|
|
Post by GrandSlamGuru on Sept 14, 2010 2:15:56 GMT
No! They did NOT just cut away the moment Rafa raised the trophy. Kiss my ass, ESPN.
|
|
|
|
Post by acre on Sept 14, 2010 2:23:54 GMT
Sigh .. I'm disappointed in that tame 4th set scoreline. I know there were unbelievable points in this match, but I wanted it to be a real drag-out fight. Even if only 4 sets, at least all of them tight.
Now, see as a moderate Rafa fan I haven't doubted any of those things for years. Early in his career, sure, but not at all in at least the last 3 years. Congrats to him, well earned, both today and the overall career Slam. And a worthy addition to the list for sure, IMO way more worthy than Agassi for god's sake! In Rafa's case not fluke-ish at all, didn't depend on specific combinations of situations and opponents, he did it all himself, legit.
And yeah, the love is very sweet. Have there ever been 2 rivals so widely beloved as Roger and Rafa? I think not. Not always by the same fans, but I do think overall they both get a tremendous amount of respect and affection, and very much of tennis feels it for both of them simultaneously.
|
|
|
|
Post by apocalipstick on Sept 14, 2010 2:29:33 GMT
I came upstairs to watch it online. ESPN sucks! They used to have an ombudsman who would address complaints. However, I've lost that email address.
TTC is reshowing the match tomorrow at 10. Hell they may start showing it at 1030 tonight since they were supposed to start at 10 tonight.
I just want to say to the Roger fans: Rafa getting the career slam doesn't diminish Roger's accomplishments. The same way Roger's successes don't diminish Laver or Emerson or Budge or even Sampras. Records get broken. They even get broken by the unworthy, see McGuire, Mark. But those records get broken too. Suddenly, I've gone all Hemingway-esque. "The world breaks everyone....." but in this case, every record. Roger is still an amazing player.
|
|
|
|
Post by lizm on Sept 14, 2010 2:30:13 GMT
All I can say is, YAY! So happy Rafa won. Nole put up a bit of a fight and it was a really good match.
|
|
lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
|
Post by lt on Sept 14, 2010 2:30:16 GMT
I disagree. Andre spent his early years banking on talent and learned that he had to adjust and train like never before to keep winning. Not a lot of players have ever done the same and he deserved every win he got.
And I don't think any player doesn't "deserve" a win. Winning a grand slam is a lot more than just who they face in a final.
I checked every online source I could think of but everyone seems to have gone off the air. I'm sure I'll catch Rafa walking around with the trophy on some TTC replay. I guess I should just be happy that ESPN2 didn't cut off at exactly 10:15 like they were threatening all evening.
Gonna have to disagree with this too. I've really grateful that ESPN has tennis because if they didn't? Think USA Network would have picked up the slack when CBS decided not to air the rain delayed match? Or TNT? (Or did TNT only have Wimbledon?) Nope, none of them would. Although it would have given TTC the chance to air it live, that would have just killed any ratings hope that the USTA would have for the final and would have been such a nightmare. The final no one got to see.
|
|
pokey
2nd Round
Posts: 190
|
Post by pokey on Sept 14, 2010 2:30:27 GMT
No! They did NOT just cut away the moment Rafa raised the trophy. Kiss my ass, ESPN. Seriously for the alleged worldwide leader in sports that was a pathetic decision. They could have stayed with Rafa for 2 more minutes and not missed a second of the game; it's not like they were cutting away to the Super Bowl either for crying out loud. I'm incredibly impressed with Rafa and everything he's accomplished at such a young age. It's pretty awesome to have gotten to spend years watching Federer play like one of the greatest of all time and then to be able to follow that up with Nadal doing the same? Awesome as a fan (especially since they are both pretty likable guys IMO). |
|
lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
|
Post by lt on Sept 14, 2010 2:43:20 GMT
Awwwww, Fer has already tweeted like four times congratulating Rafa for winning and Beaker for playing well.
|
|
|
|
Post by chocula on Sept 14, 2010 2:45:48 GMT
No! They did NOT just cut away the moment Rafa raised the trophy. Kiss my ass, ESPN. Hear Hear. What BS. Sheesh, I want to see Rafa walk around the court a little. They couldn't spare 2 freakin' minutes of coverage. UGGGGHH |
|
|
|
Post by oopssorry on Sept 14, 2010 2:46:50 GMT
What record of Roger's did Rafa break? As for this tennis fan, I certainly don't think that more people in the Slam Club diminishes any of the others' accomplishments. I'm saying this all sincerely, even though in my moment of weakness you brought up McGuire.  |
|
|
|
Post by acre on Sept 14, 2010 2:47:43 GMT
You're right of course apocalipstick, they both have career Slams, amazing achievements, Roger's is every bit as valuable and eternal now that Rafa has one too.
And lt you're gonna have to filter my comments through my intense loathing for Agassi during almost all of his playing career. I particularly thought the Wimbledon and French were a little bizarre and depended very much on opponents who didn't/couldn't bring it. Perhaps I'm mis-remembering a bit, but that's always been my feeling.
So now, anyone want to put in bets whether Rafa gets another 7 to tie Roger??? I think it's possible for sure. And how long would it take? He "only" has to have years of 2, 2, and 3 Slams to do it. Done all those already.
|
|
lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
|
Post by lt on Sept 14, 2010 2:56:24 GMT
For me, what's interesting is that this is the first tournament where I didn't think that Rafa needed to get all his slams in quickly because his style of play was too hard on his body for him to stay uninjured for long. Wild what working on his serve did. He gets his serve games taken care of without expelling too much energy. So yes, I agree--I can see him passing Sampras at this rate. What Roger will do. . . I'm just not sure.
As for Roger, this summer is the first summer where he actively talked about not watching tennis. Used to be that he'd talk about watching all these matches on TV and he could describe someone's game down to a "T." Now he says "I won't be watching" about a lot of big matches. I don't like that--I know this year(s) has been tough on him, but I like the tennis advocate he used to be.
|
|
|
|
Post by breezybee on Sept 14, 2010 2:59:43 GMT
Maybe the career slam at a younger age? Not sure. It think they are both so special in different ways. Oh good Lord it sounds like I'm describing two five year olds. I was annoyed that at McEnroe said if Nadal won the US Open it would prove he was superior to Roger on all surfaces. Don't get that. Why does one have to be superior?
Anyway, I grudgingly admit that Beaker was gracious in defeat. I did enjoy watching his smug parent's faces crumble though.
|
|
|
|
Post by acre on Sept 14, 2010 2:59:56 GMT
I'm guessing that mostly has to do with the twins? That once he's out of the tourny he switches to family-time. And did he ever talk about watching a final after he'd lost the semi? That would be awfully tough, I thought he mostly talked about watching current matches while he was still in it. Other quarters, other semis, and not just to pick up strategy, but for pure enjoyment. But right after a loss?
|
|
lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
|
Post by lt on Sept 14, 2010 3:10:24 GMT
I thought I heard that--but then I realized it was poorly phrased. Unless they said it again that I missed, John and Dick were saying that Rafa was superior on all surfaces--not superior to anyone else, just superior. They should have chosen a different word.
That's a good point--it happened so rarely before last year that I probably missed it. But I did think he'd talk about finals he wasn't in after the fact. Maybe he watched them later for scouting.
eta: Okay. now ESPN is pissing off even me. I'm watching ESPNews to see the highlights and it is twelve minutes after the hour and they still haven't gotten to it. They keep teasing that it's coming up, but they haven't gone there yet. Maybe it's the CBS logo in the upper corner of all the shots that's keeping them from going there. Speaking of, did y'all see when they showed the winners of the doubles finals but because it was now on ESPN2 the crawl always goes across the bottom so we couldn't read any of the names? Oops.
eta2: I never realized that Rafa is not all that much younger than Roger was to get to nine grand slams. Only ten month difference.
|
|
|
|
Post by apocalipstick on Sept 14, 2010 3:40:36 GMT
I wasn't clear. I wasn't saying that Rafa just broke one of Roger's records. What I was saying is that Rafa's accomplishments don't diminish Roger's. And Roger's records WILL be broken by some one at some time. Maybe by Rafa, maybe not. Rafa's records will be broken too. It's what happens. I'm just a little annoyed with Roger fans trying to diminish Rafa's accomplishments. It's just seems so...unlike Roger and Rafa themselves. It was more another board than here.
|
|
