Broken_Shoelace said:
calitennis127 said:
No, it's not. I was reinforcing the point that to say "This is literally based on nothing" when talking about Federer's refusal to make significant adjustments against Nadal, you need to a) have no memory or b) have been living in a hole. Hence the smart aleck question. Everyone at that time - especially the ESPN commentators - was talking about the adjustments Federer was refusing to make. For you to say "this is literally based on nothing" is just dumb.
I would also like to inform you that I am trying to become more informed on the menacing toughness of French male athletes. Players like Monfils are aggressive, hardcore, tough as nails, and of course Monfils himself also has outstanding stamina, with how he constantly puts his elbows on his knees to catch his breath in between points.
Gasquet too - that's another tough guy. As well as Christian Fournier of the Nuggets.
What's next? A French Kenyon Martin or Marshawn Lynch?
No, you should be informed about Zidane, Platini, and other French greats of whom you'd never heard of, and then for once, admitted to being wrong and ignorant. You don't want to bring that up. Your point about French athletes wasn't limited to tennis, and that's where I and others jumped in. If I recall correctly, and I do, your timeless post also suggested that France being good at Rugby means nothing because Rugby is a sport for wussies, before again, "asking a friend" and admitting, again, to being ignorant. So yeah, I wouldn't bring this up if I were you. You should also be informed about Vieira and Makelele and just how "soft" they were.
I grew up in a country that does not give a damn about tennis, as is clear from the sorry state of American tennis. Our fourth and fifth rate athletes are the ones who generally play it, and they are almost all white geeks. Yet, I still developed a liking for it because I found it interesting and enjoyable to watch as a European/South American game. At the same time, I find soccer to be a completely stupid game and I do not understand the infatuation with it. It is completely boring compared to American sports, but I suppose if I grew up with in it a Third World country and had no other options, I would somehow find it interesting. But the regular American sports are just better, and that is why soccer - despite constant attempts by ESPN and other networks to promote it - has failed to gain any kind of significant appeal in the U.S. It is just a lame sport by comparison to football, basketball, baseball, and hockey.
My point in saying that is I really don't care if France has produced good soccer players. I have watched enough soccer to know that what we can loosely call "mental toughness" really isn't called upon the same way in soccer as it is in other sports. Soccer is a menial game based on endurance capacity. If you throw 40 people out on a congested field, I don't see how that provides the same kind of test of mental toughness as going out on a court by yourself like a tennis player has to in order to win big matches. I also do not see the individualistic dimension of basketball or even football in soccer, except for goalies. Goalies, I will admit, are under immense pressure, but for everyone else, the risk of being embarrassed as an individual is infinitely smaller than in basketball or football. If you are a cornerback in football and a receiver burns you for a touchdown, everyone looks at you like the person who screwed up. If you are a basketball player who turns the ball over or gets scored on, people blame you. And these things can all happen at any moment if you are not on top of your game.
In soccer, where is the comparable individual mental pressure to being a cornerback against DeSean Jackson or AJ Green, who can score a touchdown on you on any play? Where is the comparable individual pressure to being an All Star player in the NBA that needs to score 35 points for his team to win a critical playoff game?
In soccer, I don't see where the comparable pressure is unless you are a goalie, when the game is 90 minutes long and there are a total of maybe 10 shots on goal throughout the match. You have to be a royal screw-up to actually be humiliated as an individual. And, again, I am saying this as someone who has had to explain to numerous American acquaintances how and why I find tennis interesting. The game of soccer is one of the lamer sports out there.
As all of this pertains to the general mental toughness of French athletes in tennis and basketball - the two sports I know best - I stand by my comments. The only French athlete who I recall being very noticeably tough was Michael Pietrus, although that was largely because of his immense athleticism. In general, the French athletest are all kind of wispy and flighty - and I am saying this as someone who also acknowledges that most Spaniards have superior athleticism and stamina on the ATP tour, and that most American male tennis players are unathletic nerds as a type and that they are generally the most aesthetically deficient players on tour.
:s :nono
