Misunderstandings, paranoia, drive-by insults: Now I know what constitutes most of the discourse on this blog. We can do better, don’t you think? If you can’t say something interesting or useful or at least polite, keep it to yourself. My vast team of moderators and I are going to be quicker with the delete button from now on. Of course, that may be a recipe for no comments at all, but it’s still better than spending three hours on a post and having someone graffiti it up with “First!” or “You’re always WRONG!”
Onward and forward . . .
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“I don’t think Rafa will be going all out for this tourney . . . remember Rafa now has bigger fish to fry.”—1963USCtennis
I don’t mean to pick on you, USC, you seem like a decent guy (or girl, as the case may be), even if you did accuse once me of being a racist for mentioning that Pancho Gonzalez was a Mexican-American (that was you, right?). I also like the moniker—what was that, Stan Smith’s freshman year or something?
But while you were right that Nadal wasn’t going to win the tournament, your comment reminded me of a lot of comments from fans of particular players here. As a tournament is starting, they’ll offer a pre-excuse—a pre-cuse—for their player's potential loss. It’s kind of like the fan’s version of what Lleyton Hewitt used to do before big events: According to his coach, Darren Cahill, Hewitt would regularly come down with some sort of nagging injury right before the tournament; he may have done it unconsciously, but it was a way for him to take a little of the pressure off of himself.
If your player loses, he loses, there’s no shame in that, and there’s no need to lower expectations beforehand
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“Great! Thanks, Steve. Now I KNOW WHO IS NOT GOING TO WIN!”—Resa
“Thanks for the jinx Steve. If you prediction does “not” come true as usual. I would rather take the semis Nadal prediction, mean he won’t make it to the semis.”—Spacenoxx
Dry cool wit like that never goes out of style. But again, I don’t make the picks to be right. I make them to be interesting, at least to myself, without being totally implausible. The most appropriate response to my picks is to make your own.
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“Slightly pedantic technical question: What’s the difference between an up and the line shot and a down the line shot?”—Andrew
I thought we went over this in person, didn’t we? They’re one and the same, no difference at all.
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“Ah yes, kind words at the presser…well maybe not so kind.
Rafa at his post-match presser: “This isn’t a surprise for me. I didn’t play well,” said Nadal....
I guess since he grabbed the No. 1 spot from Fed, Rafa decided to grab No. 1 ‘arrogance/it’s all about me’ spot as well.
And no I don’t actually believe that. What I do believe, I KNOW, based on history, is that if Roger had uttered thise words at a post loss presser, he would be tarred and feathered…”
Good loser, like much else, is in the eye of the beholder.”—CL
Tick tock, tick tock, it must be time for an unnecessary Fed-Nadal comparison. When I mentioned a “kind word in the presser” in my post, I wasn’t talking about what Nadal said after his loss. I hadn’t even seen it, and he didn’t really say many kind things about Melzer—you're right, it wasn’t Nadal’s most gracious moment, though he did say that the guy played well, which you didn’t mention. What I was talking about in my post was how the effort and energy Nadal gave at the end of the match was what being a good loser is all about, as much as all of the other stuff.
The post-loss comment comparison doesn’t work because not only would Federer and Nadal not use the same words, they would never say them in the same voice, with the same tone or mannerisms or accent or anything else. They’re quite obviously two different people, with two different histories and personalities, and any reporters in the room, or anyone watching on the presser videos that are now available all over the Internet, would be responding to all of that as much as they would the words themselves.
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“i just don’t get the lovey-dovey stuff toward Rafa, if Fed lost matches like this back in his heyday, shockwaves would resound and it’s a big fuss…”—Tim
Great point, you’ve put your finger on something I've been thinking for a long time: Roger Federer has never gotten his due from the media.
For example, why would Peter Bodo, the dean of American tennis writers, coin the term The Mighty Fed, when he could have said, The All Mighty Fed? Makes you think, doesn't it?
And how about the New York Times, titans of the lamestream media? Did you see that biased attack on him from a few years ago, “Federer as Religious Experience”? What, Roger's a Christian nutjob now?
Or ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, with their April cover story: “Who’s the World’s Greatest Athlete? Roger Federer Looks the Part.” Why the question mark? Clearly an anti-European publication.
My point is: Yes, you can quibble with some isolated reactions to Federer’s press conference answers, but in assessing the media’s relationship to him, you can’t also then ignore the tons, tens of tons, of glowing press that he’s received over the years.
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Wow, I have to agree with the posts that say if Fed said he was "tired," etc, etc, after a loss, he would be crucified by the press and this site for his "arrogance." Even more remarkable is the fawning over Rafa for losing in the third set but he still "put a charge in the building" while losing; and then he had a "respectful" hand shake. Geeze Louise why don't you applaud him for doing up his shoe laces right?! If Fed loses (even closely in the final set) he's lambasted for getting old or being too arrogant to change his ways. As for a "respectful" handshake, nearly every match I've ever seen has a respectful handshake at the end and it's certainly nothing worth glorifying anyone over.
I like Rafa, I like him a lot. It's great that Rafa and Fed have so much respect for each other, it's too bad the media isn't nearly as level-headed. If Rafa loses to someone he clearly shouldn't lose too--that's ok, no worries, and man, he was such a good sport about it. If Fed loses, it's sad, pathetic, and if he made the EXACT SAME COMMENT as Rafa just did, he would be displaying his narcissistic and conceited self.
Get some balance guys.—Jer
Sorry, Jer, I will continue to praise players as I see fit, whether they’re Rafael Nadal or Juan Monaco. Or Roger Federer: click here for that one. It is possible to like more than one player.
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Tignor, why is it you so consistently have the worst predictions? Nadal to win? Federer taken out by soderling? Early Exit by Murray? Isn't watching tennis your job? If i did my job that pourly I wouldn't have one!—cscharap
You, a person who spends their time anonymously and unpleasantly reminding a tennis blogger that his semifinal predictions for a tournament in Shanghai were wrong, unemployed? Impossible.
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Have a good weekend.