Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Michigan versus Florida State...


I have a minimal interest in football. Even University of Michigan football. It's strange that in Europe everybody here thinks the same way about American football...it is a non event. Even though it is happening there to the tune of hundreds of thousands of spectators and millions of television watchers...here it may as well not be happening. Such is culture. What is important to one on the other side of the world is not even on the radar screen on the other side. Get it? It's culture.

A couple of highlights to a college football game yesterday. So many in the USA were banking on this. So many wishing for a particular outcome. I imagine that it was quite a game. Somebody had to lose. Everybody shook hands afterwards and got on with their lives. It's complicated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEpZ18PczSc

There's a man child that lives in Florida. Dade County. More than one for that matter. I know who he was pulling for. But today he will get up and get on with his life doing what he always does...his best. Greetings from Sweden klacr and Aaron. Happy New Year and give 'em hell in 2017!!!

[stotty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39PiSwtUwoQ

Here's an interesting analysis of the match...in hindsight. Mats Wilander stunned me with his revelations. Craig O'Shannessey puts his "two cents" in. Interesting insights.

Interesting indeed. I remember Bernie Mitton well. He had a couple of good runs at Wimbledon in the 70s.The tactics were good ones, weren't they? And according to Matts it was a tactic Connors never really learned to combat.

Here is a clip I love http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4x93bc

Nastase rolls a serve in a follows it to the net. Arthur could lay into this one or go for the more intricate, dissecting option. He chooses the latter. He chips a deft return crosscourt. Nastase, moving beautifully - unmatched even by Federer in this part of the court - gets right down to the volley and places to the only place he can go. By this time Arthur has seized control of the point and hits a perfect lob.

I love that point for three reasons: One, you just don't see this stuff anymore. Two, Arthur's astuteness, Three, Nastase's speed and balance at the net.

Stotty

[don_budge]

Arthur Ashe's tactical plan to defeat Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon Final

Arthur's plan to defeat Connors had been executed several years earlier, by Pancho Gonzales. Charlie Pasarell, who had never forgotten that match, recounted it to Arthur on the eve of the Wimbledon final.

Who better to turn to on the cusp of the biggest day of your sporting life than a tower of acumen and strength such as Pancho Gonzales. No wonder Ashe was so mentally resolved and strong that day. With Pancho Gonzales in your corner as your source of inspiration, who wouldn't be?

Stotty





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcoR0gsZ_FQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39PiSwtUwoQ

Here's an interesting analysis of the match...in hindsight. Mats Wilander stunned me with his revelations. Craig O'Shannessey puts his "two cents" in. Interesting insights.

[stotty]

Arthur Ashe's tactical plan to defeat Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon Final

Arthur's plan to defeat Connors had been executed several years earlier, by Pancho Gonzales. Charlie Pasarell, who had never forgotten that match, recounted it to Arthur on the eve of the Wimbledon final.

Who better to turn to on the cusp of the biggest day of your sporting life than a tower of acumen and strength such as Pancho Gonzales. No wonder Ashe was so mentally resolved and strong that day. With Pancho Gonzales in your corner as your source of inspiration, who wouldn't be?

Stotty

On the eve of the final Ashe discussed tactics over dinner with Dell, his manager, and Charlie Pasarell, a fellow player and friend. Pasarell recalled a match he had watched Connors lose in 1971 in Los Angeles. The 19-year-old had been sweeping aside everyone in his path, but had been outwitted by the 43-year-old Pancho Gonzalez, who baffled him with an array of delicate and carefully placed strokes, including drop shots and lobs.

Ashe’s natural game was to attack and go for his shots, but the strategy the three men devised for him was to take the pace off the ball, focus mostly on Connors’ forehand, where he could be particularly vulnerable on low volleys, and use the lob. At only 5ft 10in, Connors might have trouble with lobs, particularly on his backhand side with his double-handed grip. Just before Ashe went on court, Dell gave him a hand-written note: “Keep the ball low, and mostly on Connors’ forehand side; serve him wide to the backhand; use the lob.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcoR0gsZ_FQ

[don_budge]

Arnold Palmer...passes away at 87 years old

First it was Gordie Howe at the age of 88 and now the sports world loses another legend Arnold Palmer at the age of 87. These men were from the "Romantic Age" of sports. When it was about the game...and not the business.

http://golfweek.com/2016/09/25/arnol...es-away-at-87/

Of course money is important. It pays for the golf or the hockey. It pays for the food we eat. These men considered it an honor to play a boys game and to get paid for it was a bonus. These two men might just be considered icons as they were one of a kind. Not only were they one of a kind...they broke the mold. Now they are gone. A little bit of traditional thoughts in sports dies with these men.

“We loved him with a mythic American joy,” said Palmer biographer James Dodson. “He represented everything that is great about golf. The friendship, the fellowship, the laughter, the impossibility of golf, the sudden rapture moment that brings you back, a moment that you never forget, that’s Arnold Palmer in spades. He’s the defining figure in golf.”

"We loved him with a mythic American joy"...from the "Romantic Age" of golf these kind of feelings were once possible.

[hockeyscout]

Gordie Howe..."never refused an autograph".




Gordie Howe...they broke the mold with men like him. When sports was about loyalty, dedication and team. The money was secondary. One of the last of the traditional legends. A great athlete and a really, really fine gentleman.




http://www.freep.com/story/sports/co...idel/85953820/

You have a romantic version of things don_budge, but, it was a bad era in professional hockey that is best buried and forgotten. The sport took a lot of years to heal from those turbulent year where players were abused by owners.

Ask players what they think of those times - I have, and there was nothing positive sports owners did to benefit the young men (players) what-so-ever at the rink or away from the ice.

The majority of the owners ended up in jail, and even the head of the players association arrested, charged and spend serious ass pounding time in jail.

Hockey players we're the laughing stock of pro sports for many years, however, the unions eventually got smart, took initiative and gained control over the sport.

Howe was basically broke $$$$ at the end of his career and was taken advantage of by everyone being a nieve farm boy from Saskatchewan. The unions at that time really needed Gordie to take a stand, and he didn't.

Later on he learned “loyalty, dedication and team” were just phrases used to m manipulate players - in the 1980's Gordie wised up when he saw his pension plan was problematic, and players around him were dying with no access to proper coverage that they were promised. He joined forces with Carl Brewer, and sued, and they opened the books up to the NHL’s crooked pension business.

Gordie was not a sophisticated individual, but, he clearly had the presence of mind to marry a woman who had more balls than any owner, coach, manager, scout, agent, sponsor or businessman that crossed paths with the Howe family.

Years of hard lessons.

In 1971 he retired over a contract dispute (he wife did not step in, and negotiate).

At 43 Gordie realized his wife was right, and in 1973 she stepped in to negotiate professional contracts for her two sons Mark and Marty (before that Gordie would have to meet with the owner, and the wife was not allowed into the conversation).

Years later he learned journeyman NHL players like Bobby Baun were making more money than him.

Fortunately, the Howe's (Gordie and Colleen) really looked after their boys, and made sure they did not make the same financial mistakes they did.

She was a lady who learned the system, and wasn't going to allow anyone to walk over her sons.

Mark (the youngest son) became the highest paid professional player in the world at 18, and Gordie signed for 2.2 million dollars (his salary in Detroit was $13,000) as well in 1974. No one thought he had anything left in the tank, but, he sold tickets. Gordie had a personal career best year at 45. He was, a one of a kind athlete, but, not much of a businessman (thankfully, his wife was a heck of a business woman).

Gordie was a true pro's pro. His wife was a great sports wife who put her foot down, and a heck of a mama who didn't take anyone's crap. It was a combination that proved to be a winning one in the end.

[don_budge]

The Game...the way it used to be

Great video find. Great serving. Great volleying. Great attacking.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

It's all that klacr...and more. There is so much subtle stuff going on. What I find perhaps most amazing is the incredible amount of "work" Laver is putting on the ball. It is simply incredible. The seeming ease with which Gonzalez moves around the court is rather interesting as well. To me the video does do justice to the skill in both players but to the modern day tennis aficionado who is accustomed to watching this "reality" tennis that has been "discovered in modern times" it probably looks slow and antiquated.

Nothing could be more contrary to the truth. Can you imagine one single tennis player playing tennis today that would look even remotely comfortable playing balls from the positions that these two maestros do? I can only see one and I am curious to see how well he would fare. I'm not so sure.

Laver is really trying to work over his left handed spin with his serving to the ad court on Gonzalez. It's a fantastic find. The best of its kind that I have seen. The video certainly belongs here...Traditional Thoughts.

[klacr]

I like this clip...all of it...even though it's fractured stuff. Plus we get a gorgeous look at the Gonzales serve in slow motion at 2:27...and from an unusual angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nd7YqmMyDg

Also, here is an instructional video on the one-handed backhand by Arthur Ashe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16WkSFetfg

Stotty

Great video find. Great serving. Great volleying. Great attacking.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

I like this clip...all of it...even though it's fractured stuff. Plus we get a gorgeous look at the Gonzales serve in slow motion at 2:27...and from an unusual angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nd7YqmMyDg

Also, here is an instructional video on the one-handed backhand by Arthur Ashe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16WkSFetfg

Stotty

Dear Stotty...

Thank you so much for the honor of your posting on "Traditional Thoughts". That video of Richard Gonzales and Rod Laver is simply the best that I have ever seen. Watching those two raw and extraordinary artist duel back and forth with their wooden racquets was a sheer pleasure to watch. It was amazing how Laver "worked" that ball with spin. Its easy to see how he was thought to be an innovator at the time. Its easy to see how the Great John McEnroe would think of his as his idol.

How about that Richard Gonzales? Any questions as to why he is my model tennis player in my teaching paradigm? God Bless you Brother...thanks again. Your Friend...Steve

[stotty]

I like this clip...all of it...even though it's fractured stuff. Plus we get a gorgeous look at the Gonzales serve in slow motion at 2:27...and from an unusual angle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nd7YqmMyDg

Also, here is an instructional video on the one-handed backhand by Arthur Ashe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16WkSFetfg

Stotty

[don_budge]

The Individual...

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.": Rudyard Kipling (1865--1936)

No price is too high to pay.

[don_budge]

Gordie Howe..."never refused an autograph".

Gordie Howe...they broke the mold with men like him. When sports was about loyalty, dedication and team. The money was secondary. One of the last of the traditional legends. A great athlete and a really, really fine gentleman.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/jeff-seidel/2016/06/15/gordie-howe-funeral-jeff-seidel/85953820/

[don_budge]

Gordie Howe passes at 88...in Toledo, Ohio

Gordie Howe passed away yesterday in the city where I was born...where my parents were born. Toledo, Ohio.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/06/10/gordie-howe-obituary/70049812/

I used to watch the Detroit Red Wings as a boy and Gordie Howe was the man. My father who is also 88, used to take me down once in a while to the old Olympia to see the Wings play. He will always be the man...a sports hero from an era when sports were really sports. He was a man when men used to be men. What a man...rest in peace Gordie Howe.

A real man who knew the score...

Once, at a dinner, Gordie was talking in his usual, self-deprecating way when Colleen interrupted.

"Gordie, don't talk with your hands in front of your mouth," she said.

"Dear, don't give me orders," he responded. "People will get the wrong impression that you're the boss."

There was no acrimony in the exchange, just tenderness and a little irony. Their children said they still held hands in their 70s when they walked on the beach or attended a movie.

"It's been a mutual agreement, a partnership," Gordie said. "I married a strong lady who has been very, very good for me because there are a lot of departments where I know I lack."

[don_budge]

Victor Amaya versus Björn Borg...

I remember that match with Victor Amaya. Big old Victor…a protege of none other than Welby Van Horn was a great big left handed classic player. He had some beautiful strokes and a huge left handed serve. Was it five sets? I think that it was. Borg getting by the skin of his teeth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteJVIjsCKg

It was five sets…6-3 in the fifth. A narrow escape for the iconic Swede. First round match in 1978.

[klacr]

Victor Amaya. Michigan man. A Wolverine. Stayed in the state to play at University of Michigan. Clearly a smart player as well with that decision. Go Blue!

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton