Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

In Honor of Thanksgiving Day...and the warriors that perished not so long ago.

A Thanksgiving Prayer to those that perished and to those that survive...not so long ago. For Richard Gonzales...he with Aztec eyes. They hunted you...you never backed down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S-jdXJ0H4w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVVKDB0EP-0&feature=related

Indian Sunset- Elton John

As I awoke this evening with the smell of wood smoke clinging
Like a gentle cobweb hanging upon a painted teepee
Oh I went to see my chieftain with my warlance and my woman
For he told us that the yellow moon would very soon be leaving
This I can't believe I said, I can't believe our warlord's dead
Oh he would not leave the chosen ones to the buzzards and the soldiers guns

Oh great father of the Iroquois ever since I was young
I've read the writing of the smoke and breast fed on the sound of drums
I've learned to hurl the tomahawk and ride a painted pony wild
To run the gauntlet of the Sioux, to make a chieftain's daughter mine

And now you ask that I should watch
The red man's race be slowly crushed
What kind of words are these to hear
From Yellow Dog whom white man fears

I take only what is mine Lord, my pony, my squaw, and my child
I can't stay to see you die along with my tribe's pride
I go to search for the yellow moon and the fathers of our sons
Where the red sun sinks in the hills of gold and the healing waters run

Trampling down the prairie rose leaving hoof tracks in the sand
Those who wish to follow me I welcome with my hands
I heard from passing renegades Geronimo was dead
He'd been laying down his weapons when they filled him full of lead

Now there seems no reason why I should carry on
In this land that once was my land I can't find a home
It's lonely and it's quiet and the horse soldiers are coming
And I think it's time I strung my bow and ceased my senseless running
For soon I'll find the yellow moon along with my loved ones
Where the buffaloes graze in clover fields without the sound of guns

And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold
And peace to this young warrior comes with a bullet hole

[don_budge]

Activities in the Kingdom...Fair play and higher aspirations. Part II

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/sp...f/05score.html

http://golf.about.com/od/rulesofgolf/a/noncdrivers.htm

I like to think of tennis and golf as God’s gift to mankind in terms of recreation.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/28/sport/golf/golf-belly-putter-ban-bradley/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

Once again golf trumps tennis in preserving the tradition of their sport and recognizing that the use of some equipment gives others an unfair advantage over another...a cardinal sin when playing in the Kingdom.

Belly putters used as anchored to the body are banned as of 2016 giving those golfers maladied with the yips a couple of years to seek therapy before they will be forced to hang themselves in the barn for missing short and ultimately important putts late in the round.

Read some of the quotes and you will see familiar arguments from some of the stooges in tennis that are against equipment standardization and were supportive of the original transgressions. Also note that there are those interested in preserving "integrity" in the game. That used to be the most important thing...before it became money.

[don_budge]

Brainwashing...and today's fervent minds.

“Television is by nature the dominator drug par excellence. Control of content, uniformity of content, repeatability of content make it inevitably a tool of coersion, brainwashing, and manipulation.” -Terrance McKenna

Money and television. These are your modern day gods. Both gave their blessing to Howard Head when he "created" the Prince racquet. There is your "evolution" geoffwilliams...it's not evolution at all. It's cheating...what you pretend to abhor. But you are the "equipment guy"...so that makes it alright. In your eyes. But it's all good...simple statements of fact. No emotions...no accusations.

It was cheating when they "bent" the rules in the first place...by pretending that they did not exist. It is still cheating today but nobody cares. This is why the performance enhancing drugs are ignored. Is that cheating? Of course it is, but nobody cares. To care would upset the status quo which would mean rewriting the financial statements not to mention take some titles away...ala Lance Armstrong. There are no rules except those that the ruling class make and the rest must follow. Tennis has become much like life...where the object of the game is to learn the rules. Tennis is a corporation. It doesn't care about the legacy of Lew Hoad, Richard Gonzales or Ken Rosewall.

But years ago tennis was ruled by "tennis etiquette" and one rule governed all. Thou shall not seek unfair advantage over your opponent. What you have today is the result. Seek that advantage at all costs...leave no stone unturned. For those too young to remember...study this example in modern day ethics and then take a good hard look at what is going on around you. Look at your school, your place of work, your family...then finally look at your country. Listen to the doublespeak of the politicians. Forget the past...it's a New World Order. Trust them? Tennis is a microcosm of life and therefore a worthy example...at least metaphorically speaking.

"Make boats go slower...planes without wings." Your use of the word evolution makes me want to gag. Björn Borg and John McEnroe...now that was evolution. Tennis was a living thing and the use of the wood was the Golden Rule...the wood gave the game life. Sadly "they" killed it...there is no other way to put it. Sampras, Edberg and Becker...television icons at best. Pure and simple...they were engineered for television. We will never know how they compared with Hoad, Gonzales and Laver. They were playing an altered version of the sport. Why is it important? Why would someone cling to the past? Why would someone cling to the way that it used to be? Go and ask the Indians and talk about traditions lost...or the only other option is to stick around and see what happens next...and look around.

In 1984...John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert all used oversized equipment at the U. S. Open for the first time. I was there and on the scene with a coaches pass...I was spellbound by the tennis. I could hardly believe my eyes. Neither could Ivan Lendl as he barely eked by Pat Cash by saving a handful of match points. Cash...was using a Prince Magnesium which was being touted on TV by one Eric Korita in a commercial. Remember that name? Of course not. He was merely a shill...a mouthpiece for the corporation. Lendl should have an asterisk by his name in the Hall of Fame for having the biggest cajones of them all and being the last to cave in to the equipment. That is testimony as to just how good he was.

Arthur Ashe was hawking a new mid-size Head racquet. It was amazing how everyone rolled over. All it took was a little grease...a little cash money. I could see the disparity in the Lendl/Cash match up in the stands...the disparity in the equipment. Cash was not nearly the player that Lendl was but the equipment made up the difference. Tennis was at the crossroads and even the best players in the world had to submit...they were forced to admit that the game had crossed the line. That line of demarcation where tradition ends and the new age begins. John Newcombe in the semifinals against Stan Smith of the veteran's singles was also using a Prince racquet. It was almost sacrilegious.

Bud Collins called it the greatest day of tennis ever without batting an eyelash. He never mentioned the equipment. He merely gushed and regurgitated what the smart money was selling. The commercials on television during that first "Super Saturday" in tennis were awash with Apple computers...they were mere dinosaurs to what we carry around in our pocket today. Orwell had it pegged. It was 1984...what an amazing call, George, if only symbolically...if only you had lived to see it. Progress? To where? To what? We shall see. Connect the dots...come on, give it a try.

Nobody ever said anything about going back to wood racquets strung with gut. You jump the gun with your fervent speech. Another diversionary tactic. I want to state clearly so that there is no misunderstanding. Tennis is in wanton need of standards for the equipment. Frames and strings included. The court specifications also need to be addressed. Don't tamper with the dimensions unless you want to create a parallel universe. tennis_chiro had it right with his screenplay. Maybe the script should call for some revolution where the people win back what was theirs. Make it an epic!

The parallels drawn should give you reason to wonder...reason enough to ask yourself the question "Why?". But it won't. Such is the nature of the brainwashed. Today's fervent mind. You don’t really miss Lew Hoad, Laver or Rosewall nor do you respect them. You have ridiculed them in the past saying that they wouldn’t make the top one hundred in today’s wonder world of modern tennis. But as Stotty suggests...you win. But trust me...it is no victory for you or the rest of the herd. This is one that I am proud to lose. At least I stood up for the one I loved...true to the very end. But that is just the kind of guy that I am.

[stotty]

Great post...

“Television is by nature the dominator drug par excellence. Control of content, uniformity of content, repeatability of content make it inevitably a tool of coersion, brainwashing, and manipulation.” -Terrance McKenna

Money and television. These are your modern day gods. Both gave their blessing to Howard Head when he "created" the Prince racquet. There is your "evolution" geoffwilliams...it's not evolution at all. It's cheating...what you pretend to abhor. But you are the "equipment guy"...so that makes it alright. In your eyes. But it's all good...simple statements of fact. No emotions...no accusations.

It was cheating when they "bent" the rules in the first place...by pretending that they did not exist. It is still cheating today but nobody cares. This is why the performance enhancing drugs are ignored. Is that cheating? Of course it is, but nobody cares. To care would upset the status quo which would mean rewriting the financial statements not to mention take some titles away...ala Lance Armstrong. There are no rules except those that the ruling class make and the rest must follow. Tennis has become much like life...where the object of the game is to learn the rules. Tennis is a corporation. It doesn't care about the legacy of Lew Hoad, Richard Gonzales or Ken Rosewall.

But years ago tennis was ruled by "tennis etiquette" and one rule governed all. Thou shall not seek unfair advantage over your opponent. What you have today is the result. Seek that advantage at all costs...leave no stone unturned. For those too young to remember...study this example in modern day ethics and then take a good hard look at what is going on around you. Look at your school, your place of work, your family...then finally look at your country. Listen to the doublespeak of the politicians. Forget the past...it's a New World Order. Trust them? Tennis is a microcosm of life and therefore a worthy example...at least metaphorically speaking.

"Make boats go slower...planes without wings." Your use of the word evolution makes me want to gag. Björn Borg and John McEnroe...now that was evolution. Tennis was a living thing and the use of the wood was the Golden Rule...the wood gave the game life. Sadly "they" killed it...there is no other way to put it. Sampras, Edberg and Becker...television icons at best. Pure and simple...they were engineered for television. We will never know how they compared with Hoad, Gonzales and Laver. They were playing an altered version of the sport. Why is it important? Why would someone cling to the past? Why would someone cling to the way that it used to be? Go and ask the Indians and talk about traditions lost...or the only other option is to stick around and see what happens next...and look around.

In 1984...John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert all used oversized equipment at the U. S. Open for the first time. I was there and on the scene with a coaches pass...I was spellbound by the tennis. I could hardly believe my eyes. Neither could Ivan Lendl as he barely eked by Pat Cash by saving a handful of match points. Cash...was using a Prince Magnesium which was being touted on TV by one Eric Korita in a commercial. Remember that name? Of course not. He was merely a shill...a mouthpiece for the corporation. Lendl should have an asterisk by his name in the Hall of Fame for having the biggest cajones of them all and being the last to cave in to the equipment. That is testimony as to just how good he was.

Arthur Ashe was hawking a new mid-size Head racquet. It was amazing how everyone rolled over. All it took was a little grease...a little cash money. I could see the disparity in the Lendl/Cash match up in the stands...the disparity in the equipment. Cash was not nearly the player that Lendl was but the equipment made up the difference. Tennis was at the crossroads and even the best players in the world had to submit...they were forced to admit that the game had crossed the line. That line of demarcation where tradition ends and the new age begins. John Newcombe in the semifinals against Stan Smith of the veteran's singles was also using a Prince racquet. It was almost sacrilegious.

Bud Collins called it the greatest day of tennis ever without batting an eyelash. He never mentioned the equipment. He merely gushed and regurgitated what the smart money was selling. The commercials on television during that first "Super Saturday" in tennis were awash with Apple computers...they were mere dinosaurs to what we carry around in our pocket today. Orwell had it pegged. It was 1984...what an amazing call, George, if only symbolically...if only you had lived to see it. Progress? To where? To what? We shall see. Connect the dots...come on, give it a try.

Nobody ever said anything about going back to wood racquets strung with gut. You jump the gun with your fervent speech. Another diversionary tactic. I want to state clearly so that there is no misunderstanding. Tennis is in wanton need of standards for the equipment. Frames and strings included. The court specifications also need to be addressed. Don't tamper with the dimensions unless you want to create a parallel universe. tennis_chiro had it right with his screenplay. Maybe the script should call for some revolution where the people win back what was theirs. Make it an epic!

The parallels drawn should give you reason to wonder...reason enough to ask yourself the question "Why?". But it won't. Such is the nature of the brainwashed. Today's fervent mind. You don’t really miss Lew Hoad, Laver or Rosewall nor do you respect them. You have ridiculed them in the past saying that they wouldn’t make the top one hundred in today’s wonder world of modern tennis. But as Stotty suggests...you win. But trust me...it is no victory for you or the rest of the herd. This is one that I am proud to lose. At least I stood up for the one I loved...true to the very end. But that is just the kind of guy that I am.

Now that was one hell of a post! Thanks for sharing that one with the forum.

The key thing for me is "comparison". I want to compare Mac with Federer...Hoad with Murray...Nadal with Borg. We can never do that now. Such comparisons can only be a games played out in our minds...riddled with the bias and prejudice that we all suffer from.

A truly great post, don_budge...well played.

[stotty]

Boxing doesn't move forward

Sport always moves forward...someone always comes along and takes things to another level...equipment aids the process...then...comparisons with past athletes becomes impossible. Athletes from all sports get faster, bigger, stronger, better, better, better, and better than ever before...or do they?

I just watched a replay of the 1971 Ali versus Frazier fight on ESPN. That sport can't move on in terms of equipment...same gloves...shorts...that's it. No one boxes as well as Ali and Frazier anymore...not even close. Boxing has gone backwards. The past was better in that sport, far better.

If you keep equipment static, things can hit a peak.

[don_budge]

Calibrate! For meaningful measurements and results.

If you keep equipment static, things can hit a peak.

I spent many years in quality control. If you want to measure something first of all...you must calibrate your equipment.

In any experiment of any significance you must keep some things constant in order to observe results that are meaningful.

Thank you Stotty for your observations. This forum seems to be making some headway into perceiving reality. Read the first pages of this thread. I cannot believe we have come this far.

Comparing players of today with those of the past is the respectable and honorable thing to do. Tennis has made a mockery of this aspect of the sport.

[don_budge]

A Winter's Night...turns into a Winter's Day

Last night a heavy snow fell here in Sweden. The snow is softly falling...like a blanket of virgin white the countryside is covered. There is no more beauty than this. Peace and quiet. Pure loneliness. The morning light steals across the window pane of my bedroom window. Where webs of snow are drifting.

I can look forward to a day of shoveling snow...while contemplating the McEnroe forehand and...well for once, I cannot find the words. But that is only because...there are none. There are no words for what I feel on this winter's day. There's just that song that plays over and over in my head...I read again between the lines upon each page...on this winter night with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVG2eF40hzE

Song for a Winter's Night...Gordon Lightfoot

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon each page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are lifting
The morning light steals across my window pane
Where webs of snow are drifting

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you
And to be once again with you

[don_budge]

Moe Norman...on the 5 1/2 inches between your ears

More golf on the run...take a couple of minutes out of your busy day and listen closely to this guy. Moe Norman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rIq1aPKi1w

Sometimes when I was watching this he reminded me of the Dennis Hopper character in "Apocalypse Now". He is quite an astounding character. He is expounding on the mental side of golf...he is quite fascinating. He's like the "Rain Man" of golf.

[stotty]

Moe is not for Stotty

More golf on the run...take a couple of minutes out of your busy day and listen closely to this guy. Moe Norman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rIq1aPKi1w

Sometimes when I was watching this he reminded me of the Dennis Hopper character in "Apocalypse Now". He is quite an astounding character. He is expounding on the mental side of golf...he is quite fascinating.

I liked Dennis Hopper's film character (an outstanding part...that part was made for Hopper) far more than Moe Norman. Overcoming self-doubt and the demons in your head is something all golfers and tennis players must do - unless you're blessed with a super sized ego. I found Moe a complete sceptic and irritating after about five minutes. I felt like I was being dressed down...and I don't play golf.

[don_budge]

Ted Gärdestad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs6UFYifZ2E

För Kärlekens Skull...Ted Gärdestad

Utanför fönstret slår våren ut,
Marken blir grön igen
Allt som var dött väcks till liv
Det kan också vi, så länge vi andas

Ute till havs styr en fiskebåt
Längs en fri horisont
Den gungar så tryggt in mot hamn
Som jag i din famn så länge vi älskar

Det är för oss solen går opp
Och lyser som guld för kärlekens skull
Solen går opp så oskuldsfull
Och lyser på oss för kärlekens skull

Högt på ett berg står en katedral
Och pekar upp mot skyn
Men det är för himlen i dig
Och jorden i mig, vi älskar varandra

Det är för oss solen går opp
Och lyser som guld för kärlekens skull
Solen går opp så oskuldsfull
Och lyser på oss för kärlekens skull

Lyser som guld för kärlekens skull
Lyser på oss för kärlekens skull

There is a tennis angle for the above...För Kärlekens Skull. Ted Gärdestad was
also a very promising tennis player. In 1970 he was the second best junior tennis player in Sweden...second to one Björn Borg.

His was a tragic figure...he ended up committing suicide. Dogged by mental illness much of his later life, he ended it at the age of 41. He chose...not to be. Hamlet posed whether to be or not to be. Very, very sad. A beautiful song he left us with...testimony to his sensitive nature. Life?...it isn't fair. Is it? Come to think of it...nobody ever said it would be.

[stotty]

Art Larsen RIP

Shame about Art Larsen. My father always talked very fondly about his tennis...and all his tap...tap...tapping. Handsome chap as well in his youth. I tried to find some clips of him but could find nothing...such as shame when players like that die and their games get lost forever...no digital age for players like Larsen. I guess you had to be there to see him at the time or you just missed out.

From what I have read and what my father told me, I would just loved to have seen Art play.

My father saw Art play and others like him such as: Kramer, Gonzales, Hoad and Rosewall. They all played at a tournament in Didsbury here in the UK.

[don_budge]

John McEnroe vs. Björn Borg... 1981 Wimbledon Final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nECFscrEXfI

John McEnroe clad in Sergio Tachini with a Dunlop Maxply Fort. Björn Borg decked out in Fila with his beloved Donnay. The epitome of the evolution of the classic game of tennis. The climax of the whole shebang. Classic good guy vs. bad guy. The Iceberg Viking vs. the Volcanic American. What more could you want? Why would you "fix" this?

At times it appears that they are playing ping pong or badminton such is the artistry and the mastery of their craft. But in the end...lawn tennis at its very best. Like two great fencers wielding rapiers...probing for weaknesses and looking for the kill. Stab, parry, thrust. Each point an independent duel. On the whole...a finely woven tapestry of serving and volleying, of lobs and drop shots, of groundstroke exchanges, complete with passing shots that have a wonderful combination of touch and speed...of the likes we will never witness again. Just like the wear and tear in the grass...the path to the net. This was the last time a final at Wimbledon would be played with both players using wood racquets.

Nostalgia? No...it's something else. An appreciation for the truth of tennis as a true student of the game. Watch the continental gripped game of McEnroe dethrone the King of Lawn Tennis. I remember watching this in anticipation from the previous years final.

All of the original traditions and rituals were dutifully being observed. Even Johnny Boy was on his best behavior. He had to be...he knew somehow what was at stake. The game...and everything in it. Say what you want about him. On this day he paid proper homage to the sport of tennis.

[don_budge]

Message in a Bottle...The Police

It can be lonely when you embark down the path of the continental gripped tennis game...go ask bottle. When he's ten feet tall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbXWrmQW-OE

Message in a bottle...The Police

Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
With no one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair

I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle, yeah

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart

I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle

Walked out this morning
Don't believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home

I'll send an SOS to the world
I'll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle

[don_budge]

1984 Wimbledon...Tennis at the Crossroads. The Grey Zone.

Here is the match. A story to follow. Please be patient. Patience is a virtue...good things comes to those who wait. So they say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Ypdrb4nIw

[bottle]

Re # 133, "Message in a Bottle"

So long as it's not "TP in a Bottle" by Nicholas Sparks, a novelist and even movie producer who makes me go "YECCCHHHH."

But the Police version is okay. So too "MS. in a Bottle" by Edgar Allan Poe, especially at the end of the story when the main character's ship goes down in a whirlpool (caused no doubt by a fissure in the earth's crust swallowing all ocean everywhere).