO3 early in the tourney; esp. when it was played on clay from '75-77, then having gone thru diff. speeds of HC!
***...only 3 tourneys (4 w/ DC) / yr don't have final set TB's. ...My view is either have no TB's @ all or have 'em for all sets. ---
...Statistically, I believe that more than 75% of matches get finished in < than 19 games in the 5th set & > than 95% of matches get finished in < than 25 games when the 5th set's played w/o a TB. So, it is actually much ado about nothing. - I guess you meant 13 & 19 games, right? In fact = in this case I would say 90% of the matches end up in < than 13 games & 98% in < than 19 games.***
At Wimbl. when things were lightning fast & the grass was as choppy as your front lawn, I preferred it like the 70's when the TB started @ "8 all!"
***...W/ the exception of us fanatics who apprec. the skill & athleticism of pro tennis players, tennis will never be fully apprec. by the masses. Almost everyone I know thinks that tennis is boring & "gay." I'm constantly made fun of b/c I like tennis.***
I think that's m/b the mindset of narrow-minded twits of The US; esp, early on during the tennis boom of the 70's! We had our cute lit'l outfits w/ wrist & head bands, & the latest tech advances from wood! When it blew up it always had "soft" connotations = when everyone was getting out there on the court @ least once to see what all the "hub bub" was! I'd been known to get up at 5 am to play early @ the club around 6:30 or so! ...People usually tried to stay on my good side anyway so I wouldn't embarrass them too much!
***Did Novak Djokovic mostly major in minors? Turns out Novak majored in both. ;)
B/c of just examining both Sampras & Federer on grass; seeing that = Federer was noticeably lower in tourneys outside of Wimbledon in comparison to Wimbledon itself, that made me curious.
We know that Novak has been a monster @ Masters 1000s & @ the AO & pretty good @ the USO; so how does this compare for him?
Answer, filtering for Can., Cinci., IW, Madrid, Miami, Paris, Shanghai:
(Games % & Match %)
59.0427 82.4121
Same w/ WTF: 58.7438 82.0175
WTF only (career weakness for him ONLY if we do not remember that the WTF is vs the best players in the world.) 56.7353 79.3103
Only majors, USO & AO 59.2184 82.8261
AO only (impressive as Hell) 61.8636 89.2308
My conclusion: For sure he has tried harder @ M1000s than a lot of other players, but it's pretty cool to have stats only majors that are = a bit >er, not to mention stats @ the AO that I'm pretty sure are a clear record for the OE.
Bigger conclusion: the idea that players pad their results in "smaller tourneys" is simply not true for ATGs, who play out of their minds in majors, not only by winning, but also by producing amazing stats there. ---
Looking up stats for Fed for comparison:
All majors, career, games, matches; 59.4534 86.0274
All Master 1000s 57.3423 78.3375
Finals WTF/Masters Cup 57.8776 81.2500
It appears pretty clear that Federer was always focused on majors & didn't try quite so hard in Masters. Lower results in finals clearly show that when there are smaller fields of top players, both games & matches go down.
This gives @ least more support for the idea that smaller tourneys w/ top players drop stats b/c they're more comp. & surely explains why players like Gonzalez, Rosewall & Laver were lower in these stats during the 50s & 60s.***
***What holds more value in your opinion, being called the greatest player in your specialized surface of tennis or being called the GOAT?
I.E., Federer arguably by many is considered the GOAT. He's very technical & crazy talented; has managed to win GS's on X events & his style of play is universal on diff. surfaces. There are also people who say he isn't the GOAT w/ X reasons.
People he has contemporaries like Djokovic & Nadal who achieved great feats, their careers are still active so history's not etched in stone & there are also old school tennis fans who think Laver as the GOAT cause he won all 4 in a CYGS.
However when it comes to who's the greatest player w/i their speciality, Nadal's considered the greatest clay court player of all time. He surpassed his predecessor Bjorn Borg in GS total. To most people it's non-arguable debate cause of his dominance & his contemporaries only one 1 GS in his specialized event while he has dominated his specialty over a decade. ---
Nole messed up too much @ slams during his peak yrs. From '11-16 he won 11 slams yes. But in this period he lost to his pigeon Murray twice, grandpa Fed twice, washed up Nadal @ '14 RG, journeyman Wawrinka 3 X's, & pigeon Nishikori once. He should've won:
- Leaving him w/ 21 slams & as overall GOAT. He failed to do so which leaves him 6 slams off the GOAT aged 30. Fed won 16 slams in a similar X frame w/ 0 embarrassing losses @ GS's & then 2 more wins as a grandpa. Nole needs 6 GS as a grandpa which's Rosewell territory. ---
The current top 5: Is it the oldest ever?
- The current top 5 on the men's tour:
1. Andy Murray (29), 30 next mo. 2. Novak Djokovic (29), 30 next mo. 3. Stan Wawrinka (32). 4. Roger Federer (35), w/b 36 in Aug. 5. Rafa Nadal (30), w/b 31 in June.***
OTTH I'd have to say no! Players held onto top form longer in past gens; Rosewall playing into his 40's, Laver, Ashe, & others playing well into their 30's!
***Since the ATP began rankings in '73, this is almost certainly the oldest top 5. Before that there were unofficial rankings, but I suspect this top 5 may = top those lists as well in terms of age. Don't forget there has almost always been somebody btw the age of 18-22 breaking into the top echelon @ least every 5 yrs for almost the last 70 yrs. Everyone talks about how great Rosewall was when he was old. Guess what, he was a top 5 player when he was 20 as well. Guys like Vines, Trabert, Hoad, Perry, Pancho, & many more from so many eras were all top players in their early 20s. Looking thru all the rankings I've seen, the last X there were close to 5 30 yo's in the top 5 was in the 1920s. Let's hope for Berdych, Tsonga, Monfils, etc to have great yrs, maybe there w/b a top 10 filled w/ almost all 30 yo's by YE. I think that would make it older than many of the fields Courier had when he started the Champions Tour.***
I was thinking of a couple geezers balancing out a young chippy! ;-)
***By next month, the top 5 will all be in their 30s. And they said 30's old in tennis.***
Roger was looking a lit'l haggard & I thought he was just about done! He salvaged his '08 season by winning the USO! When was the last X an ATG was thought to have saved his season w/ 1 major? That loss on grass to Rafa was very disconcerting since I've never been a fan of The BULL! Nole had started taking Masters & his 1st major so I thought the next wave was here w/ the +tion of Murray! It just alternated among the 4 for the next decade! Will the next gen. ever be allowed to take over! It doesn't look like it, allowing Gramps to take a major & the 1st 2 Masters as if he's in Nole's prime! Sad; truly sad!
***You have to remember that Roger only started playing w/ the 97 sq." racket full-X in Jan '14. How many other players make racket changes & immed. make SF @ AO, R16 @ FO, F @ W & SF @ USO, win 73 matches & 5 titles? Stan made a racket change in '11 & promptly fell from #14 to #29. It took him 2 yrs to get comfortable w/ the racket - & Norman - to get back into the Top 10. Roger said himself that he wasn't "super comfortable" w/ the new racket until this yr. He also told TCC that he just didn't have the belief to drive the BH more often b/c he used to shank so much w/ the smaller headed racket. The fact that he was = in 2 the Wimbledon final was testament to his talent - if not his belief in the new racket. He also said he brought in Edberg so he could start playing more aggress. tennis - & he did that in '15 to get to the Wimbl. & USO finals.
But - why's anyone surprised that Roger lost these matches? He's considered "past his prime," right? Older players in all sports pull their punches & over-think things that used to flow & come easily. Again, back to something Roger said about himself when asked about similarities w/ Kyrgios - maybe he has TOO MANY OPTIONS? Most players have A & B - someX's C. Roger has A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H - & someX's the whole damned alphabet.
Also, shouldn't the guy who is IN HIS PRIME & 6 yrs younger win these matches? Isn't it a testament to Djokovic's improved mental tenacity? And isn't he now in the exact same downward slide that happened to Roger, Sampras, McEnroe, Lendl, Agassi & every other great champ? Actually it's worse, but you get what I mean - he's not the player he was & now that he's shown vulnerabilities, other players will come for him the same way Istomin did - the same way he came for Roger. ---
I think a lot depends upon if Roger wins Wimbledon. If he does, he definitely won't play Canada...I mean, why would he? If he's upset early, m/b he considers Canada to get some pts back; if he cares about that. Either way, Roger's priorities are:
After Sampras won the USO in '96, he said it saved his season.***
Funny I always thought in '96, Sampras was @ the height of his powers; getting to the semi of Paris taking out 2 past 2X champs (Bruguera & Courier)! He then won the YEC in the final over Becker! His upset by Krajicek @ Wimbledon shouldn't have been a surprise! Richard just had Pete's # @ X's on fast courts w/ that big serve of his! Pete had won 3 in a row & the run had to stop sooner or later! Comp. was just tough around then! Sampras just continued his winning ways by taking '97 AO! I believe he took GS Cup & YE Chps that season! Who does that?
***...Rafa is a confidence player. If he wins one clay title early, then he w/b = more confident & more difficutl to take out in the next tourney.***
Let's hope the gutless tour can "end him" before getting on a confidence run on clay!
***Yep. If Rafa wins MC, all of a sudden he becomes the big fave @ every clay tournament he plays in. If he loses MC, the negative impact is <, but substantial: the seeds of doubt begin to sprout. But I think he really only needs one Masters title in clay to go into RG as the fave, whether that is MC, Rome, or Madrid. ---
...Federer faced Nadal & beat him in 3 big tourneys, i.e., AO (F), IW's (4th Rd) & Miami (F). He's confirmed his return to RG in '17. He's atop the singles race rankings w/ a lead of 1810 pts over Nadal who holds the 2nd position ATM. Rafa & others will want to catch up w/ Roger in the race pts given that he won’t enter any of the 3 clay Masters. ...Nadal needs his 1st title now, Djokovic & Murray need to come back to playing decent tennis & certain others like Thiem will want to prove a pt.***
***...Wouldn't the total quads of the 3 medalist be 18; 2 each in the SP & 4 each in the LP? There were quads attempted @ '07, '08, & '09 so I'm not sure how the medalists themselves landed 18 more when their total is 18...***
Men's skating has come a long way in such a short X! Seems like it was only yesterday Bronze Medal winner Timothy Goebel put 3 quads in his LP in '02! These guys today are blowing him & the early KING of quads Elvis Stojko off the map! I only saw Plushenko attempt the 4Lutz once @ GP of Russia! A US skater actually completed it sev. yrs ago IIRC; sans Michael Weiss' 2-footed attempts! Now it's almost routine; seeing the + of 4FLip & 4Loop! What's happened to the ladies? They had a couple attempting the 3 Axle & 4 Salchow, but lit'l of that going on now since Asada retired! The arm over the head by Medvedeva m/b tough, but after a while gets "old!"
***Looks like Hanyu has found the formula to peak @ Worlds; skate just okay for the 1st part of the yr, then rev it up by the X of 4CC & Worlds.***
I was afraid the same would happen to our own Nathan Chen after brilliant performances w/ X Quads @ the 2 preceding events; US Nat'ls & The 4 CC! Expectations had t/b huge & having problems w/ the skates is predictable! I'm surprised there aren't more occasions of skaters being hindered since those boots & blades take so much punishment in comparison to past gens where it was a big deal to complete = 1 Quad! The torque involved in getting up there into the air then the subsequent landings take a toll on equipment & body I'm sure!
***Another 3A in practice by Mirai Nagasu.***
OMG, early success just does lit'l to nothing for some skaters it seems! I remember when she won Nat'ls, but was too young to go for Worlds to compete for medal like Kimmie Meissner in '06! When Mirai won in '08, Kimmie wouldn't have = qualified for Worlds falling to 7th @ Nat'ls IIRC! 3 of the top 7 skaters were too young! What happened to all those girls?
***In '08 Meissner got named b/c Katrina Hacker was a "nobody" in the minds of USFS compared to her w/ no Senior Int'l medals. And what happened to those girls? Growth spurts, being taught lousy jump technique to just get the triples around & then getting hammered when the IJS took over. In the case of Flatt, simply just not being a great package. - And Ash Wagner (her 1st Sr. ap. too) went to Jr. Worlds b/c of her age. She had a good Sr. outing @ Nat'ls too. ---
It's kind of crazy how the U.S. dominated the Jr. scene during that period, but it couldn't translate that same dominance as seniors. However, those Jrs. that did dominate weren't so bad in gen. w/ the entire U.S. sweep from '07 Jr. Worlds still competing to this very day. ---
I think it says more about US Ladies TBH. The fact that Ashley & Mirai will in days be 26 & 24 & still be 2 of the top contenders for the Olympic team says it all. At least Ashley has improved her skating over the last 5 yrs, but if Mirai were skating for Japan or Russia w/ how her skating stagnated post '10, she would prob. be buried like Leonova or retired by now. There just have been no real talented girls that have come up since Sochi to challenge the older ladies like Mirai who quite frankly hasn't exactly set the world on fire. = someone like Mariah Bell is almost the same age as Gracie.***
There were a few I really liked and seemed t/b as talented as any; Naomi Nar Nam, Bea Liang, & "The Pearl" (Carolina Zhang)! The Pearl obvious had a horrible growth spurt, but the others probably just beat their bodies to HELL much too early in their development! What happened to that rule about jrs not = attempting all those triples? Silly how we seem to beat our skaters into the USA ice while Japan has reserves in the wings!
...Nunes already has thrown Trump "under the bus;" unintentionally, but he definitely ran over him & backed over the body! He allowed the Dems full reign to ask any & all ??'s w/ little retort!...
***Do you mean during the hearing? He may not have objected, but I think Reps did the best they could to diminish the significance of the investigation. Nunes has done Trump's bidding twice, once before the hearing, once more recently when he tried to confirm that Trump was right. Granted, he hung himself a lit'l bit w/ that one, still, the House investigation has come to a screeching halt & Dems have trouble getting it back on track. I find it hard to believe that Nunes was working vs Trump @ any pt.***
Delude yourself if you want...- The people that put Trump in office didn't give a damn about good ol' common sense & courtesy! They went into those polls voting for a self-proclaimed misogynist pig! He went the extreme route of not coddling Hillary & treating her as dirty as he did the guys, said fk you to all who wanted to see his tax records while knowingly lying about an audit, spoke as ugly as you could about a sitting President, disparaged Mexicans, women, Muslims, judges, etc. & he still took it early! It didn't matter, he might as well of won w/ a landslide! The fact that this was = close said a lot & I've overlooked a lot over the decades, but that was the end! I didn't think the country could slide this far! I was proved wrong & I wash my hands of it! I pray an epiphany happens & this troglodyte becomes Presidential & it just doesn't seem to "take hold" longer than a prewritten speech delivered! It's still early, but if things do turn around, we'll wonder who's in his ear; Kushner, Bannon, Priebus, or Ivanka? Who'll pull the strings in the waning yrs of his fading sanity? And we thought Reagan was a veg. in his 2nd term!
***Oh, well if everyone's lying then never mind. American society & it's political system are simply corrupt & dishonest.***
Trump's made this the new norm; "alternative facts!" There you go; that explains the rampant stupidity!
***Well he's certainly mainlined & capitalized on it, but as per usual w/ the American public, we always strive to deny our own participation & complicity in all the shit we moan about. The American power structure & political system has always been dishonest just like the history we were all "taught." But once Clinton deregulated the FCC & 6 major multinational corporations bought up 90% of what Americans see, hear, & read, yeah, it was nothing but a PR machine after that. And Andrew Breitbart stepped up to roll out a new false perceptual reality.
Then, here we have Don, an utter fraud his entire life, who made his way into the political arena on bogus "birtherism" & accusing Ted Cruz' father of being involved in the Kennedy assassination, whining about "fake news."***
You mean The Nat'l Inquire is fake? Hmmm, I wonder why the President seems to like quoting them over the NYT's & MSM? Strange; it's not like we just found all this out!
***Don will quote & make up anything the 'mesmerized' will swallow & follow. - - GUARDIAN: FBI Now Has "specific concrete & corroborative evidence of collusion" - There are now X investigations going on in Wash'n into Trump campaign officials & Russia. They include the FBI-led counter-espionage invest. & probes by both the House & Senate intel committees. One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. ... “This is btw people in the Trump campaign & agents of influence relating to the use of hacked material.” British spies were 1st to spot Trump team's links w/ Russia.***
If a Rep says there's a scandal, there m/b something to it! They don't need proof; just throw out the accusations & that's all it takes w/ a society that's as gullible as fuk! We're idiots & it can't be helped! No ones' been more scrutinized than the Clintons & she was a few electoral votes of being a husband & wife team in the POTUS chair! Those detractors of substance; what have they done? I'm betting many went to jail trying to implicate them in something! The CGI has been dragged thru the mud by animals "on the right" & it's still squeaky clean! It will live on longer than anything they'll have done & the jealousy reeks!
***Trump has signed a bill which allows states to w/hold Fed funds from organizations which provide abortions.***
Women are putting Reps in power & should expect the worst! It's not like they haven't warned them so I wash my hands of their issues! Women have the power to shape this country, but all they seem to do is kvetch w/o actually supporting candidates that would do right by them! Screw 'em; they blew it w/ Hillary! They fk'd up & it'll cost them a lot & I'll LMMFAO!
***Trump's extolling a "successful" bombing.***
Of course he will! If there are repercussions unforeseen, he'll back away as if he'd never heard of it! You see him distancing himself from his Russian agent supporters? Manafort just breezed thru & had no hand in forming the Trump campaign according to the Donald! He doesn't = know Carter Page & Stephen Bannon who had access to the NSA & is Trump's closest advisor is now relegated to holding his coat w/ Trump saying "I'm my own strategist!" Trump might want to pull back & forget about firing this man! He c/b a powerful enemy who still voices the base w/ the help of Breitbart.com! It's still early & things could turn around if Trump gets the right people positioned around him! Unfortunately the halls are still virtually empty w/ 100's of positions not = selected much < approved or vetted! Trump's lucky Obama left things in >er shape than "W" so all he can do is screw up Int'l affairs! So far the courts have kept some of his ideas in check, but those EO's will start affecting people sooner or later!
***Was seccession illegal? We all know the SC ruled on it AFTER it was all said and done. If you apply the principle of legality, well, the idea it was illegal is shot to hell. But what about the 10th amendment?***
Alaska, TX, & Cali are still trying believe it or not!
***I would think Alaska and Texas are really happy now that RINO Trump is in charge @ The WH & not Hillary. Pelosi & Schumer have each been neutered & spayed for now as well. Jeeze, this is practically a GOP pipe dream for '16 - 2018 @ least.***
You say "dream," the rest of us say "NIGHTMARE!" What will the excuses be when it all circles the drain? So far you have the POTUS & all of Congress & nothing's passed! What happened to "all we need now is to elect a Rep to the WH?" I think maybe a P.O. has been renamed over & above EO's signed that have been smacked down by the courts!
***...I also read earlier that the authority to use the "MOAB" bomb had been granted before Trump came into the WH.***
So much was in the works before Trump = took the oath of office! More than likely there are reports stating intentions, but he admits to not reading much! He spends so much X watching TV & social media it's a wonder things haven't totally blown up in his face! Obama did him a "huge solid" by having all his shit together compared to "W" leaving the country in shambles! W/ all that obstruction during the Obama tenure, he'll undoubtedly wind up accomplishing > "orange face," = w/ the support of both Houses & The Supreme Court!
***...Trump's making decisions thru EOs w/o going thru Congress; that's dangerous. I can't wait to see this A-Hole out of the WH, but the damage is already being done.***
It's the only thing to do when all these "rightwing" hacks kvetched about Obama doing it! At least he had an excuse; nothing was getting thru Congress to his desk except ACA repeal legislation! The Capitol's quiet; w/ or w/o these career POLS! I find it hilarious w/ them owning all 3 branches of the FED, DC's crippled waiting for another shoe to drop concerning the insane management of TRUMP! I stopped caring after he was elected; we're screwed! After women supported him, I hope to never hear that refrain of "a lack of representation;" fk'n idiots!
***U.K. Gen. Election June 8th - Just announced! Yay! Theresa May says she's calling it for the sake of "unity" in Parliament over Brexit. Good call IMO!***
Thatcher used to pull this when she was strong & the opposition weak! Too bad we can't have that "re-assurance" vote here in THE STATES! Heaven knows, there has t/b plenty of "buyer's remorse!"
***...reminds me of a line from 'The Godfather.' Those Trump-types can face the American people who need to have their own issues resolved. ...The Trump Credo for ruining...er...running...America: "It's nothing personal folks, it's just business."***
I read it as a child when it 1st came out; well before the movie! Lit'l did I know how much America glorifies "the life!" De Niro made it his life's blood from "The GF, Goodfellas, & Casino!" Now look @ how Gov. Christie thought he w/b the 1st Mook "Family-type" in this age of cretins "to ascend," but Trump beat him to it; ...to our eternal shame...!"
***Ivanka's profiting in this way is absolutely disgusting, IMO.***
If lucky, after conviction, maybe that can have adjoining cells; if we're lucky! Besides profiting, they're causing hardship w/ the Secret Service; spreadin' them so thin protecting 21 ppl & 3 locations! If he would do Camp David, it's already off a base so the yrly cost is well under $10 M a yr! Trump has already doubled that w/ his wkend trips to his MLCC; doubling the fees & draining the budgets of the local police who are in support of securing that "conflict of interest" while he's in town! That's only the beginning w/ this family of grifters who'll drain the world dry if allowed to their own devices!
***I just got the news notification that O'Reilly is officially out at Fox.***
It took 20 yrs, but we finally got this lying sack of shit off the air! He never admits to signifying, but calling someone a pinhead ain't exactly a term of endearment! What a dick; I couldn't be happier! I saw him go lower & lower as X went on & now that he's in the sewer, FNC finally released him w/ many thanks for all his popularity & commentary! They say he's irreplaceable, but that's exactly what they'll have to do! Tucker will get the promotion to the time slot! He's even worse since he's no dummy, but talks like an arse getting into arguments that aren't worth it
***I'm glad he got fired b/c of WHY. It's about fk'n X our society said "CUT IT OUT!"***
Let's not bring society into this! This society elected Trump; can't lower itself much more, but I'm sure it'll try!
***Amazing. One creep gets the WH & 2 others get fired. What a world we live in.***
It shows how America has fallen into the depths I didn't think possible where it's acceptable to have a reptile like Trump in the White House, but there's a crushing need to force 2 old degenerates out of their network cushy jobs! Trump's sitting pretty for the X being while ex-CEO Roger Ailes & anchor Bill O'Reilly have been fired w/ great ratings! I suppose no one sees anything wrong w/ this!
***It always surprises me when I see some women side w/ the man who committed sexual assault rather than w/ the victim.***
I've railed about this myself! Women kvetch about a lack of representation, but w/ their superior #'s have taken back strides made where there are fewer female politicians! Don't get me started on rape cases! There c/b 12 women on the jury & still allow a repeat rapist to get off "scott-free" if her reputation is besmirched in some way!
***...The next thing wrong is ...infers that women "don't have it so bad."...***
In comparison to women in other parts of the world; you're damned right! You don't hear on adverts where some women spend their entire day just getting water for their families? In Russia standing in a line going around the block of a grocery store just hoping to get a few can goods to stock up on when X's get = tougher! ...it was women who put Trump in that chair! After all he admitted to, his boorish behavior, & history of misogyny, he was still elected over another woman! ...I'm old & stopped caring last Nov.! If history needs to keep repeating for the troglodytes of the country, I'm just not sure the Dems have a savior in the wings to bring the country back from the brink like "W" left it in '09! We love having our Presidents laud us w/ so much wisdom, compassion, & leadership when it can't be further from the truth! The only thing exceptional about the States is how exceptionally dumb we are to allow this to happen!
***That was pretty disingenuous of Bill O'Reilly. Altho fired, he'll write another book; and earn $$'s on top of the $25 he left w/!***
I can't imagine who w/b buying! I heard w/ "Killing Lincoln," the actual Lincoln gift shop wouldn't = sell it due to 1000's of grammatical & historical errors! O'Reilly just blew it off talking about he was tired when editing & proofing the book! He's FOS & the people who support him are the same! He's a vile character w/ opinions of lit'l to no conscience; even attacking a 911 victim's son on his program who didn't toe "his line!"
***Why did you watch?***
No one will ever accuse me of not watching or reading to know wtf I'm talking about that's why! ...I still remember when that kid from MO had been kidnapped by some perv wasn't given every benefit of the doubt instead of saying "he was enjoying himself, riding his bike, w/ no responsibility!" O'Reilly's a disgusting animal & heaven knows why his ratings skyrocketed after he was exposed as a degenerate old Fk!
***I hope you're also against those lefties who are violent against others & stifle free speech & destroy private & gov't property.***
I've given up on just about everyone; don't worry! I've had the lowest opinion of society going back to childhood being exposed to the aftermaths of the Kennedy assass's, MLK's murder, Richard Speck & what he did to nurses in my neighborhood, & the '68 Dem. Conv. riots where the Mayor didn't give a damn un< it bled out into the >er areas! I'm old & jaded w/ too good a memory to let anything go when we have it so good compared to other countries! All we do is kvetch, feel entitled, & take advantage of any & all opportunities as if it's a duty, including cheating on taxes!
***I don't agree that Lisa Rinna of "RHWBH" is a bad person. In fact, I think she's USUALLY a well meaning person w/ a good heart & good intentions. In regard to Kim though, although I think that originally, last yr, Lisa started out w/ good intentions trying to save Kim from her addiction (b/c Lisa's own sister died from her addiction to drugs), but I do agree that in regard to Kim, as X progressed, Lisa didn't use good judgment & she went too far in her effort to persuade Kim to stop using whatever. And Kim, being the toxic self-righteous witch just escalated the situation into a full blown feud. So they BOTH ended up behaving badly, but to me, Kim is a really toxic person, whereas Lisa frequently speaks before she thinks, but she's not @ all a bad person.***
I give Kim Richards of "RHWBH" a bit of a break b/c she has t/b damaged; actually going back to her childhood when she was the obvious breadwinner of the family! I can't think of many kid stars who survived unscathed due to family greed, bad management, & others who just saw Kim as their meal-ticket! You have to grow up overnight & your childhood is instantly lost due to obligations made by other people! I keep hearing of trusts & laws of protection, but these kids still wind up being SHELLs of people who can't have a normal relationship w/o difficulty! I can't say Rinna has that same excuse since she's been a "'D' list-er" from the beginning! I feel I have more in common w/ Kim; taken care of for the most part, but a lack of contentment! $$ can't buy you friends or "class" as the Countless might warble out on stage somewhere, but there's lit'l satisfaction w/ it! It's what fuels addictions; it's either covering up the emptiness or to mask the pain! Rinna keeps saying her life is too good to deal w/ "BS," but she's the 1 creating the drama! All this to make a check & stay relevant on a bad reality show?
***...PS ABTW Fiero425, I think you described Kim very well & I agree that your conclusion about how you think Kim got to become the person she currently is, &'s pretty accurate. But for me, that doesn't change the fact that whatever the cause, she's a pretty miserable excuse for a human being.***
It appears Kyle's the most detached of all these women! She often says how much she loves her kids & husband, but drops them like a hot potato @ a moment's notice to travel w/ the ladies, run her businesses that are all over the country, now a movie about her life! What bothered me the most until recently was how she allowed Rinna to abuse Kim; just sitting there instead of telling her to 'get the fk out of my house if you can't act right!' How she can keep forgiving her is beyond me since Rinna's promised to stop being this colossal bitch to Kim, but she keeps falling back into the same drama; = Eileen said she "was disappointed by this happening again!" She went ahead & hugged Rinna, being the real 'enabler' of the group too!
***Sitting silently while others attack Kim has been Kyle's MO since S1. ...I believe Kyle, who seems to have tremendous bottled-up resentments rather enjoys it when others go after Kim as they say the things she's not comfortable expressing. And when she does pop off (eg, Limogate), I find those moments calculated & rehearsed. ---
Kyle forgave Brandi after she accused Kim of being a meth addict getting high in the bathroom - & saying that Kyle wanted to see her sister fail. Kyle also likes Erika & Eileen. ---
...When Kyle asked all of them to stop talking about Kim last season, LisaV & Eileen respected Kyle enough to stop it and not do it again whereas Rinna hasn't stopped doing it at all. IMO, Kyle is fine w/ Rinna/Kim not liking each other. Rinna's using Kim like she has that upsets her. Which is why I don't get why she can keep forgiving her; I know I could/would not anymore.***
***I think we can all agree that the 3 tiers are well est. @ this pt.
Tier 1 Federer Sampras Nadal Djokovic Borg
Tier 2 Lendl Connors Agassi McEnroe
Tier 3 Becker Edberg Wilander
At this point in X Fed IMO has a case t/b put in a diff. tier altogether @ the top. IMO there's more diff. btw him & Borg for instance, than btw Borg & Lendl.
...I would include Murray @ the bottom of tier 3 if he wins 1 more major as well.***
...Borg is highly regarded for his accomps in just 8 yrs on the tour! Tier 3 is by far the most solid along w/ common peers of Tier 2! Tier 1 has fattened for diff. reasons; Borg a legend to go along w/ GOAT, Nadal for owning clay along w/ 9 titles in RG, & Novak w/ his own Non-CYGS (Nole-Slam) & unmatched excel. in '11 & '15! Sampras was the weakest over diff. types of surfaces w/ nary a FO final; his 14 Slams saving him! Then of course there's the glaring absence of Rod Laver owning 2 GS's; 1 as an am. in '62 & as a pro in '69!
***Murray has only won 1 title so far, the Dubai title. But, the yr has only featured 3 major tourneys so far & the world #1 Murray has a lot of scope to win his share of big titles. ...In order t/b in contention for the YE #1, he needs to start playing great again. Given that Murray has a great deal of pts of defend in the 2nd 1/2 of the yr, he'll find it difficult to hold on to his #1 ranking. Murray has another 3160 pts to defend in the clay season. To what extent he's able to defend or >er his pts from last clay season'll determine the amt. of pressure that w/b on him in the 2nd 1/2. That'll obviously affect his performance @ Wimbledon & USO. ===
Grigor is a joke. He's a poor man's David Nalbandian.***
They just rip the heart right out of you b/c their games are so beautiful to watch, but classic underachievers! Nalbandian snuck a few good wins though! I'll always remember '05 Master YEC in 5 over an injured Fed & his shame in being DQ'd in Queens when leading over Cilic in '12! Grigor going out to Robredo just can't be explained! I didn't see it; you'd think injury, but I'm betting another walkabout!
***Nadal has historically taken too damn long too often w/ inferior players. It weakens him over the course of his career. He should've closed out this guy in straight sets instead of battling for over 2 hrs. It's not like he hasn't had enough match practice; nobody has played more matches than Nadal this yr. He needs to conserve energy & move these guys off the court faster, esp. since he'll be 31 yo in a month!***
This is why he's "NO GOAT" IMO & never w/b! Battling w/ this kid on clay makes no sense! He had nothing; wasn't = attacking the net that much!
***Fiero, you're judging Rafa's GOAT credentials by how he's playing @ 30?***
Are you kidding? Go look @ his past; always going to the limits w/ players I've never = heard of! Some German kid by the name of Brands had him down a set & 0-3 in 2nd set TB in the 1st Rd of the FO in his prime; '13! He's always going long & it's more than a little pathetic! That's why he's breaking down faster than the Trump Admin.! Now that Nadal's really lost it, he's dropping cons. matches to his pigeon who's even OLDER!
***No, I'm not kidding. Certainly every part of a player's career should have some impact on his overall >ness, including his 30s. But I just wouldn't definite or judge Rafa solely or mainly on how he's doing now. ...Rafa cannot damage in any way the accomps he already has, which set him apart as 1 of the 4 >est players of the Open Era - along w/ Pete, Roger, & Novak, as well as 1 of the 10 >est all X. As I've said before, the "GOAT" is better understood as a "herd," not a single animal, and certainly Rafa belongs in that herd.***
Greatest Clay Ct Players of Open Era 1. Nadal 2. Borg 3. Lendl 4. Wilander 5. Vilas/Muster/Roger/Novak/?
Greatest HC Players of Open Era 1. Djokovic 2. Federer 3. Sampras 4. Connors/Lendl/Agassi/Nadal?
Greatest Grass Ct Players of Open Era 1. Federer 2. Sampras 3. Becker/Connors/Borg/McEnroe/Djokovic/Murray?
Greatest Carpet Players of Open Era 1. McEnroe 2. Connors 3. Lendl/Becker/Borg? ---
Fed has more HC slams than Djokovic. So = if I understand the argument. they @ least s/b tied.***
How many yrs of a lead are you going to give Roger to = make such a comparison? Mon Dieu, Roger was playing in the late 90's! I guess he w/b ahead of NOLE who was a mere BOY when the old man was "toiling the field!"
***...I'd give a slight edge to peak Novak on HCs over peak Roger. ---
Rafa's only 1 yr older than Murray & Djokovic. Why would it be a mockery if Rafa was @ the top of the game instead of those 2?***
Due to the extra wear & tear of the ridiculous way he's played all his life! Getting into 4 & 5 set battles w/ nobodies, Quali's, WC's, & never weres have taken their toll on Rafa! ...That style of play has worn out Nole & Andy too, but Nole did the stretching thing which has saved him! None of them w/b able to replicate Roger's resurgence @ 35! I expect Nole has @ least 1 last gasp in him, ...Murray hurt his chances of winning FO due to early Rd WARS w/ over the hill players! He came into that final on fire, took out the defending champ, & breazed thru the 1st set! He systematically ran out of gas; had a spurt to break late in the 4th, but succumbed in the end! All these losses only taking Canada & Qatar has got me baffled! I don't listen to gossip so I'm not ready to make up my own excuse for why Nole's been in such a funk, but I can imagine his own psyche saying, "what else can I do" after winning that Nole Slam? He had taken over the H2H w/ Fedal, crushed it for a few yrs winning 3 majors twice, & owned the YEC! I know people thought Borg had burned out & needed to rest; hence the new rules concerning vets! Maybe he should think about taking about 4 or 5 months like Fedal & come back refreshed after the birth of his new child!
***...Everyone said it was unfortunate overrule by the Ump & the implications very unfair towards Goffin. I thought it absolutely killed the momentum from the young player, but it didn't decide the match. = Goffin said it wasn't Rafa's fault. ---
Well when you know the ball was out & don't concede the pt, what else are you to think? He's acting all innocent, but you know deep down he was going, "I really need this title, no matter how I win it."...He's a prof'l player & knows damn well when he's hit a ball 6 in. wide. ...There have been plenty of matches where the player overruled the umpire & conceded the pt. This was not one of those X's b/c Nadal was desperate for a title given the drought he's had. It is what it is, but fair he most def. wasn't.***
What truly infuriates me about Nadal is that he c/b in 1 of these situations up 6-2, 6-1, 5-0, w/ 3 MP's serving for it @ 40-L & he'd still challenge a call to close out some schnook not in his class! He's always been like that; some call it comp., I call it unsportsmanlike, insecure, & classless! He's had so many ops t/b magnanimous & do something sporting & he fails the test each X! Some of his challenges are so bad, he should get 2 of them taken away from him! If not for Carlos B. in the chair, I'm not sure how well he's been pushed to speed up play! Bringing out 2 towels for the ball kids to give him btw pts isn't really doing the job!
***Who's the 2nd >est player of the Open Era? ...you can make a strong case for 4 players as #2: Borg, Sampras, Nadal, & Djokovic.
- Borg
Pros:
- Had sustained dom. for a long X @ least for '78-80. Overall won 11/27 slams he played in.
- Won the chan'l-slam 3 yrs in a ROW. Won 3 slams w/o dropping a set; '76 Wimbl., & '78,'80 RG.
- 5 str. Wimbl., only ever lost to 1 person @ the FO. Arguable clay GOAT, and only behind Fed & Sampras on grass.
- Cultural icon /star on a level Djokovic & Sampras never came close to.
- Extremely tough mentally, won something like 13 str. 5th sets.
Cons:
- Never won the USO. ...He did get unlucky t/b injured before the '78 final, but this isn't a game of what-ifs.
- Not enuf X @ #1. The rankings were terr. in the 70s, so he was really #1 for > than 101 wks, but certainly not as long as Sampras or = most likely Djokovic.
Sampras
Pros:
- Co-GOAT @ Wimbl. & USO w/ 7 & 5 titles. 2 of the 3 >est events in tennis.
- 6-str. YE #1 (most total #1 YE), & 286 wks, which is far ahead of everyone else on this list.
- Dom. every rival from Agassi to Becker to Courier to Chang to Ivanisivec. Turned Agassi into a meth addict. only Rafter-Sampras wasn't a one-sided rivalry.
- Phenomenal comp.: won 14/18 Slam finals, & 12/13 in his prime.
- Storybk career ending winning '02 USO.
Cons:
- Was a total non-factor on clay - never had a season on the level of Djokovic '11/15, or Nadal '10, or Borg '78-80 IMO.
Djokovic
Pros:
- Nole-Slam: single >est exh. of dom. in tennis since Laver's GS.
- '11/15 were both ATG seasons that were above any Nadal or Djokovic season.
- AO GOAT, 2nd best HC player ever. - incred. consistency in his prime, 2nd only to Fed in this aspect & far ahead of Sampras & Nadal.
- DOMINATED close to PEAK Nadal & had a + H2H w/ Fed.
Cons: - < slams than the other 2.
- way < impact on the sport than Borg & Nadal + likely Sampras too.
Nadal
Pros:
- Dom. clay for a decade in a way no 1 has. Won RG twice w/o losing a set & did the chan'l-slam in those 2 yrs.
- CS like Nole & CGS which only Agassi did. Also accomp. CS @ a younger age than anyone by 3 yrs.
- Had a great H2H vs Fed & beat him in 2 epic battles off of clay.
- Also a prodigal teenager.
- Injury ??s: ...durability is a trait that is important in tennis.
Cons:
- Least X @ #1 of everyone. - Did the least off his favored slam/surface compared to others. - Was only consistent for a few yrs, rarely totally dom. the tour like the others did.
...my order (Borg, Sampras, Djokovic, then Nadal), & think Nole'll jump ahead of Borg & Sampras w/ 1 or 2 slams, & maybe a run @ #1. Nadal for me would need to spend some X @ #1 & win slams off of clay. I think any ordering of these 4 players is reasonable however. ---
Hard to argue w/ Borg... 3 str. Channel-Slams when it meant something. - Borg was dominant on both clay & grass, & made 3 slam finals in the 4 he played on HC's. + he won other big titles on HC's. The '80 Wimbl. final vs McEnroe that's on par w/ '08 & the '77 final vs Connors that was also epic. Borg & Sampras are both top 3 in Open Era on 2 surfaces. Nadal's only had sustained excel. on clay. ---
Pete's accomps:
14 Majors (prior holder of all X rec.) well distrib. btw 3 events 286 Wks @ #1 (prior holder of the all X rec.) 6 Str. YE #1 (stands as rec.) 5 WTF
Rafa:
14 Majors, 9 @ 1 event All X record @ #2 0 WTF
I honestly think Pete being the dom. player of his gen. & 1 of the dominant players of all X seals this.***
I give it to BORG; 11 majors, 3 cons. Chan'l-Slams, an Old World Triple, high efficiency with few losses over his 8 yrs on the tour before retiring @ 25!
***Sharapova's 1 of the >est names in the history of the game. ...certainly the >est name t/b suspended for the use of illegal PEDs.***
...Kornikova hung onto Hingis to get lone doubles' major 25 yrs ago @ AO, but making 1 semi @ Wimbl. shouldn't have set her up for life the way it did for aesthetic reasons over substance & results! Martina & Graf shouldn't be overlooked j/b Serena hung around long enuf to catch up, but that seems inevitable! Am I the last to give props to Court? It took Am. & Pro results to amass her major total to 62 w/ few top players competing "down under" to cut into those 11 singles titles! I still have to put her in the top 5 all X w/ a CYGS; S. Wms', Graf, Navratilova, Court, & Evert! Men: Federer, Djokovic, Borg, Nadal, & Sampras OTTH & not nec. in that order!
***Sharapova will find out next mo. if she'll be given a WC for Paris. IDK why the delay, but also, I'd hope the GS tourneys w/b above the sordid backroom peddling that involved Maria getting a WC to Stuttgart. Simply put, the slams should follow the rankings w/ regards to returning drug cheats. They can't be seen t/b rewarding them ahead of more deserving young players.***
They really have lit'l shame! It wouldn't be the 1st X; headliners get special dispensation short of "murder!" ...This is all on Maria & her management group! Since when are we obligated to hold a spot in the top echelon of our sport j/b a player has something unfortunate happening in their life? I still remember the women grumbling about Seles getting a break due to her stabbing! Why would we be more accommodating for a cheat & a fraud?
***That's a great pt about Seles, a player whose career was ruined by a lunatic. I'd also agree about WCs being a special treat for homegrown youngsters to get experience in their home slam, & if not them, then esp. deserving players who haven't made the main draw, either due to injuries, or had a great run in the qualies.
What are the chances that RG will do the decent thing? They might, you know, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Maria striding brazenly onto Court Lenglen on the 1st day of play. ---
...'Big 4' is a convenient excuse that no longer holds water; they're all @ or past 30 now.***
I've been kvetchin' about this subject for yrs, calling most players outside the "Big 4 or 5" GUTLESS! ...We've had 4 big tourneys (major/3 Masters) so far & Fedal's taken them all! ...X MP's mean lit'l & they're unable to close! Can anyone forget Tsonga w/ 4 MP's in Paris vs Nole? He found a way to donate each, dropped the 4th set, & forgot how to play the 5th, barely grabbing a game! Milos & Kei have had a lit'l success, but nowhere near what they should have w/ their abilities; big serves & FH's! Their problem is more organic w/ brittle bodies that can't stay on the court more than 2 months w/o injuring something! I thought a corner had been turned until the AO this yr changed the potential season of Murray to solidify his new #1 ranking, but he's fallen off about as fast as Wilander in '89! He won = more, taking 3 majors & thwarted Lendl the entire season in '88, but in '89, his fall was precipitous, actually dropping a 2nd Rd'r of the USO to a lit'l known player named Pete Sampras! I'm trying to have hopes on Thiem & Sasha Z., but they're having almost as tough a X as the previous gen.; winning some, but still no "breakthru!" I Like Pouille's game & he weathered a 5 setter over Nadal @ USO, but @ the X Rafa's been fair game for just about anyone! I feel like I'm in a X warp w/ Fedal on top, Nole not feeling his just desserts, & Murray being the redheaded stepchild that's scratching for acknowledgement!
***GOAT summary of the state of 'ATP' - https://ibb.co/dih96Q -***
The ATP seems t/b pushing this new idea of the "big title" count, adding together the # of GS & Masters tournaments. This was never a thing before, w/ there being separately the count of GS & the count of MS, w/ the latter being very much considered a < important stat than the 1st. I can see a # of political reasons why they want to do this.
1) The ATP doesn't run the GS's, but does run the MS, so they have an interest in promoting these as an important stat & encourage players (= beyond the ranking system) to make every effort not to skip these events.
2) Pushing up the importance of MS may improve audience #'s, particularly for events that are currently perhaps seen as < prestigious (see 1).
3) The slam count is currently not looking comp., so a story about the battle for "most big titles" can generate more interest.
I can see a lot of issues w/ it. For one, the surface balance isn't right - the game's original surface, & that of arguably the most prestigious tournament of all, is not represented by any MS events. Moreover, the tournaments are so diverse in importance & prestige, not just btw the slams & the MS events, but also btw diff. MS events. In contrast, the GS are now seen as much more = in stature. (I realise that this has not always been so, however.) I'm not saying that the stat can't be useful when combined w/ others, but the ATP is giving it much more prominence than that.
a) the "big titles" stat will eventually replace or at least = the GS count in the eyes of fans, as the ATP seems t/b aiming for, &
b) is there any reason (beyond ATP politics) why that c/b seen as sensible? ---
A) slam count wasn't a factor until Sampras chased Emerson. The # of slams won was never a factor in determining who was great to Borg, Lendl, Mac, etc. It just was never discussed.
B) it's hard to measure sensible ...I don't think MS titles measure up to slams, but they've certainly gained in importance in the last 15 yrs.
Put these 2 together & the game is evolving, & the measure of greatness is changing, but MS titles will always be the lesser relative in the mix. And should be always the lesser.***
...When they moved AO tourney to Dec., it helped w/ the idea of Borg going down eventually since he was winning the Chan'l-Slam so routinely from '78-80! It also signed it's "death warrant" IMO b/c no 1 at the X was = close to achieving a CYGS; McEnroe the best chance in '84 dropping FO final! I thought it smart to move it back to Jan. & players you wouldn't think would bother went to AO, including Wilander (3), Lendl (2), & Edberg (2)! They were back, but it wasn't worth the trip to vets like Navratilova (3) & Evert (2) who last played it in '89!
To some, The Event is still a "redheaded" stepchild of the ITF; not helped when Nole's run there being undermined since he had 6! It didn't matter he's had some of the toughest comp. in the history of the sport save the Aussies "in the day" from HOAD, Laver, & Rosewall to Stolle, Roche, & Newcombe!
As to the Masters w/ their elevated status; funny I started thinking the exact opp. when they became common place for the Big 4! Back "in the day" it was required to play BO5 finals! I understood why the ATP went to BO3, but IMO it devalued them; more of an accomplishment winning BO5 over the best in the world! It wasn't elevated to GS status, but it meant more 10 yrs ago! BY these few players owning all the Masters 1000 records, I can't see anyone being able to muster the skill, concentration, & longevity to break any of them!
***Lendl turned out t/b a bad matchup for McEnroe. Vs Lendl, John serves needed to hit all spots to set up his S & V attack; if not he was a sitting duck. ...Connors game played perfectly vs Ivan. ... ---
When you say that "Lendl turned out t/b a bad matchup for McEnroe," ...which began after their 2nd match, if we look @ their H2H. Ivan could be distant, haughty & irritating, & he got to Mac beating him 7 X's on the bounce.
Then in Philly '83, Mac got struck in & won a brawl - & he went on to beat Ivan 8 of the next 9 X's they met until he twitched that day in RG & they began to share the W's until '85 when Mac had gone surprisingly over the hill. ...The H2H ended 21-15 in favour of Lendl, but he snaffled the last 6 matches btw them once Mac had truly gone into 'dodgy marriage, cocaine fueled, air guitar' decline.***
I can't remember if it was Budge that supposedly got in McEnroe's face telling him he needed to attack relentlessly after being owned by Lendl! It was sorta like Fedal where Lendl's strength of a great FH beat into that slice BH of McEnroe's! He had to start coming over it more & attacking the net! He turned it around until '85 USO where Ivan re-estab. his dominance! Love that match; McEnroe up a brk 5-2, didn't serve it out @ 5-3 & allowed Lendl to come ATW back taking the TB! The rest of the match was just a formality! IIRC Ivan only lost a set early to Yzaga! Lendl had taken on Roche as his coach & it really made a diff. in his attacking game getting to sev. semis & 2 Wimbl. finals!
***...At what point did many/most people start suspecting that Roger w/b the best of the group? ...He was really starting to separate himself from the pack. Going into '05, I'm wondering if people were expecting Safin, Hewitt or Roddick, or = Nalbandian to surge & start winning more Slams. ...But when Roger won Wimbledon & USO, I'm guessing it was rather clear that he was the best of his group & that this wasn't going to change (Interestingly enough, it wasn't a member of Roger's gen. who would emerge as a 2nd superstar, but a Mallorcan teenager from the younger gen.).***
It got t/b monotonous & boring to hear the same refrain from all the sports' shows; "Roger's the GOAT"! It started as a ??, but after 3 seasons winning 3 majors by '07, he was a done deal; = if something happened & he left the sport before breaking Sampras major record! No 1 had dominated like that; = Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, & Sampras @ the height of their powers! Roger really only had 1 challenger & it was rationalized that it was due to advantage Nadal had on clay for the most part! I stopped watching as much & concentrated on the women's game w/ the return of Hingis & the dom. of Henin!
***...you didn't say "beat down" more than once; you said destroyed.***
IIRC Nadal hasn't been destroyed since Qatar last season; 1 & 2! Nole was "in the zone" w/ power, touch, & attacking net play! It was a humiliation that Rafa was fortunate in that it's just a minor exh. $$ grab!
***You could tell by their results during the tourney that it wouldn't go well for Nadal. He played a 3 setter in every match vs random mugs, except for the final obviously, while Novak cruised his way to the final & completely let loose. ...Rafa panicked some more & started hitting crazy UFE's. He basically retreated into his '15 mode for the whole match, while Novak sustained a high level since the match lasted about an hour, maybe even <. He knew that he was playing like shit & had no chance, but didn't even stick around to make it comp. To see Nadal suffer so much, as a fan, was gut wrenching. Nadal was just there for the taking. It was surely 1 of the weirdest matches I ever watched, & it highlighted how badly nerves can affect you. To me, it was like a wake up call.***
..."Roger's the GOAT!" It started as a ??, but after 3 seasons winning 3 majors by '07, he was a done deal; = if something happened & he left the sport before breaking Sampras major record!
***Fiero, I think you're right that the GOAT talk really heated up in '07. ...Consider the career total Slam titles:
18: Federer 2: Safin, Hewitt 1: Roddick, Ferrero
But @ the end of '03, it was: 2: Hewitt 1: Roddick, Ferrero, Safin, Fed 0 (but w/ Slam-winning potential): Nalbandian, Coria, eventually Davydenko
If you look @ those Slams in '03, you'd think the gen's Slams w/b more =ly distributed, but the group outside of Fed would win only 1 more Slam, Safin in '05. So I'm just interested when people started to realize how dominant Roger w/b over his peers as it certainly wasn't clear after '03, @ least based upon the record. ===
...where the Hell Gulbis been lately. ....Still his shoulder or what? ---
...his work ethic is completely screwed & in spite of that, tennis is just not his #1 priority. ...His tennis is a far cry from his best level. Need< to say, he humiliated himself against Goffin, struggling to win games AFTER winning the 1st set. The spark is gone. What's left is a ballbashing mug that can't = win challengers.***
I can't imagine someone as affluent as Gulbis to ever really achieve; esp. if hard work's needed to excel! I don't blame him! It's the same reason The US has been in real "straights" trying to produce another world beater; the hunger just isn't there! When you're spoiled rotten from birth, there's no real incentive to get out there & do "anything" nec. to get to the top! Look @ the Williams sisters dodging bullets in Compton, Navratilova avoiding tanks when the USSR overran Czech. in '69, or Nole playing hopscotch w/ landmines in his backyard! Compare their upbringing to Gulbis where his father OWNS an island & his future's secure! Our brats are spoiled rotten, catered to from the X they're born; how can we expect much from them?
***The US main problem is tennis is still considered an elitist sport. It's not as noteworthy as the other sports so the best athletes don't participate. Can you imagine what type of tennis player Lebron, Westbrook, Cam Newton if they played tennis? It mhb Roger, Rafa, & Novak who?***
It's also something that takes X, energy, & $$! It was expensive enough when I was a kid back in the 70's! It was rare to have a racket purchased which cost more than $40-50 w/ strings! That may not get you the strings today; sorry, but I haven't played in yrs! = in my day tennis clothes, equipment, balls, & lessons cost a fortune! I'd hate to think how much it is these days!
***...like Fiero said, young male athletes are looking @ role models & they see Tom Brady, LeBron James, Mike Trout, not Sam Querrey & John Isner.***
Tennis won't be big again in The States until someone from this new gen. makes a name for himself in the world! Querrey, Isner, Harrison, & Young just didn't get the job done! Sock & Johnson moving up steadily & I guess we have hope for Tiafoe & a few other newbies, but it doesn't look good for us! The ladies seem to have more going for them! The next gen. for the men looks to be led by Sasha Z., Thiem, Pouille, Kyrgios, & others! Sock might upset 1 or 2 elite players, but not sure he can sustain it for a whole tourney; esp. a major going BO5! He uses a lot of energy running, stroke producing, & psyching himself up! I'm exhausted just thinking about him playing the game!
***Fiero, there is no surefire American elite player, but there are some good prospects, & American men's tennis looks more promising than it has in 10+ yrs. In my mind, Tiafoe & Fritz are the most promising of the young guys, but Opelka, Escobedo, Kozlov, Donaldson, Mmoh, Paul, & Rubin all have varying degrees of potential.***
***That doesn't mean Rafa's not a 1 trick pony. If he weren't he'd have won more often on other surfaces. 22 non-clay wins, 5 of which are Slams means in 13 yrs on the ATP tour, Nadal has only won 17 non-clay tourneys - & 8 of which are Masters 1000 events. That comes out to just over 1.3 tourney non-clay events won per yr. I'm just saying...for someone that's considered a GOAT candidate - that ain't very impressive.***
I know I've reiterated this enough over the yrs! It's 1 of many reasons why I have Rafa nowhere near GOATdom! His limitations are plentiful! He's not = on par w/ Borg who has 3 < FO's! Taking the Chan'l-Slam 3 str. yrs '78-80 & 1 match from a 4th is excellence Nadal has never been able to sustain; NOT = CLOSE! Borg was just very unlucky @ the USO, but has records held to this day; all w/ a wood racket playing from the baseline when attacking tennis was > prevalent!
***PREACH! Can you imagine Nadal playing in Borg's era w/ the wood rackets & gut strings? HELL to the no! Yet I have no problem imaging Federer, Djokovic or Murray playing back then. Just imagine all the yrs when both the USO & Wimbl. were played on grass. Heck, for that matter, a lot of other tournaments were played on grass too.
...If the overall Slam total is all that counts for the GOAT discussion, which is sadly the case w/ tennis pros & experts, then I still say that = if Nadal gets to 18 - if 13 are the FO & only 5 on other surfaces. Roger's still the GOAT b/c he's won 3 of the Slams @ least 5 X's & been in FO final 5 Xs. ...forgot about that pesky H2H thing the experts like to bring up. Like Nadal hasn't got his own bad record vs Djokovic - having lost 10 of their last 11 meetings & the last 7 in a row. In fact, Djokovic has twice beaten him 7 X's in a row. Everybody's got their own personal Kryptonite. ---
Let's see... *Rafa's the GOAT on a specific surface type. *Off that surface, he's still great, but more of a "lesser great." In other words, if you look @ Rafa as a non-clay player, he's probably about as good as someone like Becker or Edberg were overall.
I think the sum total of that still makes him 1 of the GOAT's, & in the "herd," if not 1 of the front-runners. As you say, every great player has their Kryptonite, & every great record has 1 or 2 holes. As far as GOAT candidacy goes, the holes I see are:
*Roger: None really, except for maybe the H2H vs Rafa & if we want to be picky, OG. *Novak: Slam count, & that's pretty much it. OG, I guess - but it seems like < of a lack for Novak, perhaps b/c w/ Roger it's the only thing missing, so stands out more.
*Rafa: More wks @ #1, WTF's, maybe another non-clay Slam or 2.
Pete had his lack of a clay Slam & generally weak record on clay. Borg retired early & never won USO. Laver's was quite complete, except for the fact that most of it was before the Open Era & difficult to compare.
Rafa's holes are similar to Pete's, & perhaps more difficult to fill than Novak's - although Novak would need to resurge to fill his, obviously. For Rafa to be on = footing w/ Roger as far as career records go, assuming Roger is done w/ major accomplishments. I think Rafa needs to get to 200+ wks + win @ least 1 WTF & another 2-3 Slams. If he does all of that & Roger doesn't do anything more than win another Masters or 2 & a handful of minor titles, then I think their records w/b comparable.***
The problem is "we create" issues that sooner or later need solving! I've had to survive the Reagan, Bush, & "W" admin. where they all said the same thing; "we're going to cut taxes, > the defense budget, & start a couple wars!" What could go wrong? We're fk'n idiots for being shocked the Nat'l Debt has more than doubled each X forcing Clinton or Obama to bring the economy, DOW, as well as the country back from "the brink!"
***...Show the #'s then of Reagan's debt vs. Obama's...***
"Supply-side" economics was all the rage back then! It made so much sense to give tax cuts to the wealthy & businesses, but it obviously came w/ a cost since Defense budgets increased precipitously during the COLD WAR! Reagan was the worst b/c he was so FOS seeing as he actually increased taxes 13 X's calling them fees & revenue enhancers! There's a sucker born every moment, but Reps have been the most gullible attempting to put Ronnie on Mt. Rushmore! It wasn't until "The Gipper" that deficits hit $100's of M's, but always talking about a balanced budget amendment! So much "bait & switch" I gave up on that party over 30 yrs ago!
***...There are no Reps who are kind or willing to put people's interests in their actions. May they all reap the hatred they sow. & be accountable for the deaths they are promoting by taking away healthcare from the citizens. I won't go into the many injustices they are also implementing. A vat of boiling oil is needed. Where are those Reps I thought existed?***
They talked about this a few days ago; this kind of vituperous attitude of a Rep. Repr. in Congress has migrated over to the Senate! It was bad enough when a Repr. shouted out at Obama "you lie" during the SOTU Address sev. yrs ago, The Speaker & Minority Leader in the Senate couldn't be bothered to return a call from The POTUS, skipping lunches & dinners, then coming back kvetchin' to the press how intransigent the President's been during negotiations! If I were a Dem, I'd tell the Reps to "go fish" in their efforts to prevent another gov't shutdown! Funny how they're being blamed when Trump & his supporters "own it all" right now w/ a right-leaning" Supreme Court & they still can't get anything done! As the experts warned them ages ago, "it's easy to oppose, but takes leadership to run DC!" These "clowns" couldn't manage a McD's! The more rational Reps. are gone; sorry!
***Well okay, Trump on NAFTA is a good thing. He is listening to people before he makes his decisions. But I will LOL over the fact that when all is said & done, his policy making is pretty trad'l Rep. So for all the people 'pipe dreaming' about the thought of a "left" Trump president.***
So as I've been saying; Reps love t/b lied to! Trump was supposed t/b so strong on China as currency manipulators, that the UN was obsolete, a repeal of Obamacare from day 1, & any # of other promises all broken! I knew he was FOS & Rep. leadership knows it so all Trump will end up doing is enriching himself & his family! The pardons will come fast & furious close to the end; watch for it! He might = try to "pardon himself!" It was mused about w/ Nixon & Watergate back in '74! What a childhood I had w/ this emblazed on the front pages of every newspaper for well over 2 months! Now Trump has really done something treacherous so his admin. is probably over! He can't = get support from his own Rep. led Congress! Why try to blame the Dems for a "shutdown" when they truly have no power? They're all bent in that party of "elephants!"
***The country is divided; both parties are divided as are the alt-left who are protesting every action. ...Trump was elected b/c there is an anti-estab. sentiment in the country that was unhappy w/ the direction it was going in & those vs him don't understand this.***
But it's the people's fault due to punishing their representatives when they = come close to compromise; esp. Reps who routinely run opp. vs itself in a quest for cons. purity! The Dems are on the same track w/ the new Dem. Chair looking for absolutes on the "choice" issue! You can't do that; we wind up as culturally insane as right-wingers! It's one of the reasons Hillary lost the women's vote to a misogynist pig; went too far LEFT! Women talk a good game about moving into the future, but they're still stuck in past; often sabotaging themselves when they vote against their own interests! They out# men in all aspects of life; esp. the voters, but their representation is going down instead of up! When they actually had a chance to elect the ultimate woman, they balked, so I will never = listen to their cater-walling when this man in DC screws them over!
***The 1st female President s/b one that represents her gender w/ pride. Electing a woman under FBI investigation & corruption all around her is not what women wanted as the Mother of our country. ...***
But I guess it's ok that an old white crazy man c/b under the same investigation! Hilarious & hypocritical don't you think? I don't mind he made it in; goes along w/ the other sick countries taking on tyrants & dictators as their leaders! I doubt we can sink much further, but you never know w/ the lack of intelligentsia in this country! The only thing in ?? is how long will it take to impeach this asshole & take on another in Pence?
***...Dems in the Senate threatened to shut down the gov't. Trump's major issues are being stopped by the left, so yes, that is obstructionism. He may have an all Rep. led House, but not enough in the Senate to override Dems.***
Legis. has to get out of the HOUSE to make it to the Senate to be obstructed! That hasn't happened once since Trump took office! As all can see, Reps own it & they sound pretty stupid trying to blame Dems for obstruction when I can't remember a vote for Obama's legislation getting = 1 vote by a "righty!" It's ok for them to kvetch, bitch, & moan, but Dems are the real obstructionists! That's the most ridiculous thing going back to Clinton admin. when Dole as Minority Leader promised not 1 Re. vote will be cast in his favor! Screw them all! FK OFF!
***The gov't's Rep. The party owns the success & the failures now. ---
How do they own it if the Dems keep stopping it?***
Please tell me how the Dems are stopping anything! Ryan hasn't had a vote on legis. to send it over to the Senate to stop! WTF are you talking about?
***All Trump has to do is say that if the Dems & the Pubs will work together in Congress, he'll sign the legislation.***
I don't think Reps want their fingerprints on anything! All they want t/b able to do is stall everything it seems! No Congress has been this inept since the last 1 I guess run by Boehner! They couldn't count votes either & looked foolish while Obama signed his EO's! Funny how it's not a problem w/ Trump doing it! Hypocrites!
***...Obama was legitimate as a President, as man, as a husband, and as a father. Reps silly cognitive bias based on NOTHING does not help our country.***
The airheads just won't let it go! It's just embarrassing that we have so many of these people; so self-hating & traitorous to their own country! It probably doesn't = bother them w/ all this Russia intrigue when they used to call Dems soft on Nat'l security! What a bunch of hypocritical idiots! I really feel sorry for them!
***"Really, Jason Chaffetz? For some minor surgery, you need to take a month off for rehab during hearings on Trump? Tell that to Tammi Duckworth who had both legs blown off in Iraq. Yet she persists."
There have been Senators who have gotten over "strokes" w/ < fanfare! Trump may have something on him! We saw how rude & obnoxious Chaffetz was to Hillary & her supporters! All of a sudden; "health issues?"
***...Yeah the 24/7 news coverage about her e-mails was so pro-Hillary.***
The whining & victimhood is rich concerning the "1st 100 Days" when it's been Trump who's made such a big deal about it; "it's so easy! We're going t/b winning so much you're going to get tired! We'll repeal Obamacare on the 1st day & cut taxes right away!" ===
...The list of items Schumer & the Dems "got" just went on & on from continuation of Planned Parenthood to funding Medicaid Ins. paymt. for Puerta Rico which was over $250 M.! Funding of the arts & increased payments to fund Obamacare as well! It was a total capitulation to make sure the gov't didn't shut down & the Dems were "clowning" Trump & his stooges "on the right!" There was no funding for a wall & threats of defunding Sanctuary Cities stopped! This is what total power does for Reps; have the Presidency & all of Congress & they can't do the simplest of tasks!
***...Trump said some pretty big ugly things about most of his own party. ---
So....after 100 days, Trump caves in on damn near every campaign promise he made b/c otherwise. People IN HIS OWN PARTY are going to shut down the gov't. - We got jack shit & it pisses me off. We could have passed any budget we wanted w/ the nuke-rule & instead did this stupid crap. ---
...If they don't fix this, & I mean fix this good, they have no hopes coming next election. We wanted the Dems to shut down the gov't if that's what it took. In fact, let it stay shut down for a record amt of X. WTF cares? ---
...And it's not just roads, it's bridges & tunnels, airport runways, electric grids, & schools in which most were built 50+ yrs ago...& train lines/ railroads, & natural gas pipelines... And Libraries/ Museums & Nat'l Monument needed repairs if any...& solar expansions or wind expansions to the grid =....& Water infrastructure repairs for all the cities...***
On Lou Dobbs, Tammy Bruce is making the excuse for Trump that "he's being misled! He's not getting the truth told to him by Reince Priebus!"
***It's amazing the hoops that his pundits & followers will jump thru to make excuses for Trump. - The Dems in power whd whatever they wanted. Repubs are a bunch of fucking idiots. ---
When Chuck Schumer tells Trump to jump, he asks how high? When Trump passes an EO, court districts stop them. He may as well not = be President & the GOP may as well not = be the majority in Congress. - They needed a super majority in the Senate to pass the bill. That means they needed 8 Dems to go along w/ fixing the country which they could never get & every Rep. to boot.***
I don't understand why it's ok for Reps to obstruct to the detriment of the country, but b/c Dems don't jump on board w/ lame legis., they're labeled the same way! It doesn't make sense for the Dems to do slimy Reps any favors after the way Obama was treated from day one!
***Obama didn't give in one in. either. He got his tax increases, he got continued funding for Commie Care, passed Lynch, they passed all but his last nomination for the SC, and they're giving Dems almost everything they want now.***
***...Funny how liberals call Trump a liar & think nothing of trying to get Hillary elected president.***
The delusions continue w/ you people! ...He's a liar, knew it, & suckers fell for it "hook, line, & sinker!" The Bill for "Repeal & Replace" of Obamacare is going down in flames again; what's that 3 X's now? What makes these losses = more HUGE is how a spotlight's on it & promises are made that is known, can't be kept! Reps LOVE being lied to; going back decades w/ "we will not negotiate w/ terrorists, No NEW TAXES, & Day 1 a BILL for ACA repeal w/b signed along w/ the >est tax cut in US history!" ...the status quo continues! How lame & pathetic to try & deflect by slaming Hillary, but has accomplished > than Trump ever will in world affairs & he's President!
***SHUT IT DOWN this Sept. - Trump thinks the Dems are the cause of all the country's woes.***
The #'s don't lie; Clinton & Obama created double the jobs of Reagan/Bush/W, presided over a thriving economy, low unemployment, & the DOW getting doubled! The only thing Reps have doubled are their lies, the obstruction, & the Nat'l Debt! Clinton actually had a sur+ & had a plan to elim. the debt in 10 yrs! "W" turned that all on it's head & now we're approaching $20 T when it was well under $6 in '01! Thanks "W!"
***True, but the debt was $10T when Barry took over & now it's $20T...some job creation.***
Yeah, it dropped from over 10% unemployment to under 5%! I know Reps have trouble w/ #'s, but that means it was cut in 1/2! As for the Nat'l Debt, "W's" credit card bill w/ his tax cuts & 2 wars inflated the deficit! This is hardly on Obama!
***Frankly I hope the GOP does replace ACA w/ something >er; if they can. I'm always down for improving the process Obama put in place. Either way Obama wins since it's now part of our society.***
But that was NEVER their goal! It was to eliminate it in it's entirety! They went thru 60+ FAUX votes while Obama was President knowing he would veto it & now that they're in total charge, they can't = pass a new budget, falling back on CR's they kvetched about just last yr! Such hypocrites "on the right," but Reps like t/b lied to it seems!
***Reps no longer know how to pass legis. A bill of this magnitude takes X & hardwork. It also takes compromise, something Reps no longer are capable of. They'll fumble around w/ a bill that is unpassable & Dems will sit back & laugh, secure in the realization that Obamacare is safe.***
Compromise has been a dirty word w/ Reps for yrs! If they bend in the least, they not only get labeled hypocrites & liars, their own party will run someone vs them in the next primary cycle! There's no incentive to compromise; esp. "on the right!" The dissension's more like HATE & the voters are responsible, holding them accountable for the core beliefs of the party on both sides! Punishment is swift & thorough in the last decade or so! Dems have traditionally been punished more severely for legis. that winds up being not only historic, but a mainstay like Soc. Sec., Medicare, Civil Rights, & now Obamacare! The same people kvetchin' about how it was rammed down the throats of the country are now lauding the LAW & dare their party to try & repeal it!
***It used t/b Reps would refuse to compromise w/ the Dems. Libs are evil. Compromise is a pact w/ the devil. Now, they'll not = compromise w/ themselves. They're running the freak'n gov't & can't get anything done. Four months & they haven't passed any significant legis. ---
You're bringing up "dissension" after what Bernie did to Hillary & what Hillary did back?***
Just 1 more reason Hillary lost! Like this country would elect a SOCIALIST!
***The GOP est. Reps are progressives & they are fuck ups. The more damage done to the Federal gov't the better for the country… Fact - What happened to the balanced budget amendment? Tax reform? Repealing Obamacare? Killing Planned Parenthood? ---
You can't get anything done after 8 yrs of whining....just give us a chance***
As they're learning = after being in the same position under "W" just over 10 yrs ago, "obstructing" is easy; really legislating is HARD! Trump said of The ACA; who knew it was so hard? "Everybody but you nitwit!" He's frustrating to deal w/ since his supporters are so defiant in defending him no matter how ridiculous he sounds! How many promises has he broken or totally glossed over knowing he CAN'T get it done? The experts said he would make the Reps look inept & they were right! Eight yrs of railing about the ACA & there's nothing they can do; = during the honeymoon period of their new Prez! I've never seen such weakness owning all 3 branches of the gov't! It's truly unprecedented! ---
...Slamming Hillary & dredging up history won't make Trump GREAT! Try making suggestions to turn this miserable admin. around rather than whining about past history!
***I wasn't trying to build up Trump by bashing Hillary. ...As for Trump's accomplishments as president, I'd like to see him doing more, but his 1st 3 months have already been impressive, esp. when compared w/ the past 8 yrs of neglect, weakness, & destruction.***
I think Trump's delusions have t/b rubbing off on his supporters! You guys used to criticize Obama for running the Presidency through EO, but that's all Trump's really done; & sev. have been nixed by the courts! As for taking credit for the theft of a SC seat; SO WHAT? Legis. passed? I'm still thinking; maybe passing a CR where Reps got rolled by the Dems? I don't need to go down that long list of programs which include funding of the ACA, PP, NIH, EPA, etc! We can all agree it's unseemly to gloat & "spike the football" as FNC loves to repeat over & over, but it was the bloviating of Trump talking about how easy this was going t/b which makes it apropos!
***Voting no is easy.....anybody can do it. Agreeing on what to vote yes on is hard. - Glad to see you agree that Dems/liberals are always looking for the easy way out.***
Being practical helps & something as basic as "health care" s/b a no-brainer; = for most Reps to realize as needed!
***I have no right to healthcare, but I do have a right to earn my healthcare… BTW insurance is not healthcare.***
Geniuses out there; w/o insurance, it'll cost more to "the state!" It only make sense to supply the insurance; winds up saving us all!
***Dems love to talk about the 20 M that got insurance. Sadly they leave out the 300 M that got fleeced in order for that to occur.***
The same c/b said of that lame ass tax cut back during the "W" admin.! So what, I got a $300 check while the 1% of the 1% made out like bandits! Instead of reinvesting, they took their $$ & hoarded it abroad! They're entitled to do whatever they want, but I'm so tired of hearing that same ol' BS about cutting taxes & loosening regulation! The rich always just pocket it & we wonder why the country goes "in the hole" each X it's being run by Reps! How many X's does it have to happen? We're such suckers!
...Reps only want the country to remember Saint Reagan w/ his secret gov't in the basement making deals w/ terrorists in Iran & diverting the $$ to "Freedom Fighters" vs the Contras in So. Amer. in opp. of the Boland Amendment! ...Obama kept his poise & didn't lower himself into the sewer where Reps not only disrespected him, they disrespected the office so the bar has been "so lowered" due to the disgusting behavior or Trump! Not sure there w/b any standards from now on!
***...I taped Colbert the night after the viscious comments about Trump just to see if he would apologize.***
When has Trump apologized for ANYTHING? The man's been caught in "bald-faced" lies & makes excuses, deflects, ignores it, & of course insults anyone who dares ?? him in anyway!
***...And how do you know this about Trump after a very short X he has been in office?...
How many promises does he have to break for you to come to the realization, Trump's the phoniest President in this lifeX? He thought the job entailed photo ops, hand shakes w/ foreign leaders, & signing legis. he expected t/b passed w/ a snap of his fingers! He's learning real fast that "who knew it was this hard?" I won't = bring up the outright lies of that silly wall & Mexico paying for it! If anyone believed that, all concerned s/b locked up along w/ the true "Grifters" of our gen., The TRUMPS!
***Macron w/b the next President of France. W/ all its minor defects, his program is closer to the French heart than the heartless F.N.***
You would think, but the same thing was said here & in England; now look @ us all! Putin's playing the world like a fiddle & the suckers are falling in line!
***What gives is that the globalist, US led, NWO is under threat & the 1% are panicking. Putin has become the bogeyman ever since he vowed to make Russia great again & ended the 'free' market rape that made the Yeltsin puppet so popular in the west. After he destoyed the dreams of the regime change fanatics in Ukraine & Syria, he became the supreme evil, so now everyone who doesn't submit to the globalist agenda is a Russian agent & an enemy of 'peace & democracy.' ---
The economy really isn't strong though. Capitalism seems t/b in crisis all over the planet. Economic growth is very weak & the vast majority of those jobs are low paying & partX. Only 45% of the US population has a job that entails over 30 hrs a wk of paid labor.***
Would you rather everything turn around & the country "go under" to prove a pt? I'll take slow & steady over drastic changes either way! There are always repercussions when that happens as our history tells us! We've had unemployment to steadily drop to now 4.4 & the DOW consistently going up; now over 20,000 pts! Around the world, other countries aren't doing as well; quite a few in dire straights! One of these days we'll realize how easy we have it in comparison to others!
***...The Fed pumped trillions of funny $$ into the financial sector. That is what quantative easing was. The economy is in shambles. Now it's X for a new "new deal" followed by market socialism.***
I just hope they don't overreach & plunge the country into another "W" recession! SomeX's I think Reps are trying to bankrupt us so we'll default on Soc. Sec., Medicare, Medicaid, & now Obamacare! It's sad that instead of working w/ the other side to make it better, they have systematically trolled & undermined the law @ every opportunity! Those TOWN HALLS where constituents are "up in arms" & letting them have it won't stop politics I guess! Luckily moderate Senate will squash the latest repeal effort of the ACA!
If I were Hillary, I'd feel fortunate to have lost! She's actually dodged a bullet! She whm this Rep. Congress relevant as her foil! If you thought these clown were obstructionist during the Obama admins, it would become a true circus w/ them dredging up 90's BS to battle her! I'm not saying I prefer Trump being in office, but b/c of his mouth & obvious lack of a moral compass, he's making all "cons" look like morons in so many diff. ways! The immersion of his business interests will blow up sooner than later! ...If you actually try to do something he guaranteed like repealing & replacing Obamacare, he's going to cut the throats of all Reps in blue & red states b/c healthcare s/b a right! If you take it away as this House Bill does, people will literally start dropping in the streets! The Senate isn't going to touch this!
***‘The Russians also knew’: Sally Yates confirms she warned White House that Flynn c/b blackmailed
A very professional woman who held off the wolves w/ loaded ??'s they knew she wouldn't be able to answer! The Reps concentrated on "unmasking" & leaks while the Dems went w/ the topic @ hand; Flynn & his being compromised by the Russians!
***Hopefully Trump w/b impeached & removed very soon. This testimony is all that's needed.***
Their only recourse is to try & undermine her credibility! Cruz and the others look like FOOLS!
***It still annoys me & makes me wanna tell them to "stfu or ask ??'s pertinent to the Russia investigation."***
That's what they do! I have lit'l sympathy for US AS A PEOPLE when we allow trolls like Cruz to "never underest." the gullibility of the electorate! I've lived long enough to see how Reps disparage legis. passed by Dems like The New Deal, Soc. Sec., Medicare, & civil rights," punishing the party just like what's happening w/ Obamacare! The law's been undermined @ every turn & the people were set against it under the haranguing of cons! = in "red states" they're seeing the benefits & they're revolting against Reps @ town halls! It's now a part of the fabric of our economy & they can't do much in the way of repealing or replacing the law! They're still hoping it fails so they can say "we told you so!" Smarter people would try to fix it rather than eliminate it altogether!
***I'm waiting for 1 of the Senators to realize that Russia has tons of blackmail material on Reps. It has been said sev. X's now that the RNC was hacked too. That means they have blackmail material. In other words, the whole admin. is compromised. (And I guess, it could also mean that some Dems are compromised as well, unless all material was released on them). ---
Can’t Win @ the Voting Booth, Take it to Court!***
Both sides do it genius! Obama was thwarted, sued, & stymied all too often by lawsuits vs him, his EO, or a policy! Spare me the victimhood! After what Reps put Obama thru, I better not ever hear any BS about respecting the office! Nothing & no one was spared in the repeated acts of disrespect! Of course he'd never lower himself into the gutter where Trump resides w/ his party of sleaze!
***...Trump will get away w/ it. Every X I see something on FB about how now they can impeach, I want to remind them about the 'Access Hollywood' tape, the debates, the lawsuits, the 'Newsweek' articles, the "this'll disqualify him," "nobody will vote for him," the conflicts of interest & obvious lies & coverups that are still going on. That's how we got here. I don't think they'll ever find a way to get rid of him. They could have a hearing or trial every day about something.***
Trump has LOWERED the standards for being elected; HOW DO WE GET RID of him? The people have spoken; regardless of how misguided, naïve, & just plain STUPID!
***CNN had a story today that asked the ?? of whether Trump's Tweets this morning about Sally Yates' upcoming testimony constituted an attempt @ witness intimidation. I suppose that they c/b written off as "Trump being Trump," but I'd be interested in hearing the experts' opinion on this.***
Tech I believe it is & it's also just something that normally isn't done, but as we well know, Trump has lowered the bar so much anything's acceptable to him & his supporters on the "right!" It's truly shameful that just last yr these same people were calling for Hillary t/b "locked up" for imaginary charges & Flynn's been proved to have done things he knew were illegal dealing w/ a foreign gov't! He'll wind up being the one going to a cell unless Trump pardon's him of course!
***...Member the electoral college landslide gaffe? ...You'd think an orange klown who tries to sell himself as a businessman could handle some simple #'s.***
Reps like being lied to as much as possible! It's always been like that; promises made, but when in charge, the only thing they've been able to succeed in is inflating the Nat'l Debt & almost never seem to pay for it! Dems are hammered for the least lit'l thing, so I wash my hands of it! We're looking to go under w/ fools @ the HELM, more power to you guys who think everything's honkey dory w/ this tool in the POTUS chair!
***It seems that they're already concerned about the Trump-Russia investigation as Rep. Durbin said that the AG has not yet said if the investigation will continue since FBI Dir. Comey was fired.***
Is this Trump & his stooges or The Rep. Party trying to undermine & corrupt the Justice Dept.? Sessions to pick new FBI Dir.! I feel like we're in a X warp back to the 50's! I didn't think I'd live long enough to see the country plunged into such chaos!
***The Reps need to leave the Potties behind & demand an independent investigation. This is ridiculous & Trump's so transparently stupid & bent.***
Reps are a mess right now! They don't look good defending Trump or mildly shaking their heads instead of getting on their normal "soap boxes" when something this monumental occurring! DC's a mess w/ them totally in charge & nothing getting done!
***I blame the people who voted for him & the people who sat on their ass & didn't bother to vote. For those people 'don't be shocked.' You're getting what you deserve. You let this happen.***
I've seen us go backwards instead of forward and when it appears "women" were the deciding demo in the last election that put Trump in office, I simply give up! He proved t/b a misogynist pig who thought nothing of violating women in public; bragged about it! I keep asking the same thing on all boards; why do women hate other women? Do I really need to go down a dozen diff. examples of what a fraud the women's movement has been & that the sisterhood's 'for show' & lit'l else! I keep hearing the kvetchin' about a 'lack of representation,' but there are more women voters out there! It's all on them & no 1 else IMO! Ya had a chance to get the 1st female President & IDK when it'll be this close again! Obama stole it in '08, but women GAVE it to Trump! Believe it or not, I'd tell Hillary she "dodged a freakin' bullet!" This country deserves someone like Trump! See y'all @ the impeachment hearings!
***I don't get that either. Talk about voting against your best interest. Did they vote for him or just not vote? We're going to reap what we sow.***
It's usually young, single women that don't vote, but this X they actually pulled the lever for the troglodyte!
***The magical month has arrived. In < than 3 wks' X, the top 5 w/b officially comprised of all 30-somethings! While not nearly as frightening as climate change, it's more than a lit'l disconcerting for pro tennis. Only in '17!***
I've been railing about the need for a changing of the guard for ages, but it just keeps getting pushed back every yr! It's almost embarrassing b/c the elites are not just older, it's the same players yr after yr; trading off being #1 periodically! It says something about how good the "Big 4" have been, but it also shows how gutless the "also rans" have been for a while now! Every X you think there's the next great Phenom about to make a name for himself, it's a faux challenge; either psychologically or just plain brittle-boned & can't stay on the court more than a few wks before breaking down!
***Well said. It's too weird. At this point, there's lit'l more that c/b said, I feel. ATP had to create a tourney to celebrate its young stars, as they can't compete w/ the decrepit guard. I mean, tennis won't retire when they all do, but... anyway, the retirement tours might make more bank than the ATP. ---
If the young stars can't compete w/ the decrepit older guard, then it's the young guns problem. Nadal, Federer, Djokovic & = Murray are exceptional athletes & tennis players. The same was true of Gonzalez, Rosewall, Laver, Tilden, Ashe, Connors, Agassi, Sampras & others who were top players past 30. ---
ATP had to create a tourney to celebrate its young stars, as they can't compete w/ the decrepit guard. I mean, tennis won't retire when they all do, but... anyway, the retirement tours might make more bank than the ATP.***
Being from the 70's "old guard," I prob. would've watched a senior tour of BJK, Goolagong, Wade, Court, Navratilova, & Evert! I'm sure they tried, but it just didn't get much TV coverage & died! One of the most memorable periods in tennis was the advent of WTT! It was actually >er than some tour events! I still remember an All-Star event; maybe in '76! The teams were composed of most of the best players in the world & it didn't disappoint! Goolagong didn't have much trouble beating Evert on those fast indoor courts, but being TEAM Tennis, the other team still had a chance! It came down to women dubs IIRC! Fromholtz & Stove were behind Wade & Navratilova! To get to a Super TB, Stove/Fromholtz had to not only win their match, but continue winning games to tie Wade/Navr.! They were successful & Fromholtz was replaced by Evert! The other team was totally taken over by BJK & Goolagong! Evert & the West came ATW back to win the Super TB 5-4!
***I suppose the players won more $$ playing WTT, but IMO, WTT was & is a joke. Also, it robbed players like Evert of winning more FO titles. Also, other serious tourneys were denied some top players.***
Robbed? Did they need the $$ grab? Weren't her endorsements enough! If she lost X in tournaments, it's all on her, her family, & the management group!
***I agree, robbed was the wrong term; perhaps greed's more appropriate. - Nadal dominated '10 USO from front to back, losing only 1 set in the final.***
So few X's he's that dominant! It's like he has to go away for a while to get rejuvenated! From '08; took it to Roger winning on clay & grass! Injury-ridden '09, but came back to take 3 majors in '10! Nole owned it over for a while; legitimately beating a "prime" Rafa 7 str. X's! Roger had a resurgence in '12, then Rafa came back strong in '13! It's been downhill ever since; lucky to take '14 FO & a few Masters! W/o Roger this season, Nadal might have owned it this season, but like Nole in '11, he's just been so close!
The fact that no player born in '89 or later has not only not won a Slam, but hasn't won a "big title" (Slam, YEC's, Masters) is rather alarming. The youngest big titleists are Cilic & del Potro, both of whom were born in '88 & turn 29 yo later this yr. This is an unprecedented situation, @ least in Open Era history.
But let's not belabor just how bad the younger gens are, esp. those born in '89-93ish. Instead, I wanted to ask the ??: At What Age Did Slam Winners 1st win a big title?
1st, a caveat. The importance of diff. titles has changed over the yrs, which is reflected in the fact the names of diff. tourneys has changed as the ATP tour has changed. But there's some degree of similarity btw, say, the GP of the '70s & the current ATP Tour Masters 1000's. For the sake of this inquiry, all =lent tourneys w/b considered under the umbrella "big titles" - including current tourns & their predecessors. This includes Slams, WTF's & other YE Chps, Golden Cup, WCT Finals, Masters, GP, etc.
...Below are the oldest age @ which players won their 1st big title:
6+ Slam winners (12): 20 yo 2-4 Slam winners (15): 28 yo
The 1st was a bit surprising. There are 12 players who won 6+ Slams during the Open Era, & all won their 1st big title @ age 20 or <. This is quite diff. from 1st Slam, as Lendl didn't win his 1st until age 24. In other words, there's not a lot of play in the 12 precedents: ALL 12 won a big title @ a very young age (I didn't include Newcombe, Laver, or Rosewall b/c they all began well before the Open Era began, so it's diff. to ascertain when they won their 1st "big" title).
The 2nd category's quite old, but only b/c of 1 player: Wawrinka. Other than him, the oldest age is 24 (Rafter), w/ the poss. except. of Ashe who won his 1st Slam @ age 25, but it's unclear if he won a big title before that. Stan set a new precedent, effectively demolishing all "rules" about when a multi-Slam winner can start winning big. That said, the vast majority of 2-4 Slam winners won their 1st big title by 24-25.
...Below's a list of some of the better active young players w/ their current (as of 5/9) age:
So think about this: Every player age 21 & >--& soon to include Khachanov, Donaldson, & Chung--is disqual. from the precedents of the Open Era. If any of those players are going t/b all-X greats, they'll have to set a new precedent on the order of Wawrinka, that is "be the Wawrinka of all-X greats."
This also means that all of those players age 20, are "on notice." Three of them turn 21 w/i a month or 2, all but Zverev turn 21 this yr. So it m/b that come Dec., only A. Zverev still can reach the benchmark set by the 12 prev. 6+ Slam winners, & win his 1st big title before his 21st BD next April.***
***Hewitt did lose some speed by '04, but he was still a great champion & yes, he did build a mental block vs Federer. ...Everyone knows Fed cost Roddick potential slams, but he did the same to Hewitt in this period.***
Hewitt won matches w/ his legs; being overpowered, he wasn't given the chance to win! You have to give more credit to his opps that came into their own! One of my faves was Safin; too bad he was a psycho! He had the most complete game, but only took 2 Majors, both over apparent GOAT's @ the X; Sampras USO final & Fed "down under" in '05 semi! He had the serve, the power, touch, & nerve, but like any artist he might go insane on court; sorta like Ilie Nastase!
***Agreed. Thankfully can't say the same about Hewitt. ...He was unfortunate like Safin to have many injuries which meant he wasn't a contender post '06. Safin will always be an enigma & that'll probably enhance his rep. like Ilie. He was definitely lacking in drive & motivation. ---
I think Roger's chances @ RG are a bit >er than Rafa's @ Wimbledon, although both are far from faves.***
...another entry in my blog about the gutlessness of this era of so called top players! ...If Fedal continues their resurgence, it m/b the end of tennis IMO! New kids can't look up to Granpa Fed; didn't work 10 yrs ago = w/ me getting bored! It was pushing me to watch more women's tennis! I still have hopes for Theim, Sasha Z., & Pouille, but only X'll tell I guess! In 2 months, all s/b clear after the FO & Wimbledon!
***Holy Hyperbole, Batman! Seriously though, however long the Fedal resurgence lasts, it won't be forever - and probably not more than this yr. From the perspective of wanting to see fresh blood take the lead, I suppose the worst case scenario is that where '17 m/b the year of a Fedal Revival, '18 c/b Novandy, which w/b terribly boring (imo). But = then, the Big Four can't hang on forever. They're going t/b losing more & more, getting upset by younger and hungrier players.
It's X to give up on Milos-Kei-Grigor, @ least as far as reaching the top. Actually, it was probably x a yr or 2 ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they become only gen. of the Open Era that doesn't have a #1 player. The baton will probably be passed over them from the 'B4' to someone like Kyrgios or Zverev (I don't see Thiem or Pouille being more than 2nd tier players).
...How high will Rafa go? Will Roger continue his high level of play when he comes back? Will Novandy resurge? Which of the younger gen(s) will break thrU 1st w/ a big title? I'm certainly excited to find out. Now maybe we ff to Dec. & look back @ another yr in which the 'B4' (or 5) split all of the big titles. I w/b disappointed that we didn't see a breakthru from a young guy, whether the "Young Gun" gen. ('89-93) or the "NextGen" ('94-98ish). But @ least we'll have had the drama of the Fedal revival. ---
Boric serving for a routine str. set win vs Andy in Madrid. Thiem favored over Grigor, Kyrgios could upset Rafa - this is turning into a potentially breakthru MS event w/ as many as 3 NextGen players in the QF.***
Mon Dieu; is this the beginning of the end of the Murray train? We all knew he wouldn't be able to duplicate his results from last season, but to go out to a "LL" like that so routinely! Look out; the next GEN m/b here! I really like Thiem, Zverev , Kyrios, & Coric, but they have to get it done more consistently & take these ops to build on what they each have to offer the tour!
***According to an email I just got from Daily Kos, "21,147 Daily Kos readers have chipped in $968,448.54 to beat House Reps since yesterday's Trumpcare vote."***
When are we going to learn; it's not about $$? Hillary spent a fortune & Trump ran his campaign on a shoestring budget! It's a matter of intelligence & having a message! I guess Reps have always had a message, = if ignorant, misogynistic, or bigoted! Liberals have been losing from coast to coast over-estimating the intellect of the electorate! Voting vs their own best interest is nothing new! = the Mensa members are carrying the water for Trump's populous message! ...!
Trashing NATO, The UN, & NAFTA, but backing down in the end? ...They couldn't be satisfied w/ having it all, they're throwing away their advantage! The HONEYMOON's already over! Now they're stuck w/ Obamacare, PP funding, & no $$ to build his wall!
***...Maybe they prefer "alt-facts."***
Trump got them trained ages ago; "the fake news" this & "the fake news" that! If it's something critical, it isn't credible or the person is a partisan! It's kind of pathetic when some nimrods believe this man who raved about his Inaugural being bigger & more attended when cameras overhead showed 1/2 the crowd! The man might = believe his BS, but what does that say about advisors that put us in jeopardy due to this man being more than a lit'l "bent?"
***President Obama makes Reps feel very guilty it seems-- they hate that.***
Seems like things haven't changed! Reps own it all w/ Trump, both Houses of Congress, & a "right-leaning" SC, but they still can't get ANYTHING DONE! They had to resort to "CR" after promising to defund Obamacare, PP, & other programs! I can't wait for the mid-terms to see how McConnell & Ryan'll explain passing repeals 60+ X's when Obama was Prez, but Trump's yet to see anything to sign besides EO's that are being scrutinized or put on hold by the COURTS! W/ the investigations into Russian tentacles slithering around the West Wing, we m/b able to survive Trump's tenure! He thought the job entailed photo ops, signing his name a few X's, & bloviating like he did on the campaign trail! So far that's all he's done & nothing's getting done! BRAVO REPS! - ...By now I would have thought a strong hand to muzzle Trump & run the WW more judiciously would have occurred! Unfortunately "The Circus" is the approp. name after watching that ShowX program! The final kick in the teeth was it appears women put him in office!
***I dont think anyone has been roasted on social media in a wk. like James Phoney; haha. Everyone wanted him fired.***
True enough, but the timing stinks! You don't fire the guy leading an investigation involving yourself! That's 'common sense 101,' but of course we're talking TRUMP! His interview w/ Lester Holt is going to bury him eventually; admitting to speaking w/ Comey @ dinner about his staying on the job & wondering if he was under investigation! I grew up on Watergate & = Nixon wasn't stupid enough to admit to outright 'obstruction of justice' on camera!
***Caught the end of Bernie Sanders being interviewed about Comey. ...Well, I'm sorry, but if he would have gotten his rabid supporters to vote for Hillary, we wouldn't be in this mess.***
Bernie couldn't be that big a person! He dragged out the primary & wouldn't let it go all the way thru the nom. process! I turn him off & wonder why young people are so enamored by his type of populism, but don't actually vote when it counts allowing a TROLL like Trump to ascend the throne?
...The final kick in the teeth of Trump's win is, it appears women put him in office!
***I believe it was only white women who helped elect him by a 52% margin. The majority of women of other colors didn't vote for him. I do find that interesting. White women didn't support one of their own kind, unlike the black majority who voted for Obama. White American women, or at least the majority of them, m/b the only group in the world who don't support 1 of their own when push comes to shove. It's probably 1 of the reasons why our jury system doesn't work too well when women are on trial. Women on juries don't give them the benefit of the doubt like they do men.***
I knew it was "WW," but didn't want to make a big deal about it! Women still have problems w/ each other; = in families! Chris Rock says it in 1 of his routines; "women hate women!"
***So y'all are actually beating up "white women" and saying "they" should have voted for HRC simply b/c she's a woman? Uhhh....thats a bit sexist or misogynistic AND bigoted. You're implying "WW" don't have a brain & can't think for themselves about who they choose to vote for...that they're automatically bound by skin color & sex to vote for a "WW." Just another example of how leftist Dems are the least tolerant, most sexist, bigoted hateful people around. ---
I'm not claiming that they should have voted for Hillary, but I find it interesting that a majority of "WW" didn't. They broke away from the normal human pattern of voting for those candidates who are your own kind. Noticing that isn't insulting WW. It's merely an observation. ...We certainly saw that pattern when Obama ran & was elected. By far the vast majority of Black people voted for him. If WW had done the same thing Hillary whb elected.***
Which is why I won't ever listen to women complaining about a lack of representation later when they start losing their rights! They've been under siege for yrs w/ only a handful of moderate & liberal Dems out there fighting the good fight for them & this is their reward; stupid 'WW' overwhelmingly voting Rep! IDIOTS!
***Women under siege? What are you talking about? Where are they under siege?***
When old white men try to defund Planned Parenthood, that's being under siege for 1 thing! What do they have to do, club them over the head for you to see how women are undermined & not taken seriously? I personally don't give a damn anymore! Women have had the right to vote, determine their lives as in no other X, but they still limit themselves when they support ignorance like a PARTY trying to take away their rights to an abortion! Do I really need to go on?
***All women were left out of the Senate closed door committee to repeal/replace ACA ObamaCare***
Rep. women don't seem to take them to task over it; = the Senators in house! I still remember a committee hearing yrs ago talking about changes to the ACA; right up front, 7 old white guys speaking on women's health needs! This is why I'm done & if women like being overlooked, embarrassed, & = patronized, it's all on them since their DEMO's the largest!
***An all woman jury exonerated Trayvon Martin's killer George Zimmerman in Fla as well... never met one I could trust for any length of X.***
That horrid AG of FLA was all 'gung ho' to prosecute Zimmerman & got nowhere, but she's the same person that prosecuted that poor woman trying to defend herself from her ex-husband! She just shot into the ceiling to scare him, but she was sent to jail for 20 yrs & kids taken away! I haven't checked out the appeals which have come fast & furious! Again a woman like the plague on another woman for lit'l reason other than "she's their sister!" I guess sisters really hate one another!
***The Rep. Party fought for blacks throughout the history of this country. ...***
There definitely has been a juxtaposition of the 2 parties starting w/ the Civil Rights' legis. passed 50 yrs ago! Those bigoted "blue dog" Dems went over & changed into Reps & systematically altered the philosophy of the party! As you can tell, the South has been solid 'red' for decades! All of them have wound up looking & acting as if they don't give a shit for anyone outside of themselves; so Blacks, Mexicans, women, & 'progressives' have been spat upon more & more as X's gone on! Trump hopefully will taint those assholes for all X w/ their support of that animal! Embarrassed Reps have distanced themselves or gone over to the Dems!
***Some photo ID are not eligible for voting thanks to Rep. voter suppression.***
...Reps haven't accomplished a thing besides stealing a SC seat after all these months! They might as well have shut down the gov't! EO's are being debated & any bluster coming out of Trump & his TOOLS ends up blowing back in their faces!
***Every day, I just hold my breath & wonder what Trump's going to step in today.***
Well get used to oxygen deprivation! If something is being reported, it's going t/b heinous! Now we find he's revealing secrets to Russians in the WH! Why not do his duplicitous acts outside? IDK why people are shocked? Trump was revealed over & over, but the country thought it best to put the wellbeing of the planet in the hands of a self-proclaimed ego-maniac! "...and I thought "W" was the pits!" ---
I'm just wondering why people are surprised by the current state of affairs? ...Wishful thinkers keep assuming he'll grow into the job! 'Fraid not; this old fool is regressing back to his childhood! The petulant rants due to his own fumbling of info aren't the actions of a sane person! I see this as only getting worse unfortunately! Impeachment is around the corner & that's when the country will really be in trouble! Pence is no rocket scientist himself!
***I'm surprised only by the breadth & # of issues. I expected bad; I did not expect this bad.***
...I wouldn't hire anyone from that Trump umbrella; all inveterate liars, playing us all for fools, & are being treacherous concerning the Nat'l security of the country! We can only thank the chronic leakers for letting us know how disfuctional the WH has been since day one!
***The GOP estab. is beginning t/b over the WH. McConnell said today, the excess drama from the WH is interfering w/ the Congress' agenda. This is highly unusual for the ruling party to say this early in a POTUS tenure. Of course, maybe the bright side is that the WH drama is keeping Mitch and Co., from gutting the economy for their buddies. As Trump continues to flail about, I suspect we'll hear more dissatisfaction from the GOP party leaders. - He betrayed Israel! Potentially getting Israelis killed? Like most powerful lobby in D.C. Is Israel lobby!***
This is what Trump does to his friends! Sitting quite dower & not wanting to shake the hand of Angela Merkel when she visited, exposing intel from other allies, & LAUDING Putin to this day; still unwilling to agree that Russia created chaos in the last election cycle! It's kind of sad & pathetic for Trump supporters to keep going out there defending the indefensible!
***M/b Sheldon Adelson will exert his heft & make Trump go away.***
It was people like Adelson that wanted Trump so he'd squash indictments & potential suits vs him that the gov't is holding over his head; "accused of bribing foreign officials" abroad where his casinos are pulling in 100's of $M!
***...Sounds very close to traitorous behavior to me.***
They've been going that route for the past 35 yrs; a concerted effort to systematically take over the smallest of offices like President of school boards to President of the USA! Getting there wasn't as important as gaining that power! Common courtesy, decency, & patriotism were jettisoned yrs ago w/ Reps!...People forget Sec. Serv. not only have to guard Trump & the family, there are tech. 3 residences under guard; WH, Mari. GC, & Trump Tower where Malania & Barron still reside! They have to come up w/ all kinds of $$ to make up the diff. from the rel. light effort needed to protect the Obamas!
***I would almost bet that the 1st woman president w/b elected by Reps. X will tell.***
Agreed! It's sad to know that no matter the intelligence or "lack thereof," when it comes to politics & religion, polls don't mean dip! People are emotional, they lie, & keep those dark thoughts hidden until the ultimate test! We failed last NOV.!
***Well, the picture is very clear now. The sole mission & goal of the Dems is nothing < than to try to derail Trump's presidency before it = begins & get him out off office by any & all means. ---
And Donald Trump is doing everything he can to help them accomplish that goal. Your whining reminds me of something. Here's a tiny, tiny, tiny sampling of this forum from '09 thru '16. Enjoy the Karma baby.
Impeach Obama? ... Impeach the Kenyan! ... We could impeach Obama if we default
I hope the Republicans IMPEACH Obama! ...***
I'm sure they've forgotten all those "slights" towards the 1st Blk Prez! His kids weren't = spared! It was truly shameful & I'm not sure Reps will ever live it down, actually selecting leader of the "birther movement" to succeed him! ---
The Dems haven't had to do "anything" to sabotage or undermine the Trump Admin.! We're insulted by them every X they embarrass themselves trying to "pass the buck" on Obama, Hillary & Bill, & of course the evil MSM! Fake news is bringing The WH to their knees! "Breaking News" truly is breaking all day & night long! The leaks have been plentiful where Trump has made no friends undermining everyone w/ insults & arrogant behavior! What newly elected Prez has gone down this fast?
***...The real reason traitorous snowflakes like you hate Trump is the fact that he's getting his agenda accomplished.***
What agenda would that be; to undermine the Presidency for all X, lowering the bar below a sewer?
***If Obama was such a great president, why the country so desperate for change?***
Did you ever consider "we're not too bright?" Clinton left office w/ low unemployment, peace, a DOW going thru the roof, & a sur+ budget w/ a plan to elim. the Nat'l Debt in 10 yrs! We decided we couldn't live w/ that prosperity & went w/ another caveman; "W!" He permitted "911" w/ all kinds of warnings, started 2 wars, gave away that sur+ to the top 1%, crashed the economy, & left us in ruins! Obama brought us back slowly, but surely, & history repeats itself! What else c/b said? We live for CHAOS!
***Did McCain or Romney launch a "resistance" group after losing the election like Hillary is doing?***
MEMORIES are so short! The obstruction, disrespect, & undermining of Obama started before DAY ONE! Cry me a fk'n river!
***TY. People seem to forget that GOP Congressional leaders met as soon as Obama was elected & devised a plan of obstruction that commenced the day the man took office.***
***...If Trump goes, it w/b the evidence that does him in, not you idotic group.***
The victimhood begins here & w/ Trump today, spending all kinds of X talking about his mistreatment by the media @ a commencement address! "No president, & I say this w/ great surity, no POL in history has been treated as unfairly!" The dude has no shame, common sense, or class!
***Maybe not, but he's right. - Putin offered to hand over the transcripts of the Trump-Lavrov meeting. 'Cause they'll surely reflect accurately what they talked about:
So now Putin's taking Trump's side in what is essentially an I.A. of the USA. Rather revealing, isn't it?
***Nixon was the last President t/b faced w/ impeachment. - That w/b Bill Clinton actually.***
Reps went thru the motions, but embarrassed themselves while Clinton's status flourished! They paid for their hubris w/ the people seeing the hypocrisy of all of Congress! Other POLS were run out of town including Livingston who had been picked to succeed Gingrich as Speaker when he was booted! These people are JOKES that aren't funny when they con the country into allowing them carte blanche to run things! You see they get lit'l to nothing done due to their dysfunctional thinking!
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a closely watched measure of its value, is set to erase its post-election gains...
Turbulence in Wash'ton jolted markets out of an extended period of calm Wed.
Stocks, the U.S. $ & gov't bond yields slid as investors pulled back from bets on the swift passage of President Trump’s agenda. Wagers that his policies would boost growth & inflation have been unwinding for months, but those moves accelerated Wed.***
I'm shocked it hadn't happened sooner! What a kick in the teeth; all Trump buddies thought things were under control, but he upset the apple cart w/ his mouth & Tweets! So much for growing into the job! This looks more like a regression than moving towards maturity!
***...Trump declared war on the intelligence community! I'm sure the leaks are them. Trump loved this stuff when Wikileaks was leaking HRC email. Now that he's the target, b/c of what he did, he's all bent out of shape! Ahhh poor baby!***
Trump went into office "making no friends" due to constant caterwauling about "draining the swamp" & not believing the Intel community over Russian interference! That would take away from his big win over what he says was "winnable by the Dems!" True enough, but Dems keep making the mistake of giving too much credit for smarts in the electorate! Reps learned a while back to never "UNDERESTIMATE" the stupidity of the average voter, conning them into total power in Wash'ton! "Now what are you guys going to do w/ it?" We've seen this before; success w/ Clinton, failure w/ "W!" We rebound w/ Obama & it's just not good enough so we go with an outsider who's clueless!
***My ?? is are the Dems so vengeful that they would deliberately do things to tank the country's economy to hurt the Rep. admin. Could they really be that petty? - Not Dems, but Reps would, and did under President Obama for 8 long yrs. Sabotaged his every move---***
As I said yesterday, Rep. memories are short to "shutting down the gov't," threatening our credit rating when they didn't raise the "debt ceiling" in a Xly fashion, & obstructed absolutely everything to get their way! They have a lot of nerve using that word when they vowed to "make Obama a 1 term President!" McConnell & others said that to the detriment of the country! They're slime & we deserve anything that happens w/ Trump @ the HELM!
Chris Wallace on "FN SUNDAY" mused about McConnell suggesting to Trump; appoint Merritt Garland to the post of FBI Dir.! You can tell the Majority Leader knows he's going to burn in HELL for the stuff he's pulled & his conscience, what lit'l there is is feeling quite guilty & repentant! ...Reps are leaving quite a legacy; FREE THE SLAVES, then try to undermine blacks & other minorities later! Let's be for women's rights initially, but slowly try to take back that power! ...They seem to like Trump = though he's gotten nothing done! Is this the kind of admin. t/b proud of people?
***Comey's firing bit Trump in the rump.***
It's all on Trump; each self-inflicted wound! The whole thing started spinning out of control when this fool accused Obama of tapping Trump Tower! It's been a 3-Ring Circus ever since! If he had just STFU, people might have assumed he's getting his act together, some things might have gotten done, & easily pass bills to fuel employment like funding for infrastructure! They didn't want to do that; going big & trying to dismantle Obamacare not realizing it couldn't be done overnight! ...They need to look in the mirror & quit pointing fingers @ the MSM, Dems, Obama, or Hillary; it's all on them!
***...Why does Comey have the memo in the 1st place? It's gov't property.***
Who said he had them? It's part of the paper trail he left behind "just in case" Trump fk'd up! Obama did the same & it's what's fueling all these leaks! Trump doesn't make any friends w/ his bullying tactics & so no one's going to go easily if "thrown under the bus!"
***The gov't hasn't shut down under Trump...yet.***
Give them X! The Debt Ceiling issue comes up again @ the end of Sept.! The Tea-Baggers are already set to 'shut it down' to get what they've demanded for so long! Unfortunately it'll fail again = holding all 3 branches of gov't! It's kind of sad & pathetic t/b this impotent w/ their so called bi-coastal mandate! They haven't gotten anything done since the election!
***It's rather obvious: by naming an indep. investigator, Trump w/b able to claim there's no need for the FBI to investigate the case. FBI w/b asked to hand over all their material to Mueller, who'll then destroy all evidence and pronounce Trump as clean as a whistle.***
Trump using words like "witchhunt" totally forgetting the ones he led during the Obama yrs (Birthers, Benghazi)! He's so F.O.S. & deserving of all that's happening to him & us! These are self-inflicted wounds; usually started thru his incessant Tweeting @ odd hrs! No one told him to accuse Obama of bugging Trump Tower during the campaign or hiring Flynn who admitted to being investigated due to influence peddling w/ Turkey! ...If something like this occurred during the Clinton or Obama admin., the hair of Reps w/b on fire! Their response has been quite underwhelming considering their history vs everything Russian! WTF is wrong w/ these people & the supporters of all this chaos?
***...they ignore facts they don't like, and babble on, & on, & on... endlessly. Defending the indefensible---***
It's why I can't listen to these defenders on TV for too long! They look absolutely sick trying to make excuses or deflect invoking Hillary and Obama when the subject at hand is TRUMP! ...The smartest show they aren't immune to the insanity and misrepresentation of intel; now called alternative facts by Kellyanne Conway! She's the queen of getting in her TP's, criticizing the MSM, & coming up w/ those alt-facts!
***Bottom line is -- the fact that Trump is in way-way-way over his head. ---
Probably true, but he's still doing better than the last 2 decades. No wars, invasions, or regime changes yet. ...Moving health care back to the states does make sense.***
Only a cons. could possibly be in favor of our present situation! ...It's the states that are causing the lack of comp. when it comes to ins.! They're the one's forbidding crossing state lines to get some kind of deal for their insurance so STOP BLAMING OBAMACARE!
***ACA ObamaCare was on the table before it was made law, conceived to help 33,000,000 uninsured citizens-- @ the X the Rep. health care ins. plan would appeal to assisting just 3,000,000. ---
I heard Trump has a private server in his basement.***
I wouldn't doubt it! Reps are the biggest hypocrites in the freakin' world! Anything they're accusing someone of s/b instantly thought to reflect them! Wasn't it Flynn that was saying Hillary s/b "locked up?" Now lets see who goes to prison!
***...Really if you are saying that other countries can choose our President, then we have many elections to ?? right?***
I'm not ??ing this election! For it to = be close showed we deserve anything that occurs w/ Trump @ the helm! It wasn't like the man tried to hide he was a troglodyte! Like "W" he doesn't study so he's ill prepared to handle anything! I stopped caring last Nov.! I'm old & finally gave up on people who thought it w/b a good idea to put this guy in charge of world affairs! It's only been 4 months & we're sidling up to a Constitutional crisis; totally expected really, but shocked it's occurring so fast!
***I'm surprised as well, but it seems liberals act faster than most expected. As for a "Constitutional Crisis;" I have no clue what you mean w/ that statement.***
I would hope by now you've caught up w/ news where Trump has just about sunk himself; typically w/ his own mouth! More leaks tell all! It's called obstruction of justice; leading to impeachment! That's what's meant by a Const. Crisis! Firing Comey under condition of him being a target of an investigation couldn't be topped! Reps will need to go to their VP prematurely for the 2nd X in my lifeX due to "high crimes & misdemeanor;" just never thought it w/b w/i months instead of yrs!
***...America's Betrayal by the Dem. Party...***
I wonder when will Reps start to take responsibility for leading instead of "playing the victim?" Being obstructionist has been their only successful tactic & now that they have ALL THE POWER, they don't have a clue what to do w/ it! HOW do you pass an ACA repeal over 60 X's over the yrs, & when in total charge, can't = get a bad bill to the desk of the Rep President you guys have been begging for? YOU HAVE IT ALL, why not try to actually lead than kvetch, bitch, & moan about the MSM, Obama, Hillary, & Bill? The Dems don't = have the #'s to stop Reps from DOING ANYTHING since they've already started using the "nuclear option!" "Welcome to leadership clowns!"
***Problem is Reps in these yrs are indefensible-- in each & every action. - ..My grandma & a few other people I know have FNC on all day & it's had a disastrous effect on them. = as Canadians, they're so incredibly fearful. It's bizarre in many ways, & scary as a bystander to see how brainwashed (for lack of a >er term) they have become.***
I surf by just to keep an eye on them & t/b able to speak intelligently on how insane Trump's apologists c/b!
***W/ Pence as VP, the last thing anyone should want is to impeach Trump.***
IIRC, the next 3 choices suck; Pence, Ryan, then Sen. Orrin Hatch! You don't want any of the cabinet either as "The Lone Survivor!"
If not for Tonya drama, I wouldn't have gotten back into figure skating in '94! The 80's were nauseating to me! It was all about Witt for the ladies, then Brian B.'a & Scott Ham.. for the men; am. & pro ranks! Hamilton could leave blood on the ice & the judges would still give him perfect 10 scores! ...The 90's were the best & Tonya should get a lot of credit bringing back the popularity & $$ for the sport which was near DEAD! Got to see prime of Bonaly & saw ascension of ATG's like Kwan, Slutskaya, Plushenko, & Yagudin! It fell off for a while, but I've been very impressed w/ the new gen. of Hanyu, Uno, & Chen! ---
What's Your Fave Performance or Program Ever? I keep watching Hanyu's LP of this past season where he finally skated it perfectly @ World FS Chps.! I'm gonna have to put it right up there as #1 "all X" IMB b/c of the quality of skating, the music, & gen. emotion gen. by the performance! Yagudin was no fave of mines w/ his behavior towards Plushenko & his subsequent split from Mishon, his '02 Olympic programs were by far the best @ the X; SP "Winter" & LP "Man In The Iron Mask!" I also give an hon. mention to his '01 Worlds SP of Chopin's, "Revolution Etude!" Loved Irina Slutskaya's SP, "Serenade!"
***When I saw Hanyu's performance on YouTube, I was so surprised b/c the audience reaction seems mild on the video compared to what it was like in the arena. I mean my dad was there w/ me & the poor guy had his fingers in his ears 20 secs into the program b/c it was absolutely deafening. (I personally don't "get" Hanyu so I didn't "feel" the feeling, but for his fans it mhb an absolute delight, like a dream come true.***
Hanyu had 1 of the best performances I've ever seen in Helsinki w/ him taking off & landing on the ice w/ so much precision! It was very impressive; esp. giving us 5 Quads! Wasn't it just a few yrs ago when Tim Goebel set all kinds of records w/ 3? Now they're routinely doing Quad Lutz & Loops! Amazing! It seemed like we were going in the opp. direction for a while, putting more in the character & theme of a performance! Nowadays, these skaters truly have it all when we had only smatterings of genius in Yagudin, Plushenko, Lysacek, & Lambiel! The men's ranks have been slim to thin for a while! This is about as comp. as I can remember = w/ the likes of Stojko, Eldridge, Urmanov, Kulik, & Browning around @ the same X!
***I was never a fan of Kwan's skating, but ...That said, why would anyone want to hash out their divorce in public?***
I knew whenever it happened, her marriage wouldn't hold up no matter who it was! I can see her as a real control freak seeing as she's called the shots since she as 12! I was never a fan of her persona or skating & thought she hindered the progress of the next gen. by overstaying her welcome! Irina Slutskaya had legitimately supplanted her in the world IMO & we had Sasha, Naomi, & so many other good skaters that had t/b intimidated, demurred to her legend! Kwan was the type of skater who was over-marked too many X's to count! Near the end, the love turned & Irina started getting the marks! At the GPF 1 yr, I'm pretty sure Irina only completed 3 triples & MK had @ least 5! Loved seeing the shoulder shrugs of the American contingent while commiserating w/ Kwan! How many X's did others have to do the same when Michelle skated away w/ a medal undeserved?
***Watching Djokovic's level of play in '17 reminded me of Nadal's level of play in '15. In both cases, both players just can't seem to find consistencies on their game. One moment they are playing well & in a split sec., they start playing erratic. The ?? for Djokovic is the same ?? Nadal was asked in '15-16, 'will he able to find consistency again?' I would lean to say yes b/c all great players find a way to play @ high level after a moment of decline. However, the difference btw Djokovic & Nadal is that Nadal kept his whole team & always believed that he would play spectacular tennis once again. As for Djokovic, he fired all the members of his team AND he is a father of 2 kids right now. So it w/b hard for him to find his desire t/b great again. It w/b interesting to see on how he handle this decline both emotionally & physically.***
That's why few great players have families! It's such a distraction! For women it's more a problem since they're the one's giving birth! Their bodies change so much; Goolagong was as brittle as kindling after her daughter was born! Her comebacks were always short-lived = though her play was fine! Clijster & Court the only ones to really have families & still "bring it" OTTH! I wouldn't blame Nole if he dropped off the face of the map! As far as I'm concerned he's done more > enough t/b thought of as 1 of the ATG's w/ his name all over the recordbks!
***Rafa has a chance to take over #1 when Wimbledon pts come off - IF he wins Rome & RG AND Andy doesn't do well for the rest of clay season. = if Andy holds onto #1 going into Wimby, Rafa can take it by going deep as he has no pts to defend & Andy has 2K. ---
If it means Nadal wins a major or 2, I have a feeling there's a void @ the top now. Novak is showing natural signs of decline & Andy's struggling to cope w/ being #1. My big worry for Rafa is that he overdoes it, as he often does. I hope he finishes the clay season as strongly as he's begun it & gets some rest after Wimbo. It seems like Nadal becoming the #2 ranked player in the world is closer than we thought. If he wins tmrw, takes Rome AND @ least reach the RG final, then he surpasses Djokovic in the rankings. ---
...Thiem figured out the only way to beat Rafa on clay is to attack relentlessly & live w/ the errors that result from that. You cannot play on Rafa's terms on clay. Today, it worked out; won't always, but still the only way.***
Nothing new really! It's how Fabio does it does it to Rafa! That how Thiem beat Nadal; lots of flash, flourish, & frustration for Nadal to deal w/! Nice wins by Next Gen overall in Rome!
***I don't think it's a secret that that's a good tactic, but I wouldn't act so ho-hum about it. Do you know how many winners folks like Fognini, Pouille & Thiem had to produce to pull it off? As if anyone can do it any X they decide to, eh?***
Never said it was easy, but it's the only real way to give yourself a chance un< a member of the Big 4 who can play Rafa toe to toe!
***Like Wimbledon, Queens has the prestige of history as evidenced by the fact that many more Wimbl. champs have also played & won there 1st.***
I give homage to their stick-to-it-ness; hiring the best to make sure courts of high quality! It hasn't always been well attended or competed; some exiting early after getting practice on the courts! It wasn't unusual to see some "no name" like Boris Becker in '85 win it! I can still hear BJK saying "he has a real chance of winning Wimbl.!" I never cared for his act & expected him t/b upset w/ all that pressure, but he withstood it all; including a battle w/ Anders Jarryd in the SF! Curren had had a relatively easy X of it w/ McEnroe & Connors in route to the final! I was so hoping to keep the Swedish mystique going since Borg had retired, Wilander would never make a SF, & Edberg hadn't come of age yet! Memories!
***Trump doesn't have the experience of, say, someone who's been in Congress for decades, has served on related committees...& knows all these laws & rules. He makes comments that I don't think he's aware of as being unlawful. He's not blameless for this mess. Just the fact that he keeps on Tweeting shows that. ...and see Trump's mistakes as just him being open & genuine.***
Hey, I would be ready to give Trump the benefit of the doubt except for the hypocrisy of the "right!" Obama was made to feel illegitimate from day 1; was fought "tooth & nail" over the most mundane of economic & budget housekeeping! How can we forget shutting down the gov't for amusement right when our credit rating was being threatened? Spare me the victimhood! If Reps would give Hillary = a moment of peace w/o making her out t/b "evil incarnate" when they should be looking @ WHAT they're supporting who actually is in power, I'll give him a brk! Hillary thru all her troubles isn't the president no matter how much blame people want to put on her for Trump's incompetence!
***The ultra-Leftists now control the Dem Party & those types of Dems have one goal - to divide everybody into identity groups & make them hate anyone not in their group. The most disgusting thing is this "Resist!" movement. Most here have lived a good # of yrs & we've never seen this before. The last "Resistance" I've heard of was the French Resistance vs the Nazi's. Apparently, to the far-Left, Trump is just as bad as Hitler. Unreal.***
What does any of this have to do w/ how feckless Reps have been who are in compete control of all 3 branches of the gov't? I would think the agenda proposed by the most "ultra right wing" would sail thru Congress & get signed w/i days! What happened; you c/b accusing the Dems of stymieing this honeymoon period when a new president usually gets everything they want? The Dems can't = filibuster anything; nothing's on the legislative block! I just don't understand how any of this is the fault of Obama, Hillary, Bill, or any other Dem!
***...Did you take out part of Trump's post to remove the substance on purpose, thus displaying gross dishonesty?***
The only thing dishonest are the defenders of Trump trying to distract, distort, & destroy anyone that has the nerve to contradict him! The man has been busted LYING on more occasions than c/b counted; literally! Who can believe ANYTHING HE SAYS? This morning on "This Week" w/ George S., the guy speaking up for Trump decided to go the direction of trying to undermine Comey by asking why didn't the guy just tell Trump "this interaction is inapprop. & he should speak to his WH Counsel? Instead he goes back to his office to take notes documenting it & making files! It was obvious The President couldn't trust Comey & it was justified to fire him!" My head started to spin; it's like something's wrong w/ people who think acting like this is acceptable! Trump fires the person investigating him & this fool on TV would rather focus on the process of how we got to this pt; the leaks! I see a lot of entertainment watching you guys trying to stay 1 step ahead of the media as Trump is exposed; not like we didn't already know he was an empty suit! We all knew it, but decided "let's try something diff.!" Well you got it in spades! I didn't think I'd have to go thru another "Watergate" in my lifeX! It was headline news w/ little else but network news! W/ social media, Trump's incessant Tweets fueling the fires, coverage w/b "over the top from now until Pence is sworn in as President!" This is so huge; you just don't know!
Total BS! The Family of this kid are PO'd & wishes FNC & cons. media would stop trying to politicize his death! Reps are so class<; nothing's sacrosanct w/ these animals! Everything's fair game; a family member, a kid, or someone dead! "Just keep slithering the sewer! Sooner or later people will smarten up & smell the shit!
***1) DNC operative get murdered in very suspicious circumstances
2) Wikileaks gets hold of DNC emails that hurt the party in a big election
3) Wikileaks puts up reward $$ for info regarding murdered guy
This is a big story & something worth getting to the bottom of for the sake of democracy period. This is not made up nonsense like Pizza-gate. This is something worth seriously investigating. It's not like fake news @ all.***
Yeah, Iran, Iraq, Russia, & N. Korea needs t/b put on hold while we go over Hillary's email server & this poor guy's death! Just SLIMEY!
***It's funny that some of the same people who like to talk about Putin murdering his political opps, do not want this t/b investigated. Again, it shouldn't be a partisan issue. Any DNC or RNC operative that gets murdered in a suspicious manner should warrant a very serious investigation. There's no telling who's involved in this. I don't think it's nec. somebody tied to Dem. Party politics. ---
The Critically Important thing we elected Trump to achieve is to shrink our budget & taxes back w/i our Constitution, w/o exception. If Trump wants a 2nd term, he must shrink our gov't, RADICALLY!***
Unfortunately the only gov't Trump's shrunk so far is "The West Wing" which is why this 3-ring circus rears it's ugly head every day! Breaking News means lit'l to nothing b/c it really never stops! Trump's a malaprop from the old school; always putting his foot in his mouth, making the country look bad to the whole freakin' world! Obama had brought back some kind of respectability & status after "W" about annihilated it! Libs are gonna start sounding like cons when they were kvetchin' about Obama 24/7! The big diff. is that they were making up shit from the "birther movement" to undermining our own economy; talking it down = though all the #'s have steadily gone in our favor in comparison to the rest of the world!
***Hitting both the hard working Americans maintaining Fed jobs as a career messing up their retirement-- @ the same X going after the < fortunate cutting away @ the safety net in place to help keep them alive, complaining they need to work, & earn a living--- cutthroat Reps strike again. ---
I don't think it's a stretch to say when an employer is headed down Unethical Road & you politely decline to go, it's a good X to take notes & keep a copy in the safe deposit box @ the bank. - ...Comey can't take home or stash confidential/secret documents, esp. now that he has no security clearance. ---
Any evidence that Comey did take home any confidential documents? Oh wait- you just pulled that out of your ass.***
That's their "MO" when put on the spot; distract, confuse, conflate, undermine, & of course try to destroy the aforementioned "spot!" Trump calls Comey a nut job in his Russian WH meeting; the disrespect had already begun! Those tactics can't work indefinitely so get ready for some serious news & hearings to make Trump w/o a doubt the most corrupt in memory! Nixon w/b able to rest easier in his grave now that Trump has taken the position into the sewer!
...To call the Clintons liars is like Nixon calling someone corrupt!
***DEPLORABLES. Couldn't care < that their prez committed obstr. of justice, but instead want to go after Comey.***
Comey? They're still going after Hillary! Lindsey Graham invoked her name talking about going back & investigating it all! The woman isn't in power, but they just can't help deflecting by going after her! ...That's how much Reps HATE these people; they want them dead! Nothing short of their last breaths will make "The Right Wing" happy!
***...The only way a jury could convict Comey is if some one thought Trump had done something. I don't see how a memo, no matter how it was worded would matter if there was no attempt to obstruct justice.***
When it comes to Reps, a crime doesn't have t/b committed! I'm still wondering what was the big deal w/ Benghazi? It was a horrible tragedy, but after all this X, investigations, hearings, & "talking points," I'm still asking "where's the crime Hillary committed or problem w/ Susan Rice interviews that Sunday?"
***I think we have to move beyond knee-jerk reaction to political labels including what party people belong to. I think Lieberman s/b seriously considered along w/ McCabe.***
But the polarization of today's politics has attached a lot to those labels and it can't be ignored! These POLS can't have lunch or a drink & be sociable due to the inherent campaigns trying to show differences! It's gotten ugly, but a lot uglier w/ Reps! ...Today, I think some of these FOOLS will take a bullet for Trump to save the party; the country be damned! All I know is if Bill was in office & Chelsea was running foreign policy, Reps' heads w/b spinning off their shoulders! The hypocrisy's palpable; esp. since the Clintons' name is still being invoked daily & neither have been in office in yrs! ...The Clintons are the most powerful & famous, some would say infamous couple in history! Trump still talks about prosecuting both for diff. reasons! The WHOLE PARTY's truly disturbed IMO & no other reason can come up w/ the reason they act like this so many yrs removed of '98!
***#1 method of self preservation? Impeachment & removal of Trump!***
I just assume he remains a placeholder getting lit'l to nothing done! Not sure I want Pence in that chair; might be more dangerous since he does have an cons. agenda! Ryan's the worst kind of pencil-neck Rep; all talk & w/ his sparkling reputation still has nothing on the books to crow about! Looks good in a speedo I guess; seems to care more about working out! We have no one else to blame, but it's coming to light Obama & all concerned saw the Russia connection w/ Trump! They just didn't want to look like they were putting their fingers on the scale w/ the election so close! Idiots that they are, it was thought we were smart enough to keep The Romanovs out of the WH!
***...You know not one item in Rep. platform has been signed into law yet; not one. So Reps only have one option to help them & that's impeach, then remove Trump very soon! Pence means < Trump < investigations.***
Nole's problem has been his inability to do what he was considered the best @; converting BP's! It's been ugly of late w/ opp. after opp. being lost & it's costing him by having a tougher match or earlier Rd loss! This wasn't happening w/ him in the past setting records besting the top 10, seasonal Masters vics, & an aura that used to give him 2 games just stepping on court! If Nole doesn't get to the final of Paris, he's going to drop 2 notches on the ranking!
***Paul Annacone has a theory that backs you up, Fiero. He says that it's not so much that he's losing a lot more pts, but where he's losing them. And BP conversion is a big 1. Rome was worse though. He gave away early breaks in each set & never = had a BP on Zverev's serve the whole match. The player who looked like the calm veteran in that match was the kid & the one who looked nervy & vulnerable throughout was the one who has 30 MS titles. That's not being tired from Sat., but something more worrisome. But hat's off to Sasha for being a cool customer too. That could have gone 3, anyway, just on maiden MS final nerves on his part. ---
Nadal, the natural right-hander who learnt to play left-handed, beat the grass GOAT in Wimbledon @ age 22 (after having beaten him on HC @ age 17), & also beat who many call the HC GOAT @ the USO twice, won the CGS @ an earlier age than any other player of his gen., & despite "not being very good on HC" won the American Summer HC Swing (which neither of the more talented, better HC players could do). Yes, so untalented.***
It's ugly tennis @ X's w/ Nadovic, but w/o a doubt both are talented in their own way! It isn't just hitting the cover off the ball w/ these guys & heaven knows they're not charging the net @ every op! So for them both to complete the CGS, close to doubling it, talent has t/b there! Nadal only being held back by not holding onto #1 for a respectable length of X & no YEC wins! Masters 1000 wins help make up some of those deficiencies!
***Nadal has played the YEC Final, but didn't win it. The same can almost be said of Fed regarding the FO, really. If not for Soderling in '09. Now, if Fed were missing the FO, wouldn't that hurt his resume infinitely more than Nadal missing the YEC? Surely Nadal having a Summer HC Swing & a Singles Olympic Gold on fast HC makes up for some of that, no?***
Of course it does; though all of the Big 3 have holes in their resumes which holds them back in some way! W/ Roger, he's down in the H2H vs the other 2; literally owned by Nadal on all surfaces! He's still the GOAT w/ the most majors @ 18! Nadal's biggest deficiency is the balance of work; most of his achievements paved on CLAY! He's been the least consistent of Fedalovic, breaking down periodically & dropping off the tour for extended periods; hence the inconsistent results! He's had great isolated yrs, but his only real chance of winning b2b was thwarted by Nole in '11 taking over their rivalry! Nole was the sole reason Rafa's not the official GOAT, stopping him in 3 str. majors alone after Rafa's '10; '11 Wimbledon & USO, & of course the unforgettable '12 AO contest running 5:53! Nole had his chance to overtake Nadal @ least, but has had troubles w/ semi-great "also-rans;" Wawrinka & Murray! Each has been a thorn in his side when it really counted! Djokovic will probably wind up being the perennial #3 of the group, but a very solid #3 = w/ Sampras' ghost still haunting the recordbks! Fedalovic'll have all the records after all's said & done and'll probably finish as they are right now; Fed #1, Rafa #2, & Nole #3, followed by Sampras, Laver, Borg, Lendl, Agassi, Connors, & McEnroe OTTH!
***Very well put, thank you. It almost looks as if this is something the summa-bitches from the ATP have written as a script after reading too many Stan Lee comics.***
...I've been looking forward to this for yrs; a breakthru by the "Next Gen!" I'm not going to proclaim "they're here" w/ the current success of Thiem as well, but it's definitely looking >er! Sasha & Thiem have been very consistent in their overall rec. = though individual matches c/b as diff. as night & day! ...You focus on upset of Nadal the day before, but Thiem needs to back it up! Let's see what Sasha does @ the FO! I don't expect him to win, but he >er not go out early to some nobody!
***...who's the highest ranked player w/ the least talent?***
In the old days, talent had lit'l to do w/ tennis in the pros! It was all about serving & volleying ...off the court! ...This guy Fleming was all serve & "when on" his game actually beat McEnroe! He still got to #10 in the world IIRC! Living in Chgo, we had an ATP event way back when! I attended the summer of '75 & was presented w/ a 'S & V-fest' from Tanner & Alexander of Aust.! Like Isner, it was all about the TB & Roscoe took it 7-6. 6-7, 7-6! Roscoe got up to #4, but IMO the highest ranked & least talented hacks were from the US & got t/b #1; Connors & Roddick! I just can't see talent; all about power w/ these guys! Jimmy had to do it w/ his groundies since his serve only won him a Chp. in '82 vs McEnroe @ Wimbl.! W/ Andy, it was all about the serve & FH; mind< aggression @ its best I guess! I couldn't stand the games of either & both held the #1 ranking; Roddick for about 5 min. & Connors for rec. yrs til Sampras & Fed!
***...Next best was Lennart Bergelin who coached Borg to 11 Slams.***
A true blast from the past! Borg called him Dr. "Black & Blue!" LB supposedly had very strong hands & if you had a bad shoulder or elbow, he would massage it until it "burned," but the next day the pain was gone! The only combo more successful I can think of OTTH was Navratilova w/ Mike Estep! Only together 4 yrs ('83-86), but she had a run for the ages taking 10 of the 15 majors played (6 in a row), count< indoor tour events, 5 YEC's including twice in '86 due to change from March to Nov!
***Bergelin was as icy in the stands as Bjorn was while playing. Great coach! Had Borg not packed it up @ 26, they could have won @ least 2 more FO's together. Had Borg played the '82 FO, he would have beaten 17-yo Wilander easily. - I think that WTF SF & Finals s/b BO5, = for women however.***
BO5 was used as an experiment to keep Navratilova on the court > than an hr back in '84 @ the VS Chps! She was toying w/ Evert around that X = on clay! Martina got bored & blitz Chris 6-1 in the 3rd, winning the 1st BO5 for women in 100 yrs! After that, w/ the likes of Graf, Hingis, Sabatini, & Seles, their contests were wars that went on for 4 hrs or more! I couldn't watch a 15 y.o. Hingis limping vs Graf in the 4th & 5th set in '96; likewise w/ Seles over Sabatini in '90 going the distance setting a rec. length of play for women! 3 hrs is long enough to watch women's tennis; thanks!
***It tends t/b the case in women's tennis more often than mens to me that the early Rds of Slams consist of too many beat downs for me to think turning them into best of 5 is a good idea. I'd like to see 1000's back to BO5 finals; seems unlikely....I'd guess players would rather play more tourneys than have their chances of a long season potentially hampered by those long finals. ---
...for the finals only i wouldn't mind, but the rest of the Rds in Masters events need to stay BO3.***
...At the USO, the most schizophrenic of the Majors went to BO3 in early Rds when Har-Tru clay laid down in '75 @ FH's! I seem to remember they = experimented w/ BO3 in the early Rds when it went to the HC in '78 @ Flushing! It's a wonder we have much stature after all that's occurred in NY, including a couple shootings & shady seedings/draw pulls!
***Other than Wimbl., all the Slams have experimented w/ BO3 in early Rds...- AO didn't have a 128 man field til '88 - some players got byes in 1st Rd - they had more part BO3, part BO5 than anywhere else - they experimented w/ having just 2 seeds some yrs - schizophrenia personified is the '82 edition
...1st 2 Rds were BO5, next 2 Rds were BO3, & then the last 3 Rds were BO5 again.***
Maybe, but this is the USO! That's supposed to mean something & I've actually been embarrassed by how this tournament has come off! The crappy weather, the air planes disrupting play for yrs, & scandals w/ draws! I def. remember when draws weren't quite "128" so the seeds got byes, but it wasn't b/c there weren't enough players! Upsets just didn't happen; = on grass, so it just wasn't worth taking the X to play early Rds for top players! ...For all the X spent complaining about the "Big 4" & how they've owned this era, past gens had moments of predictability; just didn't go on for 10+ yrs like now!
***...All 3 AO finals were very hard to take, can't say what is the worst.***
Nadal had no business = in the running for winning that match in '12 vs Nole! It was the same situation vs Roger in major finals! Djokovic c/b serving for the match; someX's up 2 brks! I can = call when he brks to get into that position, but he finds a way to allow himself to get into battles that probably shb OVER 2 hrs before! All players have a tourney that's their bugaboo! W/ Borg it was The USO, Lendl fell short @ Wimbledon, & Nole couldn't get any more unlucky in Paris until he finally won it last season; BUT AT WHAT COST? He hasn't been the same since; some would say the spiral had already begun! If he can squeak out this FO, his whole season w/b saved IMO!
***I actually believe Djokovic will win RG.***
I actually hope Nole can claim 1 more FO so he can own 2 CGS's & set himself apart w/ his Nole-Slam ('15 Wimbl.-'16 FO), but it wouldn't bother me to have someone of the "Next Gen" take it! I'd love for either Thiem or A. Zverev to win next month in RG!
***...Novak re-found his tennis for 2 days in the QF/SF. Struggling to get your groove back when it's gone so far walkabout is not a surprise. It didn't help him to have a weird schedule, but he certainly didn't play more tennis than he was used to in those 3 days in Rome.***
It happens to all players! I remember when it started happening to Connors after '84! He had gone maybe 3 yrs w/o a tourney win & got to Orlando final in '87 vs a SA, Christo van Rensburg, ranked #88! Everyone thought; no prob! Jimmy's got this! NOPE! Lost it in 3 to the kid; not close dropping the 3rd set 1-6!
Everyone's heard of Sampras' inexplicable fall from grace! He's winning a Wimbledon in 2000 over a good grass court player; Rafter, who upset Agassi in the SF! The loss to Safin @ the USO wasn't causing red flags yet, but lit'l did we know that he would toil on the tour for 2 more yrs trying to win another title; not just a major of any type! It got so bad, he actually lost a 2nd Rd match @ '02 Wimbl. to some Swiss player I'd never heard of then or since; George Bastl! WHO?
All the "Big 4" have gone thru droughts, taken over #1 for a while, then given way to another member! Nothing's been more shocking than Federer's 4th act this season! I thought he was "done" after winning '12 Wimbl.; = w/ the other major finals! I just thought he'd allow Nole, Rafa, or Murray the win, but here we are w/ Grandpa Fed +ing to his legacy! Who'd of THUNK IT?"
Nole's been in a rut, where I haven't been able to update anything on his BLOG other than noting the latest loss! I expected to increase his stats on the page dealing w/ Masters & Majors; nothing since Canada believe it or not! Qatar not on the radar; = though a nice win over Murray!
***Prioritizing funding away from Planned Parenthood to comprehensive health care alternatives is a winning issue. ---
There are few things more expensive & damaging to the economy than people having children before they are ready. Basically you are trying to keep a group of people impoverished needlessly. It doesn't matter if you spend the $$ on something else worthwhile.***
That's too logical for cons! "Cause & Effect" are lost on them, barely able to see 10 mins into the future; look at TRUMP! The logical thing to do w/b to fix Obamacare, but in their twisted minds, it w/b better to undermine, sabotage, & wait for it to fail! I finally learned it's a waste of X = trying to reason w/ people who truly believe "compromise" is a dirty word! I can't ever be surprised how vile "the rightwing" argument about things have turned; I'm nauseated & have withdrawn! It's a helpless feeling seeing us being run over by a minority of voters who are terribly unsympathetic to others until tragedy hits them! All of a sudden they're wondering what c/b done for them! The hypocrisy's mind-numbing!
***Jared Kushner Reportedly Draws Interest Of FBI In Russia Investigation - Kushner has come under scrutiny b/c of contacts w/ Russian officials. ---
Kushner has not been accused of wrongdoing, both outlets noted - ...Hey, being under FBI investigation is just a daily occurrence in this WH.***
Just another example of Trump deflecting his own life when he promised Hillary w/b under perpetual investigation! When hasn't Donald or someone close to him been "a person of interest?"
***Trump's bully tactics don't seem to be serving him very well in gov't. Although Reps control the SC, Congress, & WH, I expect that American patriotism will give us an outcome in the Trump-Russia crises that most of us w/b reasonably satisfied w/. However, there's one humongous wrong that can't be corrected - how Hillary Clinton was unfairly robbed of the presidency. Comey must burn in Hell for how he messed that up. Reportedly, Comey opened his investigation into her emails based on a fake Russian document. Then, as X passed by, & he became more convinced he was duped (as others around him warned), he muddied the waters w/ all his subjective comments about Hillary being care< & sloppy w/ how she handled supposedly classified documents. But nothing rose to the level of a crime that no prosecutor would pursue according to him. He never admitted that his entire investigation was based on a fake Russian document - & he bypassed AG Lynch right before the election to publicly state he was ending his investigation. He felt compelled to do this to keep Lynch from divulging that he was duped by a fake document - which we wouldn't know about except for the excellent reporting by The NY Times & The Wash'ton Post - & other media pros. Whether 1 loves or hates Hillary - one cannot deny how unfairly she was robbed.***
Never heard of Alt-facts? The Trump Admin. swirls in it & has survived living in an alternate reality!
***Well, Obama is currently ranked 15th out of 45 U.S. Presidents.***
As much as Reps tried to delegit. the man as President, Obama wound up having a pretty successful tenure, = w/ all the obstruction & back biting by the pathetic "rightwing!" He accomplished what others weren't able to do for 100 yrs; Nat'l Health! That's right up there w/ Soc. Sec., Medicare, Medicaid, & Civil Rights legis.! It's a place holder McConnell & the rest of those snakes can't seem to elim. = though they've been trying for 8 yrs! They've shown it's easier to say "NO" than to actually lead & "produce" something! We're still waiting for 1 significant piece of legis. t/b passed! NOTHING really so far; Trump's only been able assassinate Obama EO's w/ his own!
***Trump getting closer & closer to a long stretch @ this rate - Exactly! 92 more months in office. ---
Ha! He won't make it past Xmas. - Care to bet your signature for a yr on that?***
I've finally learned my lesson! Reps have figured out "never underest. the gullibility of the electorate!" They've been cleaning up & no matter how slimy things can get, they persevere & go on! Lawsuits galore against Trump; no problem! Doesn't share his health or tax records; no problem! Admits to assaulting women saying 'as a celebrity you can get away w/ anything;' no problem, family affair in the admin. WH; no problem, his trips have already cost the country > Obama's 8 yrs; no prob! I could go on, but Trump sycophants wouldn't hold it against him = those molestation cases! They've proved it's more important to have him "represent" than to actually accomplish something! He's one of them! I've lived thru a lot; this is a new low!
***...Yes, but how long have we had these other programs in effect like Soc. Sec.? Obamacare's DOA a mere 3-5 yrs after becoming effective. It's unaffordable, unsustainable, and was based on a set of deliberate lies. It w/b very hard to replace, but not b/c the GOP is < effective, but b/c now people see healthcare as an entitlement. The fact is that it can never work & be both good, cheap & universal, so now the GOP is faced w/ the <er of the evils; being good & cheaper, but it'll not be universal. Obamacare was good & universal, but it was not cheap. If we let it devolve now into socialized gov't care, it w/b cheap & universal, but it'll not be good. ---
The last X Reps were in power w/ GW Bush, they did their damnedest to start WW III-- the rest of the world was more concerned w/ climate change, thank goodness. Now they are back @ it again in case you hadn't noticed---***
What is it they say about insanity; the definition of Rep thought? lol! The problem is the people who are gullible enough to listen to that "supply side" nonsense! I hope Jared K. talks Trump into staying w/ the Paris accords before being run out of DC! = if it were to ignite the economy, it all comes w/ a cost! How insane not to care about the quality of the air & water necessary to human life! I've given up trying to over-est. the intel. of the electorate who reward radical thinking = if it costs them in the end! Taking away these treaties as well as Obamacare is only going to hurt the poor & middle class! We continue to vote against our own interests & wonder "what happened" after all's said and done!
***They elected a major "Obama-birther" to sit as president--- he mhb very convincing. - Why does Obama not get the credit for such an improved economy?***
Reps have committed to trying to eliminate any trace that Obama was = President if you ask me! McConnell tipped his hand before the man took office in '09; "I will commit to making Obama a 1 term President!" Two terms later, Obama's still waiting for an apology for how he was treated & maybe a "thank you!"
***They'll just cry about "economic growth" = though they couldn't care less. - They already showed Kushner lied on his security clearance.***
That's not the 1/2 of it; Kush trying to set up backchannels using Russian resources was so "below the pail" their Amb. Kislyak had to rat out Trump's S-I-L! He c/b pardoned of course, but these simpletons would probably try & put Pee Wee back in the same position waving his "pardon;" maybe framing it over his desk!
***The topic is Hillary. Try to keep up babe.***
The topic c/b Trump, but people like you will deflect by bringing up Hillary, Benghazi, & emails! It's pathetic & hypocritical! If it were the Clintons knee deep in Russians, the heads of the cons. movement w/b spinning off their shoulders! Jerks!
...Obama held off an attacking "Tea Bag" revolution & still got more done! ...
It wasn't enough when Hannity promoted the "Birther" movement, he then began asking the ?? nightly "why do so many people think Obama's Muslim?" ...The Seth Rich story has backfired & he's on notice!
Hannity's now kvetchin' "censorship" trying to silence him! He forgets that he & O'Reilly went on nightly rants about liberal thought or musicians' lyrics! They create hysteria over Acorn, the CGI, & PP trying to drive them out of existence for political reasons over the work accomplished for the working poor & impoverished nations on the other side of the world! I've lost so much respect for cons/Reps who play GOD, cry wolf all the X, & are "perpetual victims" of Dems & MSM! ---
Lou Dobbs is still railing against the Clintons & CGI! Like most nutty cons, it was a "criminal enterprise!" It's just unfathomable; the blind hatred of the Clinton detractors! These jerks would sacrifice everything to have Bill & Hillary in disrepute, prison, or preferably dead!
***...& please don't call Trump's Chumps cons. They aren't; not = close.***
Ivanka, her Bros, & Jared couldn't vote for Trump in the primary b/c they're all hardcore Dems! ...selling their souls to the highest bidders!
***...Elect. College needed to reject Trump & elect Clinton. Didn't work! The incumbent President didn't use powers to prevent foreign colluder from influencing the elections either! 17 agencies said so what was what.***
That's it! Funny how Trump was always saying if Clinton wins, "she'll be under so many investigations, nothing will get done!" "Mirror, mirror ...?"
***I love how Hillary plays the victim card like a CHAMP for losing to Trump.***
...and Trump doesn't feel like a victim 24/7? Please! "No president in recent memory has been treated, & I say this w/ all sincerity, has been treated as shamefully as I have!" He's always aggrieved, whining about being talked about or complaining about "not being given credit!" He's so full of shit; we deserve what he's doing to us & the rest of the world!
***Hillary lost b/c of Hillary.***
...and? That doesn't change the facts "we're in trouble" for the foreseeable future w/ this nitwit & his family of losers & cronies in charge of everything!
***You may think so. I think we whb worse off w/ Hillary as POTUS.***
We'll see how you feel by Labor Day! I personally think Hillary was a lot more qualified, but we all know Reps would have taken obstruction to a new level! If you think Obama was dissed, it whb truly disgusting if Hillary had won! She's lost & has pretty much stayed quiet, but Trump & the rest of Congress can invoke her name every single day; usually as a deflective dodge when asked a ?? about Trump & his shady dealings!
***Y'all insist that cons stop talking about Hillary, but they run magazine cover stories on her.***
People have made their careers kvetchin' about the Clintons! It actually cost the life of Barbra Olsen on her way to Cal. to participate on Bill Mahar's old ABC show, "Politically Incorrect!" She was on one of those flights that went down on 911! She mhb a great person IRL, but on the stump, the poison was dripping from her fangs concerning Bill & Hill! It was sad then & it's still sad now! LET THESE PEOPLE GO!
***It's about X that Merkel said something. Alienating the US & Europe is exactly what Putin wants. ...The thing is, when European leaders say something then it pushes Trump further away from them & causes his temper tantrums b/c he can't deal w/ criticism. So, how to proceed? How does one acknowledge that Trump is not a normal President & needs t/b treated like the incompetent authoritarian that he is w/o giving Russia the win?***
W/ all this Russian intrigue, it's obvious "PARTY" is more important to Reps! Ages ago, they w/b up in arms concerning all things Russian, now Trump hasn't = acknowledged they contributed to shenanigans during the last campaign! Trump's so paranoid already, that extra doubt has taken him over the edge! I can't believe he's listening to anyone w/ the way he treated those leaders in Europe! Of course Putin's rubbing his hands together saying to himself, "$$ well spent on Trump!"
***Russian Winger hypocrisy knows no bounds - Reagan & AMERICAN CITIZENS of his era would shoot theses so called patriots dead in their traitor tracks. Being from that era & a REAL AMERICAN I earned the right to say this, "FUCK TRUMP & his RUSSIAN-WINGERS. ---
Well I do not believe anyone here voted for Trump & I'd like to ignore him for the next 4 yrs, but the guy's a bully. In the past few days the idiot has been 'going off' on Germany. ...Mika & Joe, on "Morning Joe" feel like he doesn't have any understanding of the concept. And he's dealing w/ a woman who's much smarter than he is & he knows it. Plainly put I think Donald's intimidated by smart women & he lashes out.***
Hmmm, where have I heard this before? Oh, it mhb w/ Hillary & the last election!
***The irony that these are the same people in Congress who constantly cast aspersions on Obama for not believing in American "exeptionalism" & not maintaining the US's leadership in the world is breathtaking. Apparently it really was always & only partisanship that drove all their reactions to Obama. - ...and RACISM.***
In the past Reps have always stressed @ least to respect the office of the Presidency, but when you have one of these animals call out "you lie" @ the SOTU address while Obama's speaking, what else would you call their behavior? There's "the Birther movement," calling Obama Muslim, Kenyan, unpatriotic, & called < than intelligent by ??ing his bona fides from Harvard! That's all about racism & I don't have to have felt it in the past to know it when I see & hear it!
***I think they're correct in saying that Obama didn't believe in American exceptionalism. What they are missing is that Trump doesn't believe in it either. ---
And they don't either. However Obama's policies had the intent of the US maintaining Int'l leadership, which is also something apparently of no consequence to (most) Congressional Reps.***
I'm sorry, but I've been around for a long X & the only thing exceptional about us is our gullibility & short memories!
***How did Minnesota Become a State Full of Idiots?***
Sen. Cruz is a true brain surgeon who deserved his seat in TX; NOT! This is the same person who read "Green Eggs & Ham" while filibustering the budget & a raise in the "Debt Ceiling?" That lit'l prank of shutting down the gov't cost us well over $20 B; "thanks Dr. Seuss!" - What happened to the bragging of all Reps that the whole country's going "red?" They own it all in DC, governorships from coast to coast, State Houses; down to City Councils! They still say the country's going to HELL, but they aren't taking credit for the current state of affairs! SICK!
***Hillary Clinton Blames The Media for her loss***
I think the media DID help TRUMP! ...He brags about groping women by their pussies, but women still elected this misogynist pig! The world has been turned upside down' > than we possibly will ever know! Ramifications yrs down the line are yet to occur! Glad I'm old & won't have t/b bothered w/ it!
***What has Trump done worse that is *illegal* (your not liking it doesn't count)***
Being President; unethical = illegal IMO! Hiring his family, not divesting himself of business so in violation of all kinds of rules! I feel w/o a doubt, = w/ a Rep. Congress, they'll have no choice but to impeach this idiot!
***...You can't impeach people you don't like or no president would make it past day 1.***
Rep. made up BS isn't against the law either! Trying to deflect constantly bringing up leaks only shows desperation in comparison to real issues of election tampering/collusion w/ Russians! It's blowing up in your face & all you guys can talk about is Rice maybe unmasked Flynn!
***Trump IS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION now is he? You keep using that word. i don't think it means what you think it means.***
That's why you're having trouble; you're just not thinking! Trump promotes willful ignorance! That's up to you, but as long as I have breath in my weak ass body, I'd like to live in reality rather than the Alt. Uni. you appear t/b living in! Good luck w/ that when it all blows up; mark my words! This is HUGE w/ all kinds of circumstantial evidence vs Trump as compared to the made-up BS w/ Hillary concerning Benghazi! I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me "her crime" in that issue? I guess you just want to PROVE a lie so you can say to us, "SEE!" Well bravo, you have your meaningless victory w/ a nitwit @ the helm of STATE! I pray you don't have kids to have to deal w/ the residual affects of his tenure! Obama left things in pretty good shape so he doesn't have to deal w/ the crippled economy & all the rest that occurred during "W's" term in office! If Trump can turn it around & we're all steppin' thru the tulips in great shape, I'll apologize & applaud it! I have a feeling HELL will freeze before that ever happens!
***Trump was right. He could shoot someone in broad daylight & you people would still support him. The sad part is that you only support him b/c of the (R) next to his name. You don't care what he does or says, = if it makes you look like a complete hypocrite. As long as he's on your "team," you'll support him. To quote Trump, "SAD!" ---
That's just it - I'm fine waiting for results. You seem hellbent on being right, not seeing what *is* right. ...How come you let FACTS slide while you glom on "circumstantial," then tell other people they're being stupid.***
...What you're doing is thinking everyone else is stupid to believe the constant whining & victimhood just b/c the TRUTH is being told about this Orange NERO! DC's burning around him & all he wants to do is play golf! ...He did it to himself accusing Obama of bugging Trump Tower! Rep. investigations have disproven it all & he keeps trying to spin it! You're obviously dizzy; I got off Trump's merry-go-round 30 yrs ago! He was a fool then & he's still a fool!
***Kathy Griffin Beheads Donald Trump in Shocking Photo Shoot - the outrage w/b loud & clear. But since it was done to Trump, not a word. Fk all the left wing hypocritical jerks.***
I just heard Trump Tweeted about the situation & just had to bring Barron into it! "He's having trouble dealing w/ it!" This from the person that gave 4 hrs of X in the WH to Ted Nugent who put a gun up to the picture of Obama & said "suck on my machine gun Obama!?" I hope The Donald sent cards to Malia & Sasha to make up for that! Oh the outrage! Fk Trump, all his kids, & everyone else playing this victim game!
***Yes. When Trump the imbecile spoke all that crap, he lost any claim to civility or dignity. - Apparently The President of the U.S. lacks the authority to do anything these days.***
It was being told to us for yrs; esp. during the Obama era, "all you need to do is elect us to the Presidency along w/ Congress & we'll change how things are done in Wash'ton!" Still waiting to see it when they OWN IT ALL! It's > than a lit'l pathetic! Trump has to relieve his stress boner by reversing Obama's EO's; unprecedentedly, malicious evil! The Rep. Party is a mere shell of itself & I just don't recognize it anymore! They have covered themselves in slime that I can't see to be easily washed off anyX soon!
***Tech., it's COMEY who's guilty of obstruction of justice for not reporting Trump's supposed attempt to shut down the Flynn investigation; which of course never happened; - Which is it? You claim Comey is guilty of something that never happened.***
= w/ all Trump's bluster, if put under oath, he won't lie! He's been in depositions where he finally had to come to reason "they got me & if I take this further, I'll be in = more trouble!" He finally paid up for Trump U. when he supposedly never gives up! After Comey testifies, backed up w/ all kinds of dated memos relating Trump improper behavior, The Donald will crack! If he goes on & tries to deny it, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE w/b solidified around his lard arse! Comey mentioned all the impropriety to associates whereas Trump can only say, "what's the big deal? I was just spit-balling w/ the guy!" He's Toast!
***Trump will respond like he did for Trump U. where he said he couldn't recall any of the people he hired. We all know what happens when the president lies in a deposition. - What is scary is we have rightwing pols in Australia who think Trump has done the right thing.***
Nothing new really! It's been happening all over the world in diff. countries @ diff. X's! You actually had a period where there was a rise of "Brown Shirts" in Germany, Brexit made Int'l news from England, & the biggest, most horrific wave of insanity occurred here in the States when we elected this reptile to the leadership of the free world! = though he's abdicated his responsibility w/ this latest action, he still has the power to create a lot of havoc & residual effects c/b substantial! In his head, he's been very successful by picking a SC Justice = though a stolen seat! His next great accomp. is to try & roll back every piece of a legacy for Obama! He's given way & let the Birther movement die it's slow death, has relentlessly attacked Obamacare threatening to allow it to die on its own, & attempting to reverse all his EO possible! It's j/b an obscene exercise of ignorance, pettiness, & outright bigotry! Screw him & his whole horrible family! They're just as complicit backing him up to this pt! The only associates I have any respect for are the ones that resign & jump ship before their own reputations are soiled for good! I can only imagine the 3-Ring Circus that's going on inside the West Wing!
***Fiero, what's wrong w/ JowillieTs..is he playing sloppy or just getting outplayed.***
As I said earlier, that's what makes the "Big 4" special! When there's recent success by a player like J-WT, Thiem, A. Zverev, it shouldn't be a surprise when they can't back it up @ a major! You just don't see "also-rans" winning smaller events, = a Masters the way Sasha did recently being able to do anything in a major subsequently! It's almost guaranteed they'll be upset; exhaustion, nerves, expectations all taking their toll! We've already seen the lack of consistency w/ pretty good players who break down mentally or physically like Grigor, Kei, & Milos! All kinds of game, but will ultimately be "footnotes" in the history of the game!
***Sascha's a hero, leave him alone Fiero. His heroics in Rome won't be forgotten & I've started to apprec. him very much this yr. He's 1 of my fave players to watch currently. He played many matches this clay season & just couldn't fight hard enough vs an in-form Verdasco. Clay isn't = his best surface. He has a Masters title already. He truly deserves his newly forged nickname, Alexander the Great. Heck, he = looks like him. As for Tsonga & other also rans, you'd be hard pressed to call it an upset = though it's 1 by def. ---
Tsonga wins his next match in Paris, then 6 of the top 10 players are 30+. Madness. Ye Olde Berdman also waiting in the wings.***
Which is why I use the term gutless for the "new" & "next" gens to allow old geezers to rule the rankings for so long!
***They're just of a lower caliber, almost uniformly... outgunned. It's b/c the talent pool has been strip-mined, and a JV squad remains. Top's gotta age out at some pt, though (sentiment reiterated annually since circa '10). ---
Have an extended grass season. Upgrade Hamburg back to 1000 status, but w/ grass cts. Then have Queens or Halle as a 1000 leading up to Wimbledon. Drop Miami to accommodate this & have IW, CAN., Cinci leading up to USO. Radical changes but would make it interesting. Overall though I'm happy enough w/ the tennis calander.***
I think we've had threads about upgrading a grass tourney to Masters' status before! I would endorse it, but it's not likely! Changes have been coming fast & furious; might want to slow down for a while! It's about $$$ & from what I remember players are already offended by "entertainment tax" in England which is the reason Halle has such a good field! Hamburg w/b good as well! If there was a change, I'd go w/ a mainland event!
***As many others have pointed out, if Rafa wasn't hot garbage on grass, he'd be seeded >er. But he IS, so he isn't. Got it? Good.***
The whining never stops! If it doesn't work in Nadal's favor, it's unfair! Rosol going late under the dome/lights sev. yrs ago on Centre Ct. still "frosts his cake!" He's been a crybaby since the beginning which is why I didn't care for him = as a kid! There was this self-entitlement feel to him where most just saw it as confidence! I still say this guy has stolen many a match w/ his gamesmanship; strategically X'd MTO's, stalling, toweling off, & ??ing every point he loses! Funny how he doesn't like this seeding method; tried his own brand of shady dealing by suggesting a 2 yr ranking period instead of 1 when VP of the ATP players' council! He thought he could hold onto the #1 ranking longer in '11, but thinking back, his '09 was awful, culminating in him losing all 3 of his RR matches @ the YEC! Nole was not so subtly running up on him winning final after final in '11, taking Nadal down by Wimbledon, the title, & #1 ranking!
I've mention a few instances where the game of tennis changed it's schedule or = the format due to extenuating circumstances! The 1st that comes to mind was the AO being moved from Jan. to Dec. in '78 to maybe attract Borg since he was routinely in line for a CYGS taking the FO & Wimbledon 3 str. seasons; '78-80! They figured he'd win the USO sooner or later & he did make finals, but had the worst of luck there w/ scheduling, injuries, & speed of the court! Ten yrs later it was moved back to Jan. in X for the '88 season; now on HC instead of grass!
The next change I can think of happened in '84 w/ the VS Chp.! Navratilova was on a run seldom seen in the modern game, routinely crushing her opps in 40 min.! By that season she was = toying w/ Evert on clay; allowing her only 6 games in 2 matches btw the WTA CC & FO finals! They decided to make the final a BO5 just to keep her on the court longer than an hr, but she still called the shots & put Evert out of her misery 6-1 in the 3rd! They continued that format until '99 going back to BO3 after sev. painful matches w/ children going 5 sets; Hingis, Seles, Sabatini!
The "court-line" calling system was the result of a match btw Jennifer Capriati & Serena Wms @ the USO over 10 yrs ago! SW was hosed, but Capriati made the match more difficult for herself by not winning that 2nd & 3rd sets w/ leads; finally winning it 6-4 in the 3rd! There were some horrendous line calls & a system was developed called "Hawk-Eye" soon after!
***Fed & Nadal skipping Hamburg in '06 after a 5 setter in the Miami final was probably the catalyst to usher in the change for Masters finals from 5 sets to 3. There was still another yr of BO5 set finals, but I think this triggered it.***
It's hard to avoid thinking Masters 1000 events have been devalued just a lit'l by going BO3 making it easier for the current top player to have a nice run of 4-6 wins of the 9 solidifying a truly great season! That just didn't happen much when BO5; even winning back to back was a huge achievement! Nole won the 1st 3 events 2 yrs ago! That never would have happened in past eras! ===
***Djokovic's no longer the ruthless tennis machine who brazenly thrived while dethroning & then dominating icons Feddal. That relentlessly ambitious Djokovic is gone. Today we have a man who seems more interested in building his image as a peace & love ambassador, trying to attract love & adoration from all the fans & media by behaving as a perfect sportsman.
...Jim Courier has noticed a change in Djokovic’s comp. demeanor & isn't impressed. ...Couier, who won 4 majors overall & reigned as the ATP World #1 player, +ed that Djokovic has to get focused on the job & get nastier out there.
Nole ended up winning in five sets to progress to the R16 & possibly a SF showdown w/ Nadal. But today we didn't see anything close to resembling the Djokovic we remember @ his pinnacle, the 1 w/ the burning obsession t/b the best. It seems Djokovic has lost a fraction (or a lot more) of his once unquenchable desire & greed to conquer.
Having earned over $100 M in his pro career, Djokovic may have lost his desire & replaced it w/ grander motivations & inspirations. But… “t/b the best @ anything you have t/b willing to get blood on your hands.” And it doesn't look like Djokovic has that capacity anymore. Playing tennis as if he’s had his fangs yanked out & his claws clipped, there's absolutely 0 chance Novak'll defend his RG title or win any more major titles. – Scoop Malinowski***
***For anyone saying that bringing up Margaret's defense of Apartheid is unfair ...; so let's not act like she couldn't think for herself @ the X.***
...I had always placed Court above all others until then! It was easier to dismiss her since she "got fat" on taking 11 AO when most top players didn't bother taking a boat all the way down to that Gawd-forsaken place in Kooyong! It's the same reason Nadal'll not go down in history anywhere near Goatdom w/ 9 FO in +tion to 5 other majors! So many other players have more of what's considered "The Chp" & the USO a close 2nd in stature! In my day, the FO was barely a rung above the AO w/ a lot of players skipping the tourn. for most of their careers! ...= w/ Lendl & Wilander winning so many of them, I don't think it got to ELITE status until the 90's when Courier followed up w/ 2 titles after Chang's win in '89! JMHO!
***The ATP has created a companion to the WTF's for the young up-and-comers. It'll be played in Milan. I thought perhaps it deserved its own thread, = though we have a "Young Guns" thread. It's for 21 & under.
- Current standings, includ. age, pts, tourns played:
...Novak destroyed Thiem in the SF last yr though that was a far diff. Novak in Paris. This'll tell us > about Dom than Nole. If Nole wins, he gets destroyed next Rd anyways. If Dom wins convincingly, it'd be something of a breakthru & that becomes a tough SF for Rafa.***
I wouldn't mind that scenario, but Dom had better not play "lights out" vs Nole, then have a brain cramp the next Rd t/b blown out by Rafa!
***Seeing the results of their Rome "match" this yr & their last RG encounter btw Nole & Dom, one w/b hard pressed to call it a match up. Thiem's BH's not very good defensively & he makes loads of errors w/ it, then tries to hit = >er on the FH side to compensate, bleeding errors from both wings. Although it has t/b said, Thiem played only 1 good set vs Novak & that was in London last yr, which was a very tight TB he won. It's miraculous how Djokovic just summons the worst in Thiem. Realistic QF prediction: Cold-cocks Thiem 7-5 6-2 6-2***
...Tmrw will let us know if Thiem has come of age yet; not like I'm looking for him to beat Nole, but this is his best chance after being humiliated 2 wks ago in Rome! I can't really see any upsets un< Kei plays out of his mind & takes Murray down! The most likely thing to happen is for him to get close, but break down like so many other players these days! The # of retirements is staggering! What in the world is going on?
***So, 7 of the 8 players who are supposed to reach QF as per seeding actually reached. The only exception being PCB getting in there @ the expense of Milos. Tmrw's match btw Novak & Thiem c/b exciting. Novak still has issues going by his scorelines, but Thiem has some sort of match-up problem w/ Novak. This could go all the way w/ Novak winning in the end I suppose. - Thiem destroyed his last opp. & Djokovic's still struggling, = when he gets by in 3. There's a solid chance that Dominic turns the tables tmrw. If he doesn't make a huge fight of it, then he does have a match-up problem w/ Novak.***
***Face reality dude, not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim. McVeigh was not a Muslim; one out of sev. Mil.***
Slower people around here have forgotten Ruby Ridge, The Olymps in Atl., WACO, San Bernardino, & so many other attacks from home grown nuts! Do I need to go on? ---
...All Reps are it seems since they're in charge & can't get a fk'n thing done! All they want to do is hash out failures of Obamacare, Benghazi, & immigration! They're all pretty pathetic & getting worse!
***We have a former Sec of State who was leaking classified info to a sex offender...***
You guys really need to find something else to rant about! ...I'm sorta glad Hillary lost b/c Reps would have run this same game of obstruction as they did w/ Obama, but what makes them extra pathetic, they actually have the Presidency & still can't get anything done! YOU GUYS ARE PATHETIC LOSERS! Flush out your own house before worrying about the Dems morons!
***I'm not "brow-beating" her. I'm pointing out she committed felonies...***
Believe me it's brow beating! I watch FNC along w/ other media & they invoke her name everyday; all day! Their fk'n President is losing his mind & about t/b impeached & all "THEY" seem to care about is bringing her down low! It's been frustrating to them all that w/ all they've done & said, The Clintons will still go down in history on a >er rung than any of those snakes on "the right!"
***No, it'll show that the powerful don't get away w/ openly committing felonies.***
What country...err... planet are you living on? If you work in DC, blood's on your hands! = a 25 y.o. indep. INTEL contractor was taken away today for misappropriating sec. secrets! Everyone's guilty of something; esp. the Trump admin.!
***You're making my exact pt. If this 25 yo's going t/b spending X in Fed. prison, why shouldn't Hillary?***
Trump 1st! We'll revive the thread by Xmas when Flynn, Manafort, Sessions, Jared & Donald w/b in disrepute or facing consequences of their actions!
***Why do we have t/b tolerant of bigoted people? It makes no sense. We can help stop bigoted views by denouncing those views, not by normalizing them.***
Believe it or not it has gone too far in the other direction of being PC to the detriment of speech freedom! Conservatives have taken to playing the victim and relating instances again & again of where they're being spat upon or bullied! Ann Coultier & Laura Ingraham whine the most due to colleges and other speaking engagements becoming "hate-fest," jeering them, or the event not coming off at all when they're cancelled due to security reasons! I just wouldn't go, but others feel the need to throw stones & riot just b/c someone's saying something intolerant! I can't stand cons. speakers, but I'm not going to incite myself into a lather & cause havoc to stop them! It's unfortunate we have too much X on our hands to sweat ignorant speech that's endorsed by the current "Commander-in- Chief!" Acting like him on the other side isn't doing us any good! Ignorance begets ignorance I always say!
***Maher should've just called himself a housekeeper instead of "house-N word." Would have been a lot safer. lol...***
Maybe, but these days, no matter how benign a statement, all sides are looking t/b offended by something! I'm too old to get upset over a stupid joke or prank! The Trumps going after Griffin only shows how "small" all of them have t/b to = acknowledge her tasteless act! For them to criticize her for something like what she did & not take in consideration all their crooked patriarch has done is to laugh over the hypocrisy! We'll see how sanctimonious they are when Jared winds up in an adjourning cell to his father for his acts & lies! These people need to look in the mirror before casting those stones! Fk'n IDIOTS!
***I can't figure out why Reps keep defending this guy. Trump's a serious problem in just about every way. If he's impeached, they'll still have a Rep. president, so why not just dump him? His problems get worse & worse every day. Defending him is more & more problematic every day as well.***
After Trump, it'll be rich w/ Reps trying to criticize any Dem; = Pelosi! Invoking Hillary is an exercise in futility on FNC, but they just can't help themselves! She lost, Trump won, but they'd rather talk about her misdeeds!
***If Russia had interfered w/ '16 election I think there s/b a fresh special election for president.***
Well that's not going to happen! Don't you remember back in 2000? They wouldn't = count all the votes again in Fla where it was as crooked as they come w/ "W" supporters assaulting the counting office!
***I live in So. Fla & remember election 2000-- those "angry mob of local Bush supporters" rushing the Miami Herald recounting offices on Nat'l camera were from Chgo-- all expense paid trip to Fla thanks to Tom DeLay---Over 50,000 votes had not been counted due to things like hanging chads, etc., & it was the Dems who wanted these included in a hand recount, which was never allowed to finish. There was never a hand recount, = though 1 is required by law when the count is that close.***
Those nefarious people, including that "dragon woman" AG who certified the count is the reason I won't = travel to FLA, much < move there as a friend wanted me down in Orlando! Electing SCOTT twice was the last straw & think y'all deserve anything that happens with such a corrupt character leading you! I heard, after he cut the ed. budget when 1st elected by over $1B to give tax cuts to corps! HS dropouts didn't get you to 50% grad. rate! What's wrong w/ people down there to think that's acceptable?
***And they want to deflect to Hillary Clinton emails-- - The Nat'l TV news is making it look as though Trump is in serious trouble; that Comey has sealed his fate. And then as a lit'l footnote, they briefly mention about the 3 X's he told Trump that he was not under any investigation.***
Every day, in every TP is "Bill on the tarmac speaking w/ the AG" @ the X, Lynch! That was so corrupt, they want to shut gov't down to investigate that fully! You would think Hillary had won the race after all & Trump was looking for excuses why he lost! It makes no sense; = w/ moderates you thought had a brain like Lindsey Graham! He can't help acting like one of these assholes when in the end he'll do the right thing!
***AG Jeff Sessions has rejected a request to testify before the House Oversight Committee.***
You saw how much he was on the hot seat during confirmation = when not under suspicion! They w/b loaded for bear & he'll be shown t/b quite dishonest & unworthy of his position as AG!
***He's also going after legal & medical marijuana-- clamped down on controlled substances... soliciting funding for the private prison system. He's a "bad cop"...***
***The GOP, electing a President for the 2nd X in 5 elections w/ a minority PV.***
I have a problem w/ all pols, Dems & Reps alike, but everyone knows "compromise" is a dirty word "on the right!" Libs would love to come to a consensus on diff. issues w/ cons, but w/ hardasses in the South, they're not having it! The constituents they've globed together punish them for any signs of weakness or making "nice;" hence so few mod. Reps left! Dems had it all in '08-10 & got us Nat'l HC, but at a cost! Reps have it all & all they can tout is how many members they have from coast to coast! "Ok guys, you own it! Whatcha going to do w/ it?" Reps are like the proverbial dog running after a car; "now what?" Trump has accomplished nothing = though he keeps touting all kinds of things w/ his EO's! That's not legislating!
***...Bush left Crawford immediately & bought some swanky multi-mill. $$ pad in Dallas...not a word from the right!***
Of course, which is why I don't understand why these clowns are taken seriously? When Reagan was criticized for his $2 mill., 2 speech deal in Japan days after leaving office, "nothing from Reps!" He was "GIVEN" a house by his HOLLYWOOD buds & I seem to remember they had to change the address from 666 to 667 since Nancy so superstitious! That old asshole not only cleaned up w/ all that, he was collecting Soc. Sec.! NOW that's a real travesty!
***Now Trump is under investigation like I have been saying---***
Most people don't realize, Trump put himself under investigation when he accused Obama of "wiretapping" Trump Tower! Both sides are looked @ & Comey has already said "it didn't happen!" Now trying to interfere in ongoing investigations, Trump has now put himself in the crosshairs of actually being accused of "obstruction of justice!" These are all self-inflicted wounds that would heal if he would STFU, but he can't help himself! He has to pour gasoline on every situation!
***So far Russia is still a myth.***
But that myth has crippled the WHITE HOUSE & Congress! That can't be ignored! NOTHING is getting done! ALL they passed thru was a "CR!" That's not exactly "getting things done!" What happened? Dems are obstructing; nothing to obstruct! BLAME Ryan & McConnell for their ineffectual leadership!
***And that's their goal. When all you have is shit, give them 20 tons of it to sort through. All that's being done. - IDK if you can say Trump has done nothing. On the economic front, unemployment rate's the lowest in 15 yr IIRC & there hasnt been a Muslim terrorist attack since he came to office. Also illegal immigration has been drastically reduced.***
Trump can't take credit for anything for the X being! He's just a caretaker of what Obama left him! Instead of high unemployment, the DOW cratering, & The Nat'l Debt being used as a political football, Trump's been so lucky there are no calamities going on! So far he's only been serving the interests of his family over the business of the country & world!
***Clinton will walk clean out of the picture. Trump? X will tell.***
How do Reps feel about investigations after putting Clinton & Obama admin. thru the wringer? Trump's surrounded by Russian intrigue & they want to just "poo-poo" it as fake news & Dem. demagoguery! I got news for them, the Dems have lit'l to nothing to do w/ how Reps have self-destructed before our very eyes! They have it all w/ The Presidency, both Houses of Congress, w/ a cons. SC thanks to stealing a seat last yr! Nothing's getting done w/ the country running on auto-pilot since the feck< admins of DC can't get their act together! Gawd help us if something truly tragic happens while Reps are sniffing each other's tails trying to survive Trump's tenure hoping he doesn't run for a 2nd term!
***Obama played celebrity while president. He involved himself in nothing. ...You can't tell me you think it's a good thing that he spoke to the head of the FBI twice in 8 yrs! ...***
Hilarious as we see Trump selling off the trappings of the WH w/ his kids & family enriching themselves ATW! You have the nerve to talk about Obama being a "celeb president?" I know Trump's just gotten there, but what potential substantive "anything" do you see him performing before being run out of office? He's alienated our Int'l friends, lauded his respect for dictators, & undermined NATO! Every X there's a chance the furor might die down, he's got to have a press conf. or send an ununtelligable TWEET to fan the flames some more!
***All the Rep. "gang bangers" will now follow Trump's vindictive yell to "get the snitch"... It's their thug gang mentality.***
Trump's real life tactics have always been "playground" fodder for us all, but it stopped being entertainment when he took this office! I find it funny that cons say Dems have been after Trump for so long! I have no idea WTF they're talking about? He only announced & started running in the last 2 yrs! When it comes to mutual coop., it's Trump who proclaimed he was the only one that could make a success of the initiatives to repeal/replacing Obamacare, tax cuts, & an infrastructure program! We were supposed to get tired of winning! So far he's batting 0'fer! It doesn't look like Reps will get anything done this yr & it has lit'l to do w/ Dem. obstruction! You can't obstruct something not = up for a vote! As much as Pelosi was beat up; typical of Reps who hate strong women, she would pass 200+ pieces of legis. per Congress! Ryan's only gotten a "CR" approved; BIG DEAL! What have the Dems done to exacerbate Trump's troubles? It's all on him IMO; his mouth, his TWEETs, & of course undercutting of his admin. @ every turn! How can anything get done?
***The AG shouldn't be asking the FBI Dir. to help Hillary Clinton's campaign. The AG has the right to ask her employee to handle an investigation appropr. And Comey's overreaction to what Lynch asked is what gave us the orange sociopath. ...and then we can talk about obstruction of justice which clearly didn't occur under Lynch since no one fired Comey for doing his job & which clearly did occur under the orange sociopath.***
Comey made this look more sinister than it had t/b! It was disclosed later that this was a meeting w/ sev. people & Lynch just wanted t/b on the same page w/ all of them on how Hillary case s/b described! Comey hurt himself trying to throw her "under the bus" like that! He's really a bit of a weasel = if more honest than most! If he had more of a backbone, he should have declined all invitations by Trump; esp. staying in that room w/ him by himself when he knew something was up? He's no dummy! I personally wouldn't have gone over to shake Trump's hand @ that ceremony just after he took office! I would have waved, said "I'm fine," and if insisted, I'd keep my distance! Trump pulling him in like that made him look like a stooge who sabotaged Hillary's campaign!
***The left are so scared of Hannity...love it!***
If so, why is he kvetchin' about being "called out" on his BS? Hannity & O'Reilly were big on boycotts when they're the ones calling for them over "song lyrics" or performers they thought s/b run out of the business! Karma's a b!tch ya know! Bill's gone & Sean's the last of the OG line-up! Enjoy it while it lasts!
***Oh I'm enjoying it...we got the House, presidency, & your twisted lying media is being exposed daily making 100s more cons converts a day! I'm enjoying the shit out of it.***
Yeah, you own it & Reps have gotten so much done these 1st few months! Hilariously pathetic; the epitome of feckless power!
***Anti-Donald people have experienced such intense levels of butthurtness, they have literally gone insane.***
What the excuse of ALL Reps invoking the Clinton name when Trump's the one under suspicion of "Obst. of Justice?" They all figure if they mention Hillary, Bill, Loretta Lynch, & Susan Rice enough X's Mueller will "forget all about it!" Talk about insane! The same play was performed in Minn. w/ Obama being the victim! Get over it & start smelling that impeachment coffee! The only thing worse are the 2 choices we have after Don is run out of DC! We have someone almost as corrupt in Pence who's reputation has t/b worth less than 0 after towing the Trump line over this CLIFF! Ryan's as weak as water; need I say more? There are no good choices at this X!
***I think it's X that a special prosecutor was appointed for all gov't officials that had relations w/ Russians. I nominate Rudy Giuliani.***
You actually think Rudy's eligible? Since he was part of Trump's campaign, he's probably under the same umbrella of suspicion & w/b called as a witness @ least; if not a target along w/ Manafort, Flynn, & Kushner!
***... eligible? They can appoint whomever they wish. Like the BF of one of the witnesses.***
Yeah, someone Trump had in his office a few days before who was thought qualified to run the FBI again after the 2nd longest tenure under "W" & Obama! True irony if you look @ all the clips of Trump @ his rallies railing against Hillary becoming President due to expected & long lasting investigations! Karma BABY!
***There is this meme: Trump told me if I voted for Clinton, there w/b endless investigations & scandals. Well I did vote for Hillary. Trump was right. ---
Hillary lied X & X again about her email server; don't forget that. Also had classified info & that she 'bleach bit' emails that had been subpoenaed. If there's Karma, she's not in the WH.***
Amazing how winners continue to look back on the loser trying to deflect in some way! It's quite pathetic & hilarious @ the same X! Hillary lost, but her name comes up every single day w/ Reps and cons trying to change the subject of Trump investigations! True KARMA brought on himself w/ endless Tweets accusing everyone else of being this, that, & the other thing! Yep; very presidential indeed! NOT!
***I thought justice was about punishing wrongdoers, not those in office. Comey testified that the investigation was tainted by Lynch during the Obama admin. It's X for a serious look by a set of INDEPENDENT EYES. Same goes for Lois Lerner & the IRS.***
20 yrs from now you guys w/b talking about Benghazi, email servers, Lois Lerner, Susan Rice, Loretta Lynch, & of course Hillary! It's truly sad & pathetic when you can't look in the mirror talking about "letting it go!" Let it go; Trump won, Hillary lost! WHY so unhappy w/ your choice? You got him; be satisfied! Get over yourselves!
***So you AREN'T interested in punishing those who have broken the law.***
If you go back & prosecute "W" for "911," Valarie Plame, Katrina, & crashing the economy I'll relent & say "lock her up!" You happy? Otherwise let it go; Hillary's old, out of power, & not likely to run anything else! You're embarrassing yourself!
***Lol @ Becker when he discovers that Andre's coaching for free: a very uncomfortable 'interesting.' I think this move to work w/ Andre might work for Novak, hopeful!***
Btw Boris' 1st divorce & a purchase of an overpriced villa ($$ pit) in Mallorca sev. yrs ago, Boris needs the $$! I suppose Tiriac could have ripped him off some, but looks as if Becker didn't have any self control; in more ways than a few & it's cost him his fortune! ...All Andre can do is m/b take a present player to new heights in their tennis like Lendl, Edberg, Annacone, & Becker of course w/ Nole!
***I would say Nole being burnt out might mean more almost literally as it sounds: the desire c/b there, intellectually, but the ability to summon the "fire" is missing. I'm sure Djokovic believes he wants to achieve more in tennis, wants to give Fedal a run for their $$ in the history books, but the taste for comp. seems to have left him. ...***
We haven't thought about it, but unlike the other "Big 3," Nole hasn't had any extended X off the tour since he arrived almost 10 yrs ago! I can't remember him dropping below #3 in the world in all that X being 1 of the most consistent players in the history of the game; obviously rivalling Borg until recently! All the others have had serious injuries, surgeries, & "unannounced" suspensions to put each off the tour for months @ a X! That just didn't happen "back in the day!" If you were gone any significant X; either men or women, your career m/b done! It's pretty routine these days w/ extreme cases now that made Haas comings & goings not out of the unusual!
***W/ his loss today, Djokovic failed to make the SF of a GS in the last 2 events. I was wondering what's the longest streak of the "Big 3" & Sampras reaching @ least 1 GS SF in the last 2.
Sampras - '92 Wimbl. - '98 AO Federer - '03 Wimbl. - '10 Wimbl. Nadal - '07 FO - '15 AO (played in, skipped 4 GS's) Djokovic - '10 Wimbl. - '17 FO
For all of the players failing to make the SF's in cons. GS's' a clear demarcation of the end of their GS peak. ---
Greatest tennis players from 1950-on (listed chronol.)
This was the 1st tournament Ostapenko has won since she took the Wimbledon Jrs.***
Not that I care, but I was shocked to hear Halep blew another one! I just can't understand; no lead's safe w/ some players I guess!
***She didn't have THAT much of a lead really. A set & 3-0, but 3-0 is hardly panic stations given how often they brk serve in WTA matches. Halep came back to beat Svitolina from a set & 5-1 down, so she herself was lucky to still be in the tournament today.***
Who's the veteran & w/i sniffing distance of being #!? Halep's like so many of today's players who just can't finish; = when it's all set up for you! There's no Serena, no Kerber who's been upset; couldn't have had it better w/ a rookie player w/ no tournament wins! That's sad to allow herself t/b broken so many X's! This is a major final & I'm not sure watchable w/ all those brks of serve!
***TBH ANY big hitter would have beaten Halep today IMO. She doesn't handle them well & was lucky Pliskova didn't play her best or she'd have beaten her instead. If I was betting on a match with Halep v a big hitter I'd back the big hitter every X. And Ostapenko herself could have served much better & made < errors too & won easier than she did.***
I finally have to place Fedal atop the ranks since Nole's fallen off so precipitously w/ lit'l hope that things will change! Nole'll need a near resurgence like his contemporaries, but it doesn't seem likely ATM! Etched in stone for the X being OTTH:
1) Federer - 18 Majors (7 Wimbl. 5 USO's, 5 AO's, CGS. 6 YEC's, 1 OG-'D') - Most balanced career
2) Nadal - 15 Majors (10 FO's, CGS, 2 OG-'S & D') - Reached #1, but career up/downs due to injury & burnout
3) Laver - 11 Majors (2 GS's:'62 & '69) - Most dom. player of his X, am./pros til Sampras & eventually Fed
4) Djokovic - 12 Majors (6 AO's, CGS, '15 W -'16 FO "Nole-Slam," 5 YEC's) - Most cons. career since Borg
5) Sampras - 14 Majors (7 Wimbl., 5 USO's) - Held rec. til Fed's #15
***There's Fed & Pete (Rafa likely to join them) in 1 group who made the miraculous comebacks, but most other legends like Borg, Connors, McEnroe, & Wilander never got back to the heights they achieved.***
Tell me about it! When they fell, they fell! Borg left before it became apparent decline was imminent! Connors helped & hurt his legacy by hanging on so long! He won 2 majors & got back to #1 in '82 when thought t/b no >er than #3 or 4 w/ Borg, McEnroe, & Lendl heading the tour! Wilander's fall was probably the most precipitous after winning 3 majors & taking over #1 ranking in '88! ...Btw being burned out & losing his dad, I barely knew he was on the tour from '90-96! W/ Sampras, it's hard to say that was a comeback by winning the '02 USO over his "pigeon," Agassi! He had gone over 2 yrs w/o winning a title of any kind, but there was no resurgence since he retired soon after!
***...I'm tired of the same excuses. Djokovic beat healthy Nadal 7 X's in a row.***
TWICE! Nadal only put himself in the running w/ his major wins at 1 event! Other ATG's have X titles @ the biggies; = Edberg has 2 Wimbl./USO's! He's no ATG w/ 6 majors in total! If not for clay dominance, Nadal w/b getting only an honorable mention! Borg set himself above him by winning 5 Wimbl. in a row w/ a WOOD racket on choppy, slick grass vs some of the best S & V's of the X! As far as I'm concerned, w/ his yo-yo career, Nadal wouldn't be in my top 5; well behind Fed, Djokovic, Sampras, Borg & Laver! He's far behind other players retaining the #1 ranking, has no YEC's, & to this day hasn't defended a title off the clay surface! HOW do you become the GOAT w/ a rec. like that? = if the resident GOAT has a losing rec. vs him, the age disparity will explain some if it until this past season when Nadal has allowed his pigeon to beat him @ a major & 2 Masters events! ===
***Great game, congrats Warriors they dominated. I expected them to take it tonight at home. Cavs fans wanted nothing to do w/ LeBron either, were burning his jerseys.***
I didn't blame them! LeBron treated all concerned despicably! Gilbert's trying to get in touch w/ him during the summer to see what the next season would bring, totally ducking him & the media, finally landing in So. Beach! It was one of the shadiest things I've seen of a vet w/ so many accolades about maturity! I'm still appalled! They = fired the coach thinking that would bring "the King" around! He just left like a thief in the night! The only thing more horrific was the self-entitlement of Bron & his posse thinking they s/b able to have the same parking accommodations when returning to Cleveland as a member of the Heat! They were told to hit the public lot like any other visitor!
***...Not as many men, for instance, are flutzers. I think this has more to do w/ strength than good tech.***
The LUTZ is just hard for women; no matter how skilled! To this day, the only skater I can think of who really scratches that outside edge every X was Butyskaya! She really exaggerated it so no 1 could accuse her of flutzing; = though 1 of the ugliest executions upon landing!
***Sasha is the #1 reason why I grew to love skating as much as I did/do. ...She was a >er spinner & had >er flexibility. Everything was just lovely. I still miss her dearly & the attention to detail that she put into every movement.***
I've written in detail how much I think Cohen's career whb diff. if Kwan had retired in a X-ly fashion! Her hanging on like an old vulture stifled many of the ladies IMO! We had quite a few that were great talents & had wonderful potential like Naomi Nari Nam! I could watch Nam & Cohen all day long; the grace, & "attention to detail" were always evident in their skating! But to beat the Queen, you have to push yourself & their lit'l bodies couldn't take it; esp. Naomi's! The same thing's going on in tennis w/ Fedal extending their careers longer than expected! It changes the whole dynamics of the tour by them = walking around w/ other players in awe of them breathing air! No matter how good you are, if your mindset & confidence aren't there you'll still fail!
***...If Michelle c/d all these 3-3 combos in practice, why did she only - barely - manage a 3T+3T in comp? Sasha = managed a 3Lz+3T (albeit a flutz, which MK borderline had also, btw)...***
I always thought Kwan was terribly overrated by assuming her success meant she had t/b a great jumper! You can count the occasions on 1 hand when she went outside her comfort zone! During her convalescent period waiting for a leg fracture to heal during the '97-98 season, she avoided that simple 3T/3T combo in deference to an added 3 Lp w/ a step out 2T! I still SMH over the awe people had in MK skating when there were so many more daring & charismatic skaters out there! My fave was Surya Bonaly, followed by Slutskaya who beat MK like a drum those last sev. yrs! I didn't think anyone could outdo the balletic style of Oksana Baiul until Cohen came along! When she was maybe 14, she was added to 1 of those exh./comp. held here in the States! She was supposedly injured so was limited to 3 T & 3 S, but she didn't need the jumps! Her stroking around the ice was reminiscent of Peggy Fleming in those waning yrs trying to utilize the old lady to the last! PF was limited to a single axel by then, but true skaters don't need to leave the ice! Cohen's a lot like that; her "falling leaf," splits jumps that seem to go >er than most since she's just a lit'l pixie, & then those spins that Michelle can only DREAM of performing! I miss her!
***Who has the best 2-Axel?***
When I think of 2-Axels, I imagine Bonaly performing them from a standing position while others need to stroke around the ice in a fig. 8 before stepping up into it! I had stopped watching FS for a few yrs, nauseated w/ the top skaters & the constant fawning of Witt, Boitano, & Hamilton! Robin Cousins was my last fave back in that era! The Kerrigan/Harding drama brought me back in '94 & I was instantly taken by Surya; the effortlessness of that jump & others! That season, she skated to Vivaldi's "4 Seasons" & @ the start of the program she just does a 2-Axel w/ no real prep; someX's 2 & goes about the rest of her program! It remained simple for her to execute while others need to build all kinds of momentum going into the jump! I think the reason it was easy is she trained t/d a triple, but never performed it in her live program! It was the same reason Sasha Cohen "over-rotated" some of her jumps; she practiced quads!
***In terms of real value compared to Masters & WTF, a slam win s/b worth @ least 6K pts, = then I don't think a player would trade a slam win for 6 Masters or 4 WTF.***
I've been saying for yrs a MAJOR should get a lot more than 2K pts, but 6K's a bit much! We only have to go back to last season w/ Djokovic winning 2 majors & 4 Masters & was still 1 match away from retaining the #1 ranking! It shouldn't have been close, but those 250's & 500's won, along w/ Wimbledon was enough for Murray t/b one of the more lame #1's! His game is still there, but it's a stupid way to play! At 30+ now, it ridiculous for him to play this super defensive game, dodging linesmen & ball kids, flagging down every shot possible before finally hitting a winner! ...When it comes to trading titles, Ivan Lendl might give up X FO's & AO to win that Wimbledon! Do I need to = ask if Borg would give up a few FO's or Wimbledons for just 1 USO? Ya never know!
***...Where the WTF's held is linked to a good bit of history that definitely is skewed towards the north. We might as well argue that you can't have grass @ a major @ that X of yr when of course the AO was held on grass for such a very VERY long X.***
I miss the old days when the YEC Masters moved around the world; changed surfaces & c/b indoors or outside! The late 70's w/ Connors & Borg heading the tour, it settled long term in NY! It got some comp. from the ITF with the GS CUP when it moved to Germany, but London is as far north as it's ever been!
***Nadal hasn't won it b/c it's on an indoor HC; his abs. worst surface. Look @ Fedal's H2H. He's 1-6 on indoor HC vs Fed. And is 8-5 on outdoor HC. Before this yr's resurgent "new" Fed, he was 8-2. Only lost 2 HC matches to Fed over 13 yrs until this season. If the WTF was played on outdoor HC, Nadal would have X WTFs. ---
I don't agree & I'll tell you why:
As I see it, Nadal's main problem w/ indoor HCs has been the X of yr when they happen. Nadal has always been @ his strongest right after RG, which is why it's no surprise that when he was not injured he had good success @ Wimbl. & the USO. He has tended to fade after the USO & has been unable to restart his top play in the spring before the clay season. You can't blame his relative lack of success @ the AO on outside vs inside. ---
Again, you have to think about what "around the world means" when really we mean "around the No. Hemi. :)
I don't nec. prefer Bo5 to Bo3 in terms of drama & quality of play, but winning Bo5 is something extra & gives champions more X to "right the ship". It's 1 reason why Stan is so much >er in majors - more X to work thru nerves or mini-slumps, & the same is true about Nadal @ RG. I find the WTF as it's now a bit of an anti-climax.***
You have to realize, the 1st MASTER's YEC I ever watched was in '74 w/ Vilas defeating Nastase on grass in 5 sets "down under!" True enough, that's been the last X in the So. Hemi., ...I couldn't imagine Corp. types wanting to go to Africa & So. Amer.'s proved how limited they c/b when it comes to an Int'l event like tennis!
***You know, that's pretty amazing considering how awful it was to make that trip back in '74 & how often players skipped the AO. Do you know how much $$ was involved?***
It couldn't have been much since The FO gave the most prize $$ for me around '78 @ $42,500 IIRC! The AO was in the basement; around those X's having 8 Aussies in the QF's! It was a true Nat'l champ. until Connors & Vilas started going down there! UPDATE: The single draw on Wiki shows $100,000 for the entire tourney so Vilas had to of made < than $40-45,000!
***Here are the "records" Murray shares w/ other players & the records where he "stands alone" essentially meaning that none of the Big 3 or any other player in history share w/ him.
Records tied:
1st 4 major finals lost - rec. tied w/ Lendl 5 runner up finishes @ a slam - tied w/ Lendl & Djokovic R-up & all 4 majors - tied w/ Federer & Lendl 2 cons. R-up finishes @ AO - tied w/ Cash, Denton & Edberg Won the Queens Wimbl. double twice - tied w/ McEnroe & Sampras 3 OM's overall - tied w/ Mike Bryan & Gonzalez
Stand Alone recs:
Reached final of next cons. major after winning 1st title (USO '12 win & final of Aus '13) Winner of OG & USO in same yr ('12) Winner of 2 cons. OG in singles 5 singles titles @ Queens Only player to finish as R-up @ AO 5 X's
Murray currently sits on 3 majors, w/ 2 Wimbledons & a USO. Djokovic has 4x the majors Murray has, & Fed has 6x the majors. Will Murray be happy w/ his career? ---
...Sampras only lost 4 major finals in his career (14-4, >er W/L ratio than anyone else currently in slams).***
Pete's decline had already begun in 2000, extending to dropping a 2nd Rd 5 set Wimbl. match to George Bastl of Switz. in '02! Sampras actually went over 2 yrs w/o a title in a stretch w/ a win over his USO pigeon, Andre Agassi in '02!
***I think Murray has done fine for his career. Perhaps he could've won 1 or 2 more of the slam finals, but that c/b seen as disrespectful to his opps too, all of which have been players that are >er than him. 3 slams & 8 other finals, A WTF title. YE #1, 2 OGs, & a DC title. - The reality is Murray has a very avg. FH & serve, the 2 most important shots in tennis. His offensive game's not nearly as good as Fed, Nadal, & Djokovics. He's had a very good career.***
...Nole's total w/ 5 YEC's; 4 in a row! It makes Nole superior, making him a firm #3 of all X IMO!
***I'd say Murray did underachieve. He needed someone like Lendl earlier on in his career that would make him play more agressive on his FH & get him in the slams mentally. Around 6-8 slams is what he should have achieved IMO. He could still end up w/ around 4 or 5 though. ...He still managed to get to #1 & build on his legacy after that.***
...I seem to remember Graf was a very aggressive player who = as a child 'S & V'd!' People remember the moniker coined by Bud Collins, "Fraulein FH," but that developed in '87 for some reason where she abstained from going to the net un< drawn in! She got away w/ it initially, overtaking the ensconced duo of Navr. & Evert, actually beating them both @ the '87 Lipton Int'l! ...Seles came along in '89, but it was too late! Graf was chained to that baseline by then & allowed Seles to steal matches b/c she refused t/b more aggressive save her Wimbledon efforts taking 7 titles!
It seems the same thing happened to Murray who was a lot more aggressive & got to the net closing out pts 10 yrs ago! ...He's already 30 & the Next Gen's upon him! Sooner or later they're going to start taking the "Big 4" down w/ evidence of it this season; Djokovic & Murray in a spiral of losing seldom seen until this era of top players! When each has "taken" their turn dominating, usually a couple really fall off w/ an injury or quality of play! We've been spoiled by the excellence of Nole; prob the most consistent player since Borg, winning on all surfaces, though homogenized! His run had to come to an end sooner or later! We just didn't think there w/b this much of a collapse since '16 FO w/ Nole only taking 1 Masters 1000 event! ...Murray's already dropped FO & Queens pts.!
***Reps elected a crazy person & are shocked that crazy things are happening. Too dumb.***
Nothing new really! I think they all went culturally insane over 35 yrs ago when their patron saint, Reagan manifested himself as their GAWD! To this day his name's invoked blindly, but if his policies were looked @, he w/b excommunicated from the RNC before the next full moon! The hypocrisy only gets more bizarre when these same people who were so thrilled about how an indep. counsel harangued the Clintons, now they're bemoaning the mandate of "looking for a crime" when the initial investigation goes nowhere! I have to laugh; esp. w/ Trump who thought nothing of ranting about how Hillary needs t/b "locked up" and now he's "feeling it!" Poor baby!
***...When did we ever see the killed & wounded reported under Obama like it was weekly under Bush? Yeah never, like magic as soon as Obama won it stopped.***
Well the main reason was "W" lied to the world & started those 2 wars! Does WMD's ring a bell? Obama promised to get us out; which he did = if you'd love for us to keep blowing "blood & treasure" when it isn't to our benefit! That's all I hear from Reps; "self interest!" Please tell me why we bombed Iraq back to the "Stone Age" then rebuilt them just as "the right" keeps complaining we're doing again & again?
***Let the lies flow thru you. All Trump's doing is what he promised in spite of all you obstructionist criminals.***
Whenever I hear I cons, Rep, or = that ORANGE clown invoke "obstruction" I have to laugh after what they put Obama & the country thru w/ their tactics of trying to make sure he was a 1 term president! = after all they did, he still accomplished more than most & has made a name for himself w/ the passing of Nat'l Health; something that's been tried for 100 yrs! And all Trump & his minions can come up w/ is "repeal & replace" when "they got nothing!" This whole yr will go by w/o a single piece of legis. being passed; Trump'll lead the way in being a feckless leader!
***Trump never put Obama thru anything except the agony of his criminal skank being defeated.***
How smart was it of Trump to embarrass himself as the leader of the "Birther Movement?" Trump showed his bigotry harking back to Obama being an "affirmative action" student; "lets see those transcripts!" We know what The Donald's records would look like; "POD!" This is why Reps are so easily fooled; their memories are atrocious! ?ing the nationalism, patriotism, religion, & citizenship of a 2 term president just doesn't make any of you look too bright!
***Yet his actions for 8 yrs makes me ?? anyone who supports a proven traitor and race baiter.***
You have no idea who the fuck I support! I was stating proven fact; cons & Reps showed themselves t/b a bunch of bigots & racists allowing their ignorance to bloom all 8 yrs of the Obama Admin.! The lack of respect for the office was unprecedented! Of course Trump & his minions will point out what's going on now, but he's the one acting like a TROLL on social media, insulting our Intel agencies, the hardworkers of the system, & corrupting the Justice Dept.!
***The lack of respect of the presidency was from Obama himself, from ignoring the law to running around Congress...He lived by the EO; he died by it.***
Totally oblivious aren't you? You mean like TRUMP today? Gawd you guys need help! Trump has passed ZERO pieces of legis.! He has all of Congress behind him & he's gotten nothing done! What a bunch of idiot! Dems don't have to obstruct; your own incompetence is enough!
***...why did Hillary "bleach bit" 30,000 emails that had been subpoenaed? And why did her tech people plead the 5th?***
Truly disturbed; "Hillary this" & "Hillary that!" Maybe I can go back & rail about what Nancy Reagan did while 1st Lady! Get lives geniuses; all of you! Trump won; live w/ it! Deflecting his incompetence & yours by invoking names of Hillary, Susan Rice, Lois Lerner, & Loretta Lynch is so old & passe! It really just shows all your misogyny, bigotry, & low IQ's! Get over it!
Truly disturbed; "Hillary this" & "Hillary that!" Maybe I can go back & rail about what Nancy Reagan did while 1st Lady! Get lives geniuses; all of you! Trump won; live w/ it! Deflecting his incompetence & yours by invoking names of Hillary, Susan Rice, Lois Lerner, & Loretta Lynch is so old & passe! It really just shows all your misogyny, bigotry, & low IQ's! Get over it!
***Do you understand Reps have been writing their health plan behind closed doors? Dems accepted over 130 GOP amendments when writing Obamacare. Reps won't = let the American people know what's in the GOP plan. Dems took 18 months, NOT 18 days.***
W/ the followers of the Rep Party so accepting of "nothing getting done," we'll all be deserving of getting screwed over! Voting for that witch in GA proves they don't = care if the candidate's a stupid, evil, lightweight piece of shit, as long as there's an "R" behind her name, that's good enough!
***Are you saying Dems don't do the same?***
No they don't! Reps have won "blue states" = w/ a decent candidate for the Dems; Reagan's landslide in '84 proves that! When it comes to Reps, esp. in the SOUTH, they all vote in a BLOCK, usually cued like Pavlov's Dog w/ the same attacks that seem to work; Pelosi, Clinton, Rice, Lerner, & other powerful women "will destroy your way of life!" IDIOTS! And they say they aren't misogynist pigs! Governorships, State Houses & Senates have been taken over, so obviously all Dems aren't voting for Dems since there are more of them!
***That's your opinion...there are enough lefties in this forum who blindly follow anyone w/ a D by their name to tell me they are no diff. than many righties. ---
Everything the Rep Party touches on turns into steaming crapola--- Benefiting only their rich masters.***
I have to keep saying it like a parrot, Reps can't get shit done = though they own it all! W/ a totally secure Rep Congress, re-enforced w/ spec. elections to fill seats left open by members going into Trump's cabinet, they can't get the simplest piece of legis. passed, relying totally on reversing EO's of Obama! It's more than a lit'l pathetic & sad, but no more sad than the supporters who don't seem to care that everything's @ a standstill w/ nothing getting accomplished! There have been no tax cuts, no repeal/replace of the ACA, or = much more than grandstanding over a wall that's to be paid for by Mexico! This Congress has passed exactly ZERO pieces of legis. & have only threatened the electorate w/ pieces they know have lit'l to no chance of passing! I guess Trump & this Congress w/b thought of as "place holders" & lit'l else when studied! Thank goodness for "CR's" or we'd be in serious economic trouble! Obama left things in pretty good shape so Trump & his lame supporters haven't had to deal w/ a crisis arising during the waning yrs of "W" admin!
***Well it's clearly not health care-- not just wealth care either-- it's death care.***
A lot of people voted for it so what can be said? They don't know what they're losing until it's lost! Morons! I've lost sympathy for us all if that many people actually prefer this kind of chaos over "business as usual!"
***DEL POTRO YOU MUG!! He had every chance in the world, was up a break in the decider, but just didn't bring out the intensity that was required to finish off Djokovic in 2nd RD. The burden is on Nadal now.***
ReplyDeleteDel Po was the 1st to be touted as good enough to break into the "Big 4" way back in '09, but he's about as brittle as they come! He just can't stay on the court long enough to make a lasting impression! He doesn't have that many wins over them, but when he does it's BIG! DP worries me more than the rest of them w/ that FH! It doesn't matter if you know where it's going; it's just tough to track those down again & again!
***Once I got over the frustration b/c of Delpo's choking, I forced myself to watch the highlights. His FH's literally unplayable. Hahaha. He needs to recover that BH t/b able to hit winners even occas. The slices he hits are so weak, = this power< version of Novak can hit them for winners on demand basically.
---
Hey PM I noticed that although JMDP slices his BH, it was somewhat effective b/c it was deep until Novak X'd & ran around to crush it for winners. JMDP still makes the game of tennis very uncomfortable for Novak. He does it a ton better than Rafa could have ever imagined.
---
...The players that Nadal doesn't have a winning H2H vs him played just twice each. Nadal's critics like to mention Davydenko, but Nadal only slipped behind there in that June '09 - March '10 period when he couldn't beat any top 10 player apart from Tsonga (going from 4-2 vs Davydenko to 4-5).***
OMG, the violins are playing! Nole gets lit'l to no credit for beating Fedal in the last sev. yrs due to everything from X, injury, & luck making excuses for his opps & the so called "weak" era! Such hypocrisy! Historical records aren't going to go that deep & find out Nadal was going thru personal strife in '09, just that he dropped his 1st FO in 4 yrs to Soderling & has had some awful losses at Wimbledon! If he can't hang, QUIT! I don't want to hear anything else about injuries, age, & the like when you have Grampa Roger still winning a major this late in life!
***What happened in '11 when Nadal was reaching final after final (arguably more consistent than in '10), but was getting rolled by Djokovic in each & every 1 of them. Did you = watch what happened in the 1st few Rds @ RG where he was low on confidence & scraping by or the Wimbledon/US finals? He was reeling. It's very evident how he doesn't play thru spells of bad form to prevent getting drubbed & his confidence from dropping = if it means skipping a few slams completely. No momentum from NY all the way to Melbourne & lack of faith probably explains why he only has 1 title in Australia.
---
...You just validated my original argument regarding the H2H. You really think Nadal's going to have a winning record vs Novak & Federer @ their fave events? And just like Sampras was taking advantage of playing Agassi more often in conditions suiting his game & not being consistent enough to make it further in RG/Melbourne. Nadal has had the same luxury of fixtures being in his favor. If Andre & Pete played in the 2000s, Agassi w/b ahead in the H2H dept. probably & we'd be pointing out how the conditions favored him instead.
If Federer ducked Nadal on clay or wasn't good enough to meet him there (just like Pete), they'd still have the same # of slams. The H2H w/b = & there wouldn't be a G.O.A.T. debate = though I'm not a believer in that kind of concept. I'll be more than willing to give Nadal a slight edge overall vs both these guys if they played an = # of matches on all the slam surfaces since as far as being a big match player, he's probably as ruthless & tough as they get, all I'm saying is that the H2H doesn't tell the whole story. It's no contest indoors in favor of Roger & Novak, but that's besides the pt.***
***The big ?? seems t/b: Are players peaking later, both in terms of when they start peaking & how long their prime yrs last, or are the older players staying in charge of the tour b/c of a weak gen. of younger players? I think some of both.
ReplyDeleteIt's inarguable that we're seeing 3 of the GOAT's in Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic. Their dominance as a group - winning 44 of the last 55 Slams (80%) is probably unparalleled as a small group, @ least since Laver & Rosewall on the pro tour in the 60s; for the sake of comparison, Connors, Borg, & McEnroe won 26 of 44 Slams (59%) from '74-84.
...The 1st thing that stands out is they were all in their 20s. Now there have been players who were #1 in their 30s, although a rather short list: Connors, Lendl, Agassi, Fed, & soon-t/b Murray. ...here's the # of X's YE #1 was accomplished by diff. ages:
20: 1
21: 2
22: 5
23: 5
24: 10
25: 7
26: 4
27: 5
28: 2
29: 3
So what about gens?
'44-48: 1 (Nastase)
'49-53: 5 (Connors x5)
'54-58: 2 (Borg x2)
'59-63: 8 (McEnroe x4, Lendl x4)
'64-68: 3 (Wilander, Edberg x2)
'69-73: 8 (Courier, Agassi, Sampras x6)
'74-78: 1 (Kuerten)
'79-83: 8 (Hewitt x2, Roddick, Federer x5)
'84-88: 8 (Nadal x3, Djokovic x4, Murray)
'89-93: 0
'94-98: 0
...You can see which gens were strongest, w/ 4 having 8 yrs @ #1 (& the '84-88 1 w/ a great chance of making that 9, = 10). But most importantly, the '89-93 gen. hasn't had a YE #1, & thus is the only gen. of the ATP era to not do so.
It's well known that the '74-78 gen. is rel. weak, but also sandwiched btw 1 of the strongest gens ('69-73) & Roger's group which is also a strong gen. ...Another very weak gen. is the '39-43 group, w/ only 3 Slam winners & 1 (Ashe) multi-Slam winner. That gen. came on the heels of the most dominant gen. in all of tennis history: the '34-38 group which included Laver, Rosewall, Emerson, & Hoad.
...#1 in the early yrs of the Open Era: Laver in '68-71, & then Smith ('44-48) in '72. Before the Open Era it's all Laver, Rosewall, & Gonzales going back to '54, so Ashe's group was never #1. That said, both the sportswriters & TennisBase gives him #1 in '75, & TB also disagrees in a couple other yrs in the 70s, giving the #1 to Vilas in '77 & Borg in '78, so Jimmy Connors was only #1 according to that site's deeper statistical reading twice rather than his ATP 5 X's (altho Jimmy gets 1 back later from McEnroe in '82).
...But = the previous weak gens--'39-43 & '74-78--found ways to win Slams. If we look only @ the '74-78 group, we have Kafelnikov (2), Kuerten (3), as well as single-Slam winners Moya, Costa, Gaudio, & Johansson. Consider this: These guys played during a X when the courts were < homogenized, & there was no clear "King of Clay" - but rather a group of "<er kings." Of their 9 Slams, 7 were @ the FO.
...I think the players of the '89-93 gen. w/ the best chance of winning a Slam are: Thiem, Dimitrov, Raonic, Nishikori, & then Busta?
...The '89-93 gen's historically weak; certainly it's the weakest since the '39-43 group, far weaker than = the relatively weak '74-78 group. But the '84-88 group is also historically strong, certainly up there w/ the '68-73 group as the strongest of the Open Era, altho neither quite compares--in terms of era dominance--to the '34-38 group. But here's the pt: A strong gen. looks = stronger w/ a weak younger gen., & a weak younger gen. looks = weaker w/ a strong older gen. So both are exaggerated by the extremes of the other. ...At least a few of those guys will win Slams & be #1.***
Thx!
***Novak Djokovic - In '03, Djokovic started his career & so far has made over $102 M. As of late, he has 66 career titles & 12 GS singles titles: 6 AO, 3 Wimbl., 2 USO, & 1 FO. When he does finally retire, he'll go down as a top player of all X. During his '16 FO title, Djokovic became the 8th man to secure a CGS.
ReplyDelete===
...It's coming to a pt he'll need a good draw to win a GS, while just 2 yrs ago or even < it wasn't really important who he'd meet.
...IW/Miami w/b another matter, it looks like it w/b a full-on massacre w/ all sorts of guys needing to make up for lost pts. Good X's ahead, surely.
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It w/b very nice to finally see the changing of the guards, all big players of today are 30+.
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You're right about Djokovic's vulnerabilities these days. Even a slight physical decline could significantly affect the results of a player who relies on his movement a lot - we've seen this in the later stage of Nadal's career & we're witnessing the same outcome in Novak's. Also, his serve is not the weapon it was in '15 & no more easy pts as much as before yr 1/2. He needs to put a lot more effort in order to win the matches. All these factors make his life much tougher on tour, esp. in B05. But, nothing unnatural here, he's following the path of decline that all the other ATGs have gone.
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Everyone knows that '17 w/b a more open yr than there has been for many yrs. There are more players like Donskoy who can cause an 'upset' (but these are no longer really 'upsets' - he nearly beat Pouille as well as Rog). Even someone like Querry can have a late upsurge - though beating Thiem in T's current state isn't so unexpected - & Kohlie nearly beat Murray (how I wish he had).
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Who're the top players to keep matches close in losses? - Fed easily. W '08, AO '09, AO '13, USO '10 & '11 come to mind.***
I haven't read the whole thread, but I thought the topic was keeping a match close! These examples OTTH seem more like "chokes," not keeping it close! Isner winning serve & losing a match 6-7,7-6. 6-7 is a great example of keeping it close in a loss; done X X's by him!
***Definitely Isner. King of losing in TB's.
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You can show up & get a good payday for an appearance. What motivation is there to go above & beyond if you're a pro player in most any sports. This just doesn't go for tennis. ...You can SUCK balls & still make millions in app. fees. Why kill myself when I c/b a millionaire for just showing up? Start giving these bum ass players a few 100 $$ for showing up & I'll guarantee they'll improve their games.***
It's why I've been calling the past gen. of "also-rans," gutless! They have all the ability in the world w/ BIG serves & killer FH's! It does lit'l to no good = if Fedalovicray were "under the weather" & allowing themselves t/b stretched needing to save X MP's! I can remember tons of matches where some nobody has X MP's & choke an upset away! Just a few days ago is a great example in Kohlschreiber! He must have had 7 MP's vs Murray before & into the 2nd set TB in Dubai & he just couldn't close it out! ...All of them don't have to win squat today t/b millionaires!
***I wouldn't put it past Nole. He'll play for a long X yet & tennis is very fickle/unpredictable.***
ReplyDeleteObviously if you can have such late success! After 5 yrs to take a major like Roger did @ the AO; OTTH can only be compared to Connors back in '82! He had gone 4 yrs, totally dominated by Borg & McEnroe w/ no 1 thinking he had it in him. He went on great run taking Wimbledon & the USO, then defending Flushing in '83!
***When Federer is winning a slam in '17 & Venus is in the AO final, anything can happen.***
...and says a lot about the level of comp. w/ their lack of heart to allow something like this to occur in this high tech world of nutrition, conditioning, & advances in equipment! ...The big 4 or 5 have dom. the Open era like no others when we thought 14 MAJORS made a player "THE GOAT" w/o = a FO final! Now we have Fedalovic owning the Masters tour recs & 80% of the majors over the last decade or so!
***@Fiero425 When the experienced players gets lit'l bit of help from tech to maintain their physical strength, this is what happens. One would then ask why Fed lost to Novak. It was simply b/c Novak was & is another ATG.
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Nah, they grew into the same/= better tech. I just think the drive isn't there, & they're the 1st gen. to grow up w/ Twitter/cell phones/limit< distractions that make it easy to slide under that fine line of where >ness lies. How many just don't care enough?
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...All we know is that the '84-88 group is very strong & the '89-93 group is very weak.
*Roger: Yes, he just became the 1st 35 yo to win a Slam since the 70s, & yes he's still elite @ a X when most great players have retired. But consider that "decline" is relative. Roger was so damn good during his peak that a late career plateau is still very high. Furthermore, there's precedent for great players still remaining very good into their 30s: Agassi & Connors, & Roger is >er than either (or both put together!).
*Stan: He's an outlier, no doubt. But again, he could just be an unusual player.
*Ferrer: He peaked in his late 20s & early 30s, but again, others have done that before. It isn't totally unusual for a 2nd tier player to have a late career boost. Not typical, but it happens.
...Ages shift over X. We could also look @ the 80s-90s as the historical anomaly, as players were winning Slams @ 17, but some of those same players were done in their mid to late 20s, whereas earlier on players were maintaining peak level deep into their 30s, & before the Open Era some players were playing well into their 40s.
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...The era was actually weak at the end of Sampras/Agassi's reign. There was a 3 yr period roughly from '01-03 where things weren't @ their best, but then Fed's very talented gen. quickly came of age & rescued tennis from the geriatrics & the lack of Kuerten et al who shb in their primes.
This pretty strong state lasted until about '06, where some of Federer's talented compatriots started to fall off the map a bit, & the old gen. retired, ... & the younger gen. were still 18 yos & a lit'l too young. A few yrs later ('08, '10+), it was very strong again w/ the rise of the "Big 4" & the beginning of a golden age.
All of this ebb & flow is pretty normal. I'd say it was normal @ least ATW thru '12. ...Tennis players normally lose some of their wheels after 24-25, but we have guys now that look basically as fast as they've ever been.***
***Let's all go easy on Nole. The guy had a brutal 3-4 yr period of focus onto tennis. Now, he might j/b burning out a lit'l. And, by balancing his love for tennis & family, he's just taking things easy & @ the same X trying to heal & rejuvenate himself by taking some of his focus off from tennis.
ReplyDelete---
Djokovic claims tennis is no longer his major focus as he seeks to find a balance btw being a tennis player, husband & father. He became only the 3rd player to hold all 4 GS titles @ the same X in June '16 following his win @ the FO, as he sat atop the world rankings. Since then, the Serbian lost his #1 spot to Murray in Nov. & has not had the best '17 so far.
..."Tennis was my #1 priority, when Stefan was not born," he said as quoted on Tennis World USA. "Now it's completely opp.. I have a son, a wife, a family, & I'm extremely grateful for the blessing of being a father. ..."
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Djoker's career on clay is superior to Roger's, there can't be an argument there. And in '11, peak Djoker annihilated near-peak Nadal on every clay court except RG. Djoker also beat Nadal at RG, something Roger never managed to do.
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I personally think peak Roger on clay (Rome '06 vers.) would beat any version of Djoker on clay. We know he did it in '11 when Novak hadn't lost a single match all yr. Essentially, I see Roger as the greater clay player, but Djoker has more titles & more wins over Nadal on clay.
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Peak Nadal on clay by default makes '07 stronger than '15/16. '15/16 had no ATG-caliber players on any surface besides Djokovic & none @ all the 2nd 1/2 of '16. Also Nadal @ Wimbledon was tougher than Fed @ Wimbledon in '15. Djoker/Fed probably similar @ USO (both spurts of decent play, but not as well in the big moments in the final. ...). The rest of Fed's USO draw was much tougher. So really no case @ all. '15 @ least had some decent strength. '16 was just a joke. Every single slam win was weak in terms of opposition for the winner besides maybe Stan's USO, although he faced a well-below 100% Delpo/Djoker physically as well as snowflake Nishikori which makes it more name over form. Roddick in '07 would have won that USO. Djokovic may have as well t/b honest, & Davydenko in terms of level may have won too although mentally he probably wouldn't have sealed the deal in B05, which is where Stan is very impressive.
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'81-85: McEnroe,Wilander,Lendl,Connors
'86-89: Lendl,Edberg,Becker,Wilander
'90-95: Sampras,Courier,Agassi,Becker
'96-00: Sampras,Agassi,Kafelnikov,Rafter
'01-05: Federer,Hewitt,Agassi,Roddick
'06-10: Federer,Nadal,Djokovic,Murray
'11-15: Djokovic,Nadal,Federer,Murray
'16-20: Djokovic,Murray,Federer,Wawrinka
Overalk:
- 70's belongs to Borg
- 80's belongs to Lendl
- 90's belongs to Sampras
- 00's belongs to Federer
- 10's belongs to Djokovic
Wait, wait for a sec. No Nadal here?
---------------------------------------------
4 players that w/b successful in any area (I can't say dominating)
Federer (just too talented)
Nadal (too arrogant w/ non-stop BH serving, but works perfectly)
Lendl (never gave up)
Djokovic (no expl.)***
***Wimbledon '77 - Borg Vs Connors***
ReplyDelete...In the final Bjorn got up 2 sets to 1 & I thought he'd be ok! Then there was a sea-change & Connors stole the 4th set! IIRC, Borg went up 4-0 in the 5th, but Connors charged back to tie it up! Connors double faulted @ 15-all & never won another pt, Bjorn closing him out 6-4! Bud Collins complimented Borg on returning all but 2 of Connors' serves & committed only 5 FH UFE's!
***They played 13 X's after that Wimbledon match - Borg winning 11 of them, including 9 str. after '78:
'81 USO SF Hard - Borg d Connors 6-2 7-5 6-4
'81 Wimbl. SF Grass - Borg d Connors 0-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 6-4
'81 ATP WTF's SF Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-4 6-7 6-3
'80 ATP WTF's 10 Carpet - Borg d Connors 3-6 6-3 7-6
'79 WCT Challenge Cup F Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-4 6-2 2-6 6-4
'79 Tokyo Indoor F Carpet - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-2
'79 Wimbledon SF Grass - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-3 6-2
'79 Las Vegas F Hard - Borg d Connors 6-3 6-2
'79 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay - Borg d Connors 6-2 6-3
'78 USO F Hard - Connors d Borg 6-4 6-2 6-2
'78 Wimbl. F Grass -n Borg d Connors 6-2 6-2 6-3
'78 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay - Borg d Connors 7-6 3-6 6-1
'78 ATP WTF's F Carpet - Connors d Borg 6-4 1-6 6-4
'77 Wimbl. F Grass - Borg d Connors 3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4
'77 Pepsi GS CUP F Clay -n Borg d Connors 6-4 5-7 6-3
'76 USO F Clay - Connors d Borg 6-4 3-6 7-6 6-4
'76 Palm Springs SF Hard - Connors d Borg 6-4 6-1
'75 USO SF Clay - Connors d Borg 7-5 7-5 7-5***
...Murray's dodging linemen & ball boys 30 yds behind the baseline while Fed's on top of it ready to crack an approach & advance into the net! Murray went to a very defensive game sev. yrs ago; worked himself into condition thinking he can outlast anyone running down any shot! That's a problem when he plays like that in early Rds wearing himself out; case in pt the FO last season!
It's the reason Roger's been able to play @ an elite level w/ few injuries & for so long being more offensive! We all know Nadal & Murray are destined for early retirements & inevitable hip replacements! Nole's conditioning/stretching will extend his career a bit longer, but the wear has already begun mentally; emotionally! His goals have been reached, his priorities had to change, but I think he has another good run in him! I think he can take another 3 or 4 majors over the next 3 yrs since Roger will come back to Earth, Murray will run himself into an early grave, & Nadal's already his pigeon! The problem he'll have is w/ the new gen. which are finally starting to make their mark! Thiem is coming along nicely w/ A. Zverev! Some "middle of the road" players are having nice results of late as well; Milos, Kei, Nick, Querrey, & Grigor!
***Most brutal IW draw for Novak, starting w/ R3. Not much relief for Rafa/Fed either. Rafa gets Verdasco in R3, a potential tough customer. Roger @ least seems to have 2 easy rds in Dudi & Johnson.
- Novak's path:
R1. Bye
R2. Elias
R3. JMDP
R4. Zverev/Kyrgios
QF. Fedal
SF. Cilic/Kei
-F. Murray
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There are 4 GS winners in the bottom Qtr. & they together have won 45 GSs. There are 3 GS winners in the other 3 Qtrs put together & they together have won 7 GSs.***
I was saying here & elsewhere, Nole's got a lot of hurdles in his path trying to go for the "double" Masters of IW/Miami for the 4th yr in a row!
***Fed records over Nadal:
18 > 14
302 > 140+-
237 > ?
YE #1: 5 > 3
Wimbledon 7 > 2
USO 5 > 2
AO 5 > 1
WTF 6 > 0 LOL
Titles 89 > 69?
5 str. slams @ 2 events
3 x 3 slam winning yrs
2nd best yr ever '06
Nadal records over Fed:
FO 9 > 1
H2H 23 > 12
OGM: 2 > 1 (still, a meaningless exh. as worthwhile as Halle or Barcelona)***
***Did Federer play >er vs Murray @ Wimbl. '15? - I'd say '15. '12 Fed played as well if not >er the last 2.5 sets, but was subpar the 1st 1.5. '15 Fed had no let ups.***
ReplyDeleteMurray's become as much a pigeon as Roddick for some reason! I understood why Roddick had a problem; the errors would come regardless of how well Roger played as long as he could keep the ball in play! Murray started out well & had a decent H2H lead on Fed, but has "gone down" & looked bad going out to the old man again & again; in str. sets no ness is hardly comparable to being beaten by Querrey or Istomin in 2 of the last 4 majors. In his broad prime Federer lost to a player of that sort of ilk once in 10 yrs in majors (Stakhovsky @ Wimbledon). Djokovic has done it twice in 1 yr now. Big diff. to a lit'l partial exo in Dubai.
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Andy goes down to Pospisil in IW 2nd RD.
***No real excuses for the abject performances of Murray as world #1. Goes to show the true greats are the ones who cope w/ being #1. He has lost the aura he worked hard to build & sadly I can see pts dropping off the computer thru the clay season & then Wimbl.
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...Murray's been #1 longer than Roddick & soon to pass Wilander. How the Hell you can put Murray in the same bracket as Roddick I'll never know.***
That's some #1 ya got there going down to a qualifier so early in a Masters! - I'm no fan of Murray's, but he's definitely better than quite a few #1's who may have held it for quite a while like Hewitt! He's definitely better than Safin, Roddick, Moya, and Rios with fewer or no major titles!
***Wilander won 33 titles - Murray 45 titles & counting.
- Wilander has never won YEC's.
- Slams Murray might add to what he has now.***
You can't compare the eras of these comparable "also-rans" of their X's! Wilander had to deal w/ a GOLDEN AGE of players from all over the world; McEnroe, Lendl, Connors, Edberg, Becker, Cash, etc.! Murray's had to overcome GOAT's, true enough, but he's had more opps to do well unlike past champs w/ more comp!
***...it's just that Federer was a bit more consistent in reaching later stages of slams than Djokovic.***
...thru a weaker era of "gutless" players who don't know how to finish off a top player! Roger's main competitor truly was Roddick & we all know how fruitless that rivalry turned out t/b! It's the same w/ the 1 people most assoc. him w/, a much younger player who has his # for the most part; Nadal! The H2H shows it; most rationalizing the advantage was weighted on clay! That wasn't it & isn't the reason Roger went almost 10 yrs before he defeated Rafa @ a major 2 months ago! Some rivalry!
***The hilarity of a Djokovic fan claiming a "weaker" era = though we're just going thru 1 since '14.***
It truly has t/b weak to allow Roger to make final after final in his golden years, then winning a major after 5 yrs; it has t/b 1 of the weakest! All you need to do is check the recordbks that have been rewritten in favor of Fedalovic; a trio of ATG's that have changed the face & history of tennis! There was a bit of >ness, but a lot of gutlessness helped them over the last 10+ yrs!
***Federer made his debut on the tour in '98.
ReplyDeleteSince Jan.'98, he's entered:
AO: 2000-17 (18 X's for 5 AO titles)
FO: '99-15 (17 X's for 1 FO title)
Wi: '99-16 (18 X's for 7 Wi titles)
US: 2000-15 (16 X's for 5 USO titles)
Federer has entered the main draw of a slam on 69 occasions & held up a slam trophy 18 X's. His strike rate, the % of X's he has held up the trophy relative to the amount of X's he has entered a slam, is 26.09%. Fed’s strike rate looks like this:- AO: 27.78% FO: 5.88% Wi: 38.89% US: 31.25%.
The 1001 wks' artificially inflated by the 6 months Fed took off last yr so I will deduct 26 wks from the 1001 wks to say that he has been on the tour for 975 wks. Fed's been @ #1 for 302 wks, which means, in the 975 he's been on the tour, he has spent 30.97% of his X as the #1 player in the world.
Comparing Fed’s stats to another ATG; Sampras.
Since Jan.'88, Sampras had entered:
AO: '89-02, DNP in '88, '91, '92, & '99 (11 X's for 2 AO titles)
FO: '89-02, DNP in '90 (13 X's for 0 FO titles)
Wi: '89-02 (14 X's for 7 Wi titles)
US: '88-02, DNP in '99 (14 X's for 5 USO titles)
Sampras entered the main draw of a slam on 52 occasions & held up a slam trophy 14 X's. His strike rate is 26.92%. So Sampras won 26.92% of the slams he competed in. AO: 18.18% FO: Nil Wi: 50.00% US: 35.71%.
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Both Fedal's have holes in their resumes:
Fed's biggest hole is his H2H deficiency to Nadal. After Nadal made a mockery of Fed @ the FO in '08, the script shb to get his revenge over Nadal @ Wimbl. ...if you're staking a claim t/b the best ever, then you simply cannot have these demerit pts vs your name. And AO '17 changes nothing.
As for Nadal, gaping holes are cons. losses to Djokovic @ W, USO & AO before his pet event came to rescue him again. He has too many FO's & not enough of everything else. He chose to dom. the least significant slam of the 3 traditional 1's where dom. Wimbledon & USO would have given him more aura. 3 losses in the final @ the 4th slam have not helped either.
IMO, Nole's the best of the 3 in this era. Beats them both when it really matters, superior H2H when it matters & when it doesn't, + the Djokovic slam! Still got X to do alot more. This current era chp is still up for grabs.
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Fritz is thru elim. Cilic.***
It's what I've been praying for; is it X? We have qualifiers, WC's, LL's, & other upsetees making it thru to the 3rd Rd! That's amazing; a cause for celeb.! I guess all we need is for a totally screwed up draw & ranking so that Fedalovic are in the same Qtr! Only 1 will play the semis! It's wide open for somebody new!
***Pova needs to work for her ranking if she has a conscience or is truly contrite. - She's about as contrite as Trump. I doubt if contrite is in their vocab.***
Oh please; she's been pampered & coddled all her freakin' life! Of course she feels entitled & to this day probably doesn't think she did anything wrong! If IMG didn't tell her that heart medication was on the list of banned substances, then it's on them! If she concealed her usage, then it's on her & should take her medicine (no pun intended) & work to get her ranking back! She's not entitled to any protection; = if she's a lot >er than most! Seles was stabbed back in '93 & most of the ladies didn't = want to give her a break in the rankings! Why should Pova w/ a self-inflicted wound?
***I'm sure POVA marketing team's working OT trying to salvage her image by spinning the story to make her look a victim. ...***
I won't criticize her asking & receiving WC's, but I pray she doesn't come off & act like she's some kind of victim! Her apologists w/b around enough to fan those ridiculous flames!
***To no one's surprise, Federer never managed to beat his big rival 3 X's in a row, mostly b/c their 3rd encounter was always played on clay. Tmrw the playing conditions are more favorable to the Swiss, not to mention his renewed confidence. So a win for Fed wouldn't be totally meaning< as it could make his H2H vs the Spaniard more presentable.
ReplyDelete- All matches: Nadal, 23–12
- HC's: Nadal, 9–8
- Outdoor: Nadal, 8–3
- ATP Masters Series/ATP World Tour Masters 1000 matches: Nadal, 12–4
- BO3 set matches: Nadal, 12–8
- IW's: Tied, 1-1
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...OTOH, Andy lost early @ both IW & Miami last yr, but found his form on clay & grass.***
There won't be any sea change @ the top, anyX soon under the best of circumstances! Nole just has too many pts to defend until JULY while Murray has the opp. problem! To retain his #1, he has to start winning a lit'l bit now b/c by the USO he'll be scrappin' trying to hold on & defend all those 250/500's that helped elevate him to the top w/ the victory of the YEC! He lost some pts "down under," but can solidify his ranking if he wins Miami; his worst event of the Masters series it seems! I thought he lived & trained there so I'm baffled; same w/ Nadal!
***If / when men's GS matches are reduced to BO3 sets (I'd hate to see that happening, but I think it's inevitable @ some pt) then Masters Series titles clearly w/e more difficult to win than Slam titles. - Then there w/b a case to argue that, prospectively speaking, the Masters Series title count would become more important than the Slam count.***
They've already devalued Masters 1000 events by going BO3, you have this injustice of 3 players owning almost 100 of them! That wouldn't have happened if they had been required to go 5 sets periodically; esp. Rafa who's notorious for going the limit again & again! Let's leave the majors as is! I already had to go thru the bastardization of the USO; surface change twice in 4 yrs, went to BO3 in early Rds when played on clay, had 2 suspicious draws that had t/b re-pulled, someone shot from a stray bullet, & 2 pier 6 brawls in the stands! It's bad enough we've gone to TB in 5th sets; let's not lower their status anymore than they've done to themselves already! I do believe the Masters finals m/b turned into =lence of Majors due to so few going to players outside "The Big 4!" It's been obscene IMO to only have a sprinkling of "also-rans" to take either a Major or Master's title in the last decade or so!
***...It's pretty sad for the doubles players IMO that singles players can knock 'em out when their 1 focus is doubles strategy, net play, etc. #1 seeds must feel like shit going out to Nole/Troicki!***
In the old days before the tennis explosion, all the singles players from the top on down played doubles! I never saw them, but = Borg & Vilas played together & won during the era of the WCT! Raul Ramirez was briefly #1 in singles & dubs, noteworthy w/o = a thought is McEnroe, & during the independent schedules of the mid '70's, Connors hooked up w/ his mentor in crime Nastase! Doubles' players subsidized the singles' draws b/c so many were older and/or out of shape; Hewitt/McMillan, Smith/Lutz, Stewart/McNair, Gottfried/Ramirez, Newcombe/Roche! I still remember how Borg's coach would try to avoid night matches @ the USO for his charge; lobbying for a 1st rounder he got vs an octogenarian & future convicted rapist, Bob Hewitt!
IW Records - Men's singles:
ReplyDelete•Most titles: Djokovic (5)
•Most finals: Federer & Djokovic (6)
•Most cons. titles: Federer & Djokovic (3)
•Most cons. finals: Federer & Djokovic (3)
•Most matches played: Federer (63)
•Most matches won: Federer (52)
•Most cons. matches won: Djokovic (19)
•Most editions played: Agassi (18)
•Best winning %: Djokovic (88.68%)
•Longest final: Courier v Guy Forget, result: 4–6，6–3，4–6，6–3，7–6 (7–4) (51 games), ('91)
•Shortest final: Djokovic v Raonic, result: 6–2，6–0 (14 games), ('16)
•Oldest champ: Connors, 31y, 5m, 12d, ('84)
•Youngest champ: Becker, 19y, 2m, 26d, ('87)
- Fed the last player to win BO5 over Blake in '06
***Murray isn't an awful #1! He's done a lot >er than past world #1's. He's 29 yo & wasn't going to dom @ that age. It's tough to do. He should focus on slams & a few other tourneys; that's it.***
...A couple bad losses & dropped a final to #2 Nole in Dubai! He had >er do something in Miami or more "grumbling" w/b heard & written about!
***As #1, Murray should win tourneys, not go out early.***
We may never see the type of excellence demonstrated by Nole over such a long period of X! He truly did start outperforming Fed's best seasons, making final after final, winning 3 majors & 6 Masters (in 8 finals) in '15, adding the YEC he didn't get in '11! Completing his Nole-Slam @ '16 FO sets him apart w/ Laver the only pro in the OPEN Era to win a CYGS! If Djokovic takes another FO, he can double his CGS!
***I think it's still too early to say Roger has completely turned the corner vs. Rafa after beating him @ IW. I'm hoping Roger avoids him on clay b/c you'd figure if they meet on grass or fast HC's atp it'd definitely be an edge to Roger & he can keep this streak (3) going. But a couple losses to Ralph on clay & it can have a carryover effect like it did many yrs ago.***
Better hope Roger doesn't read that; his ego couldn't handle it! He'll go the full clay season just to prove you wrong! ...He probably thinks, "I have a chance @ a GS!"
***No way should he skip the FO or any major. He's shown yet again @ AO that you can't count him out of any tourn. He always has a decent shot @ Wimbledon &'s a contender @ USO, but no 1 figured he'd snatch another AO let alone by going thru 4 top 10 players in his 1st tourney after 6 months. ...If he wins IW I'd like to see him skip Miami & then just play Rome & RG b/c he does have 2 grass tourneys before Wimbledon & if he plays 2 of those clay MS events as well as RG. - I think he conceded he whb more successful on clay w/ a bigger stick.***
I was 1 of the purists terribly offended by the new tech in the mid 70's! I started w/ wood in '70 & continued until I was forced w/ newbies gaining on me w/ < X & practice using fiberglass & metal, culm. in the advent of "Prince" monstrosity! I still remember playing in a club final vs some dr. who was probably just a weekend warrior, but he had that HUGE headed racket & if able to get to the shot pushed it back forcing me to hit a winner! I won in str. sets, but it was tougher than it shb! I knew then & there I needed to check out something more lethal than a Bancroft Borg woody! I went w/ something only another oldster would remember; the 1st all fiberglass racket produced out of a Euro-sports manuf. called "Volkl!" I guess they specialized in skis, but I loved their rackets! It was orange w/ blue zebra stripes & ran about $150! At that X, most never spent more than $50 or so for something like the Head Comp. 1 or 2! It was very flexible, added pace to my shots, & more vers. spins on the serve! Still have them after 40+ yrs, = though I've gone thru 50+ rackets of diff. sizes & materials til I had to give it up in '01! Memories!
***Fed-Rafa H2H now is 23-13. It w/b nice if many more Fedal matches come up so that Roger can rewrite the H2H story or @ least control the damage. Roger has improved his ranking to top 8 & w/b seeded so in Miami. The problem now is that both Rafa & Roger are ranked in 5-8 range. As a result, they can't meet before SF's. In the QF's, players ranked 5-8 are drawn to play players ranked 1-4. That means un< both Roger & Rafa manage to reach the SF's in the same tourn., we won't have a Fedal match assuming they both stay in the range 5-8 for the rest of the yr.
ReplyDeleteWimbledon w/b an exception where I expect Fed t/b seeded in top 4. Unfortunately, in Wimbledon folks ranked beyond 100 take care of Rafa & so Fedal can't happen in Wimbledon either. In WTF, if they both are drawn in the same group we'll get @ least 1 more Fedal match. But, chances are by then Rafa would've gotten tired decided to pull off from WTF = if he qualifies.
Anyway, this yr I expect a 0 or 1 more Fedal match. In the next 3 yrs, = if we get 2 matches per yr, that w/b a total of 7 matches. Assuming couple of them happens on clay, we may have 5-2 record going forward & so a final total of 25-18, which is not quite bad.***
I'm just glad Nole got to beat up on Rafa when he was still comp. in '11! Took him in 3 Major finals & 7 str. wins from '11 IW - '12 AO! He's since added another 7 win streak w/o the loss of a set believe it or not! Roger can have the scraps I guess; Rafa's ready to put in for double hip replacement! Rafa will forever be ahead in the H2H w/ Roger, but hung on long enough to allow Nole to catch up & pass him too!
***There has been some discussion about '17 Wimbl. seedings. In particular, the ?? was raised whether Fed'll achieve a top 4 seeding? It's really far too early & there are too many unknowns. Still, we can take a look @ the pts that we already know w/b +ed.
The formula: Take the pts as current ahead of Wimbl, + the previous 12 months grass court results again (i.e., '17 warm-ups + '16 Wimbl), & 1/2 of the previous 12 months ('16 warm-ups & '15 SW19).
Fed has '15 Wimbl F (1200), '16 Stuttgart, Halle, Wimbl SF (90/180/720). So pts t/b +ed are 1455 + grass-court results from '17. Fed will indeed have a significant advantage thru the seeding system. Apart from Murray & Djokovic, there would seem t/b only Raonic @ a similar level.
He has '15 Wimbl R3 (90) '16 Queens F (300), Wimbl F (1200). So he gets an extra 1395 + grass-court warm-ups '17 for the seedings.
We see that Fed & Raonic are essentially = on the extra grass-court pts. If Fed wins IW, he w/b almost = w/ Raonic on current ranking pts. Kei & Stan are >er, but have almost nothing in grass-court results t/b +ed for the formula (Kei has '16 R16, Wawrinka '15 QF, +ing 180 pts each; very lit'l otherwise).
Currently, Fed's deficit in the rankings behind the top 3-6:
Wawrinka: 1800 (2200 if Stan wins IW, 1400 if Fed does);
Nishikori: 825 (425 if Fed wins IW);
Raonic: 575 (175 if Fed wins IW);
Nadal: 240 (Roger overtakes Rafa if he wins IW).
A lot can still happen btw now & Wimbledon, but as things stand, a top 4 seeding for Fed no longer seems entirely fanciful if he wins the IW title.
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Correction: The pts won on grass beginning from '16 Wimbl, w/b +ed. From the 12 months before that X, they'll pick the best result of a player on grass & + 50% of that. So, Fed's addition w/b 600 (1/2 of 1200) + 720 + '17 Stuttgart pts + '17 Halle pts.
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-Murray 14545
-Djokovic 10505
-Raonic 6155
-Wawrinka 6020
-Federer 5925
-Nishikori 4694
-Nadal 4180
...Clearly a top 4 ranking for Roger is now very much possible. One more good tourney before the grass-court season, & decent results in the warm-ups, m/b enough to make it a reality. Coincidentally, w/ Murray & Djokovic absent, Fed w/b #4 seed in Miami.***
***109 titles for Connors, Lendl w/ 94, & Fed coming up fast @ 90 & counting.***
ReplyDeleteI really didn't see Connors or Lendl's record going down, but as I've been saying, today's players are just plain gutless allowing the old guard to reign supreme longer than any era I can remember! ...It's quite possible w/ the burnout of Murray & Djokovic, Fed has a real chance to get back to #1; @ least win another major this season! It'll stagnate the current gen. for another crop of newbies if this continues w/ Fedalovicray! I'm still hopeful for Thiem & A. Zrevev!
***...Federer extends his lead:
- Fed = (18 x 2) + (5 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + (3 x 1) + (10 x 1.2) + (25 x 1) + (18 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (13 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 114.86
- Lendl = (8 x 2) + ((5 + 2 - 1) x 1.5)) + (0 x 1.3) + (2 x 1) + (11 x 1.2) + (22 x 1) + (11 x 0.60) + (2 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (9 x 0.72) + ((5 -2) x 0.60) + (42 x 0.50) = 99.48
- Djokovic = (12 x 2) + (3 x 1.5) + (2 x 1.3) + (1 x 1) + (9 x 1.2) + (30 x 1) + (13 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (10 x 0.72) + (0 x 0.60) + (12 x 0.50) = 93.9
- Connors = (8 x 2) + (2 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + (1 x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (17 x 1) + (9 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (16 x 0.72) + (4 x 0.60) + (49 x 0.50) = 90.52
- Nadal = (14 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (2 x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (28 x 1) + (14 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (1 x 0) + (3 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 86.06
- Sampras = (14 x 2) + (0 + (2 - 1) x 1.5) + (5 x 1.3) + ((2 - 1) x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (11 x 1) + (8 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (5 x 0.72) + ((4 - 1) x 0.60) + (12 x 0.50) = 69.0
- Borg = (11 x 2) + ((1 + (2 -1)) x 1.5)) + (1 x 1.3) + ((1 + (3 - 1)) x 1) + (5 x 1.2) + (15 x 1) + (4 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (1 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (17 x 0.50) = 63.32
- Agassi = (8 x 2) + (0 x 1.5) + (1 x 1.3) + ((3 - 1) x 1) + (7 x 1.2) + (17 x 1) + (5 x 0.60) + (1 x 0.80) + (1 x 0) + (11 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (6 x 0.50) = 61.02
- Becker = (6 x 2) + ((1 + 1) x 1.5)) + (3 x 1.3) + ((4 + 1) x 1) + (4 x 1.2) + (13 x 1) + (8 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (0 x 0) + (8 x 0.72) + ((2 - 1) x 0.60) + (9 x 0.50)= 57.36
- Murray = (3 x 2) + (1 x 1.5) + (0 x 1.3) + (0 x 1) + (8 x 1.2) + (14 x 1) + (7 x 0.60) + (0 x 0.80) + (2 x 0) + (9 x 0.72) + (1 x 0.60) + (10 x 0.50) = 47.38
For details: - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/revised-updated-open-era-achievment-ranking-system-using-current-atp-weighting.539099/ -
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Standings "Wimbledon seedings race" going into Miami:
Murray 10840
Djokovic 5895
Federer 5385
Wawrinka 4990
Raonic 4840
Cilic 3795
Tsonga 3152.5
Nishikori 3098.75
Nadal 2038.75
Thiem 1867.5
...after Miami. ...Until the beginning of the grass season, the "race to Wimbledon" pts c/b computed by +ing the # below to the '17 race total:
Murray 10000
Djokovic 5420
Wawrinka 3580
Raonic 4240
Nishikori 2438.75
Federer 2340
Nadal 403.75
Cilic 3470
Thiem 737.5
Tsonga 1897.5***
...Nadal's resume only looks great from orbit IMO! A closer inspection shows most of his titles on clay; esp. 9 of his 14 Majors being FO's! The main reason he gets the nod is b/c of the H2H which is heavily in his favor over the consensus GOAT, Federer! That AO won 2 months ago helped solidify his position; esp. since he defeated Nadal who's so much younger! I was ready to anoint Nole since he was pulling up fast, holds the record count in Masters winning 8 of the 9 X X's, & has his own NOLE-Slam completed w/ FO last season! He'll soon take over lead in the # of wins over top 10'rs where Roger is 20 or so ahead for now & Nole's already taken over the H2H w/ Fedal!
***...As it stands, Djokovic has 12 slams. The gap btw him & Fed is 6 slams which is significant, but it's also not 6-20. Djokovic's in a very elite tier of players by slams alone & otot, in the top 5 by total wks @ #1/cons. wks @ #1. So he IS in the ballpark. Now he could either close the gap w/ Fed purely by matching career aggregate achievements like wks @ #1, # of slams, or by achieving a very exclusive feat that has eluded all in the Open Era since Laver. As it stands, he did NOT get the CYGS so 12 slams including a Nole-slam isn't quite enough for me. But if he wins say 15 slams, he would already be behind ONLY Fed & nobody else on slams alone. So that + the Nole-slam makes it hard to still argue that Fed & Fed alone is the GOAT & @ least I for one would then say Fed's 1 of the >est along w/ Nole. If Nole narrows the gap still further, then I'd pick Nole over Fed.
ReplyDelete...Before Sampras, nobody chased the slam tally & former players including Connors have said they cared 1st & foremost about winning THE GS if possible or @ least a CGS. So we can't say slams m/b the only deciding factor nor only wks @ #1. I think the race isn't over & Nole's still in the reckoning.
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...so you think the CYGS w/b worth more than 6 extra slams. Not to mention that Fed almost won it 3 diff. yrs ('04, '06, '07).
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But Nole also 'almost' did it in '11 & '15. What does Fed have in the 3 slam a yr feat, only 1 extra yr over Nole as against which Nole has achieved something - & I'm going to repeat this until the importance of this feat is grasped again - that has eluded every player in the Open Era since Laver (not talking of Graf/Serena t/b clear). As it stands, it's a Nole-slam & esp. 1 w/o the RG-Wimbledon double in the same yr, so it's not quite enough to close the slam gap. But if he had managed the CYGS, it w/b a pretty fuk'n big deal. I mean, it's practically Laver's ticket to the GOAT argument, so why wouldn't it be the case if Nole too did it?
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Again, I never put a slams =lent figure vs the CYGS/str. slam. Rather, I looked at Djokovic's overall achievements, including the str. slam (which Fed doesn't have). ...IF he had a CYGS otot, he would arguably match Fed's >ness. That doesn't amount to my saying a CYGS by itself is worth 6 slams. That's the wrong way to look @ it. ...it's a function of Nole's overall achievements & b/c he's already in the top tier of greats. An achievement like the CYGS c/b argued to elim. the gap w/ Fed. If you don't agree w/ this, you are basically saying a CYGS is worth nothing @ all or is worth the same as say 4 slams won every other yr over 8 years. And in that case, I don't agree & do regard it as a stupendous achievement that would put the player achieving it in a very elite category. How elite is a matter of debate & depends on his other achievements.
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Though in this case (Fed v/s Nole), 1 extra yr of 3 slams isn't worth so much for me & I'm still leaning on it not tilting the scales if say Nole gets to 15 w/ a str. slam & Fed stays on 18. Bear in mind that I'm not saying that would make Nole the >er player, but that he w/b one of the >est along w/ Fed. In any case, the quest for a single GOAT is exceedingly unhelpful IMV. Everybody has their own take on who's the GOAT & based on what criteria, + it's fluid. It's only 15 yrs ago that Sampras was the GOAT. If the GOAT is such a moving target, IDK that we should obsess over it, myself included.
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Currently I think Federer has the strongest case & s/b recognized as having that. But that could easily change in 5 yrs depending on how Djokovic & Nadal do. Esp. when the 3 of them have played each other in so many slam finals & SF's. One more match going in Djokovic's favor & Nadal & Djokovic are tied w/ 13 slams each.***
***...I'm fairly sure Borg will have more than 2 YE #1's. Also FYI the ATP & ITF unanimously awarded Borg their POY award 4 yrs in a row - contradicting the rankings. The only yr. in doubt is '77 due to Vilas.***
ReplyDeleteThe rankings were an absolute joke back in those days! Connors ruled according to their #'s, but IMO he was too independent a player w/ no real loyalty to the ATP; tried to sue other players including Ashe! Vilas in '77 wasn't given much credit for tons of matches won at B-level tourneys outside of the 2 majors he took; FO w/o Borg & USO over Connors! Vilas was barely an afterthought & never got his due; w/ Murray-like accomplishments being that 2nd banana!
***...They'll make these definitive statements about things after 1 freak'n match, X & again, whether it's to throw dirt on a top player's "coffin" or to hype him up to unbeatable status (or to proclaim him the GOAT after he wins 1 slam...when just days earlier they were arguing he was clearly not the GOAT). As of now, people are actually writing off Djokovic, which is just ridiculous. But then there were numerous people saying Federer was "done" winning slams in '08, saying he would prob. retire soon ala Borg, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. The reality is, there's every chance Nole wins sev. more slams & regains #1. It m/b this yr. He still might end up tying/breaking Fed's slam record w/ the way things are in tennis now.
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...the odds were far more stacked vs Fed than they're of Djokovic winning another 6-7 slams. I was roll'n my eyes when people wrote him off after every slam loss since '08 & @ people putting Djokovic in a hearse. Now, NADAL's probably done, but = he still has an outside chance @ a slam or 2. None of these guys are that far away. I mean, who's going to stop them? Kyrgios before he gets food poisoning? Zverev & his 3rd Rd exits? Thiem & his 4th Rd exits?***
Accidents or luck can always happen for anyone! I placed Fed on the list of "done" = though a consensus "GOAT" going back 10 yrs! At the X of an appeared decline, what else was t/b thought when he was dropping matches to both Nadal & Djokovic? After winning his 17th @ SW19, it took almost 5 yrs to win another! There's no humiliation in thinking he would never win again; esp. not seeing top seeds going out so early "down under!"
***USO's supposed t/b the last resolution GS & the stamp to your season. You can do well @ the AO, but winning a USO +s more completion to your yr. A 1 hit USO champ. does >er for himself then a 1 hit AO or FO champ. USO has prestige b/c it's taking place in the most important city in the world w/ major sponsors, celebrities, business people, & if you win that Slam, your tennis career does elevate to another level.***
In my day 2 AO's weren't worth 1 USO! W/ winners like Edmondson, Teacher, & Johansson, it was totally devalued as a SLAM IMO! Kriek won it twice; who really cares but Johan & his wife? I think it only solidified a good season if something else was won like a FO! Courier got to #1 winning those inferior Slams!
***Peak Federer Vs. Peak Djokovic - who's better?***
Aesthetically no one's >er than Fed, but I think Nole's run was more impressive; defeating his major rival 7 X's in a row twice, record # of victories over top 10'rs, & wasn't owned by ANYONE! He was on par throughout w/ Fedal! Fed can't say the same; w/ a pigeon in Roddick! Those were gift majors in '09 w/ Soderling taking out Nadal @ the FO & Roger accepting Roddick's choke job @ Wimbledon w/ a huge lead! Nole hasn't had gifts like that w/ comparable opps along the way to each final just about every X of significant titles won!
***AHCA - Healthcare vote cancelled @ the last moment; possible vote tmrw, but not likely.***
ReplyDeleteWas there any doubt? Reps need to hire an accounting firm; heaven knows they can't ct on their own! This goes back to Boehner when they failed w/ the 1st 3 pieces of legis. in the HOUSE & the majority! What a bunch of clowns! It's sorta pathetic; owning it all w/ Trump ready to rubber stamp anything they send over & all they've done is rename a PO more than likely! So very pathetic!
***Obamacare had its 7th ann. a day or 2 ago. There has been more than enough X for opps to figure something out. ...It's put up or shut up X for the GOP, hopefully Trump w/b able to define the parameters that he'd like to see in a bill & be able to set the legis. on course. If not, then he might as well keep to his golf course.***
I just want to know what was that legis. they kept sending over to Obama to veto over 60 X's? We all knew the Republican'ts were FOS & had nothing to offer; least of all the guts to actually take away ACA in totality w/ them owning gov't now!
***Repubs are the dog who finally caught the car. They have no clue what would "replace" the ACA. During the Obama yrs, they could put on a show for their base knowing they didn't have to come up w/ anything b/c it w/b vetoed if it ever got to the President's desk.***
Republican'ts look & sound like fools saying "it's politics" that is gumming up the works! They own it w/ the Presidency & Congress in their hands! They're shooting themselves in the foot; more like the head b/c = if it passes The HOUSE, the Senate has already promised to KILL it! So after 60+ X's wasting X, energy, $$, & paper sending this repeal BS to Obama, now that they can actually take ACA from their own constituents, they're balking! A-Hole! They'll pay 1 day for such ignorance!
***I can see the headline already: Misogynist, classist, racist bill fails despite promise by misogynist, classist, racist idiot that it'll pass & efforts by misogynist, classist, racist slightly < stupid, obsequious buffoon to fix it by making it = more misogynist, classist, & racist @ the last min. Sad!***
They need t/b called something! Heaven knows they don't seem to know what they're doing! The old adage of "it's easy t/b in opp.," but actual governing is hard! Pelosi would have gotten the job done; smacks them around & keeps her caucus in check while Republican'ts are all over the place! What a train wreck!
***...The biggest negative to the ACA was the unofficial name. This is something local Dems failed to comprehend & should've. The focus shb on the ACA & not Obamacare.***
That's what Repuklicans do; create a rallying cry to demonize & negatively treat something they're opposed! "W" was blaming Clinton yrs after he took office; "I inherited a recession!" He's still FOS; he inherited a stock market that had doubled, low unemployment, peace, & actually a surplus budget! We were paying down the debt until he took office & turned it into shit! Now Trump's going to do the same thing to Obama & keep on blaming him! Since we're so "exceptionally" dumb, it'll probably work! We prove how stupid we are every election cycle!
***It's = more stupid. Repubs didn't need Dems to pass the bill. - Why does anyone in the current admin. believe that any Dem would vote "yes" to repeal Barrack Obama's signature piece of legislation?
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They don't; certainly not this particular bill. Trump was just talking to gullible & stupid people watching him on tv, hoping that they'll somehow believe that the failure to repeal the bill was the Dems' fault = though the Repubs control the House, Senate, & WH.***
***Both Ryan & Trump said that they are done w/ health care. X for the important stuff - tax cuts for the rich.***
ReplyDeleteThis'll all be forgotten when it comes to light the collusion of Trump, his surrogates, & the Russians! This looks t/b about to blow up, ...trivializes the leaks that have come out concerning Manifort, Flynn, Page & Stone!
***What about this kind of article vs Obamacare? I don't understand much about this matter.
Like any program this BIG (healthcare), >er success is achieved if everyone participates; sorta like spreading the burden! Young people right now are the ones keeping Soc. Sec. alive; not utilized @ the X by them b/c they're younger, but paying out to older beneficiaries!
***It's just weird cause in my country, companies are expected to pay insurance for their employees. And we're all expected to pay. Maybe it has to do w/ East Asian's mentality. - The Repub. want to trash it totally, but they couldn't find a >er way to do it?***
This is why Trump looked like a fool yesterday pushing for total repeal w/ no real replacement, but @ the same X the legis. failed "b/c of the DEMS; Pelosi & Schumer own it now!" The man needs t/b on serious meds, a straight-jacket, w/ attendants @ the ready in white coats!
***Both Trump & the GOP have learned that, when they lie & say foolish things, esp. w/ regard to HC, it usually works. They just went too far this X. ... After this experience, I hope they also learned that Trump & Congress don't really care about it or them. They're much more interested in the tax cuts, which will personally affect them much more.***
...We're doomed to repeat this process of having a successful economy w/ low unemployment only t/b turned around by crazy tax cuts, dereg., & allowing rampant corruption in public office! How many X's does it have to happen? Clinton turned Bush 41's screw up into peace, a booming economy, & a budget surplus! "W" turned it all around destroying the economy, eliciting rampant unemployment, & more than doubled the Nat'l Debt! Obama got us back together & actually gleaned respect from the rest of the world! That's all changed w/i 2 months! This is a mess of our own creation & I'm so glad I'm old so I "couldn't care <" after repeating this scenario again & again! I"M SO DONE!
***Trump down to 44% on Rasmussen. And to think it took the 'no WMD's in Iraq' + Katrina to get GW Bush that low.***
I have a feeling Trump & his surrogates w/b pining for these #'s in 2 months! It's looking more & more likely there was collusion w/ the Russians w/ many of Trump assoc. closely linked to criminal enterprises! Woolsey quit in Jan. a few months after being in a "foreign" meeting w/ Flynn dealing w/ the kidnapping of someone living here in the States who facilitated an "overthrow" back in Turkey! This is blowing up faster than Watergate or Iran/Contra! The only ?? is who will talk 1st; Manifort, Stone, Flynn, or Page?
***...Trump does not need to sabotage the ACA/Obama mess. The Act is doing it to itself.***
Already being sabotaged by the Rep. party, constantly undermining the law, govs in Red States not accepting the expans. $$ of Medicare, & outright lying about the cost! Obamacare has saved people's lives & kept cost down which was already going out of control! If Reps would tweak it a lit'l, maybe go to "single payer," we w/b in a lot better shape, but they are SMALL people who'd rather see people drop dead in the streets of the country! I wished they'd stop making it like Obamacare keeps insurance companies from offering policies in diff. states! Those are state rules that keep the practice from occurring, but the truth wouldn't serve you guys!
***Garland was definitely liberal--just not considered hard left. Being a moderate doesn't mean one doesn't have a judicial lean just like judges on the hard right or left. They rule according to their beliefs just as everyone else does. ...***
ReplyDeleteI don't care if Garland was a Socialist/Commie, he deserved a hearing & I totally condone making Gorsuch nom. as arduous as possible! I wouldn't do Reps any favors after what they put Obama thru going the filibuster route on everything; = the depth ceiling! I'm done w/ the scum of the Earth on the "right!"
***...They couldn't find a President who made more baseless promises than Trump....or one who was willing to employ hackers (read felons) to break into servers, release documents, etc...***
That's the thing w/ Reps; "deflection" & "projection!" Whenever they're accusing you of something, you need to look up the exact same charge in their own history, present, or future! Seems it was Trump who thought Hillary shouldn't get a SCOTUS choice if under indictment! Now look as the scenario has juxto'd like overnight! What a present for the Clintons to see this windbag go down in flames = more ignominious & notoriously than they have after all's said & done!
***...Another bill that Trump won't be able to pass.***
I've been around for a long X & = w/ the incompetence & juvenile behavior of "W" & his admin., nothing in the last 50 yrs has been this pathetic! We can rope in Nixon & Watergate, but you can't find a more delusional group trying to run things in DC! They have a base that'll stick w/ them thru thick & thin (lies & 1/2-truths)! They own both sides of Congress, have a swath of red across the country w/ Rep. Gov's & State Houses, but they haven't been able to accomplish a thing! It's been truly a horrific start; only rivaled by a President that talked himself to death @ his own Inaugural! The only thing more comical is the finger-pting; actually thinking Dems have an obligation of some sort to try & trash legis. they passed just 7 yrs ago! Reps have sure-fire success in ripping off a SC Nom., but w/ all the Russian intrigue, the news is swirling about as if Monica's "dress" was found & sent down for DNA testing! Reps would love that, but here they are actually "poo-pooing" live investigations by the FBI of Russian involvement in our election process & possible collusion btw Trump, his surrogates, & Putin!
***...W/i the next few wks, watch & see how everything progresses w/ the budget cuts.***
Well we've heard that before; tax & budget cuts end up costing us in the end! Deficits go up, the Nat'l Debt explodes, the stock market collapses, & unemployment skyrockets! How many X's does it have to happen? We're the definition of insanity; repeating the same dumb thing thinking another outcome will result! ALL REPS m/b delusional &/or insane!
***...Trump said it w/b one of his 1st acts as President. Yet Obamacare's still here. And Trump has played golf 9 X's @ last count.***
A lot of that stuff promised was un-doable & rational people knew it! It's the slow & Ill-informed supporters that don't mind being lied to & have their hopes & dreams dashed! Reps own it all & have gotten absolutely nothing done! Executive Orders can't be called legis.! Any chimp can sign a piece of paper; still waiting for intelligent thought to come out of the WH! I think we'll be waiting a while; wake me when winter's over!
***Schiff wants a special committee now to drag this horseshit out as long as possible. ...Ryan isn't about to remove Nunes from the committee; he's the only 1 finding out how Trump was surveilled & by whom.***
ReplyDeleteReps are KINGS of "dragging" out something! How soon we forget Benghazi, "Hillary's emails," W's "fast & furious" gun program (put Obama & his AG on the hot seat)! Please spare me!
***Benghazi & Hillary's emails were serious crimes vs the American people, but were shielded by Lynch & Comey. The surveillance of Trump is more of the same. Your party elites are criminals & traitors.
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Hey asshole... continually bringing up Benghazi & Hillary after a dozen investigations (& THEY FOUND NOTHING) makes you look what exactly you're doing. Same thing Trump tries to do daily; distract from the extremely matter that the POTUS is under investigation for espionage.***
The party line "talking pts" will have to do for the trolls until impeachment proceedings begin soon!
***Trump Scared Shit< of a Girl Named Sally - committee meeting killed to prevent her from testifying vs him more than likely.***
What's really funny is the desperation of Trump & his sycophants to keep invoking the Clintons as of it's a shield to anything the 'Old Fuk' says or does! It's only been 2 months & scandals abound, but all some clowns can do is call out Bill & Hill who're not = in public life that much; almost never seen! Trump OTOH can't get enough of the spotlight; whether good or bad news! Talk about desperate; he tops them all! What a clown!
***There's no great mystery here. Trump has routinely laundered dirty Russian $$ thru his businesses. The Russians have used German banks to funnel their stolen $$ to Trump businesses, or he buys something directly for $60 M & then the Russians buy it for $70. There m/b other things going on too, but it all started w/ $$ laundering. Trump made millions, maybe = 10's of mills every yr by doing this. In return the Russians got clean assets. Prosecuting Trump for this crime's complicated, but the fact that Russians kept funneling $$ to him is evident by documents that are publicly available. -...When the "intelligence committees" are unconstitutional, criminal craphats, it's the POTUS' obligation to stop them.***
I won't hold my breath in anything but obstruction when it comes to this admin! Supposedly ex-AG Yates isn't being kept from speaking, but we all know Trump & his people would rather she go away & stay out of this drama!
***WTF could Yates really know that's so damaging to cause the WH to shut down Nunes committee? (and they did shut it down & don't believe for a min. that Nunes isn't acting w/o the WH instructions) So what if Flynn didn't disclose all he should have. Trump fired him. That s/b the end of the story.***
The cover-up's usually the bigger crime, but I'm not sure this X! Trump got all this started w/ idiotic TWEETS accusing Obama of wiretapping "the tower!" Instead of backing down & apologizing, he decides as always to double down & keep it going until it's now blowing up in his face! I have lit'l to no sympathy for the country since he showed his "pure ass" well before the election & we still installed him in that chair! I thought I had seen & heard it all, but I'm finally Gawd-Smacked we're in this state of affairs w/ a juvenile delinquent w/ access to the launch codes! We've survived so much in the past; not sure this X! Only a handful of Reps have stood up to him so far; most being quite gutless & embarrassing themselves trying to defend & explain what he says & does! More power to them & "save us all!"
***Should Dems filibuster out of retaliation over Garland or just bring it to a vote & say 'yay' or 'nay' based on his fitness as a nominee?***
ReplyDeleteI can't see the Dems doing the Reps any favors! They went the filibuster route on everything; including budget maintenance that normally w/b a "Cont. Res.!" Everything was dragged out just to try & make Obama look weak, but all it did was show how petty & juvenile "right-wingers" are &'ll continue t/b; such small, treacherous people! They talk about saving $$, but their temper tantrums shutting down the gov't twice cost us ten's of Bil.$$! Idiots!
***The Dept. of Energy has asked their employees not to use the phrases "climate change," "emissions reduction" & "Paris Agreement." J/b you don't talk about it, doesn't mean that it'll go away. These men are infuriating!***
That sick gov down in FLA expected anyone in his orbit to do the same; pretend there's no difference in climate! I can tell you growing up in Chgo, periodically we had to deal w/ a blizzard & sub-0 temps! We were barely touched by snow this past winter & most of the X I could leave the balcony door & windows open during the day! It's been such a mild season! Some people were literally running in shorts along the lake in Feb.! That couldn't hbd when I was a kid besides those insane POLAR Bear groups! Let Reps continue burying their heads in the sand! They w/b cursed from gens in the future if we're still here in a 100 yrs or so!
***I live in STL & it's felt like Spring since the end of Jan. I can count on 1 hand the # of X's I have worn a coat to work in the last 2 months & I work nights. I admit that I enjoyed it, but it's unsettling b/c it's unnatural.
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I thought the odds of Trump getting anything done after the infamous repeal and replace debacle were pretty slim, but this'll probably mean that pretty much nothing will get done while he's in office. Not that I esp. mind, as I don't like his agenda, but honestly, how ineffective does he want to be?***
What's funny is, Reps obstructed most if not all legis. in the waning yrs of Obama Admin. & faulted him for running the country thru Executive Order! How the mighty have fallen! Owning it all in DC, = Trump's EOs are being stymied by the courts! They feared this which is why they were so against him being Pres.! There was a full court press around the country, but it's blowing up in their faces since he has no loyalty to the REP. brand; more concerned w/ his "own!" "It's good t/b the KING! I can bring my entire family into the WH w/ impunity & make the TRUMP brand the biggest in WORLD history!"
***He never understood what being POTUS entails; or wanted the responsibilities which come w/ the office.***
He obviously had no clue of what the job entailed! When he had his meeting w/ Obama before taking office in Jan., Trump was exhausted after an hr 1/2 of running thru the schedule of meetings, photo ops, greeting & speaking to groups, etc.! Trump must have thought "I'll take a pic here & there, shake a few hands, & spend most of my X playing golf while the kids run the show!" It's all blowing up in the faces of fools that thought "lets go the way of BREXIT!" Idiots! Now they're talking about shutting down the gov't b/c of all the lame promises to make CUTS! It ain't happening w/o the DEMS so "planned parenthood" will have to refunded along w/ all the rest! Cons aren't going to let that skate thru w/o a fight! I can see it now; Reps own it all, but have gotten NOTHING done & looks t/b as impotent as ever b/c they don't know how to 'run it!' They only know how t/b in opp. & say "NOOoo!" Ryan = admitted it; kind of pathetic for a Speaker to say!
It's all blowing up! Nunes' visit to the WH in the dead of night to acquire Intel is being discussed on all NEWS networks! How could they allow this to escalate so fast & out of control? All this over a STUPID Tweet of Trump's 2 wks ago accusing Obama of wiretapping his TOWER during the election campaign! ...the FBI is already onto them! HOW does President Pence sound?
ReplyDelete---
WSJ reports Flynn has offered to testify in exchange for immunity! OMG! It's all over!
***It could also be just another diversion tactic.***
All true, but the problem for all concerned is that this isn't the only Breaking News out there! Something's coming to the fore every single day! I lived Watergate, but it took 2 yrs before it blew up! This is a script that's been written to resolve itself in an hr 1/2 it seems; no epic length to this story here! ;-)
***I mentioned that this is reminding me of Watergate to a friend & their response was that it was happening faster. It is, but we live in a faster world. ...I find this whole Russia thing t/b interesting b/c w/ Trump's people having so many business ties to Russia & not coming off as particularly bright about certain things, it's quite possible all these contacts were just about business deals & the lies & coverup are b/c they don't want to tell people their business or maybe some of the business deals are shady & they don't want that to come out. ...Trump's so fuk'n arrogant that I could totally see him colluding w/ Russia over the election & then claiming the whole thing's rigged (vs him) b/c that's how he rolls.
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...this was to demonstrate Mike Flynn's hypocrisy. Yes, aware he has not been given immunity, but he's asked for it after excoriating Clinton's people for doing the same stuff.***
I've always said, whatever charge, accusation, or implication a conservative throws out there is normally projection! It's like a rapist pointing a finger at Bill Clinton or Trump trying to call anyone a LIAR! It's ridiculous, they know it, but that's how they roll; in complete denial and the arrogance of always thinking they're smarter and more moral than anyone else!
***Chaffetz isn't concerned about Trump's conflicts of interests b/c Trump's already rich.***
These people are such hypocrites! After yrs out of office, they're still after BILL & CGI; criticism & conspiracies never stop, but Trump's openly thumbing his nose @ rules & regulations w/ Reps turning a blind eye to it all! His family'll use the job in the WH as a piggybank & no one s/b surprised; esp. after they leave! The Presidency has probably been lowered as something respectable for all X!
***Can you elaborate on this what are your issues w/ Blacks voting Rep?***
I'd ?? the compentence of some voters who support Reps! I 'eye roll' the kvetchin' of women about a lack of representation when it's them that vote in "old, white men" again & again! They had a chance to elect a woman, but they'd rather put a self-proclaimed sex offender & LIAR to the POTUS! Anyone hear of the woman who voted for Trump who had her husband picked up on the latest sweeps for illegals? Idiots! Then there are Gay people supporting Reps; esp. after the "right" went on a hate-fest Jihad back in '04! Log Cabin Rep. need to have their heads examined! We have to thank them since the overreach only escalated the acceptance of Gay Marriage; = relented on by Scalia! Another case of expecting the country t/b full of "cave men" holding onto the 50's mentality & values! I could go on, but I think you get the gist of it! Reps "hate" everything & everybody outside their own lit'l bigoted world &'ll accept the support of boneheads who overlook their core beliefs, but won't be anymore accepting! We proved we have plenty of troglodytes floating around to this day; look where TRUMP's sitting!
***Putting Fed aside, do you think that there was a version of Rafa that played at the same level as '15 (or '11 if you prefer) Djokovic?***
ReplyDeleteFor a so called ATG, only Agassi has had a more fractured career than Nadal w/ some success to make a name for himself! Both underachieved for diff. reasons! ...W/ Fed's '04, '06, & '07 seasons which are legendary, I just don't think they measure up to Nole's '11 & '15 w/ the consistent opp. of 2 other ATG's! Nadal's '08, '10, & '13 just don't measure up IMO! I just can't ever imagine another player coming close to 3 majors, playing 8 Masters' finals (winning 6), winning over 30 matches vs top 10 players! The $20+ M in a season w/b busted before I pass on; the $$'s so out of control!
***The 2 have played each other that often that this topic is Actually boring. Fed has been vulnerable to Djokovic @ every stage of Djokovic's career & vice versa. ...
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...Federer hasn't won an WTF in that period; 1 GS & 4 ATP 1000s. That win record's impressive for his age, but is roughly on par w/ what Agassi did in a comp. stage of his career.***
At least it made sense w/ Agassi; he was from the States! Fed's an Int'l figure! I've been involved in tennis for over 45 yrs; ya have to move on! No 1 player lasts forever = though Both Martinas seem t/b trying their bests! We adjust from 1 fave to another; ya have to or you might as well give up on the game when they retire! I started w/ Laver, Borg, & Goolagong, moved onto Martina, Lendl, & Edberg! Hingis took over for Nav., then +ed Sabatini & Sampras! I loved the way Fed played, but have been nauseated by the so called rivalry of Fedal which is still overhyped & untrue! Nadal owned Fed from day 1 & beat him on all surfaces! These last 3 losses of Rafa only proves "he's more done" than Roger who's won a major & Masters @ this stage in his career! Can we promise the same from Nadal? Anything's possible, but not likely!
***One thing that seems diff. about Fed this yr is that he's not fading in the 5th set. Not sure if that is borne out by the stats, but let's take a look @ 5-setters over the last few yrs:
'17: 3-0 (3 @ AO)
'16: 1-1 (W vs Cilic, L v. Raonic @ Wimbl.)
'15: None
'14: 1-2
'13: 2-1
'12: 2-0
'11: 1-2
'10: 1-1
'09: 4-2
'08: 2-1
'07: 1-0
'06: 1-1
'05: 1-2
'04: 1-0
'03: 0-3
'02: 0-1
'01: 3-0
'00: 3-1
'99: 0-2
Career: 27-20, or 57%
What's interesting to note is that he has already played 3 5-setters this yr, which is as many as he's played in a yr since '09 - & he's still got 3 Slams to play. Actually, the '17 AO is the only X he's ever played 3 5-setters in a single tourney. I think his performance @ AO speaks to some combo of >er physical endurance and/or mental fortitude. His career record in 5-setters isn't exactly stellar (for comparison, Rafa's 19-9, or 68%, & Novak's 27-9, or 75%). And if you take out his 1st few yrs & '17, from '02-16 he has barely won more than 1/2: 18-17.
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Most Cons. Yrs Winning a GS, GS Final, GS SF - Most cons. yrs for Men in just Open Era:
Winning a GS - Nadal - 10, Borg/Sampras/Federer - 8
Reaching a GS Final - Lendl & Sampras - 11, Federer & Nadal - 10
Reaching a GS SF - Federer - 15, Connors - 12
Reaching a GS QF - Federer -15, Connors - 14
Reaching a GS 4th Rd - Federer/Agassi - 18, Lendl - 16
Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - Agassi - 19, Connors/Federer - 18
Reaching a GS 2nd Rd - Agassi - 20, Connors - 19
Of course, from SF on down, all of Fed's streaks are active. Active Streaks of Djokovic & Nadal:
Djokovic - Winning a GS - 6, Reaching a GS Final - 7, Reaching a GS SF - 10, Reaching a GS QF - 11, Reaching a GS 4th Rd - 11, Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - 12, Reaching a GS 2nd - 13
Nadal - Reaching a GS 4th Rd - 13, Reaching a GS 3rd Rd - 15, Reaching a GS 2nd Rd - 15***
***...Difference there is, Nole actually lost 2 GS finals to his pigeon Murray. Fed completely owned his pigeons (Roddick, Hewitt) @ GS's. Then Nole was quite lucky @ both USO '15 & RG '16. In the former, Grampa Fed took out Nole's daddy Wawrinka & the latter Murray did (setting up a nice pigeon in the final for that RG title gift in '16).***
ReplyDeleteSo we're calling Murray a pigeon now? Seems a bit of an imbalance; Roddick 1 USO & #1 ranking for a min. compared to Murray's 3 majors, beat Djokovic each X, owns 2 OGM's, holding #1 ranking, & a DC! [hand wavers back & forth] - Heaven knows I'm no fan of Murray, but = I have to acknowledge he's a lot >er than Roddick! As for Nole beating Roger; if he's being called Grandpa Fed now, he beat his son @ IW to win tourney! He's leading the RACE w/ an AO!
***Came across another ranking list, compiled by AP in Dec.'99, for the top players of the 20th century. There was a 6 member panel; ...Shriver, Turnbull, Wade. Here they are w/ # of votes, + # of 1st place votes.
1) Laver (3 1st place votes) 47
2) Sampras 39
3) Tilden (1 1st place) 38
4) Borg 29
5) Budge 28
6) Hoad (1 1st place) 19
6) McEnroe 19
8) Emerson 18
9) Rosewall 18
10) Kramer 16
11) Connors 13
12) Gonzales (1 1st place) 12
Only 4 players received 1st place votes, Laver, Tilden, Hoad, & Gonzales.***
Gonzalez career was the most enigmatic of all X IMO; top player of the 40's, becoming a pro in the 50's! He got sour & bitter on the tour & didn't cultivate friendships,! Only @ the end as a commentator, he got some real exposure in my era when tennis took off in the 70's! He gets kudos for his ability, but just wasn't well liked after starting out quite affable!
***Just watched a replay of Berdych vs Fed..@ MP, Tomas served a body serve to Roger..he just casually blocked the serve to the service line ..why didn't he follow it into the net or why was he not attacking the ball..makes no sense ..this one'll haunt Tomas forever.***
This is what I've been ranting about for yrs; the gutless play of pros like Berdych & Ferrer who have all the ability in the world, will have X MP's, but'll always find a way to give it back to the "BIG 4!" It happens to them again & again no matter how poorly they're playing @ the X! ...NOLE a huge recipient of those chokes, owning players like Cilic, Tomas, & Ferrer! These guys are too good to have such a poor rec. vs the elites! = Davydenko won 2 Masters events & a YEC in their "hey day," but this era of wannabes just stress me out; NO GUTS!
***The best chance of Fed becoming #1 is if he keeps playing amazing for the rest of the yr - probably having to win another GS - & also Murray & Novak's slump continues, w/ the avail. pts being distributed among more players so that fewer pts w/b required to reach #1.
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A player definitely won't need 12,000 pts t/b YE #1 this yr. I suspect it'll require more like 10,000, m/b = only 9,000. Remember, #1 only needs more pts than #2...it isn't like there's a set amt. required. Given the weak starts of the current 1-2, un< 1 of them comes back & wins 2 Slams & sev. other big titles, I could see a scenario where the YE #1 wins only a single Slam, 2-3 Masters/WTF, 2 other titles, & good showings @ most Slams.
Now let's say Roger only wins AO, IW & 1 other Masters, 1 of Halle or Basel, & Stuttgart. That's 5750 pts from titles. Let's + to that a Slam QF, SF, & F, & 3 wins @ the WTF (SF result). That's another ~2800 pts, which brings him up to around 8,500. Now + in solid results @ 5 more Masters (say F, SFx2, QF, 3R), & that's another 1500 pts that brings him up to 10,000 for the yr. In other words, un< someone else utterly dominates from here out, Roger only needs to stay healthy & play pretty well, not = winning more than another Masters & a <er title or 2 to earn YE #1. Now if he wins Miami, Halle, & Wimbledon, all of a sudden he's the fave going into the last part of the yr.
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Fed's sched. to play Rome, Cinci, Shanghai & Paris - so 4 more. So far he's got the following pts:
AO: 2000
Dubai 500: 45
IW's Masters: 1000
Miami Masters: 600/1000
He'll have either 3645 or 4045 pts after tmrw. We'll go w/ 3645 to play it safe. Here's a look going forward:
For clay season, he's scheduled to play 2 tourneys; Rome & RG. Let's be cons. & say that he's a bit rusty for Rome & goes out in the 3R (45), is decent @ RG, but loses in the QF (360). That gives him 4050 pts going into grass season, during which he's scheduled to play Stuttgart 250, Halle 500, & Wimbl. Let's say he wins Stuttgart (250), loses in the Halle final (300), & loses in the Wimby final (1200). That gives him another 1750 pts, so 5800 total.
OK, on to the US tour. Cinci's 1 of Roger's best tourneys (he's won 7 of the last 11 he's played in), but we're being cons. so let's say he loses in the SF to a young punk (360). Similarly, he goes out in the SF of the USO (720), so adds another 1080 pts, so is sitting at 6880.
Next up is Shanghai. We'll also say he loses in the SF (360), but then wins Basel (500). Next is Paris, which he loses in the QF (180). So that's 1040 more pts, so 7920 total, going into the WTF's. If he wins the whole tourn., he's over 9,000 pts. If he goes out in the SF, he's @ 8320 or 8520.
...he's going to finish w/ @ least 8,000 ATP pts - & that's winning no more Slams or Masters, just 1 ATP 500 & 1 ATP 250. Chances are he wins @ least 1 more Masters, or = a Slam. 8,000 is a good baseline for Roger being healthy & not collapsing.
He's in contention for YE #1. Why? Well, un< someone else gets really hot & wins 2 Slams; enough to win it? ...The rankings come Oct. c/b very tight, w/ sev. players in the 7-8,000 pt range. We may come down to another WTF decider, which w/b a lot of fun.
Another scenario: Roger wins Miami tmrw, reaches the SF of Rome & RG. All of a sudden he's @ 5125 pts going into grass season, instead of the very modest 4050 in the above cons view. If he then wins Halle & Wimbledon & does well in Stuttgart, he's then at ~7700 & can cruise to the YE #1. It isn't a stretch to get Roger to the YE #1 & it may require < than we might think.***
I do believe if Nadal allows "Gramps" to beat him tmrw in Miami final, Rafa might as well give it up! His humiliation w/b complete!
ReplyDelete***Humiliation? ...Nadal has some serious thinking to do. The only humiliation s/b for Roger (on clay mostly) as he took til he was 35.5 yo to improve his BH.
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H2H: Nadal leads 22-14 vs Federer:
'17 Miami M1000 F HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-4
'17 IW's Masters R16 HC Fed d Nadal 6-2 6-3
'17 AO F HC Fed d Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3
'15 Basel F HC Fed d Nadal 6-3 5-7 6-3
'14 AO SF HC - Nadal d Fed 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3
'13 ATP WTF's SF HC - Nadal d Fed 7-5 6-3
'13 Cinci M1000 QF HC - Nadal d Fed 5-7 6-4 6-3
'13 Rome M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-1 6-3
'13 IW's M1000 QF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-2
'12 IW's M1000 SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-4
'12 AO SF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4
'11 ATP WTF's 10 HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 6-0
'11 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1
'11 Madrid M1000 SF Clay - Nadal d Fed 5-7 6-1 6-3
'11 Miami M1000 SF HC - Nadal d Fed 6-3 6-2
'10 ATP WTF's F HC - Fed d Nadal 6-3 3-6 6-1
'10 Madrid M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-4 7-6(5)
'09 Madrid M1000 F Clay - Fed d Nadal 6-4 6-4
'09 AO F HC - Nadal d Fed 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2
'08 Wimbl. F Grass - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7
'08 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-1 6-3 6-0
'08 Hamburg F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 6-7(3) 6-3
'08 MC M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 7-5 7-5
'07 Masters Cup SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-4 6-1
'07 Wimbl. F Grass - Fed d Nadal 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(3) 2-6 6-2
'07 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4
'07 Hamburg F Clay - Fed d Nadal 2-6 6-2 6-0
'07 MC M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-4 6-4
'06 Masters Cup SF HC - Fed d Nadal 6-4 7-5
'06 Wimbl. F Grass - Fed d Nadal 6-0 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-3
'06 FO - RG F Clay - Nadal d Fed 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4)
'06 Rome M1000 F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-7(0) 7-6(5) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5)
'06 MX Masters F Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-2 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(5)
'06 Dubai F HC - Nadal d Fed 2-6 6-4 6-4
'05 FO - RG SF Clay - Nadal d Fed 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3
'05 Miami M1000 F HC - Fed d Nadal 2-6 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 6-1
'04 Miami M1000 R32 HC - Nadal d Fed 6-3 6-3
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Murray is a bigger, faster, stronger, & more consistent player. He's separated himself from Courier by a LARGE margin @ this point, in an arguably more difficult era to reach the top in.***
That's the only thing in Courier's favor when it comes to situation or era; his tougher path w/ a dozen GS winners in a major draw @ any given X! We haven't been able to say that since the 90's! It's been lame; stronger GOAT's, but weaker minded opp.! You can give them X MP's & they'll always find a way to give it back to the >er player; just a gut< era here! Allowing Fedal redux in '17; who would have thunk it?
***Roger's 35 & just won the 3 biggest tourneys of the season so far. Nadal? You can see the limitations in his game now that for yrs he got away w/ - esp. vs Roger. Djokovic has exploited them for yrs, but as long as Nadal was still beating Roger & Andy he didn't bother to make any changes. He literally has no Plan B to speak of. Hit more top & harder just ain't going to get it done off clay vs Roger, Andy & Nole anymore. X to go back to school & make some adjustments - starting w/ NOT standing 15 feet behind the baseline to return serve.
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It's like Roger goes into the match w/ the game plan to hit over the ball more. ...And that's sort of where Nadal is right now. It's like he can't believe he's NOT in Roger's head anymore & Roger has stopped ALLOWING Nadal to out-psych him. If you look @ Rafa's face - he ain't happy about that. He really thought he'd go the rest of his career being able to out-tough Roger. Poor baby.***
***...Rafa had nothing to lose today, I would have thrown the kitchen sink @ Roger.***
ReplyDelete...At X's, both Nole & Roger have been unhittable, but @ this stage, it has t/b a lit'l embarrassing to Nadray to keep going down to the same people over & over? Truthfully, Nole hasn't played "sky-high" tennis since his 'beat down' of Nadal @ '15 Qatar; barely holding on after his FO completed the Nole-Slam! We'll have to see what happens w/ Murray; pressure has t/b huge since he's not a "real #1" IMO!
***...He's not a real #1? Murray's the Wimbl. champ, won the WTF, beating Nole. It'll def. be interesting to see how Murray & esp. Djoker return b/c they might find it hard to reassert themselves over the summer.***
JMHO that it all came down to 1 match; making lit'l sense to me since Nole had 2 majors & 4 Masters under his belt w/ other finals! Murray took over when Nole went into hibernation winning only a Masters 1000 in the 2nd 1/2 of the season! It still shb enough but for the system that almost penalizes success! The following season after setting all kinds of recs in '15 had Nole falling to #2 w/ a more noteworthy season! Reminds me of the old days when Vilas owned 2 majors & had won well over 120 matches in '77; was barely a footnote behind Borg & Connors! Maybe majors should award more pts to the winner!
***Over the yrs Fed has done a # of lit'l adj's that have bothered Rafa, but it's rare that he could chain them together consistently enough to get pts to win. ...He started hitting down the middle more (which Del Potro had used effectively vs Nadal) & repeatedly pounding Rafa's BH (= when the FH was wide open) but always the same matchup problem @ the end of the day which Rafa could go to on the big pts.
...The way Fed now buys himself X w/ his own deep loopy high floating FH's is a page str. from Nole (has visibly frustrated Nadal sev. X's).
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Rafa's showing his age. Injuries have taken a huge toll on him. He's looping & lopping the balls short. It isn't an issue of surfaces, more of confidence. He may get it back.
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The H2H differential is now in single digits. It's 9 now &'s a good chance of decreasing further. However, I don't expect another Fedal match this yr until we get back to the HC's. - - Rafa missed another chance towards completing the resume. ...***
...It wasn't enough Laver owned 2 GS's; '62 Am. & as a pro in '69! It was like we were supposed to feel sorry for him b/c he'd never won a WCT Chp which was =lent to the ATP Masters; run by Hunt out of Houston! The most classic & noteworthy matches wound up being played down there in PT & 'the place to go!'
Rosewall prevented Laver in 2 very memorable finals; separated by a pt or 2 after all was said & done in 5th set TB's! After that, Laver wore down & started going out earlier to the likes of Smith & a new "Wonderkind" by the name of Bjorn Borg in 5 set SF in '75! We have more great players lacking a title never having much of a chance; save McEnroe who was as close as you can get to FO win! I could never see Wilander @ Wimbledon; heaven knows he was lucky to = make a QF! Like Nadal today, players of that era made their bones by elim. Wilander on grass! In '85, the newly crowned FO Champ went down in flames on CC to lit'l known Slobodan Živojinović; WHO?
Lucky Nole's goals are few by now w/ a need of only 1 or 2 Cinci Masters & another FO! He'll have it all; TWICE! Roger & Nadal have a long way to go save their OG's they can flash in his face!
***Slobodon had a giant serve. He was a tricky bloke to face early @ Wimbo w/ their fast grass back then. Don't forget both Rafa & Mats are the only players to have 2 slams on each surface - HC's, grass & clay. It wasn't a minor achievement for Mats to win 2 Oz titles on grass!***
***Remember how far Novak was ahead of everybody after the FO! Lots of pts in the Fall.***
ReplyDeleteI've said before; tennis' a sport that almost penalizes you for having a great yr like Nole in '15! The pt defense isn't attainable when you get 3 majors, 6 Masters, playing in final after final, ending the season w/ 30+ wins over top 10 players! If you don't match that, I guess you have t/b relegated to #2 = w/ 2 majors & 4 Masters in '16!
***True. Which is why Fed's 237 & Pete's 6 yrs in a row are damn impressive and underrated.
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"Wimbl. Seedings Race" after Miami:
Murray 10840
Federer 6385
Djokovic 5895
Wawrinka 5080
Raonic 4885
...Out of the others who are @ least 3000 pts behind Roger (+ whatever he earns @ RG), the only 1 for whom it isn't unrealistic to overtake Roger's haul is Nadal. But if he takes 4000 pts in the clay-ct season, it's hard to see Wawrinka also winning a Masters. So, on balance, I think it's more likely than not that Fed w/b in a top 4 spot in this "race" by the beginning of the grass-ct season.
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The only players who have at least 1200 ranking pts are Roger (4045), Rafa (2235), Stan (1500), Grigor (1365), & Jo-Willie (1255). If we expand that to 1000 we get Thiem, Sock, & Goffin. Andy is ATW down @ 840 & Novak @ 475. The only 2 players who have a legit shot @ 10,000 pts are prob. Roger & Rafa. ...For Roger to get to 10,000, he needs to win another Slam, another Masters, & the WTF...that's 4,500 &'ll get him to 8,545, ...I'm thinking 9,000 w/b enough.
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How many pts did the #1 have @ this pt in the yr? ...ATP Race pts thru the Miami Masters:
'16: Andy Murray 1565 (Novak - 4340)
'15: Novak 4385
'14: Novak 2690
'13: Rafa 1900
'12: Novak 3540
'11: Novak 4500
'10: Rafa 1230
'09: Roger 2010
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...Novak's on nearly 8000 despite having almost no result @ Wimbledon. Both of them are defending just 1 GS title in that period, so in principle they're clearly capable of doing it (= w/o winning 2 GS).
Now, their form so far this yr doesn't give any indication this'll happen - but the yr's young. Hence my pt is that Roger would need some help from them, in the form of a lower level of form than we know they're capable of in order to return to the top of the rankings.
Un< Fed wins another GS this yr, I really struggle to see a realistic route to #1. = if he does, it's no guarantee (Novak won 2 last yr & still ended it #2). It's also clear by now, if it wasn't before that #1 isn't a serious goal of Fed ATM. He'll put everything into winning Wimbl.
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...Djokovic won 4 str. GS's, then he lost in the next 3. Do we really think he won't win another in the next 3 attempts? It's possible, of course, & stranger things have happened, but I'd be very careful counting him & Murray out! ...The other thing to consider is that if Andy & Novak come back @ least relatively strong, it's unlikely that any 1 player will dominate for the rest of the yr. Consider:
*Roger already has an over 3,000 pt lead over the current #1-2. That's a lot to make up.
*Rafa's playing well enough t/b a force during @ least clay season.
*There are sev. young(ish) players who're chomping @ the bit & look poised to take @ least a Masters or 2 away from the Big(ish) 5: Thiem, Kyrgios, Zverev, & of course Dimitrov, Raonic, & Nishikori. Then there's del Potro.
The bottom line being: no 1 but Roger's looking dominant enough to go on a tear & sweep the yr. Chances are the Masters & remaining Slams w/b split up among X players - not only the Big 5, but maybe 1 or 2 younger players. Now if someone wins 2 Slams, that changes things - esp. Roger, w/ his 2 Masters already in the bag. But I think it w/b a dogfight & not only will the YE #1 not be clear until the WTF or @ least Shanghai/Basel/Paris, but Roger w/b in the mix ATW to the end.***
***Obama Off's Made List of Secret Russia Probe Documents To Protect Them. - The left wing media is so flustered that they can't keep their story straight.***
ReplyDeleteIf the LIBS are in such disarray, why's Trump & his Rep. Congress floundering? What's the reason now w/ a Rep. bonehead in the POTUS chair? NOTHING's DONE! HOW weak? No amt of badmouthing Trump or bitchin' about what Obama admin. did to protect the country from this Manchurian (Ruskie) Candidate can change how inept, incompetent, & impotent all those losers have shown themselves t/b when in complete charge of DC! They probably won't = be able to elim. funding for Planned Parenthood b/c they'll need Dems to help raise the Nat'l Debt limit & passing of the next budget; due end of April! W/o Schumer & Pelosi, Reps will wind up presiding over "shutting down the gov't" 1 more X!
***Actually a whole Hell of a lot hbd, but the lying libtards won't report it.***
You already dropped the ball on repealing Obamacare! ...For a majority of women to continue to support Reps, they have no one else to blame but themselves when services are cut!
***...Now they say the Obama Admin. spied on Trump & leaked info "b/c they wanted to keep the docs secret."
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No, sparky, President Obama had the Trump-Russia docs cataloged by serial #'s to keep them SAFE from destruction. BTW, do you think Adolf Trump would have destroyed any docs that supported any of his conspiracy theories, fake news, & lies?***
This is what happens when you make enemies for no other reason but t/b a bully! Obama wanted to help Trump become a decent President! Insulting the man as he walks out the door & continuing to blame stuff on him long after he's left office! I'm so glad Obama's people cat. that stuff b/c we all know Bannon would have had a bonfire by now! Someone on the news is pretty sure there are indictments to come down!
***...They have to find something to cling to. It's better than admitting their candidate was a disgusting, corrupt, lying bitch that nobody could stand to look @ or listen to.***
Trump & his TOOLS are all about to be exposed as Ruskie sympathizers & you're still railing about Hillary who hasn't been in office w/ any real power since '12! Things are ready to explode & indictments w/b coming down! Flynn's already assured of being pros. since he was being paid as a foreign agent! It was discovered & told to Trump who allowed this NIT to wander about for about 2 wks before firing his Ass! Your priorities really suck "on the right!" If this was = mused about in relation to Dems, Reps w/b losing their shit! Now evidence has been produced & dessiminated by INTEL & the FBI the many connections btw Trump's goons, Putin, & other foreign parties looking for favors! Get a grip babe & watch Watergate dissolve into nothing after this fiasco!
***Tell us how big bad Putin stole the election from St. Hillary the Inevitable***
If I were Hillary, I wouldn't care! We already know Congress w/b on her ass the entire tenure! What good would it do to win but aggravate & fuel the HATE-fest w/ cons losers? It's a complete joke Speaker Ryan gave a Mea Culpa the other day saying in essence "we have to learn to govern!" ...it's easy t/b in opp. to bitch, moan, & obstruct, but it takes maturity & brains to actual govern! Reps are woefully short on both; just look @ the HOUSE! It's a mess & can't be trusted to get anything done to = send over to the Senate! What a coll. of idiots!
***Thank you Schumer & Pelosi for being such pathetic opp. leaders.***
ReplyDeleteIf they're pathetic leaders, what does that make McConnell & Speaker Ryan? They own Congress & it seems we're being led into another gov't shutdown b/c they don't have a handle on their own multi-caucus! Absolutely nothing's been passed except maybe the renaming of a PO! These losers, w/ the whole of DC under their control, can't get a thing done! The Reps tried to "repeal & replace" Obamacare & Trump promised that w/b their 1st piece of legis.! Congress sent over 60 of those lame BILLS to Obama knowing he'd VETO it, but when they have the actual power, NOTHING! FAILURE! Call me when they pass something meaningful!
***The Dems have been decimated for passing Obamacare in the 1st place. And now you think it's our job to fix this clusterfk? - Now you know how Obama felt w/ the war in Iraq.***
+ on the DOW crash; IIRC it dropped to 6600! Unemployment soared well over 10%, now well under 5%! The whole world hated our fk'n guts & Obama brought us back where World leaders couldn't wait to see him! They were burning "W" in effigy if anyone has a memory! All that needed repair & what did the right-wing nuts do? Fought him in every way possible; actually filibustering normal admin. fair like raising the debt ceiling & CR's! They shut the gov't down so they could listen to that pinhead from TX recite Dr. Seuss', "Green Eggs & Ham!" That's just OTTH! If I were Obama, I'd resent it that they tried to delegitimize his very Presidency! If I were him I would laugh & say "this country deserves someone like TRUMP so they'll see what fools they were when I was in charge!"
***Reps have very short memories. They don't remember how Bush left the USA. - ...The Demon-crats just want to kick a dead horse as long as they can & to hell w/ the country.***
Oh please; it was Nunes who's hair was on fire telling us how disgusting & unbelievable the info he had received was that he had to run to Trump to let him know! Supposedly his committee members were trying to hold him back! We later found out he stopped by Ryan who didn't stop him either, so both their reputations are up for scrutiny! This is Intel & oversight! Nunes doesn't work for the Prez!
***Accepting Int'l $$ by an Int'l foundation does not violate the law. The Clintons received no emoluments from the CGI. - How do you know what the Clinton's received or didn't recieve? The woman destroyed 33,000 e-mails for goodness sakes. LOL.***
Still on the emails when Russia operatives inside the WH? Hard to believe this is still the Rep. Party! Commentators said Trump would drag them down! They're a mere shell of themselves w/ lit'l integrity or common sense! Their patriotism flew out the door ages ago trying to undermine Clinton over the same BS they were doing; later t/b found out! ...And speaking of dead horse; BENGHAZI anyone?
***...If Obama had "enough evidence," Trump would've been charged last yr.***
You guys s/b shaking in your golf shoes! This investigation's going t/b coming to a close sooner or later & it'll not be pretty! Trump's in serious trouble & he's inflaming resentment all the X thumbing his nose @ nepotism charges, an inability to get his shit together & hire qualified people to 100's of open jobs in the West Wing, & to stop exposing the US to ridicule, acting stupid on the world stage! He's fulminating distrust & insecurity amongst NATO & the UN!
***...Now it's clean up X.***
The "rightwing" delusions continue I see! They conveniently forget the state of affairs in '09; rampant unemployment, stock market crash, budget indecisions in Congress, & gov't shutdowns! The cleanup was done by Obama "thank you very much!"
***R's will regret it if they use the nuclear option to confirm Gorsuch for SCOTUS. - Agreed, its a sad day if we change the rules to cater to a completely partisan Senate. It's bad enough already. The "60" rule @ least makes each party work w/ each other & build consensus. ...how lazy & worth< is our leadership? It wasn't right when Harry did it & it's not right if the Reps do it.***
ReplyDeleteWe wouldn't be in this position if McConnell & the minority party under Obama hadn't filibustered everything! It was over-utilized & abused, actually shutting down the gov't, so Reps can KMA whining about what a horrible day this is where the Senate w/b as common as the HOUSE from now on! That's their lowlife choice! I gave up yrs ago that we set ourselves on a course of disaster; culminating in a Trump presidency! We're TOAST!
***I agree, it has been an ugly & frustrating show of oppression & ineffectiveness from our leadership. Complete hypocrisy as the Reps move off 8 yrs of obstruction & the Dems now seem t/b continuing their playbook. At some pt we need to grow up & unfortunately we don't have a leader who's capable of helping that problem. He's a bigger child than the rest of our politicians so its only going to get worse.***
Reps proved they really didn't give a shit back in '09 when Obama took office! They decided before he took the 'oath of office' that they would obstruct, delay, & fk over all concerned as a way of being relevant! ...Today, McConnell & his TOOLS think it's worthy of shutting down the gov't & costing us $$! All they did was undermine the lit'l confidence left of DC! Their seats have been so Gerrymandered they don't fear losing elections so they have no incentive to act like responsible adults! We have no one else to blame but ourselves; esp. women, minorities, & Mensa members who thought it w/b beneficial to back & vote for Trump & this coll. of losers wearing Russian Red! "Thanks GUYS!"
***Dems have 41 "no" votes for Gorsuch which is the filibuster threshold. Of course, since it's made out t/b about partisanship & not the nominee, there's talk about changing the rules instead of reconsidering the nominee. I know it's impossible, but I'd love to see how things turned out if no one knew each other's party affiliation.***
It makes about as much sense as when the Reps wouldn't even "hear" from Merritt Garland, but it's a "no win" situation! Reps have counted on the Dems being "the grown-up" in the room, but those assholes on the "right" have just been abusing progressives & a stand has t/b made or they'll continue walking all over us!
***Before changing the rules, Reps should think about what that would mean long-term. It might seem appealing now, it might not when you look ahead. Why's it so simple to change the rules on such an important matter anyway?***
Reid only relented & changed the rules back in '13 due to years of minority obstruction to filling Obama cabinet positions & appeal's court vacancies! McConnell wanted to get that done & was looking forward to it! I just hope it comes back to burn him in the foreseeable future! Trump has t/b at risk in 4 yrs & a bunch of these old fogies will drop dead or retire soon on the SC!
***If McConnel gets rid of it for the lifeX appointees to the SC, it's gone forever for advise & consent positions, ALL OF THEM. That's not good & makes everything < fair for Americans on the whole and MORE PARTISAN....and makes Senators weaker, just like the partisan House of Representatives. ...Ridding the filibuster simply means the Minority will never have a voice in the Senate; never been that way. It prevented a simple majority shoving crap down the minority's throat. R's will REGRET THIS SOME DAY!***
***Novak's impossible to predict. He could continue struggling or he could come back & win RG. ...Novak had been so dominant of Rafa, winning 7 in a row, but he's somewhat resurgent & Novak's struggling. Either Rafa gets his revenge or Novak uses the opp. to find his form.
ReplyDelete...Novak'll still be dealing w/ a player who last plumbed the depths of his >ness @ the '14 FO. That's a long X ago. X losses vs some & I don't only include Novak or Fed in that list.***
...After near perfection for 2 seasons after winning '14 Wimbl. final, we've had high expectations of Nole! I'm not a big fan of his style, but he makes me root for him since he's rivaled Lendl in being the top player for yrs, but in that era it was still about Borg, Connors, & McEnroe! If not for his 8 str. finals @ the USO ...he might have indeed faded into obscurity! = Fed couldn't keep that up w/ the weak era he's been able to inflate his #'s! IMO Roger's still the GOAT, 'A' #1 of all X, but **'s will mentally be affixed to his name for obvious reasons IMO! I wouldn't be surprised if Novak doesn't come back focused & ready, but physically I think he still has it in him to win 2 more majors! I know I will look forward to him competing again; to at least stem this retro-Fedal tide! It was boring to me 10 yrs ago; it will again! The only thing diff. is Nadal's fallen on very hard X's & has started losing to his personal "pigeon;" the last 4 X's! WOW! It's over for him!
***I think Novak & Andy will bounce back, but to what level? That is the crucial ??. They're both far enough behind that they have to significantly out-play Roger (& Rafa) for the rest of the yr. The prob. for both is that they're not just competing vs Roger, but each other & Rafa & the rest of the field, so un< they're super-dom. &/or Roger collapses, it's going t/b hard to catch up to the ol' maestro w/ that 3K++ pt advan.
Now the good news for Andy, Novak, & moreso, Rafa, is that Roger won't be playing for the next 2 months, which includes 3 Masters, an ATP 500, & a bunch of ATP 250s. But theoretically those 3 could win as much as 3500 pts; it's unlikely that any 1 player earns that much before RG, but that's what's up for grabs in a "Roger-free" period of X (assuming Roger skips Rome) - not counting the ATP 250s, most of which are concurrent w/ bigger tourneys. If any of those 3 are going to catch Roger, they need to get some pts during this next stretch, & continue playing well after.
...For Novak or Andy to get the YE #1, they have a similar task: do well in clay season & improve until the end of the yr. Both would need to win @ least 1 Slam & 2 or 3 Masters, + prob. The WTF to clinch it. ...we'll have a >er sense of things after RG. If Rafa doesn't do very well during clay season, he has virtually no chance of the YE #1. If Novak or Andy don't @ least hold their own & earn 2K pts, I don't see them catching Roger.
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I don't agree w/ tennis penalizing you if you have a great yr, followed by a bad 1! In Nole's case 1 guy takes all that he left behind. Nole went #2, not b/c he had great yr in '15, but b/c he had 1/2 a yr in '16.***
B/c of parity, it was easier to become #1 w/ just a single major back in the 70's & 80's! Vilas a rare player who didn't get a sniff of #1 winning 2 majors w/ over 120 matches in '77; mostly on clay! We've been spoiled by the latest feats of ATG's w/ Fedalovic each winning 3 majors in a season w/ X Masters events 6 X's btw them! Those kind of career yrs happened just once a decade in my day; Connors '74, Wilander's '88, & an honorable mention of Borg's '78-80 winning FO/Wimbledon combo 3 str. yrs w/ a wood racket & 1 wk btw the events!
***Had they kept the USO on clay for another 2 yrs, Borg'd have bagged it. But yeah, 3 of the 4 finals he lost, he should have won. He lost on clay in '76, had a bogey shoulder in '77, thumb issue in '78, & choked in the 5th set in '80.***
ReplyDelete===
This is about as topsy turvy as anything I can remember w/ the rankings, the players, & the situation! At no X in the Open Era can I compare NOW save Connors "rising from the ashes" in '82 to take Wimbledon & USO; then acquiring #1 ranking! After '78, he was relegated to 5th wheel IMB w/ Borg, McEnroe, & a newbie who led the WCT tour by the name of Lendl! When Connors fell to Vitas G. in the semi's of the '80 FO, I figured he was done! He had never lost to the guy & that's a sure sign you've overstayed your welcome! As old as Laver & Rosewall were back then in the mid 70's, they still owned top players like Ashe & Nastase respectively! I couldn't understand it @ 18-19 yo! Nastase won once that I can remember over "Muscles" & it was only 1 of those TV events w/ RR where they initially played on clay! Ilie won that match over Rosewall, but the rematch on HC in the final had the old man making him look bad! Rosewall won last set @ love IIRC! MHB Hong Kong TC in '76!
***Connors was only 29-30 when he "rose from the ashes" in '82, so what he did at that age wasn't what I would deem "physically impossible." It wasn't = remarkable & was surely down to Borg's absence + McEnroe's inability to keep his focus while he was pining romantically for Borg (to hammer again). Connors didn't have so many miles on the clock. Nastase, Ashe; these are players who're more famous than "great." They won slams, but they had their fragilities, though Ilie is probably - just after McEnroe - the most naturally gifted tennis player I've ever seen.
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'17: A most unusual yr so far - & presumably ahead
A few factors are combining to create a truly unique & perhaps historically unparalleled:
1. The current top 2 players have been injured &/or struggling; have fallen way behind in Race rankings.
2. The previously assumed-t/b fading elder statesman is having his best season in at least 5 yrs, if not 10; his younger compatriot's also resurgent, if to a <er extent (@ least so far!).
3. The gen. that s/b dom. is historically weak.
4. The younger gen. is starting to show its claws.
The end result is that the rest of the yr is a complete unknown. Anyone want to speculate what lies ahead? I see more ??'s than clear trajectories. For instance:
*Can Roger hold his current form? Or rather, return to it when he plays again?
*Will Rafa rise to the challenge & take back his mantle of King of Clay?
*How strongly will Novak & Andy come back?
*Are Kyrgios & Zverev ready to win a big tournament? What about Thiem?
*Are any of the "lost gen."--Raonic, Nishikori, Dimitrov--capable of winning a big title?
*Which of the younger group (Fritz, Tiafoe, Coric, Rublev, etc) will distinguish themselves as serious prospects to join Kyrgios & Zverev as the future of the tour?
Certainly the most exciting yr in a while, in terms of how open & unknown the rest of it w/b.***
***Finland Figure Skating "Worlds" were never kind to Michelle. :( ***
ReplyDeleteOTTH, IIRC Helsinki is like Denver; very thin air! I seem to remember Yagudin & Plushenko going @ it in '99 Worlds! Both were "taking their X" during performances! I have a very vivid image of Evgeni jumping in slow motion; really holding each landing & taking deep breaths!
What's going on @ Worlds? Fernández & Medvedeva are leading after the SP's, but the rest of the results are shocking outside of Chan in 3rd place! MHB a splat-fest for both the men & ladies! Hanyu in 5th; Chen in 6th?
***At Worlds, The Ladies' event wasn't a splat-fest. The Men had a few more splats, but not that bad - just that others skated really well.***
It was just a bit of a shock after seeing them flying high @ 4CC last month! That was the best event I've seen in yrs & was obviously the most comp. w/ performances that just "outdid" the 1 before! I haven't paid much attention since last Olympics in Sochi! I had no idea the men had finally taken the sport to new heights w/ jumps I thought would eventually cripple these poor kids! I still SMH from about 20 yrs ago; I believe it was Trophy Lalique! The spoils were usually split =ly among the top skaters & this event was obviously already relegated to Maria Butyr.! Jennie Kirk couldn't have been > than 16; a petite lit'l thing like Tara L.! She not only performed well, it was flawless, ending on a triple Lutz! Not = a pro skater does such a thing on tired legs! Maria was her usual stiff self, held onto a couple landings, & probably hit the ice @ least once! She not only took the gold, Jennie was relegated to BRONZE! She wasn't est. yet; probably her 1st Int'l event since Michelle K. usually just did Skate Am. & CAN.! It's 1 of the reasons FS's still hard to watch! = w/ the new scoring system, it's still 1 of the shadiest Int'l sports!
***Hanya came back to win setting a new World Rec. - Chen had so many problems w/ his skates. ...it has t/b very dangerous to skate a full Sr. program on broken skates.***
The yr I resumed watching comps was '94 @ Lilehammer w/ Tonya Harding & her broken laces! I can still see her leg up on the wall showing the judges, crying w/ "that" over-made face! They allowed her to fix it & come back; totally messing up Josee Chouinard who had to run out onto the ice due to interruption! At another comp, a male skater broke his blades during warmup! IDK how he got autho, but they had an exhibit on display & he was allowed to take a blade & used it! ANYBODY?
***That's sacrilege. Why would you take a piece of history &... I can't... I think now in most comps there are skate & blade manufacturers on hand that can sell these things quickly or make overnite repairs. Unfortunately Nathan's skates were beyond repair by that pt.
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Kobe was a poor man's Jordan. He just wasn't anywhere near Jordan despite copying His Airness' style. ...Kobe has 5 rings, but he was top dog for only 2. Lebron's more a hybrid btw Magic & MJ. He's a freak athlete & very big & strong, but if you think he's just a Bull in the china shop, you're ignoring his insane court vision, passing ability, ball control, & all around B-ball IQ. He's the closest thing to Jordan in terms of >ness since #23 retired, yet he's still pretty far off IMO.***
IMO today's B-ball's almost unwatchable! I can't remember the last X I cared about a season; = when GS was threatening my Bulls' record winning season of '96! San Antonio the only team I have any real respect for = though the media dismisses them w/ sev. NBA Champs! They just aren't flashy enough for the social media junkies! They don't have top players assaulting people @ "night spots" in the wee hrs of the morn, getting suspended for missing practice, or committing flagrant fouls in a Champ. series costing them the title!
***Anything else tennis related, including the WTA is just in the background right now w/ Fedal resurgence. Personally, I enjoy watching women's tennis.***
ReplyDeleteI used to prefer women's tennis & in my day, picked up more by watching them play the game! Women were in the forefront when tennis exploded in the 70's! Tennis became a way of life w/ men getting more press, but women's game a lot more entertaining and diverse believe it or not! This was before the Navratilova/Evert era took over in '82! There was the waning yrs of Court, Wade, BJK, Goolagong, Stove, Casals, & Durr! Then came Martina, Chris, Mandlikova, Graf, Seles, Austin, & Novotna! Each took turns winning & not only played singles, many were accomplished doubles' players! The women's game was just more fun IMO; chessboard strategy going on before the latest evolution of mind< aggression!
***If the ladies can't play BO5 & they bring in WAY < revenue due to various elements (lack of interest, sponsors, promotions, etc.) they s/b payed <. To make these events BO5, event organisers w/b embarking on a move w/o much, if any financial gain.***
BO5 is just painful to watch in women's tennis after Navratilova retired! It just made no sense to "go there" since their matches could last well over 3 hrs in BO3; Sharapova & Azarenka preferred t/b in a war of attrition always going LONG! When they did go BO5 in the mid 80's @ the VS Chp., it was just a ruse to keep Martina on the court for a lit'l while longer since she was destroying players in 40 mins! By the '84 WTA Chp. & FO, Martina was toying w/ Evert on clay! That 1 event went BO5 in '84, but it still looked like an exh. where Navratilova just embarrassed Evert indoors, 6-3. 7-5. 6-1! In the WTA clay ct. it was 2 & 0 in < than an hr, w/ the crowning jewel of '84 FO where Chris was destroyed 3 & 1! It didn't bore me, but women's tennis took a hit w/ Martina winning everything in sight; 6 majors in a row from '83 Wimbl. to '84 USO when AO was @ the end of the season! No CYGS for her = w/ that many slam event wins in a row!
***Roddick beat prime Djokovic @ AO & prime Murray @ Wimbl. Put him in '14- present weak era & he'd have 2 Wimbledons & a couple USOs.***
Prime what; hair growing? Please! If Roddick beat anyone, it was almost a decade ago! The only one in his prime then was Federer! Give me a break!
***Nadal entered his prime in '05; aged 19 winning the FO & 4 other Masters (incl. 2 on HC's) Djokovic entered his prime aged 20 in 07 when he won 2 HC Masters, reached 2 GS SF & 1 final. Federer entered his prime aged 21-22 in '03 when he won Wimbledon & the YEC.***
You & I have diff. ideas on PRIME! Nadovicray were barely rookies for the most part when Roddick played!! To me t/b in your prime, you not only have t/b physically @ your best, your mind has learned to win when not nec. playing well or on "best surface" and that takes some maturity IMO! My thought is, mid 20's is more like it! J/b someone wins early, that hardly makes it their prime! Chang won his lone FO @ 17; who's prime is @ that age besides maybe a gymnast?
***Nadal's grass peak '07-08, HC peak '07-09 & '13, as well as '10 USO; clay peak '05-10. I say prime not only thanks to those GS wins, but the overall consistency, Masters wins, title wins, etc. I.E. remove Fedal & Djokovic in '07, likely wins 2-3 majors (Roddick could win '07 USO making it 2 at FO/W) & 2 majors in '08 @ both HC; m/b a 3rd @ RG too.
The only reason Nole won 3 in '11 was A: Tsonga took out Fed for him @ Wimbledon & B: Fed choked 2-0 & 40-15. Prime Fed wins that in 4. I think Nole inflated his total w/ the decline of his major rivals & things going his way.***
***Can't we say that all of the current greats have benefited from the "gutlessness" of the 2nd tier? I mean, if Novak did, then Roger & Rafa did.
ReplyDelete...We know Pete was a lousy (relatively speaking) clay courter, but it goes beyond clay: he went out in the 4R of the USO twice in the heart of his career ('94 & '97), & the 3R AO loss ('96). Novak, OTOH made it to the QF or later in every Slam from Wimbledon in '09 to the FO in '16.
...Sev. options arise:
1. Novak was simply a >er, or at least more consistent, player - both in terms of court types & gen. consistency.
2. The courts were far < homogenous, leading to more specialists & upsets.
3. The 2nd tier players are more gut< in the current era.
4. The Big 4 are simply that much >er than the field.
M/b it's a bit of all 4, but I'm thinking that #2 is the primary factor, but it doesn't fully explain why the Big 4 have been as dom. as they've been. I think we need to + in the idea that they're simply that good, but also--& perhaps more importantly--that there's a bit of a snowball effect in terms of their confidence, which in turn feeds into the so-called "gutlessness" of the 2nd tier. Winning begets winning. The homogeneity of the surfaces has enabled the success of the current greats, which in turn has made them confident on all surfaces, which in turn has improved their overall level.
Now we have seen cracks as they've started to age which will continue. Rafa's no longer a good grass court player & Roger's diminished on clay. But again, this is entirely age-related.
1) But, people need to consider that Nole also benefitted from Rafa's lack of form mid-'14 onwards esp. in '15 & '16. And that lack of form did make those yrs that much < tough.
2) Look @ Sampras' slam-winning span - 12 yrs
Djokovic's slam winning span - 8.5 yrs (as of now)
On the same note, Roger's slam-winning span as of now - 13.5 yrs (as of now)
Here, slam-winning span only considers the X elapsed btw the 1st slam & the last slam of a player. The density of titles is not factored into, b/c the X btw 1st & last slams s/b considered simply in its own right, its a noteworthy statistic.
Djokovic has had 2 seasons of utter greatness. That does speak much in favour of his candidacy for GOAT. But, I would say longevity is another factor. And players s/b given their pts for longevity also. In order for Djokovic to match Pete's slam-winning span. He should win his last slam @ least as late as in AO '20. If he would want to match Roger's longevity he would have to win his last slam @ least as late as in Wimbl. '21 (provided Roger doesn't win another GS, otherwise this date gets pushed further).
IMO, un< Djokovic matches Roger's longevity, I wouldn't think he s/b called the GOAT. And that is in +tion to beating Roger's slam record. Djokovic's 'weak era' in '15 & '16 is comparable to Roger's 'weak era' in '05-06.***
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Nole was choking like a dog @ '14 Wimbl; up 2 brks in the 4th & lost the TB! I hated that it = went 5! The same thing almost happened @ the '15 USO final; up 2 brks in the 4th, lost 1, but was able to close out the match! I think Novak's still ready to beat his old rivals Rafa & Roger; making me feel he lost a couple to Stan & Andy due to missing Fedal @ crucial events & X's where he still could rise to the occasion & overcome their mystique!
***...Roger of '11/12 could still go toe-toe w/ Nole anywhere except AO. As to choking, hey Roger's chokes vs Nole are =ly stellar & outstanding! ...To me, where Nole exceeds Fedal is in his insane, sick consistency '11 thru '15, wk in & wk out 365/7/24. Still, Nole became Nole b/c he had to deal w/ those 2. His winning rec. vs Fedal can't blind us to his losses to Stan, Murray & = Nishikori.***
I w/b so glad when this blows up in all of the faces of people who = "think" Trump's credible @ this pt! Trump led the 'Birther' movement for 5 yrs & only 'let it go' just before the transfer of power!
ReplyDelete***American journalism is dead. How can a 'credible' news entity become an 'opp' to the President? That's not credible journalism.***
The only thing killing "truth in journalism" are the daily press conferences held by Sean Spicer for his LYING boss!
***All Press Secretaries are Propagandists. That's their job.***
These losers have taken it to new heights of BS; sorta like the latest vote of the ACA "was very close, but we're going to drop it after 17 days! Oh, BTW it's back on again!"
***...Every X you want to make something seriously scary, you find the darkest skinned guy to post up.***
...but they say they aren't "bigots or racists!" Tell that BS to Lynch, Rice, The Obamas, & Holder! They had to deal w/ unprecedented disrespect & I won't ever let that "scummy" Rep. Party forget it!
***...63% fewer illegals coming into the country from last yr.***
Why migrate to a flushed toilet? Trump just the bathroom attendant for now until new management takes over!
***Just heard Sec. of State Rex Tillerson say “steps are underway to form a coalition that would remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."
I'll believe it when it happens! Been listening to this BS since the days of "W!" ...I'm waiting for Trump to take out the air force & landing strips, but I'll believe it when it occurs! - Shocking enough it happened; 59 Tomahawk rockets were lobbed on 1 of their airports!
***...I guess I'm very skeptical & cynical when it comes to conflict in the Middle East.***
I hate feeling so help<, but these a-holes in the ME have been @ war for gens! We can't really stop them & every X we do intercede in some way, the situation is usually exacerbated! It's almost as =lent as some Russian mediator coming in to try & get the USA together when we all know this country's as fractured as any in the world! ...It looks as if we'll be having more budget drama @ the end of the month w/ pending "shut down" of the gov't when the "looney" rightwing won't support a clean "Cont. Res." After ACA repeal bombed, the savings couldn't be incorporated into a new budget that doesn't exist yet! Reps are in charge so the Dems will just sit back & bide their X when Ryan & McConnell come sniffing around looking for votes! I would spit in both their faces! They s/b conciliatory all the X; not just when needed & it suits them!
***...I don't have any expertise on the 'ME' so I'm just watching all this, not judging what should, could, or should not be done. I'm opposed on principle to unilateral US military action un< the US is directly attacked.***
Trump had been saying for yrs we should stay out of the Middle East! ...Funny how these "America First" a-holes always wind up turning over a new leaf once they're President! This particular a-Hole constantly talked about AF, but none of his shit is made here; suits, ties, steel used in his buildings! ALL produced abroad so him and his stupid ass supporters are FOS!
***McConnell really comes across as despicable. His objective shouldn't be to block a President. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...8_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.fe717f28b6f8 -***
ReplyDeleteHe's one of the main reasons I think Reps w/b forever marked as despicable animals who are obstructers & hypocritical liars! He has taken on the mantel of a HOUSE member, all but giving the finger to the country! He cost the country $$ allowing the gov't t/b shut down & infrastructure of the country to fall into disrepair! The Senate will never be the same after he's led it into DARKNESS!
***I'm torn on Spicy. OTOH, he's not doing a very good job.***
...Dana Perino was just as bad in the 1st term of "W!" They misstep a whole atrocity w/ the Holocaust & they just want to say "people make mistakes!" That's true except w/ how they punish people they don't like if 1 word's out of place! People like Rice, Hillary, & Obama have left office, but they still have to deal w/ these a-hole defaming them @ every turn! I've no sympathy for any of us to = allow this farce to occur!
***Trump said that he has confidence in Comey, but it's not too late to fire him.***
It means lit'l to nothing! Thanks to Obama declassifying & spreading a lot of this info around, there's no way Trump can conceal or hide his complicity w/ Russian agents he hired to run his campaign!
***...evidence is circumstantial, so if Comey job is in jeopardy, then the invest. could not go any further than it is now.***
Nixon tried that 35 yrs ago! The Dems didn't run him out of office! Trump is cutting his own throat & pretty much has a gun pointed @ his own head trying to prove a lie; OBAMA did not bug his tower! The Reps are in charge & it doesn't seem like they're doing much to protect him! The Congressional investigations continue, FISA warrants were approved & extended!
***Of course it doesn't look good for Trump. At the same X, I don't think that you can compare the Nixon days to now. ...The Senate investigation was off to a good start, but I haven't heard anything about it lately. Rep. Chaffetz said that Trump's already rich, so there's no conflict of interest. ...I think they've had more than 1 opp to throw him "under the bus," but they haven't. ...And they won't have to cut him loose un< someone provides indisputable proof.***
Nunez already has thrown Trump "under the bus;" unintentionally, but he definitely ran over him & backed over the body! He allowed the Dems full reign to ask any & all ??'s w/ lit'l retort @ the X so it just hung out there! Chaffetz did a masterful job while Nunez showed he wasn't quite ready for prime X! He embarrassed himself later running to the White House w/ his investigation findings; putting him in jeopardy now of being investigated himself for exposing Intel that way w/ press conferences & musing aloud about the data! After it was shared w/ the rest of the committee absolutely nothing has shown he was entitled to behave this way as its Chairman! He's history! As for the Senate committee, they're obviously more prof'l & doing a much >er job! We're not supposed to hear anything out of them; it's INTEL for Gawd-sake!
***M/b next wk we'll hear a story that Obama has extended his vacation for another 4 wks.***
You mean like Trump who spends about as much X on his golf course in FLA as he does @ the WH? The $$ being blown to protect him & his extended family all over the place is costing tons! They're actually raising taxes in county where Mar-a-Lago resides due to overX needed to help w/ security! I knew these jerks were going to pay in the end! Trump travels around like a billionaire on the tax payers; SUCKERS! What a bunch of idiots! We're so deserving of this!
***...I'm in favor of the 5th set TB. You can win a match via a TB in sets 3 & 4. I think the USO has it right.***
ReplyDeleteThe USO can't be used as an good ex. about ANYTHING! As long as I've been in tennis, it's been a complete joke! Since '75 it's been the most inconsistent & most controversial of the Slams! They've been an embarrassment concerning the draw, going BO3 early in the tourney; esp. when it was played on clay from '75-77, then having gone thru diff. speeds of HC!
***...only 3 tourneys (4 w/ DC) / yr don't have final set TB's. ...My view is either have no TB's @ all or have 'em for all sets.
---
...Statistically, I believe that more than 75% of matches get finished in < than 19 games in the 5th set & > than 95% of matches get finished in < than 25 games when the 5th set's played w/o a TB. So, it is actually much ado about nothing. - I guess you meant 13 & 19 games, right? In fact = in this case I would say 90% of the matches end up in < than 13 games & 98% in < than 19 games.***
At Wimbl. when things were lightning fast & the grass was as choppy as your front lawn, I preferred it like the 70's when the TB started @ "8 all!"
***...W/ the exception of us fanatics who apprec. the skill & athleticism of pro tennis players, tennis will never be fully apprec. by the masses. Almost everyone I know thinks that tennis is boring & "gay." I'm constantly made fun of b/c I like tennis.***
I think that's m/b the mindset of narrow-minded twits of The US; esp, early on during the tennis boom of the 70's! We had our cute lit'l outfits w/ wrist & head bands, & the latest tech advances from wood! When it blew up it always had "soft" connotations = when everyone was getting out there on the court @ least once to see what all the "hub bub" was! I'd been known to get up at 5 am to play early @ the club around 6:30 or so! ...People usually tried to stay on my good side anyway so I wouldn't embarrass them too much!
***Did Novak Djokovic mostly major in minors? Turns out Novak majored in both. ;)
B/c of just examining both Sampras & Federer on grass; seeing that = Federer was noticeably lower in tourneys outside of Wimbledon in comparison to Wimbledon itself, that made me curious.
We know that Novak has been a monster @ Masters 1000s & @ the AO & pretty good @ the USO; so how does this compare for him?
Answer, filtering for Can., Cinci., IW, Madrid, Miami, Paris, Shanghai:
(Games % & Match %)
59.0427
82.4121
Same w/ WTF:
58.7438
82.0175
WTF only (career weakness for him ONLY if we do not remember that the WTF is vs the best players in the world.)
56.7353
79.3103
Only majors, USO & AO
59.2184
82.8261
AO only (impressive as Hell)
61.8636
89.2308
My conclusion: For sure he has tried harder @ M1000s than a lot of other players, but it's pretty cool to have stats only majors that are = a bit >er, not to mention stats @ the AO that I'm pretty sure are a clear record for the OE.
Bigger conclusion: the idea that players pad their results in "smaller tourneys" is simply not true for ATGs, who play out of their minds in majors, not only by winning, but also by producing amazing stats there.
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Looking up stats for Fed for comparison:
All majors, career, games, matches;
59.4534
86.0274
All Master 1000s
57.3423
78.3375
Finals WTF/Masters Cup
57.8776
81.2500
It appears pretty clear that Federer was always focused on majors & didn't try quite so hard in Masters. Lower results in finals clearly show that when there are smaller fields of top players, both games & matches go down.
This gives @ least more support for the idea that smaller tourneys w/ top players drop stats b/c they're more comp. & surely explains why players like Gonzalez, Rosewall & Laver were lower in these stats during the 50s & 60s.***
***What holds more value in your opinion, being called the greatest player in your specialized surface of tennis or being called the GOAT?
ReplyDeleteI.E., Federer arguably by many is considered the GOAT. He's very technical & crazy talented; has managed to win GS's on X events & his style of play is universal on diff. surfaces. There are also people who say he isn't the GOAT w/ X reasons.
People he has contemporaries like Djokovic & Nadal who achieved great feats, their careers are still active so history's not etched in stone & there are also old school tennis fans who think Laver as the GOAT cause he won all 4 in a CYGS.
However when it comes to who's the greatest player w/i their speciality, Nadal's considered the greatest clay court player of all time. He surpassed his predecessor Bjorn Borg in GS total. To most people it's non-arguable debate cause of his dominance & his contemporaries only one 1 GS in his specialized event while he has dominated his specialty over a decade.
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Nole messed up too much @ slams during his peak yrs. From '11-16 he won 11 slams yes. But in this period he lost to his pigeon Murray twice, grandpa Fed twice, washed up Nadal @ '14 RG, journeyman Wawrinka 3 X's, & pigeon Nishikori once. He should've won:
'12 Wimbl./USO
'13 Wimbl.
'14 CYGS
'15 CYGS
'16 CYGS
- Leaving him w/ 21 slams & as overall GOAT. He failed to do so which leaves him 6 slams off the GOAT aged 30. Fed won 16 slams in a similar X frame w/ 0 embarrassing losses @ GS's & then 2 more wins as a grandpa. Nole needs 6 GS as a grandpa which's Rosewell territory.
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The current top 5: Is it the oldest ever?
- The current top 5 on the men's tour:
1. Andy Murray (29), 30 next mo.
2. Novak Djokovic (29), 30 next mo.
3. Stan Wawrinka (32).
4. Roger Federer (35), w/b 36 in Aug.
5. Rafa Nadal (30), w/b 31 in June.***
OTTH I'd have to say no! Players held onto top form longer in past gens; Rosewall playing into his 40's, Laver, Ashe, & others playing well into their 30's!
***Since the ATP began rankings in '73, this is almost certainly the oldest top 5. Before that there were unofficial rankings, but I suspect this top 5 may = top those lists as well in terms of age. Don't forget there has almost always been somebody btw the age of 18-22 breaking into the top echelon @ least every 5 yrs for almost the last 70 yrs. Everyone talks about how great Rosewall was when he was old. Guess what, he was a top 5 player when he was 20 as well. Guys like Vines, Trabert, Hoad, Perry, Pancho, & many more from so many eras were all top players in their early 20s. Looking thru all the rankings I've seen, the last X there were close to 5 30 yo's in the top 5 was in the 1920s. Let's hope for Berdych, Tsonga, Monfils, etc to have great yrs, maybe there w/b a top 10 filled w/ almost all 30 yo's by YE. I think that would make it older than many of the fields Courier had when he started the Champions Tour.***
I was thinking of a couple geezers balancing out a young chippy! ;-)
***By next month, the top 5 will all be in their 30s. And they said 30's old in tennis.***
Roger was looking a lit'l haggard & I thought he was just about done! He salvaged his '08 season by winning the USO! When was the last X an ATG was thought to have saved his season w/ 1 major? That loss on grass to Rafa was very disconcerting since I've never been a fan of The BULL! Nole had started taking Masters & his 1st major so I thought the next wave was here w/ the +tion of Murray! It just alternated among the 4 for the next decade! Will the next gen. ever be allowed to take over! It doesn't look like it, allowing Gramps to take a major & the 1st 2 Masters as if he's in Nole's prime! Sad; truly sad!
***You have to remember that Roger only started playing w/ the 97 sq." racket full-X in Jan '14. How many other players make racket changes & immed. make SF @ AO, R16 @ FO, F @ W & SF @ USO, win 73 matches & 5 titles? Stan made a racket change in '11 & promptly fell from #14 to #29. It took him 2 yrs to get comfortable w/ the racket - & Norman - to get back into the Top 10. Roger said himself that he wasn't "super comfortable" w/ the new racket until this yr. He also told TCC that he just didn't have the belief to drive the BH more often b/c he used to shank so much w/ the smaller headed racket. The fact that he was = in 2 the Wimbledon final was testament to his talent - if not his belief in the new racket. He also said he brought in Edberg so he could start playing more aggress. tennis - & he did that in '15 to get to the Wimbl. & USO finals.
ReplyDeleteBut - why's anyone surprised that Roger lost these matches? He's considered "past his prime," right? Older players in all sports pull their punches & over-think things that used to flow & come easily. Again, back to something Roger said about himself when asked about similarities w/ Kyrgios - maybe he has TOO MANY OPTIONS? Most players have A & B - someX's C. Roger has A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H - & someX's the whole damned alphabet.
Also, shouldn't the guy who is IN HIS PRIME & 6 yrs younger win these matches? Isn't it a testament to Djokovic's improved mental tenacity? And isn't he now in the exact same downward slide that happened to Roger, Sampras, McEnroe, Lendl, Agassi & every other great champ? Actually it's worse, but you get what I mean - he's not the player he was & now that he's shown vulnerabilities, other players will come for him the same way Istomin did - the same way he came for Roger.
---
I think a lot depends upon if Roger wins Wimbledon. If he does, he definitely won't play Canada...I mean, why would he? If he's upset early, m/b he considers Canada to get some pts back; if he cares about that. Either way, Roger's priorities are:
1. Wimbledon
2. USO
3. RG
4. #1
5. Masters
6. Basel/Halle
7. Stuttgart
---
After Sampras won the USO in '96, he said it saved his season.***
Funny I always thought in '96, Sampras was @ the height of his powers; getting to the semi of Paris taking out 2 past 2X champs (Bruguera & Courier)! He then won the YEC in the final over Becker! His upset by Krajicek @ Wimbledon shouldn't have been a surprise! Richard just had Pete's # @ X's on fast courts w/ that big serve of his! Pete had won 3 in a row & the run had to stop sooner or later! Comp. was just tough around then! Sampras just continued his winning ways by taking '97 AO! I believe he took GS Cup & YE Chps that season! Who does that?
***...Rafa is a confidence player. If he wins one clay title early, then he w/b = more confident & more difficutl to take out in the next tourney.***
Let's hope the gutless tour can "end him" before getting on a confidence run on clay!
***Yep. If Rafa wins MC, all of a sudden he becomes the big fave @ every clay tournament he plays in. If he loses MC, the negative impact is <, but substantial: the seeds of doubt begin to sprout. But I think he really only needs one Masters title in clay to go into RG as the fave, whether that is MC, Rome, or Madrid.
---
...Federer faced Nadal & beat him in 3 big tourneys, i.e., AO (F), IW's (4th Rd) & Miami (F). He's confirmed his return to RG in '17. He's atop the singles race rankings w/ a lead of 1810 pts over Nadal who holds the 2nd position ATM. Rafa & others will want to catch up w/ Roger in the race pts given that he won’t enter any of the 3 clay Masters. ...Nadal needs his 1st title now, Djokovic & Murray need to come back to playing decent tennis & certain others like Thiem will want to prove a pt.***
***...Wouldn't the total quads of the 3 medalist be 18; 2 each in the SP & 4 each in the LP? There were quads attempted @ '07, '08, & '09 so I'm not sure how the medalists themselves landed 18 more when their total is 18...***
ReplyDeleteMen's skating has come a long way in such a short X! Seems like it was only yesterday Bronze Medal winner Timothy Goebel put 3 quads in his LP in '02! These guys today are blowing him & the early KING of quads Elvis Stojko off the map! I only saw Plushenko attempt the 4Lutz once @ GP of Russia! A US skater actually completed it sev. yrs ago IIRC; sans Michael Weiss' 2-footed attempts! Now it's almost routine; seeing the + of 4FLip & 4Loop! What's happened to the ladies? They had a couple attempting the 3 Axle & 4 Salchow, but lit'l of that going on now since Asada retired! The arm over the head by Medvedeva m/b tough, but after a while gets "old!"
***Looks like Hanyu has found the formula to peak @ Worlds; skate just okay for the 1st part of the yr, then rev it up by the X of 4CC & Worlds.***
I was afraid the same would happen to our own Nathan Chen after brilliant performances w/ X Quads @ the 2 preceding events; US Nat'ls & The 4 CC! Expectations had t/b huge & having problems w/ the skates is predictable! I'm surprised there aren't more occasions of skaters being hindered since those boots & blades take so much punishment in comparison to past gens where it was a big deal to complete = 1 Quad! The torque involved in getting up there into the air then the subsequent landings take a toll on equipment & body I'm sure!
***Another 3A in practice by Mirai Nagasu.***
OMG, early success just does lit'l to nothing for some skaters it seems! I remember when she won Nat'ls, but was too young to go for Worlds to compete for medal like Kimmie Meissner in '06! When Mirai won in '08, Kimmie wouldn't have = qualified for Worlds falling to 7th @ Nat'ls IIRC! 3 of the top 7 skaters were too young! What happened to all those girls?
***In '08 Meissner got named b/c Katrina Hacker was a "nobody" in the minds of USFS compared to her w/ no Senior Int'l medals. And what happened to those girls? Growth spurts, being taught lousy jump technique to just get the triples around & then getting hammered when the IJS took over. In the case of Flatt, simply just not being a great package. - And Ash Wagner (her 1st Sr. ap. too) went to Jr. Worlds b/c of her age. She had a good Sr. outing @ Nat'ls too.
---
It's kind of crazy how the U.S. dominated the Jr. scene during that period, but it couldn't translate that same dominance as seniors. However, those Jrs. that did dominate weren't so bad in gen. w/ the entire U.S. sweep from '07 Jr. Worlds still competing to this very day.
---
I think it says more about US Ladies TBH. The fact that Ashley & Mirai will in days be 26 & 24 & still be 2 of the top contenders for the Olympic team says it all. At least Ashley has improved her skating over the last 5 yrs, but if Mirai were skating for Japan or Russia w/ how her skating stagnated post '10, she would prob. be buried like Leonova or retired by now. There just have been no real talented girls that have come up since Sochi to challenge the older ladies like Mirai who quite frankly hasn't exactly set the world on fire. = someone like Mariah Bell is almost the same age as Gracie.***
There were a few I really liked and seemed t/b as talented as any; Naomi Nar Nam, Bea Liang, & "The Pearl" (Carolina Zhang)! The Pearl obvious had a horrible growth spurt, but the others probably just beat their bodies to HELL much too early in their development! What happened to that rule about jrs not = attempting all those triples? Silly how we seem to beat our skaters into the USA ice while Japan has reserves in the wings!
...Nunes already has thrown Trump "under the bus;" unintentionally, but he definitely ran over him & backed over the body! He allowed the Dems full reign to ask any & all ??'s w/ little retort!...
ReplyDelete***Do you mean during the hearing? He may not have objected, but I think Reps did the best they could to diminish the significance of the investigation. Nunes has done Trump's bidding twice, once before the hearing, once more recently when he tried to confirm that Trump was right. Granted, he hung himself a lit'l bit w/ that one, still, the House investigation has come to a screeching halt & Dems have trouble getting it back on track. I find it hard to believe that Nunes was working vs Trump @ any pt.***
Delude yourself if you want...- The people that put Trump in office didn't give a damn about good ol' common sense & courtesy! They went into those polls voting for a self-proclaimed misogynist pig! He went the extreme route of not coddling Hillary & treating her as dirty as he did the guys, said fk you to all who wanted to see his tax records while knowingly lying about an audit, spoke as ugly as you could about a sitting President, disparaged Mexicans, women, Muslims, judges, etc. & he still took it early! It didn't matter, he might as well of won w/ a landslide! The fact that this was = close said a lot & I've overlooked a lot over the decades, but that was the end! I didn't think the country could slide this far! I was proved wrong & I wash my hands of it! I pray an epiphany happens & this troglodyte becomes Presidential & it just doesn't seem to "take hold" longer than a prewritten speech delivered! It's still early, but if things do turn around, we'll wonder who's in his ear; Kushner, Bannon, Priebus, or Ivanka? Who'll pull the strings in the waning yrs of his fading sanity? And we thought Reagan was a veg. in his 2nd term!
***Oh, well if everyone's lying then never mind. American society & it's political system are simply corrupt & dishonest.***
Trump's made this the new norm; "alternative facts!" There you go; that explains the rampant stupidity!
***Well he's certainly mainlined & capitalized on it, but as per usual w/ the American public, we always strive to deny our own participation & complicity in all the shit we moan about. The American power structure & political system has always been dishonest just like the history we were all "taught." But once Clinton deregulated the FCC & 6 major multinational corporations bought up 90% of what Americans see, hear, & read, yeah, it was nothing but a PR machine after that. And Andrew Breitbart stepped up to roll out a new false perceptual reality.
Then, here we have Don, an utter fraud his entire life, who made his way into the political arena on bogus "birtherism" & accusing Ted Cruz' father of being involved in the Kennedy assassination, whining about "fake news."***
You mean The Nat'l Inquire is fake? Hmmm, I wonder why the President seems to like quoting them over the NYT's & MSM? Strange; it's not like we just found all this out!
***Don will quote & make up anything the 'mesmerized' will swallow & follow. - - GUARDIAN: FBI Now Has "specific concrete & corroborative evidence of collusion" - There are now X investigations going on in Wash'n into Trump campaign officials & Russia. They include the FBI-led counter-espionage invest. & probes by both the House & Senate intel committees. One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. ... “This is btw people in the Trump campaign & agents of influence relating to the use of hacked material.” British spies were 1st to spot Trump team's links w/ Russia.***
If a Rep says there's a scandal, there m/b something to it! They don't need proof; just throw out the accusations & that's all it takes w/ a society that's as gullible as fuk! We're idiots & it can't be helped! No ones' been more scrutinized than the Clintons & she was a few electoral votes of being a husband & wife team in the POTUS chair! Those detractors of substance; what have they done? I'm betting many went to jail trying to implicate them in something! The CGI has been dragged thru the mud by animals "on the right" & it's still squeaky clean! It will live on longer than anything they'll have done & the jealousy reeks!
ReplyDelete***Trump has signed a bill which allows states to w/hold Fed funds from organizations which provide abortions.***
Women are putting Reps in power & should expect the worst! It's not like they haven't warned them so I wash my hands of their issues! Women have the power to shape this country, but all they seem to do is kvetch w/o actually supporting candidates that would do right by them! Screw 'em; they blew it w/ Hillary! They fk'd up & it'll cost them a lot & I'll LMMFAO!
***Trump's extolling a "successful" bombing.***
Of course he will! If there are repercussions unforeseen, he'll back away as if he'd never heard of it! You see him distancing himself from his Russian agent supporters? Manafort just breezed thru & had no hand in forming the Trump campaign according to the Donald! He doesn't = know Carter Page & Stephen Bannon who had access to the NSA & is Trump's closest advisor is now relegated to holding his coat w/ Trump saying "I'm my own strategist!" Trump might want to pull back & forget about firing this man! He c/b a powerful enemy who still voices the base w/ the help of Breitbart.com! It's still early & things could turn around if Trump gets the right people positioned around him! Unfortunately the halls are still virtually empty w/ 100's of positions not = selected much < approved or vetted! Trump's lucky Obama left things in >er shape than "W" so all he can do is screw up Int'l affairs! So far the courts have kept some of his ideas in check, but those EO's will start affecting people sooner or later!
***Was seccession illegal? We all know the SC ruled on it AFTER it was all said and done. If you apply the principle of legality, well, the idea it was illegal is shot to hell. But what about the 10th amendment?***
Alaska, TX, & Cali are still trying believe it or not!
***I would think Alaska and Texas are really happy now that RINO Trump is in charge @ The WH & not Hillary. Pelosi & Schumer have each been neutered & spayed for now as well. Jeeze, this is practically a GOP pipe dream for '16 - 2018 @ least.***
You say "dream," the rest of us say "NIGHTMARE!" What will the excuses be when it all circles the drain? So far you have the POTUS & all of Congress & nothing's passed! What happened to "all we need now is to elect a Rep to the WH?" I think maybe a P.O. has been renamed over & above EO's signed that have been smacked down by the courts!
***...I also read earlier that the authority to use the "MOAB" bomb had been granted before Trump came into the WH.***
So much was in the works before Trump = took the oath of office! More than likely there are reports stating intentions, but he admits to not reading much! He spends so much X watching TV & social media it's a wonder things haven't totally blown up in his face! Obama did him a "huge solid" by having all his shit together compared to "W" leaving the country in shambles! W/ all that obstruction during the Obama tenure, he'll undoubtedly wind up accomplishing > "orange face," = w/ the support of both Houses & The Supreme Court!
***...Trump's making decisions thru EOs w/o going thru Congress; that's dangerous. I can't wait to see this A-Hole out of the WH, but the damage is already being done.***
ReplyDeleteIt's the only thing to do when all these "rightwing" hacks kvetched about Obama doing it! At least he had an excuse; nothing was getting thru Congress to his desk except ACA repeal legislation! The Capitol's quiet; w/ or w/o these career POLS! I find it hilarious w/ them owning all 3 branches of the FED, DC's crippled waiting for another shoe to drop concerning the insane management of TRUMP! I stopped caring after he was elected; we're screwed! After women supported him, I hope to never hear that refrain of "a lack of representation;" fk'n idiots!
***U.K. Gen. Election June 8th - Just announced! Yay! Theresa May says she's calling it for the sake of "unity" in Parliament over Brexit. Good call IMO!***
Thatcher used to pull this when she was strong & the opposition weak! Too bad we can't have that "re-assurance" vote here in THE STATES! Heaven knows, there has t/b plenty of "buyer's remorse!"
***...reminds me of a line from 'The Godfather.' Those Trump-types can face the American people who need to have their own issues resolved. ...The Trump Credo for ruining...er...running...America: "It's nothing personal folks, it's just business."***
I read it as a child when it 1st came out; well before the movie! Lit'l did I know how much America glorifies "the life!" De Niro made it his life's blood from "The GF, Goodfellas, & Casino!" Now look @ how Gov. Christie thought he w/b the 1st Mook "Family-type" in this age of cretins "to ascend," but Trump beat him to it; ...to our eternal shame...!"
***Ivanka's profiting in this way is absolutely disgusting, IMO.***
If lucky, after conviction, maybe that can have adjoining cells; if we're lucky! Besides profiting, they're causing hardship w/ the Secret Service; spreadin' them so thin protecting 21 ppl & 3 locations! If he would do Camp David, it's already off a base so the yrly cost is well under $10 M a yr! Trump has already doubled that w/ his wkend trips to his MLCC; doubling the fees & draining the budgets of the local police who are in support of securing that "conflict of interest" while he's in town! That's only the beginning w/ this family of grifters who'll drain the world dry if allowed to their own devices!
***I just got the news notification that O'Reilly is officially out at Fox.***
It took 20 yrs, but we finally got this lying sack of shit off the air! He never admits to signifying, but calling someone a pinhead ain't exactly a term of endearment! What a dick; I couldn't be happier! I saw him go lower & lower as X went on & now that he's in the sewer, FNC finally released him w/ many thanks for all his popularity & commentary! They say he's irreplaceable, but that's exactly what they'll have to do! Tucker will get the promotion to the time slot! He's even worse since he's no dummy, but talks like an arse getting into arguments that aren't worth it
***I'm glad he got fired b/c of WHY. It's about fk'n X our society said "CUT IT OUT!"***
Let's not bring society into this! This society elected Trump; can't lower itself much more, but I'm sure it'll try!
***Amazing. One creep gets the WH & 2 others get fired. What a world we live in.***
It shows how America has fallen into the depths I didn't think possible where it's acceptable to have a reptile like Trump in the White House, but there's a crushing need to force 2 old degenerates out of their network cushy jobs! Trump's sitting pretty for the X being while ex-CEO Roger Ailes & anchor Bill O'Reilly have been fired w/ great ratings! I suppose no one sees anything wrong w/ this!
***It always surprises me when I see some women side w/ the man who committed sexual assault rather than w/ the victim.***
ReplyDeleteI've railed about this myself! Women kvetch about a lack of representation, but w/ their superior #'s have taken back strides made where there are fewer female politicians! Don't get me started on rape cases! There c/b 12 women on the jury & still allow a repeat rapist to get off "scott-free" if her reputation is besmirched in some way!
***...The next thing wrong is ...infers that women "don't have it so bad."...***
In comparison to women in other parts of the world; you're damned right! You don't hear on adverts where some women spend their entire day just getting water for their families? In Russia standing in a line going around the block of a grocery store just hoping to get a few can goods to stock up on when X's get = tougher! ...it was women who put Trump in that chair! After all he admitted to, his boorish behavior, & history of misogyny, he was still elected over another woman! ...I'm old & stopped caring last Nov.! If history needs to keep repeating for the troglodytes of the country, I'm just not sure the Dems have a savior in the wings to bring the country back from the brink like "W" left it in '09! We love having our Presidents laud us w/ so much wisdom, compassion, & leadership when it can't be further from the truth! The only thing exceptional about the States is how exceptionally dumb we are to allow this to happen!
***That was pretty disingenuous of Bill O'Reilly. Altho fired, he'll write another book; and earn $$'s on top of the $25 he left w/!***
I can't imagine who w/b buying! I heard w/ "Killing Lincoln," the actual Lincoln gift shop wouldn't = sell it due to 1000's of grammatical & historical errors! O'Reilly just blew it off talking about he was tired when editing & proofing the book! He's FOS & the people who support him are the same! He's a vile character w/ opinions of lit'l to no conscience; even attacking a 911 victim's son on his program who didn't toe "his line!"
***Why did you watch?***
No one will ever accuse me of not watching or reading to know wtf I'm talking about that's why! ...I still remember when that kid from MO had been kidnapped by some perv wasn't given every benefit of the doubt instead of saying "he was enjoying himself, riding his bike, w/ no responsibility!" O'Reilly's a disgusting animal & heaven knows why his ratings skyrocketed after he was exposed as a degenerate old Fk!
***I hope you're also against those lefties who are violent against others & stifle free speech & destroy private & gov't property.***
I've given up on just about everyone; don't worry! I've had the lowest opinion of society going back to childhood being exposed to the aftermaths of the Kennedy assass's, MLK's murder, Richard Speck & what he did to nurses in my neighborhood, & the '68 Dem. Conv. riots where the Mayor didn't give a damn un< it bled out into the >er areas! I'm old & jaded w/ too good a memory to let anything go when we have it so good compared to other countries! All we do is kvetch, feel entitled, & take advantage of any & all opportunities as if it's a duty, including cheating on taxes!
***I don't agree that Lisa Rinna of "RHWBH" is a bad person. In fact, I think she's USUALLY a well meaning person w/ a good heart & good intentions. In regard to Kim though, although I think that originally, last yr, Lisa started out w/ good intentions trying to save Kim from her addiction (b/c Lisa's own sister died from her addiction to drugs), but I do agree that in regard to Kim, as X progressed, Lisa didn't use good judgment & she went too far in her effort to persuade Kim to stop using whatever. And Kim, being the toxic self-righteous witch just escalated the situation into a full blown feud. So they BOTH ended up behaving badly, but to me, Kim is a really toxic person, whereas Lisa frequently speaks before she thinks, but she's not @ all a bad person.***
ReplyDeleteI give Kim Richards of "RHWBH" a bit of a break b/c she has t/b damaged; actually going back to her childhood when she was the obvious breadwinner of the family! I can't think of many kid stars who survived unscathed due to family greed, bad management, & others who just saw Kim as their meal-ticket! You have to grow up overnight & your childhood is instantly lost due to obligations made by other people! I keep hearing of trusts & laws of protection, but these kids still wind up being SHELLs of people who can't have a normal relationship w/o difficulty! I can't say Rinna has that same excuse since she's been a "'D' list-er" from the beginning! I feel I have more in common w/ Kim; taken care of for the most part, but a lack of contentment! $$ can't buy you friends or "class" as the Countless might warble out on stage somewhere, but there's lit'l satisfaction w/ it! It's what fuels addictions; it's either covering up the emptiness or to mask the pain! Rinna keeps saying her life is too good to deal w/ "BS," but she's the 1 creating the drama! All this to make a check & stay relevant on a bad reality show?
***...PS ABTW Fiero425, I think you described Kim very well & I agree that your conclusion about how you think Kim got to become the person she currently is, &'s pretty accurate. But for me, that doesn't change the fact that whatever the cause, she's a pretty miserable excuse for a human being.***
It appears Kyle's the most detached of all these women! She often says how much she loves her kids & husband, but drops them like a hot potato @ a moment's notice to travel w/ the ladies, run her businesses that are all over the country, now a movie about her life! What bothered me the most until recently was how she allowed Rinna to abuse Kim; just sitting there instead of telling her to 'get the fk out of my house if you can't act right!' How she can keep forgiving her is beyond me since Rinna's promised to stop being this colossal bitch to Kim, but she keeps falling back into the same drama; = Eileen said she "was disappointed by this happening again!" She went ahead & hugged Rinna, being the real 'enabler' of the group too!
***Sitting silently while others attack Kim has been Kyle's MO since S1. ...I believe Kyle, who seems to have tremendous bottled-up resentments rather enjoys it when others go after Kim as they say the things she's not comfortable expressing. And when she does pop off (eg, Limogate), I find those moments calculated & rehearsed.
---
Kyle forgave Brandi after she accused Kim of being a meth addict getting high in the bathroom - & saying that Kyle wanted to see her sister fail. Kyle also likes Erika & Eileen.
---
...When Kyle asked all of them to stop talking about Kim last season, LisaV & Eileen respected Kyle enough to stop it and not do it again whereas Rinna hasn't stopped doing it at all. IMO, Kyle is fine w/ Rinna/Kim not liking each other. Rinna's using Kim like she has that upsets her. Which is why I don't get why she can keep forgiving her; I know I could/would not anymore.***
***I think we can all agree that the 3 tiers are well est. @ this pt.
ReplyDeleteTier 1
Federer
Sampras
Nadal
Djokovic
Borg
Tier 2
Lendl
Connors
Agassi
McEnroe
Tier 3
Becker
Edberg
Wilander
At this point in X Fed IMO has a case t/b put in a diff. tier altogether @ the top. IMO there's more diff. btw him & Borg for instance, than btw Borg & Lendl.
...I would include Murray @ the bottom of tier 3 if he wins 1 more major as well.***
...Borg is highly regarded for his accomps in just 8 yrs on the tour! Tier 3 is by far the most solid along w/ common peers of Tier 2! Tier 1 has fattened for diff. reasons; Borg a legend to go along w/ GOAT, Nadal for owning clay along w/ 9 titles in RG, & Novak w/ his own Non-CYGS (Nole-Slam) & unmatched excel. in '11 & '15! Sampras was the weakest over diff. types of surfaces w/ nary a FO final; his 14 Slams saving him! Then of course there's the glaring absence of Rod Laver owning 2 GS's; 1 as an am. in '62 & as a pro in '69!
***Murray has only won 1 title so far, the Dubai title. But, the yr has only featured 3 major tourneys so far & the world #1 Murray has a lot of scope to win his share of big titles. ...In order t/b in contention for the YE #1, he needs to start playing great again. Given that Murray has a great deal of pts of defend in the 2nd 1/2 of the yr, he'll find it difficult to hold on to his #1 ranking. Murray has another 3160 pts to defend in the clay season. To what extent he's able to defend or >er his pts from last clay season'll determine the amt. of pressure that w/b on him in the 2nd 1/2. That'll obviously affect his performance @ Wimbledon & USO.
===
Grigor is a joke. He's a poor man's David Nalbandian.***
They just rip the heart right out of you b/c their games are so beautiful to watch, but classic underachievers! Nalbandian snuck a few good wins though! I'll always remember '05 Master YEC in 5 over an injured Fed & his shame in being DQ'd in Queens when leading over Cilic in '12! Grigor going out to Robredo just can't be explained! I didn't see it; you'd think injury, but I'm betting another walkabout!
***Nadal has historically taken too damn long too often w/ inferior players. It weakens him over the course of his career. He should've closed out this guy in straight sets instead of battling for over 2 hrs. It's not like he hasn't had enough match practice; nobody has played more matches than Nadal this yr. He needs to conserve energy & move these guys off the court faster, esp. since he'll be 31 yo in a month!***
This is why he's "NO GOAT" IMO & never w/b! Battling w/ this kid on clay makes no sense! He had nothing; wasn't = attacking the net that much!
***Fiero, you're judging Rafa's GOAT credentials by how he's playing @ 30?***
Are you kidding? Go look @ his past; always going to the limits w/ players I've never = heard of! Some German kid by the name of Brands had him down a set & 0-3 in 2nd set TB in the 1st Rd of the FO in his prime; '13! He's always going long & it's more than a little pathetic! That's why he's breaking down faster than the Trump Admin.! Now that Nadal's really lost it, he's dropping cons. matches to his pigeon who's even OLDER!
***No, I'm not kidding. Certainly every part of a player's career should have some impact on his overall >ness, including his 30s. But I just wouldn't definite or judge Rafa solely or mainly on how he's doing now. ...Rafa cannot damage in any way the accomps he already has, which set him apart as 1 of the 4 >est players of the Open Era - along w/ Pete, Roger, & Novak, as well as 1 of the 10 >est all X. As I've said before, the "GOAT" is better understood as a "herd," not a single animal, and certainly Rafa belongs in that herd.***
***Could we say...
ReplyDeleteGreatest Clay Ct Players of Open Era
1. Nadal
2. Borg
3. Lendl
4. Wilander
5. Vilas/Muster/Roger/Novak/?
Greatest HC Players of Open Era
1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. Sampras
4. Connors/Lendl/Agassi/Nadal?
Greatest Grass Ct Players of Open Era
1. Federer
2. Sampras
3. Becker/Connors/Borg/McEnroe/Djokovic/Murray?
Greatest Carpet Players of Open Era
1. McEnroe
2. Connors
3. Lendl/Becker/Borg?
---
Fed has more HC slams than Djokovic. So = if I understand the argument. they @ least s/b tied.***
How many yrs of a lead are you going to give Roger to = make such a comparison? Mon Dieu, Roger was playing in the late 90's! I guess he w/b ahead of NOLE who was a mere BOY when the old man was "toiling the field!"
***...I'd give a slight edge to peak Novak on HCs over peak Roger.
---
Rafa's only 1 yr older than Murray & Djokovic. Why would it be a mockery if Rafa was @ the top of the game instead of those 2?***
Due to the extra wear & tear of the ridiculous way he's played all his life! Getting into 4 & 5 set battles w/ nobodies, Quali's, WC's, & never weres have taken their toll on Rafa! ...That style of play has worn out Nole & Andy too, but Nole did the stretching thing which has saved him! None of them w/b able to replicate Roger's resurgence @ 35! I expect Nole has @ least 1 last gasp in him, ...Murray hurt his chances of winning FO due to early Rd WARS w/ over the hill players! He came into that final on fire, took out the defending champ, & breazed thru the 1st set! He systematically ran out of gas; had a spurt to break late in the 4th, but succumbed in the end! All these losses only taking Canada & Qatar has got me baffled! I don't listen to gossip so I'm not ready to make up my own excuse for why Nole's been in such a funk, but I can imagine his own psyche saying, "what else can I do" after winning that Nole Slam? He had taken over the H2H w/ Fedal, crushed it for a few yrs winning 3 majors twice, & owned the YEC! I know people thought Borg had burned out & needed to rest; hence the new rules concerning vets! Maybe he should think about taking about 4 or 5 months like Fedal & come back refreshed after the birth of his new child!
***...Everyone said it was unfortunate overrule by the Ump & the implications very unfair towards Goffin. I thought it absolutely killed the momentum from the young player, but it didn't decide the match. = Goffin said it wasn't Rafa's fault.
---
Well when you know the ball was out & don't concede the pt, what else are you to think? He's acting all innocent, but you know deep down he was going, "I really need this title, no matter how I win it."...He's a prof'l player & knows damn well when he's hit a ball 6 in. wide. ...There have been plenty of matches where the player overruled the umpire & conceded the pt. This was not one of those X's b/c Nadal was desperate for a title given the drought he's had. It is what it is, but fair he most def. wasn't.***
What truly infuriates me about Nadal is that he c/b in 1 of these situations up 6-2, 6-1, 5-0, w/ 3 MP's serving for it @ 40-L & he'd still challenge a call to close out some schnook not in his class! He's always been like that; some call it comp., I call it unsportsmanlike, insecure, & classless! He's had so many ops t/b magnanimous & do something sporting & he fails the test each X! Some of his challenges are so bad, he should get 2 of them taken away from him! If not for Carlos B. in the chair, I'm not sure how well he's been pushed to speed up play! Bringing out 2 towels for the ball kids to give him btw pts isn't really doing the job!
***Who's the 2nd >est player of the Open Era? ...you can make a strong case for 4 players as #2: Borg, Sampras, Nadal, & Djokovic.
ReplyDelete- Borg
Pros:
- Had sustained dom. for a long X @ least for '78-80. Overall won 11/27 slams he played in.
- Won the chan'l-slam 3 yrs in a ROW. Won 3 slams w/o dropping a set; '76 Wimbl., & '78,'80 RG.
- 5 str. Wimbl., only ever lost to 1 person @ the FO. Arguable clay GOAT, and only behind Fed & Sampras on grass.
- Cultural icon /star on a level Djokovic & Sampras never came close to.
- Extremely tough mentally, won something like 13 str. 5th sets.
Cons:
- Never won the USO. ...He did get unlucky t/b injured before the '78 final, but this isn't a game of what-ifs.
- Not enuf X @ #1. The rankings were terr. in the 70s, so he was really #1 for > than 101 wks, but certainly not as long as Sampras or = most likely Djokovic.
Sampras
Pros:
- Co-GOAT @ Wimbl. & USO w/ 7 & 5 titles. 2 of the 3 >est events in tennis.
- 6-str. YE #1 (most total #1 YE), & 286 wks, which is far ahead of everyone else on this list.
- Dom. every rival from Agassi to Becker to Courier to Chang to Ivanisivec. Turned Agassi into a meth addict. only Rafter-Sampras wasn't a one-sided rivalry.
- Phenomenal comp.: won 14/18 Slam finals, & 12/13 in his prime.
- Storybk career ending winning '02 USO.
Cons:
- Was a total non-factor on clay
- never had a season on the level of Djokovic '11/15, or Nadal '10, or Borg '78-80 IMO.
Djokovic
Pros:
- Nole-Slam: single >est exh. of dom. in tennis since Laver's GS.
- '11/15 were both ATG seasons that were above any Nadal or Djokovic season.
- AO GOAT, 2nd best HC player ever.
- incred. consistency in his prime, 2nd only to Fed in this aspect & far ahead of Sampras & Nadal.
- DOMINATED close to PEAK Nadal & had a + H2H w/ Fed.
Cons:
- < slams than the other 2.
- way < impact on the sport than Borg & Nadal + likely Sampras too.
Nadal
Pros:
- Dom. clay for a decade in a way no 1 has. Won RG twice w/o losing a set & did the chan'l-slam in those 2 yrs.
- CS like Nole & CGS which only Agassi did. Also accomp. CS @ a younger age than anyone by 3 yrs.
- Had a great H2H vs Fed & beat him in 2 epic battles off of clay.
- Also a prodigal teenager.
- Injury ??s: ...durability is a trait that is important in tennis.
Cons:
- Least X @ #1 of everyone.
- Did the least off his favored slam/surface compared to others.
- Was only consistent for a few yrs, rarely totally dom. the tour like the others did.
...my order (Borg, Sampras, Djokovic, then Nadal), & think Nole'll jump ahead of Borg & Sampras w/ 1 or 2 slams, & maybe a run @ #1. Nadal for me would need to spend some X @ #1 & win slams off of clay. I think any ordering of these 4 players is reasonable however.
---
Hard to argue w/ Borg... 3 str. Channel-Slams when it meant something. - Borg was dominant on both clay & grass, & made 3 slam finals in the 4 he played on HC's. + he won other big titles on HC's. The '80 Wimbl. final vs McEnroe that's on par w/ '08 & the '77 final vs Connors that was also epic. Borg & Sampras are both top 3 in Open Era on 2 surfaces. Nadal's only had sustained excel. on clay.
---
Pete's accomps:
14 Majors (prior holder of all X rec.) well distrib. btw 3 events
286 Wks @ #1 (prior holder of the all X rec.)
6 Str. YE #1 (stands as rec.)
5 WTF
Rafa:
14 Majors, 9 @ 1 event
All X record @ #2
0 WTF
I honestly think Pete being the dom. player of his gen. & 1 of the dominant players of all X seals this.***
I give it to BORG; 11 majors, 3 cons. Chan'l-Slams, an Old World Triple, high efficiency with few losses over his 8 yrs on the tour before retiring @ 25!
***Sharapova's 1 of the >est names in the history of the game. ...certainly the >est name t/b suspended for the use of illegal PEDs.***
ReplyDelete...Kornikova hung onto Hingis to get lone doubles' major 25 yrs ago @ AO, but making 1 semi @ Wimbl. shouldn't have set her up for life the way it did for aesthetic reasons over substance & results! Martina & Graf shouldn't be overlooked j/b Serena hung around long enuf to catch up, but that seems inevitable! Am I the last to give props to Court? It took Am. & Pro results to amass her major total to 62 w/ few top players competing "down under" to cut into those 11 singles titles! I still have to put her in the top 5 all X w/ a CYGS; S. Wms', Graf, Navratilova, Court, & Evert! Men: Federer, Djokovic, Borg, Nadal, & Sampras OTTH & not nec. in that order!
***Sharapova will find out next mo. if she'll be given a WC for Paris. IDK why the delay, but also, I'd hope the GS tourneys w/b above the sordid backroom peddling that involved Maria getting a WC to Stuttgart. Simply put, the slams should follow the rankings w/ regards to returning drug cheats. They can't be seen t/b rewarding them ahead of more deserving young players.***
They really have lit'l shame! It wouldn't be the 1st X; headliners get special dispensation short of "murder!" ...This is all on Maria & her management group! Since when are we obligated to hold a spot in the top echelon of our sport j/b a player has something unfortunate happening in their life? I still remember the women grumbling about Seles getting a break due to her stabbing! Why would we be more accommodating for a cheat & a fraud?
***That's a great pt about Seles, a player whose career was ruined by a lunatic. I'd also agree about WCs being a special treat for homegrown youngsters to get experience in their home slam, & if not them, then esp. deserving players who haven't made the main draw, either due to injuries, or had a great run in the qualies.
What are the chances that RG will do the decent thing? They might, you know, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Maria striding brazenly onto Court Lenglen on the 1st day of play.
---
...'Big 4' is a convenient excuse that no longer holds water; they're all @ or past 30 now.***
I've been kvetchin' about this subject for yrs, calling most players outside the "Big 4 or 5" GUTLESS! ...We've had 4 big tourneys (major/3 Masters) so far & Fedal's taken them all! ...X MP's mean lit'l & they're unable to close! Can anyone forget Tsonga w/ 4 MP's in Paris vs Nole? He found a way to donate each, dropped the 4th set, & forgot how to play the 5th, barely grabbing a game! Milos & Kei have had a lit'l success, but nowhere near what they should have w/ their abilities; big serves & FH's! Their problem is more organic w/ brittle bodies that can't stay on the court more than 2 months w/o injuring something! I thought a corner had been turned until the AO this yr changed the potential season of Murray to solidify his new #1 ranking, but he's fallen off about as fast as Wilander in '89! He won = more, taking 3 majors & thwarted Lendl the entire season in '88, but in '89, his fall was precipitous, actually dropping a 2nd Rd'r of the USO to a lit'l known player named Pete Sampras! I'm trying to have hopes on Thiem & Sasha Z., but they're having almost as tough a X as the previous gen.; winning some, but still no "breakthru!" I Like Pouille's game & he weathered a 5 setter over Nadal @ USO, but @ the X Rafa's been fair game for just about anyone! I feel like I'm in a X warp w/ Fedal on top, Nole not feeling his just desserts, & Murray being the redheaded stepchild that's scratching for acknowledgement!
***GOAT summary of the state of 'ATP' - https://ibb.co/dih96Q -***
***"Big titles"
ReplyDeleteThe ATP seems t/b pushing this new idea of the "big title" count, adding together the # of GS & Masters tournaments. This was never a thing before, w/ there being separately the count of GS & the count of MS, w/ the latter being very much considered a < important stat than the 1st. I can see a # of political reasons why they want to do this.
1) The ATP doesn't run the GS's, but does run the MS, so they have an interest in promoting these as an important stat & encourage players (= beyond the ranking system) to make every effort not to skip these events.
2) Pushing up the importance of MS may improve audience #'s, particularly for events that are currently perhaps seen as < prestigious (see 1).
3) The slam count is currently not looking comp., so a story about the battle for "most big titles" can generate more interest.
I can see a lot of issues w/ it. For one, the surface balance isn't right - the game's original surface, & that of arguably the most prestigious tournament of all, is not represented by any MS events. Moreover, the tournaments are so diverse in importance & prestige, not just btw the slams & the MS events, but also btw diff. MS events. In contrast, the GS are now seen as much more = in stature. (I realise that this has not always been so, however.) I'm not saying that the stat can't be useful when combined w/ others, but the ATP is giving it much more prominence than that.
a) the "big titles" stat will eventually replace or at least = the GS count in the eyes of fans, as the ATP seems t/b aiming for, &
b) is there any reason (beyond ATP politics) why that c/b seen as sensible?
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A) slam count wasn't a factor until Sampras chased Emerson. The # of slams won was never a factor in determining who was great to Borg, Lendl, Mac, etc. It just was never discussed.
B) it's hard to measure sensible ...I don't think MS titles measure up to slams, but they've certainly gained in importance in the last 15 yrs.
Put these 2 together & the game is evolving, & the measure of greatness is changing, but MS titles will always be the lesser relative in the mix. And should be always the lesser.***
...When they moved AO tourney to Dec., it helped w/ the idea of Borg going down eventually since he was winning the Chan'l-Slam so routinely from '78-80! It also signed it's "death warrant" IMO b/c no 1 at the X was = close to achieving a CYGS; McEnroe the best chance in '84 dropping FO final! I thought it smart to move it back to Jan. & players you wouldn't think would bother went to AO, including Wilander (3), Lendl (2), & Edberg (2)! They were back, but it wasn't worth the trip to vets like Navratilova (3) & Evert (2) who last played it in '89!
To some, The Event is still a "redheaded" stepchild of the ITF; not helped when Nole's run there being undermined since he had 6! It didn't matter he's had some of the toughest comp. in the history of the sport save the Aussies "in the day" from HOAD, Laver, & Rosewall to Stolle, Roche, & Newcombe!
As to the Masters w/ their elevated status; funny I started thinking the exact opp. when they became common place for the Big 4! Back "in the day" it was required to play BO5 finals! I understood why the ATP went to BO3, but IMO it devalued them; more of an accomplishment winning BO5 over the best in the world! It wasn't elevated to GS status, but it meant more 10 yrs ago! BY these few players owning all the Masters 1000 records, I can't see anyone being able to muster the skill, concentration, & longevity to break any of them!
***Lendl turned out t/b a bad matchup for McEnroe. Vs Lendl, John serves needed to hit all spots to set up his S & V attack; if not he was a sitting duck. ...Connors game played perfectly vs Ivan. ...
ReplyDelete---
When you say that "Lendl turned out t/b a bad matchup for McEnroe," ...which began after their 2nd match, if we look @ their H2H. Ivan could be distant, haughty & irritating, & he got to Mac beating him 7 X's on the bounce.
Then in Philly '83, Mac got struck in & won a brawl - & he went on to beat Ivan 8 of the next 9 X's they met until he twitched that day in RG & they began to share the W's until '85 when Mac had gone surprisingly over the hill. ...The H2H ended 21-15 in favour of Lendl, but he snaffled the last 6 matches btw them once Mac had truly gone into 'dodgy marriage, cocaine fueled, air guitar' decline.***
I can't remember if it was Budge that supposedly got in McEnroe's face telling him he needed to attack relentlessly after being owned by Lendl! It was sorta like Fedal where Lendl's strength of a great FH beat into that slice BH of McEnroe's! He had to start coming over it more & attacking the net! He turned it around until '85 USO where Ivan re-estab. his dominance! Love that match; McEnroe up a brk 5-2, didn't serve it out @ 5-3 & allowed Lendl to come ATW back taking the TB! The rest of the match was just a formality! IIRC Ivan only lost a set early to Yzaga! Lendl had taken on Roche as his coach & it really made a diff. in his attacking game getting to sev. semis & 2 Wimbl. finals!
***...At what point did many/most people start suspecting that Roger w/b the best of the group? ...He was really starting to separate himself from the pack. Going into '05, I'm wondering if people were expecting Safin, Hewitt or Roddick, or = Nalbandian to surge & start winning more Slams. ...But when Roger won Wimbledon & USO, I'm guessing it was rather clear that he was the best of his group & that this wasn't going to change (Interestingly enough, it wasn't a member of Roger's gen. who would emerge as a 2nd superstar, but a Mallorcan teenager from the younger gen.).***
It got t/b monotonous & boring to hear the same refrain from all the sports' shows; "Roger's the GOAT"! It started as a ??, but after 3 seasons winning 3 majors by '07, he was a done deal; = if something happened & he left the sport before breaking Sampras major record! No 1 had dominated like that; = Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, & Sampras @ the height of their powers! Roger really only had 1 challenger & it was rationalized that it was due to advantage Nadal had on clay for the most part! I stopped watching as much & concentrated on the women's game w/ the return of Hingis & the dom. of Henin!
***...you didn't say "beat down" more than once; you said destroyed.***
IIRC Nadal hasn't been destroyed since Qatar last season; 1 & 2! Nole was "in the zone" w/ power, touch, & attacking net play! It was a humiliation that Rafa was fortunate in that it's just a minor exh. $$ grab!
***You could tell by their results during the tourney that it wouldn't go well for Nadal. He played a 3 setter in every match vs random mugs, except for the final obviously, while Novak cruised his way to the final & completely let loose. ...Rafa panicked some more & started hitting crazy UFE's. He basically retreated into his '15 mode for the whole match, while Novak sustained a high level since the match lasted about an hour, maybe even <. He knew that he was playing like shit & had no chance, but didn't even stick around to make it comp. To see Nadal suffer so much, as a fan, was gut wrenching. Nadal was just there for the taking. It was surely 1 of the weirdest matches I ever watched, & it highlighted how badly nerves can affect you. To me, it was like a wake up call.***
..."Roger's the GOAT!" It started as a ??, but after 3 seasons winning 3 majors by '07, he was a done deal; = if something happened & he left the sport before breaking Sampras major record!
ReplyDelete***Fiero, I think you're right that the GOAT talk really heated up in '07. ...Consider the career total Slam titles:
18: Federer
2: Safin, Hewitt
1: Roddick, Ferrero
But @ the end of '03, it was:
2: Hewitt
1: Roddick, Ferrero, Safin, Fed
0 (but w/ Slam-winning potential): Nalbandian, Coria, eventually Davydenko
If you look @ those Slams in '03, you'd think the gen's Slams w/b more =ly distributed, but the group outside of Fed would win only 1 more Slam, Safin in '05. So I'm just interested when people started to realize how dominant Roger w/b over his peers as it certainly wasn't clear after '03, @ least based upon the record.
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...where the Hell Gulbis been lately. ....Still his shoulder or what?
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...his work ethic is completely screwed & in spite of that, tennis is just not his #1 priority. ...His tennis is a far cry from his best level. Need< to say, he humiliated himself against Goffin, struggling to win games AFTER winning the 1st set. The spark is gone. What's left is a ballbashing mug that can't = win challengers.***
I can't imagine someone as affluent as Gulbis to ever really achieve; esp. if hard work's needed to excel! I don't blame him! It's the same reason The US has been in real "straights" trying to produce another world beater; the hunger just isn't there! When you're spoiled rotten from birth, there's no real incentive to get out there & do "anything" nec. to get to the top! Look @ the Williams sisters dodging bullets in Compton, Navratilova avoiding tanks when the USSR overran Czech. in '69, or Nole playing hopscotch w/ landmines in his backyard! Compare their upbringing to Gulbis where his father OWNS an island & his future's secure! Our brats are spoiled rotten, catered to from the X they're born; how can we expect much from them?
***The US main problem is tennis is still considered an elitist sport. It's not as noteworthy as the other sports so the best athletes don't participate. Can you imagine what type of tennis player Lebron, Westbrook, Cam Newton if they played tennis? It mhb Roger, Rafa, & Novak who?***
It's also something that takes X, energy, & $$! It was expensive enough when I was a kid back in the 70's! It was rare to have a racket purchased which cost more than $40-50 w/ strings! That may not get you the strings today; sorry, but I haven't played in yrs! = in my day tennis clothes, equipment, balls, & lessons cost a fortune! I'd hate to think how much it is these days!
***...like Fiero said, young male athletes are looking @ role models & they see Tom Brady, LeBron James, Mike Trout, not Sam Querrey & John Isner.***
Tennis won't be big again in The States until someone from this new gen. makes a name for himself in the world! Querrey, Isner, Harrison, & Young just didn't get the job done! Sock & Johnson moving up steadily & I guess we have hope for Tiafoe & a few other newbies, but it doesn't look good for us! The ladies seem to have more going for them! The next gen. for the men looks to be led by Sasha Z., Thiem, Pouille, Kyrgios, & others! Sock might upset 1 or 2 elite players, but not sure he can sustain it for a whole tourney; esp. a major going BO5! He uses a lot of energy running, stroke producing, & psyching himself up! I'm exhausted just thinking about him playing the game!
***Fiero, there is no surefire American elite player, but there are some good prospects, & American men's tennis looks more promising than it has in 10+ yrs. In my mind, Tiafoe & Fritz are the most promising of the young guys, but Opelka, Escobedo, Kozlov, Donaldson, Mmoh, Paul, & Rubin all have varying degrees of potential.***
***That doesn't mean Rafa's not a 1 trick pony. If he weren't he'd have won more often on other surfaces. 22 non-clay wins, 5 of which are Slams means in 13 yrs on the ATP tour, Nadal has only won 17 non-clay tourneys - & 8 of which are Masters 1000 events. That comes out to just over 1.3 tourney non-clay events won per yr. I'm just saying...for someone that's considered a GOAT candidate - that ain't very impressive.***
ReplyDeleteI know I've reiterated this enough over the yrs! It's 1 of many reasons why I have Rafa nowhere near GOATdom! His limitations are plentiful! He's not = on par w/ Borg who has 3 < FO's! Taking the Chan'l-Slam 3 str. yrs '78-80 & 1 match from a 4th is excellence Nadal has never been able to sustain; NOT = CLOSE! Borg was just very unlucky @ the USO, but has records held to this day; all w/ a wood racket playing from the baseline when attacking tennis was > prevalent!
***PREACH! Can you imagine Nadal playing in Borg's era w/ the wood rackets & gut strings? HELL to the no! Yet I have no problem imaging Federer, Djokovic or Murray playing back then. Just imagine all the yrs when both the USO & Wimbl. were played on grass. Heck, for that matter, a lot of other tournaments were played on grass too.
...If the overall Slam total is all that counts for the GOAT discussion, which is sadly the case w/ tennis pros & experts, then I still say that = if Nadal gets to 18 - if 13 are the FO & only 5 on other surfaces. Roger's still the GOAT b/c he's won 3 of the Slams @ least 5 X's & been in FO final 5 Xs. ...forgot about that pesky H2H thing the experts like to bring up. Like Nadal hasn't got his own bad record vs Djokovic - having lost 10 of their last 11 meetings & the last 7 in a row. In fact, Djokovic has twice beaten him 7 X's in a row. Everybody's got their own personal Kryptonite.
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Let's see...
*Rafa's the GOAT on a specific surface type.
*Off that surface, he's still great, but more of a "lesser great." In other words, if you look @ Rafa as a non-clay player, he's probably about as good as someone like Becker or Edberg were overall.
I think the sum total of that still makes him 1 of the GOAT's, & in the "herd," if not 1 of the front-runners. As you say, every great player has their Kryptonite, & every great record has 1 or 2 holes. As far as GOAT candidacy goes, the holes I see are:
*Roger: None really, except for maybe the H2H vs Rafa & if we want to be picky, OG.
*Novak: Slam count, & that's pretty much it. OG, I guess - but it seems like < of a lack for Novak, perhaps b/c w/ Roger it's the only thing missing, so stands out more.
*Rafa: More wks @ #1, WTF's, maybe another non-clay Slam or 2.
Pete had his lack of a clay Slam & generally weak record on clay. Borg retired early & never won USO. Laver's was quite complete, except for the fact that most of it was before the Open Era & difficult to compare.
Rafa's holes are similar to Pete's, & perhaps more difficult to fill than Novak's - although Novak would need to resurge to fill his, obviously. For Rafa to be on = footing w/ Roger as far as career records go, assuming Roger is done w/ major accomplishments. I think Rafa needs to get to 200+ wks + win @ least 1 WTF & another 2-3 Slams. If he does all of that & Roger doesn't do anything more than win another Masters or 2 & a handful of minor titles, then I think their records w/b comparable.***
***...Can't save the world single-handed.***
ReplyDeleteThe problem is "we create" issues that sooner or later need solving! I've had to survive the Reagan, Bush, & "W" admin. where they all said the same thing; "we're going to cut taxes, > the defense budget, & start a couple wars!" What could go wrong? We're fk'n idiots for being shocked the Nat'l Debt has more than doubled each X forcing Clinton or Obama to bring the economy, DOW, as well as the country back from "the brink!"
***...Show the #'s then of Reagan's debt vs. Obama's...***
"Supply-side" economics was all the rage back then! It made so much sense to give tax cuts to the wealthy & businesses, but it obviously came w/ a cost since Defense budgets increased precipitously during the COLD WAR! Reagan was the worst b/c he was so FOS seeing as he actually increased taxes 13 X's calling them fees & revenue enhancers! There's a sucker born every moment, but Reps have been the most gullible attempting to put Ronnie on Mt. Rushmore! It wasn't until "The Gipper" that deficits hit $100's of M's, but always talking about a balanced budget amendment! So much "bait & switch" I gave up on that party over 30 yrs ago!
***...There are no Reps who are kind or willing to put people's interests in their actions. May they all reap the hatred they sow. & be accountable for the deaths they are promoting by taking away healthcare from the citizens. I won't go into the many injustices they are also implementing. A vat of boiling oil is needed. Where are those Reps I thought existed?***
They talked about this a few days ago; this kind of vituperous attitude of a Rep. Repr. in Congress has migrated over to the Senate! It was bad enough when a Repr. shouted out at Obama "you lie" during the SOTU Address sev. yrs ago, The Speaker & Minority Leader in the Senate couldn't be bothered to return a call from The POTUS, skipping lunches & dinners, then coming back kvetchin' to the press how intransigent the President's been during negotiations! If I were a Dem, I'd tell the Reps to "go fish" in their efforts to prevent another gov't shutdown! Funny how they're being blamed when Trump & his supporters "own it all" right now w/ a right-leaning" Supreme Court & they still can't get anything done! As the experts warned them ages ago, "it's easy to oppose, but takes leadership to run DC!" These "clowns" couldn't manage a McD's! The more rational Reps. are gone; sorry!
***Well okay, Trump on NAFTA is a good thing. He is listening to people before he makes his decisions. But I will LOL over the fact that when all is said & done, his policy making is pretty trad'l Rep. So for all the people 'pipe dreaming' about the thought of a "left" Trump president.***
So as I've been saying; Reps love t/b lied to! Trump was supposed t/b so strong on China as currency manipulators, that the UN was obsolete, a repeal of Obamacare from day 1, & any # of other promises all broken! I knew he was FOS & Rep. leadership knows it so all Trump will end up doing is enriching himself & his family! The pardons will come fast & furious close to the end; watch for it! He might = try to "pardon himself!" It was mused about w/ Nixon & Watergate back in '74! What a childhood I had w/ this emblazed on the front pages of every newspaper for well over 2 months! Now Trump has really done something treacherous so his admin. is probably over! He can't = get support from his own Rep. led Congress! Why try to blame the Dems for a "shutdown" when they truly have no power? They're all bent in that party of "elephants!"
***The country is divided; both parties are divided as are the alt-left who are protesting every action. ...Trump was elected b/c there is an anti-estab. sentiment in the country that was unhappy w/ the direction it was going in & those vs him don't understand this.***
ReplyDeleteBut it's the people's fault due to punishing their representatives when they = come close to compromise; esp. Reps who routinely run opp. vs itself in a quest for cons. purity! The Dems are on the same track w/ the new Dem. Chair looking for absolutes on the "choice" issue! You can't do that; we wind up as culturally insane as right-wingers! It's one of the reasons Hillary lost the women's vote to a misogynist pig; went too far LEFT! Women talk a good game about moving into the future, but they're still stuck in past; often sabotaging themselves when they vote against their own interests! They out# men in all aspects of life; esp. the voters, but their representation is going down instead of up! When they actually had a chance to elect the ultimate woman, they balked, so I will never = listen to their cater-walling when this man in DC screws them over!
***The 1st female President s/b one that represents her gender w/ pride. Electing a woman under FBI investigation & corruption all around her is not what women wanted as the Mother of our country. ...***
But I guess it's ok that an old white crazy man c/b under the same investigation! Hilarious & hypocritical don't you think? I don't mind he made it in; goes along w/ the other sick countries taking on tyrants & dictators as their leaders! I doubt we can sink much further, but you never know w/ the lack of intelligentsia in this country! The only thing in ?? is how long will it take to impeach this asshole & take on another in Pence?
***...Dems in the Senate threatened to shut down the gov't. Trump's major issues are being stopped by the left, so yes, that is obstructionism. He may have an all Rep. led House, but not enough in the Senate to override Dems.***
Legis. has to get out of the HOUSE to make it to the Senate to be obstructed! That hasn't happened once since Trump took office! As all can see, Reps own it & they sound pretty stupid trying to blame Dems for obstruction when I can't remember a vote for Obama's legislation getting = 1 vote by a "righty!" It's ok for them to kvetch, bitch, & moan, but Dems are the real obstructionists! That's the most ridiculous thing going back to Clinton admin. when Dole as Minority Leader promised not 1 Re. vote will be cast in his favor! Screw them all! FK OFF!
***The gov't's Rep. The party owns the success & the failures now.
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How do they own it if the Dems keep stopping it?***
Please tell me how the Dems are stopping anything! Ryan hasn't had a vote on legis. to send it over to the Senate to stop! WTF are you talking about?
***All Trump has to do is say that if the Dems & the Pubs will work together in Congress, he'll sign the legislation.***
I don't think Reps want their fingerprints on anything! All they want t/b able to do is stall everything it seems! No Congress has been this inept since the last 1 I guess run by Boehner! They couldn't count votes either & looked foolish while Obama signed his EO's! Funny how it's not a problem w/ Trump doing it! Hypocrites!
***...Obama was legitimate as a President, as man, as a husband, and as a father. Reps silly cognitive bias based on NOTHING does not help our country.***
The airheads just won't let it go! It's just embarrassing that we have so many of these people; so self-hating & traitorous to their own country! It probably doesn't = bother them w/ all this Russia intrigue when they used to call Dems soft on Nat'l security! What a bunch of hypocritical idiots! I really feel sorry for them!
***"Really, Jason Chaffetz? For some minor surgery, you need to take a month off for rehab during hearings on Trump? Tell that to Tammi Duckworth who had both legs blown off in Iraq. Yet she persists."
ReplyDeleteThere have been Senators who have gotten over "strokes" w/ < fanfare! Trump may have something on him! We saw how rude & obnoxious Chaffetz was to Hillary & her supporters! All of a sudden; "health issues?"
***...Yeah the 24/7 news coverage about her e-mails was so pro-Hillary.***
The whining & victimhood is rich concerning the "1st 100 Days" when it's been Trump who's made such a big deal about it; "it's so easy! We're going t/b winning so much you're going to get tired! We'll repeal Obamacare on the 1st day & cut taxes right away!"
===
...The list of items Schumer & the Dems "got" just went on & on from continuation of Planned Parenthood to funding Medicaid Ins. paymt. for Puerta Rico which was over $250 M.! Funding of the arts & increased payments to fund Obamacare as well! It was a total capitulation to make sure the gov't didn't shut down & the Dems were "clowning" Trump & his stooges "on the right!" There was no funding for a wall & threats of defunding Sanctuary Cities stopped! This is what total power does for Reps; have the Presidency & all of Congress & they can't do the simplest of tasks!
***...Trump said some pretty big ugly things about most of his own party.
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So....after 100 days, Trump caves in on damn near every campaign promise he made b/c otherwise. People IN HIS OWN PARTY are going to shut down the gov't. - We got jack shit & it pisses me off. We could have passed any budget we wanted w/ the nuke-rule & instead did this stupid crap.
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...If they don't fix this, & I mean fix this good, they have no hopes coming next election. We wanted the Dems to shut down the gov't if that's what it took. In fact, let it stay shut down for a record amt of X. WTF cares?
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...And it's not just roads, it's bridges & tunnels, airport runways, electric grids, & schools in which most were built 50+ yrs ago...& train lines/ railroads, & natural gas pipelines... And Libraries/ Museums & Nat'l Monument needed repairs if any...& solar expansions or wind expansions to the grid =....& Water infrastructure repairs for all the cities...***
On Lou Dobbs, Tammy Bruce is making the excuse for Trump that "he's being misled! He's not getting the truth told to him by Reince Priebus!"
***It's amazing the hoops that his pundits & followers will jump thru to make excuses for Trump. - The Dems in power whd whatever they wanted. Repubs are a bunch of fucking idiots.
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When Chuck Schumer tells Trump to jump, he asks how high? When Trump passes an EO, court districts stop them. He may as well not = be President & the GOP may as well not = be the majority in Congress. - They needed a super majority in the Senate to pass the bill. That means they needed 8 Dems to go along w/ fixing the country which they could never get & every Rep. to boot.***
I don't understand why it's ok for Reps to obstruct to the detriment of the country, but b/c Dems don't jump on board w/ lame legis., they're labeled the same way! It doesn't make sense for the Dems to do slimy Reps any favors after the way Obama was treated from day one!
***Obama didn't give in one in. either. He got his tax increases, he got continued funding for Commie Care, passed Lynch, they passed all but his last nomination for the SC, and they're giving Dems almost everything they want now.***
***...Funny how liberals call Trump a liar & think nothing of trying to get Hillary elected president.***
ReplyDeleteThe delusions continue w/ you people! ...He's a liar, knew it, & suckers fell for it "hook, line, & sinker!" The Bill for "Repeal & Replace" of Obamacare is going down in flames again; what's that 3 X's now? What makes these losses = more HUGE is how a spotlight's on it & promises are made that is known, can't be kept! Reps LOVE being lied to; going back decades w/ "we will not negotiate w/ terrorists, No NEW TAXES, & Day 1 a BILL for ACA repeal w/b signed along w/ the >est tax cut in US history!" ...the status quo continues! How lame & pathetic to try & deflect by slaming Hillary, but has accomplished > than Trump ever will in world affairs & he's President!
***SHUT IT DOWN this Sept. - Trump thinks the Dems are the cause of all the country's woes.***
The #'s don't lie; Clinton & Obama created double the jobs of Reagan/Bush/W, presided over a thriving economy, low unemployment, & the DOW getting doubled! The only thing Reps have doubled are their lies, the obstruction, & the Nat'l Debt! Clinton actually had a sur+ & had a plan to elim. the debt in 10 yrs! "W" turned that all on it's head & now we're approaching $20 T when it was well under $6 in '01! Thanks "W!"
***True, but the debt was $10T when Barry took over & now it's $20T...some job creation.***
Yeah, it dropped from over 10% unemployment to under 5%! I know Reps have trouble w/ #'s, but that means it was cut in 1/2! As for the Nat'l Debt, "W's" credit card bill w/ his tax cuts & 2 wars inflated the deficit! This is hardly on Obama!
***Frankly I hope the GOP does replace ACA w/ something >er; if they can. I'm always down for improving the process Obama put in place. Either way Obama wins since it's now part of our society.***
But that was NEVER their goal! It was to eliminate it in it's entirety! They went thru 60+ FAUX votes while Obama was President knowing he would veto it & now that they're in total charge, they can't = pass a new budget, falling back on CR's they kvetched about just last yr! Such hypocrites "on the right," but Reps like t/b lied to it seems!
***Reps no longer know how to pass legis. A bill of this magnitude takes X & hardwork. It also takes compromise, something Reps no longer are capable of. They'll fumble around w/ a bill that is unpassable & Dems will sit back & laugh, secure in the realization that Obamacare is safe.***
Compromise has been a dirty word w/ Reps for yrs! If they bend in the least, they not only get labeled hypocrites & liars, their own party will run someone vs them in the next primary cycle! There's no incentive to compromise; esp. "on the right!" The dissension's more like HATE & the voters are responsible, holding them accountable for the core beliefs of the party on both sides! Punishment is swift & thorough in the last decade or so! Dems have traditionally been punished more severely for legis. that winds up being not only historic, but a mainstay like Soc. Sec., Medicare, Civil Rights, & now Obamacare! The same people kvetchin' about how it was rammed down the throats of the country are now lauding the LAW & dare their party to try & repeal it!
***It used t/b Reps would refuse to compromise w/ the Dems. Libs are evil. Compromise is a pact w/ the devil. Now, they'll not = compromise w/ themselves.
They're running the freak'n gov't & can't get anything done. Four months & they haven't passed any significant legis.
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You're bringing up "dissension" after what Bernie did to Hillary & what Hillary did back?***
Just 1 more reason Hillary lost! Like this country would elect a SOCIALIST!
***The GOP est. Reps are progressives & they are fuck ups. The more damage done to the Federal gov't the better for the country… Fact - What happened to the balanced budget amendment? Tax reform? Repealing Obamacare? Killing Planned Parenthood?
ReplyDelete---
You can't get anything done after 8 yrs of whining....just give us a chance***
As they're learning = after being in the same position under "W" just over 10 yrs ago, "obstructing" is easy; really legislating is HARD! Trump said of The ACA; who knew it was so hard? "Everybody but you nitwit!" He's frustrating to deal w/ since his supporters are so defiant in defending him no matter how ridiculous he sounds! How many promises has he broken or totally glossed over knowing he CAN'T get it done? The experts said he would make the Reps look inept & they were right! Eight yrs of railing about the ACA & there's nothing they can do; = during the honeymoon period of their new Prez! I've never seen such weakness owning all 3 branches of the gov't! It's truly unprecedented!
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...Slamming Hillary & dredging up history won't make Trump GREAT! Try making suggestions to turn this miserable admin. around rather than whining about past history!
***I wasn't trying to build up Trump by bashing Hillary. ...As for Trump's accomplishments as president, I'd like to see him doing more, but his 1st 3 months have already been impressive, esp. when compared w/ the past 8 yrs of neglect, weakness, & destruction.***
I think Trump's delusions have t/b rubbing off on his supporters! You guys used to criticize Obama for running the Presidency through EO, but that's all Trump's really done; & sev. have been nixed by the courts! As for taking credit for the theft of a SC seat; SO WHAT? Legis. passed? I'm still thinking; maybe passing a CR where Reps got rolled by the Dems? I don't need to go down that long list of programs which include funding of the ACA, PP, NIH, EPA, etc! We can all agree it's unseemly to gloat & "spike the football" as FNC loves to repeat over & over, but it was the bloviating of Trump talking about how easy this was going t/b which makes it apropos!
***Voting no is easy.....anybody can do it. Agreeing on what to vote yes on is hard. - Glad to see you agree that Dems/liberals are always looking for the easy way out.***
Being practical helps & something as basic as "health care" s/b a no-brainer; = for most Reps to realize as needed!
***I have no right to healthcare, but I do have a right to earn my healthcare… BTW insurance is not healthcare.***
Geniuses out there; w/o insurance, it'll cost more to "the state!" It only make sense to supply the insurance; winds up saving us all!
***Dems love to talk about the 20 M that got insurance. Sadly they leave out the 300 M that got fleeced in order for that to occur.***
The same c/b said of that lame ass tax cut back during the "W" admin.! So what, I got a $300 check while the 1% of the 1% made out like bandits! Instead of reinvesting, they took their $$ & hoarded it abroad! They're entitled to do whatever they want, but I'm so tired of hearing that same ol' BS about cutting taxes & loosening regulation! The rich always just pocket it & we wonder why the country goes "in the hole" each X it's being run by Reps! How many X's does it have to happen? We're such suckers!
...Reps only want the country to remember Saint Reagan w/ his secret gov't in the basement making deals w/ terrorists in Iran & diverting the $$ to "Freedom Fighters" vs the Contras in So. Amer. in opp. of the Boland Amendment! ...Obama kept his poise & didn't lower himself into the sewer where Reps not only disrespected him, they disrespected the office so the bar has been "so lowered" due to the disgusting behavior or Trump! Not sure there w/b any standards from now on!
ReplyDelete***...I taped Colbert the night after the viscious comments about Trump just to see if he would apologize.***
When has Trump apologized for ANYTHING? The man's been caught in "bald-faced" lies & makes excuses, deflects, ignores it, & of course insults anyone who dares ?? him in anyway!
***...And how do you know this about Trump after a very short X he has been in office?...
How many promises does he have to break for you to come to the realization, Trump's the phoniest President in this lifeX? He thought the job entailed photo ops, hand shakes w/ foreign leaders, & signing legis. he expected t/b passed w/ a snap of his fingers! He's learning real fast that "who knew it was this hard?" I won't = bring up the outright lies of that silly wall & Mexico paying for it! If anyone believed that, all concerned s/b locked up along w/ the true "Grifters" of our gen., The TRUMPS!
***Macron w/b the next President of France. W/ all its minor defects, his program is closer to the French heart than the heartless F.N.***
You would think, but the same thing was said here & in England; now look @ us all! Putin's playing the world like a fiddle & the suckers are falling in line!
***What gives is that the globalist, US led, NWO is under threat & the 1% are panicking. Putin has become the bogeyman ever since he vowed to make Russia great again & ended the 'free' market rape that made the Yeltsin puppet so popular in the west. After he destoyed the dreams of the regime change fanatics in Ukraine & Syria, he became the supreme evil, so now everyone who doesn't submit to the globalist agenda is a Russian agent & an enemy of 'peace & democracy.'
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The economy really isn't strong though. Capitalism seems t/b in crisis all over the planet. Economic growth is very weak & the vast majority of those jobs are low paying & partX. Only 45% of the US population has a job that entails over 30 hrs a wk of paid labor.***
Would you rather everything turn around & the country "go under" to prove a pt? I'll take slow & steady over drastic changes either way! There are always repercussions when that happens as our history tells us! We've had unemployment to steadily drop to now 4.4 & the DOW consistently going up; now over 20,000 pts! Around the world, other countries aren't doing as well; quite a few in dire straights! One of these days we'll realize how easy we have it in comparison to others!
***...The Fed pumped trillions of funny $$ into the financial sector. That is what quantative easing was. The economy is in shambles. Now it's X for a new "new deal" followed by market socialism.***
I just hope they don't overreach & plunge the country into another "W" recession! SomeX's I think Reps are trying to bankrupt us so we'll default on Soc. Sec., Medicare, Medicaid, & now Obamacare! It's sad that instead of working w/ the other side to make it better, they have systematically trolled & undermined the law @ every opportunity! Those TOWN HALLS where constituents are "up in arms" & letting them have it won't stop politics I guess! Luckily moderate Senate will squash the latest repeal effort of the ACA!
If I were Hillary, I'd feel fortunate to have lost! She's actually dodged a bullet! She whm this Rep. Congress relevant as her foil! If you thought these clown were obstructionist during the Obama admins, it would become a true circus w/ them dredging up 90's BS to battle her! I'm not saying I prefer Trump being in office, but b/c of his mouth & obvious lack of a moral compass, he's making all "cons" look like morons in so many diff. ways! The immersion of his business interests will blow up sooner than later! ...If you actually try to do something he guaranteed like repealing & replacing Obamacare, he's going to cut the throats of all Reps in blue & red states b/c healthcare s/b a right! If you take it away as this House Bill does, people will literally start dropping in the streets! The Senate isn't going to touch this!
ReplyDelete***‘The Russians also knew’: Sally Yates confirms she warned White House that Flynn c/b blackmailed
- http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/the...-white-house-that-flynn-could-be-blackmailed/ -***
A very professional woman who held off the wolves w/ loaded ??'s they knew she wouldn't be able to answer! The Reps concentrated on "unmasking" & leaks while the Dems went w/ the topic @ hand; Flynn & his being compromised by the Russians!
***Hopefully Trump w/b impeached & removed very soon. This testimony is all that's needed.***
Their only recourse is to try & undermine her credibility! Cruz and the others look like FOOLS!
***It still annoys me & makes me wanna tell them to "stfu or ask ??'s pertinent to the Russia investigation."***
That's what they do! I have lit'l sympathy for US AS A PEOPLE when we allow trolls like Cruz to "never underest." the gullibility of the electorate! I've lived long enough to see how Reps disparage legis. passed by Dems like The New Deal, Soc. Sec., Medicare, & civil rights," punishing the party just like what's happening w/ Obamacare! The law's been undermined @ every turn & the people were set against it under the haranguing of cons! = in "red states" they're seeing the benefits & they're revolting against Reps @ town halls! It's now a part of the fabric of our economy & they can't do much in the way of repealing or replacing the law! They're still hoping it fails so they can say "we told you so!" Smarter people would try to fix it rather than eliminate it altogether!
***I'm waiting for 1 of the Senators to realize that Russia has tons of blackmail material on Reps. It has been said sev. X's now that the RNC was hacked too. That means they have blackmail material. In other words, the whole admin. is compromised. (And I guess, it could also mean that some Dems are compromised as well, unless all material was released on them).
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Can’t Win @ the Voting Booth, Take it to Court!***
Both sides do it genius! Obama was thwarted, sued, & stymied all too often by lawsuits vs him, his EO, or a policy! Spare me the victimhood! After what Reps put Obama thru, I better not ever hear any BS about respecting the office! Nothing & no one was spared in the repeated acts of disrespect! Of course he'd never lower himself into the gutter where Trump resides w/ his party of sleaze!
***...Trump will get away w/ it. Every X I see something on FB about how now they can impeach, I want to remind them about the 'Access Hollywood' tape, the debates, the lawsuits, the 'Newsweek' articles, the "this'll disqualify him," "nobody will vote for him," the conflicts of interest & obvious lies & coverups that are still going on. That's how we got here. I don't think they'll ever find a way to get rid of him. They could have a hearing or trial every day about something.***
Trump has LOWERED the standards for being elected; HOW DO WE GET RID of him? The people have spoken; regardless of how misguided, naïve, & just plain STUPID!
***CNN had a story today that asked the ?? of whether Trump's Tweets this morning about Sally Yates' upcoming testimony constituted an attempt @ witness intimidation. I suppose that they c/b written off as "Trump being Trump," but I'd be interested in hearing the experts' opinion on this.***
ReplyDeleteTech I believe it is & it's also just something that normally isn't done, but as we well know, Trump has lowered the bar so much anything's acceptable to him & his supporters on the "right!" It's truly shameful that just last yr these same people were calling for Hillary t/b "locked up" for imaginary charges & Flynn's been proved to have done things he knew were illegal dealing w/ a foreign gov't! He'll wind up being the one going to a cell unless Trump pardon's him of course!
***...Member the electoral college landslide gaffe? ...You'd think an orange klown who tries to sell himself as a businessman could handle some simple #'s.***
Reps like being lied to as much as possible! It's always been like that; promises made, but when in charge, the only thing they've been able to succeed in is inflating the Nat'l Debt & almost never seem to pay for it! Dems are hammered for the least lit'l thing, so I wash my hands of it! We're looking to go under w/ fools @ the HELM, more power to you guys who think everything's honkey dory w/ this tool in the POTUS chair!
***It seems that they're already concerned about the Trump-Russia investigation as Rep. Durbin said that the AG has not yet said if the investigation will continue since FBI Dir. Comey was fired.***
Is this Trump & his stooges or The Rep. Party trying to undermine & corrupt the Justice Dept.? Sessions to pick new FBI Dir.! I feel like we're in a X warp back to the 50's! I didn't think I'd live long enough to see the country plunged into such chaos!
***The Reps need to leave the Potties behind & demand an independent investigation. This is ridiculous & Trump's so transparently stupid & bent.***
Reps are a mess right now! They don't look good defending Trump or mildly shaking their heads instead of getting on their normal "soap boxes" when something this monumental occurring! DC's a mess w/ them totally in charge & nothing getting done!
***I blame the people who voted for him & the people who sat on their ass & didn't bother to vote. For those people 'don't be shocked.' You're getting what you deserve. You let this happen.***
I've seen us go backwards instead of forward and when it appears "women" were the deciding demo in the last election that put Trump in office, I simply give up! He proved t/b a misogynist pig who thought nothing of violating women in public; bragged about it! I keep asking the same thing on all boards; why do women hate other women? Do I really need to go down a dozen diff. examples of what a fraud the women's movement has been & that the sisterhood's 'for show' & lit'l else! I keep hearing the kvetchin' about a 'lack of representation,' but there are more women voters out there! It's all on them & no 1 else IMO! Ya had a chance to get the 1st female President & IDK when it'll be this close again! Obama stole it in '08, but women GAVE it to Trump! Believe it or not, I'd tell Hillary she "dodged a freakin' bullet!" This country deserves someone like Trump! See y'all @ the impeachment hearings!
***I don't get that either. Talk about voting against your best interest. Did they vote for him or just not vote? We're going to reap what we sow.***
It's usually young, single women that don't vote, but this X they actually pulled the lever for the troglodyte!
***The magical month has arrived. In < than 3 wks' X, the top 5 w/b officially comprised of all 30-somethings! While not nearly as frightening as climate change, it's more than a lit'l disconcerting for pro tennis. Only in '17!***
ReplyDeleteI've been railing about the need for a changing of the guard for ages, but it just keeps getting pushed back every yr! It's almost embarrassing b/c the elites are not just older, it's the same players yr after yr; trading off being #1 periodically! It says something about how good the "Big 4" have been, but it also shows how gutless the "also rans" have been for a while now! Every X you think there's the next great Phenom about to make a name for himself, it's a faux challenge; either psychologically or just plain brittle-boned & can't stay on the court more than a few wks before breaking down!
***Well said. It's too weird. At this point, there's lit'l more that c/b said, I feel. ATP had to create a tourney to celebrate its young stars, as they can't compete w/ the decrepit guard. I mean, tennis won't retire when they all do, but... anyway, the retirement tours might make more bank than the ATP.
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If the young stars can't compete w/ the decrepit older guard, then it's the young guns problem. Nadal, Federer, Djokovic & = Murray are exceptional athletes & tennis players. The same was true of Gonzalez, Rosewall, Laver, Tilden, Ashe, Connors, Agassi, Sampras & others who were top players past 30.
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ATP had to create a tourney to celebrate its young stars, as they can't compete w/ the decrepit guard. I mean, tennis won't retire when they all do, but... anyway, the retirement tours might make more bank than the ATP.***
Being from the 70's "old guard," I prob. would've watched a senior tour of BJK, Goolagong, Wade, Court, Navratilova, & Evert! I'm sure they tried, but it just didn't get much TV coverage & died! One of the most memorable periods in tennis was the advent of WTT! It was actually >er than some tour events! I still remember an All-Star event; maybe in '76! The teams were composed of most of the best players in the world & it didn't disappoint! Goolagong didn't have much trouble beating Evert on those fast indoor courts, but being TEAM Tennis, the other team still had a chance! It came down to women dubs IIRC! Fromholtz & Stove were behind Wade & Navratilova! To get to a Super TB, Stove/Fromholtz had to not only win their match, but continue winning games to tie Wade/Navr.! They were successful & Fromholtz was replaced by Evert! The other team was totally taken over by BJK & Goolagong! Evert & the West came ATW back to win the Super TB 5-4!
***I suppose the players won more $$ playing WTT, but IMO, WTT was & is a joke. Also, it robbed players like Evert of winning more FO titles. Also, other serious tourneys were denied some top players.***
Robbed? Did they need the $$ grab? Weren't her endorsements enough! If she lost X in tournaments, it's all on her, her family, & the management group!
***I agree, robbed was the wrong term; perhaps greed's more appropriate. - Nadal dominated '10 USO from front to back, losing only 1 set in the final.***
So few X's he's that dominant! It's like he has to go away for a while to get rejuvenated! From '08; took it to Roger winning on clay & grass! Injury-ridden '09, but came back to take 3 majors in '10! Nole owned it over for a while; legitimately beating a "prime" Rafa 7 str. X's! Roger had a resurgence in '12, then Rafa came back strong in '13! It's been downhill ever since; lucky to take '14 FO & a few Masters! W/o Roger this season, Nadal might have owned it this season, but like Nole in '11, he's just been so close!
***1st Big Title As A Predictive Indicator:
ReplyDeleteThe fact that no player born in '89 or later has not only not won a Slam, but hasn't won a "big title" (Slam, YEC's, Masters) is rather alarming. The youngest big titleists are Cilic & del Potro, both of whom were born in '88 & turn 29 yo later this yr. This is an unprecedented situation, @ least in Open Era history.
But let's not belabor just how bad the younger gens are, esp. those born in '89-93ish. Instead, I wanted to ask the ??: At What Age Did Slam Winners 1st win a big title?
1st, a caveat. The importance of diff. titles has changed over the yrs, which is reflected in the fact the names of diff. tourneys has changed as the ATP tour has changed. But there's some degree of similarity btw, say, the GP of the '70s & the current ATP Tour Masters 1000's. For the sake of this inquiry, all =lent tourneys w/b considered under the umbrella "big titles" - including current tourns & their predecessors. This includes Slams, WTF's & other YE Chps, Golden Cup, WCT Finals, Masters, GP, etc.
...Below are the oldest age @ which players won their 1st big title:
6+ Slam winners (12): 20 yo
2-4 Slam winners (15): 28 yo
The 1st was a bit surprising. There are 12 players who won 6+ Slams during the Open Era, & all won their 1st big title @ age 20 or <. This is quite diff. from 1st Slam, as Lendl didn't win his 1st until age 24. In other words, there's not a lot of play in the 12 precedents: ALL 12 won a big title @ a very young age (I didn't include Newcombe, Laver, or Rosewall b/c they all began well before the Open Era began, so it's diff. to ascertain when they won their 1st "big" title).
The 2nd category's quite old, but only b/c of 1 player: Wawrinka. Other than him, the oldest age is 24 (Rafter), w/ the poss. except. of Ashe who won his 1st Slam @ age 25, but it's unclear if he won a big title before that. Stan set a new precedent, effectively demolishing all "rules" about when a multi-Slam winner can start winning big. That said, the vast majority of 2-4 Slam winners won their 1st big title by 24-25.
...Below's a list of some of the better active young players w/ their current (as of 5/9) age:
27: Nishikori
26: Raonic, Goffin
25: Dimitrov, Carreno Busta
24: Sock, Tomic, Schwartzman
23: Thiem, Pouille, Vesely
22: Kyrgios, Edmund, Monteiro, Pavlasek
21: Medvedev, Nishioka
20: A. Zverev, Coric, Khachanov, Chung, Donaldson, Escobedo
19: Tiafoe, Rublev, Fritz, de Minaur, Bublik, Kozlov, Opelka, Santillan, Michael Mmoh
18: Ruud, Lee, Shapovalov, Tsitsipas, Ymer, Altmaier, Moutet, Clarke
16: Auger Aliassime
So think about this: Every player age 21 & >--& soon to include Khachanov, Donaldson, & Chung--is disqual. from the precedents of the Open Era. If any of those players are going t/b all-X greats, they'll have to set a new precedent on the order of Wawrinka, that is "be the Wawrinka of all-X greats."
This also means that all of those players age 20, are "on notice." Three of them turn 21 w/i a month or 2, all but Zverev turn 21 this yr. So it m/b that come Dec., only A. Zverev still can reach the benchmark set by the 12 prev. 6+ Slam winners, & win his 1st big title before his 21st BD next April.***
Thanks!
***Hewitt did lose some speed by '04, but he was still a great champion & yes, he did build a mental block vs Federer. ...Everyone knows Fed cost Roddick potential slams, but he did the same to Hewitt in this period.***
ReplyDeleteHewitt won matches w/ his legs; being overpowered, he wasn't given the chance to win! You have to give more credit to his opps that came into their own! One of my faves was Safin; too bad he was a psycho! He had the most complete game, but only took 2 Majors, both over apparent GOAT's @ the X; Sampras USO final & Fed "down under" in '05 semi! He had the serve, the power, touch, & nerve, but like any artist he might go insane on court; sorta like Ilie Nastase!
***Agreed. Thankfully can't say the same about Hewitt. ...He was unfortunate like Safin to have many injuries which meant he wasn't a contender post '06. Safin will always be an enigma & that'll probably enhance his rep. like Ilie. He was definitely lacking in drive & motivation.
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I think Roger's chances @ RG are a bit >er than Rafa's @ Wimbledon, although both are far from faves.***
...another entry in my blog about the gutlessness of this era of so called top players! ...If Fedal continues their resurgence, it m/b the end of tennis IMO! New kids can't look up to Granpa Fed; didn't work 10 yrs ago = w/ me getting bored! It was pushing me to watch more women's tennis! I still have hopes for Theim, Sasha Z., & Pouille, but only X'll tell I guess! In 2 months, all s/b clear after the FO & Wimbledon!
***Holy Hyperbole, Batman! Seriously though, however long the Fedal resurgence lasts, it won't be forever - and probably not more than this yr. From the perspective of wanting to see fresh blood take the lead, I suppose the worst case scenario is that where '17 m/b the year of a Fedal Revival, '18 c/b Novandy, which w/b terribly boring (imo). But = then, the Big Four can't hang on forever. They're going t/b losing more & more, getting upset by younger and hungrier players.
It's X to give up on Milos-Kei-Grigor, @ least as far as reaching the top. Actually, it was probably x a yr or 2 ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they become only gen. of the Open Era that doesn't have a #1 player. The baton will probably be passed over them from the 'B4' to someone like Kyrgios or Zverev (I don't see Thiem or Pouille being more than 2nd tier players).
...How high will Rafa go? Will Roger continue his high level of play when he comes back? Will Novandy resurge? Which of the younger gen(s) will break thrU 1st w/ a big title? I'm certainly excited to find out. Now maybe we ff to Dec. & look back @ another yr in which the 'B4' (or 5) split all of the big titles. I w/b disappointed that we didn't see a breakthru from a young guy, whether the "Young Gun" gen. ('89-93) or the "NextGen" ('94-98ish). But @ least we'll have had the drama of the Fedal revival.
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Boric serving for a routine str. set win vs Andy in Madrid. Thiem favored over Grigor, Kyrgios could upset Rafa - this is turning into a potentially breakthru MS event w/ as many as 3 NextGen players in the QF.***
Mon Dieu; is this the beginning of the end of the Murray train? We all knew he wouldn't be able to duplicate his results from last season, but to go out to a "LL" like that so routinely! Look out; the next GEN m/b here! I really like Thiem, Zverev , Kyrios, & Coric, but they have to get it done more consistently & take these ops to build on what they each have to offer the tour!
***According to an email I just got from Daily Kos, "21,147 Daily Kos readers have chipped in $968,448.54 to beat House Reps since yesterday's Trumpcare vote."***
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going to learn; it's not about $$? Hillary spent a fortune & Trump ran his campaign on a shoestring budget! It's a matter of intelligence & having a message! I guess Reps have always had a message, = if ignorant, misogynistic, or bigoted! Liberals have been losing from coast to coast over-estimating the intellect of the electorate! Voting vs their own best interest is nothing new! = the Mensa members are carrying the water for Trump's populous message! ...!
Trashing NATO, The UN, & NAFTA, but backing down in the end? ...They couldn't be satisfied w/ having it all, they're throwing away their advantage! The HONEYMOON's already over! Now they're stuck w/ Obamacare, PP funding, & no $$ to build his wall!
***...Maybe they prefer "alt-facts."***
Trump got them trained ages ago; "the fake news" this & "the fake news" that! If it's something critical, it isn't credible or the person is a partisan! It's kind of pathetic when some nimrods believe this man who raved about his Inaugural being bigger & more attended when cameras overhead showed 1/2 the crowd! The man might = believe his BS, but what does that say about advisors that put us in jeopardy due to this man being more than a lit'l "bent?"
***President Obama makes Reps feel very guilty it seems-- they hate that.***
Seems like things haven't changed! Reps own it all w/ Trump, both Houses of Congress, & a "right-leaning" SC, but they still can't get ANYTHING DONE! They had to resort to "CR" after promising to defund Obamacare, PP, & other programs! I can't wait for the mid-terms to see how McConnell & Ryan'll explain passing repeals 60+ X's when Obama was Prez, but Trump's yet to see anything to sign besides EO's that are being scrutinized or put on hold by the COURTS! W/ the investigations into Russian tentacles slithering around the West Wing, we m/b able to survive Trump's tenure! He thought the job entailed photo ops, signing his name a few X's, & bloviating like he did on the campaign trail! So far that's all he's done & nothing's getting done! BRAVO REPS! - ...By now I would have thought a strong hand to muzzle Trump & run the WW more judiciously would have occurred! Unfortunately "The Circus" is the approp. name after watching that ShowX program! The final kick in the teeth was it appears women put him in office!
***I dont think anyone has been roasted on social media in a wk. like James Phoney; haha. Everyone wanted him fired.***
True enough, but the timing stinks! You don't fire the guy leading an investigation involving yourself! That's 'common sense 101,' but of course we're talking TRUMP! His interview w/ Lester Holt is going to bury him eventually; admitting to speaking w/ Comey @ dinner about his staying on the job & wondering if he was under investigation! I grew up on Watergate & = Nixon wasn't stupid enough to admit to outright 'obstruction of justice' on camera!
***Caught the end of Bernie Sanders being interviewed about Comey. ...Well, I'm sorry, but if he would have gotten his rabid supporters to vote for Hillary, we wouldn't be in this mess.***
Bernie couldn't be that big a person! He dragged out the primary & wouldn't let it go all the way thru the nom. process! I turn him off & wonder why young people are so enamored by his type of populism, but don't actually vote when it counts allowing a TROLL like Trump to ascend the throne?
...The final kick in the teeth of Trump's win is, it appears women put him in office!
ReplyDelete***I believe it was only white women who helped elect him by a 52% margin. The majority of women of other colors didn't vote for him. I do find that interesting. White women didn't support one of their own kind, unlike the black majority who voted for Obama. White American women, or at least the majority of them, m/b the only group in the world who don't support 1 of their own when push comes to shove. It's probably 1 of the reasons why our jury system doesn't work too well when women are on trial. Women on juries don't give them the benefit of the doubt like they do men.***
I knew it was "WW," but didn't want to make a big deal about it! Women still have problems w/ each other; = in families! Chris Rock says it in 1 of his routines; "women hate women!"
***So y'all are actually beating up "white women" and saying "they" should have voted for HRC simply b/c she's a woman? Uhhh....thats a bit sexist or misogynistic AND bigoted. You're implying "WW" don't have a brain & can't think for themselves about who they choose to vote for...that they're automatically bound by skin color & sex to vote for a "WW." Just another example of how leftist Dems are the least tolerant, most sexist, bigoted hateful people around.
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I'm not claiming that they should have voted for Hillary, but I find it interesting that a majority of "WW" didn't. They broke away from the normal human pattern of voting for those candidates who are your own kind. Noticing that isn't insulting WW. It's merely an observation. ...We certainly saw that pattern when Obama ran & was elected. By far the vast majority of Black people voted for him. If WW had done the same thing Hillary whb elected.***
Which is why I won't ever listen to women complaining about a lack of representation later when they start losing their rights! They've been under siege for yrs w/ only a handful of moderate & liberal Dems out there fighting the good fight for them & this is their reward; stupid 'WW' overwhelmingly voting Rep! IDIOTS!
***Women under siege? What are you talking about? Where are they under siege?***
When old white men try to defund Planned Parenthood, that's being under siege for 1 thing! What do they have to do, club them over the head for you to see how women are undermined & not taken seriously? I personally don't give a damn anymore! Women have had the right to vote, determine their lives as in no other X, but they still limit themselves when they support ignorance like a PARTY trying to take away their rights to an abortion! Do I really need to go on?
***All women were left out of the Senate closed door committee to repeal/replace ACA ObamaCare***
Rep. women don't seem to take them to task over it; = the Senators in house! I still remember a committee hearing yrs ago talking about changes to the ACA; right up front, 7 old white guys speaking on women's health needs! This is why I'm done & if women like being overlooked, embarrassed, & = patronized, it's all on them since their DEMO's the largest!
***An all woman jury exonerated Trayvon Martin's killer George Zimmerman in Fla as well... never met one I could trust for any length of X.***
That horrid AG of FLA was all 'gung ho' to prosecute Zimmerman & got nowhere, but she's the same person that prosecuted that poor woman trying to defend herself from her ex-husband! She just shot into the ceiling to scare him, but she was sent to jail for 20 yrs & kids taken away! I haven't checked out the appeals which have come fast & furious! Again a woman like the plague on another woman for lit'l reason other than "she's their sister!" I guess sisters really hate one another!
***The Rep. Party fought for blacks throughout the history of this country. ...***
ReplyDeleteThere definitely has been a juxtaposition of the 2 parties starting w/ the Civil Rights' legis. passed 50 yrs ago! Those bigoted "blue dog" Dems went over & changed into Reps & systematically altered the philosophy of the party! As you can tell, the South has been solid 'red' for decades! All of them have wound up looking & acting as if they don't give a shit for anyone outside of themselves; so Blacks, Mexicans, women, & 'progressives' have been spat upon more & more as X's gone on! Trump hopefully will taint those assholes for all X w/ their support of that animal! Embarrassed Reps have distanced themselves or gone over to the Dems!
***Some photo ID are not eligible for voting thanks to Rep. voter suppression.***
...Reps haven't accomplished a thing besides stealing a SC seat after all these months! They might as well have shut down the gov't! EO's are being debated & any bluster coming out of Trump & his TOOLS ends up blowing back in their faces!
***Every day, I just hold my breath & wonder what Trump's going to step in today.***
Well get used to oxygen deprivation! If something is being reported, it's going t/b heinous! Now we find he's revealing secrets to Russians in the WH! Why not do his duplicitous acts outside? IDK why people are shocked? Trump was revealed over & over, but the country thought it best to put the wellbeing of the planet in the hands of a self-proclaimed ego-maniac! "...and I thought "W" was the pits!"
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I'm just wondering why people are surprised by the current state of affairs? ...Wishful thinkers keep assuming he'll grow into the job! 'Fraid not; this old fool is regressing back to his childhood! The petulant rants due to his own fumbling of info aren't the actions of a sane person! I see this as only getting worse unfortunately! Impeachment is around the corner & that's when the country will really be in trouble! Pence is no rocket scientist himself!
***I'm surprised only by the breadth & # of issues. I expected bad; I did not expect this bad.***
...I wouldn't hire anyone from that Trump umbrella; all inveterate liars, playing us all for fools, & are being treacherous concerning the Nat'l security of the country! We can only thank the chronic leakers for letting us know how disfuctional the WH has been since day one!
***The GOP estab. is beginning t/b over the WH. McConnell said today, the excess drama from the WH is interfering w/ the Congress' agenda. This is highly unusual for the ruling party to say this early in a POTUS tenure. Of course, maybe the bright side is that the WH drama is keeping Mitch and Co., from gutting the economy for their buddies. As Trump continues to flail about, I suspect we'll hear more dissatisfaction from the GOP party leaders. - He betrayed Israel! Potentially getting Israelis killed? Like most powerful lobby in D.C. Is Israel lobby!***
This is what Trump does to his friends! Sitting quite dower & not wanting to shake the hand of Angela Merkel when she visited, exposing intel from other allies, & LAUDING Putin to this day; still unwilling to agree that Russia created chaos in the last election cycle! It's kind of sad & pathetic for Trump supporters to keep going out there defending the indefensible!
***M/b Sheldon Adelson will exert his heft & make Trump go away.***
It was people like Adelson that wanted Trump so he'd squash indictments & potential suits vs him that the gov't is holding over his head; "accused of bribing foreign officials" abroad where his casinos are pulling in 100's of $M!
***...Sounds very close to traitorous behavior to me.***
ReplyDeleteThey've been going that route for the past 35 yrs; a concerted effort to systematically take over the smallest of offices like President of school boards to President of the USA! Getting there wasn't as important as gaining that power! Common courtesy, decency, & patriotism were jettisoned yrs ago w/ Reps!...People forget Sec. Serv. not only have to guard Trump & the family, there are tech. 3 residences under guard; WH, Mari. GC, & Trump Tower where Malania & Barron still reside! They have to come up w/ all kinds of $$ to make up the diff. from the rel. light effort needed to protect the Obamas!
***I would almost bet that the 1st woman president w/b elected by Reps. X will tell.***
Agreed! It's sad to know that no matter the intelligence or "lack thereof," when it comes to politics & religion, polls don't mean dip! People are emotional, they lie, & keep those dark thoughts hidden until the ultimate test! We failed last NOV.!
***Well, the picture is very clear now. The sole mission & goal of the Dems is nothing < than to try to derail Trump's presidency before it = begins & get him out off office by any & all means.
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And Donald Trump is doing everything he can to help them accomplish that goal. Your whining reminds me of something. Here's a tiny, tiny, tiny sampling of this forum from '09 thru '16. Enjoy the Karma baby.
Impeach Obama?
...
Impeach the Kenyan!
...
We could impeach Obama if we default
I hope the Republicans IMPEACH Obama!
...***
I'm sure they've forgotten all those "slights" towards the 1st Blk Prez! His kids weren't = spared! It was truly shameful & I'm not sure Reps will ever live it down, actually selecting leader of the "birther movement" to succeed him!
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The Dems haven't had to do "anything" to sabotage or undermine the Trump Admin.! We're insulted by them every X they embarrass themselves trying to "pass the buck" on Obama, Hillary & Bill, & of course the evil MSM! Fake news is bringing The WH to their knees! "Breaking News" truly is breaking all day & night long! The leaks have been plentiful where Trump has made no friends undermining everyone w/ insults & arrogant behavior! What newly elected Prez has gone down this fast?
***...The real reason traitorous snowflakes like you hate Trump is the fact that he's getting his agenda accomplished.***
What agenda would that be; to undermine the Presidency for all X, lowering the bar below a sewer?
***If Obama was such a great president, why the country so desperate for change?***
Did you ever consider "we're not too bright?" Clinton left office w/ low unemployment, peace, a DOW going thru the roof, & a sur+ budget w/ a plan to elim. the Nat'l Debt in 10 yrs! We decided we couldn't live w/ that prosperity & went w/ another caveman; "W!" He permitted "911" w/ all kinds of warnings, started 2 wars, gave away that sur+ to the top 1%, crashed the economy, & left us in ruins! Obama brought us back slowly, but surely, & history repeats itself! What else c/b said? We live for CHAOS!
***Did McCain or Romney launch a "resistance" group after losing the election like Hillary is doing?***
MEMORIES are so short! The obstruction, disrespect, & undermining of Obama started before DAY ONE! Cry me a fk'n river!
***TY. People seem to forget that GOP Congressional leaders met as soon as Obama was elected & devised a plan of obstruction that commenced the day the man took office.***
***...If Trump goes, it w/b the evidence that does him in, not you idotic group.***
ReplyDeleteThe victimhood begins here & w/ Trump today, spending all kinds of X talking about his mistreatment by the media @ a commencement address! "No president, & I say this w/ great surity, no POL in history has been treated as unfairly!" The dude has no shame, common sense, or class!
***Maybe not, but he's right. - Putin offered to hand over the transcripts of the Trump-Lavrov meeting. 'Cause they'll surely reflect accurately what they talked about:
- http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/17/politics/russia-us-trump-lavrov-intel/index.html?sr=twCNN051717russia-us-trump-lavrov-intel1145AMStoryLink&linkId=37678423 -
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So now Putin's taking Trump's side in what is essentially an I.A. of the USA. Rather revealing, isn't it?
***Nixon was the last President t/b faced w/ impeachment. - That w/b Bill Clinton actually.***
Reps went thru the motions, but embarrassed themselves while Clinton's status flourished! They paid for their hubris w/ the people seeing the hypocrisy of all of Congress! Other POLS were run out of town including Livingston who had been picked to succeed Gingrich as Speaker when he was booted! These people are JOKES that aren't funny when they con the country into allowing them carte blanche to run things! You see they get lit'l to nothing done due to their dysfunctional thinking!
***Dow sheds 372 pts as Trump fears rattle Wall St.; Nasdaq off 2%. - Wash'ton Tumult Jolts Stocks, Sends $ Lower
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a closely watched measure of its value, is set to erase its post-election gains...
Turbulence in Wash'ton jolted markets out of an extended period of calm Wed.
Stocks, the U.S. $ & gov't bond yields slid as investors pulled back from bets on the swift passage of President Trump’s agenda. Wagers that his policies would boost growth & inflation have been unwinding for months, but those moves accelerated Wed.***
I'm shocked it hadn't happened sooner! What a kick in the teeth; all Trump buddies thought things were under control, but he upset the apple cart w/ his mouth & Tweets! So much for growing into the job! This looks more like a regression than moving towards maturity!
***...Trump declared war on the intelligence community! I'm sure the leaks are them. Trump loved this stuff when Wikileaks was leaking HRC email. Now that he's the target, b/c of what he did, he's all bent out of shape! Ahhh poor baby!***
Trump went into office "making no friends" due to constant caterwauling about "draining the swamp" & not believing the Intel community over Russian interference! That would take away from his big win over what he says was "winnable by the Dems!" True enough, but Dems keep making the mistake of giving too much credit for smarts in the electorate! Reps learned a while back to never "UNDERESTIMATE" the stupidity of the average voter, conning them into total power in Wash'ton! "Now what are you guys going to do w/ it?" We've seen this before; success w/ Clinton, failure w/ "W!" We rebound w/ Obama & it's just not good enough so we go with an outsider who's clueless!
***My ?? is are the Dems so vengeful that they would deliberately do things to tank the country's economy to hurt the Rep. admin. Could they really be that petty? - Not Dems, but Reps would, and did under President Obama for 8 long yrs. Sabotaged his every move---***
As I said yesterday, Rep. memories are short to "shutting down the gov't," threatening our credit rating when they didn't raise the "debt ceiling" in a Xly fashion, & obstructed absolutely everything to get their way! They have a lot of nerve using that word when they vowed to "make Obama a 1 term President!" McConnell & others said that to the detriment of the country! They're slime & we deserve anything that happens w/ Trump @ the HELM!
Chris Wallace on "FN SUNDAY" mused about McConnell suggesting to Trump; appoint Merritt Garland to the post of FBI Dir.! You can tell the Majority Leader knows he's going to burn in HELL for the stuff he's pulled & his conscience, what lit'l there is is feeling quite guilty & repentant! ...Reps are leaving quite a legacy; FREE THE SLAVES, then try to undermine blacks & other minorities later! Let's be for women's rights initially, but slowly try to take back that power! ...They seem to like Trump = though he's gotten nothing done! Is this the kind of admin. t/b proud of people?
ReplyDelete***Comey's firing bit Trump in the rump.***
It's all on Trump; each self-inflicted wound! The whole thing started spinning out of control when this fool accused Obama of tapping Trump Tower! It's been a 3-Ring Circus ever since! If he had just STFU, people might have assumed he's getting his act together, some things might have gotten done, & easily pass bills to fuel employment like funding for infrastructure! They didn't want to do that; going big & trying to dismantle Obamacare not realizing it couldn't be done overnight! ...They need to look in the mirror & quit pointing fingers @ the MSM, Dems, Obama, or Hillary; it's all on them!
***...Why does Comey have the memo in the 1st place? It's gov't property.***
Who said he had them? It's part of the paper trail he left behind "just in case" Trump fk'd up! Obama did the same & it's what's fueling all these leaks! Trump doesn't make any friends w/ his bullying tactics & so no one's going to go easily if "thrown under the bus!"
***The gov't hasn't shut down under Trump...yet.***
Give them X! The Debt Ceiling issue comes up again @ the end of Sept.! The Tea-Baggers are already set to 'shut it down' to get what they've demanded for so long! Unfortunately it'll fail again = holding all 3 branches of gov't! It's kind of sad & pathetic t/b this impotent w/ their so called bi-coastal mandate! They haven't gotten anything done since the election!
***It's rather obvious: by naming an indep. investigator, Trump w/b able to claim there's no need for the FBI to investigate the case. FBI w/b asked to hand over all their material to Mueller, who'll then destroy all evidence and pronounce Trump as clean as a whistle.***
Trump using words like "witchhunt" totally forgetting the ones he led during the Obama yrs (Birthers, Benghazi)! He's so F.O.S. & deserving of all that's happening to him & us! These are self-inflicted wounds; usually started thru his incessant Tweeting @ odd hrs! No one told him to accuse Obama of bugging Trump Tower during the campaign or hiring Flynn who admitted to being investigated due to influence peddling w/ Turkey! ...If something like this occurred during the Clinton or Obama admin., the hair of Reps w/b on fire! Their response has been quite underwhelming considering their history vs everything Russian! WTF is wrong w/ these people & the supporters of all this chaos?
***...they ignore facts they don't like, and babble on, & on, & on... endlessly. Defending the indefensible---***
It's why I can't listen to these defenders on TV for too long! They look absolutely sick trying to make excuses or deflect invoking Hillary and Obama when the subject at hand is TRUMP! ...The smartest show they aren't immune to the insanity and misrepresentation of intel; now called alternative facts by Kellyanne Conway! She's the queen of getting in her TP's, criticizing the MSM, & coming up w/ those alt-facts!
***Bottom line is -- the fact that Trump is in way-way-way over his head.
ReplyDelete---
Probably true, but he's still doing better than the last 2 decades. No wars, invasions, or regime changes yet. ...Moving health care back to the states does make sense.***
Only a cons. could possibly be in favor of our present situation! ...It's the states that are causing the lack of comp. when it comes to ins.! They're the one's forbidding crossing state lines to get some kind of deal for their insurance so STOP BLAMING OBAMACARE!
***ACA ObamaCare was on the table before it was made law, conceived to help 33,000,000 uninsured citizens-- @ the X the Rep. health care ins. plan would appeal to assisting just 3,000,000.
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I heard Trump has a private server in his basement.***
I wouldn't doubt it! Reps are the biggest hypocrites in the freakin' world! Anything they're accusing someone of s/b instantly thought to reflect them! Wasn't it Flynn that was saying Hillary s/b "locked up?" Now lets see who goes to prison!
***...Really if you are saying that other countries can choose our President, then we have many elections to ?? right?***
I'm not ??ing this election! For it to = be close showed we deserve anything that occurs w/ Trump @ the helm! It wasn't like the man tried to hide he was a troglodyte! Like "W" he doesn't study so he's ill prepared to handle anything! I stopped caring last Nov.! I'm old & finally gave up on people who thought it w/b a good idea to put this guy in charge of world affairs! It's only been 4 months & we're sidling up to a Constitutional crisis; totally expected really, but shocked it's occurring so fast!
***I'm surprised as well, but it seems liberals act faster than most expected. As for a "Constitutional Crisis;" I have no clue what you mean w/ that statement.***
I would hope by now you've caught up w/ news where Trump has just about sunk himself; typically w/ his own mouth! More leaks tell all! It's called obstruction of justice; leading to impeachment! That's what's meant by a Const. Crisis! Firing Comey under condition of him being a target of an investigation couldn't be topped! Reps will need to go to their VP prematurely for the 2nd X in my lifeX due to "high crimes & misdemeanor;" just never thought it w/b w/i months instead of yrs!
***...America's Betrayal by the Dem. Party...***
I wonder when will Reps start to take responsibility for leading instead of "playing the victim?" Being obstructionist has been their only successful tactic & now that they have ALL THE POWER, they don't have a clue what to do w/ it! HOW do you pass an ACA repeal over 60 X's over the yrs, & when in total charge, can't = get a bad bill to the desk of the Rep President you guys have been begging for? YOU HAVE IT ALL, why not try to actually lead than kvetch, bitch, & moan about the MSM, Obama, Hillary, & Bill? The Dems don't = have the #'s to stop Reps from DOING ANYTHING since they've already started using the "nuclear option!" "Welcome to leadership clowns!"
***Problem is Reps in these yrs are indefensible-- in each & every action. - ..My grandma & a few other people I know have FNC on all day & it's had a disastrous effect on them. = as Canadians, they're so incredibly fearful. It's bizarre in many ways, & scary as a bystander to see how brainwashed (for lack of a >er term) they have become.***
I surf by just to keep an eye on them & t/b able to speak intelligently on how insane Trump's apologists c/b!
***W/ Pence as VP, the last thing anyone should want is to impeach Trump.***
IIRC, the next 3 choices suck; Pence, Ryan, then Sen. Orrin Hatch! You don't want any of the cabinet either as "The Lone Survivor!"
***Naturally, someone mentions Tonya Harding.***
ReplyDeleteIf not for Tonya drama, I wouldn't have gotten back into figure skating in '94! The 80's were nauseating to me! It was all about Witt for the ladies, then Brian B.'a & Scott Ham.. for the men; am. & pro ranks! Hamilton could leave blood on the ice & the judges would still give him perfect 10 scores! ...The 90's were the best & Tonya should get a lot of credit bringing back the popularity & $$ for the sport which was near DEAD! Got to see prime of Bonaly & saw ascension of ATG's like Kwan, Slutskaya, Plushenko, & Yagudin! It fell off for a while, but I've been very impressed w/ the new gen. of Hanyu, Uno, & Chen!
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What's Your Fave Performance or Program Ever? I keep watching Hanyu's LP of this past season where he finally skated it perfectly @ World FS Chps.! I'm gonna have to put it right up there as #1 "all X" IMB b/c of the quality of skating, the music, & gen. emotion gen. by the performance! Yagudin was no fave of mines w/ his behavior towards Plushenko & his subsequent split from Mishon, his '02 Olympic programs were by far the best @ the X; SP "Winter" & LP "Man In The Iron Mask!" I also give an hon. mention to his '01 Worlds SP of Chopin's, "Revolution Etude!" Loved Irina Slutskaya's SP, "Serenade!"
***When I saw Hanyu's performance on YouTube, I was so surprised b/c the audience reaction seems mild on the video compared to what it was like in the arena. I mean my dad was there w/ me & the poor guy had his fingers in his ears 20 secs into the program b/c it was absolutely deafening. (I personally don't "get" Hanyu so I didn't "feel" the feeling, but for his fans it mhb an absolute delight, like a dream come true.***
Hanyu had 1 of the best performances I've ever seen in Helsinki w/ him taking off & landing on the ice w/ so much precision! It was very impressive; esp. giving us 5 Quads! Wasn't it just a few yrs ago when Tim Goebel set all kinds of records w/ 3? Now they're routinely doing Quad Lutz & Loops! Amazing! It seemed like we were going in the opp. direction for a while, putting more in the character & theme of a performance! Nowadays, these skaters truly have it all when we had only smatterings of genius in Yagudin, Plushenko, Lysacek, & Lambiel! The men's ranks have been slim to thin for a while! This is about as comp. as I can remember = w/ the likes of Stojko, Eldridge, Urmanov, Kulik, & Browning around @ the same X!
***I was never a fan of Kwan's skating, but ...That said, why would anyone want to hash out their divorce in public?***
I knew whenever it happened, her marriage wouldn't hold up no matter who it was! I can see her as a real control freak seeing as she's called the shots since she as 12! I was never a fan of her persona or skating & thought she hindered the progress of the next gen. by overstaying her welcome! Irina Slutskaya had legitimately supplanted her in the world IMO & we had Sasha, Naomi, & so many other good skaters that had t/b intimidated, demurred to her legend! Kwan was the type of skater who was over-marked too many X's to count! Near the end, the love turned & Irina started getting the marks! At the GPF 1 yr, I'm pretty sure Irina only completed 3 triples & MK had @ least 5! Loved seeing the shoulder shrugs of the American contingent while commiserating w/ Kwan! How many X's did others have to do the same when Michelle skated away w/ a medal undeserved?
***Watching Djokovic's level of play in '17 reminded me of Nadal's level of play in '15. In both cases, both players just can't seem to find consistencies on their game. One moment they are playing well & in a split sec., they start playing erratic. The ?? for Djokovic is the same ?? Nadal was asked in '15-16, 'will he able to find consistency again?' I would lean to say yes b/c all great players find a way to play @ high level after a moment of decline. However, the difference btw Djokovic & Nadal is that Nadal kept his whole team & always believed that he would play spectacular tennis once again. As for Djokovic, he fired all the members of his team AND he is a father of 2 kids right now. So it w/b hard for him to find his desire t/b great again. It w/b interesting to see on how he handle this decline both emotionally & physically.***
ReplyDeleteThat's why few great players have families! It's such a distraction! For women it's more a problem since they're the one's giving birth! Their bodies change so much; Goolagong was as brittle as kindling after her daughter was born! Her comebacks were always short-lived = though her play was fine! Clijster & Court the only ones to really have families & still "bring it" OTTH! I wouldn't blame Nole if he dropped off the face of the map! As far as I'm concerned he's done more > enough t/b thought of as 1 of the ATG's w/ his name all over the recordbks!
***Rafa has a chance to take over #1 when Wimbledon pts come off - IF he wins Rome & RG AND Andy doesn't do well for the rest of clay season. = if Andy holds onto #1 going into Wimby, Rafa can take it by going deep as he has no pts to defend & Andy has 2K.
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If it means Nadal wins a major or 2, I have a feeling there's a void @ the top now. Novak is showing natural signs of decline & Andy's struggling to cope w/ being #1. My big worry for Rafa is that he overdoes it, as he often does. I hope he finishes the clay season as strongly as he's begun it & gets some rest after Wimbo. It seems like Nadal becoming the #2 ranked player in the world is closer than we thought. If he wins tmrw, takes Rome AND @ least reach the RG final, then he surpasses Djokovic in the rankings.
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...Thiem figured out the only way to beat Rafa on clay is to attack relentlessly & live w/ the errors that result from that. You cannot play on Rafa's terms on clay. Today, it worked out; won't always, but still the only way.***
Nothing new really! It's how Fabio does it does it to Rafa! That how Thiem beat Nadal; lots of flash, flourish, & frustration for Nadal to deal w/! Nice wins by Next Gen overall in Rome!
***I don't think it's a secret that that's a good tactic, but I wouldn't act so ho-hum about it. Do you know how many winners folks like Fognini, Pouille & Thiem had to produce to pull it off? As if anyone can do it any X they decide to, eh?***
Never said it was easy, but it's the only real way to give yourself a chance un< a member of the Big 4 who can play Rafa toe to toe!
***Like Wimbledon, Queens has the prestige of history as evidenced by the fact that many more Wimbl. champs have also played & won there 1st.***
I give homage to their stick-to-it-ness; hiring the best to make sure courts of high quality! It hasn't always been well attended or competed; some exiting early after getting practice on the courts! It wasn't unusual to see some "no name" like Boris Becker in '85 win it! I can still hear BJK saying "he has a real chance of winning Wimbl.!" I never cared for his act & expected him t/b upset w/ all that pressure, but he withstood it all; including a battle w/ Anders Jarryd in the SF! Curren had had a relatively easy X of it w/ McEnroe & Connors in route to the final! I was so hoping to keep the Swedish mystique going since Borg had retired, Wilander would never make a SF, & Edberg hadn't come of age yet! Memories!
***Trump doesn't have the experience of, say, someone who's been in Congress for decades, has served on related committees...& knows all these laws & rules. He makes comments that I don't think he's aware of as being unlawful. He's not blameless for this mess. Just the fact that he keeps on Tweeting shows that. ...and see Trump's mistakes as just him being open & genuine.***
ReplyDeleteHey, I would be ready to give Trump the benefit of the doubt except for the hypocrisy of the "right!" Obama was made to feel illegitimate from day 1; was fought "tooth & nail" over the most mundane of economic & budget housekeeping! How can we forget shutting down the gov't for amusement right when our credit rating was being threatened? Spare me the victimhood! If Reps would give Hillary = a moment of peace w/o making her out t/b "evil incarnate" when they should be looking @ WHAT they're supporting who actually is in power, I'll give him a brk! Hillary thru all her troubles isn't the president no matter how much blame people want to put on her for Trump's incompetence!
***The ultra-Leftists now control the Dem Party & those types of Dems have one goal - to divide everybody into identity groups & make them hate anyone not in their group. The most disgusting thing is this "Resist!" movement. Most here have lived a good # of yrs & we've never seen this before. The last "Resistance" I've heard of was the French Resistance vs the Nazi's. Apparently, to the far-Left, Trump is just as bad as Hitler. Unreal.***
What does any of this have to do w/ how feckless Reps have been who are in compete control of all 3 branches of the gov't? I would think the agenda proposed by the most "ultra right wing" would sail thru Congress & get signed w/i days! What happened; you c/b accusing the Dems of stymieing this honeymoon period when a new president usually gets everything they want? The Dems can't = filibuster anything; nothing's on the legislative block! I just don't understand how any of this is the fault of Obama, Hillary, Bill, or any other Dem!
***...Did you take out part of Trump's post to remove the substance on purpose, thus displaying gross dishonesty?***
The only thing dishonest are the defenders of Trump trying to distract, distort, & destroy anyone that has the nerve to contradict him! The man has been busted LYING on more occasions than c/b counted; literally! Who can believe ANYTHING HE SAYS? This morning on "This Week" w/ George S., the guy speaking up for Trump decided to go the direction of trying to undermine Comey by asking why didn't the guy just tell Trump "this interaction is inapprop. & he should speak to his WH Counsel? Instead he goes back to his office to take notes documenting it & making files! It was obvious The President couldn't trust Comey & it was justified to fire him!" My head started to spin; it's like something's wrong w/ people who think acting like this is acceptable! Trump fires the person investigating him & this fool on TV would rather focus on the process of how we got to this pt; the leaks! I see a lot of entertainment watching you guys trying to stay 1 step ahead of the media as Trump is exposed; not like we didn't already know he was an empty suit! We all knew it, but decided "let's try something diff.!" Well you got it in spades! I didn't think I'd have to go thru another "Watergate" in my lifeX! It was headline news w/ little else but network news! W/ social media, Trump's incessant Tweets fueling the fires, coverage w/b "over the top from now until Pence is sworn in as President!" This is so huge; you just don't know!
***Who killed Seth Rich?***
ReplyDeleteTotal BS! The Family of this kid are PO'd & wishes FNC & cons. media would stop trying to politicize his death! Reps are so class<; nothing's sacrosanct w/ these animals! Everything's fair game; a family member, a kid, or someone dead! "Just keep slithering the sewer! Sooner or later people will smarten up & smell the shit!
***1) DNC operative get murdered in very suspicious circumstances
2) Wikileaks gets hold of DNC emails that hurt the party in a big election
3) Wikileaks puts up reward $$ for info regarding murdered guy
This is a big story & something worth getting to the bottom of for the sake of democracy period. This is not made up nonsense like Pizza-gate. This is something worth seriously investigating. It's not like fake news @ all.***
Yeah, Iran, Iraq, Russia, & N. Korea needs t/b put on hold while we go over Hillary's email server & this poor guy's death! Just SLIMEY!
***It's funny that some of the same people who like to talk about Putin murdering his political opps, do not want this t/b investigated. Again, it shouldn't be a partisan issue. Any DNC or RNC operative that gets murdered in a suspicious manner should warrant a very serious investigation. There's no telling who's involved in this. I don't think it's nec. somebody tied to Dem. Party politics.
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The Critically Important thing we elected Trump to achieve is to shrink our budget & taxes back w/i our Constitution, w/o exception. If Trump wants a 2nd term, he must shrink our gov't, RADICALLY!***
Unfortunately the only gov't Trump's shrunk so far is "The West Wing" which is why this 3-ring circus rears it's ugly head every day! Breaking News means lit'l to nothing b/c it really never stops! Trump's a malaprop from the old school; always putting his foot in his mouth, making the country look bad to the whole freakin' world! Obama had brought back some kind of respectability & status after "W" about annihilated it! Libs are gonna start sounding like cons when they were kvetchin' about Obama 24/7! The big diff. is that they were making up shit from the "birther movement" to undermining our own economy; talking it down = though all the #'s have steadily gone in our favor in comparison to the rest of the world!
***Hitting both the hard working Americans maintaining Fed jobs as a career messing up their retirement-- @ the same X going after the < fortunate cutting away @ the safety net in place to help keep them alive, complaining they need to work, & earn a living--- cutthroat Reps strike again.
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I don't think it's a stretch to say when an employer is headed down Unethical Road & you politely decline to go, it's a good X to take notes & keep a copy in the safe deposit box @ the bank. - ...Comey can't take home or stash confidential/secret documents, esp. now that he has no security clearance.
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Any evidence that Comey did take home any confidential documents? Oh wait- you just pulled that out of your ass.***
That's their "MO" when put on the spot; distract, confuse, conflate, undermine, & of course try to destroy the aforementioned "spot!" Trump calls Comey a nut job in his Russian WH meeting; the disrespect had already begun! Those tactics can't work indefinitely so get ready for some serious news & hearings to make Trump w/o a doubt the most corrupt in memory! Nixon w/b able to rest easier in his grave now that Trump has taken the position into the sewer!
***...You are telling lies about Hillary. WHY?***
ReplyDelete...To call the Clintons liars is like Nixon calling someone corrupt!
***DEPLORABLES. Couldn't care < that their prez committed obstr. of justice, but instead want to go after Comey.***
Comey? They're still going after Hillary! Lindsey Graham invoked her name talking about going back & investigating it all! The woman isn't in power, but they just can't help deflecting by going after her! ...That's how much Reps HATE these people; they want them dead! Nothing short of their last breaths will make "The Right Wing" happy!
***...The only way a jury could convict Comey is if some one thought Trump had done something. I don't see how a memo, no matter how it was worded would matter if there was no attempt to obstruct justice.***
When it comes to Reps, a crime doesn't have t/b committed! I'm still wondering what was the big deal w/ Benghazi? It was a horrible tragedy, but after all this X, investigations, hearings, & "talking points," I'm still asking "where's the crime Hillary committed or problem w/ Susan Rice interviews that Sunday?"
***I think we have to move beyond knee-jerk reaction to political labels including what party people belong to. I think Lieberman s/b seriously considered along w/ McCabe.***
But the polarization of today's politics has attached a lot to those labels and it can't be ignored! These POLS can't have lunch or a drink & be sociable due to the inherent campaigns trying to show differences! It's gotten ugly, but a lot uglier w/ Reps! ...Today, I think some of these FOOLS will take a bullet for Trump to save the party; the country be damned! All I know is if Bill was in office & Chelsea was running foreign policy, Reps' heads w/b spinning off their shoulders! The hypocrisy's palpable; esp. since the Clintons' name is still being invoked daily & neither have been in office in yrs! ...The Clintons are the most powerful & famous, some would say infamous couple in history! Trump still talks about prosecuting both for diff. reasons! The WHOLE PARTY's truly disturbed IMO & no other reason can come up w/ the reason they act like this so many yrs removed of '98!
***#1 method of self preservation? Impeachment & removal of Trump!***
I just assume he remains a placeholder getting lit'l to nothing done! Not sure I want Pence in that chair; might be more dangerous since he does have an cons. agenda! Ryan's the worst kind of pencil-neck Rep; all talk & w/ his sparkling reputation still has nothing on the books to crow about! Looks good in a speedo I guess; seems to care more about working out! We have no one else to blame, but it's coming to light Obama & all concerned saw the Russia connection w/ Trump! They just didn't want to look like they were putting their fingers on the scale w/ the election so close! Idiots that they are, it was thought we were smart enough to keep The Romanovs out of the WH!
***...You know not one item in Rep. platform has been signed into law yet; not one. So Reps only have one option to help them & that's impeach, then remove Trump very soon! Pence means < Trump < investigations.***
Nole's problem has been his inability to do what he was considered the best @; converting BP's! It's been ugly of late w/ opp. after opp. being lost & it's costing him by having a tougher match or earlier Rd loss! This wasn't happening w/ him in the past setting records besting the top 10, seasonal Masters vics, & an aura that used to give him 2 games just stepping on court! If Nole doesn't get to the final of Paris, he's going to drop 2 notches on the ranking!
ReplyDelete***Paul Annacone has a theory that backs you up, Fiero. He says that it's not so much that he's losing a lot more pts, but where he's losing them. And BP conversion is a big 1. Rome was worse though. He gave away early breaks in each set & never = had a BP on Zverev's serve the whole match. The player who looked like the calm veteran in that match was the kid & the one who looked nervy & vulnerable throughout was the one who has 30 MS titles. That's not being tired from Sat., but something more worrisome. But hat's off to Sasha for being a cool customer too. That could have gone 3, anyway, just on maiden MS final nerves on his part.
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Nadal, the natural right-hander who learnt to play left-handed, beat the grass GOAT in Wimbledon @ age 22 (after having beaten him on HC @ age 17), & also beat who many call the HC GOAT @ the USO twice, won the CGS @ an earlier age than any other player of his gen., & despite "not being very good on HC" won the American Summer HC Swing (which neither of the more talented, better HC players could do). Yes, so untalented.***
It's ugly tennis @ X's w/ Nadovic, but w/o a doubt both are talented in their own way! It isn't just hitting the cover off the ball w/ these guys & heaven knows they're not charging the net @ every op! So for them both to complete the CGS, close to doubling it, talent has t/b there! Nadal only being held back by not holding onto #1 for a respectable length of X & no YEC wins! Masters 1000 wins help make up some of those deficiencies!
***Nadal has played the YEC Final, but didn't win it. The same can almost be said of Fed regarding the FO, really. If not for Soderling in '09. Now, if Fed were missing the FO, wouldn't that hurt his resume infinitely more than Nadal missing the YEC? Surely Nadal having a Summer HC Swing & a Singles Olympic Gold on fast HC makes up for some of that, no?***
Of course it does; though all of the Big 3 have holes in their resumes which holds them back in some way! W/ Roger, he's down in the H2H vs the other 2; literally owned by Nadal on all surfaces! He's still the GOAT w/ the most majors @ 18! Nadal's biggest deficiency is the balance of work; most of his achievements paved on CLAY! He's been the least consistent of Fedalovic, breaking down periodically & dropping off the tour for extended periods; hence the inconsistent results! He's had great isolated yrs, but his only real chance of winning b2b was thwarted by Nole in '11 taking over their rivalry! Nole was the sole reason Rafa's not the official GOAT, stopping him in 3 str. majors alone after Rafa's '10; '11 Wimbledon & USO, & of course the unforgettable '12 AO contest running 5:53! Nole had his chance to overtake Nadal @ least, but has had troubles w/ semi-great "also-rans;" Wawrinka & Murray! Each has been a thorn in his side when it really counted! Djokovic will probably wind up being the perennial #3 of the group, but a very solid #3 = w/ Sampras' ghost still haunting the recordbks! Fedalovic'll have all the records after all's said & done and'll probably finish as they are right now; Fed #1, Rafa #2, & Nole #3, followed by Sampras, Laver, Borg, Lendl, Agassi, Connors, & McEnroe OTTH!
***Very well put, thank you. It almost looks as if this is something the summa-bitches from the ATP have written as a script after reading too many Stan Lee comics.***
...I've been looking forward to this for yrs; a breakthru by the "Next Gen!" I'm not going to proclaim "they're here" w/ the current success of Thiem as well, but it's definitely looking >er! Sasha & Thiem have been very consistent in their overall rec. = though individual matches c/b as diff. as night & day! ...You focus on upset of Nadal the day before, but Thiem needs to back it up! Let's see what Sasha does @ the FO! I don't expect him to win, but he >er not go out early to some nobody!
ReplyDelete***...who's the highest ranked player w/ the least talent?***
In the old days, talent had lit'l to do w/ tennis in the pros! It was all about serving & volleying ...off the court! ...This guy Fleming was all serve & "when on" his game actually beat McEnroe! He still got to #10 in the world IIRC! Living in Chgo, we had an ATP event way back when! I attended the summer of '75 & was presented w/ a 'S & V-fest' from Tanner & Alexander of Aust.! Like Isner, it was all about the TB & Roscoe took it 7-6. 6-7, 7-6! Roscoe got up to #4, but IMO the highest ranked & least talented hacks were from the US & got t/b #1; Connors & Roddick! I just can't see talent; all about power w/ these guys! Jimmy had to do it w/ his groundies since his serve only won him a Chp. in '82 vs McEnroe @ Wimbl.! W/ Andy, it was all about the serve & FH; mind< aggression @ its best I guess! I couldn't stand the games of either & both held the #1 ranking; Roddick for about 5 min. & Connors for rec. yrs til Sampras & Fed!
***...Next best was Lennart Bergelin who coached Borg to 11 Slams.***
A true blast from the past! Borg called him Dr. "Black & Blue!" LB supposedly had very strong hands & if you had a bad shoulder or elbow, he would massage it until it "burned," but the next day the pain was gone! The only combo more successful I can think of OTTH was Navratilova w/ Mike Estep! Only together 4 yrs ('83-86), but she had a run for the ages taking 10 of the 15 majors played (6 in a row), count< indoor tour events, 5 YEC's including twice in '86 due to change from March to Nov!
***Bergelin was as icy in the stands as Bjorn was while playing. Great coach! Had Borg not packed it up @ 26, they could have won @ least 2 more FO's together. Had Borg played the '82 FO, he would have beaten 17-yo Wilander easily. - I think that WTF SF & Finals s/b BO5, = for women however.***
BO5 was used as an experiment to keep Navratilova on the court > than an hr back in '84 @ the VS Chps! She was toying w/ Evert around that X = on clay! Martina got bored & blitz Chris 6-1 in the 3rd, winning the 1st BO5 for women in 100 yrs! After that, w/ the likes of Graf, Hingis, Sabatini, & Seles, their contests were wars that went on for 4 hrs or more! I couldn't watch a 15 y.o. Hingis limping vs Graf in the 4th & 5th set in '96; likewise w/ Seles over Sabatini in '90 going the distance setting a rec. length of play for women! 3 hrs is long enough to watch women's tennis; thanks!
***It tends t/b the case in women's tennis more often than mens to me that the early Rds of Slams consist of too many beat downs for me to think turning them into best of 5 is a good idea. I'd like to see 1000's back to BO5 finals; seems unlikely....I'd guess players would rather play more tourneys than have their chances of a long season potentially hampered by those long finals.
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...for the finals only i wouldn't mind, but the rest of the Rds in Masters events need to stay BO3.***
...At the USO, the most schizophrenic of the Majors went to BO3 in early Rds when Har-Tru clay laid down in '75 @ FH's! I seem to remember they = experimented w/ BO3 in the early Rds when it went to the HC in '78 @ Flushing! It's a wonder we have much stature after all that's occurred in NY, including a couple shootings & shady seedings/draw pulls!
***Other than Wimbl., all the Slams have experimented w/ BO3 in early Rds...- AO didn't have a 128 man field til '88 - some players got byes in 1st Rd
ReplyDelete- they had more part BO3, part BO5 than anywhere else
- they experimented w/ having just 2 seeds some yrs
- schizophrenia personified is the '82 edition
...1st 2 Rds were BO5, next 2 Rds were BO3, & then the last 3 Rds were BO5 again.***
Maybe, but this is the USO! That's supposed to mean something & I've actually been embarrassed by how this tournament has come off! The crappy weather, the air planes disrupting play for yrs, & scandals w/ draws! I def. remember when draws weren't quite "128" so the seeds got byes, but it wasn't b/c there weren't enough players! Upsets just didn't happen; = on grass, so it just wasn't worth taking the X to play early Rds for top players! ...For all the X spent complaining about the "Big 4" & how they've owned this era, past gens had moments of predictability; just didn't go on for 10+ yrs like now!
***...All 3 AO finals were very hard to take, can't say what is the worst.***
Nadal had no business = in the running for winning that match in '12 vs Nole! It was the same situation vs Roger in major finals! Djokovic c/b serving for the match; someX's up 2 brks! I can = call when he brks to get into that position, but he finds a way to allow himself to get into battles that probably shb OVER 2 hrs before! All players have a tourney that's their bugaboo! W/ Borg it was The USO, Lendl fell short @ Wimbledon, & Nole couldn't get any more unlucky in Paris until he finally won it last season; BUT AT WHAT COST? He hasn't been the same since; some would say the spiral had already begun! If he can squeak out this FO, his whole season w/b saved IMO!
***I actually believe Djokovic will win RG.***
I actually hope Nole can claim 1 more FO so he can own 2 CGS's & set himself apart w/ his Nole-Slam ('15 Wimbl.-'16 FO), but it wouldn't bother me to have someone of the "Next Gen" take it! I'd love for either Thiem or A. Zverev to win next month in RG!
***...Novak re-found his tennis for 2 days in the QF/SF. Struggling to get your groove back when it's gone so far walkabout is not a surprise. It didn't help him to have a weird schedule, but he certainly didn't play more tennis than he was used to in those 3 days in Rome.***
It happens to all players! I remember when it started happening to Connors after '84! He had gone maybe 3 yrs w/o a tourney win & got to Orlando final in '87 vs a SA, Christo van Rensburg, ranked #88! Everyone thought; no prob! Jimmy's got this! NOPE! Lost it in 3 to the kid; not close dropping the 3rd set 1-6!
Everyone's heard of Sampras' inexplicable fall from grace! He's winning a Wimbledon in 2000 over a good grass court player; Rafter, who upset Agassi in the SF! The loss to Safin @ the USO wasn't causing red flags yet, but lit'l did we know that he would toil on the tour for 2 more yrs trying to win another title; not just a major of any type! It got so bad, he actually lost a 2nd Rd match @ '02 Wimbl. to some Swiss player I'd never heard of then or since; George Bastl! WHO?
All the "Big 4" have gone thru droughts, taken over #1 for a while, then given way to another member! Nothing's been more shocking than Federer's 4th act this season! I thought he was "done" after winning '12 Wimbl.; = w/ the other major finals! I just thought he'd allow Nole, Rafa, or Murray the win, but here we are w/ Grandpa Fed +ing to his legacy! Who'd of THUNK IT?"
Nole's been in a rut, where I haven't been able to update anything on his BLOG other than noting the latest loss! I expected to increase his stats on the page dealing w/ Masters & Majors; nothing since Canada believe it or not! Qatar not on the radar; = though a nice win over Murray!
***Prioritizing funding away from Planned Parenthood to comprehensive health care alternatives is a winning issue.
ReplyDelete---
There are few things more expensive & damaging to the economy than people having children before they are ready. Basically you are trying to keep a group of people impoverished needlessly. It doesn't matter if you spend the $$ on something else worthwhile.***
That's too logical for cons! "Cause & Effect" are lost on them, barely able to see 10 mins into the future; look at TRUMP! The logical thing to do w/b to fix Obamacare, but in their twisted minds, it w/b better to undermine, sabotage, & wait for it to fail! I finally learned it's a waste of X = trying to reason w/ people who truly believe "compromise" is a dirty word! I can't ever be surprised how vile "the rightwing" argument about things have turned; I'm nauseated & have withdrawn! It's a helpless feeling seeing us being run over by a minority of voters who are terribly unsympathetic to others until tragedy hits them! All of a sudden they're wondering what c/b done for them! The hypocrisy's mind-numbing!
***Jared Kushner Reportedly Draws Interest Of FBI In Russia Investigation - Kushner has come under scrutiny b/c of contacts w/ Russian officials.
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Kushner has not been accused of wrongdoing, both outlets noted - ...Hey, being under FBI investigation is just a daily occurrence in this WH.***
Just another example of Trump deflecting his own life when he promised Hillary w/b under perpetual investigation! When hasn't Donald or someone close to him been "a person of interest?"
***Trump's bully tactics don't seem to be serving him very well in gov't. Although Reps control the SC, Congress, & WH, I expect that American patriotism will give us an outcome in the Trump-Russia crises that most of us w/b reasonably satisfied w/. However, there's one humongous wrong that can't be corrected - how Hillary Clinton was unfairly robbed of the presidency. Comey must burn in Hell for how he messed that up. Reportedly, Comey opened his investigation into her emails based on a fake Russian document. Then, as X passed by, & he became more convinced he was duped (as others around him warned), he muddied the waters w/ all his subjective comments about Hillary being care< & sloppy w/ how she handled supposedly classified documents. But nothing rose to the level of a crime that no prosecutor would pursue according to him. He never admitted that his entire investigation was based on a fake Russian document - & he bypassed AG Lynch right before the election to publicly state he was ending his investigation. He felt compelled to do this to keep Lynch from divulging that he was duped by a fake document - which we wouldn't know about except for the excellent reporting by The NY Times & The Wash'ton Post - & other media pros. Whether 1 loves or hates Hillary - one cannot deny how unfairly she was robbed.***
Never heard of Alt-facts? The Trump Admin. swirls in it & has survived living in an alternate reality!
***Well, Obama is currently ranked 15th out of 45 U.S. Presidents.***
As much as Reps tried to delegit. the man as President, Obama wound up having a pretty successful tenure, = w/ all the obstruction & back biting by the pathetic "rightwing!" He accomplished what others weren't able to do for 100 yrs; Nat'l Health! That's right up there w/ Soc. Sec., Medicare, Medicaid, & Civil Rights legis.! It's a place holder McConnell & the rest of those snakes can't seem to elim. = though they've been trying for 8 yrs! They've shown it's easier to say "NO" than to actually lead & "produce" something! We're still waiting for 1 significant piece of legis. t/b passed! NOTHING really so far; Trump's only been able assassinate Obama EO's w/ his own!
***Trump getting closer & closer to a long stretch @ this rate - Exactly! 92 more months in office.
ReplyDelete---
Ha! He won't make it past Xmas. - Care to bet your signature for a yr on that?***
I've finally learned my lesson! Reps have figured out "never underest. the gullibility of the electorate!" They've been cleaning up & no matter how slimy things can get, they persevere & go on! Lawsuits galore against Trump; no problem! Doesn't share his health or tax records; no problem! Admits to assaulting women saying 'as a celebrity you can get away w/ anything;' no problem, family affair in the admin. WH; no problem, his trips have already cost the country > Obama's 8 yrs; no prob! I could go on, but Trump sycophants wouldn't hold it against him = those molestation cases! They've proved it's more important to have him "represent" than to actually accomplish something! He's one of them! I've lived thru a lot; this is a new low!
***...Yes, but how long have we had these other programs in effect like Soc. Sec.? Obamacare's DOA a mere 3-5 yrs after becoming effective. It's unaffordable, unsustainable, and was based on a set of deliberate lies. It w/b very hard to replace, but not b/c the GOP is < effective, but b/c now people see healthcare as an entitlement. The fact is that it can never work & be both good, cheap & universal, so now the GOP is faced w/ the <er of the evils; being good & cheaper, but it'll not be universal. Obamacare was good & universal, but it was not cheap. If we let it devolve now into socialized gov't care, it w/b cheap & universal, but it'll not be good.
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The last X Reps were in power w/ GW Bush, they did their damnedest to start WW III-- the rest of the world was more concerned w/ climate change, thank goodness. Now they are back @ it again in case you hadn't noticed---***
What is it they say about insanity; the definition of Rep thought? lol! The problem is the people who are gullible enough to listen to that "supply side" nonsense! I hope Jared K. talks Trump into staying w/ the Paris accords before being run out of DC! = if it were to ignite the economy, it all comes w/ a cost! How insane not to care about the quality of the air & water necessary to human life! I've given up trying to over-est. the intel. of the electorate who reward radical thinking = if it costs them in the end! Taking away these treaties as well as Obamacare is only going to hurt the poor & middle class! We continue to vote against our own interests & wonder "what happened" after all's said and done!
***They elected a major "Obama-birther" to sit as president--- he mhb very convincing. - Why does Obama not get the credit for such an improved economy?***
Reps have committed to trying to eliminate any trace that Obama was = President if you ask me! McConnell tipped his hand before the man took office in '09; "I will commit to making Obama a 1 term President!" Two terms later, Obama's still waiting for an apology for how he was treated & maybe a "thank you!"
***They'll just cry about "economic growth" = though they couldn't care less. - They already showed Kushner lied on his security clearance.***
That's not the 1/2 of it; Kush trying to set up backchannels using Russian resources was so "below the pail" their Amb. Kislyak had to rat out Trump's S-I-L! He c/b pardoned of course, but these simpletons would probably try & put Pee Wee back in the same position waving his "pardon;" maybe framing it over his desk!
***The topic is Hillary. Try to keep up babe.***
The topic c/b Trump, but people like you will deflect by bringing up Hillary, Benghazi, & emails! It's pathetic & hypocritical! If it were the Clintons knee deep in Russians, the heads of the cons. movement w/b spinning off their shoulders! Jerks!
...Obama held off an attacking "Tea Bag" revolution & still got more done! ...
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't enough when Hannity promoted the "Birther" movement, he then began asking the ?? nightly "why do so many people think Obama's Muslim?" ...The Seth Rich story has backfired & he's on notice!
Hannity's now kvetchin' "censorship" trying to silence him! He forgets that he & O'Reilly went on nightly rants about liberal thought or musicians' lyrics! They create hysteria over Acorn, the CGI, & PP trying to drive them out of existence for political reasons over the work accomplished for the working poor & impoverished nations on the other side of the world! I've lost so much respect for cons/Reps who play GOD, cry wolf all the X, & are "perpetual victims" of Dems & MSM!
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Lou Dobbs is still railing against the Clintons & CGI! Like most nutty cons, it was a "criminal enterprise!" It's just unfathomable; the blind hatred of the Clinton detractors! These jerks would sacrifice everything to have Bill & Hillary in disrepute, prison, or preferably dead!
***...& please don't call Trump's Chumps cons. They aren't; not = close.***
Ivanka, her Bros, & Jared couldn't vote for Trump in the primary b/c they're all hardcore Dems! ...selling their souls to the highest bidders!
***...Elect. College needed to reject Trump & elect Clinton. Didn't work! The incumbent President didn't use powers to prevent foreign colluder from influencing the elections either! 17 agencies said so what was what.***
That's it! Funny how Trump was always saying if Clinton wins, "she'll be under so many investigations, nothing will get done!" "Mirror, mirror ...?"
***I love how Hillary plays the victim card like a CHAMP for losing to Trump.***
...and Trump doesn't feel like a victim 24/7? Please! "No president in recent memory has been treated, & I say this w/ all sincerity, has been treated as shamefully as I have!" He's always aggrieved, whining about being talked about or complaining about "not being given credit!" He's so full of shit; we deserve what he's doing to us & the rest of the world!
***Hillary lost b/c of Hillary.***
...and? That doesn't change the facts "we're in trouble" for the foreseeable future w/ this nitwit & his family of losers & cronies in charge of everything!
***You may think so. I think we whb worse off w/ Hillary as POTUS.***
We'll see how you feel by Labor Day! I personally think Hillary was a lot more qualified, but we all know Reps would have taken obstruction to a new level! If you think Obama was dissed, it whb truly disgusting if Hillary had won! She's lost & has pretty much stayed quiet, but Trump & the rest of Congress can invoke her name every single day; usually as a deflective dodge when asked a ?? about Trump & his shady dealings!
***Y'all insist that cons stop talking about Hillary, but they run magazine cover stories on her.***
People have made their careers kvetchin' about the Clintons! It actually cost the life of Barbra Olsen on her way to Cal. to participate on Bill Mahar's old ABC show, "Politically Incorrect!" She was on one of those flights that went down on 911! She mhb a great person IRL, but on the stump, the poison was dripping from her fangs concerning Bill & Hill! It was sad then & it's still sad now! LET THESE PEOPLE GO!
***It's about X that Merkel said something. Alienating the US & Europe is exactly what Putin wants. ...The thing is, when European leaders say something then it pushes Trump further away from them & causes his temper tantrums b/c he can't deal w/ criticism. So, how to proceed? How does one acknowledge that Trump is not a normal President & needs t/b treated like the incompetent authoritarian that he is w/o giving Russia the win?***
ReplyDeleteW/ all this Russian intrigue, it's obvious "PARTY" is more important to Reps! Ages ago, they w/b up in arms concerning all things Russian, now Trump hasn't = acknowledged they contributed to shenanigans during the last campaign! Trump's so paranoid already, that extra doubt has taken him over the edge! I can't believe he's listening to anyone w/ the way he treated those leaders in Europe! Of course Putin's rubbing his hands together saying to himself, "$$ well spent on Trump!"
***Russian Winger hypocrisy knows no bounds - Reagan & AMERICAN CITIZENS of his era would shoot theses so called patriots dead in their traitor tracks. Being from that era & a REAL AMERICAN I earned the right to say this, "FUCK TRUMP & his RUSSIAN-WINGERS.
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Well I do not believe anyone here voted for Trump & I'd like to ignore him for the next 4 yrs, but the guy's a bully. In the past few days the idiot has been 'going off' on Germany. ...Mika & Joe, on "Morning Joe" feel like he doesn't have any understanding of the concept. And he's dealing w/ a woman who's much smarter than he is & he knows it. Plainly put I think Donald's intimidated by smart women & he lashes out.***
Hmmm, where have I heard this before? Oh, it mhb w/ Hillary & the last election!
***The irony that these are the same people in Congress who constantly cast aspersions on Obama for not believing in American "exeptionalism" & not maintaining the US's leadership in the world is breathtaking. Apparently it really was always & only partisanship that drove all their reactions to Obama. - ...and RACISM.***
In the past Reps have always stressed @ least to respect the office of the Presidency, but when you have one of these animals call out "you lie" @ the SOTU address while Obama's speaking, what else would you call their behavior? There's "the Birther movement," calling Obama Muslim, Kenyan, unpatriotic, & called < than intelligent by ??ing his bona fides from Harvard! That's all about racism & I don't have to have felt it in the past to know it when I see & hear it!
***I think they're correct in saying that Obama didn't believe in American exceptionalism. What they are missing is that Trump doesn't believe in it either.
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And they don't either. However Obama's policies had the intent of the US maintaining Int'l leadership, which is also something apparently of no consequence to (most) Congressional Reps.***
I'm sorry, but I've been around for a long X & the only thing exceptional about us is our gullibility & short memories!
***How did Minnesota Become a State Full of Idiots?***
Sen. Cruz is a true brain surgeon who deserved his seat in TX; NOT! This is the same person who read "Green Eggs & Ham" while filibustering the budget & a raise in the "Debt Ceiling?" That lit'l prank of shutting down the gov't cost us well over $20 B; "thanks Dr. Seuss!" - What happened to the bragging of all Reps that the whole country's going "red?" They own it all in DC, governorships from coast to coast, State Houses; down to City Councils! They still say the country's going to HELL, but they aren't taking credit for the current state of affairs! SICK!
***Hillary Clinton Blames The Media for her loss***
ReplyDeleteI think the media DID help TRUMP! ...He brags about groping women by their pussies, but women still elected this misogynist pig! The world has been turned upside down' > than we possibly will ever know! Ramifications yrs down the line are yet to occur! Glad I'm old & won't have t/b bothered w/ it!
***What has Trump done worse that is *illegal* (your not liking it doesn't count)***
Being President; unethical = illegal IMO! Hiring his family, not divesting himself of business so in violation of all kinds of rules! I feel w/o a doubt, = w/ a Rep. Congress, they'll have no choice but to impeach this idiot!
***...You can't impeach people you don't like or no president would make it past day 1.***
Rep. made up BS isn't against the law either! Trying to deflect constantly bringing up leaks only shows desperation in comparison to real issues of election tampering/collusion w/ Russians! It's blowing up in your face & all you guys can talk about is Rice maybe unmasked Flynn!
***Trump IS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION now is he? You keep using that word. i don't think it means what you think it means.***
That's why you're having trouble; you're just not thinking! Trump promotes willful ignorance! That's up to you, but as long as I have breath in my weak ass body, I'd like to live in reality rather than the Alt. Uni. you appear t/b living in! Good luck w/ that when it all blows up; mark my words! This is HUGE w/ all kinds of circumstantial evidence vs Trump as compared to the made-up BS w/ Hillary concerning Benghazi! I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me "her crime" in that issue? I guess you just want to PROVE a lie so you can say to us, "SEE!" Well bravo, you have your meaningless victory w/ a nitwit @ the helm of STATE! I pray you don't have kids to have to deal w/ the residual affects of his tenure! Obama left things in pretty good shape so he doesn't have to deal w/ the crippled economy & all the rest that occurred during "W's" term in office! If Trump can turn it around & we're all steppin' thru the tulips in great shape, I'll apologize & applaud it! I have a feeling HELL will freeze before that ever happens!
***Trump was right. He could shoot someone in broad daylight & you people would still support him. The sad part is that you only support him b/c of the (R) next to his name. You don't care what he does or says, = if it makes you look like a complete hypocrite. As long as he's on your "team," you'll support him. To quote Trump, "SAD!"
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That's just it - I'm fine waiting for results. You seem hellbent on being right, not seeing what *is* right. ...How come you let FACTS slide while you glom on "circumstantial," then tell other people they're being stupid.***
...What you're doing is thinking everyone else is stupid to believe the constant whining & victimhood just b/c the TRUTH is being told about this Orange NERO! DC's burning around him & all he wants to do is play golf! ...He did it to himself accusing Obama of bugging Trump Tower! Rep. investigations have disproven it all & he keeps trying to spin it! You're obviously dizzy; I got off Trump's merry-go-round 30 yrs ago! He was a fool then & he's still a fool!
***Kathy Griffin Beheads Donald Trump in Shocking Photo Shoot - the outrage w/b loud & clear. But since it was done to Trump, not a word. Fk all the left wing hypocritical jerks.***
ReplyDeleteI just heard Trump Tweeted about the situation & just had to bring Barron into it! "He's having trouble dealing w/ it!" This from the person that gave 4 hrs of X in the WH to Ted Nugent who put a gun up to the picture of Obama & said "suck on my machine gun Obama!?" I hope The Donald sent cards to Malia & Sasha to make up for that! Oh the outrage! Fk Trump, all his kids, & everyone else playing this victim game!
***Yes. When Trump the imbecile spoke all that crap, he lost any claim to civility or dignity. - Apparently The President of the U.S. lacks the authority to do anything these days.***
It was being told to us for yrs; esp. during the Obama era, "all you need to do is elect us to the Presidency along w/ Congress & we'll change how things are done in Wash'ton!" Still waiting to see it when they OWN IT ALL! It's > than a lit'l pathetic! Trump has to relieve his stress boner by reversing Obama's EO's; unprecedentedly, malicious evil! The Rep. Party is a mere shell of itself & I just don't recognize it anymore! They have covered themselves in slime that I can't see to be easily washed off anyX soon!
***Tech., it's COMEY who's guilty of obstruction of justice for not reporting Trump's supposed attempt to shut down the Flynn investigation; which of course never happened; - Which is it? You claim Comey is guilty of something that never happened.***
= w/ all Trump's bluster, if put under oath, he won't lie! He's been in depositions where he finally had to come to reason "they got me & if I take this further, I'll be in = more trouble!" He finally paid up for Trump U. when he supposedly never gives up! After Comey testifies, backed up w/ all kinds of dated memos relating Trump improper behavior, The Donald will crack! If he goes on & tries to deny it, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE w/b solidified around his lard arse! Comey mentioned all the impropriety to associates whereas Trump can only say, "what's the big deal? I was just spit-balling w/ the guy!" He's Toast!
***Trump will respond like he did for Trump U. where he said he couldn't recall any of the people he hired. We all know what happens when the president lies in a deposition. - What is scary is we have rightwing pols in Australia who think Trump has done the right thing.***
Nothing new really! It's been happening all over the world in diff. countries @ diff. X's! You actually had a period where there was a rise of "Brown Shirts" in Germany, Brexit made Int'l news from England, & the biggest, most horrific wave of insanity occurred here in the States when we elected this reptile to the leadership of the free world! = though he's abdicated his responsibility w/ this latest action, he still has the power to create a lot of havoc & residual effects c/b substantial! In his head, he's been very successful by picking a SC Justice = though a stolen seat! His next great accomp. is to try & roll back every piece of a legacy for Obama! He's given way & let the Birther movement die it's slow death, has relentlessly attacked Obamacare threatening to allow it to die on its own, & attempting to reverse all his EO possible! It's j/b an obscene exercise of ignorance, pettiness, & outright bigotry! Screw him & his whole horrible family! They're just as complicit backing him up to this pt! The only associates I have any respect for are the ones that resign & jump ship before their own reputations are soiled for good! I can only imagine the 3-Ring Circus that's going on inside the West Wing!
***Fiero, what's wrong w/ JowillieTs..is he playing sloppy or just getting outplayed.***
ReplyDeleteAs I said earlier, that's what makes the "Big 4" special! When there's recent success by a player like J-WT, Thiem, A. Zverev, it shouldn't be a surprise when they can't back it up @ a major! You just don't see "also-rans" winning smaller events, = a Masters the way Sasha did recently being able to do anything in a major subsequently! It's almost guaranteed they'll be upset; exhaustion, nerves, expectations all taking their toll! We've already seen the lack of consistency w/ pretty good players who break down mentally or physically like Grigor, Kei, & Milos! All kinds of game, but will ultimately be "footnotes" in the history of the game!
***Sascha's a hero, leave him alone Fiero. His heroics in Rome won't be forgotten & I've started to apprec. him very much this yr. He's 1 of my fave players to watch currently. He played many matches this clay season & just couldn't fight hard enough vs an in-form Verdasco. Clay isn't = his best surface. He has a Masters title already. He truly deserves his newly forged nickname, Alexander the Great. Heck, he = looks like him. As for Tsonga & other also rans, you'd be hard pressed to call it an upset = though it's 1 by def.
---
Tsonga wins his next match in Paris, then 6 of the top 10 players are 30+. Madness. Ye Olde Berdman also waiting in the wings.***
Which is why I use the term gutless for the "new" & "next" gens to allow old geezers to rule the rankings for so long!
***They're just of a lower caliber, almost uniformly... outgunned. It's b/c the talent pool has been strip-mined, and a JV squad remains. Top's gotta age out at some pt, though (sentiment reiterated annually since circa '10).
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Have an extended grass season. Upgrade Hamburg back to 1000 status, but w/ grass cts. Then have Queens or Halle as a 1000 leading up to Wimbledon. Drop Miami to accommodate this & have IW, CAN., Cinci leading up to USO. Radical changes but would make it interesting. Overall though I'm happy enough w/ the tennis calander.***
I think we've had threads about upgrading a grass tourney to Masters' status before! I would endorse it, but it's not likely! Changes have been coming fast & furious; might want to slow down for a while! It's about $$$ & from what I remember players are already offended by "entertainment tax" in England which is the reason Halle has such a good field! Hamburg w/b good as well! If there was a change, I'd go w/ a mainland event!
***As many others have pointed out, if Rafa wasn't hot garbage on grass, he'd be seeded >er. But he IS, so he isn't. Got it? Good.***
The whining never stops! If it doesn't work in Nadal's favor, it's unfair! Rosol going late under the dome/lights sev. yrs ago on Centre Ct. still "frosts his cake!" He's been a crybaby since the beginning which is why I didn't care for him = as a kid! There was this self-entitlement feel to him where most just saw it as confidence! I still say this guy has stolen many a match w/ his gamesmanship; strategically X'd MTO's, stalling, toweling off, & ??ing every point he loses! Funny how he doesn't like this seeding method; tried his own brand of shady dealing by suggesting a 2 yr ranking period instead of 1 when VP of the ATP players' council! He thought he could hold onto the #1 ranking longer in '11, but thinking back, his '09 was awful, culminating in him losing all 3 of his RR matches @ the YEC! Nole was not so subtly running up on him winning final after final in '11, taking Nadal down by Wimbledon, the title, & #1 ranking!
I've mention a few instances where the game of tennis changed it's schedule or = the format due to extenuating circumstances! The 1st that comes to mind was the AO being moved from Jan. to Dec. in '78 to maybe attract Borg since he was routinely in line for a CYGS taking the FO & Wimbledon 3 str. seasons; '78-80! They figured he'd win the USO sooner or later & he did make finals, but had the worst of luck there w/ scheduling, injuries, & speed of the court! Ten yrs later it was moved back to Jan. in X for the '88 season; now on HC instead of grass!
ReplyDeleteThe next change I can think of happened in '84 w/ the VS Chp.! Navratilova was on a run seldom seen in the modern game, routinely crushing her opps in 40 min.! By that season she was = toying w/ Evert on clay; allowing her only 6 games in 2 matches btw the WTA CC & FO finals! They decided to make the final a BO5 just to keep her on the court longer than an hr, but she still called the shots & put Evert out of her misery 6-1 in the 3rd! They continued that format until '99 going back to BO3 after sev. painful matches w/ children going 5 sets; Hingis, Seles, Sabatini!
The "court-line" calling system was the result of a match btw Jennifer Capriati & Serena Wms @ the USO over 10 yrs ago! SW was hosed, but Capriati made the match more difficult for herself by not winning that 2nd & 3rd sets w/ leads; finally winning it 6-4 in the 3rd! There were some horrendous line calls & a system was developed called "Hawk-Eye" soon after!
***Fed & Nadal skipping Hamburg in '06 after a 5 setter in the Miami final was probably the catalyst to usher in the change for Masters finals from 5 sets to 3. There was still another yr of BO5 set finals, but I think this triggered it.***
It's hard to avoid thinking Masters 1000 events have been devalued just a lit'l by going BO3 making it easier for the current top player to have a nice run of 4-6 wins of the 9 solidifying a truly great season! That just didn't happen much when BO5; even winning back to back was a huge achievement! Nole won the 1st 3 events 2 yrs ago! That never would have happened in past eras!
===
***Djokovic's no longer the ruthless tennis machine who brazenly thrived while dethroning & then dominating icons Feddal. That relentlessly ambitious Djokovic is gone. Today we have a man who seems more interested in building his image as a peace & love ambassador, trying to attract love & adoration from all the fans & media by behaving as a perfect sportsman.
...Jim Courier has noticed a change in Djokovic’s comp. demeanor & isn't impressed. ...Couier, who won 4 majors overall & reigned as the ATP World #1 player, +ed that Djokovic has to get focused on the job & get nastier out there.
Nole ended up winning in five sets to progress to the R16 & possibly a SF showdown w/ Nadal. But today we didn't see anything close to resembling the Djokovic we remember @ his pinnacle, the 1 w/ the burning obsession t/b the best. It seems Djokovic has lost a fraction (or a lot more) of his once unquenchable desire & greed to conquer.
Having earned over $100 M in his pro career, Djokovic may have lost his desire & replaced it w/ grander motivations & inspirations. But… “t/b the best @ anything you have t/b willing to get blood on your hands.” And it doesn't look like Djokovic has that capacity anymore. Playing tennis as if he’s had his fangs yanked out & his claws clipped, there's absolutely 0 chance Novak'll defend his RG title or win any more major titles. – Scoop Malinowski***
***For anyone saying that bringing up Margaret's defense of Apartheid is unfair ...; so let's not act like she couldn't think for herself @ the X.***
ReplyDelete...I had always placed Court above all others until then! It was easier to dismiss her since she "got fat" on taking 11 AO when most top players didn't bother taking a boat all the way down to that Gawd-forsaken place in Kooyong! It's the same reason Nadal'll not go down in history anywhere near Goatdom w/ 9 FO in +tion to 5 other majors! So many other players have more of what's considered "The Chp" & the USO a close 2nd in stature! In my day, the FO was barely a rung above the AO w/ a lot of players skipping the tourn. for most of their careers! ...= w/ Lendl & Wilander winning so many of them, I don't think it got to ELITE status until the 90's when Courier followed up w/ 2 titles after Chang's win in '89! JMHO!
***The ATP has created a companion to the WTF's for the young up-and-comers. It'll be played in Milan. I thought perhaps it deserved its own thread, = though we have a "Young Guns" thread. It's for 21 & under.
- Current standings, includ. age, pts, tourns played:
- 1 A. Zverev (GER) AGE: 20 PTS: 2,130 TOURNS: 11
- 2 Borna Coric (CRO) 20 631 15
- 3 Hyeon Chung (KOR) 21 415 9
- 4 Frances Tiafoe (USA) 19 397 13
- 5 Ernesto Escobedo (USA) 20 348 11
- 6 Karen Khachanov (RUS) 21 335 15
- 7 Jared Donaldson (USA) 20 327 14
...
12 Taylor Fritz (USA)19 200 8
13 Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 19 196 9
14 Noah Rubin (USA) 21 189 8
...
38 Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 17 71 11
39 Elias Ymer (SWE) 21 66 8
---
...Novak destroyed Thiem in the SF last yr though that was a far diff. Novak in Paris. This'll tell us > about Dom than Nole. If Nole wins, he gets destroyed next Rd anyways. If Dom wins convincingly, it'd be something of a breakthru & that becomes a tough SF for Rafa.***
I wouldn't mind that scenario, but Dom had better not play "lights out" vs Nole, then have a brain cramp the next Rd t/b blown out by Rafa!
***Seeing the results of their Rome "match" this yr & their last RG encounter btw Nole & Dom, one w/b hard pressed to call it a match up. Thiem's BH's not very good defensively & he makes loads of errors w/ it, then tries to hit = >er on the FH side to compensate, bleeding errors from both wings. Although it has t/b said, Thiem played only 1 good set vs Novak & that was in London last yr, which was a very tight TB he won. It's miraculous how Djokovic just summons the worst in Thiem. Realistic QF prediction: Cold-cocks Thiem 7-5 6-2 6-2***
...Tmrw will let us know if Thiem has come of age yet; not like I'm looking for him to beat Nole, but this is his best chance after being humiliated 2 wks ago in Rome! I can't really see any upsets un< Kei plays out of his mind & takes Murray down! The most likely thing to happen is for him to get close, but break down like so many other players these days! The # of retirements is staggering! What in the world is going on?
***So, 7 of the 8 players who are supposed to reach QF as per seeding actually reached. The only exception being PCB getting in there @ the expense of Milos. Tmrw's match btw Novak & Thiem c/b exciting. Novak still has issues going by his scorelines, but Thiem has some sort of match-up problem w/ Novak. This could go all the way w/ Novak winning in the end I suppose. - Thiem destroyed his last opp. & Djokovic's still struggling, = when he gets by in 3. There's a solid chance that Dominic turns the tables tmrw. If he doesn't make a huge fight of it, then he does have a match-up problem w/ Novak.***
***Face reality dude, not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim. McVeigh was not a Muslim; one out of sev. Mil.***
ReplyDeleteSlower people around here have forgotten Ruby Ridge, The Olymps in Atl., WACO, San Bernardino, & so many other attacks from home grown nuts! Do I need to go on?
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...All Reps are it seems since they're in charge & can't get a fk'n thing done! All they want to do is hash out failures of Obamacare, Benghazi, & immigration! They're all pretty pathetic & getting worse!
***We have a former Sec of State who was leaking classified info to a sex offender...***
You guys really need to find something else to rant about! ...I'm sorta glad Hillary lost b/c Reps would have run this same game of obstruction as they did w/ Obama, but what makes them extra pathetic, they actually have the Presidency & still can't get anything done! YOU GUYS ARE PATHETIC LOSERS! Flush out your own house before worrying about the Dems morons!
***I'm not "brow-beating" her. I'm pointing out she committed felonies...***
Believe me it's brow beating! I watch FNC along w/ other media & they invoke her name everyday; all day! Their fk'n President is losing his mind & about t/b impeached & all "THEY" seem to care about is bringing her down low! It's been frustrating to them all that w/ all they've done & said, The Clintons will still go down in history on a >er rung than any of those snakes on "the right!"
***No, it'll show that the powerful don't get away w/ openly committing felonies.***
What country...err... planet are you living on? If you work in DC, blood's on your hands! = a 25 y.o. indep. INTEL contractor was taken away today for misappropriating sec. secrets! Everyone's guilty of something; esp. the Trump admin.!
***You're making my exact pt. If this 25 yo's going t/b spending X in Fed. prison, why shouldn't Hillary?***
Trump 1st! We'll revive the thread by Xmas when Flynn, Manafort, Sessions, Jared & Donald w/b in disrepute or facing consequences of their actions!
***Why do we have t/b tolerant of bigoted people? It makes no sense. We can help stop bigoted views by denouncing those views, not by normalizing them.***
Believe it or not it has gone too far in the other direction of being PC to the detriment of speech freedom! Conservatives have taken to playing the victim and relating instances again & again of where they're being spat upon or bullied! Ann Coultier & Laura Ingraham whine the most due to colleges and other speaking engagements becoming "hate-fest," jeering them, or the event not coming off at all when they're cancelled due to security reasons! I just wouldn't go, but others feel the need to throw stones & riot just b/c someone's saying something intolerant! I can't stand cons. speakers, but I'm not going to incite myself into a lather & cause havoc to stop them! It's unfortunate we have too much X on our hands to sweat ignorant speech that's endorsed by the current "Commander-in- Chief!" Acting like him on the other side isn't doing us any good! Ignorance begets ignorance I always say!
***Maher should've just called himself a housekeeper instead of "house-N word." Would have been a lot safer. lol...***
Maybe, but these days, no matter how benign a statement, all sides are looking t/b offended by something! I'm too old to get upset over a stupid joke or prank! The Trumps going after Griffin only shows how "small" all of them have t/b to = acknowledge her tasteless act! For them to criticize her for something like what she did & not take in consideration all their crooked patriarch has done is to laugh over the hypocrisy! We'll see how sanctimonious they are when Jared winds up in an adjourning cell to his father for his acts & lies! These people need to look in the mirror before casting those stones! Fk'n IDIOTS!
***I can't figure out why Reps keep defending this guy. Trump's a serious problem in just about every way. If he's impeached, they'll still have a Rep. president, so why not just dump him? His problems get worse & worse every day. Defending him is more & more problematic every day as well.***
ReplyDeleteAfter Trump, it'll be rich w/ Reps trying to criticize any Dem; = Pelosi! Invoking Hillary is an exercise in futility on FNC, but they just can't help themselves! She lost, Trump won, but they'd rather talk about her misdeeds!
***If Russia had interfered w/ '16 election I think there s/b a fresh special election for president.***
Well that's not going to happen! Don't you remember back in 2000? They wouldn't = count all the votes again in Fla where it was as crooked as they come w/ "W" supporters assaulting the counting office!
***I live in So. Fla & remember election 2000-- those "angry mob of local Bush supporters" rushing the Miami Herald recounting offices on Nat'l camera were from Chgo-- all expense paid trip to Fla thanks to Tom DeLay---Over 50,000 votes had not been counted due to things like hanging chads, etc., & it was the Dems who wanted these included in a hand recount, which was never allowed to finish. There was never a hand recount, = though 1 is required by law when the count is that close.***
Those nefarious people, including that "dragon woman" AG who certified the count is the reason I won't = travel to FLA, much < move there as a friend wanted me down in Orlando! Electing SCOTT twice was the last straw & think y'all deserve anything that happens with such a corrupt character leading you! I heard, after he cut the ed. budget when 1st elected by over $1B to give tax cuts to corps! HS dropouts didn't get you to 50% grad. rate! What's wrong w/ people down there to think that's acceptable?
***And they want to deflect to Hillary Clinton emails-- - The Nat'l TV news is making it look as though Trump is in serious trouble; that Comey has sealed his fate. And then as a lit'l footnote, they briefly mention about the 3 X's he told Trump that he was not under any investigation.***
Every day, in every TP is "Bill on the tarmac speaking w/ the AG" @ the X, Lynch! That was so corrupt, they want to shut gov't down to investigate that fully! You would think Hillary had won the race after all & Trump was looking for excuses why he lost! It makes no sense; = w/ moderates you thought had a brain like Lindsey Graham! He can't help acting like one of these assholes when in the end he'll do the right thing!
***AG Jeff Sessions has rejected a request to testify before the House Oversight Committee.***
You saw how much he was on the hot seat during confirmation = when not under suspicion! They w/b loaded for bear & he'll be shown t/b quite dishonest & unworthy of his position as AG!
***He's also going after legal & medical marijuana-- clamped down on controlled substances... soliciting funding for the private prison system. He's a "bad cop"...***
***The GOP, electing a President for the 2nd X in 5 elections w/ a minority PV.***
ReplyDeleteI have a problem w/ all pols, Dems & Reps alike, but everyone knows "compromise" is a dirty word "on the right!" Libs would love to come to a consensus on diff. issues w/ cons, but w/ hardasses in the South, they're not having it! The constituents they've globed together punish them for any signs of weakness or making "nice;" hence so few mod. Reps left! Dems had it all in '08-10 & got us Nat'l HC, but at a cost! Reps have it all & all they can tout is how many members they have from coast to coast! "Ok guys, you own it! Whatcha going to do w/ it?" Reps are like the proverbial dog running after a car; "now what?" Trump has accomplished nothing = though he keeps touting all kinds of things w/ his EO's! That's not legislating!
***...Bush left Crawford immediately & bought some swanky multi-mill. $$ pad in Dallas...not a word from the right!***
Of course, which is why I don't understand why these clowns are taken seriously? When Reagan was criticized for his $2 mill., 2 speech deal in Japan days after leaving office, "nothing from Reps!" He was "GIVEN" a house by his HOLLYWOOD buds & I seem to remember they had to change the address from 666 to 667 since Nancy so superstitious! That old asshole not only cleaned up w/ all that, he was collecting Soc. Sec.! NOW that's a real travesty!
***Now Trump is under investigation like I have been saying---***
Most people don't realize, Trump put himself under investigation when he accused Obama of "wiretapping" Trump Tower! Both sides are looked @ & Comey has already said "it didn't happen!" Now trying to interfere in ongoing investigations, Trump has now put himself in the crosshairs of actually being accused of "obstruction of justice!" These are all self-inflicted wounds that would heal if he would STFU, but he can't help himself! He has to pour gasoline on every situation!
***So far Russia is still a myth.***
But that myth has crippled the WHITE HOUSE & Congress! That can't be ignored! NOTHING is getting done! ALL they passed thru was a "CR!" That's not exactly "getting things done!" What happened? Dems are obstructing; nothing to obstruct! BLAME Ryan & McConnell for their ineffectual leadership!
***And that's their goal. When all you have is shit, give them 20 tons of it to sort through. All that's being done. - IDK if you can say Trump has done nothing. On the economic front, unemployment rate's the lowest in 15 yr IIRC & there hasnt been a Muslim terrorist attack since he came to office. Also illegal immigration has been drastically reduced.***
Trump can't take credit for anything for the X being! He's just a caretaker of what Obama left him! Instead of high unemployment, the DOW cratering, & The Nat'l Debt being used as a political football, Trump's been so lucky there are no calamities going on! So far he's only been serving the interests of his family over the business of the country & world!
***Clinton will walk clean out of the picture. Trump? X will tell.***
How do Reps feel about investigations after putting Clinton & Obama admin. thru the wringer? Trump's surrounded by Russian intrigue & they want to just "poo-poo" it as fake news & Dem. demagoguery! I got news for them, the Dems have lit'l to nothing to do w/ how Reps have self-destructed before our very eyes! They have it all w/ The Presidency, both Houses of Congress, w/ a cons. SC thanks to stealing a seat last yr! Nothing's getting done w/ the country running on auto-pilot since the feck< admins of DC can't get their act together! Gawd help us if something truly tragic happens while Reps are sniffing each other's tails trying to survive Trump's tenure hoping he doesn't run for a 2nd term!
***Obama played celebrity while president. He involved himself in nothing. ...You can't tell me you think it's a good thing that he spoke to the head of the FBI twice in 8 yrs! ...***
ReplyDeleteHilarious as we see Trump selling off the trappings of the WH w/ his kids & family enriching themselves ATW! You have the nerve to talk about Obama being a "celeb president?" I know Trump's just gotten there, but what potential substantive "anything" do you see him performing before being run out of office? He's alienated our Int'l friends, lauded his respect for dictators, & undermined NATO! Every X there's a chance the furor might die down, he's got to have a press conf. or send an ununtelligable TWEET to fan the flames some more!
***All the Rep. "gang bangers" will now follow Trump's vindictive yell to "get the snitch"... It's their thug gang mentality.***
Trump's real life tactics have always been "playground" fodder for us all, but it stopped being entertainment when he took this office! I find it funny that cons say Dems have been after Trump for so long! I have no idea WTF they're talking about? He only announced & started running in the last 2 yrs! When it comes to mutual coop., it's Trump who proclaimed he was the only one that could make a success of the initiatives to repeal/replacing Obamacare, tax cuts, & an infrastructure program! We were supposed to get tired of winning! So far he's batting 0'fer! It doesn't look like Reps will get anything done this yr & it has lit'l to do w/ Dem. obstruction! You can't obstruct something not = up for a vote! As much as Pelosi was beat up; typical of Reps who hate strong women, she would pass 200+ pieces of legis. per Congress! Ryan's only gotten a "CR" approved; BIG DEAL! What have the Dems done to exacerbate Trump's troubles? It's all on him IMO; his mouth, his TWEETs, & of course undercutting of his admin. @ every turn! How can anything get done?
***The AG shouldn't be asking the FBI Dir. to help Hillary Clinton's campaign. The AG has the right to ask her employee to handle an investigation appropr. And Comey's overreaction to what Lynch asked is what gave us the orange sociopath. ...and then we can talk about obstruction of justice which clearly didn't occur under Lynch since no one fired Comey for doing his job & which clearly did occur under the orange sociopath.***
Comey made this look more sinister than it had t/b! It was disclosed later that this was a meeting w/ sev. people & Lynch just wanted t/b on the same page w/ all of them on how Hillary case s/b described! Comey hurt himself trying to throw her "under the bus" like that! He's really a bit of a weasel = if more honest than most! If he had more of a backbone, he should have declined all invitations by Trump; esp. staying in that room w/ him by himself when he knew something was up? He's no dummy! I personally wouldn't have gone over to shake Trump's hand @ that ceremony just after he took office! I would have waved, said "I'm fine," and if insisted, I'd keep my distance! Trump pulling him in like that made him look like a stooge who sabotaged Hillary's campaign!
***The left are so scared of Hannity...love it!***
If so, why is he kvetchin' about being "called out" on his BS? Hannity & O'Reilly were big on boycotts when they're the ones calling for them over "song lyrics" or performers they thought s/b run out of the business! Karma's a b!tch ya know! Bill's gone & Sean's the last of the OG line-up! Enjoy it while it lasts!
***Oh I'm enjoying it...we got the House, presidency, & your twisted lying media is being exposed daily making 100s more cons converts a day! I'm enjoying the shit out of it.***
Yeah, you own it & Reps have gotten so much done these 1st few months! Hilariously pathetic; the epitome of feckless power!
***Anti-Donald people have experienced such intense levels of butthurtness, they have literally gone insane.***
ReplyDeleteWhat the excuse of ALL Reps invoking the Clinton name when Trump's the one under suspicion of "Obst. of Justice?" They all figure if they mention Hillary, Bill, Loretta Lynch, & Susan Rice enough X's Mueller will "forget all about it!" Talk about insane! The same play was performed in Minn. w/ Obama being the victim! Get over it & start smelling that impeachment coffee! The only thing worse are the 2 choices we have after Don is run out of DC! We have someone almost as corrupt in Pence who's reputation has t/b worth less than 0 after towing the Trump line over this CLIFF! Ryan's as weak as water; need I say more? There are no good choices at this X!
***I think it's X that a special prosecutor was appointed for all gov't officials that had relations w/ Russians. I nominate Rudy Giuliani.***
You actually think Rudy's eligible? Since he was part of Trump's campaign, he's probably under the same umbrella of suspicion & w/b called as a witness @ least; if not a target along w/ Manafort, Flynn, & Kushner!
***... eligible? They can appoint whomever they wish. Like the BF of one of the witnesses.***
Yeah, someone Trump had in his office a few days before who was thought qualified to run the FBI again after the 2nd longest tenure under "W" & Obama! True irony if you look @ all the clips of Trump @ his rallies railing against Hillary becoming President due to expected & long lasting investigations! Karma BABY!
***There is this meme: Trump told me if I voted for Clinton, there w/b endless investigations & scandals. Well I did vote for Hillary. Trump was right.
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Hillary lied X & X again about her email server; don't forget that. Also had classified info & that she 'bleach bit' emails that had been subpoenaed. If there's Karma, she's not in the WH.***
Amazing how winners continue to look back on the loser trying to deflect in some way! It's quite pathetic & hilarious @ the same X! Hillary lost, but her name comes up every single day w/ Reps and cons trying to change the subject of Trump investigations! True KARMA brought on himself w/ endless Tweets accusing everyone else of being this, that, & the other thing! Yep; very presidential indeed! NOT!
***I thought justice was about punishing wrongdoers, not those in office. Comey testified that the investigation was tainted by Lynch during the Obama admin. It's X for a serious look by a set of INDEPENDENT EYES. Same goes for Lois Lerner & the IRS.***
20 yrs from now you guys w/b talking about Benghazi, email servers, Lois Lerner, Susan Rice, Loretta Lynch, & of course Hillary! It's truly sad & pathetic when you can't look in the mirror talking about "letting it go!" Let it go; Trump won, Hillary lost! WHY so unhappy w/ your choice? You got him; be satisfied! Get over yourselves!
***So you AREN'T interested in punishing those who have broken the law.***
If you go back & prosecute "W" for "911," Valarie Plame, Katrina, & crashing the economy I'll relent & say "lock her up!" You happy? Otherwise let it go; Hillary's old, out of power, & not likely to run anything else! You're embarrassing yourself!
***Lol @ Becker when he discovers that Andre's coaching for free: a very uncomfortable 'interesting.' I think this move to work w/ Andre might work for Novak, hopeful!***
ReplyDeleteBtw Boris' 1st divorce & a purchase of an overpriced villa ($$ pit) in Mallorca sev. yrs ago, Boris needs the $$! I suppose Tiriac could have ripped him off some, but looks as if Becker didn't have any self control; in more ways than a few & it's cost him his fortune! ...All Andre can do is m/b take a present player to new heights in their tennis like Lendl, Edberg, Annacone, & Becker of course w/ Nole!
***I would say Nole being burnt out might mean more almost literally as it sounds: the desire c/b there, intellectually, but the ability to summon the "fire" is missing. I'm sure Djokovic believes he wants to achieve more in tennis, wants to give Fedal a run for their $$ in the history books, but the taste for comp. seems to have left him. ...***
We haven't thought about it, but unlike the other "Big 3," Nole hasn't had any extended X off the tour since he arrived almost 10 yrs ago! I can't remember him dropping below #3 in the world in all that X being 1 of the most consistent players in the history of the game; obviously rivalling Borg until recently! All the others have had serious injuries, surgeries, & "unannounced" suspensions to put each off the tour for months @ a X! That just didn't happen "back in the day!" If you were gone any significant X; either men or women, your career m/b done! It's pretty routine these days w/ extreme cases now that made Haas comings & goings not out of the unusual!
***W/ his loss today, Djokovic failed to make the SF of a GS in the last 2 events. I was wondering what's the longest streak of the "Big 3" & Sampras reaching @ least 1 GS SF in the last 2.
Sampras - '92 Wimbl. - '98 AO
Federer - '03 Wimbl. - '10 Wimbl.
Nadal - '07 FO - '15 AO (played in, skipped 4 GS's)
Djokovic - '10 Wimbl. - '17 FO
For all of the players failing to make the SF's in cons. GS's' a clear demarcation of the end of their GS peak.
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Greatest tennis players from 1950-on (listed chronol.)
Tier 1 : Gonzales, Rosewall, Laver, Borg, Sampras, Federer, Nadal & Djokovic
Tier 2 : Hoad, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl & Agassi (Kramer was in the 40's)
Tier 3 : Segura, Sedgman, Emerson,Newcombe, Wilander, Edberg, Becker & Murray
Tier 4 : Trabert, Santana, Nastase, Ashe, Smith, Vilas, Courier, Kuerten, Hewitt & Wawrinka
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This was the 1st tournament Ostapenko has won since she took the Wimbledon Jrs.***
Not that I care, but I was shocked to hear Halep blew another one! I just can't understand; no lead's safe w/ some players I guess!
***She didn't have THAT much of a lead really. A set & 3-0, but 3-0 is hardly panic stations given how often they brk serve in WTA matches. Halep came back to beat Svitolina from a set & 5-1 down, so she herself was lucky to still be in the tournament today.***
Who's the veteran & w/i sniffing distance of being #!? Halep's like so many of today's players who just can't finish; = when it's all set up for you! There's no Serena, no Kerber who's been upset; couldn't have had it better w/ a rookie player w/ no tournament wins! That's sad to allow herself t/b broken so many X's! This is a major final & I'm not sure watchable w/ all those brks of serve!
***TBH ANY big hitter would have beaten Halep today IMO. She doesn't handle them well & was lucky Pliskova didn't play her best or she'd have beaten her instead. If I was betting on a match with Halep v a big hitter I'd back the big hitter every X. And Ostapenko herself could have served much better & made < errors too & won easier than she did.***
I finally have to place Fedal atop the ranks since Nole's fallen off so precipitously w/ lit'l hope that things will change! Nole'll need a near resurgence like his contemporaries, but it doesn't seem likely ATM! Etched in stone for the X being OTTH:
ReplyDelete1) Federer - 18 Majors (7 Wimbl. 5 USO's, 5 AO's, CGS. 6 YEC's, 1 OG-'D') - Most balanced career
2) Nadal - 15 Majors (10 FO's, CGS, 2 OG-'S & D') - Reached #1, but career up/downs due to injury & burnout
3) Laver - 11 Majors (2 GS's:'62 & '69) - Most dom. player of his X, am./pros til Sampras & eventually Fed
4) Djokovic - 12 Majors (6 AO's, CGS, '15 W -'16 FO "Nole-Slam," 5 YEC's) - Most cons. career since Borg
5) Sampras - 14 Majors (7 Wimbl., 5 USO's) - Held rec. til Fed's #15
6) Borg - 11 Majors (5 Str. Wimbl., 6 FO's)
7) Agassi - 8 Majors (5 AO's, CGS, OG)
8) Lendl - 8 Majors (3 FO's, 3 USO's, 2 AO's)
9) Connors - 8 Majors (5 USO's, 2 Wimbl., '74 AO), 109 Tour titles
10) McEnroe - 7 Majors (3 Wimbl., 4 USO's)
***There's Fed & Pete (Rafa likely to join them) in 1 group who made the miraculous comebacks, but most other legends like Borg, Connors, McEnroe, & Wilander never got back to the heights they achieved.***
Tell me about it! When they fell, they fell! Borg left before it became apparent decline was imminent! Connors helped & hurt his legacy by hanging on so long! He won 2 majors & got back to #1 in '82 when thought t/b no >er than #3 or 4 w/ Borg, McEnroe, & Lendl heading the tour! Wilander's fall was probably the most precipitous after winning 3 majors & taking over #1 ranking in '88! ...Btw being burned out & losing his dad, I barely knew he was on the tour from '90-96! W/ Sampras, it's hard to say that was a comeback by winning the '02 USO over his "pigeon," Agassi! He had gone over 2 yrs w/o winning a title of any kind, but there was no resurgence since he retired soon after!
***...I'm tired of the same excuses. Djokovic beat healthy Nadal 7 X's in a row.***
TWICE! Nadal only put himself in the running w/ his major wins at 1 event! Other ATG's have X titles @ the biggies; = Edberg has 2 Wimbl./USO's! He's no ATG w/ 6 majors in total! If not for clay dominance, Nadal w/b getting only an honorable mention! Borg set himself above him by winning 5 Wimbl. in a row w/ a WOOD racket on choppy, slick grass vs some of the best S & V's of the X! As far as I'm concerned, w/ his yo-yo career, Nadal wouldn't be in my top 5; well behind Fed, Djokovic, Sampras, Borg & Laver! He's far behind other players retaining the #1 ranking, has no YEC's, & to this day hasn't defended a title off the clay surface! HOW do you become the GOAT w/ a rec. like that? = if the resident GOAT has a losing rec. vs him, the age disparity will explain some if it until this past season when Nadal has allowed his pigeon to beat him @ a major & 2 Masters events!
===
***Great game, congrats Warriors they dominated. I expected them to take it tonight at home. Cavs fans wanted nothing to do w/ LeBron either, were burning his jerseys.***
I didn't blame them! LeBron treated all concerned despicably! Gilbert's trying to get in touch w/ him during the summer to see what the next season would bring, totally ducking him & the media, finally landing in So. Beach! It was one of the shadiest things I've seen of a vet w/ so many accolades about maturity! I'm still appalled! They = fired the coach thinking that would bring "the King" around! He just left like a thief in the night! The only thing more horrific was the self-entitlement of Bron & his posse thinking they s/b able to have the same parking accommodations when returning to Cleveland as a member of the Heat! They were told to hit the public lot like any other visitor!
***...Not as many men, for instance, are flutzers. I think this has more to do w/ strength than good tech.***
ReplyDeleteThe LUTZ is just hard for women; no matter how skilled! To this day, the only skater I can think of who really scratches that outside edge every X was Butyskaya! She really exaggerated it so no 1 could accuse her of flutzing; = though 1 of the ugliest executions upon landing!
***Sasha is the #1 reason why I grew to love skating as much as I did/do. ...She was a >er spinner & had >er flexibility. Everything was just lovely. I still miss her dearly & the attention to detail that she put into every movement.***
I've written in detail how much I think Cohen's career whb diff. if Kwan had retired in a X-ly fashion! Her hanging on like an old vulture stifled many of the ladies IMO! We had quite a few that were great talents & had wonderful potential like Naomi Nari Nam! I could watch Nam & Cohen all day long; the grace, & "attention to detail" were always evident in their skating! But to beat the Queen, you have to push yourself & their lit'l bodies couldn't take it; esp. Naomi's! The same thing's going on in tennis w/ Fedal extending their careers longer than expected! It changes the whole dynamics of the tour by them = walking around w/ other players in awe of them breathing air! No matter how good you are, if your mindset & confidence aren't there you'll still fail!
***...If Michelle c/d all these 3-3 combos in practice, why did she only - barely - manage a 3T+3T in comp? Sasha = managed a 3Lz+3T (albeit a flutz, which MK borderline had also, btw)...***
I always thought Kwan was terribly overrated by assuming her success meant she had t/b a great jumper! You can count the occasions on 1 hand when she went outside her comfort zone! During her convalescent period waiting for a leg fracture to heal during the '97-98 season, she avoided that simple 3T/3T combo in deference to an added 3 Lp w/ a step out 2T! I still SMH over the awe people had in MK skating when there were so many more daring & charismatic skaters out there! My fave was Surya Bonaly, followed by Slutskaya who beat MK like a drum those last sev. yrs! I didn't think anyone could outdo the balletic style of Oksana Baiul until Cohen came along! When she was maybe 14, she was added to 1 of those exh./comp. held here in the States! She was supposedly injured so was limited to 3 T & 3 S, but she didn't need the jumps! Her stroking around the ice was reminiscent of Peggy Fleming in those waning yrs trying to utilize the old lady to the last! PF was limited to a single axel by then, but true skaters don't need to leave the ice! Cohen's a lot like that; her "falling leaf," splits jumps that seem to go >er than most since she's just a lit'l pixie, & then those spins that Michelle can only DREAM of performing! I miss her!
***Who has the best 2-Axel?***
When I think of 2-Axels, I imagine Bonaly performing them from a standing position while others need to stroke around the ice in a fig. 8 before stepping up into it! I had stopped watching FS for a few yrs, nauseated w/ the top skaters & the constant fawning of Witt, Boitano, & Hamilton! Robin Cousins was my last fave back in that era! The Kerrigan/Harding drama brought me back in '94 & I was instantly taken by Surya; the effortlessness of that jump & others! That season, she skated to Vivaldi's "4 Seasons" & @ the start of the program she just does a 2-Axel w/ no real prep; someX's 2 & goes about the rest of her program! It remained simple for her to execute while others need to build all kinds of momentum going into the jump! I think the reason it was easy is she trained t/d a triple, but never performed it in her live program! It was the same reason Sasha Cohen "over-rotated" some of her jumps; she practiced quads!
***In terms of real value compared to Masters & WTF, a slam win s/b worth @ least 6K pts, = then I don't think a player would trade a slam win for 6 Masters or 4 WTF.***
ReplyDeleteI've been saying for yrs a MAJOR should get a lot more than 2K pts, but 6K's a bit much! We only have to go back to last season w/ Djokovic winning 2 majors & 4 Masters & was still 1 match away from retaining the #1 ranking! It shouldn't have been close, but those 250's & 500's won, along w/ Wimbledon was enough for Murray t/b one of the more lame #1's! His game is still there, but it's a stupid way to play! At 30+ now, it ridiculous for him to play this super defensive game, dodging linesmen & ball kids, flagging down every shot possible before finally hitting a winner! ...When it comes to trading titles, Ivan Lendl might give up X FO's & AO to win that Wimbledon! Do I need to = ask if Borg would give up a few FO's or Wimbledons for just 1 USO? Ya never know!
***...Where the WTF's held is linked to a good bit of history that definitely is skewed towards the north. We might as well argue that you can't have grass @ a major @ that X of yr when of course the AO was held on grass for such a very VERY long X.***
I miss the old days when the YEC Masters moved around the world; changed surfaces & c/b indoors or outside! The late 70's w/ Connors & Borg heading the tour, it settled long term in NY! It got some comp. from the ITF with the GS CUP when it moved to Germany, but London is as far north as it's ever been!
***Nadal hasn't won it b/c it's on an indoor HC; his abs. worst surface. Look @ Fedal's H2H. He's 1-6 on indoor HC vs Fed. And is 8-5 on outdoor HC. Before this yr's resurgent "new" Fed, he was 8-2. Only lost 2 HC matches to Fed over 13 yrs until this season. If the WTF was played on outdoor HC, Nadal would have X WTFs.
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I don't agree & I'll tell you why:
As I see it, Nadal's main problem w/ indoor HCs has been the X of yr when they happen. Nadal has always been @ his strongest right after RG, which is why it's no surprise that when he was not injured he had good success @ Wimbl. & the USO. He has tended to fade after the USO & has been unable to restart his top play in the spring before the clay season. You can't blame his relative lack of success @ the AO on outside vs inside.
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Again, you have to think about what "around the world means" when really we mean "around the No. Hemi. :)
I don't nec. prefer Bo5 to Bo3 in terms of drama & quality of play, but winning Bo5 is something extra & gives champions more X to "right the ship". It's 1 reason why Stan is so much >er in majors - more X to work thru nerves or mini-slumps, & the same is true about Nadal @ RG. I find the WTF as it's now a bit of an anti-climax.***
You have to realize, the 1st MASTER's YEC I ever watched was in '74 w/ Vilas defeating Nastase on grass in 5 sets "down under!" True enough, that's been the last X in the So. Hemi., ...I couldn't imagine Corp. types wanting to go to Africa & So. Amer.'s proved how limited they c/b when it comes to an Int'l event like tennis!
***You know, that's pretty amazing considering how awful it was to make that trip back in '74 & how often players skipped the AO. Do you know how much $$ was involved?***
It couldn't have been much since The FO gave the most prize $$ for me around '78 @ $42,500 IIRC! The AO was in the basement; around those X's having 8 Aussies in the QF's! It was a true Nat'l champ. until Connors & Vilas started going down there! UPDATE: The single draw on Wiki shows $100,000 for the entire tourney so Vilas had to of made < than $40-45,000!
***Here are the "records" Murray shares w/ other players & the records where he "stands alone" essentially meaning that none of the Big 3 or any other player in history share w/ him.
ReplyDeleteRecords tied:
1st 4 major finals lost - rec. tied w/ Lendl
5 runner up finishes @ a slam - tied w/ Lendl & Djokovic
R-up & all 4 majors - tied w/ Federer & Lendl
2 cons. R-up finishes @ AO - tied w/ Cash, Denton & Edberg
Won the Queens Wimbl. double twice - tied w/ McEnroe & Sampras
3 OM's overall - tied w/ Mike Bryan & Gonzalez
Stand Alone recs:
Reached final of next cons. major after winning 1st title (USO '12 win & final of Aus '13)
Winner of OG & USO in same yr ('12)
Winner of 2 cons. OG in singles
5 singles titles @ Queens
Only player to finish as R-up @ AO 5 X's
Murray currently sits on 3 majors, w/ 2 Wimbledons & a USO. Djokovic has 4x the majors Murray has, & Fed has 6x the majors. Will Murray be happy w/ his career?
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...Sampras only lost 4 major finals in his career (14-4, >er W/L ratio than anyone else currently in slams).***
Pete's decline had already begun in 2000, extending to dropping a 2nd Rd 5 set Wimbl. match to George Bastl of Switz. in '02! Sampras actually went over 2 yrs w/o a title in a stretch w/ a win over his USO pigeon, Andre Agassi in '02!
***I think Murray has done fine for his career. Perhaps he could've won 1 or 2 more of the slam finals, but that c/b seen as disrespectful to his opps too, all of which have been players that are >er than him. 3 slams & 8 other finals, A WTF title. YE #1, 2 OGs, & a DC title. - The reality is Murray has a very avg. FH & serve, the 2 most important shots in tennis. His offensive game's not nearly as good as Fed, Nadal, & Djokovics. He's had a very good career.***
...Nole's total w/ 5 YEC's; 4 in a row! It makes Nole superior, making him a firm #3 of all X IMO!
***I'd say Murray did underachieve. He needed someone like Lendl earlier on in his career that would make him play more agressive on his FH & get him in the slams mentally. Around 6-8 slams is what he should have achieved IMO. He could still end up w/ around 4 or 5 though. ...He still managed to get to #1 & build on his legacy after that.***
...I seem to remember Graf was a very aggressive player who = as a child 'S & V'd!' People remember the moniker coined by Bud Collins, "Fraulein FH," but that developed in '87 for some reason where she abstained from going to the net un< drawn in! She got away w/ it initially, overtaking the ensconced duo of Navr. & Evert, actually beating them both @ the '87 Lipton Int'l! ...Seles came along in '89, but it was too late! Graf was chained to that baseline by then & allowed Seles to steal matches b/c she refused t/b more aggressive save her Wimbledon efforts taking 7 titles!
It seems the same thing happened to Murray who was a lot more aggressive & got to the net closing out pts 10 yrs ago! ...He's already 30 & the Next Gen's upon him! Sooner or later they're going to start taking the "Big 4" down w/ evidence of it this season; Djokovic & Murray in a spiral of losing seldom seen until this era of top players! When each has "taken" their turn dominating, usually a couple really fall off w/ an injury or quality of play! We've been spoiled by the excellence of Nole; prob the most consistent player since Borg, winning on all surfaces, though homogenized! His run had to come to an end sooner or later! We just didn't think there w/b this much of a collapse since '16 FO w/ Nole only taking 1 Masters 1000 event! ...Murray's already dropped FO & Queens pts.!
***Reps elected a crazy person & are shocked that crazy things are happening. Too dumb.***
ReplyDeleteNothing new really! I think they all went culturally insane over 35 yrs ago when their patron saint, Reagan manifested himself as their GAWD! To this day his name's invoked blindly, but if his policies were looked @, he w/b excommunicated from the RNC before the next full moon! The hypocrisy only gets more bizarre when these same people who were so thrilled about how an indep. counsel harangued the Clintons, now they're bemoaning the mandate of "looking for a crime" when the initial investigation goes nowhere! I have to laugh; esp. w/ Trump who thought nothing of ranting about how Hillary needs t/b "locked up" and now he's "feeling it!" Poor baby!
***...When did we ever see the killed & wounded reported under Obama like it was weekly under Bush? Yeah never, like magic as soon as Obama won it stopped.***
Well the main reason was "W" lied to the world & started those 2 wars! Does WMD's ring a bell? Obama promised to get us out; which he did = if you'd love for us to keep blowing "blood & treasure" when it isn't to our benefit! That's all I hear from Reps; "self interest!" Please tell me why we bombed Iraq back to the "Stone Age" then rebuilt them just as "the right" keeps complaining we're doing again & again?
***Let the lies flow thru you. All Trump's doing is what he promised in spite of all you obstructionist criminals.***
Whenever I hear I cons, Rep, or = that ORANGE clown invoke "obstruction" I have to laugh after what they put Obama & the country thru w/ their tactics of trying to make sure he was a 1 term president! = after all they did, he still accomplished more than most & has made a name for himself w/ the passing of Nat'l Health; something that's been tried for 100 yrs! And all Trump & his minions can come up w/ is "repeal & replace" when "they got nothing!" This whole yr will go by w/o a single piece of legis. being passed; Trump'll lead the way in being a feckless leader!
***Trump never put Obama thru anything except the agony of his criminal skank being defeated.***
How smart was it of Trump to embarrass himself as the leader of the "Birther Movement?" Trump showed his bigotry harking back to Obama being an "affirmative action" student; "lets see those transcripts!" We know what The Donald's records would look like; "POD!" This is why Reps are so easily fooled; their memories are atrocious! ?ing the nationalism, patriotism, religion, & citizenship of a 2 term president just doesn't make any of you look too bright!
***Yet his actions for 8 yrs makes me ?? anyone who supports a proven traitor and race baiter.***
You have no idea who the fuck I support! I was stating proven fact; cons & Reps showed themselves t/b a bunch of bigots & racists allowing their ignorance to bloom all 8 yrs of the Obama Admin.! The lack of respect for the office was unprecedented! Of course Trump & his minions will point out what's going on now, but he's the one acting like a TROLL on social media, insulting our Intel agencies, the hardworkers of the system, & corrupting the Justice Dept.!
***The lack of respect of the presidency was from Obama himself, from ignoring the law to running around Congress...He lived by the EO; he died by it.***
Totally oblivious aren't you? You mean like TRUMP today? Gawd you guys need help! Trump has passed ZERO pieces of legis.! He has all of Congress behind him & he's gotten nothing done! What a bunch of idiot! Dems don't have to obstruct; your own incompetence is enough!
***...why did Hillary "bleach bit" 30,000 emails that had been subpoenaed? And why did her tech people plead the 5th?***
ReplyDeleteTruly disturbed; "Hillary this" & "Hillary that!" Maybe I can go back & rail about what Nancy Reagan did while 1st Lady! Get lives geniuses; all of you! Trump won; live w/ it! Deflecting his incompetence & yours by invoking names of Hillary, Susan Rice, Lois Lerner, & Loretta Lynch is so old & passe! It really just shows all your misogyny, bigotry, & low IQ's! Get over it!
Truly disturbed; "Hillary this" & "Hillary that!" Maybe I can go back & rail about what Nancy Reagan did while 1st Lady! Get lives geniuses; all of you! Trump won; live w/ it! Deflecting his incompetence & yours by invoking names of Hillary, Susan Rice, Lois Lerner, & Loretta Lynch is so old & passe! It really just shows all your misogyny, bigotry, & low IQ's! Get over it!
***Do you understand Reps have been writing their health plan behind closed doors? Dems accepted over 130 GOP amendments when writing Obamacare. Reps won't = let the American people know what's in the GOP plan. Dems took 18 months, NOT 18 days.***
W/ the followers of the Rep Party so accepting of "nothing getting done," we'll all be deserving of getting screwed over! Voting for that witch in GA proves they don't = care if the candidate's a stupid, evil, lightweight piece of shit, as long as there's an "R" behind her name, that's good enough!
***Are you saying Dems don't do the same?***
No they don't! Reps have won "blue states" = w/ a decent candidate for the Dems; Reagan's landslide in '84 proves that! When it comes to Reps, esp. in the SOUTH, they all vote in a BLOCK, usually cued like Pavlov's Dog w/ the same attacks that seem to work; Pelosi, Clinton, Rice, Lerner, & other powerful women "will destroy your way of life!" IDIOTS! And they say they aren't misogynist pigs! Governorships, State Houses & Senates have been taken over, so obviously all Dems aren't voting for Dems since there are more of them!
***That's your opinion...there are enough lefties in this forum who blindly follow anyone w/ a D by their name to tell me they are no diff. than many righties.
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Everything the Rep Party touches on turns into steaming crapola--- Benefiting only their rich masters.***
I have to keep saying it like a parrot, Reps can't get shit done = though they own it all! W/ a totally secure Rep Congress, re-enforced w/ spec. elections to fill seats left open by members going into Trump's cabinet, they can't get the simplest piece of legis. passed, relying totally on reversing EO's of Obama! It's more than a lit'l pathetic & sad, but no more sad than the supporters who don't seem to care that everything's @ a standstill w/ nothing getting accomplished! There have been no tax cuts, no repeal/replace of the ACA, or = much more than grandstanding over a wall that's to be paid for by Mexico! This Congress has passed exactly ZERO pieces of legis. & have only threatened the electorate w/ pieces they know have lit'l to no chance of passing! I guess Trump & this Congress w/b thought of as "place holders" & lit'l else when studied! Thank goodness for "CR's" or we'd be in serious economic trouble! Obama left things in pretty good shape so Trump & his lame supporters haven't had to deal w/ a crisis arising during the waning yrs of "W" admin!
***Well it's clearly not health care-- not just wealth care either-- it's death care.***
A lot of people voted for it so what can be said? They don't know what they're losing until it's lost! Morons! I've lost sympathy for us all if that many people actually prefer this kind of chaos over "business as usual!"