Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Well...enough said.

[don_budge]

"Thoughts about Tennis Tradition..." over 13,000 views. The conversation was not restricted to tennis. There was a poster who apparently objected to my writing about other things other than tennis but it seems that the post has since been deleted. Oh well...you can't please everybody.

I started this thread on May 20, 2011. I was fairly new to the forum and I wasn't greeted by exactly open arms either. I may have ruffled a few feathers. Afterall...tradition is a bad words nowadays. Even referring to trying to resurrect a certain country to a former status is taboo in many places. Not sure about the forum these days. I am very careful to not actually spell it out. I have two strikes you know. I'm walking on egg shells.

The tennis these days? Terribly boring. The forum these days? Well...there is the Big Three. The ATP Finals thread got 45 posts and all by the Big Three. Well, well...you can't please everyone. You can't point out the obvious either. Not with two strikes. I threw a soft ball at a poster. Then I was muzzled. Jannik Sinner is as boring as it gets. He tested positive twice for a banned substance...it was more or less swept under the rug. Christmas approaching on the radar screen. Even that tradition is slowly being eradicated. Tennis metaphoring life. What a great thread this was. Thirteen years..13,000 views. Three a day? That's quite a few. I haven't really written much the past couple of years. Ever since Roger left the stadium. It was a great run. Sort of nostalgic now.

I returned to the little tennis club in Skultorp, Sweden the other day. The guys were going to play a match and invited me to come and watch. It turned out that it was cancelled. The other team didn't show. So the four guys were practicing. They greeted me with a sort of an awestruck look. Almost exaggerated respect. I have come to expect that from them. Great kids. No longer kids though. Two of them have taken over much of the training hours at the club. I couldn't be prouder. Happy too. To think I did all that. Not in a shy way either.

[don_budge]

"Thoughts about Tennis Tradition..." over 13,000 views. The conversation was not restricted to tennis. There was a poster who apparently objected to my writing about other things other than tennis but it seems that the post has since been deleted. Oh well...you can't please everybody.

I started this thread on May 20, 2011. I was fairly new to the forum and I wasn't greeted by exactly open arms either. I may have ruffled a few feathers. Afterall...tradition is a bad words nowadays. Even referring to trying to resurrect a certain country to a former status is taboo in many places. Not sure about the forum these days. I am very careful to not actually spell it out. I have two strikes you know. I'm walking on egg shells.

The tennis these days? Terribly boring. The forum these days? Well...there is the Big Three. The ATP Finals thread got 45 posts and all by the Big Three. Well, well...you can't please everyone. You can't point out the obvious either. Not with two strikes. I threw a soft ball at a poster. Then I was muzzled. Jannik Sinner is as boring as it gets. He tested positive twice for a banned substance...it was more or less swept under the rug. Christmas approaching on the radar screen. Even that tradition is slowly being eradicated. Tennis metaphoring life. What a great thread this was. Thirteen years..13,000 views. Three a day? That's quite a few. I haven't really written much the past couple of years. Ever since Roger left the stadium. It was a great run. Sort of nostalgic now.

I returned to the little tennis club in Skultorp, Sweden the other day. The guys were going to play a match and invited me to come and watch. It turned out that it was cancelled. The other team didn't show. So the four guys were practicing. They greeted me with a sort of an awestruck look. Almost exaggerated respect. I have come to expect that from them. Great kids. No longer kids though. Two of them have taken over much of the training hours at the club. I couldn't be prouder. Happy too. To think I did all that. Not in a shy way either.

It appears that one of the very top leading ladies in Women's tennis has been suspended for suspected drug infractions. Is there a double standard here? Let me tell you something...there is. There always is. It all depends on who you know or how much you have. It's largely political and therefore forbidden to discuss. So I won't. Not at all. Politics are expressly forbidden to discuss here on the. forum. Except they are related to tennis in this case. So it might not be forbidden. The discussion is so limited these days it is hard to tell if it is voluntary or something else. Sinner seems to have skated any penalty. Even though...oh well. This is how these things go. Innocent until proven guilty. Or hearsay, rumors and innuendo. Backstabbing. It's all in the game. Did you know that William Tilden II wrote a book called "It's All in the Game". I did. I have it on my shelf here in Sweden. Brought it from America. The land of the free and the brave. It's a decent book. Of interest to true tennis connoisseurs. Probably of little or no interest to modern day tennis aficionados. But a true student of the game would find it fascinating...as I do.

[don_budge]

2025 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

I'll keep this brief...so as to not disturb the regularly programmed forum narrative. I watched bits a pieces of a number of matches. Just abysmally boring. Let's not mince words. The one shining star of the tournament was courtesy of Novak Djokovic...who as I predicted is relevant until he is not. His take down of "Kid" Alcarez was just textbook. No muss...no fuss. The downside to this is that the most interesting player in the bloated draw remains to be the 37 year old mega champion. It wasn't Zverev that took Novak down...it is good old Father Time. He's catching up. But to the credit of Novak...his faith is keeping him in the game. His signal to heaven after every single match win is a give away. The man believes.

I watched bits and pieces of Madison Keyes in the final too. This is a wonderful story. For her to win her first Grand Slam title at this point in her career is a wonderful testimony to her and her supporting crew. I absolutely loved the fact that after she blistered yet another forehand winner on match point she collected herself and went directly to the net. She didn't drop prostrate on the court like every single drama queen including the men do nowadays. Give her a hug...a hearty congratulatory hug. Amazing!

Personally...I am hanging in there. Yesterday I did 350 pushups...7 sets of 70. Thirty then twenty after a brief rest and then twenty more after a set of 140 "flutters". Just trying to hang around. Stay in shape. On the mental health side of things, I stopped logging onto my computer five days before Christmas and once I made it that far I stopped completely. Now just minimal logins to do financial, incidental shopping and emails. Most done by phone. I have divorced reality...the new virtual morality. Do I feel better? It's a long, long story. Biblically speaking.

By the way...Donald Trump is the President of the United States. May God Bless America! Have you heard?

[neilchok]

Agree with Madison Keyes winning! Awesome win, and do agree on her professionalism. If you ever get a chance check out freedom.to, awesome internet blocker. It links to all your devices, and adds a lock mode, which you can't get out of. Have to call vendor. You can setup different schedules throughout the day. I am about a million times more productive and significantly happier. Working harder, and have more energy. Took more vacations and have been going to the beach rather than going on a YouTube rabbit hole.

Had to block a lot of tennis websites, was watching too much

Agree with you biblically, maybe not though on the president part