BSR

I recently put two forum members on ignore, first time in my decade+ here. For one of them, I put him on ignore because I stopped reading his posts years ago. Since he often responded to my posts & mentioned me using the @, I noted in my signature that he was on my ignore list as a courtesy to him, so that he doesn't waste time writing posts directed at me that I'll never read. For the other board member, I just felt like he was far more interested in trolling than any honest discussion or debate. I got fed up with the trolling, and gotta say, I've been enjoying my visits to this board so much more ever since I set him to ignore.

On men's tennis forum, the Roger & Rafa fans are going berserk over Novak's easy draw. Even as a die-hard Novak fan, gotta admit, this draw almost looks like Novak hand-picked his opponents. Since the 4 most dangerous players for Novak (Berretini, Zverev, Federer, Medvedev) all landed in the other half of the draw, Novak will have to face only one of them in the final to win the title. In the more mathematically likely scenario where 2 of those 4 ended up in Novak's half, he would have had to beat 3 of the 4 to win the title. I'm afraid that Novak's draw might actually be too easy because a player needs some challenges before the final to get match-sharp. Shapovalov looks like he's improved a lot under coach Youzhny's guidance, but I don't know if he's mentally strong enough to handle the pressure of the projected semifinal against Novak. None of the other players in Novak's half (Garín, Fucsovics, Rublev, Khachanov, Korda, Bautista-Agut) pose much of a threat. I think something kinda crazy has to happen for anyone other than Novak to win the title next Sunday. Who makes the final from the other half? The romantic pick is Federer, of course. As much as Fed has improved over his first 3 matches, he's not the player he was 2 years ago, when he outplayed Novak for 5 sets yet still somehow lost. I don't think the 2 supertall Russians Medvedev & Zverev (yes, I know Zverev was born & raised in Germany, but his family is Russian & he grew up speaking Russian at home) have quite mastered grass enough to challenge Novak. Novak's biggest threat, imho, is Berrettini because his serve is such a monster weapon, but serve alone won't be enough to beat Novak.

60+ deaths, how tragic. I wonder why more weren't able to get to a cooling center. Maybe some didn't know about them or know where they were (many seniors don't use the Internet). Perhaps some didn't have transportation to get back & forth (many seniors no longer drive). Whatever the reason, it's so sad. If transportation were the issue, I'm sure plenty of volunteers would gladly offer to drive people to cooling centers.

I first saw Almodovar's "Law of Desire" in its initial release back in 1987, and I watched it again just now after a 34-year gap. Whereas I loved it 34 years ago, so much that I saw it several times at the artsy NYC cinema where it was playing, I didn't particularly enjoy it today. Back in 1987, the film was groundbreaking. A film with a gay protagonist was pretty much unheard of, especially one who lived so openly & unapologetically. Portrayals of gay sex and male nudity were pretty racy stuff anywhere, especially in Spain just 11 years after Franco's death. Almodovar's nutty, unconventional style and dark sense of humor were so different from any movie I had ever seen. 34 years later, plenty of gay-themed movies are made, and a gay protagonist isn't groundbreaking stuff any more. I've lost my taste for Almodovar's style because, as a friend correctly pointed out, once you've seen one Almodovar flick, you've seen them all. They're all kind of the same. At least "Matador" and "Women on the Verge" were a lot funnier. Who else has seen "Law of Desire"? What do you think of it?

I don't know how I'd react in the heat of the moment. It looks like the poor cyclist might have been too injured to go after the spectator. But once I've been treated and have a clear head, I would follow up with race officials and law enforcement to make sure that spectator is charged with assault. Since she caused a chain reaction, she should be charged with multiple assaults. If you multiply the prison time for assault by the dozens of cyclists involved, that spectator is looking at a veeeeeeeeeery long sentence. Hopefully law enforcement catches her & throws the book at her.

Las Vegas is the straight adult playground. The gay scene is rather lacking. I've never heard of an Asian spa with male masseurs here.

"I also had two different cliques openly make fun of me whenever they saw me. I finally had to confront them to stop and it went up to to the Ships officers who basically told them to knock it off." Behavior like that would be unacceptable coming from a bunch of middle-schoolers, albeit somewhat expected (cuz that's what middle-schoolers do). But for a bunch of grown men (I'm assuming all in their 20s, maybe even 30s) to act like that is truly disgusting.

I don't know enough about college football to form an opinion about Michael Sams but did read a great analysis of his talent. The author was an ESPN guy who knew college football like the back of his hand. His conclusion was that Sam just wasn't that good. Plenty of players have great college careers only to fizzle out in the NFL. Sam just raised more of a stink about it and tried to make the gay issue the reason he was cut.

I think another difference besides a few decades is that the photos of these stars in their youth were studio publicity shots, done with perfect makeup, perfect lighting, and the best professional photographers in the industry. Even in their youth, I doubt these stars looked quite so ideal in candid moments.

I don't follow soccer, nor do I understand the dynamics at play with the governing bodies. FIFA, the sport's international governing body, sanctioned the Mexican team by fining it $65,000 and not allowing any fans to attend its next 2 home matches because Mexican fans repeatedly chanted a homophobic slur at the opposing team. Absolutely, that was the right thing to do. Yet FIFA gave the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, punishable by a fine & up to 3 years in prison. So according to FIFA, calling an LGBT person mean names is unacceptable & will not be tolerated, but throwing them in prison for the "crime" of being gay is OK.

Thanks for the info about Smith & Kopay. Wow, those two were about as subtle as a sledgehammer, LOL. Not to trivialize Nassib's act, but it seems he is the first active player to come out via official press release. Smith & Kopay were about as OUT as you can be.

Thanks for the info. I don't follow the NBA much & mistakenly thought that Collins came out only after retirement. Wow, it turns out that Collins was the first out active player in all four major sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL). I'm still waiting for a male player to come out on the ATP (tennis) tour. Plenty of women (Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo) have come out, but no guys yet. Tennis journalists like Jon Wertheim are a bit puzzled that no one has since they're pretty sure the first out ATPer would be very much welcomed in the sport.

Wow, it finally happened, an openly gay active NFL player. Some players have come out after retirement (like David Kopay) or after getting signed (like Michael Sam, but he was cut before ever playing an NFL game), but Nassib is the first active player to come out. I liked his statement and greatly appreciate his generous donation to the Trevor Project. I don't know if an active player has come out yet in baseball, basketball, or hockey. To the fans of those sports, can you tell us?

Apparently you & I view the escort-client relationship very differently. I'm a bit baffled by your statement "It is personal." How? The escort provides a service; the client pays him for that service. Granted, the escort provides physical intimacy and sometimes sessions involve emotional intimacy as well, but in the end, if you're paying for the escort's services, it's business. It was nice of the OP to help the escort out with his grad school essays, but unless the OP stated up front he expected compensation for his help, then all the escort owes him is a heartfelt thank you. Greed? If an employee quits his old job to take a higher-paying job elsewhere, is that greed? To me, that's just being smart and knowing your worth. My old boss can call me greedy all he wants, I'm still taking the higher pay. I would expect anyone in any line of work to do the same, including escorts. As for naivete, the escort is naive only if he's not getting enough business at the higher rate. The OP mentioned that he thinks a few clients are paying the higher rate. If "a few" is enough for the escort, I would say the escort is a smart businessman.

I don't understand why loyal, longtime clients feel that they should be grandfathered in at the old rate. Businesses increase their prices all the time. As a regular, longtime customer at some places, I can't say that I'm happy about the increases, but I don't expect the business to make an exception for me either. As for this escort's "inflated" rate, his recent rate increase is only "inflated" if not enough clients are willing to pay it. If he's getting the amount of business he wants at the higher rate, then it's not inflated -- it's right for the market. If he's not getting enough business, then he'll (hopefully) figure it out & adjust accordingly. In either case, decide for yourself if he's worth the higher rate, or not. If indeed your area has plenty of other providers who charge less, find one or a few you like & move on. It's just business. When a client expects an exception to be made for him because of past history or a nice off-the-clock relationship, he's making it personal.

My dream scenario is that Novak wins on Sunday for Slam #19, then defends his Wimbledon title in a few weeks for #20. That way, the Big 3 all go into the US Open with 20 apiece, plus Novak will be chasing the elusive calendar year Grand Slam. Oh, it would be glorious!

Novak's win today changes the landscape of the Slam race -- currently Roger at 20, Rafa at 20, Novak at 18. Mind you, Novak still has to win the final, but if he does, that puts him just one behind Roger & Rafa. So instead of the rather sizable gap of 3 Slams between Rafa & Novak that just about everyone had penciled in, Novak is just one back, and he's the favorite at Wimbledon. Rafa was 105-2 at Roland Garros going into today's match, with an unreal 13-0 record in semifinals (he's also undefeated in the 13 finals he's played). So Novak hands Rafa his first loss in a semifinal and only his 3rd loss of his career at the clay court Slam. Just an incredible performance from Novak today.

Wow, that's beautiful. Any idea where this is?

Some controversy has erupted in response to Federer's withdrawal. On Men's Tennis Forum, even some Fed fans (or so they claim) are criticizing his decision. Their arguments are mostly that you don't treat a Grand Slam as a warmup tournament and that once you enter a tournament you play until you are knocked out, you don't just quit when it's convenient. Even though I am not at all a Fed fan (die-hard Novak fan here), I'm OK with his decision. Do I wish he played his next match against Berrettini? Yeah, sure. I think it actually hurts Berrettini to have 3 days off before facing (most likely) Novak in the quarters. But Federer was out of commission for more than a year due to 2 knee surgeries. A 3.5 hour match on the grindiest surface is far more stress than any orthopedic surgeon would advise for that knee. Federer turns 40 in August. Please note that just 20 years ago, 30 was the unofficial retirement age in men's tennis. If he thinks that continuing at Roland Garros is too much of a risk to his body, he's probably right because he knows his own body better than anyone. Hopefully his knee is OK and Roger can have a great grass court season. It might be his last hurrah at Wimbledon.

Naomi Osaka made $55 million last year, $5 million in prize money and a whopping $50 million in endorsements. She is by far the highest earning female athlete. Out of all athletes, only Lebron James, Tiger Woods, and Roger Federer made more than Osaka. Osaka is currently dating a rapper. I know nothing about the world of rap, but maybe he's as rich as she is? To give some perspective on just how much Japanese tennis stars make in endorsements, Kei Nishikori (currently #49, career high ranking #4, zero Slam titles) makes more in endorsements than even Rafa Nadal (20 Slams, 209 weeks at #1) and Novak Djokovic (18 Slams, 323 weeks at #1). Even Shuzo Matsuoka, the highest ranked Japanese man before Nishikori, despite a career-high ranking of #46 and just one minor title to his name, became a multimillionaire thanks to endorsements.

An interesting resolution to this stand-off: Osaka has withdrawn from Roland Garros. She cites in a long statement that she had suffered long bouts of depression since winning the US Open in 2018. She also apologized to tennis journalists, which was nice to see because ever since she came on the scene, those who cover tennis have always been particularly nice to Osaka. Honestly, I don't think Osaka thought this one through very well. Whatever mental health issues she suffers, the solution is not avoiding press conferences. I doubt she expected such strong blowback from fellow players nor the four Slams. The ITF (the governing body for the 4 Grand Slams, Davis Cup, and the Olympics) threatened Osaka with not just a default from this Roland Garros but also suspensions from future Slams if she continued to shirk pressers. With the threat of being banned from future Slams, Osaka will do what she should have done in the first place: figure out a way to deal with her mental health issues while fulfilling her press responsibilities, just as every single one of tens of thousands of professional tennis players have done for the last 53 years.

The reigning queen of hardcourts Naomi Osaka (current US Open & Australian champion) announced via social media that she will no longer do the mandatory post-match press conferences, citing the issue of mental health. "I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health and this very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one. We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me." In response, Roland Garros tournament organizers have fined her $15,000 for skipping out of her 1st round press conference. Since Osaka made $55 million last year, the fine is a drop in the bucket for her. But tournament officials have threatened her with heavier fines in the future and even a default from the tournament (yikes!). She has gotten support from Venus Williams (just a "you go, girl!" tweet), but criticism from almost everyone else. Novak said that press is part of the job & that all players have to do their job. Rafa, who has always avoided controversy like the plague, even weighed in, saying that the reason (top) tennis players are lucky to be making $millions is all the media attention, and press conferences feed the worldwide fan interest. My opinion is that Osaka needs to suck it up. Oh, she has to answer the same questions over & over again? So does every other athlete, not just in tennis but in every sport. As for the issue of mental health, tens of thousands of tennis players since the Open Era began have had to deal with tough questions, doubters, and blows to their self-esteem. Miraculously, not one has suffered a psychological breakdown or had to check into a mental health facility. If tens of thousands of other players had to figure out a way to get through press conferences, Osaka can too. I wonder if the powers-that-be at Roland Garros will actually make good on their threats. Heavier fines? Sure, that's easy. But *gulp* defaulting her from a Grand Slam?? Wow, that'll take a pair. Hoooooooey! There'll be fireworks like Bastille Day times a zillion if that comes to pass.

Different strokes ... I loved "Friends" during its initial run. I don't make it a point to watch it in syndication, but when I catch the occasional rerun, I am impressed by the comic genius of Joey & Phoebe. I definitely underappreciated just how funny those two were back in the Nineties. On a bit of a "Friends" tangent, I once met a guy here in Vegas who was born & raised in Dubai, had been living in London for 5 years, yet spoke perfect colloquial American English. When I asked him if he had lived in the US because his English sounded so American, he said he got it from friends. "Oh, you have American friends in London?" I asked. "No, from the TV show 'Friends.' I have the boxed set and have watched every episode at least 10 times."

She got quite a backlash from her initial tweet. I see that she made amends.

Holy Toledo, those two officers are gorgeous!!