Friday, September 17, 2021

Even More Tennis

Immediately after Daniil Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic, ESPN ran this awful chyron:


After going 44-6 on the tour, including 5-2 in Masters tournaments and a stunning 27-1 in Major play, the best thing they could come up with is "Fell 1 win shy of the Grand Slam"?!  This type of stupid sports journalism inspired my first Djokovic rant.  Be positive, it's tennis for god's sake!  It's not like he came 1 second shy of defusing a bomb.  How about "Compiles historic second 27-1 season in Major play"?  

On another positive note, Australian Dylan Alcott deserves more coverage.  He won all four Majors in Wheelchair Quad Singles play this year, and he also won the gold medal at the Paralympics for a Golden Slam.  Since 2015 there have been eighteen Majors in Wheelchair Quad Singles and Alcott reached the finals in seventeen of them.  He won fifteen.  He also reached the finals in twenty of the last twenty-one Doubles finals in Major play--he didn't attend the one tournament--and he won the finals eight times.  Unsurprisingly, he's ranked #1 in the world.

Alcott is also an accomplished cager, with a gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and a silver from the 2012 games in London.  He also won gold at the 2010 World Championship and a bronze in 2006.

Here's how he celebrated his victory at Flushing Meadows.


“There was no chance I wasn’t going to skull that beer on Arthur Ashe after I just won the golden slam,” he said.  “I just want to leave the sport in a better spot for the next generation of young tennis players to come, wheelchair tennis players and tennis players in general,” he said. “I hope I played a very small part in that.  I’m proud to be disabled.  I’m proud to play wheelchair tennis. I ’m proud I’ve won the golden slam in wheelchair tennis.

“I want to be me.  I’m proud of me.  I’m proud of the journey that we’ve had.”

That's how you should cover sports.

76 comments:

rootsminer said...

I did not see the transition of G:TB to a tennis blog coming.

Squeaky said...

I caught that clip live but missed the preamble of his historic win(s). So I was wondering why they were showing a guy slamming a beer poured into what I thought was replica trophy. Pretty damn amazing string of wins.

TR said...

Even! More! Tennis!

When is the MaliVai Washington deep-dive coming?

Marls said...

MaliVia is a real estate investor in Jacksonville. Danimal should do that profile.

Whitney said...

Great story about Alcott. Love that shit.

rootsminer said...

Guy on fox sports radio news update just used the Washington FT's old offensive nickname to reference last night's win over the Giants. Slip of the tongue or flip of the bird?

Whitney said...

Also, that football game last night was intermittently embarrassingly sloppy and thoroughly inspired.

But tennis! I’m good with more tennis. Maybe a Zman series What Famous Tennis Player Is A Gheorghie?

I’d like to see myself as a Borg but I’m probably more like Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party hitting those idiotic tennis homers.

rob said...

i want to know who z casts as ilie nastase

Danimal said...

MaliVai lives in tony Ponte Vedra Beach and on the "boulevard" if not mistaken. His wife and an acquaintance of mine in the golf biz were hard-core workout pals at my Y - every workday at 5:30 with their own boot camp, and difficult regimen. I say "were" b/c he and I are no longer members. I'm sure they still do their thing but somewhere else. I still see her on occasion but have not had a MaliVai sighting in eons - the last one though he was with Furyk and a bunch of kids and other fathers at a local sports bar after a youth game of some kind. As an aside, this acquaintance is of Asian descent and played hockey for Harvard. Not something you see every day. Please don't cancel me.

TR said...

The reason I brought up MaliVai is b/c I always rooted for him. Those of us born with big quads stick up for each other!

Danimal said...

Who I could do (but won't) a profile on is Cliff Drysdale. His tennis mgt company and ours share the same parent. He attended and spoke at our last big corporate boondoggle in Scottsdale a couple of years ago. We're besties, or at least co-workers.

Danimal said...

You know what they say TR, "big quads, big...."

TR said...

...big nads. Yep.

rob said...

big chafing?

zman said...

Reality TV star Maurice Fayne, also known as Arkansas Mo, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for his role in a Ponzi scheme. Charges include conspiracy, wire fraud and bank fraud.

Capitol rioters are getting sentenced to anywhere from 8 months to zero jail time whatsoever. Charges include corruptly obstructing and impeding the certification of the Electoral College vote count; Civil Disorder; Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Assaulting, Resisting or Impeding Certain Officers; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Impeding Passage Through the Capitol Grounds or Buildings; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building; Obstruction of Justice/Congress; Unlawful Possession of a Firearm on Capitol Grounds or Buildings; Unlawful Entry or Remaining on Restricted Grounds without Lawful Authority; Carrying a Pistol without a License Outside Home or Place of Business; Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device.

Who says there's no such thing as white privilege?

Danimal said...

Good Norm interview that Marc Maron just recycled. Going to miss that guy. I already felt as if we didn't get enough of him when he was with us.

Marls said...

The Quad Squad?

Marls said...

The world needs more Cliff Drysdale stories.

TR said...

Tough afternoon for Joey Bides. Which Republican do you all think will be President in 2024?

zman said...

Joe Manchin

rootsminer said...

I'm not sure that would be a job upgrade for the Senator from Pharmacoaltucky. I doubt much that's happening now sticks in the memory of the electorate in three years.

Marls said...

Mini-summit in the works as we speak. Allright, allright, allright

TR said...

Just made my first apparel purchase from Homefield - a retro CU shirt. Kinda wish I didn't know that site existed. I removed UC Irvine and Indiana State shirts from my shopping cart at the last minute. Really high chance I browse again after a few drinks and buy all kinds of dumb awesome stuff there.

Marls said...

Danimal/Marls scotch-rye-bourbon tasting in effect. Taco alonzo may visit.

Whitney said...

Nacho Lopez!

Marls said...

Internet friends is an amazing thing.

Whitney said...

I’m down at the Martha Wood. Was supposed to be a quick trip for just last night, as I had tickets to music in Va Beach tonight. This cottage, it’s just hard for me to leave her. Wish you cats were here listening to the waves crashing with me.

rob said...

where is that summit taking place, danimarls?

rob said...

barnburner of a high school football game here in leesburg this evening. kidlet's school dropped one, 32-27, to a cross-town rival. our school had talked a lot of shit all week - we're a perennial local power and the opponent is historically pretty crap. they earned it tonight, though. our star running back and virginia tech commit ran for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns, but we turned it over too many times and failed to score in the final seconds. other kids deserved it. fun to watch.

Mark said...

Internet friends are indeed amazing. We joke about this place but in less than a week we’ve had two first time (I assume) mini summits. Look at us, out here making the internet better.

Mark said...

Speaking of fun to watch, Louisville-UCF is bringing it.

Mark said...

Seriously. Turn this game on.

Mark said...

And to TR’s point about being oblivious of Homefield…I own gear from Tulane x 2, Memphis State, Fresno State x 2 , Indiana State and fuck ton of Gator shit. And plenty more on the way.

Danimal said...

I turned the game on as the pick 6 was happening

Danimal said...

Great mini summit with the Marls. The internet wins yet again. The summit Rob took place at the Sidecar in bustling Jacksonville.

Dave said...

i love g:tb as a tennis blog! great stuff . . . much more fun than tribes hoops.

Whitney said...

Tribe football favored by 12.5 at Colgate today. Take the Raiders and the points.

TR said...

I am in Boulder at the CU-Minny game. To be clear, the CU coeds are not wearing flannel and fearing AIDS. Very much the opposite.

Mark said...

Marlin followed his summit with Dan with a trip to Gainesville and The Swamp. Reports from the ground are that the atmosphere is terrific. Hope my guy gets to see a good game.

Danimal said...

Yeah, Marls has a pretty good wkd in store even with a Jags game on the docket.

I get to go to a cul de sac goodbye party for a couple I hardly know and what I do know....meh. And the kicker is it is at 5pm. Pretty pumped.

Another Norm podcast....Conan, Andy Richter and Norm's long time producer saddled up and discussed why the guy was so great. One of the highlights was the story behind "the moth" joke that he told on Conan's show which I had not heard. Definitely worth the listen.

rob said...

rolling out to see harry styles this evening. i think it’s the first indoor show for me since the beginning of the pandemic.

Danimal said...

https://youtu.be/YxD3pT8C9-A

The moth joke if you are not familiar

rob said...

hope you eschewed whit’s gambling advice

Mark said...

Bama is beating Florida either way but the amount of benefit of the doubt they get on penalty calls/non-calls is pretty staggering

Danimal said...

Fla gaining some MOJO. That extra point hopefully will not cost me with my Over bet.

Heading to the cul-deez-sac. Pumped.

Whitney said...

Yep, I botched it. I thought we were bad; Colgate is terrible.

Headed to see Patton Oswalt perform tonight in Va Beach. Ready for far more than a chuckle.

Danimal said...

No one cares but yes that missed extra point is going to be the difference.

Mark said...

I fucking hate losing but I’m pretty proud of that Gator team. Tough as shit, mentally and physically.

Danimal said...

That was a good loss if there ever was one.

rob said...

the fashion show at this concert is something to behold

Mark said...

Postcount, Rob.

rob said...

old dude taking photos of young girls is a potentially fraught concept

Mark said...

Well…that’s not exactly what I meant.

TR said...

Rob - Take some Olivia Wilde photos for me, plz. Tell her it’s for the T-Bone. She’ll know what that means.

Penn State and its fans are really feeling themselves at the moment, but what if Auburn sucks? Sure, they’re ranked, but early season rankings are dumb and their two wins are against nobodies.

Mark said...

Bo Nix sucks. That I’m sure of.

Whitney said...

Patton Oswalt crushed it tonight. I’ll watch that guy tells jokes for hours on end.

TR said...

Bo Nix is having a Rosen-esque CFB career

zman said...

I don’t know who Bo Nix but I googled him and it said he just got engaged to Izzy Smoke. Izzy Smoke-Nix will be a funny name. Seems like they are too young to get engaged but what do I know.

TR said...

1) VMI is ranked in the FCS Top 25 and W&M is not.
2) W&M’s soccer team has not sniffed the Top 25 in an awfully long time
3) W&M’s business school was recently ranked #58 in the latest US News ranking

Tribe Pride is hard to have these days, my friends.

Marls said...

Awesome game. Fantastic environment. Saturdays in the South really are pretty damn good. The fact that Gainesville got rid of their open container law this week made it even better.

Mark said...

Florida is a top 5 public university. Which means I couldn’t sniff the place coming out of high school, or Chowan. But I’ll meet Marls for the next trip. And I’m counting Dan in as well.

Mark said...

As for Bo Nix. His Dad was an Auburn QB. He was supposed to be great (5 star) but he’s decidedly average. He’s currently sponsored by a Sweet Tea company (Milo’s) but, again, he’s average.

I’m from the south but not of the south so I’ll take a pass on an opinion on young marriage…

Mark said...

Do you have a problem? I do. I’m flipping between Oklahoma State-Boise State and Arizona State-BYU at midnight on a Saturday night.

TR said...

I’m locked into ASU-BYU. Entertaining. But then again, I’m in a different time zone.

rob said...

what the heck happened to florida state's football program?

Mark said...

My family is asking the same question.

Things were kind of broken when Jimbo bounced (similar to Florida when Urban left) and it’s gotten much worse since due to internal issues and the Willie Taggart hire. I think Norvell is a pretty good coach but he went for a quick fix and dipped into the transfer portal heavily this offseason. That’s tough to do in terms of culture and getting everyone to buy in. Especially when you start the season like they have. Going to be a lot of guys playing for themselves. Can’t say I’m sad to see it.

Whitney said...

I gotta take some of the blame for W&M’s business school dropping in the rankings, TR.

TR said...

Sam Ponder sure is easy on the eyes.

TR said...

That random W&M rant came after seeing the FCS standings y/day (and after having a couple drinks). I saw the biz school news earlier in the week. Being worse than VMI in anything is unacceptable.

rootsminer said...

I finally gave in and paid the damn peacock today. Got it squared away just in time for Spurs v Chelsea to turn to rubbish.

zman said...

Is paying the peacock analogous to feeding the geese?

Mark said...

It’s my first NFL Sunday of the season (was flying to Denver last week and my seat didn’t have a TV) and Redzone is down so I’m stuck watching the Jags for now. Please send help.

TR said...

Haha - I am also stuck w/ Broncs - Jags, which means it is errand time in the TR house. That game is making my eyes bleed.

Whitney said...

You could be watching the Jets’ rookie QB throw 4 picks in his first 10 pass attempts. Poor sap.

zman said...

The combination made my eyes bleed.

TR said...

Jets’s high 2nd round draft pick in 2020 was a 6’3” WR from Baylor who runs a 4.3 40. He was a healthy scratch today. Sweet.