Monday, June 06, 2011

Home of the Chain-Smoking Mouse

Rafael Nadal celebrated his sixth title at Roland Garros with a "fun" trip to Euro Disney Disneyland Paris!

1 comment:

Mike in Asheville said...

Hey Kenneth, was traveling yesterday so I didn't have a chance to comment on your post about Rafa v. Roger for GOAT.

Like you, I am a huge tennis fan. More important to me than an individual is the quality of play -- and I root for good play irrespective of the actual opponents. I do harbor a bit of a crush on Rafa -- I spotted him during his 4th round at his first French Open, was amazed, and thought he would win the overall. But as much as I enjoy Rafa's play, I truly do enjoy watching the challenge, and he is not the winner, well the winner certainly did earn their win. Yada, yada, yada.

So, regarding GOAT, its Roger, clear and simple (not to mean that Rafa can't overtake GOAT as Roger overtook Sampras). While Rafa does have Roger's number, particularly on clay, what is more important is that Roger has every other player's numbers -- for 7+ years.

It is not just a matter of who has won the most; but really how they stack up against the field. A 1963 25-year-old Rod Laver would not stand a chance against a 25-year-old Rafa or Roger or Novak or Andy Murray. The training is different as is the equipment and tournament schedule. Rod Laver can only be viewed as GOAT relative to the field he played against. And of that field, Laver was GOAT.

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GOAT is debated among the greatest of all sports. But there is really too much personalized opinion and preferences to choose: Dan Marino with his all-time passing records OR Joe Montana and his 4 Super Bowls wins and amazing but not the best passing records. Well, I'm from the Bay Area and watched Joe play live several times, so obviously he is GOAT. To my fellow Miami fans, though, its Marino.

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For tennis, what is truly a bonus, is that Rafa and Roger (and now Novak) are playing, 6+ years now, against one another. Great tennis. Perhaps, the greatest tennis of all time, "nas pas"?