RANT: R.I.P. Tyrbolift

[Orlando1234977]

And remember, over on the women's side, we're afforded a glimpse into what happens when you remove football and baseball from the equation. Best soccer players in the world. Serena Williams, 23 Grand Slam tennis titles, if you're counting that's five more than the swiss Roger.

[Dominik]

Serena Williams, 23 Grand Slam tennis titles, if you're counting that's five more than the swiss Roger.

Women's tennis doesn't have the depth of the men's game so it's a lot easier to dominate.

How do you rate rings won in the WNBA? Same as LeBron and co.? Didn't think so.

Serena wins a lot of matches with brute force and serving faster than almost everyone else. She's no Federer. I won't even try to explain what goes into playing a shot like Federer's forehand.

How many pros started playing tennis after high school? Unlike farley, I assumed you'd be able to follow the line of logic...

My point was no one's walking into tennis from another sport at pro level and having any success. You have to start young.

"At the age of 3, Sampras discovered a tennis racket in the basement of his home and spent hours hitting balls against the wall."

"Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old."

"The tennis story of Andre Agassi began very early in his life. He was already playing at the age of 3 and was considered a special talent at the age of 5."

[Farley1324]

O probably beat a couple of those guys in high school

[Orlando1234977]

My point was no one's walking into tennis from another sport at pro level and having any success. You have to start young.

Of course I understand your point. My point is the professionals step from a much smaller pool. If tennis was the way to fame and fortune and freshman panties all our prime times would be playing it from a young age. We’d be stacked with Serenas up and down the line on the men’s side. Everyone knows I’m right, that’s why they call me Dr. 3-time.

[Dominik]

Of course I understand your point. My point is the professionals step from a much smaller pool. If tennis was the way to fame and fortune and freshman panties all our prime times would be playing it from a young age. We’d be stacked with Serenas up and down the line on the men’s side. Everyone knows I’m right, that’s why they call me Dr. 3-time.

I get where you're coming from. It's not that popular in the US these days. As we've discussed before, back in the good old days of the 70s, 80s, and into the 90s a lot of kids there would have grown up watching McEnroe-Connors and Sampras-Agassi at Wimbledon and the US Open.

However on an international level the competition is too strong. The money is there for the top players. Federer nearly a decade past his prime consistently hauls in $60m+/yr mostly from endorsements. According to Forbes Djokovic earned over $55m last year which is more than anyone in the NFL.

http://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/

Not taking anything away from football, basketball, etc., but you could take a kid in his mid-late teens with the right physical attributes and coach him into a decent athlete. Won't be an Aaron Rodgers or LeBron James but under a system with a good coach average athletes can still enjoy some success. Case in point: Spurs, Patriots, etc. That's not going to happen in tennis.

[chazzy1864]

O probably beat a couple of those guys in high school

laff!

[Orlando1234977]

Not taking anything away from football, basketball, etc., but you could take a kid in his mid-late teens with the right physical attributes and coach him into a decent athlete. Won't be an Aaron Rodgers or LeBron James but under a system with a good coach average athletes can still enjoy some success. Case in point: Spurs, Patriots, etc. That's not going to happen in tennis.

This is where we disagree. You can take a kid that can't make the football or baseball team and have him play tennis and he'll match up against other kids that couldn't make the football or baseball team and have some success. This is why I have my reservations about declaring Roger the best athlete in all of sports. Serena won 23 slams, probably because there's a better chance we're bringing our best women to the competition (because they played competitively their entire lives). Interesting debate though!

[Orlando1234977]

Petrov! You're in for Joe Thomas. Let's go now boy drive em back.

[Dominik]

This is where we disagree. You can take a kid that can't make the football or baseball team and have him play tennis and he'll match up against other kids that couldn't make the football or baseball team and have some success. This is why I have my reservations about declaring Roger the best athlete in all of sports.

Nope. Hate to break it to you but there is no Roger Federer lurking in the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. just like there is no Michael Jordan in tennis. Freaks like that generally find their way into the sports they're best at.

Federer is easily as gifted as anyone in those sports and how he dominated his sport in his prime coupled with his longevity makes him one of the greatest ever in sports, period.

The reason he earns more in endorsements than any other athlete is because he's a) one of the most recognizable, b) isn't a douchebag, c) is a family man whose wife isn't chasing him down with golf clubs, and d) has demonstrated a level of ability never before seen in the sport.

I mean when you watch basketball, do you think LeBron is better than Jordan? Results wise, talent wise, skills wise, I don't see it. However in tennis you can't name a player past or present more gifted or successful than Federer. No one made winning look easier.

[Dominik]

Just to add to that, take football for example.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most recognizable athlete on the planet and the highest paid. Is he the best of all time?

He's not even the best Ronaldo.

[Farley1324]

Most recognizable athlete in the world...but I've never heard of him lol

[Dominik]

Most recognizable athlete in the world...but I've never heard of him lol

See those shaded areas? There's almost 7 billion people living there.

[Orlando1234977]

Nope. Hate to break it to you but there is no Roger Federer lurking in the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.

ugh, is that what you think my argument is after all that explanation? Maybe I'll put it another way after the ball game.

d) has demonstrated a level of ability never before seen in the sport.

Except of course Serena who has won 5 more grand slams. Oh but she's a woman.

[Dominik]

Except of course Serena who has won 5 more grand slams. Oh but she's a woman.

Do you rank WNBA achievements equal to NBA? Y/N?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Cooper-Dyke

4x WNBA champ + 4x Finals MVP. Must be better than LeBron.

[Dominik]

My favorite roid raging moment from Serena.

[KeithSA]

This is where we disagree. You can take a kid that can't make the football or baseball team and have him play tennis and he'll match up against other kids that couldn't make the football or baseball team and have some success. This is why I have my reservations about declaring Roger the best athlete in all of sports. Serena won 23 slams, probably because there's a better chance we're bringing our best women to the competition (because they played competitively their entire lives). Interesting debate though!

I don't really understand where you're getting at, is it a) two kids with no tennis background would match up one against another and one of them would be better, seems rather obvious. Or b) kid with no tennis background would have success against kids with tennis background because of his football or baseball experience (despite being mediocre there), which is simply wrong.

Tennis isn't a sport where the average kids can succeed, unlike team sports like football, baseball or even basketball. You can't play good fundamentals in tennis, there ain't role players there. The playing field as a whole is a lot more skill-demanding than the other sports.

[Orlando1234977]

Do you rank WNBA achievements equal to NBA? Y/N?

Of course, why wouldn't it? Doesn't mean you have to be a fan but the accomplishments are ever bit as impressive... considering basketball is a primary seasonal sport for girls.

I don't really understand where you're getting at

I can see that. It seems like you're reading dom's responses and thinking he's responding to my argument. But this is the rant so what else is new.
What if the number of kids that started playing tennis at age 5 increased by 100000000% and continued their dedication uninterrupted. Would that potentially increase competition across the board?

[Orlando1234977]

I don't really understand where you're getting at, is it a) two kids with no tennis background would match up one against another and one of them would be better, seems rather obvious. Or b) kid with no tennis background would have success against kids with tennis background because of his football or baseball experience (despite being mediocre there), which is simply wrong.

Tennis isn't a sport where the average kids can succeed, unlike team sports like football, baseball or even basketball. You can't play good fundamentals in tennis, there ain't role players there. The playing field as a whole is a lot more skill-demanding than the other sports.

Alright Keiths a, looking back I'm not 100% pleased with my response from last night. Apparently I didn't notice that you quoted me and highlighted the item you were talking about. I could accuse myself of not following a line of logic with my response.

So to answer, the post you quoted was simply a response and disagreement to a point. Out of the two options you gave, you'd be right in the first option you gave "a) two kids with no tennis background would match up one against another and one of them would be better, seems rather obvious." I agree it seems rather obvious, which is why I used it to support my point. However, if the tennis team cuts kids that aren't good enough and the other programs do as well then of course neither would be right, generally speaking.

Looking forward to all the commie commercials paid by soros on sun, go pats.

[Lencho]

Talking pros O. ATP Tour. Not club players at Lencho's Dong Ranch.

The Dong Ranch Open is referred to as the "unofficial fifth leg" of the Grand Slam.

True story.

[Lencho]

So basically you're bragging about beating guys on the high school tennis team.

Lol, this actually is a true story.

I played basketball in high school for four years, baseball for two. Spring of my Jr. year, I decided to drop baseball because I wasn't going anywhere with it. Decent fielder, accurate arm, could play most positions. But, I wasn't gonna hit .300 at the Varsity level, so I decided to focus on the hoops.

Started hanging out at tennis practice because a good friend of mine was the no. 1 on the team. Also, the tennis coach was hawt.

The no. 2 was a douchebag that nobody liked, and my friend convinced me to play a set against him one day. I had played some in the past, but struggled with the serve. Got coached up enough by my friend to consistently get a serve in and beat the guy 6-4.

Coach asked me to join. I flexed the diamond-cut biceps, gave her a, "How you doin'?" and said, "No thanks, I'm good."

[Lencho]

See those shaded areas? There's almost 7 billion people living there.

Meh, I like Blunt's map better.

[Lencho]

das wassup

[Orlando1234977]

Lol, this actually is a true story.

I played basketball in high school for four years, baseball for two. Spring of my Jr. year, I decided to drop baseball because I wasn't going anywhere with it. Decent fielder, accurate arm, could play most positions. But, I wasn't gonna hit .300 at the Varsity level, so I decided to focus on the hoops.

Started hanging out at tennis practice because a good friend of mine was the no. 1 on the team. Also, the tennis coach was hawt.

The no. 2 was a douchebag that nobody liked, and my friend convinced me to play a set against him one day. I had played some in the past, but struggled with the serve. Got coached up enough by my friend to consistently get a serve in and beat the guy 6-4.

Coach asked me to join. I flexed the diamond-cut biceps, gave her a, "How you doin'?" and said, "No thanks, I'm good."

Yep that's who I woulda put my money on guess that's why they call me Dr. 3time. 6'4 wins 6-4.

[Orlando1234977]

Rick Barry's boy plays for the Gators and has made 29 straight free throws, you guessed it, underhanded.
das wassup
I'll have to get up nice and early tomorrow morning if I want an all day fire Super Bowl Sunday.

[Lencho]

Who you got the big $ on today, Señor Tres Veces?

My heart says Hotlanta, but I fear otherwise.

[Orlando1234977]

Who you got the big $ on today, Señor Tres Veces?

My heart says Hotlanta, but I fear otherwise.

I'm more interested in taking down IU in the 2nd half..
No big $ on the SB, if so though I'd roll with the better defensive team, NE. I'd also take the over for Lady Gaga and over 3 corporate commercials pimping propaganda.

[Orlando1234977]

Big props to Lady Gaga she rocked the house with her talent to entertain and left out the propaganda like everyone predicted (unless I missed it). Too bad same can't be said for some of these companies (probably advertising with dirty money).

[Orlando1234977]

No big $ on the SB, if so though I'd roll with the better defensive team, NE.

lol this game is always so easily predictable. (+WI boy tore it up)
-uncle o

[Dominik]

[Dominik]

I guess you could say the Falcons are feeling deflated...