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Post by lizm on Jan 29, 2012 23:13:57 GMT
Augh Rafa!
Of course, with the game going so long, my PVR missed the end of the match and I had to wait for the re-airing before reading the boards. So now no one's going to see this, heh.
It's awful, but the point I liked Jelena the best was when one of the commentators hinted that she didn't get along with Novak's father and that was why she didn't often attend the games until Novak insisted. Heh, at least she has that much good taste.
Chocula, too funny.
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jan 29, 2012 23:56:31 GMT
I missed that! Good for her--and good for Djokovic too.
chocula, "Lawyer arrested in Serbian brawl" would have been some headline. . . There are just some things you hope to never explain to a neighbor.
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Post by printwhore2012 on Jan 30, 2012 0:28:52 GMT
Cadaverous HGH is also linked to a high risk of Creuzfeldt Jakob disease so I doubt pro athletes would be using that, unless they really really wanted to win at the risk of death. A lot of scientific literature supports this, which is what lead to cadaverous HGH being taken off the market.
As for testing for normal levels of HGH, the values would be compared to Mean of the general population, establishing cut off points for statistical significance. If you fall outside the predetermined expected range, then you can sufficiently determine that someone is doping. Very effective. Probably outside three SDs of the normal range, but it depends on how WADA have set their significance levels. So chocula, normal or expected variance would be accounted for with a statistically powerful study. If someone falls over the 2.96 z score cut off point, bingo, bob's your uncle, doping.
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Post by roseha on Jan 30, 2012 0:50:02 GMT
Well, thank you Tennis Channel, I was able to watch nearly all of the fifth set at a reasonable hour. I agree with everyone's assessment that this wasn't the most thrilling match in terms of shotmaking. Since I didn't see the beginning, I don't know how much was due to weariness, but maybe they were both nervous, who knows.
lt, I had the complete opposite impression, when Nole was down break point towards the end it sounded to me like 99 percent of the crowd was screaming wildly for Rafa. I was a little surprised. I'm not really a fan of either but I kind of think Nole's moved past his Lendl-like "player you love to hate" phase.
They both made a tremendous effort obviously but you could really see Djokovic pick up after he went down 4-5 in the fifth.
They will be re-running the women's also but not sure I have enough interest in watching a beat-down.
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Post by printwhore2012 on Jan 30, 2012 1:22:16 GMT
Sorry chocula, in my previous post I meant HGH biomarkers rather than HGH directly. But this is a touchy issue, I agree, but it is something I feel quite passionately about and it's something I want to do further research on. But that's for another forum and something I will investigate in the lead up to the Olympics. LT, I will send you a pm on the stem cell issue.
In any case, kudos to Djokovic, I was pretty thrilled he won because he showed so much mental toughness out there and he never gave up even when the whole crowd was rooting for Nadal to win. I was not particularly happy that Toni was blatantly coaching (WTF) Rafa and that Rafa was pulling moves like challenging his own serve just because he wasn't happy that Djoker hit a winner. He is a nice guy on court but on court, he needs a lot of work. Djoker played fair, even when calls that were sure to be winners went against him. Respect.
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Post by oopssorry on Jan 30, 2012 1:45:56 GMT
I'd like to pull a Jelena Ristic on Toni Nadal -- "I'll cheer for you, Rafa, if you can ditch the domineering uncle."
I love the SoCal tennis rivalry, chocula....
I take guitar lessons through a local guitar maker - a Serbian man and his wife who are the loveliest people ever. How happy was I to get to go to my lesson today and congratulate him on his victory! He beamed from here to SoCal and told me he hadn't slept at all for two nights (the night before for nerves!) and that his countrymen were living it up today! He hugged me - and gave a kind remark about Roger - and called his wife to tell her I had congratulated him. Sweet...
Amazing to think what tennis means to folk when we can barely convince networks to show it at all here....
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Post by GrandSlamGuru on Jan 30, 2012 3:46:28 GMT
Very interesting article from another fan of the current men's game. WSJ: Why Tennis Rules the Earth on.wsj.com/xA1bvs |
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lt
Semi Finals
Posts: 3,223
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Post by lt on Jan 30, 2012 13:40:12 GMT
Who knew we'd be picking someone from Djokovic's world for something like that!
oops, that story about your instructor is just too cute. I love that he called his wife to say you had congratulated him--I guess when tennis fans find other tennis fans we feel the need to tell people we found one. . .
I remember that, but when Djokovic came back to break the next game the crowd went wild again--I think it sounded like the entire stadium both times because they were just so loud.
For a final that I was not excited about when I woke up yesterday morning I managed to watch the fifth set three times (ESPN2 was not skimping on the re-airing) and bits of the rest twice. There are moments when rivalries are evenly played: when Rafa was first getting his greatness legs under him he and Roger were that; for a very brief moment in time Agassi and Sampras were that; we all know about McEnroe/Borg, etc. and I think we might be entering the Rafa/Djokovic true rivalry. For me, that's when watching two players play each could have any outcome and even though the H2H is currently very much in Djokovic's favor, I think that is going to stop mattering in 2012. I dunno, I just saw something in Rafa that I hadn't seen in their previous matches. Goodness knows, watching Rafa/Djokovic is a hell of a lot more interesting than watching Rafa/Roger right now.
eta: Thank you, grandslamguru, for posting that article. Wow, did I agree with him (except for the fact he mis-typed that a Superbowl lasts 60 minutes). Some really good imagery in there too (a boiled egg under six hours, brilliant). And this:
So very, very true.
The interesting thing, looking back over the past couple of decades, when tennis was the least interesting at the top was when the Americans were there. With hindsight being 20/20, that's why I started going to the US Open way back in 1991--because the better matches were happening earlier in the tournament on side courts we never saw on TV. And in the pre-internet, pre DVR days (recording on VHS just never really seemed worth it), you only saw what TV showed when you were at home. And Tennis Magazine was a bible to finding out about players you never would have discovered otherwise.
Coming home Saturday night I was listening to ESPN radio and they had Brad Gilbert on for a minute talking about the upcoming Aussie final and the ESPN guy (who is a tennis fan) asked about whether Ryan Harrison was going to break through. All credit to Gilbert, he did not go the "USA USA" route and honestly said that if Harrison did break through, it would be to the top 20 or maybe the top 10 but not to the top because the top is just too elite right now.
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Post by acre on Jan 30, 2012 20:16:29 GMT
Excellent a-ticle, thank you GSG. Yeah, tennis rules. I am obviously, and maybe tediously, a total Fed fan(whole heart), but befo-e Fed I am a tennis fan, and also not stupid. His time was always going to pass, and tennis is out of this wo-ld g-eat these days, so I have no complaints.
Fed is the GOAT, he is no longe- the g-eatest of this time. I can live with that, because the cu--ent g-eatest a-e so phenomenally good. (Also because he's the GOAT.) Tennis wins, I win. Ahh, I love me some Slams, hate the timing of the Aus fo- me, but love Slams.
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