Nadalites – Rafa Nadal Talk

[Carol]

This is how Rafa looked the Eclipse in his first day as #1

 

[TennisFan101]

I actually think he can have a very strong USO, just as you do. He played great tennis in Australia as well. Roger didn't quite "wipe the floor" with him.
I don't know whether it's the venue that motivates him even more, but apart from Australia, everything he has done, bar clay, isn't anything to write home about.
We have to wait.
No one knows if he can replicate the level he had in AO this year.

I so hope Rafa can replicate his AO level at the USO. Let's hope his "fear of losing" has not reached the point of debilitating his play and chances for a win there.

 

[The Strokes]

This is how Rafa looked the Eclipse in his first day as #1

Yes, I saw that , love it! Rafa officially went to #1 during a full solar eclipse, also very cool. He "eclipsed" Murray.
Also saw a pic with trump looking at it with his bare eyes. We can only hope ...

 

[TennisFan101]

It will probably get nasty again. I already got my first nasty reply on the Cincy thread today, and wrote virtually nothing about Nadal, nothing even vaguely contentious, was trying to be nice to another poster saying nicer things about Nick than i really felt in order to be nice (this was not the poster who took a shot at me) so this belligerent character taking a shot because there was a Nadal fan to take a shot at.
The admins are nice here and it's generally a more welcoming atmosphere than the other forums.
I think how nasty sites are have a lot to do with whether Nadal is doing well, if Federer is playing etc.

I was on the Cincy thread. Didn't read a nasty reply. Gotta run and read it LOL

 

[Carol]

It will probably get nasty again. I already got my first nasty reply on the Cincy thread today, and wrote virtually nothing about Nadal, nothing even vaguely contentious, was trying to be nice to another poster saying nicer things about Nick than i really felt in order to be nice (this was not the poster who took a shot at me) so this belligerent character taking a shot because there was a Nadal fan to take a shot at.
The admins are nice here and it's generally a more welcoming atmosphere than the other forums.
I think how nasty sites are have a lot to do with whether Nadal is doing well, if Federer is playing etc.

Unfortunately Rafa has many haters and you know why, it doesn't matter how hard we try to avoid the confrontation always there is someone provoking so it's difficult not to respond, at least me, I can't help myself

 

[The Strokes]

Yep, that's how it is. I got embroiled on my last site, it was overwhelmingly fed fans, very nasty, and nonstop bashing. I joined during the FO when the Fed fans there were actually at a boiling, no fed all rafa ll the time, they couldn't take it.
The nadal fans hid on one thread. I stirred things up. Turns out some of the Nadal fans were toxic too--one was also admonishing other Nadal fans for not memorizing her posts, lording over all other Nadal fans with her daily fart report on Nadal, which you had to memorize or suffer the consequences!
Online tennis posting is its own unique hell, I wish i could kick the habit.
Other times--when I found just a couple of delightful posters to chat with--and they weren't always Rafa fans; I've had a great online with some Fed or Djok or "other" fans--then it seemed all worthwhile. So I only have to find a few to chat with, and learn how to ignore the rest.
Tennis (and Rafa in particular) leaves me with a huge payload of impressions and thoughts I want to share. I did not come online to fight--enough of that in the real world!
But beleive me, I can be brutal too if I want to. Just doesn't seem worth it.
Feel free to chat with me in private about Fed. LOL

I'm glad you appeared! (again, it seems)

 

[The Strokes]

LOL sorry for all my typoes. I proof after I post, terrible habit. Unkickable.

 

[Moxie]

To @TennisFan101 and @The Strokes: We are a small, and, I think, select forum. We have a long history together as a community. The main unit of us started at tennis.com, waded through several iterations, and landed here. While there may be snarkiness between the Fedal camps, (and it always gets sharper when things heat up, like now,) we actually pretty much all like each other, or appreciate each other. And I think we actually do a fair amount of tennis conversation and analysis. Please do hang in with us...I think we have the best and most civil conversation going.

 

[The Strokes]

What years were you on tennis.com? I chatted with Federberg a bit about this, seemed he was there before me. I was on from about 2012 (I know this because I was on a great Nadal fan blog that kind of died out, in the disaster year of 2011) till this spring, when they destroyed their comments section by switching the platform to FB.
That place was a madhouse--antagonistic, hilarious, sometimes brilliant, sometimes idiotic, constantly off topic, but for anyone who could appreciate a wild array of characters and dialogue (literature is my primary interest) a goldmine. I had a big love/hate thing with that site.

And yes, I got the sense you were something of a "unit" it had that feel, it felt more civilized, and more welcoming than some others I tried.
We'll see how it goes! I want to avoid fighting. I like joking around and being able to share quirky observations about players, the game, analyze matches etc.
It was good to char during Cincy, especially at the end. I was over on the Nadal fan site in the beginning of Cincy, but it's just too idiotic. I can't hack it.
I don't do well with stupidity.
I do see an element of that here too, though small, and I gather it's not your core "unit."
A bunch of the last diehards from tennis.com have their own disqus chat--I know them all, too well, I even met one in the flesh and a couple offsite through email. They consider themselves highly civilized. I consider them ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz also kind of reptilian.

 

[Carol]

You're very welcome Rafa but please wake up and get your third USO title and 16 GS and then we will be more happy

 

[TennisFan101]

To @TennisFan101 and @The Strokes: We are a small, and, I think, select forum. We have a long history together as a community. The main unit of us started at tennis.com, waded through several iterations, and landed here. While there may be snarkiness between the Fedal camps, (and it always gets sharper when things heat up, like now,) we actually pretty much all like each other, or appreciate each other. And I think we actually do a fair amount of tennis conversation and analysis. Please do hang in with us...I think we have the best and most civil conversation going.

The reasons for me coming here are myriad but primarily because I was invited with the explanation that comments are not restricted to any particular theme.

It's exciting to see a blog with different threads; a tree with different branches. I hope to contribute as best as I am able but also to learn. I hope other members won't be put off by questions I may pose on the game of tennis, e.g., how to calculate points. Some things are obvious but not all.

I am happy to be here and for the warm welcome I have received.

 

[TennisFan101]

You're very welcome Rafa but please wake up and get your third USO title and 16 GS and then we will be more happy

I hope he wins the USO but I have a lingering apprehension that something is bothering him or could it merely be his fear of losing that is crippling him. Or the absence of Moyá as some have speculated. Or a combination of personal and professional unknowns. Moyá did say that he knew what was going on with Rafa [during his two-year+ slump] and for me that raised a red flag. Of course Carlos didn't offer any details but I can't get that statement out of my head. LOL

 

[TennisFan101]

What years were you on tennis.com? I chatted with Federberg a bit about this, seemed he was there before me. I was on from about 2012 (I know this because I was on a great Nadal fan blog that kind of died out, in the disaster year of 2011) till this spring, when they destroyed their comments section by switching the platform to FB.
That place was a madhouse--antagonistic, hilarious, sometimes brilliant, sometimes idiotic, constantly off topic, but for anyone who could appreciate a wild array of characters and dialogue (literature is my primary interest) a goldmine. I had a big love/hate thing with that site.

And yes, I got the sense you were something of a "unit" it had that feel, it felt more civilized, and more welcoming than some others I tried.
We'll see how it goes! I want to avoid fighting. I like joking around and being able to share quirky observations about players, the game, analyze matches etc.
It was good to char during Cincy, especially at the end. I was over on the Nadal fan site in the beginning of Cincy, but it's just too idiotic. I can't hack it.
I don't do well with stupidity.
I do see an element of that here too, though small, and I gather it's not your core "unit."
A bunch of the last diehards from tennis.com have their own disqus chat--I know them all, too well, I even met one in the flesh and a couple offsite through email. They consider themselves highly civilized. I consider them ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz also kind of reptilian.

Hey Strokes, having fun here? For, so far so good. Thanks for the invite.

 

[TennisFan101]

Well that's a mixture of vinegar and honey--at least you admit endless abuse of Nadal by Fed fans, but taking a shot at his performance in MOntreal.
Fed has coasted through a no danger draw for quite awhile now. Finally paid the piper. I realized he was injured, but he would have paid anyway. AZ sucked in Halle.
Rafa did play a poor match in Halle. No doubt about it. But Shap was dangerous, and could have taken out anyone, no matter who great, who was having a bad day.

Don't count him out on HC. He made two HC finals on HC earlier in the year. Gave Fed a harder time at the AO than anyone has given him since. Well except Berd and Nick who both choked their potential victories against Fed in Miami.

On the last two sites I posted on, each about 100 times bigger than this one, the constant swipes at Rafa were highly obnoxious and made it so unpleasant to even discuss Nadal among ourselves. The Nadal fans hid on one Nadal thread. SOmetimes that thread was great, but more often it became the Nadal fart report, ruled by a stern headmistress (not me at all) who in the end was as annoying as the Federistas.


Then the braver among us--that would be me--stuck around to comment but got embroiled in repetitive idiotic GOAT debates--which I don't need at this point--so it's a lose/lose scenario.

So I'm looking around.

Honestly, I find all the forums seriously compromised both by a lack of real knowledge and mean spirit.

Just checking it out here, if I find one intelligent poster to share match impressions--who can avoid insulting Nadal and I will then in return lay off Fed (because I have motherlode on that subject, but keep it buried if others are respectful) then maybe it's worthwhile.

But you have explained the lack of response fromNadal fans, which I suspected.

And thanks for responding. I have had some great exchanges in the past with Fed fans who aren't constantly GOATing or insulting Nadal.

Please consider that a lot of Rafa fans are fans because they just love watching him play and are "lacking in real knowledge" of the game of tennis. Yes, I am guilty of that, too.

What do you think of the point-time machine that will be used at the USO this season in some of the games?

 

[The Strokes]

I'm fine with fans who don't know much about tennis, so long as they don't act like they do, and argue about things they don't know about.
It's very problematic.
If I don't know about something or other, I find people who do and learn from them.
When I first started posting online, I learned a lot from more knowledgable posters (this was over ten years ago). I already knew a fair bit about tennis, because I played. Gradually I absorbed their knowledge. This is how things might work in a better world. It's not how things work now. Especially online.
But of course not having technical knowledge of tennis is not a flaw or problem in and of itself.

I haven't heard about the point time machine .... I gather you mean to measure the amount of time it takes someone to serve?
Maybe the player can see it so he/she can serve on time?

So many Rafa fans and detractors get up in arms over the amount of time it takes to serve. I don't care a great deal about this issue, tbh. Umps should apply the rule consistently among players, and should show discretion when a player has just played an epic point. A little extra time please.
And if Rafa is going over the limit consistently, then yeah, give him a warning.
The fact that it's 20 seconds at slams and 25 seconds elsewhere makes no sense.
Tennis is full of rules that are kind of screwed up, I mean the circuit, the tour.
But really, not a biggie for me.
Issues I care way more about--changing the scoring system, scheduling that is unfair to one player, making players play in unsafe conditions, PEDS, the bias in the tennis media etc.
Rafa getting his shit together on HC ...

I mention that i don't care a great deal about this, because I had an absurd exchange with a very dogmatic Rafa fan on another site about this ... some go crazy on this subject.

 

[TennisFan101]

Agree about those fans pontificating about things they don't know.

Glad you clarified re "technical knowledge."

Wrote a lot of other things...somehow they got lost. Will try to respond to the rest of your post from memory.

 

[The Strokes]

Hey Strokes, having fun here? For, so far so good. Thanks for the invite.

Glad you came! I like looking at that pooch

 

[TennisFan101]

I'm fine with fans who don't know much about tennis, so long as they don't act like they do, and argue about things they don't know about.
It's very problematic.
If I don't know about something or other, I find people who do and learn from them.
When I first started posting online, I learned a lot from more knowledgable posters (this was over ten years ago). I already knew a fair bit about tennis, because I played. Gradually I absorbed their knowledge. This is how things might work in a better world. It's not how things work now. Especially online.
But of course not having technical knowledge of tennis is not a flaw or problem in and of itself.

I haven't heard about the point time machine .... I gather you mean to measure the amount of time it takes someone to serve?
Maybe the player can see it so he/she can serve on time?

So many Rafa fans and detractors get up in arms over the amount of time it takes to serve. I don't care a great deal about this issue, tbh. Umps should apply the rule consistently among players, and should show discretion when a player has just played an epic point. A little extra time please.
And if Rafa is going over the limit consistently, then yeah, give him a warning.
The fact that it's 20 seconds at slams and 25 seconds elsewhere makes no sense.
Tennis is full of rules that are kind of screwed up, I mean the circuit, the tour.
But really, not a biggie for me.
Issues I care way more about--changing the scoring system, scheduling that is unfair to one player, making players play in unsafe conditions, PEDS, the bias in the tennis media etc.
Rafa getting his shit together on HC ...

I mention that i don't care a great deal about this, because I had an absurd exchange with a very dogmatic Rafa fan on another site about this ... some go crazy on this subject.

 

[TennisFan101]

I think it's called the shot clock and you're so right about time penalties not being enforced consistently.

A big disagreement/problem I have with some Rafans is that they look at him as a god, he can do no wrong. He exited the womb being polite; humble, a gracious loser, etc. you get the picture. Once I ventured that I saw two YouTube clips of Rafa at a young age: in one clip Rafa barely touched the umpires outstretched hand for a shake as he passed him to sit down after a loss, the other shows Rafa slumping into his chair with a loser's pout. My comment was made in the context of Rafa being taught behavior by his parents. Ha! One fan insisted that even as a child Rafa NEVER would do something like that.

 

[Carol]

I think it's called the shot clock and you're so right about time penalties not being enforced consistently.

A big disagreement/problem I have with some Rafans is that they look at him as a god, he can do no wrong. He exited the womb being polite; humble, a gracious loser, etc. you get the picture. Once I ventured that I saw two YouTube clips of Rafa at a young age: in one clip Rafa barely touched the umpires outstretched hand for a shake as he passed him to sit down after a loss, the other shows Rafa slumping into his chair with a loser's pout. My comment was made in the context of Rafa being taught behavior by his parents. Ha! One fan insisted that even as a child Rafa NEVER would do something like that.

Nobody is perfect and if we start to check the behavior of every single player when they were younger......no one is free of sin. And not, we don't see him like a god as some Roger's fans are seeing his idol, we can see his flaws (he has) but also his strengths which are more than the flaws. Some of them are learning with the age, others never can't do it or they don't want