Hi rg. :)

Am really sad the sweet-faced Ivo is out of Wimbledon. :( I think Stepanek is out of the DC tie, as well.

And as we chat a few village idiots are now celebrating with arson in LA.

sf, frankly Kobe will need one hell of a final series to get even close to MJ on the GOAT ladder. That's why I'm still a tad bummed about these finals. Kobe was hit-and-miss throughout. Not exactly a legend-making series.

zenggi!

yes, such a happy night here for lakers fans!

my doctor was actually teasing me since he knew i sprained the ankle playing tennis.

the celtics were game, though, and almost won it. so it was a tough, rough one, but so sweet to come through - and yes, it bears semblance to federer's win (the 15th more so because of how randy stretched him, down to the wire).

jewell: Hi. Nalby too. He said that between David Cup and W, he would choose the former...

And I forgot AM as a special fan of the Lakers, congratulations, lady!

Did Pau played well?

Jewell Hey Mac said of Rafa in 08 when he won not dropping a set he is the Greatest Clay Court player I have seen.Gee Mac played Borg remember? I think Mac has always admired Rafa

Hola RG

You will be glad to know Almagro started training so that injury of his hip not that bad.

I guess you want me selections for Wimby

Ahhhhh do I have to?

"kobe even acts like mj many times - the way he talks, that tongue licking the lips back and forth, it's oh so mj!"

sf, that's why Kobe will never surpass MJ. :)

zenggi, the Celtics have 17.

Watched Mexico vs France last night and was pleased that Mexico came through - liked watching Marquez in midfield and am happy that Hernandez (future Manchester United player, I think) and the 31-year-old Blanco scored the goals.

France were shockingly bad, though. Surprised that Domenech didn't even use a third substitute and that say Thierry Henry didn't appear to be clamouring to get on the field.

Morning, zenggi. :)

Good Morning Zengii

Pau had his moments I did at one stage advise him to get off court and get a New Brain

He played better in the 2nd half though

He had wanted to lol!

rg, are you sure the Worm is out?

np,

mj is mj, no question. and kobe is not at his level yet. for starters, he has to earn that 6th ring. if he plays lights out winning it (and maybe even topping it), then certainly he'd be challenging mj for the goathood.

NP,
And how does that make you feel? Does it mean that Celtics are the GOATS? :)

jewell,
I hope Mr. X feels better now after France non-performance :)

sodfriends,
A teasing doctor?. You must cherish him. So unusual.

Oh yes - it's draw day, isn't it? Looking forward to the cupcake/victimisation stuff.

Thanks, AM, for the information.

Totally OT. Does anybody know why I cannot open my Outlook today. I've started twice the computer and NOTHING!

zenggi,
my doctor is super. (as well as this specialist he referred me to see for my ankle problem.) decent folk, esp. my doc.

np,
lol re: why kobe can't be mj.

jewell,
It's going to be a long day at TW with the draw.:) In three hours and change I believe.
10 am UK time.

Man..what a poor performance by France today! I mean leaving proven goalscorers on the bench when they're 2-0 down and heading out of the tournament?

WTF? Did they even care? Most players looked like they would rather be anywhere else than competing here in the World Cup.

I thought the BBC had it best:

" the team that needed a helping hand to get to the World Cup now need a helping hand to stay in it ""

I'm almost tempted to say, good riddance..

Jewell Get with it

No Cup Cake draw we are at Wimby please

Scones with Jam and Cream all the way if you please

Okay I can handle the "victim" thingy I suppose.

imjimmy Hi,I agree that performance by France sucked

zenggi,
can't open outlook at all (progam hungs with hourglass running), or just can't get your mail?

NP: Bonjour! oui oui. I am.
"The other withdrawals came as something of a surprise. Radek Stepanek, who has been sidelined with illness, suffered a last-minute knee injury. "I had cleared all tests on Monday morning without a single problem and had planned to fly out on Tuesday for Wimbledon preparations," Reuters quotes Stepanek as telling Czech television. "I just wanted to try out a racket and this happened.""

AM: hola there. Good to know that. I did not hip injuries could heel so fast. Hope he ain't rushing.

zenggi: Hi

sf, IMO Kobe will have to get his 7th until he can seriously challenge MJ, and I'd probably still put MJ ahead. His Airness really had the total package.

zenggi, no, they got most of their rings during a weak era, when Cousy, Russell, Havlicek and their henchmen were sowing destruction over the entire league.

zengii Would you believe I had the same trouble yesterday and could not get my emails up at all for hours

Strange?

Ribéry and Malouda seemed to be working hard, although not to much effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZxvYy5-ekI

Just saw this and had to absolutely share. I guess this is why everyone harps about the 1982 Brazilian team. A great team playing the beautiful game! Awesome :)

sf, I was being half serious.... :)

imjimmy, France really was pathetic yesterday. Were they even strong contenders to begin with?

rg, howdy back at ya. And thx for the confirmation.

sod'sfriend,
Cannot Open at all. A message appears that it cannot be started. Very strange!

AM,
Sisters in trouble!

NP,
I knew you would find an excuse for this one too :)

I think poor Worm has CFS and Lira Vega was saying the other day he had a stomach illness and had to go for more blood tests.

Being a fellow sufferer I too have to have blood tests to make sure all my levels are up and also remember once you have had Mono it lies dormat in your system.You must always be aware of that.It also can come back at any time.

"" the team that needed a helping hand to get to the World Cup now need a helping hand to stay in it ""

very apropos.

AARGH. Really can't see England doing well if they keep coming out with this sort of rubbish:

"Green's training session here was less than convincing, with the 30-year-old fumbling consecutive shots fired at him at pace, but Capello declared for the first time that he believes the Adidas Jabulani ball was to blame for Green's costly fumble against the Americans and seemed to say that Green should therefore be exonerated for his error. "I saw some keepers make mistakes and it's a problem with the ball," Capello said. "One problem [for] the keepers is that sometimes the bounce is higher than normal. For this reason, I have to justify the keeper."

zenggi, anytime.

Hola rg and imjimmy,

And to my and my fellow countrymen and women, Jesse Huta Galung has to play one last match to qualify for Wimbledon. 3 victories in a row. Well done, Jesse!

Hi AM and NP!

NP: France have been pathetic for some time. They had this absolutely abysmal performance in Euro 2008 where they were eliminated in the first round of that tournament as well, IIRC - scores were 0-0 with Romania, 2-0 loss to Italy,
AND the MOST DRAMATIC 1-4 loss to the Dutch!

I mean those sort of scorelines for a great footballing nation like France, are totally unacceptable. So you're right, it's not a surprise.

But I would SERIOUSLY like to know why Domenech is STILL in charge. That dude picked the WORST possible squad for the World cup.

NP,
Use your CB to help me open the Outlook problem, please. "Anytime" is not good enough.

I dunno that many people had France as serious contenders after 2008, but the manner of the team so far has been just dire especially considering the quality of the individual players. Wonder if there are some rifts in the team, too. Domenech's demeanour struck me as odd really.

zenggi,
if you're on a corporate network, you may certainly have to call for help.

if it's your personal computer, i suggest you run a security software asap before you attempt any re-install. avg is a very good free one (i used it before, but not anymore. others here use it even now).

after a thorough scan, if it still won't run, try re-installing it.

and good luck!

Hey Zenggi! Did you try opening Outlook in safe Mode or by executing the executable file directly? Which version of MS office are you using?

Back to Tennis. I've been out of touch since the F.O. When is the Wimb. draw coming out? Is Nadal injured again - I read something about withdrawal at Queens?

well, folks, it's very late here, and work calls early in the am, so i better turn in.

zenggi,
i'll check on you later, ok? ')

good luck and good night!

Thanks, sod'sfriend.
It's my personal computer and I have ESET antivirus. It runs automatically twice a day.

Well us Aussies have another player withdraw through injury

Our game with Ghana Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Good Night Sods Friend

Yay Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NP: Welcome!

Poor France. They seemed so slow on the field. Compared to the Germans, there was zero explosiveness out there!

imjimmy No Rafa isnt injured he had a slight Glute problem,I think the adjustment from the clay to grass and also it was slippery.Any player can have that happen.Reading reports he is fine and had his 1st training session on Wednesday.

imjimmy, I miss Zidane. Messi and Ronaldo have nothing on Zizou.

zenggi, the more important Q is, why you still using the primitive Outlook?

imjimmy,
I tried executing the executable file directly. I have Vista. I'll try to open it in safe Mode. Thanks.

I think the Wimbledon draw will be made at 10am British time, imjimmy.

NP,
I have also windows-mail but I need to use Outlook for the e-mails coming from Spain. Too many accounts for the cable company. The same company who provides phone and TV connection. All-in-one company. Let's say monopoly.

The Spanish media are quick:

http://www.elpais.com/global/
http://www.elmundo.es/

ps: zenggi, your problem may be more than virus (so run a program that does more than a virus scan).

also, you may want to defrag your hardrive if you never did.

start-->all programs-->accessories-->system tools-->disk defragmenter.

take care. now i'm gone for real.

pps: am, your socceroos lost another player? you need to increase your voodoo dolls and pins for your next match - lol!

btw, go usa! (against slovenia tomorrow)

zenggi, gotcha. Unfortunately I hardly ever use Outlook. Not the best person to ask.

Bye, sod'sfriend.

A tweet from a Belgian tennisjournalist:
www.twitter.com/MyTennisFilip Almagro 12 hours ago rolled out on a stretcher from cc Eastbourne. Now practicing as we speak. Quite an injury!

True that NP. Zizou's among the truly great footballers of all time.

Jewell: Thanks for the info.

That makes it 2 AM PST, I guess. The draw could be crucial. Who wants to face Isner or Querry in Round 3/Round 4? On grass all big servers become a factor.

AM: Good to know Nadal is ok. Dude's already lost a year in slam worth because of injury. How did he look in Queens?

""why you still using the primitive Outlook? ""

NP: Huh? What is better than Outlook 2010 ( or 2007)? There isn't much choice to handle mails from exchange servers anyway.

Zengii Almagro has always been a bit of a Drama Queen to me

"I dunno that many people had France as serious contenders after 2008, but the manner of the team so far has been just dire especially considering the quality of the individual players."

Translation: I have no idea what I'm talking about and am just spitting out what I've been fed by the media.

Hear, hear, imjimmy :)

NP,
The Spanish sports papers are better (for the last sport news). :)

http://www.marca.com/
http://www.as.com/

imjimmy Well to me ok,his f.hand was good,just needs a bit more adjustment on the serve,b/hand and movement.I think the rainy conditions didnt help any players with their movement.

He also stated he was quite happy even though he lost in the q/finals,he knows he has to make better adjustment with the serve,b/hand,movement though he was pleased and said that his f/hand was good.

He also stated that if he felt he didnt improve with the practice he could always play that expo to get a little more practice in.

imjimmy: Hey there. We use Yahoo Zimbra at office. Quite good.

Desired results for today: Eng over Alg, Germany over Serb and US over Slovenia.

Think it would be a petkovic-Henin final in Netherlands.

jewell,

Say something about having two eyes and a lot of intelligence too.

"France without future." There...

All Hail Sasha Vujuvic and also his good friend Maria Sharapova for making him feel good enough about himself to knock down those 2 free throws. There is much joy here in Lakerland. In other news I can't believe Federer lost to Hewitt. It's always something......

imjimmy, I became a huge Zizou fan after the last WC. Still was and am after THE incident. But, of course, I happened to catch him at the tail end of his career.

Zidane's my all-time fave footballer. I was a little too young to appreciate Maradona back then, and I never saw Pele play live. I've seen enough clips of both Ronaldos, Ronaldinho, and Messi, and Zizou >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all of 'em in my book.

NP Peter and his Dad saw Pele play live

I know this just adds for your admiration for my hubby

Apart from being a Pete Sampras fan Forever!

Can't believe it took you nearly 25 minutes to come up with that put-down, NP. :)

Hey rg.nadal! I have no doubt Zimbra would be great. And obviously the price can't be beat :) But outlook still has a stranglehold at most workplaces because of it's numerous features and integration with MS Office. But yeah, If I had to pay for outlook separately, I might be tempted to look elsewhere. I have Mozilla's Thunderbird on one of my old machines. And that ain't bad either :)

AM: Thanks for the assessment. Gotta say,, I'm a little worried about Rafa's chances on grass given how little he's played on it since 2 years. The problem for him could be his return of serve, which will likely get exposed on grass. That said, Nadal played an absolute blinder in the RG final. And given that he's such a big momentum player, anything could happen in the next 2 weeks!

zenggi, are those the 2 biggest sports newspapers of Spain?

Zidane is to football what Roger is to tennis.

I cannot stand Maradona. As good as he was.

NP,
Yes. Marca and As are the national sports papers. El Pais, El Mundo are the most sold national newspapers. Of course these last two have a sports section. In Spain people buys a newspaper (El Pais or a local news one) AND one of the two sports newspapers. Good for the economy, bad for the trees.

jimmy: I also had experience with Lotus Notes. That ain't' bad either.

Off topic: Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the loveliest of them all?

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs138.snc4/37223_136323569716075_123565537658545_396584_3549347_n.jpg

AM, Peter is a great man with a perfect taste.

j, I missed that post of yours the 1st time around.

rg,
I also hope for a Henin-Petkovic final. And I'd like for Tipsarovic to win. He needs some wins asap.

You don't want to start again on that topic. Look what happened last Friday.

imjimmy Actually his ROS on the grass was good for someone that hasnt played on grass for 2 yrs.Th main thing is the confidence he got from RG and he showed that he is The King Of Clay.Hey I didnt think I would ever see the movment again not like RG 08 hey?

He just stepped up in that final like champions do and showed what a true clay court player is all about.

Rafa playing with confidence and healthy? Hmmmm enough for me at this stage.

""Zidane is to football what Roger is to tennis. ""

In other words, possibly the best player of the decade, but not the GOAT :)

Agreed with your assessment NP. Zenggi's analogy is actually perfect. I think of Zidane, as I think of Federer i.e I find their greatness inspiring, but hardly ever root for them.

To me it seems, Zidane (like Federer) fits the definition of a great general by Napolean: One who's lucky with his enemies :)

I quite like Maria's dress, and Serena's and JJ's. Ana's is horrible. Also saw some pictures of Wozniacki in a blue thing with swirls over the bust, which I didn't like very much.

Maradona has had to explain that he isn't gay after those hugs and kisses with his players.
Exhibit A:
http://images2-telegraaf.nl/multimedia/archive/00731/maradona_731746d

imjimmy,
You almost got my meaning.:) I was meaning more than that i.e. style, elegance and presence. Never intended to start a you know what.

Somethimg miss with that link above:
http://images2-telegraaf.nl/multimedia/archive/00731/maradona_731746d.jpg

rafa news,18th June,2010.

Rafa will play in this years Japan Open which starts on the 4th of October

"Our focus was getting Rafa to come this time"

"People want to see Rafa" tournament director said.

"I know I have a huge fan base in Japan,so that also makes me very happy"

"I will also have the opportunity to expierence the Japanese culture,the food which I love" Rafa said.

Time for me to get my Kimino out of the moth balls I suppose

"To me it seems, Zidane (like Federer) fits the definition of a great general by Napolean: One who's lucky with his enemies :)"

LOL... and YES to this. :)

zenggi: I think Becker might defend his title there. He did have a good two sets against Hewitt at halle last week and when his forehand is so good!

AM: Think Rafa would find form with each match at W. It is Djokovic whom one has to worry about. Somehow think though that he would be the dark horse of the tournament. No one expects him to do well....

jewell: Maria and JJ always dress well!

Saw these?:

Roger's W outfit: http://bit.ly/aDmcvT
Rafa's :http://bit.ly/aDmcvT
Serena's: http://bit.ly/aDmcvT
Maria's: http://bit.ly/aDmcvT

AM,
I heard from Mr. X that Nadal would be playing in Tokyo. Not very smart IMO. But any excuse to use a kimono is a good one. Send a picture, please. :)

Zenggi: Just giving you a hard time! I agree about aesthetics and style. That's why I said your analogy is perfect.
As a parallel I would say Pete and Pele.

AM: The RG 2010 performance was a masterclass. Unbelievable defense, counterpunching and movement by Rafa.
Another important thing was that for the 1st half of the match the conditions were overcast and the court was dampening a lot of the bounce and spin of the ball. In the 2nd half (when it grew more sunny and the court dried out), Nadal's topspin forehand really started kicking up and dragged Soderling off the court and pushed him back. Just see Soderling's court positioning as the match progressed.

I think if it had been a traditional hot sunny day, the scoreline might have been even more one sided.

imjimmy, I know. That's why it doesn't come as a surprise that people inmediatly jump to the wrong conclusion :)

And there are worse places in the world than Elba, I tell you. What a beautiful island!

I see it is orange rather than gold on Rafa's Wimbledon outfit. *pleased* I like all of them, I think.

imjimmy Exactly.Thats why even in those condtions damp and sunny he just showed what a Master on the clay he is.

I have watched it 4 times already and also went back and compared and watched the final in 08.

Another Master Class performance by Rafa in 2010.I just sat back and watched this young man exhibit his Magic on the clay.

I have seen most of the good clay courters in my time and that includes Borg.Rafa has taken his clay court game to another level as far as I am concerned.

I was there to witness live his 1st title in 2005,he has surpassed my expectations ten fold.

zenggi, gotcha. I do know El Pais & El Mundo are the two Spanish papers of record, but didn't know about the two sports papers.

imjimmy, I did root for Zizou hard in the '06 WC final. That header in the OT should've gone in.

And speaking of rooting, I'm still dazed over the LA-Boston series atm. Craziest finals I've ever cared about. You KADs should count your blessings that Fedal don't have to go at it 7 times over 2 weeks.

^^ To me Nadal's performance at F.O 2010 Final was even more impressive than F.O 2008 Final. Not because of his level of play ( which was certainly better in 2008), but because how he managed to lift his game for that ONE vital match, after having a fairly ordinary tournament. Sorta like what Pistol Pete did in Wimb 99 F.

jewell,
I was just thinking that Rafa is turning Dutch as we speak (or write). Maybe our chances at the WC will improve. :)

While I agree that Rafa is a very good tennis player, he will never be a good sportsman in fullest definition of it. He may show respects to many, but his gamesmanship and actions speak otherwise and for that he is not a class for many to admire.

Still, we have to put things into perspective, he is definitely good for the game.

imjimmy LOL!!!!!

Spoken like a true blue Sampras fan

Gee we will never,ever forget Pete will we? lol!

NP,
Anytime as you say.

imjimmy,
You cannot compare Pele and Pete. Not the same decade, you know. Your rules apply to this one as well. :)

rg,
Becker is playing very well of late. I just want Tipsarovic to win.
It's going to rain tomorrow here so I don't know when/if the finals will be played. Specially because they are going to show the futbol in the screens at the stadium. Nothing can interfere with that even if it's during the finals of a tennis tournament. Sigh!

imjimmy To me that is "smarter" tennis from Rafa peaking at the right time in GS finals.

""You cannot compare Pele and Pete. Not the same decade, you know. Your rules apply to this one as well. :)""

Negative Zenggi. Pistol Pete and Pele had one thing in common. Both were the MOST devastating force, the most authoritative players, ever seen on court/stadium. They took the sport to higher levels than anyone else ever did or will do. This is more than can be said of Fed, Zizou etc.. :)

zengii Even my hubby said of Pele he was the greatest footballer

hey we all know its a Mans World dont we lol!

zenggi: Here too tennis gets step-motherly treatment occasionally. Was a bit surprised to see Azarenka beat Kim. Guess Victoria is finding her groove back.

Sorry for Simon. Llodra is a tough cookie esp on grass.

RG Azarenka was limping towwards the latter part of her game her knees are a big question mark for me.

I will be interested to see how she goes in her match with Marion later.

Right AM. Good to see a smarter Nadal, one who finishes matches in the early rounds while playing without expending too much energy. But then he picks up, grinds and fights in big matches (like in grandslam finals). Let's face it, he's at his best when he uses his movement and defense to the fullest.

Anyway, as I said before, after almost a year, mentally, Nadal's looking like a winner once again. And while it might be premature after one tournament, he does seem to have the trigger of belief back. And if he carries this through Wimb and the USOpen - and if it actually grows- then we can say that he's back to his very best!

'Nite all!

AM: oh la la. Poor pretty gritty gurl! Anyway Sam shall win the title there.

I prefer Cantona to Zidane. (not contributing to the GOAT of football debate, just any excuse for this KAD to mention him, LOL.) I think he wins in the "violent incident" category, at any rate. :)

imjimmy,
I was getting ready to go to Hertogenbosch for the tennis today. We'll never agree in tennis views, I see. Maybe on Elba? Good night!

I'm pleased to see Vika string a few wins together, anyway. And I have a soft spot for Marion so I'd quite like to see her win, too.

Jimmy: Good nite!

My crazy friend calls me at 2:30 in the morn and expects me to help her. What'd I do to deserve this?