Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Words…are all I know and all that I have

Words…The Bee Gees (1967)

Performers…be them singers, athletes or teachers often get better with age…with time.

Barry Gibbs in 1972…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ-ic9MuoQA

Barry Gibbs in 1997….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g83IfdUzcg

Smile an everlasting smile
A smile can bring you near to me
Don't ever let me find you gone
'Cause that would bring a tear to me

This world has lost it's glory
Let's start a brand new story
Now my love, right now
There'll be no other time
And I can show you how, my love

Talk in everlasting words
And dedicate them all to me
And I will give you all my life
I'm here if you should call to me

You think that I don't even mean
A single word I say

It's only words, and words are all I have
To take your heart away

You think that I don't even mean
A single word I say

It's only words, and words are all I have
To take your heart away
It's only words, and words are all I have
To take your heart away
It's only words, and words are all I have
To take your heart away

Then there was this from 1968…the year that I began my love affair with tennis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPePasexF9w

[don_budge]

The use of language…that some might find offensive

It was brought to my attention that some of my language in this "reporting" was a bit off color. After thinking long and hard about it…that may just be right. I guess that I was going for some extra emphasis and trying to highlight some of the goings on. I guess that I do have this horrible sense of irony…I was more or less being more ironic than anything else. Normally…when I am trying to be funny I use an ironic sense of humour…which is why I am not particularly funny.

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone. It made me reconsider some of my use of language here on the forum. I guess being brought up in the old Motor City of Detroit (Dearborn actually) and working at the Rouge Plant for all of those years left me with some pretty salty expressiveness that has manifested itself in my don_budge personna. Plus being a bachelor for the first fifty years of my life. You get the picture. You know…like "locker room talk"…and yet I was stating the facts. I was thinking artistic expression. Hmmm...

Well…stopping short of apologizing I make a case for freedom of speech and expression. But that being said…you have to watch what you say these days and I will. It's no lie…the thought police are listening.

I don't actually know any gay people. At least I don't think that I do. Well except for my sister who is actually a very strikingly attractive woman and she is married to a gal who bears a equally striking resemblance to John Goodman. Don't tell her that I said so…gee I hope this doesn't get back to her. I really don't have any serious thoughts on the matter and to tell you the truth…I really don't care too much for sexual orientation or labelling people in derogatory terms. I don't think that I did. If you think that I did…please forgive me.

[don_budge]

Gordie Howe…at 86

You know, a long time ago my dad told me the hockey world in Detroit was lamenting the fact that Gordie Howe was approaching the end, and that the game was in decline in his thirties.

I saw Gordie Howe play hockey several times. At Olympia…the same place where I actually saw Richard Gonzales and the rest of the pro tour play tennis back…well way back when.

Olympia…what a place. My father took my sister to see the Beatles there. Not once…but twice. I saw Elton John play there on his "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Tour".

That's all that I have to say about Gordie Howe. He was a truly great hockey player. Coincidentally he is the same age as my father.

Please don't anybody respond to this…I am writing my swan song. I will be struggling to keep my train of thought. Don't respond to any of it. Even if you are tempted. I'm dying. That's right…don_budge is dying. Thank you for respecting my dying wishes.

And don't get your hopes up…this might very well be a very slow death. But any rate…there is something or rather there are some things that I want to share with you guys here on the forum before I go. Just give me the latitude that you always have…that is all that I ask.

I am going to miss you guys.

[hockeyscout]

"I don't even want to start to think what the game will be like after Roger Federer leaves"…Mats Wilander after Roger's winning performance at the 2014 Davis Cup Finals.

You know, a long time ago my dad told me the hockey world in Detroit was lamenting the fact that Gordie Howe was approaching the end, and that the game was in decline in his thirties.

Well, at 41 he had his best statistical season ever of 44 goals. He retired at the age of 52 (yes, he played in the NHL at 52). Unquestionably he was the most durable athlete professional sports has seen, or ever will see!

Well Federer is a similar athlete. 6'1 like Howe. Mentality wise they were alike, both were very intelligent and while low key the most competitive players in their sports. Family men. No drama. No stress. Involved wife's who are low maintenance. I'd say his home life is the reason for his long run.

Federer isn't taking the beating Howe took at the old Olympia, so perhaps he just might have a chance at being as durable an athlete over the long haul with medical advances, science, recovery tools and scheduling.

I'd say 7 to 8 years may be a real possibility if he continues to keep the ankles in good working order. Those are always the first thing to go on any tennis player.

[don_budge]

When Brando dies…When Federer retires

"When Brando dies, everyone moves up one", Jack Nicholson once said.

Be wonderful if they could say the same about Federer upon his retirement. Be great if he could make number 1 again.

"I don't even want to start to think what the game will be like after Roger Federer leaves"…Mats Wilander after Roger's winning performance at the 2014 Davis Cup Finals.

[hockeyscout]

Wayne Gretzky. In his first seven years of pro hockey he outscored the second leading competitor in points by 22%, 44%, 58%, 63%, 54%, 53% and 69%. NO ONE with all due respect to Roger will EVER reach that level of dominance over peers. EVER.

In tennis we've seen Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratolova, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal (winning record, and career dominance over Federer in prime years).

We'll see another player of this type of ilk come along sooner or later.

Here is a guy who knows a thing or two about tennis commenting:

Andre Agassi told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper, via aljazeera.com: "I'd put Nadal number one and Federer number two. Federer separated himself from the field for four years. He separated himself from Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt. Nadal had to deal with Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray in the golden age of tennis. He has done what he has done and he's not done yet. He has won multiple (majors), every single one (more than once) except the Australian Open – and give him another year on that," Agassi said. "It's just remarkable to me what he has done, and he has done it all during Federer’s prime."

Its hardly the end of an era.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer…The Living Proof

"When Brando dies, everyone moves up one", Jack Nicholson once said.

Be wonderful if they could say the same about Federer upon his retirement. Be great if he could make number 1 again.

if that is true, then we need to roll back the technology a little bit to preserve SOME of the tradition of the game.

Thoughts?!
don

Well Don...I thought nobody would ever ask. Let's see where this leads us.

You are a little late there, Don. Where were you when the Prince was making her debut? I remember going to war with every player that used it against me in tournaments. I was on my way up. The racquets derailed me. I was livid. I thought they were cheating...not only me but the game herself. And she was my great love. I loved her with all my heart and soul. I wanted to kill them. All of them. In defense of her Tradition. There were too many. There was only me...but it made no difference, I didn't care. I stood up. To the machine!

Tradition? Forget about it. You are too late to be concerned with such trivia. In fact if you speak of such things you will have people calling you a "prisoner of your generation" and looking at you cross eyed. I hear the snickering. To which I say...phooey.

One of my last memories in competitive tennis was going three sets with three opponents with Princess racquets in one day, me and my Kramers...lost the third. I tried to scrape myself off the bed the next day. I lost toenails. I went down fighting. I realized a long time ago...the gig was up. Nobody cared. Not like I do...to this very day. They still don't. That was the day the music died. That was the day that Don Quixote died…again.

"I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra
I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova
I could walk like Brando right into the sun
Then dance just like a Casanova"

Roger Federer…the last remaining link.

[stotty]

"When Brando dies, everyone moves up one", Jack Nicholson once said.

Be wonderful if they could say the same about Federer upon his retirement. Be great if he could make number 1 again.

[don_budge]

Imaging…Fantasy. Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine…The Doors

I remember watching Scent of Woman for the first time, and wondering if I'd ever see a movie I like better.

Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine…The Doors (1972)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMleOMdBreg

Funny that you should say that. Funny that I quoted Al Pacino in a tennis post. Oddly enough an old girlfriend called me the other day and asked me if I had ever seen this movie called…"Scent of a Woman".

Imaging is an important process in the tennis deal. The ability to see things…as you remember them. Like remembering an old girlfriend…the way she looked. But can you recall a smell…like Al Pacino apparently could? Visualization is one thing…it's a sensory memory. But what about…the scent of a woman. Is it why we love them so?

I used to love the smell of new tennis balls when you opened up a fresh can. 1968…the year that I was introduced to the game. Fourteen years old and it was the advent of the Open Era. Little did I know then. To have a new can was certainly a treat…back then. "The old days"…Phil Picuro likes to call them. I will never forget the smell. I mention that to my new students in the hopes that fifty years from now they will look back and hear my voice in their ears. I promise you they will smile.

But there is a point to this…sort of. The movie was sort of compelling…Pacino playing a blind man. His ability to recall…to see without seeing. There is something to this. Perception. The Doors. Racquet head speed…tennis movement. The senses.

Is this thread done yet? I am not so certain that it is. Did Stotty open up a door? Think don_budge…there was something that I wanted to add.

[don_budge]

Won't Get Fooled Again…The Who

Indulge me…the last time. I promise. There is a reason for everything…method in my madness. Trust me…you had to have seen this live.

Won't Get Fooled Again…The Who (1971)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

[don_budge]

Happy Jack…The Who

More of "The Who"…a great rock and roll band from the beginning of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52cQeFBU2Kw

"Happy Jack"…The Who 1966

Happy Jack wasn't old, but he was a man
He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key
So they rode on his head on their furry donkey

The kids couldn't hurt Jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied

But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent Jack from feeling happy

But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent Jack from feeling happy

The kids couldn't hurt Jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied

But they couldn't stop don_budge, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent don_budge from feeling happy

(I saw ya!)

[bottle]

How cool that this decision came the same day as the other one.

[don_budge]

GOLF...sporting world's oldest traditional sport

Another tradition bites the dust. Don't worry sheeple...it's all good.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/18/sport/golf/golf-ra-female-members/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

GOLF...Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

[don_budge]

Rock and Roll is dead...Gene Simmons

He's probably just a nut case...don't listen to him. Obviously he doesn't know what he is talking about...although I have been saying the same thing for years. The most obvious of truths.

There are some obvious parallels to be drawn...but some people don't want to see it. Some are afraid to admit it. Most are certainly petrified to voice their opinions because if they fall outside of the parameters of being politically correct they will undoubtably be vilified or even worse...be made fun of by some small minded people.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/08/showbiz/music/rock-is-dead-gene-simmons-esquire/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmyGa29zIqk

[don_budge]

Political Correctness...

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."

Thought for the day posted at a news website that I read on a semi-regular basis.