Alright, I just checked out Christopher's links, and what do you know, Nole's "excuses" read somewhat differently when judged in context.

Let's start with the most recent one. It's quite clear that Nole brought up the racket issue less as an excuse than as a counter to the criticism that he lost to Gulbis because of his golf or partying. And as JJ pointed out a few days ago, this actually makes him appear vulnerable to his potential challengers, and he really should be criticized for that, not for being a "whiner."

On to the other examples. When you read the transcripts you'll see that the 1st question is of the "what's wrong" variety. It's then not surprising that his answers would sound like whines outta context. Now, I've said myself that Nole often doesn't seem able to distinguish between actual injuries and mere exhaustion, but this only shows that his frequent timeouts are due to his possible misunderstanding, not intentional gamesmanship. And note how he tries to stop talking about his "injuries" (quotes 'cause we aren't sure they really are injuries) in the USO presser after his WIN over Robredo, or how he credits Moya and discusses the differences between and the difficulties presented by the various hard courts.

This isn't to say Nole isn't without problems--I can see why his saying he "decided not to risk anything" was inappropriate, though he does qualify that beforehand by referring to Fed as "the No. 1 player of the world"--but I'm afraid Christopher's examples only confirm my assertion that the anti-Djoko sentiment is mostly due to bias and misinterpretation.

Crazyone,
I will enjoy the AO. Off TW until I get to the day job in the morning.

Awww, fuzzy one. I've always suspected that a closet FADErer fan lay beneath that yello fuzzy exterior. I'm rather tickled that you're rooting for him. :)

Posted by joe 01/18/2009 @ 10:52 AM
Janko Tipsaravic is NOT a good person.. have you ever read one of his interviews?

Oh, joe - can [sic] I call you Joe? - in which language?

OK, the 5:32 pm "Peter Bodo" was really me. Sorry 'bout that.

NP, someone's arguments only confirm your view that you were right all along? Gosh, who'dathunkit?

ms.popsicle ( can I call you Tangerine?)
alas I've been discovered...I feel kinda bad for him , he's so close to Goathood.
(I'm wearing a sleeveless cardigan right now)

Christopher, I saw the Rafa comparison was a joke, which is why I didn't address it in my original post. But then you said this @ 4:30 PM: "Feel free to just read more of his press conferences after losses and compare the to Rafa's under the same circumstances (as that was the main comparison I made yesterday)." I thought you were referring to the facetious comparison, not his pressers. My bad if you meant the latter.

Less than 90 minutes left (*squeals*), and a great football game on to keep me entertained in the meantime.

Life is good.

EAGLES!!!!!!

"(I'm wearing a sleeveless cardigan right now)"

LOL. Brilliant. :)

*hugs sblily* Vamos indeed. Are you ready for the extreme angst? I'm really going to try to keep my complaining to a minimum during the match, unless things are going really badly.

Andrew, confirm, reinforce, or what not. You know what I meant.

Eagles now lead 25-24 on a TD pass from McNabb to Jackson but missed the 2 pt conversion. McNabb is acting like the best QB in the league now.

10:45 to go in 4th quarter.

Hmmmm. Oilers-Bills, anyone?

Will someone tell Joe Buck to shut up!!!!! If only I had a dollar for every time he's brought up the two-point conversion issue on their previous touchdown. Joe, we get it, can you please move on??? :)

NP: "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." John Kenneth Galbraith.

quoting the great Charlie Brown..."Oh good grief"

Are the Cards folding? Get it, folding?

The ready check for the AO

- TV: check
- DVR: check
- PC: check
- Water: check
- ROGER: check

Ok. I'm ready.

*waves hello*

Am I the only one rooting for the Cardinals right now? I feel like it's a lost cause at this point...just hoping the Steelers actually win because the thought of the Ravens in the Super Bowl is just nauseating for me.

"Hmmmm. Oilers-Bills, anyone?"

Oh Andrew, a bitter bitter memory my friend, bitter.

Woo hoo, bring it!

Last years first match was flabbergasting from Ms.JJ. Hopefully Andy is on his game..no walkabouts.
Go Andy!

rudy3, LOL. Very good. :)

I wouldn't say they're folding. The Eagles are a very good team. It's hard to keep playing as perfectly efficient on offense as the Cards were the first half.

Nope Amylu, I'm rooting for them too. :) Go NFC West!

well colour me biased and a misinterpreter.

nevermore amylu

With all due respect, Andrew, citing Galbraith as an authority in this matter is like referring to talk radio as the beacon of objectivity in the media.

Somewhere in the depths of Newcastle Rachael is about to combust.

Jenni, good to know that I'm in good company. :)

Note to Cardinals Offensive Coordinator, just throw to Fitzgerald, please.

Andrew - great quote.

Jenni - I'm ready! I really, really, want to see him do well here. There are other players I get more excited about watching, but none that I want to succeed more than Ferru. *sigh* I feel so protective of him.

Re: Football. It's a shame that someone will have to lose this game.

what happened to defense????

Come on...its not rocket science...Warner to Fitzgerald, up the middle...6 pts

I gotta go bring in the sheaves
I'll see you lovely folks at Melbourne Park

AmyLu, indeed. :) Number 11 is an absolute beast. Though so much is Warner's fault. He was looking like bad Giants-era Warner for the second half until this drive. :)

Jenni, your NFC West loyalty is so admirable. :)

just an hour to go folks!

I find myself pumping my fist every time AZ gets a first down, so I guess that means I'm rooting for them a little bit.

They are playing well, but this is AZ, and there's still time for them to screw it up. *thinks back to that MNF fiasco against CHI, "The Bears are who we THOUGHT they were," etc*

Wheeee 1 hour till tennis begins!!!!!!!!!!!

Crap i made the wrong rice for dinner meh, now i have to find something to fancy it up with .

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

sblily, that's exactly how I feel. He's not the most exciting for me to watch, but he's the one I get the most emotional about. Crazy, isn't it?

Amylu, I get a 2005 Seahawks vibe from the Cards, which means they will make the Super Bowl and lose to the Steelers in an arguably fixed game.

uh huh, like I said.

cards score....30-25...big 2 pt conversion attempt here...obviously...

59 minutes!

AZ scored and I cheered. Yep, I'm rooting for them.

Awww, yello fuzzy. A sleeveless cardigan. LOL You're mellowing! You may even call me tangi if you like. :)

TennisRone!

You're surfacing during a football game? Are you still employed with the sub-prime mess? *fingers crossed*

Jenni, that made me laugh a lot. I'm sure Wisenhut (spelling?) would LOVE to have the chance to beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

Sherlock, I feel like if the ball is just in the general vicinity of Fitzgerald, he'll make the catch.

NP: "It ain’t what a man don’t know that makes him a fool, but what he knows that ain’t so."

- Josh Billings

To watch the ESPN Preview or the TTC one? I'm already conflicted.

Surely if Jack Bauer were Fed's coach, and House his physio, he would regain his TMF status with ease, no?

"The Bears are who we THOUGHT they were,"

Ha!! One of the all-time great pressers. :)

"which means they will make the Super Bowl and lose to the Steelers in an arguably fixed game."

*hugs Jenni* Damn refs. :)

Uh oh...defense AZ defense

Hi Tangi! Well..I am still standing at my job. Employed in '09 is my mantra. That's kind of my subprime take for now. Let's just say I'm happy we've turned the page on 2008.

The Aussie Open kicking off and the game were inspirations for my post. Although...I will be headed off to a playoff party after the conclusion of this game. :-/ But I will be about this week.

Tangi, thanks for the update on people's whereabouts. Yoohoo, la Tari, Rogi-time, when's the bar opening (re-opening)?

AmiLu! How's life as a newly-wed? ;)

Don Juan (aka TRone), missed bantering with you, life on wall street still good?

I don't know who's going to win this game, but it's been quite a scrap.

Mr Curtis reminds me of Nick Nolte in "North Dallas 40."

The main difference between the first and second halves is the pressure exerted on the QBs in each half. McNabb has been in something of an armchair for the last 28 odd minutes.

"I feel like if the ball is just in the general vicinity of Fitzgerald, he'll make the catch."

~~~~
I had that exact feeling! Same as the feeling I used to have watching Randy Moss.

Come on Cards!

I off to my mom's house to watch the opening match of the AO. She has a 52" flat screen and homemade spaghetti.

Good luck to all your favorites!

Geez, McNabb. Missing badly on those last two passes. :(

Andrew: "When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also add that some things are more nearly certain than others."

- Bertrand Russell

AmyLu, what's wrong with the Ravens in the Super Bowl???

NP, what's with all these epigrams?

Hi siggy! It has been some time. How do I look??? ;-D

It's certainly a new world (or old world, depending upon what take you prefer) siggy in my industry. There are soooo many issues still to work through. It will take years. THere is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's just a matter of finding the end of that tunnel. Someone out there is smarter than me and will ultimately figure it out.

WHOA! 4th down and the Eagles do not convert. Pass interference? Not sure....replay FOX?

Alright, I'm done (again) with devilish advocacy. Cya all in a few.

Um, how exactly is that not pass interference???

Fox needs to give me a different angle on that pass. Hard for me to tell if there was actually contact or whether that pass was catchable.

Hi siggy! Good to see you here! Life as a newly-wed is going along fantastically...thanks for asking.

rudy, that sounds heavenly. Enjoy the tennis and spaghetti!

Wow, I think the Cards may actually pull this off. :)

siggy, let's just say Djokovic has spawned 'em all.

Anyhoo gotta go do some housework before tennis starts. Later, folks.

Woo hoo, AZ! Now I'll just sit back and hope that Warner doesn't pull a Warner (i.e., fumble).

I'll feel bad for McNabb if they lose this.

45 minutes!!!!

Well, Curtis almost caught it anyway. But the Cardinal guy hit the back of his leg and made him trip. Wtf?!?!?!

adicecream, I come from a family of die-hard Cleveland fans. And it's pure agony to see the Ravens doing so well since that's the team that relocated from Cleveland, and the current Browns just plain stink.

Sherlock, it looked to me like he was already going down when the guy hit the back of his leg. Your mileage may vary, of course. :)

My goodness...will the Arizona Cardinals be a representative in the Super Bowl in my lifetime? What a country!

Go ISNER! I still hold on to my hollow belief that this guy has the most dangerous weapons of any men's player on the tour. Too bad he moves like a dump truck.

Would love to see Fed add another GS championship to the satchel!!! Very excited about the tennis in this tourney.

Watch for Bagdahtis....if he has anything, he is on a side of the draw that is not too uncomfortable. Another unseeded player to watch....Vaidisova.

Great list, popsicle. I can get on board with some of your other favs (Feli, Fabrice, etc).

"Surely if Jack Bauer were Fed's coach, and House his physio, he would regain his TMF status with ease, no?"

I donno who Jack Bauer is, but the mental image of Fed and House is CRACKING ME UP.

Jenni, yeah, I can give you that. :) But that still qualifies as PI any day of the week, imo.

siggy: I think NP and I were in a quotations duel. They can be pretty rough affairs: Tolstoy included a few in "War and Peace," and the quotation duel between Jefferson and Ben Franklin in 1786 almost resulted in Virginia leaving the young USA.

Quotations duels are actually banned in several Southern states, while others forbid them on Sundays betfore noon. NP and I are both consenting adults, so we're ready to take the hits.

Sherlock, I expected to see a flag thrown out that play. I hate, regardless of who I'm rooting for, to ever see a game in which the officiating can be a topic of conversation after the game is over.

Nine seconds to history here folks. What a good game this was. AS a Giants fan, I couldn't feel any better now. Even though losing Spags is a blow I don't know that the giants coaching staff can overcome.

Don Juan, somebody smarter than you, I remember those bygone days when Alan Greenspan used to be a god, now he's a goat, pfft.... I sure hope Obama (and his people) will be up to the challenges, so many they are, and so deeeep the mess! Wonder how the incominb admin is being perceived by the wall streeters....

And... dear don juan, you don't look a day older, however do you do it? ;)

The Arizona Cardinals will play to be Super Bowl Champ...really didn't see that one coming at the start of the playoffs. I'm off to make dinner for the two of us, but I'll be back for tennis. :)

sigh

Ndesque,

No conflict where I am. TC preview is on now; ESPN doesn't come on til 6 p.m. CST. Unless they're not showing an ESPN preview here. Are you on the East Coast?

TennisRone,

Are you rooting for the Eagles or are you mad at them for beating your Giants?

Arrgh! This is so painful. Memories of the Wimby final. Great game. Commiserations to fellow Eagles fans. Congrats to Cardinals fans (if any).

hi, guys
so ready for tennis !
I am watching football and am in shock
Arizona ? superbowl?
ummm - what ?

anyway - want to really read this post and digest all that Pete has to offer here
just skimming it looks like a great one

not just loving Roger's haircut
hope he did not pay an exorbitant sum for that one
but , well , it will grow

and Rafa sure looked happy with his arms around those showgirls - he does have great smile

man, that was wimbledon 2008 all over again.

Ndesque and Tangi...had the same dilemma but TC seems to actually be doing a preview for 2009 and espn is doing more of the history of the AO.

Wow. AZ did it. I predicted here they'd win the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago, but I was just talking out of my a**. Crazy stuff.

I'll be rooting for them against either Pittsburg (meh) or Baltimore (hate).

Commiserations to Donovan F. McNabb, Sam, and the other Philly fans.

37 minutes!!!

Great to see some Rafa fans around hola Jenni,Syblily,Amylu,

I ghave Drs appointment tommorrow,hey those darn officicals should hve checked with me fitst,the cheek of them

Anyway we have great coverage here in Oz,two channels covering the A.O. I will watch on replay later.

Hoping our boy will win his first hard court grand slam in 2009

Vamos Rafa!.

Ugh, I need to learn to say something before I leave.

tangi, from wayyyyyyy above, re: Hubby - I'm cool with the description. So long as folks are talking 'bout him, right? :)

And thanks for the shoutout, siggy! Don't disappear!

AmyLu, I can understand that. I swore I would never cheer for the Ravens because Baltimore had stolen Cleveland's team. But over time I was converted, especially when various people reminded me of all the other teams that had moved, and not always in the best circumstances or for what I would consider the best reasons.

So I'm a Ravens fan, tho a lukewarm one really. Football is not tennis, basketball or baseball after all.

What a game! Congrats Cards fans and commiserations to Eagles fans.

Beth-yep -Rafa looked pretty happy there-good for him.

I am so excited. Go RAndy, Stan, and Ai (last 2 being my SP picks :)

So there we have it. Commiserations, Eagles fans, congratulations Cardinal fans.

Sherlock, FWIW, if the crew that officiated the Colts-Chargers game had been on the field, there'd have been six flags on the field for that last Philadelphia pass. I don't like to see officials deciding a match, and I thought that AFC crew was absurdly trigger happy. On balance, I thought PI, but I can (without a dog in the hunt) I could live with the non call.

Because the NFL playoff sstem is so weird, I used to use the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an example of a team who could go and win it all. After they did, I switched to the Cardinals as a "yes, they're crap, but they could win it all next year." For 2010, let's see. The Kansas City Chiefs? Oakland Raiders? Detroit Lions? The Houston Texans, Lord love 'em? Anyone? Bueller?

OMG, so the game actually got interesting? Freakin' errands.

Sherlock forgot to tell you Alicia walked past me the other night was in a big hurray though had to do commentaty for channel 7 on the Safina fina match,she wants to do coaching with the AIS junior devlopment in Canberra I wish her good luck,just saying.........

Agreed, Andrew. That Colts officiating crew was pretty trigger happy. Like AmyLu said well, I just hate to see it end on something controversial. And I really think the zebra just swallowed his whistle there, so to speak.

Plus, I was rooting for the Eagles, so I'm ticked anyway.

Ah, well. Sam, whereever you are, I hope you are killing enough brain cells to forget your memories of this one.

Ahhh...sig...you know...keep drinking that green tea in the morning...a nice glass of red wine at night...and a pleasant disposition keep Don Juan feeling youthful. Save a seat for me aside you...I hope to make it worth your while one day. Wheeeee! :-P

We'll see what this administration has for the challenges ahead. At least they appear realistic about it. At least he appears to have a vision. Wall Streeters are as welcoming as they always are of democrats. I feel ok having Obama leading us. The constant Abe Lincoln references used by his team are very interesting.......

30 minutes to Oz....

I can not believe that the Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. Thought that 4th down pass to Curtis was pass interference on Hood but no flag.

Arizona 32 Philadelphia 25.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh next.....

Less than 30 minutes before the Australian Open to begin. Now, I am completely gone as I will go back and watch TC preview show:)

Thanks, Andrew, for the enlightening context, gosh.... well, so who drew the first blood, or is it too early to tell? ;o

Crazy, Sam et al, boo hoo, my heart goes out to you.... wow, Rogi on my tele, finally! Justin G. still around after all that brouhaha...?

Justin G is a dork..."he is tired" "he is banged up" in regards to Rafa....wtf?

Ah to be at my parents' house right now. They get those 5 extra court coverage channels courtesy of Dish Network. Remember summer when I was home with the parents and had like 7 channels of tennis coverage? Good times.

TOUGH loss for the Eagles. The end of the line for Andy Reid and McNabb? They desesrve better....but this could be it.

This next game should be an absolute war.

Until later all! I hope to be back and commenting further.

Tangi.....you know I can't root for the Eagles....

I hope to chat later all!

What channel is the AO preview show on? Here in CA, ESPN is airing a dog show.

Don Juan, the seat is yours, so red wine it is.. well, will bubbly do as well? ;) The constant Lincoln reference is indeed interesting, I hear Obama has been good news to the publishing industry, if not exactly (yet) to the banking sector! ;)

TR, good to see you again. :)

Rafadoc, indeed. :) When I saw Justin was coming, I turned the channel. Can't stomach that guy.