Howdy. This is just a quick update to let you all know that I'm enroute to Miami, and will be posting on the Sony-Ericsson Open* starting late tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm glad that most of the top seeds are still in the hunt; it seems like forever since I've seen the entire cast of characters vying for space on center stage. I'll be in Miami in time to catch the evening matches, which feature Fernando Gonzalez vs. Radek Stepanek(I shaved my back for this?). Seriously, though, Gonzo is a big draw in Miami (the tournament has sometimes been calledThe Grand Slam of South America*), and I'll certainly get accustomed to life under fire as he loads up those big groundies. So it's all good with me.
And how 'bout that Taylor "Brokeback" Dent? He's on the comeback trail, and looking at Roger Federer as his next opponent. Ouch.
A note about Typepad: I am beginning to think that the "new" Typepad can't adequately accommodate the needs that have developed at this website. I think many of the upgrades the parent company (SixApart) has instituted are good ones, albeit not for us because of the way this site has organically developed. I am not, first and foremost, an Internet-head, nor an IT wizard. I'm not even an amateur geek. I'm a tennis journalist. And as you all know, everyone else who helps me out is a volunteer. So we are really at the mercy of the software providers - unless we choose to roll up our sleeves (or call someone who can) and seek out custom solutions that will enable us to run the site exactly as we wish.
We're going to look into some of these options, but that doesn't help us in the short term. Even in the best case scenario, re-structuring this weblog in a way that's seamlessly integrated with our Tennis.com servers etc. will call for weeks of work, by a number of people. So for now, what you see is what you get.
To that end, I'm going to ask you all to resist the "instant message" temptation, avoid point-by-point match calling, and try to remain on-topic even at these Crisis Center posts (and certainly at the upcoming red-meat posts). While Rosangel has done great work giving you new CC threads when we've hit the 500 comment mark, it also comes at a cost. A new or casual reader going to Tennis.com will see Tennisworld and a short table of contents (headlines) that reads like something out of an advanced physics textbook. That doesn't really help attract or grow our base of readers, as large, friendly and knowledgeable as it already is.
To that end, there will be just one "overflow" post per day and I may even eliminate that one in the coming days. That means you'll be able to post about 500 comments per post, and then the tank will be full.
Meanwhile, one option that ought to be more appealing than ever is our FacebookTennisWorld group. Our social director, Jackie Oh!, has posted all the information you need to join the group on numerous occasions - just click on the Deuce Club category on the menu on the right hand side of this blog and scan her most recent posts for instructions. Or, just go directly to Facebook and make contact through that site.
If any of you have suggestions on how we can create a chat room within the bubble of TW, which is what the Your Call and Crisis Centers have become, please send it on. For example, if we can embed a link in every post that takes you right to what is, in effect, a streaming conversation a la CC posts at their peak a few months ago, that may be the way to go. I will be discussing this and other options with the Tennis.com team and others in the days to come. It doesn't appear that we can ever be what we were, but maybe we can minimize the changes and, who knows, maybe even improve the overall experience. It's an awkward time to have to deal with this, so thanks for being patient. I'll be back with you tonight or tomorrow, early.
-- Pete