BSR

I read a couple of interesting news bits over on men's tennis forum. The Japanese were happy to schedule the Olympics in the fall, but NBC didn't want to compete for ratings against (American) football. Money talks, and NBC's container ship full of cash speaks so loudly it'll blow out your eardrums. As for scheduling matches in the late afternoon & evening, two problems: 1) with 5 tennis events (men's & women's singles, men's & women's doubles, plus mixed doubles) in a short time frame and the ever-looming threat of rain (only 1 court has a retractable roof), schedulers had to pack the matches in, which meant starting in the heat of the day; and 2) much of the staff running the tennis venue are volunteers, who were told that matches would start at 11am & end in the late afternoon. The organizers can't exactly force them to switch their schedules to work from late afternoon well into the night because after all they're volunteers.

Pardon my tech ineptitude, but I can post videos only by linking text, which shows up as blue & underscored. But I notice that other members post YouTube vids so that they show up in the post and can be viewed directly in on the forum thread, without switching over to the YouTube app. How do you do that? Thanks in advance!

As much as Hollywood pushes "can play" casting, I often look at 20-somethings playing 16yo high schoolers like, "you're kidding, right?" If it's just too difficult to find a bunch of 16yo actors to play 16yo's, I can understand that. But if casting directors honestly think that a 29yo can pass as a high school student (e.g., Gabrielle Carteris in Beverly Hills 90210), then they're flat out insulting our intelligence. As long as an escort posts recent & accurate (i.e., no photoshopping) pictures in their ad, I'm not too bothered by a little age-shaving. But if an escort who advertises as 21 shows up & is clearly into his 30s, I probably wouldn't hire him again, even if it were a good experience. A little fudging, OK. But flagrant dishonesty is just too much of a turnoff.

After a ballkid needed medical attention, after the women's draw had 3 retirements due to the extreme conditions, and most importantly after all US singles players have been eliminated, the schedulers finally agreed to bend a bit. Today's men's singles quarterfinals will start at 3pm instead of 11am. It'll still be plenty hot, and the court will have no shade (at least at the start of the match), but at least the players will be spared the worst heat of the day. @JoeMendoza apparently the members of the IOC, who traverse the globe in private jets and stay in 5-star hotels, don't have Internet access. How tragic! Perhaps we should start up a GoFundMe.

Not 100% sure, but I don't think they require athletes to be fully vaccinated. I know that the men's & women's tennis tours do not require players to be vaccinated. While #1 Novak Djokovic won't say if he's been vaccinated or not, he has been outspoken in his opposition to mandating vaccination for tennis professionals. Edited to add: No, the IOC does not require athletes to be vaccinated. According to the IOC handbook, "[athletes] will not be required to have received a vaccine in order to participate."

Oh boy, I have such a crush on Max Whitlock -- British gymnast who won gold in floor exercise & pommel horse Rio 2016 for those unfamiliar with him. YouTube video of a shirtless Max Whitlock

Very true that when NBC forked over the container ship of cash for broadcasting rights, they didn't know who was & wasn't playing or how deep Americans would go. They were probably hoping that living legend (any player with double-digit Slams is a LL) Serena Williams would play. She has greatly reduced her playing schedule but loves the Olympic experience. Unfortunately, her hamstring injury from a slip on the slick Wimbledon grass killed any chance of her going to Tokyo. Superstar Coco Gauff had a great chance of winning gold and would have brought in blockbuster TV ratings, but she got knocked out by a positive Covid test.

Forget NBC, what about Japan's own TV ratings? Naomi Osaka is the favorite to win gold, especially after #1 Ash Barty got upset in the 1st Round. And Kei Nishikori looked like his old self (he was once ranked as high as #4, now #69) in his upset over #7 Andrey Rublev. I'm not confident in Kei's medal chances (he'd have to beat near-invincible Novak in the quarters), but surely all of Japan will be glued to his matches, as well as Osaka's. TV ratings for Japan's two tennis stars would be so much higher if their matches were at 7pm, when people were home from work, instead of the middle of the day.

If I recall correctly, the IOC shifted the Seoul Games to late Sept (9/17-10/2) because of the sweltering heat in July & August. If they made an exception then, why can't they make one for Tokyo? The heat & humidity aren't just uncomfortable; they're dangerous. As for the tennis schedule, American tennis fans tend to tune in only when an American is playing, or Federer. Two US women are already out, although Jen Brady has a shot at a medal (hey, if Monica Puig could win gold ... ). Two American men (Tommy Paul & Tennys Sandgren) lost in the 1st Round. No diss to Marcos Giron & Frances Tiafoe (again, if Monica Puig ... ), but their chances at a medal are awfully slim. I doubt Russian TV paid anywhere near what NBC did for broadcasting rights, but the Russian men have a great chance of medaling, even gold. Of course, all of Serbia is riveted to the TV to watch Novak, but I doubt Serbian TV paid even 0.01% what NBC did. You are correct in that the 11am start is better for the US market. I just doubt many US fans are watching Olympic tennis. Late afternoon/evening matches are better for Europeans -- not evening prime time but at least later in the day. Not just Novak, #2 Daniil Medvedev also complained about the heat & asked that the matches be scheduled in the evening. Roland Garros finalist Pavlyuchenkova complained that when she went to get ice to cool off during a changeover, it had all melted! But honestly, unless there's a serious medical incident, the ITF will keep scheduling matches in the heat of the day.

Oops, apparently there are no night matches in tennis. Novak has complained about the scheduling. At sites with high heat/humidity, they usually start the matches much later. At Los Cabos (finals are tomorrow), they start matches at 5pm. In Tokyo the matches start at 11am, and even though Novak's match was the last of the day, they still finished before 5pm. He's spoken with a number of fellow players, who agree the conditions are brutal, the worst they've ever experienced. The ITF responded that they had to schedule the matches during the day to allow time for rain delays & heat breaks (matches postponed if the heat index goes above a certain point). Even if other players start speaking out publicly, I doubt the ITF will budge. My issue isn't so much with the ITF as much as with the International Olympic Committee. Why do they award the Games to host cities with sweltering summers? Why do the schedule the Games during the hottest/most humid weeks of the year? At least when the IOC gave Seoul the 1988 Games, they had the decency to schedule them in late September. Tennis players are struggling, but the ones I really worry about are the marathoners & triathletes. If a marathoner/triathlete has trained for years and made huge sacrifices to compete in the Olympics, they will likely keep pushing themselves even in the most sweltering conditions. Even in the early morning or evening when temps are lower, the humidity is still near saturation point. No Olympic athlete wants to quit, but I'd much rather they quit than collapse, or worse.

All the player withdrawals aside, Novak Djokovic's path to a gold medal is surprisingly difficult. In the 2nd Round, he could face big serve+big forehand Jan-Lennard Struff, a chronic underachiever (imo), someone who might put it all together in any given match. In R3, Novak could face Musetti, who took the first 2 sets off him at Roland Garros. After that, he could face Rublev (currently #7) in the quarters, #5 Zverev in the semis, and #2 Medvedev in the final -- yikes! As tough as his draw is, I still think Novak's biggest challenge will be the sweltering heat & humidity because Novak struggles more than most in the heat. His ATG (all time great) status might get his matches scheduled in the evening, when he won't have to deal with the sun (although it'll still be swampy humid), but who knows?

Getting abandoned must be so traumatic for dogs. I think of the stress the big fella would have suffered had you not been there to rescue him. On behalf of dog lovers everywhere, thank you for everything you did for him. You mentioned the couple who adopted him live fairly nearby. Hopefully you'll run into him/them one day and see how he's doing. I'm sure he'll remember you.

I've lived in two gayborhoods, NYC's West Village (in the mid-1980s) and Boston's South End (1988-2000). Well, at least they used to be gayborhoods when I lived there. Now they're just neighborhoods for anyone with enough $$$ to afford the eye-popping prices. Funny enough, a straight coworker who also lived in the South End used to complain far more than I ever did about how the gayborhood was disappearing & all the straights were moving in.

Steffi Graf won the Golden Slam (all 4 majors plus the Olympic gold medal in 1 calendar year) in 1988, but no man has ever done it. The only two men to win the Grand Slam are Don Budge and Rod Laver, but tennis was not an Olympic sport between 1924 & 1988. Besides, 1938 & 1969 weren't Olympic years. Philippe Chatrier, former head of the French Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation, was the driving force behind tennis's reinstatement in the Olympics. He thought that by making tennis an Olympic sport, the old Soviet Union and Soviet bloc countries would develop tennis much more because they valued the Olympics so highly. He turned out to be right. The old Soviet Union wasn't much of a tennis country back in the day, but Russia currently has 4 players in the top 25, including the #2 & #7.

In tennis, the players are dropping like flies: some because they don't want to deal with all the restrictions (many players report that living in a bubble is really stressful) and the empty stadium, some because they're injured (Federer, Berrettini) and some because they tested positive for Covid & are barred from competition (DeMinaur). While the men's field (sorry, don't follow the women as closely) has many notable absences, the singles draw is still pretty strong, featuring Novak, Tsitsipas, and the Russians (Medvedev, Rublev, Khachanov, Karatsev). I think one factor for some players' decision to withdraw is that the Olympics don't matter as much in tennis. Sure, an Olympic medal would be nice, but the four Slams remain the summit of achievement in the sport. For example, Denis Shapovalov gladly put up with all the bubble restrictions at Wimbledon (all players were confined to one hotel, not allowed to leave except to go to the AELTC, the bus ride to the AELTC took 1.5 hours, no private transportation allowed, limited entourages, no contact allowed with family/friends attending) because after all, it's Wimbledon. But he said he couldn't deal with the bubble restrictions in Tokyo. Some exceptions of course : Novak desperately wants an Olympic gold medal for Serbia, Tsitsipas is very excited about representing Greece, and for the Russians the Olympics are huge, as big if not bigger than the Slams. I doubt other sports are suffering as many withdrawals because in most sports the Olympics are the summit of achievement. Whereas tennis players almost unanimously would pick a Wimbledon title over Olympic gold, sports like track & field, swimming & diving, gymnastics, etc. don't have anything like Wimbledon. The Olympics are it for them. As for my pick for the gold medal, it's between Novak and Medvedev. Novak in normal conditions would be the overwhelming favorite because he's won the last 3 Slams, trouncing Medvedev in the Australian Open final. But Tokyo will be sweltering (temps in the 90s with very high humidity), and Novak struggles more than most in the heat. Mind you, I'm not sure how well Medvedev deals with extreme heat & humidity, just know that Novak will not be at his best.

Yikes, civet poop coffee sells for $100-500 a pound ($500 for beans from wild civets, less if it comes from civet farms). I wonder how any buyer knows for sure that real, honest-to-God civets pooped out the coffee beans they're buying. I can just picture some scamster selling regular non-pooped coffee beans for $500/pound and laughing his ass off that some sucker with more money than sense is actually shelling out such a scandalous sum.

What a beautiful dog. He deserves so much better than getting kicked to the curb by his former owner. I pray that you can find a no-kill shelter for him and that he eventually gets adopted by a great family. And yes, I also hope that karma comes back to bite his sh*tty former owner in the ass.

Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles is a bit skewed because, as you point out, she won 11 Australian Opens back when few non-Aussies played the tournament. Also, most years that Court won the AO, the singles draw was just 32 players (Slams all now have 128-player draws). One detail that boosts Court's CV is that she gave birth to three children during her playing career. Compare that to Serena's struggles to win a Slam after having one. Court retired when she became pregnant with her fourth child.

Yes, non-Aussie players used to skip the Australian Open more often than they played it. Bjorn Borg played it only once, skipped it 10 times. Chris Evert played it 6 times but skipped 13. Martina Navratilova complains that had she known that she would be judged on how many Slams she won, she would have made the schlep (played 10, skipped 12). Borg, king of clay before Rafa, even skipped Roland Garros once. Queen of clay Evert skipped RG 6 times! I'm not sure exactly when or why the Slams became the be all & end all of professional tennis. My guess is it started in the early 1990s when Pete Sampras became quite vocal about his goal of breaking Roy Emerson's record of 12 Slams. The 4 Slams also started to increase prize money by eye-popping amounts, always a motivator. Adjusted for inflation, Chris Evert won about $150K for winning the 1978 US Open. In 2019 (prize money took a hit due to Covid), Bianca Andreescu's winner's check was $3.85 million!

As a die-hard Novak fan, I am tickled pink by his victory. Wow, 6 Wimbledon titles and 20 Slams, tying rivals Roger & Rafa. This looked pretty unlikely 10 years ago. Before the 2011 Australian Open, Roger had 16 Slams, Rafa 9, and Novak just 1. After the 2018 Australian, Roger had 20, Rafa 16, and Novak just 12. The Serb caught up in a hurry. Everyone was talking about Berrettini's serve and understandably so. His average 1st serve speed was 126mph, and even his 2nd serve averaged an eye-popping 108. Novak fell far short on pace (1st serve 111mph average, 2nd serve 88) yet was arguably more effective. 1st serve percentage was pretty close -- 61% for Novak, 59% for Berrettini. Despite a much slower 1st serve, Novak won 79% of 1st serve points vs. 76% for Berrettini. The gap in 2nd serve points won is even greater: 53% for Novak, just 38% for Berrettini. The quality of play from both players was pretty scratchy in the 1st set. Both improved in Set 2, although it still wasn't great tennis. Novak got much better in Sets 3 & 4. Matteo was pretty decent, but you got the sense that he never had a chance once Novak found his groove. The Big 3 all go to the US Open seeking to break the tie & grab Slam #21. Hopefully Roger will be 100% physically and will be able to play plenty of matches in the lead-up to get match-sharp. I'm pretty sure Rafa will be fully rested (he cited exhaustion for his decision to skip Wimbledon) and hopefully healthy (he didn't mention it, but he injured his foot in the RG semi). I know Novak will be raring to go. All three will not only be trying to beat each other but also will be fending off the NextGen (players 25 & under). Even though Novak won the first 3 Slams of 2021 and is on paper the strong favorite in New York, the pressure of the calendar year Grand Slam will weigh on him like an anvil. Oh, this should be damn good.

Yeah, once you get past the Chippendales gimmick, you can see that they're not very good dancers.

Yes, Macallan 18 is wonderful, but the one time I was lucky enough to have Macalllan 25, it was a religious experience. The 18 is expensive ($375 on astorwines.com) but the 25 will make you do a Tom & Jerry jaw-drop (out of stock on astorwines.com, but around $2000 when available). For a "bargain" single malt, I like Glenlivet 18 ($140).

On the subject of betting, the odds for some of Novak's matches were a bit nutty. For example, against Kevin Anderson in R2, Novak was at -7000. That means in order to win $100, you would have to bet $7000! What I hear around Las Vegas is the cardinal rule of sports betting is never risk a lot to win a little, yet apparently Europeans do it all the time. Against Berrettini in the final, Novak was just -450 (to win $100 you have to bet $450), which actually aren't bad odds because I was so sure that Novak would win. Still, I'm glad I didn't make the bet because I would have had a heart attack after the first set. I didn't pick Berrettini as early as you did, but once Zverev & Medvedev lost, I expected Matteo to make the final. Roger didn't have nearly enough matches under his belt to make the final (a bagel against Hurkacz, first time Roger's ever been bageled at Wimbledon!).

Shapovalov played far better than Novak for 90% of the match, but unfortunately played like **** in the most important points. Although Denis's physical game is top-notch, his mentality is Challenger-level. Novak wasn't playing great, but he didn't have to because Shapo totally gave away the match.

A very interesting foursome of semifinalists: Novak is playing his umpteenth Grand Slam semi (too lazy to look it up - 41st?), Berrettini in his 2nd, and Hurkacz & Shapovalov in their 1st ever. I haven't watched the DVRs of the matches yet, but I'm a bit stunned by the bagel in the 3rd set between Hurkacz & Roger.