Thank GOD for Tennis: Goolagong-Cawley, Evert, Borg, and McEnroe, Too
09/29/2009
I'm a U.S. citizen, retired, and living in Chengdu, China with a Chinese wife. I've always said that Chengdu is the world's biggest city that nobody ever heard of. Chengdu is located East of the Himalayas and has been called Paradise. The weather, while hot in Summer, is not too hot. Not as hot, for example, as Beijing while is much further North. Spring comes early in Chengdu. In Winter, it never snows. Ok, maybe sometimes it does snow but it never accululates. The Winters are really too cold for me even though the temperature only rarely falls below 32 degrees F (0 degrees C). The reason is probably because of moisture in the air.
I love tennis although sometimes I'm frustrated in Chengdu because it's not on television. For example, there was much coverage of the French Open but no coverage of Wimbledon. I watched CCTV5 every morning at 7 AM for tennis highlights of Wimbledon. I usually (not always) already knew the results from browsing the web. www.wimbledon,com is especially good at relaying point by point results.
In the past, I served as a marshal at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 Tennis Tournament. I served two years as a marshal. The highlight of these two years was undoubtedly having a short conversation with Ivan Lendl while escorting him from the Practice Courts to the Player's Lounge. I asked a very stupid question: "Do you think you'll win this tournament?" His answer was surprising. He said, "What's the difference?" This led to a very short conversation on his philosophical outlook about life.
After two years as a marshal, I switched to being an Usher because you could watch more tennis that way. I always had the same assignment which I believe was the North Grandstand at Center Court.
I had just read some comments on a Yahoo forum. They were (seriously) making the same points that you were poking fun at. They said that...
Darren Wong replied…
Depends on what you mean by 100%. In my opinion, Federer at 100% is practically unbeatable...
Very interesting comments. Maybe Robin's movement is not all that good but I like his chances to stay in the top 10. I'm writing this before...
Hey Donald,
I can now post on other people's BB and not use PM, Yeah! If you could please check out my latest installment. It's a follow-up article to one on Twitter and sports that I wrote in August. Please check it out and tell me what you think. Thanks in advance!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/264543-bleep-tweet-the-nba-bans-twitter-should-other-leagues-follow
56 days ago
If you could write about your conversation with Lendl, if you remember that is. Or if you have already done so, shoot me a link please.
Thanks. Glad to meet you :-)
57 days ago
Please read: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/263933-tennis-community-bulletin-help-wanted
58 days ago
"I asked a very stupid question: "Do you think you'll win this tournament?" His answer was surprising. He said, "What's the difference?" This led to a very short conversation on his philosophical outlook about life."
I would really like if you can elaborate on the conversation you had? I would really appreciate that.
thanks!
58 days ago
yeah I read it - it was interesting, thanks for letting me know
here is what i think
I think the crux is – he wants to say …. The stat h2h is skewed – because rodge is good enough to reach the finals. If he isn’t even that good then he wont meet Rafael – and the h2h wont be that skewed
Hence if rodge was only demented enough to care about h2h – he probably should not even reach the final to meet Rafael
Hence STE makes some sense …. To a certain extent – it does because it creates a more level playing field
But here is a thoughtful question
Does GOAT depend on rigorous statistical mechanics such as these? Trust me and I know the value of math
But I think the GOAT discussion is far far more than just the stats and math
If one wants to argue against rodge – here is my only ques
Am not even going to go the 15 slams …
But try coming anywhere close to 22 straight semis? Beat that – that’s the only stat you will need
Cheers
60 days ago
We witnessed an absolutely eventful US Open this time, dotted with numerous incidents. Here's a pictorial compilation of all those moments in the singles draw which stood out and caught our attention during those 15 days.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/256972-some-moments-to-remember-from-the-2009-us-open
Hope u can have a look into it.
Thanks.
70 days ago
Hi Don! I got your request for an edit, and I will comply in the morning. Been a tough day for me, otherwise it would have been done already!
71 days ago
Wrote this 3 months ago, please check it out and leave a comment with context from today
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216828-juan-martin-del-potro-the-rafa-killer
It's not an "I told you so", it's more like when you discover a great band long before they hit it big, then spend a long time telling people "this band is frakking awesome and they're going to be huge" and finally spend the next 3 years saying "I spotted them when they weren't big", because you want a little credit and attention based on a pointless prediction. yea, I'm pathetic
73 days ago
Great Debate: Bronze Medal
Where's Your Wisdom, Roger Federer's So
Received 25 comments • August 19, 2009
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Hotnuke said...
DeleteDonald,
I really thought you’d find this piece something you’d want to read on this Veteran’s Day.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/288145-sports-veterans-day-reflect-understand-and-soften-your-heart
Thanks,
Daniel Barber aka Hotnuke
16 days ago