Zeno Marx
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- Joined
- Jun 26, 2010
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Anyone here happen to love, play, and/or be into tennis?
I grew up in an odd situation. Farm town in the middle of the country with an abandoned private college that left behind beautiful old buildings and a set of picturesque tennis courts surrounded by giant old trees. Our high school also had a set of asphalt tennis courts, so we had more tennis courts than the rest of the county and all the surrounding counties combined. It was also at the height of McEnroe/Borg and Evert/Navratilova. In other words, when tennis was still on the mind of the mainstream, when a major tournement's men's final wasn't bumped by a re-run of Judge Judy and only found on ESPN's second or third channel.
I love tennis for a variety of reasons. As an aging person, I've come to realize one of the greatest things about tennis is that it is something you can play at 8 years old or 78 years old. You only need one other person. It's relatively inexpensive to play. It's a great workout for both mind and body. It has a small environmental footprint compared to other sports you can readily play in older years. And now, something even I'm surprised that I value: decorum. It's a sport where fans are still respectful of the traditions, the players, and the situation. If you watch the audience, you don't see a sea of human beings watching the game through the lens of their phones. They aren't slamming beers and spending more time going to the bathroom than they are watching the competition. People are quiet. As heated as the patriotism can be (the thing I like least about the sport), there's still: decorum.
The worst part of the game, other than the patriotism, is the towel. The towel and the neuroses. The reason a match can be five hours long is because they're reaching for a towel after every point. In-between points can be as long as a minute. It's something baseball battles as well with pitchers and batters farting around in-between each pitch. It's all psychological weakness and manipulation at the expense of the game.
The women's game, in my belief, has the finest set of analysts and commentators in all of sports. I do not exaggerate.
The worst commentators are McEnroe and Evert. I didn't think I'd ever say that, because as a kid, I was a very big fan of McEnroe.
So, what says you? Anyone?
I grew up in an odd situation. Farm town in the middle of the country with an abandoned private college that left behind beautiful old buildings and a set of picturesque tennis courts surrounded by giant old trees. Our high school also had a set of asphalt tennis courts, so we had more tennis courts than the rest of the county and all the surrounding counties combined. It was also at the height of McEnroe/Borg and Evert/Navratilova. In other words, when tennis was still on the mind of the mainstream, when a major tournement's men's final wasn't bumped by a re-run of Judge Judy and only found on ESPN's second or third channel.
I love tennis for a variety of reasons. As an aging person, I've come to realize one of the greatest things about tennis is that it is something you can play at 8 years old or 78 years old. You only need one other person. It's relatively inexpensive to play. It's a great workout for both mind and body. It has a small environmental footprint compared to other sports you can readily play in older years. And now, something even I'm surprised that I value: decorum. It's a sport where fans are still respectful of the traditions, the players, and the situation. If you watch the audience, you don't see a sea of human beings watching the game through the lens of their phones. They aren't slamming beers and spending more time going to the bathroom than they are watching the competition. People are quiet. As heated as the patriotism can be (the thing I like least about the sport), there's still: decorum.
The worst part of the game, other than the patriotism, is the towel. The towel and the neuroses. The reason a match can be five hours long is because they're reaching for a towel after every point. In-between points can be as long as a minute. It's something baseball battles as well with pitchers and batters farting around in-between each pitch. It's all psychological weakness and manipulation at the expense of the game.
The women's game, in my belief, has the finest set of analysts and commentators in all of sports. I do not exaggerate.
The worst commentators are McEnroe and Evert. I didn't think I'd ever say that, because as a kid, I was a very big fan of McEnroe.
So, what says you? Anyone?
