The sports-other-than-football thread!

I know what you mean. Admittedly Murray is seeded second, so the only person above him in the tournament is Novak, and it would be an idea final from a British perspective because Murray now has form against him, beating him in the US Open final. However, you do get the feeling that if Murray were to win the tournament, people would be saying that Murray had it easy because so many other seeds went out early.
 
Yeah, that is definitely upsetting when that happens (not just because I am actually a fan of Murray, but in other similar circumstances too). Still, I guess we could have even more people get injured! >_>
 
Haha, that is actually a very interesting question from that point of view. On one hand, you are already ahead as a layer because you have already taken plenty of futures money on (in this instance) Nadal or Federer to win the tournament, plus you will have laid an immense amount of money on them to win the individual matches they lost, especially in-play as they fell further and further behind and the odds on them to win began to look more tempting.

On the other hand, your turnover will be hit in some ways by the marquee players being missing from future matches, and there are definitely margins issues (slightly "fringe" players can become value, especially when it comes to offering competitive each-way terms) that come up when you have either one or a very small number of heavy favorites as you have now with Murray and Djoko.

As a tennis fan, though, it is truly a shame to lose the Fed, Nadal, and Tsonga this early.
 
It's rare for me to say this, but up until round four, i found the womens tennis to be interesting, maybe even with the quarter finals. Robson, Serina, Li Na all where in and it had an interesting set of players. The last eight all not being eastern-european or the williams sisters makes it more fun as well.

Saying that, the mens side still has ferrer as well, so the number 4 is still in. Sure, he hasn't left as big a mark as the other four, but he's still a player to watch out for, as is del potro and berdych. I'd say there is still the chance of some long matches, so it won't be without lack of challenges for them. But i do still see murray/djokovic as the finals
 
The whole thing has been so damn crazy this year! The lopsided-ness of the men's draw is just nuts, with Djoko's half being exactly as expected and only Murray on the other side. Kvitova being knocked out has left the women's wide open imo.
 
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That was... absolutely thrilling.

Tennis proves again why it's the best sport not involving motor vehicles.
 
I was never fully worried that Verdasco was actually going to win, but that doesn't stop me agreeing with your conclusion of "thrilling". It wasn't one of the all-time classic five hour marathons that we have had in recent years at Wimbledon, but there were individual periods of two-three games (or even just one or two points) where it really hit the heights.
 
Watching that match I realised that when I watch sport I turn into Private Frazer from Dad's Army. At two sets down I was thinking, "We're doomed!" When Murray won I was thinking, "I never doubted ye for a single moment."
 
Tennis proves again why it's the best sport not involving motor vehicles.
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I agree, except I would tweak that statement to "...it's the best the sport, especially better than all sports involving motor vehicles". But yeah, Tennis does seem to make for so much more compelling viewing than something like football (which just sends me to sleep) does, at least for me.
 
vashdaman said:
Tennis proves again why it's the best sport not involving motor vehicles.
Click to expand...

I agree, except I would tweak that statement to "...it's the best the sport, especially better than all sports involving motor vehicles". But yeah, Tennis does seem to make for so much more compelling viewing than something like football (which just sends me to sleep) does, at least for me.
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Nascar sends me to sleep pretty fast but hillclimbs? Rallying?

Tell me with a straight face that this doesn't look fun. But first, remember I own a car like the white one and you might like a ride in it some day.
 
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"I'm gonna drive and I'm gonna go fast and I'm gonna turn to the left sometimes."

I know there's skill in it really, and it's probably a lot of fun to participate in but man do I find it boring to watch. It was probably better in the past when they used real "stock" cars, but now it's like the machines are actually becoming too good at what they're doing to be of much entertainment value. Watching drivers push modified production cars to the limit and even past it on a real road or a road track is half the fun for me. Seeing someone lose control of their vehicle and then have to recover once again has that thrill factor I was talking about. You don't get things like two-wheel cornering or drivers losing the rear end of their car in Nascar or F1. It's all just too clean, too safe for my liking.
 
What a match! It was back and forth all the way, it was so exciting. Some people have already talked about Andy Murray being knighted. I think they should go further and declare him "The Prince of Tennis". (Apologies to Ryoma Echizen)
 
So, so happy for Andy. The Olympics were great, the US Open was amazing but this match was unbelievable. The final service game was crazy!
 
Heh. Those are actual crashes though and you've illustrated quite well how you lose control in Nascar and that's the end of your race. There's that initial "Oh sh*t" moment but there's never that "Oh, well recovered!" moment - That feeling that a competitor has taken something right to the brink and then successfully pulled it back in order to win. Drivers come very close to crashing on virtually every corner in rallying, they're fighting with their cars for control constantly and it's noticable. In Nascar, the threat of crashing could be seen as a sword of Damocles hanging over the entire race, but until it goes so wrong that it's no longer salvageable (as in your clips) it isn't really observable. Plus, y'know, no corners. Or hills.

Like I said, I wouldn't suggest it isn't still a highly skilled and competitive sport - Nascar drivers are doubtless pushing their cars to the limit too, but in such a very precise and controlled way that to me personally just isn't exciting to watch.
 
It's the circumstances surrounding the crashes that I think illustrates the appeal, to me. 40+ cars nose-to-nose, wall-to-wall, 200+mph. The drivers are fighting with each other and trying not to cause those sort of incidents at the same time.

(They do also have a couple of road races these days with right hand turns, btw :p)
 
They should make a circuit with the form of an 8, record some Nascar races on it, then sell those DVDs in place of the Endless 8.



Teo
 
Bring on the 3rd test :)

Just a shame it got sold to sky, where the posh 'sport' of golf remains on free to air TV
 
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