Non-AFL chat thread part 2

[ScragCity]

Went to bed after first set. At that point Med looked absolutely unbeatable. Rafa struggling to win any points even on his own serve. It's incomprehensible to me that he won. You can just never rule the guy out. He never gives up.

 

[dogwatch]

It changed as the temperature dropped. Rafa was melting with sweat early on. He couldn’t maintain his racquet grip and was missing serves and rally shots he would normally make with ease.

It was a slight but persistent shift in momentum that started in the second set. At the start Medvedev was winning most of the long rallies but by the fifth it was Nadal. A massive arm wrestle.

Hats off to both players.For Nadal to beat an on-fire bloke 10 years younger than him after being down two sets is just phenomenal. His will power, concentration and stamina are amazing. But Medvedev is destined to be number one sooner rather than later. His court coverage and shot accuracy are superb. He doesn’t hit the ball all that hard but he gets nearly everything back over the net.

 

[footscray1973]

It changed as the temperature dropped. Rafa was melting with sweat early on. He couldn’t maintain his racquet grip and was missing serves and rally shots he would normally make with ease.

It was a slight but persistent shift in momentum that started in the second set. At the start Medvedev was winning most of the long rallies but by the fifth it was Nadal. A massive arm wrestle.

Hats off to both players.For Nadal to beat an on-fire bloke 10 years younger than him after being down two sets is just phenomenal. His will power, concentration and stamina are amazing. But Medvedev is destined to be number one sooner rather than later. His court coverage and shot accuracy are superb. He doesn’t hit the ball all that hard but he gets nearly everything back over the net.

Respectfully, I disagree. Not the biggest hitter on the men's tour, I agree, but his serves and ground strokes still have a fair bit of power in them - Nadal doesn't often see his own groundstrokes come back with interest, but the first set and a bit Medvedev was doing just that. Rafa's serving didn't help early, so Med could tee off when receiving, but in some of those long rallies, Med generated a lot of power for a seemingly unimposing physical presence - some of those flatter backhands were almost a thing of beauty IMO.

(Top-spin has transformed the game for decades, but it's good to see someone counter it by just teeing off, also why I love Barty's use of her sliced back-hand. I love my tennis, but when both the men's and women's games at times were often producing games of endless baseline rallies, I fell out of love with it to a degree.)

 

[Libbaaaa]

For a to be expected pro Rafa crowd I thought they were fine and respectful. They cheered a few Medvedev errors and doubles but they weren't cat calling during serves or points like he suggests. He often uses any perceived slight to win games but I thought it cost him dearly last night and was a part of the momentum shift which occurred.

As for Rafa what more can be said, hard court slams 13 years apart and over coming those Aus Open demons from 2012 and 2017.

 

[footscray1973]

For a to be expected pro Rafa crowd I thought they were fine and respectful. They cheered a few Medvedev errors and doubles but they weren't cat calling during serves or points like he suggests. He often uses any perceived slight to win games but I thought it cost him dearly last night and was a part of the momentum shift which occurred.

As for Rafa what more can be said, hard court slams 13 years apart and over coming those Aus Open demons from 2012 and 2017.

There were a few instances of yelling between first and second serves though - even the chair umpire in the later stages had to finally advise that anyone doing and he would ask security to remove them. I know tennis has evolved from a genteel game with no sound at all during rallies, and I can accept that, but some of the base etiquette IMO needs to be maintained - and cheering or yelling after a first serve fault is something I detest.

Agree though, players just have to suck up cheering of their errors - at least in rallies, I'm also not a fan of wild cheering on double faults either. Maybe that's my age showing through though, as I have been watching and playing tennis since the mid-70s!

 

[dogwatch]

Respectfully, I disagree. Not the biggest hitter on the men's tour, I agree, but his serves and ground strokes still have a fair bit of power in them - Nadal doesn't often see his own groundstrokes come back with interest, but the first set and a bit Medvedev was doing just that. Rafa's serving didn't help early, so Med could tee off when receiving, but in some of those long rallies, Med generated a lot of power for a seemingly unimposing physical presence - some of those flatter backhands were almost a thing of beauty IMO.

(Top-spin has transformed the game for decades, but it's good to see someone counter it by just teeing off, also why I love Barty's use of her sliced back-hand. I love my tennis, but when both the men's and women's games at times were often producing games of endless baseline rallies, I fell out of love with it to a degree.)

I guess what I was getting at is he is not regarded as a power hitter in the mould of some others on the tour (Tsitsipas etc). According to the broadcast Rafa was averaging slightly lower speed ground strokes ... but averages are deceptive. He was mixing his speeds and then launching a big drive. This was more noticeable as the match went on. Rafa's fastest shots were to my eye hit a fair bit harder than Medvedev's.

No argument that Medvedev does generate a fair bit of pace though. I probably wouldn't even see them as they went past me. His top speed serve was pretty handy too, around 210kmh.

 

[footscray1973]

I guess what I was getting at is he is not regarded as a power hitter in the mould of some others on the tour (Tsitsipas etc). According to the broadcast Rafa was averaging slightly lower speed ground strokes ... but averages are deceptive. He was mixing his speeds and then launching a big drive. This was more noticeable as the match went on. Rafa's fastest shots were to my eye hit a fair bit harder than Medvedev's.

No argument that Medvedev does generate a fair bit of pace though. I probably wouldn't even see them as they went past me. His top speed serve was pretty handy too, around 210kmh.

Yeah, lots of variables in there, I agree. Plus I'm assessing Med's power against a 36yo Rafa! He has managed to match it with Djokovic too though, so he's no slouch - I think my point is he's not the most powerful hitter on the tour as you say, but he's still up there, and he is amazing at returning both powerful serves and powerful ground strokes, and has a handy serve himself. If only he was just a tad more likeable.....!

 

[Libbaaaa]

There were a few instances of yelling between first and second serves though - even the chair umpire in the later stages had to finally advise that anyone doing and he would ask security to remove them. I know tennis has evolved from a genteel game with no sound at all during rallies, and I can accept that, but some of the base etiquette IMO needs to be maintained - and cheering or yelling after a first serve fault is something I detest.

Agree though, players just have to suck up cheering of their errors - at least in rallies, I'm also not a fan of wild cheering on double faults either. Maybe that's my age showing through though, as I have been watching and playing tennis since the mid-70s!

Agree, but it is impossible to maintain order over 15,000 people. As far as rowdy/misbehaved crowds go last night's doesn't even warrant a mention.

 

[footscray1973]

Agree, but it is impossible to maintain order over 15,000 people. As far as rowdy/misbehaved crowds go last night's doesn't even warrant a mention.

Yeah, nothing like crowds watching a certain doubles combo on a different court!

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Yeah, lots of variables in there, I agree. Plus I'm assessing Med's power against a 36yo Rafa! He has managed to match it with Djokovic too though, so he's no slouch - I think my point is he's not the most powerful hitter on the tour as you say, but he's still up there, and he is amazing at returning both powerful serves and powerful ground strokes, and has a handy serve himself. If only he was just a tad more likeable.....!

He’s definitely going to have a fair few grand slams under his belt in 5 years time. He’s a very interesting player, albeit a bit boring. He rarely goes for the winner and just ensures he gets it back over the net. When you’re that good at covering the court it’s a good tactic…but I wonder whether he’ll get more adventurous as he establishes himself.

Thank god for his no nonsense serving. If he followed Nadal’s rigmarole then they’d still be playing now.

 

[footscray1973]

He’s definitely going to have a fair few grand slams under his belt in 5 years time. He’s a very interesting player, albeit a bit boring. He rarely goes for the winner and just ensures he gets it back over the net. When you’re that good at covering the court it’s a good tactic…but I wonder whether he’ll get more adventurous as he establishes himself.

Thank god for his no nonsense serving. If he followed Nadal’s rigmarole then they’d still be playing now.

That is a good point, Medvedev at least keeps the game moving, unlike all these guys with the service rituals. I know sportspeople are a superstitious lot, but he did have a point with asking the umpire in a previous match to enforce the service countdown clock. Not sure how Rafa would cope if he had to shorten his 28 touch points prior to each serve though!

 

[Libbaaaa]

I find Medvedev fascinating as a player. He used to be even more quirky, would serve from the doubles alley at times and play crazy angles off his double handed backhand. He has developed this absurd defence that is on par with Novak now. Just need to chill out a bit, he is a charismatic interview and the world isn’t against him.

 

[NBates]

HELP! Apols this is not sport related. Does anyone know how to contact Facebook? I've had an account under my pseudonym for years. All of a sudden my account is blocked a couple of days ago and they request photo ID (which I gave them) but because it doesn't match my profile they won't give me back my access. I have no idea how you remedy this (googling didn't help) and I can't find any way to contact them. When you reply to their email telling you to upload ID, they keep saying I have to have ID that matches. I can't even get into my account to change my pseudonym back to me! Any ideas or know how to contact them out of the account? I'm going to lose all my groups and everything which is a real bummer as I do a lot of charity work. HELP!

 

[ManOfClay]

What a time to be a hardcore Memphis Grizzlies fan and a super casual Cincinnati Bengals one

 

[Fossie 32]

HELP! Apols this is not sport related. Does anyone know how to contact Facebook? I've had an account under my pseudonym for years. All of a sudden my account is blocked a couple of days ago and they request photo ID (which I gave them) but because it doesn't match my profile they won't give me back my access. I have no idea how you remedy this (googling didn't help) and I can't find any way to contact them. When you reply to their email telling you to upload ID, they keep saying I have to have ID that matches. I can't even get into my account to change my pseudonym back to me! Any ideas or know how to contact them out of the account? I'm going to lose all my groups and everything which is a real bummer as I do a lot of charity work. HELP!

Have you tried googling how to contact them?

 

[NBates]

Have you tried googling how to contact them?

Yep. I've managed to send something through a friend's page, but I'm not hopeful. Bloody stupid - I can't fix it if I can't get in or in contact with them.

 

[ScragCity]

He doesn’t hit the ball all that hard but he gets nearly everything back over the net.

Yeah it honestly amazes me some of the balls he manages to get back. I remember seeing Rafa hit what I thought should have been winners so many times only to see it come back.

I also noticed a lot more UEs from Medvedev later in the match, which I imagine would have been the result of fatigue. In the first set the guy just didn't miss anything. Meanwhile, Rafa seemed to actually make less UEs as the match went on.

 

[footscray1973]

Yeah it honestly amazes me some of the balls he manages to get back. I remember seeing Rafa hit what I thought should have been winners so many times only to see it come back.

I also noticed a lot more UEs from Medvedev later in the match, which I imagine would have been the result of fatigue. In the first set the guy just didn't miss anything. Meanwhile, Rafa seemed to actually make less UEs as the match went on.

It was a weird match in terms of momentum shifts. Rafa looked shot after the first set, Medvedev was all over him, and as you say, what would normally be clear winners just kept coming back. Medvedev getting fatigued makes sense, not so much Rafa looked fatigued early then getting stronger. I suppose the pressure was released for Rafa by Medvedev getting fatigued and making more UEs, so he might just have looked stronger comparatively to his opponent. Maybe his training methods are better designed for dealing with long matches.

And the pickle juice was supposed to help Med - maybe someone spiked it, or Rafa's water bottles had more than water in them! (Joking btw - I doubt any of these guys are as stupid as Petr Korda with his 'unintentional' nandrolone intake. From memory, his career had a very suspicious spike in performance, and a pre-emptive retirement before being suspended. Largely forgotten as an AO winner, apparently some Aussie players at the time harboured suspicions about a few players, with Korda a prime suspect.)

 

[Virgin Dog]

What a time to be a hardcore Memphis Grizzlies fan and a super casual Cincinnati Bengals one

Morant + Adams are some of the best players to watch, for entirely different reasons. I don't really support any one team, just watch random games in general, but Adams is probably my favourite player

 

[dogwatch]

It was a weird match in terms of momentum shifts. Rafa looked shot after the first set, Medvedev was all over him, and as you say, what would normally be clear winners just kept coming back. Medvedev getting fatigued makes sense, not so much Rafa looked fatigued early then getting stronger. I suppose the pressure was released for Rafa by Medvedev getting fatigued and making more UEs, so he might just have looked stronger comparatively to his opponent. Maybe his training methods are better designed for dealing with long matches.

And the pickle juice was supposed to help Med - maybe someone spiked it, or Rafa's water bottles had more than water in them! (Joking btw - I doubt any of these guys are as stupid as Petr Korda with his 'unintentional' nandrolone intake. From memory, his career had a very suspicious spike in performance, and a pre-emptive retirement before being suspended. Largely forgotten as an AO winner, apparently some Aussie players at the time harboured suspicions about a few players, with Korda a prime suspect.)

As I posted earlier I think the cooling conditions played a part. They helped in that Nadal stopped sweating so profusely. He was able to return to his routines - like having the second serve ball in his pocket - and he was able to grip the racquet better. The commentators noted early in the evening that Nadal was having trouble maintaining his normal grip when playing firm shots and serving.

 

[footscray1973]

As I posted earlier I think the cooling conditions played a part. They helped in that Nadal stopped sweating so profusely. He was able to return to his routines - like having the second serve ball in his pocket - and he was able to grip the racquet better. The commentators noted early in the evening that Nadal was having trouble maintaining his normal grip when playing firm shots and serving.

Good points, was there a humidity drop too? You're right, Rafa was sweating puddles early, they came back from an ad break t one point to a slow-mo of Rafa and the sweat looked like a sprinkler coming off him.

 

[NBates]

Yep. I've managed to send something through a friend's page, but I'm not hopeful. Bloody stupid - I can't fix it if I can't get in or in contact with them.

Fixed! Did it from my phone instead of laptop and there were more contact options, but it worked anyway ....was starting to conspiracy theorize that Facebook were banning pseudonyms for monitoring purposes!!

 

[ManOfClay]

Morant + Adams are some of the best players to watch, for entirely different reasons. I don't really support any one team, just watch random games in general, but Adams is probably my favourite player

Morant is something else but I’m a big Jaren Jackson Jr fan. He’s played one more season but he’s also younger and is turning into one of the best two way bigs in the league.

 

[ManOfClay]

Watching Super Bowl lead up stuff. Reminds me we overdo the whole xx team was“overcelebrating” after certain finals wins.

The above .gif was after the Bengals won the AFC North title in the NFL. Not the AFC Conference, not the Super Bowl.

In the grand scheme of things it’s the third to last week of the competition. Semi final weekend loosely. That’s their quarterback smoking a cigar and dancing. Imagine if they were playing Freed From Desire? Who are we as fans to dictate how athletes enjoy results?

 

[Sentinel]

View attachment 1324377Watching Super Bowl lead up stuff. Reminds me we overdo the whole xx team was“overcelebrating” after certain finals wins.

The above .gif was after the Bengals won the AFC North title in the NFL. Not the AFC Conference, not the Super Bowl.

In the grand scheme of things it’s the third to last week of the competition. Semi final weekend loosely. That’s their quarterback smoking a cigar and dancing. Imagine if they were playing Freed From Desire? Who are we as fans to dictate how athletes enjoy results?

The overreaction to the 'Freed From Desire' footage was the product of an immature AFL media industry with a desire (pun intended) to analyse every little detail to the nth degree. Fans just follow suit - even the opposition team (supposedly) got caught up in it, which then manufactured a second ridiculous story about it.

In reality this kind of thing really makes zero difference to the outcome of the following week, and probably happens far more than outsiders realise without access to photos or videos which don't often get out for reasons explained above.

Hindsight always explains whether a team was 'over-celebrating' or 'uniting towards glory' depending on what happens at a later date.