Random Thoughts

Thread title of the week goes to the www.wtaworld.com poster J_Migoe who created the thread “And Now The Stage Is Set. Its Serena V The Hand”

Great to see what a gentleman Willy Canas is. He speaks English well enough to understand and to be understood. He didn’t blink when Pam Shriver said something to his face about his suspension making her look like an idiot for bringing it up to him on a day when news of his winning his appeal was published in an Australian paper. I guess PMac and his crew didn’t want news of Canas appeal having merit to cloud their view of him. How many times did PMac say “returning from a suspension” last night? Maybe he should read Bonnie De Simone’s excellent piece on ESPN.com. Here’s a link Patrick just in case you need something to read before tomorrow’s final.

Link

Seems racist hecklers have no shame. After being pointed out by fellow fans the dweeb had the nerve to say he didn’t use the “n” word before going on to use every coded word in the book to illustrate what he did say. Surprise was that some defended him. The incident did force some to re evaluate the use of the word “lazy” which has been used by many so called fans to describe both Williams Sisters approach to their sport. We “venuts”, of which I am one, are accused of being overly sensitive. Maybe it’s because we do understand the intent of the word when used by certain individuals.

I’m ashamed to say it but I refused to watch Andy Murray’s match yesterday. It’s on my DVR. I just won’t watch it. This young man has a very long way to go in the maturity department to say the least. I’m no fan of Brad Gilbert but if I’m Brad I snatch the kid by his neck and body slam him. His behavior showed not only disrespect to his coach and paying fans but he disrespected the sport of tennis as well. If anyone else had done what Murray did they’d be nailing his junk to the wall. Double standard much?

So Ljubo, head of the Player’s Council, is still calling Canas a doper huh? What happened to Willy Canas can happen to any player. I take that back. Greg Rusedski was caught doping at the same time Canas was but he was never sanctioned or faced a suspension. Funny how all the guys who were “caught” come from one country in South America isn’t it? Many may forget that Argentina was in the same position Spain is in right now at that time and the destruction of their players reputations has gone far to diminish what they’ve accomplished. How many know Guillermo Coria successfully sued the company that made the tainted medication he took? Juan Ignacio Chela’s suspension was reduced. And now Guillermo Canas is in the position, if things pan out, to name his price to TPTB in the ATP, CAS and anyone else involved in ruining his earning potential for the last 15 months. But I digress. Ljubo has been called a certain player’s water boy. I suspect all this animosity to Willy is coming from neutral territory somewhere in central Europe and Ljubo, as usual, is just, well, carrying water.

Some fans are saying Maria Sharapova should skip the clay season and concentrate on Wimby and the U S Open series. Doesn’t that violate some provisions of Roadkill? Oh, my bad. I forget we’re talking about Sharapova. Yuri coaching from the stands? No problem. Change the rules. Brown bottles appearing mysteriously out of racquet bags? What brown bottle?
Rules? The Sharapov(a)’s don’t follow the stinkin’ rules. Venus and Serena are violating the spirit of the rules by saying they will continue their boycott of Indian Wells. Come on guys, act like you know.

Just so you know Justine has been suffering breathing problems in Miami. Allergies they say.

The good people who run the Hamburg Masters Event are suing the ATP in the State of Delaware for running a cartel. Will the nice folks who run some of the tournaments the WTA is downgrading have the cojones to do the same to the WTA or is Richard Williams going to be forced to shoulder that weight alone on behalf of his daughters? If he’s successful watch for a lot of “me too” to break out among the tournament directors and sponsors. I think the RICO statutes are still on the books here. Hard to tell about these things here in the States lately.

So Richard Williams knows something about tennis. Those Kodak/You Tube moments were brought to you by Yuri Sharapov.

The Oz Open is said to be scraping rebound ace. Miami type surface coming up down under?

The Shallow End of the Pool

You could tell how humid it was by watching Pam Shriver’s hair. I felt her pain.

PMac thinks Djokovic is the second coming.

Andre didn’t look good last night. Very stiff. Face very moon like.

Marcelo looked like a bad stereotype with the Fu Manchu goatee going on. That lefty slice backhand is still a thing of beauty though. Without him where would Roger be since Roger totally pimped his game and on court demeanor. I wish Rios back would allow him to play some main tour events so people could see where Roger got his game and style from.

Fena was in the stands last night. I hope Pretty Eyes, clean shaven or not, finds his early season form.

Final Notes

The clay court season is starting. I’m happy. Rome has produced the best matches of 2005 and 2006 and seems to have survived the ATP version of Roadkill. I love clay court tennis. It rewards stamina, intelligence and patience. You can not ball bash on clay. You need to know how to slide. You can’t expect a 58 minute match.

It’s a shame the men running things have no idea about tennis. They are on course to ruin the sport. They are fixing things that weren’t broken all to make the sport hard court based instead of clay court based. Hard courts rule in the States. Clay rules everyplace else yet the mandatory matches are heavily hard court based. I guess if you can’t accuse everyone of doping you just eliminate the surface on which “they” play the best. Forget that hard court play shortens careers because of the stress on the body. Players are looking out for themselves these days and that means some events like Canada field what they consider weak fields. Somehow telling a player where he or she has to play smacks of totalitarianism to me and takes away the very randomness that makes tennis what it is.

One of the announcers on TTC asked why the United States isn’t investing more in players like Kim, Delic and others who want to play, who do sometimes play above what is perceived to be their potential and could make us more competitive as a whole. These guys may not win Grand Slams but who knows what they would do with better coaching and training options? The same is true on the women’s side. After Venus and Serena who is the top American woman? Not her, she plays for Russia.

There are two good finals matches on tap for today and tomorrow. May the best man and woman win.