Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[don_budge]

Tennis tradition...Leo Tolstoy (Anna Karenina) playing tennis...Speed Reading

What is power? I ask the student. Control is power. The three elements of control are speed, spin and placement. The universal rhetorical question.

Have you ever read "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy? How long did it take you to read the eight-hundred fifty-nine pages? Have you ever read any novel by Leo Tolstoy? I've read two. The aforementioned and "War and Peace". Many years ago. I am on Facebook and not being one for the "new fangled" way it is somewhat of a surprise. A couple of things have come to my attention on "my feeds" and one of them of late is from a group called "The Russian Cultural Heritage". Being interested in all things Russian, I take great interest in cultural aspects of odds and ends. Even in tennis it is quite obvious where my interest lies...as in "Thoughts about Tennis Tradition". It isn't something whimsical. It's a deep subject and not to be taken lightly in my estimation. Russia is the current "bad guy of the day", so they get my interest. They have my attention...and my respect. What makes them the bad guy and we the good guy? Point of view? Certainly in their eyes they are not the bad guy. It's perspective. Thus the interest. What is the reality of the thing? Always my focal point. Reality.

So anyways..."Anna Karenina" appears on my feed and Russian Cultural Heritage devotes significant space to Leo Tolstoy of late. My word...one of the most fascinating characters I have read about. I'm doing a deep dive this winter. "Anna Karenina" was first up. I had read this novel thirty years ago or so. Once upon a time in my life when I was approaching the age of forty I turned inwards. I was de-transitioning from being the tennis player to the next character I would assume. I was really done with tennis. Erased from my data base. I'd had a pretty wild ride with the game. But when the equipment was being engineered beyond the recognition of normalcy I became a one man army rebelling against the powers that be. I was searching. So I began reading. Like a mad man. Reading entire Dostoevsky novels in a week. It was athletic in the amount I was reading. I'd pick an author and read everything I could get my hands on. I remember going to Borders Book Store and loading up. Five or six novels at a time, then bunkering down.

Last Friday I got it into my noodle to read this great, great novel once again. I dug in. The first day I was determined to get to the one hundred page marker in the novel. These reads are somewhat difficult in their scope and plot so you have to get to the one hundred marker to know what you are in for. In this case there would be seven-hundred and fifty-nine pages to follow. I started about ten in the morning and just read like I used to. When once upon a time I was turning forty years old. I got my self in position and I read...and I read. I read until I couldn't read much more. Two hundred and fifteen pages. Once I got deep...it occurred to me. How long would this novel take me to read? Two hundred and some pages in I was well aware of the epic nature of the book. It was clear to me that Leo Tolstoy was some kind of other worldly brilliant genius. I figured if I could keep up the pace that I could finish the entire novel in four days.

Reading is really an amazing ability. I truly realized it once I got myself in a marathon mood. I became hyper aware of the letters and the words put together to form sentences and paragraphs that morphed into ideas and even bigger concepts. The print was burning through my optics and searing into my brain. Making pictures. After the second day...I was deeply entranced and living with the characters who were brought to life...through the letters, sentences, paragraphs. Turning page after page. Endlessly turning the page. All day long. Plodding along at times. Racing through at others. Keeping up the pace. Two hundred and fifteen pages a day. The third day again. Deeper and deeper. Understanding each character's psychology, dilemmas, pondering over their mental processes. Into the fourth day...when things got a bit difficult. I didn't sleep all that well on the final day. Making it difficult to keep up the pace at times. Feeling drowsy at times. Relying on the sheer brilliance of Tolstoy to keep the process going. Letters, sentences, paragraphs and page after page after page. Until the end. The End. Three days...nine hours and forty-nine minutes. This had to be right up there with anything I have accomplished in terms of effort, focus, concentration and understanding. At seventy-two years old (actually 72 in March but I round up) my mind is still intact. Capable of processing the white light of Leo Tolstoy. I felt accomplished. I felt...blessed.

At any rate...I know that the readers of this forum do not tolerate deviation from the basic tennis thread. "You must keep it limited to tennis", they shout in unison. You are a deviant if you try to connect dots to other realms as they relate to tennis...be it a stretch of the imagination at times. The mind need not be so limited in my world. But it was the speed that I read this novel that was powerful. Spin and placement? How about wisdom and understanding? Just some thoughts. Traditionally Russian. A great, great culture. No less than any other on the face of the earth. Certainly in philosophy, literature, music and even tennis. Why shouldn't we be friends? Why not mutual respect? The world would be a far greater place. It is going to take a tunnel or a bridge from Russia to Alaska to convince the rest of the world. I have gamed it out. I see the road ahead. Much as I did back in 1984 watching the U. S. Open. All four men's semifinalists using over-sized racquets for the first time. I knew...it was the end. The End.

So...wait for it. The tennis link to this post. The three dots...the three little dots. Well here it is my darlings. Leo Tolstoy interjected this short passage into his eight-hundred and fifty-nine page novel. A short scene in a time removed from modern times by one hundred and how many years. Way back...way back in time. Before we were even an idea of our parents. Leo Tolstoy was playing and writing about tennis. I remember when I first came to Sweden...my wife and I went out for a long, long walk. As we walked we came across a home out here in the Swedish countryside that had a tennis court. I'll never forget that moment. Somehow it was a defining moment. A moment that contributed to the feeling that I could change my entire life and move to the other side of the world. The tennis court with those beautiful finite lines. It was like a vision. A hallucination. Much like it felt like to read this short passage in "Anna Karenina" after days of marathon reading. Out of nowhere...in the Russian countryside. In an other worldly novel...those lines appeared out of nowhere. A tennis court. Around 1870 or so? A long time ago...

"The dinner, the wines, the service were all excellent; but it all seemed to Dolly, though she had grown out of the habit of them, too much like a big formal dinner party or a ball: there was the same impersonal atmosphere and strain, and so on an everyday occasion and in a small gathering they produced a disagreeable impression on her.

After dinner they sat out on the terrace for a while, and then proceeded to play lawn-tennis. The players, having chosen their partners, took their places on the carefully leveled and rolled croquet-lawn, on either side of the net stretched between two gilt posts. Dolly made an attempt to play, but it was a long while before she could understand the game, and by the time she did understand it she felt so tired that she gave up and sat down to watch by the Princess Varvara. Her partner Tushkevich also gave up, but the others continued for a long time. Sviazhsky and Vronsky both played very well and earnestly. They kept their eyes on the balls served to them, and without haste or getting in each other’s way ran adroitly up, waited for the ball to bounce, and then , striking well and truly with the racquet, returned it across the net. Veslovsky was a poor player. He got too excited, but, to make up for that, his high spirits inspired the others. His laughter and outcries were never silent. With the ladies’ permission the men had taken off their coats, and he made an impressive picture with his fine, handsome figure in white shirt-sleeves, his red perspiring face and impetuous movements. When Dolly lay in bed that night, as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Vasenka veslovsky flying about the croquet-lawn."

Three days...nine hours and forty-nine minutes. I wonder how many have read this novel as quickly as I. Not many. Considering the effort it took. The concentration. The eyes working over the pages. The pages and the pages turning and turning. By the tens and the twenties. The hundreds. To two-hundred and fifteen pages a day. For three days and some hours. Keeping the pace. Keeping an eye on the goal. To finish. To the very end. The story burned into my mind...from turning the pages. The letters, sentences, paragraphs and pages passing through the brain cells of my mind. Making pictures. From cover to cover. What a trip! Thank you...Lord. Thank you...Leo.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/why-tolstoy-took-up-tennis

[don_budge]

Thoughts about Tennis and Golf Tradition...

Tennis and golf are God's gift to mankind in terms of recreation. Both of these games tests the human being on every level of their humanness. Intellectually, physically, psychologically, emotionally...and even spiritually. The two are related if not distant cousins in the world of recreation. Spawn from the same creator it might seems on some level. Both games are games of shots and the metaphysics of the shot don't change over time. The fundamentals will always be the same. In today's modern times and times of professional sports much has been cast aside in the name of progress. Much as it happens in real life. These games metaphorically match the times with their mere existence. Adapting as to stay relevant. Like the human counterpart...it's the condition under which they are always played.

I like to look admiringly at the past at these games. At the competitors and the conditions under which these games were contested. Years ago...things were different as it was a different world in which we played. I remember playing tennis as a boy and a young man. Growing up with the great game of tennis at my side. No matter what the conditions...my trusty game was always there. But as in life...things change and so did tennis. Something was lost where most thought something was gained. It's the nature of life too...where the masses might see progress there are those that might hold out for something else. The less obvious. The spiritual.

Here is a video about one of golf's greatest competitors. Ben Hogan...the video is titles "Bantam Ben". Take a look at it. You don't have to be a golfer to appreciate the message. Much as you don't need to be a tennis player to appreciate a story about a character named Richard Gonzales. Ben Hogan is what you would call the ultimate "Game Guy". What is a "Game Guy"? Look it up in the dictionary and you will find the pictures of the likes of Hogan and Gonzales.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulYyosFu0ac

Last year I traveled to the United States of America twice. The country that I called home for the first fifty years of my life. I hadn't been home for twelve years and returning felt like a past life experience. I was reading "The Razor's Edge" on the plane home and finishing the final chapter in which the main character is describing the effect upon his life where he had spent some years isolated with Hindu swami's in India. Sitting next to me on the plane was an Indian man who just happened to be exactly the same number of years as I. He also happened to be a doctor/surgeon..and of course he was a Hindu too. He noticed the book that I was reading and we engaged in some conversation...he spoke to me of reincarnation and good and evil. How time works it's magic on the soul. I landed in America and I was caught in a delicious hallucination. A hallucination that included my own personal stuff and it was including the campaign for the Presidency between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. America's soul was being split in two...divided equally into two angry sides.

I saw family and friends that I hadn't seen for twelve years. I found myself swirling in a culture that seemed to be traveling at the speed of light compared to that of the Swedish culture that I have found myself adopted by. The freeways were churning and the businesses and restaurants were cha-chinging around the clock it seemed. Out of the madness I was fortunate to catch up with my life long friend...The Ugly American...and we managed a couple of rounds of golf together. He hadn't changed...he smoked and I got high watching.

Towards the end there was an unfinished piece of business to take care of. I wished to see my old tennis coach. A man who was like a second father to me and a person in my life that I surely needed and in some ways I am sorry that I didn't dedicate myself to his teaching more than I did. But this is life and this is how it transpires. We do what we do and then we look back and sometimes we wonder. My father and I drove to his home clear on the other side of town and once we had found the apartment or condominium I walked into another time warp. How many years had it been since I had seen this beacon of my youth? But here he was some 87 years old or so and inside he didn't seem to have changed at all. After touring his home we headed out to go to lunch but first there was a stop he wanted to make. The tennis court. We hit some balls in ninety something degree heat and he had some pearls to give me about the game...about teaching the game. The return of serve and the overhead he expounded on...he is still relevant.

We batted the ball back and forth a bit. I used all of my power of control to deliver the ball to him one bounce waist high. We hit a couple of serves. He actually aced me on the first ball...he hit a rather surprising slice to my backhand in the deuce court. Me being left handed. Just like old times. Old, old times. So many years ago. A lifetime. A past life.

So anyways...I run the risk of being or sounding sentimental or melancholy. Nostalgic. It's nearly against the law to be nostalgic nowadays. Perhaps it has always been this way and it is only now that I have transgressed to the other side of life. But the old tennis coach really hits me right in the heart. I remember those old days...I was a wild and bewildered youth and he was a stern yet patient...tough yet gentle mentor. I still hear his voice in my head. Some of the scenes from the past go whirring in the dizzying hallucination from then to now.

He gave me something when I left that day. Some words that he had come across that somehow struck him the way that things struck him. He was a rather upright fellow...he is a rather upright fellow. Time and conditions will not change him. Age will not change him. He may be hobbling from the knee replacements...the hip replacements. The shoulder replacement. But to me he is a Bionic Man...one for all of the ages. My coach. The only coach that I would have taken on tour if I had the chance. His knowledge and reverence for the great game of tennis second to none...in my eyes.

Here is what he gave me on that hot July afternoon in the year of 2016. In the midst of all of the nonsense. The American "election". An election where the votes don't count. The fix is in...always. Here are the words that he gave me. My coach is a devout Christian but I never once remember him interjecting his religious faith into any conversation until it was all said and done. Then he would casually mention his church...and his faith. So here they are...the words he gave me. "A Game Guy's Prayer".

A GAME GUY'S PRAYER...Author Unknown

Help me to be a sport in the little game of life. I don't ask for any place in the lineup; play me where You need me. I only ask for the stuff to give you a hundred per cent of what I've got. If all the hard drives come my way I thank You for the compliment. Help me to remember You won't let anything come that You and I together can't handle. And help me to take the bad breaks as part of the game. Help make me thankful for them.

And, God, help me always to play on the square, no matter what the other players do. Help me to come clean. Help me to see that often the best part of the game is helping other guys. Help me to be a "regular fellow" with the other players.

Finally, God, if fate seems to uppercut me with both hands and I'm laid up on the shelf in sickness or old age, help me to take that as a part of the game also. Help me not to whimper or squeal that the game was a dream-up or that I had a raw deal. When in the dusk I get the final bell, I ask for no lying complimentary stones. I'd only like to know that You feel I've been a good guy.

As read by Mel Allen on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person program on CBS television.

In God We Trust...Amen.

I loved this forum...

[don_budge]

Statistics vs. Reality...

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." - Mark Twain

"What is power", I ask the student. It's a rhetorical question. A question asked primarily to make a point or create a dramatic effect rather than to elicit an answer. Control is power. The three elements of control are speed, placement and spin. Since tennis is such a situational challenge it is the combination or blending of the three elements that express the true measure of power. If you control the ball, then you can control your opponent. If you can control your opponent, then you control the match. Tennis metaphors life...always. Control being an essential element in the living of one's life. Think of relationships as an example. The constant jockeying for control.

Statistics have their place, but it certainly isn't in tennis. Attempting to quantify a qualitative experience is bound to be ineffective. That being said...the herd likes statistics. MPH. RPM. %%%%% ad infinitum. That's fine. Impressive MPH...means nothing in terms of control without spin and placement. In golf it is said that the woods are full of long drivers of the golf ball. Modern tennis has certainly become a game of speed. An over emphasis of speed compared to the original game. The true game of tennis. It actually changed the paradigm of tennis. Perhaps it would be best to rename the game. Bang Ball. Something moronic and simple. Or return the game to original meaning. Original definition. Make Tennis Great Again!!!

[don_budge]

This sounds a lot like when people were writing off Sampras even as he just made 2 US Open finals....before come back to win the 3rd. Maybe this is it for Novak, but every set was good and each got closer in score. Novak has already been written off a couple of times, and at his age, odds do favor his departure soon. Personally I think he may have a few more surprises left in him.

It doesn't have any semblance to what "people" were saying about Pete Sampras some years ago. I'm all for Novak to keep going and to upstage the newbies...if he is or was capable of it. I'm not writing off Novak. I don't have that kind of power. It's Father Time who will decide and as I pointed out...the writing is on the wall. He's been an amazing competitor for many years and any way you look at it, that is a lot of miles on those legs. That is the one advantage that Sinner and Alcarez have on Djokovic...fresher legs. All things being equal, Novak is definitely the better tennis player. Even in the match with Sinner he kept things close. He kept it respectable. But he isn't in it for appearances. He wants the hardware.

Novak has been messaging for months now that the end is near. He doesn't play much. When he does play, he often opts for the quick exit to lesser players. But when it is a Slam, he is all business. He had a great tournament as far as 99% of the field was concerned. There would have been a lot of players that would kill for a semi-final appearance. It's old hat for this guy. He isn't entering tournaments to finish second. He hasn't for a long, long time.

So, I just call it like I see it. Personally, I would love to see him pin the ears back on the two rascals. One a drug offender and the other not so bright. Not a stitch of charisma between the two of them. Novak has a presence and he is punching above his weight off the court. His no-vax stance during the Covid fiasco was something of heroic proportions to millions of people and not all tennis "fans". The guy has balls. A real man. He stares down the unseen power on and off the tour. I never really liked his style of tennis. I figured he would be cat food for a prime time Pete Sampras for instance on a slick grass or a speedy hard court. Sampras had the weapons to dismantle such a defensive player. So did many players in the "Classic Era". Without his big bazooka racquet on a slick court he might just be another player in the draw.

Thanks for weighing in airforce1.

[don_budge]

Hi, I would like to hear a few of your ideas. Right before John passed away he read my book and expressed surprise that tthe debate about today's mechanics went back to the 19th century. He said "I get what you've done." I got lucky when John gifted a book to an esteemed associated he designated to run the site and told him "You'll like this." After the new manager (owner?) read my book, I was interviewed, and found him open to a few ideas and suggestions of my own. There will be a new emphasis on tennis tradition and history. I just wrote my first article on here in June issue, "Intro to The Birth of Lawn Tennis" if you wish to know a bit about me. By the way, I agree with you about artistry. Tennis will always be about tactics in the end. My contact info is in the article and inside the cover of my book which you can find easily.

Well, well...what a great surprise. Thanks for touching base. Just want to get back to you quickly. A couple of other posters who never frequent this thread started to pile on all of a sudden. But yours is an important post in these parts. Traditional thoughts...about tennis. I thought that I was the only one.

Sphairistike...from the Greek, playing with balls. How apropos. What a magical game tennis used to be. Before they reinvented it. Engineered it beyond recognition. FUBAR...fucked up beyone all recognition. How's that for a thought. I abhor conventional wisdom. Herd mentality. Modern tennis sucks...there I said it again.

Here's a thought, John Carpenter. The book is William Tilden II. The model is Richard Gonzales with the Don Budge backhand. The coach is Harry Hopman. Roger Federer is "The Living Proof". The don_budge tennis teaching paradigm. Just for starters. Please allow me to introduce myself...I'm a man of wealth and taste. Can we be friends? Loved the article. My interest in tennis is rock bottom. I'm a golfer now. Passionate golfer. A student of the game.

Here John...friend me on Facebook for starters. https://www.facebook.com/don.budge.313

Here's another thought...modern tennis is fake tennis. The French Open final was a classic example. It wasn't that great of a match in my opinion. Both players were just swinging for the fences. Sinner is a robot and Alcarez is a gaping, open mouthed showoff. The match was close. It was long. Anybody that watched the entire thing needs to get a life. Long, monotonous, dreadfully boring baseline rallies. Not a stitch of imagination between the two of them. A fellow at the golf club here in Sweden asked me if I was going to watch the final the other day. My reply was..."no interest". He was a bit surprised as I have the reputation of being the American tennis coach. I went to say it was "fake tennis". He looked at me curiously. We then got into a discussion about "fake golf". The technology has changed the basic paradigm of the game. Modern people take great fake satisfaction in their superiority of the past. Much to their discredit as the human race has ceased to evolve...just as tennis did some forty years ago.

Looking forwards to your future contributions to the website. Nice to meet you. They engineered the art out of tennis. For which I will never forget...or forgive.

[stroke]

I would expect those surprises to show up at Wimbledon. Would love to see him win it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/67PnpLCpaNXnPb8N7

He is the 3rd favorite. I think he could very well win it. There are only 2 players he would not be favored against.

[jeffreycounts]

This sounds a lot like when people were writing off Sampras even as he just made 2 US Open finals....before come back to win the 3rd. Maybe this is it for Novak, but every set was good and each got closer in score. Novak has already been written off a couple of times, and at his age, odds do favor his departure soon. Personally I think he may have a few more surprises left in him.

I would expect those surprises to show up at Wimbledon. Would love to see him win it.

[airforce1]

2025 French Open...Roland Garros...Paris, France...ATP 2000

The semi final featuring Novak Djokovic and Jannick Sinner was extremely telling and I'm sure that the drama was lost on all hands on deck on this forum. The last remaining "Musketeer" has played his hand. He was relevant until he was not. He no longer is and he will disappear soon. It's a matter of months, if not weeks.:

This sounds a lot like when people were writing off Sampras even as he just made 2 US Open finals....before come back to win the 3rd. Maybe this is it for Novak, but every set was good and each got closer in score. Novak has already been written off a couple of times, and at his age, odds do favor his departure soon. Personally I think he may have a few more surprises left in him.

[teachestennis]

Hi, I would like to hear a few of your ideas. Right before John passed away he read my book and expressed surprise that tthe debate about today's mechanics went back to the 19th century. He said "I get what you've done." I got lucky when John gifted a book to an esteemed associated he designated to run the site and told him "You'll like this." After the new manager (owner?) read my book, I was interviewed, and found him open to a few ideas and suggestions of my own. There will be a new emphasis on tennis tradition and history. I just wrote my first article on here in June issue, "Intro to The Birth of Lawn Tennis" if you wish to know a bit about me. By the way, I agree with you about artistry. Tennis will always be about tactics in the end. My contact info is in the article and inside the cover of my book which you can find easily.

[don_budge]

2025 French Open...Roland Garros...Paris, France...ATP 2000

We used to have "The Big Four" and now it is reduced to these two. The "The Modern Era" reduce to the "Post Modern Era". Divided by two. Seriously? I said all along that when Roger disappeared from the scene...when he left the stadium there would be a huge sucking sound like the air escaping from a balloon. Right again. The semi final featuring Novak Djokovic and Jannick Sinner was extremely telling and I'm sure that the drama was lost on all hands on deck on this forum. The last remaining "Musketeer" has played his hand. He was relevant until he was not. He no longer is and he will disappear soon. It's a matter of months, if not weeks.

Where is tennis going? The Lord only knows. It appears to me to be headed right into the toilet. The sheer monotony of play suggests something dreadfully boring. Sinner and Alcarez? Come on...neither has an ounce of charisma. Not a tiny little bit. Sinner is a robot and Alcarez is a dull knucklehead. Neither has anything remotely resembling the wit and charisma of the champions of the past. Not that I don't perceive the athleticism. Obviously these are the best in the world. But there is something integral to the game of tennis missing. What is it? Artistry. The engineering has mission accomplished written all over it. Shock and awe. Sheer speed. The game reduce to analysis by the numbers. Statistics? Stick 'em where the sun don't shine. MPH. RPM. Meaningless. It's a game of tactics and these days the tactics are just fast and faster. Throw in the occasional drop shot and let that suffice for the razzle dazzle we used to get in quantum doses from Roger. Roger Federer. The Living Proof...no longer present and accounted for. There's a huge vacuum in the game.

What about this website? Hmmm...how do make a silk purse out of pig's ear? I am referring to the game of tennis as the pig's ear. I have a couple of ideas. An upgrade. John is gone and there is a vacuum in his place. No knock against the present staff. But the website is going to have to adapt. Written by Charles Darwin in the "Survival of the Species". The ability to adapt is the key to survival. I have a couple of ideas and management can feel to contact me.

[don_budge]

John's Legacy: Visual Tennis

Great article and wonderful tribute to John Yandell. I remember when I first joined TennisPlayer.net there was a fellow named Geoff Williams who was advocating John for the Tennis Hall of Fame. Being new to the site I thought it was just some yokel sucking up to the owner for brownie points. That was some fifteen years ago.

Visual Tennis and "The Winning Edge" certainly are important landmarks in John's career. Those videos of John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl turn out to be sheer genius in retrospect. I believe those videos were actually done in 1984. Ah...the Orwellian year. Coincidentally the same year that tennis entered its own Orwellian phase and McEnroe and Lendl certainly captured the essence of this in their rivalry. Somehow John was at the exact precise point in time and space to have the wherewithal to produce such a masterpiece. Somehow John's legacy in in the remarkable timing of his work and the inflection point in history that tennis was precariously balancing on. How many times have I written on this forum about the 1984 U. S. Open and made the statement that this was the first time in tennis history where all four men's semifinalist's used oversized graphite racquets? The two finalists at that seismic event? None other than the two stars of John's epic "The Winning Edge"...John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. I was there on the scene at Flushing Meadows. I saw every match that magic Saturday that Bud Collins claimed was the greatest day in tennis ever. He may have been right in more ways than one. He was speaking of the level of tennis but he never mentioned once the crossing of the rubicon into "Modern Tennis" as exemplified by the equipment.

If this website in its totality is not the legacy of John Yandell then I am missing something. John and I are the same age. We were brought up at a magical time in the tennis world and obviously tennis had a great impact on both of our lives...as it did millions of others. John was about fourteen years old when the game went open. That is...when professional's were allowed to play in the Grand Slam events in 1968. The game virtually exploded into the public domain from that point forwards. John was old enough to have been schooled in the traditional school of tennis, The white clothes. The white balls. Tennis etiquette. Most importantly...wooden racquets. John cut his teeth on classic tennis. He was on the edge. When it tipped...he was there to capitalize on the fallout. He was a bridge between the classic era and the ensuing make believe tennis. But he captured it. With his video. With his analysis. With his attitude. Hall of Fame material? Yes...why not?

May God bless John. He was an important man in my life these past fifteen years. He knew what I was talking about in the romance of the old game. He never once criticized me for this thread and the commentary in it. I put my heart and soul into this forum and John knew it. He even appreciated it. He gave me VIP status here. Behind the scenes. John pretty much left the forum alone. He left it up to the members to pretty much breath life into it. Every once in a while he would step in to mediate. He was the Boss. A good one and a fair one. A couple of years ago we lost Roger Federer on the playing field. Roger...being the last remaining link. Between the classic era and the modern era. The Living Proof in the don_budge paradigm for teaching tennis. John felt the same way. I believe he agreed with me that the game was in trouble when Roger left. At least in for some big changes. They are coming too.

Wonderful article and a great tribute to John. His passing really hit me. It still effects me. The website will be an interesting thing to watch without his influence. They say nobody is irreplaceable. John just might set the record straight on that. We will have to wait and see.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer...Forehand Not Gone

Forever grateful for this video. For the song. Gone...Gone...Gone. Some sunny day, baby. When everything seems okay, baby. Then they're gone. Really gone.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/federer_fh_not_gone/index_small.html

Gone Gone Gone...Robert Plant

Some sunny day-hay baby
When everything seems okay, baby
You'll wake up and find out you're alone
Cause Ill be gone
Gone, gone, gone really gone
Gone, ga-gone, cause you done me wrong

Everyone that you meet baby
As you walk down the street baby
Will ask you why you're walkin' all alone
Why you're on your own
Just say I'm gone
Gone, gone, gone
Gone, ga-gone, cause you done me wrong

If you change your way baby
You might get me to stay baby
Ya better hurry up if ya don't wanna be alone
Or Ill be gone
Gone, gone, gone
Really gone
Gone, Ga-gone
Cause you done me wrong

I've lost another. This time I had the time to say good-bye. It helps a little. Still...the emptiness. It's humbling.

[don_budge]

Killing the Blues...Remembering John Yandell

Ahh...feeling blue. Remembering John. His love of tennis. His love of music. His talent for combining the two. You learn something of a person from their taste in music. His masterpiece music/tennis video...Roger Federer, Forehand Not Gone. Music by Robert Plant and Alison Krause. The youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YVRxAX6fwg

Killing the Blues...Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQG1hmP4VM0

KILLING THE BLUES
Leaves were falling, just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire
Burning just like moonbeams in our eyes

Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues

Now I'm guilty of something
I hope you never do
Because there is nothing
Any sadder than losing yourself in love.

Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues

And then you've ask me... just to leave you
To set out on my own
And get what I needed.
You want me to find what I've already had

Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/federer_fh_not_gone/index_small.html

[don_budge]

Does anyone remember when it was not polite for the crowd to cheer for an unforced error? Is it possible for a pro game to be played with the players calling their own lines?? The humble nod of respect for a good shot has been replaced by the philistine "fist pump".

The fist pumps are sickening. From Jannik Sinner's little lame fist swish...to Carlos Alcaraz beckoning and begging the crowd to acknowledge something that is part of his job. Real ham. Real hot dogs. Humility is no longer a word applicable to professional sports and tennis no exception. Particularly among the younger players. Djokovic will occasionally be demonstrative but he is many times doing it for effect. He plays the crowd like a real maestro. They are often hostile and he is a master of using this hostility to his advantage. An old ploy of Ille Nastase and John McEnroe. A bit more subtle in the Djokovic theater of acting.

[neilchok]

yeah I think what makes tennis unique is the sportsmanship. The fact that men and women play in the same venue at the same time. Men and women actually play in events together, and the matches are entertaining. And they have the boys and girls tournaments as well at the same venue. I feel tennis is at such a higher level of respect and spirit. I actually think that the X-games for skateboarding also shows that type of sportsmanship.

I think in my opinion other sports should try to become more like tennis. Tennis is a sport that players don't try to injure each other purposely. It is extremely athletically demanding, you have to be very talented as well. Some people say it is the hardest sport to play.

I think these new players are super insecure and trying to make them fit with other sports. I remember Nick making the comment I am trying to mix basketball with tennis. Why??? The NBA sucks now, and ratings are down, and the players don't even want to play. With tennis for the most part, you know most players are going to give a 100% even if it is an ATP250 or a GrandSlam. The NFL is a sport now about Taylor Swift and making money, and making sure certain teams make it to the playoffs.

To me what makes tennis fun is when you have a good tennis match between two players going at it. Tennis is fun for the sport, not the drama and free agency outside the sport.