You can give me a hard time for using the meme again, but...it is a funny meme and part of the fun of it is finding new contexts to use it. So preliminary trigger warning, Moxie: I'll probably use it again. Oh, and I use other memes.
I get that Novak can be...annoying. I used to detest his shirt-ripping. But I've also grown to appreciate him - for his perhaps unsurpassed ability on court, and also for his quirky and idiosyncratic views, some of which I share. But it is hard not to notice that there is a strong correlation between Rafa fans and Novak haters. In fact, it is probably almost 100%. I just find the endless partisan BS tedious. At some point shouldn't we appreciate all the greats, especially those--like the Big Three--who have brought us probably the greatest tennis in history? Who knows, maybe some of the diehard anti-Novaxers will come to appreciate him after he's gone.
You can down-play his divisiveness if you like, and attribute it to Nadal fanaticism, but we're a pretty small sample-size here. And, yes, majority Nadal fans. That's because Federer fans have abdicated, except for you, and the occasional drop-in from Front, and because Djokovic fans mostly prefer to stay away, for whatever reasons. Don Fabio has actually accused Novak of more than bodice-ripping, and he's a fan.
Criticism of his behavior is not unwarranted. Sure, there's part of it that is fannish dislike, but it's not all just fannish BS. I won't re-litigate everything here, but I know you can distinguish between fannish BS and worthwhile considerations of behavior. That said, a LOT of people around here do sincerely appreciate (and fear) his tennis. And appreciate his contributions to the game, and the Slam race, and his part in the Big 3. It doesn't make him above criticism, and, frankly, he often opens himself up for it. As I said, he's a divisive figure, and that's not just on these forums.
That's disheartening about the USO ticket prices and yet another symptom of the larger picture of more and more Americans being cut out of the "American Dream." I guess this is what happens when we spend all our money on war and our politicians serve banks and corporations and care more about imperialism than they do the actual citizenry. But that's for another forum...
I've been championing the idea of keeping the USO in NYC, as opposed to changing it to Indian Wells, which is very possible. I thought it would be more accessible here, to more different kinds of people, than in the rich desert communities of California. But this discouraged me, as well. I thought, "Let it go, then." I have sat in those nose-bleed sections of Ashe, (which I still say is too big,) and you really just watch the tennis on the Jumbotron. For $180?? That's criminal. I agree that we can argue the politics behind it all on the US Politics thread, or whatever, but what used to be a sports event with at least a tiered-enough system to let everyone in, has priced itself away from what used to be a bit of a festival, even if you just did the grounds pass, into what is probably a lot of rich people and corporate give-away tickets. Yes, I got some corporate giveaway tickets, but I could also drop in on my own nickel for a day here and there. Not now.
he also hasnt looked into Hubi's win rate of late, maybe he put all the names in a hat and just picked them out at random lol!
