Australian Open
- Thread starter sunshine
- Start date
Blake's a couple of years older than Federer, so despite the yearnings of the U.S. corporate media, Blake's never going to be the next great black tennis hope.
With Roddickeliminated again, the only prominent Americans left are Blake and the Williams sisters, this in a sport otherwise dominated by white Europeans. It's another obviousresult ofthe ongoing waragainst whitesthat the U.S. now rarely produces topnotch white athletes in sports where the role of blacks is minimal to non-existent.
With Roddickeliminated again, the only prominent Americans left are Blake and the Williams sisters, this in a sport otherwise dominated by white Europeans. It's another obviousresult ofthe ongoing waragainst whitesthat the U.S. now rarely produces topnotch white athletes in sports where the role of blacks is minimal to non-existent.
G
Guest
Guest
I disagree pretty much totally, as somebody involved in sports at the olympic level. There is no specific discrimination against white americans in tennis.
There are two main problems, the most important one being that tennis is not as popular here as it was 20 years ago, and good athletes today rarely choose to focus on tennis when they are 12. Tennis is a lot more popular in other nations, it is similar to the situation in boxing.
The other problem is that too many NCAA scholarships go to europeans, guys in their 20s, who are more advanced in tennis than 18 year old american men. NCAA teams want to win, they can win more with europeans than raw americans. The americans are losing out on their own nation's programs.
There are two main problems, the most important one being that tennis is not as popular here as it was 20 years ago, and good athletes today rarely choose to focus on tennis when they are 12. Tennis is a lot more popular in other nations, it is similar to the situation in boxing.
The other problem is that too many NCAA scholarships go to europeans, guys in their 20s, who are more advanced in tennis than 18 year old american men. NCAA teams want to win, they can win more with europeans than raw americans. The americans are losing out on their own nation's programs.
nevada said:
If you're referring to my post, try reading it again, slowly this time. That was exactly my point. In spite of the lack of discrimination due to the fact that there are few good black tennis players, there is a startling lack oftop white American tennis players.
I'd like to see the evidence forthe blanket statement that "good athletes today rarely choose to focus on tennis when they are 12." That reminds me of the claims one often hears that blacks "just aren't interested" in any sport they fail to dominate (which is 99 percent of them). To the contrary, kids and their parents who are serious about tennis both know that you have to focus at a very young age, beginning with lessons, competition, academies, etc., and there are still millions of young tennis players in the U.S., a small number of which are/will focus on tennis (and maybe another sport or two to see which is their best).
I'm also not convinced that "tennis is a lot more popular in other nations." Which ones are those, and what is the correlation between the popularity of tennis among the masses of a nation and the number of great tennis players it produces?
Also, 20s is too old to focus on becoming a world class player. It's the 18 year olds, actually the 12 to 15 year olds who are serious about becoming pros, who mostly become the great players.Edited by: Don Wassall
Matra1
Mentor
Serena Williams just lost to the Asiatic-looking Serb Jelena Jankovic. When they shook hands I got the impression that Serena gave her the brush off. Perhaps I'm so biased against the Williams sisters that I'm reading too much into it. The Italian-American and Hispanic female commentators immediately said Serena wasn't on her game. Maybe she just got beaten by a better opponent? Anyway it is hard not to like Jelena as she's always gracious and smiling.
Matra1
Mentor
I'm watching the Nadal match. A couple of minutes ago ESPN interviewed James Blake. When they returned to the match the South African commentator said Blake reminds him of Arthur Ashe. Why? Because of his intellect and his style of play, which is "very athletic".
I can't believe how I never noticed how the media use the word "athletic" before I started reading Caste Football. It just seems so blatant.
I can't believe how I never noticed how the media use the word "athletic" before I started reading Caste Football. It just seems so blatant.
Maria Sharapova crushed Henin, 6-4 and 6-0. Go Maria!
Meanwhile, Serena waited three hours before talking to reporters and wasn't as arrogant and classless as usual:
"I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," she said in a subdued voice. "I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors. I think regardless, the match was on my racket, and I gave it away.
"I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent. But as an athlete you know not every day you're going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent."
Try getting in shape, what a novel idea.
Meanwhile, Serena waited three hours before talking to reporters and wasn't as arrogant and classless as usual:
"I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," she said in a subdued voice. "I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors. I think regardless, the match was on my racket, and I gave it away.
"I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent. But as an athlete you know not every day you're going to feel 100 percent, and some days you have to win feeling 30 percent."
Try getting in shape, what a novel idea.
Don Wassall said:
I beg to differ Don. Those remarks sound as arrogant and classless as ever. "Had the game on her racket?" Means she lost it not that her opponant beat her. "Only 30%" another excuse for why she didn't win.
She should be upset she lost. look at her size compared to Jankovic
I watched the second half of the second set and even the announcers were commenting not just on Serena's lethargy but also on her poor fundamentals, particularly her footwork. Often times she just stood there flat footed and tried to wail on the ball. Sometimes it worked because of her sheer power but many times it didn't.
Gee another sport where blacks eschew fundamentals for their own style of play. Who'd have thunk it?
Gee another sport where blacks eschew fundamentals for their own style of play. Who'd have thunk it?
Nice to see the oafish Williams go under. Now if only the other one will lose we will be rid of them and there loutish father for the time being.
I'd pay real money for an honest weight on Serena Williams. I'm guessing 165.
As far as James Blake is concerned I really don't mind him too much. The problem of course is all of the undue media attention he gets.
Who is this Tsonga character?
I'd pay real money for an honest weight on Serena Williams. I'm guessing 165.
As far as James Blake is concerned I really don't mind him too much. The problem of course is all of the undue media attention he gets.
Who is this Tsonga character?
Quiet Speed
Mentor
Ana Ivanovic on to the semi-finals!
She takes down Venus with a wicked forehand being a critical factor in the match. She's able to hit an inside-out forehand (or down the line) with a little sidespin on the ball which will tail away from the opponent, something Jimmy Conners made a living off of. The mechanics are nothing alike though. She hit a number of those with some smoke for winners especially in the first set. She definitely rose to the occasion and held her composure at crucial moments in the match.
Watch out Maria!
Next opponent is Daniela Hantuchova.
Edited by: Quiet Speed
She takes down Venus with a wicked forehand being a critical factor in the match. She's able to hit an inside-out forehand (or down the line) with a little sidespin on the ball which will tail away from the opponent, something Jimmy Conners made a living off of. The mechanics are nothing alike though. She hit a number of those with some smoke for winners especially in the first set. She definitely rose to the occasion and held her composure at crucial moments in the match.
Watch out Maria!
Next opponent is Daniela Hantuchova.
Edited by: Quiet Speed
GWTJ
Mentor
Both Williams sisters looked old and sort of brittle. It was fun to watch the young Serbs take them out. During the Serena match, the commentators were saying that Jankovic and other Serb players were forced to practice in a drained swimming pool.
That Ivanovic will be doing commercials if she ever wins a slam! Very nice!
Ana IvanovicEdited by: GWTJ
That Ivanovic will be doing commercials if she ever wins a slam! Very nice!
Ana IvanovicEdited by: GWTJ
Ivanovic is another stunner. Two -ovics and two -ovas in the women's semis. I love it.
Don Wassall said:As I wrote above, not once did the announcers remark about Federer's or Tipsarevic's overwhelmingly obvious athleticism during their brilliant five set match. By contrast, just now I turned on ESPN 2 and two "Frenchmen" are playing. One is a real Frenchman, the other is named Tsonga, who faintly resembles Muhammad Ali.During thefirst minute I was watchingTsonga made a nice shot, and immediately the announcer exclaimed "What athleticism!"
Tsonga beat Nadal.I checked some of the reports about him. Theyare gushing over his athleticism, showmanship, charisma, and smile. Same ol' stuff.If this dude manages to beat Federer he will be hyped like you wouldn't believe. No doubt he'd crack S.I.'s cover.
Bart said:Don Wassall said:As I wrote above, not once did the announcers remark about Federer's or Tipsarevic's overwhelmingly obvious athleticism during their brilliant five set match. By contrast, just now I turned on ESPN 2 and two "Frenchmen" are playing. One is a real Frenchman, the other is named Tsonga, who faintly resembles Muhammad Ali.During thefirst minute I was watchingTsonga made a nice shot, and immediately the announcer exclaimed "What athleticism!"
Tsonga beat Nadal.I checked some of the reports about him. Theyare gushing over his athleticism, showmanship, charisma, and smile. Same ol' stuff.If this dude manages to beat Federer he will be hyped like you wouldn't believe. No doubt he'd crack S.I.'s cover.
I just watched the final two-thirds of Djokovic's straight set win over Federer, and not even a single time was Djokovic's "athleticism, showmanship, charismaor smile" mentioned by ESPN's caste whores. Not once.
Almost all the emphasis was placed on blaming Federer rather than praising Djokovic for playing a perfect match.But Djokovic is the third seed and the third-ranked player in the world; it's a big upset but was hardly out of the realm of possibility.
Chris Fowler did manage a weak (and inaccurate) acknowledgement that Serbia was bombed to bits in the 1990s, but he said it came from "the UN" rather than its actual source -- Washington, D.C., under Emperor Bill Clinton, one of a string of cowardly wars of aggression launched in the past decade by the Empire against defenseless targets.
It's great to see the Serbs playing so well. Much as I like Sharapova I'll be rooting for Ivanovic too. The Caste clowns will have a field day with the men's final as the "athletic," "charisma-laden" quadroon plays the Serbian worker bee. Cliche Central here we come, though as always the drunk white fans won't pick up on anything.Edited by: Don Wassall
reclaimsocal
Guru
Poacher said:
That's funny, I don't follow tennis AT ALL, and I was listening to the radio when they reported that Tsonga beat Nadal and used the usual Athletic, Charisma, Smile B.S. and I said, "He must be Black" (Plus they called him a Frenchman... lol). I jumped onto this thread because I was curious, and sure enough... Another Black "Frenchman" athlete in the news....
The women's final is on ESPN 2 tonight at 9:30 EST.
I was worried about that match-up for Federer. Last year's US Open final was closer than the straight sets victory would have you believe. Fed took his loss well..like a professional. Looking forward to the French.
As for Djokovic he is a beast. I hope he wipes the court with this overly emotional "Frenchman." Tsonga is having the tournament of his life. Funny how a guy can go from being ranked 38th just a few months ago to being able to steamroll the world #2. A more cynical man might suspect something was amiss.
Love the all-babe final on the women's side! Oink Oink.
As for Djokovic he is a beast. I hope he wipes the court with this overly emotional "Frenchman." Tsonga is having the tournament of his life. Funny how a guy can go from being ranked 38th just a few months ago to being able to steamroll the world #2. A more cynical man might suspect something was amiss.
Love the all-babe final on the women's side! Oink Oink.
GWTJ
Mentor
Congratulations to Maria! She really steamrolled the competition in this tournament. She was sort of under the radar but ended up shining brightest.
I really wish there was a way to get people to see the blatant racism of the media when announcing sports. Especially in regards to who looks athletic and who doesn't.
We should have a thread that reports on sports events and gives a recap of the announcers adjectives used to describe the athletes. We obviously couldn't do every sporting event but we could do the ones like the mens tennis final tomorrow where you have a white vs black player. Once we got a substantial collection of results we could summarize and post them on forums all over the internet. We would have cold hard data to back up our position that announcers are biased and programmed.
It would be something we could all volunteer to contribute to and might be an interesting thread for newcomers to visit.
I really wish there was a way to get people to see the blatant racism of the media when announcing sports. Especially in regards to who looks athletic and who doesn't.
We should have a thread that reports on sports events and gives a recap of the announcers adjectives used to describe the athletes. We obviously couldn't do every sporting event but we could do the ones like the mens tennis final tomorrow where you have a white vs black player. Once we got a substantial collection of results we could summarize and post them on forums all over the internet. We would have cold hard data to back up our position that announcers are biased and programmed.
It would be something we could all volunteer to contribute to and might be an interesting thread for newcomers to visit.
Djokovic is definitely a beast. It looked for so long that Federer had no real competition other than Nadal on clay. Now all of a sudden there's a new sheriff in town. Will be interesting to see what happens at the French Open.
Tsonga of course was the people's choice, as he would have been in any white country. But Novak earned a lot of respect from tennis fans. Little Serbia is dominating tennis along with otherSlavic nations. Will the neo-cons retaliate by bombing white, Christian Serbia again from 18,000 feet?Edited by: Don Wassall
Tsonga of course was the people's choice, as he would have been in any white country. But Novak earned a lot of respect from tennis fans. Little Serbia is dominating tennis along with otherSlavic nations. Will the neo-cons retaliate by bombing white, Christian Serbia again from 18,000 feet?Edited by: Don Wassall
itsme
Guru
Well Tsonga lost the final,congrats Novak.
SeaJim
Guru
It was a nail biter of a 4th set, but Novak pulled it off in the tie break to win 3 of 4 sets. I saw him (Novak) play last year in Miami & the US Open in NYC and knew he was someone to contend with. I cannot figure out the crowd and commentators being so pro-Tsonga...why? He is an abomination of nature...biracial, & from a socialistic, brainwashed, lazy liberal nation of France (once a great white nation...sad to say France use to be a great white nation, isn't it?). But in the end, just the like the World Cup, multiculti France was not given any special honor.Edited by: SeaJim
