MetaFilter posts tagged with tennis

"It was the worst day of my life."

Lutoslawski — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:15:43 -0800

25 years ago today, Vicki Dunbar Nelson and Jean Hepner played the longest tournament rally in tennis history, lasting 29 minutes and 642 shots (SLNYT). NPR interview with Ms. Nelson, 25 years later. The longest non-tournament rally was accomplished by the Rossetti Brothers in 2008, with 25,944 strokes over 14 hours and 31 minutes.

A few battles with foods that were calling me like sirens called Odysseus

ORthey — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:08:07 -0800

"Lunch is really nice again, not mentioning a few battles with foods that were calling me like sirens called Odysseus. I had some salad some pasta and some fish and we had a nice chat with some Russian girls at an “All-Russian” table. Catching up on all the gossip, laughing, and in general making fun of people! By the way I forgot to mention that this is a men’s and women’s tournament so if you lose early and you are lacking confidence there is a good chance to challenge one of the girls to a match." Russian-American tennis player Dmitry Tursunov blogged his experiences at a 2006 tourney in Estoril, Portugal with hilarious results. [For best results, read from the bottom of the page up!] Read about his adventures with Marat Safin: "The match was a bit awkward the first few games because this is our first time playing together and Marat doesn’t really understand the concept 'my side/your side.' He tends to think that his forehand is much better than my backhand so I had to convince him otherwise. Thanks to me and my ability to convey logic to the two-meter embodiment of a female’s dream, we won the first set 6-3." On intimidation: "Right before the match I tried to do some sprints and some jumps to get the blood going, then I stared into the mirror and said, 'You talking to me?!' When you are playing someone who is 15, it’s always good to scare the life out of them the moment you get out on the court! IT HAPPENED!!! They told me, 'Just keep pluggin’ alone and you will win a match!!!' and it happened! Of course the kid was 15 but c’mon! I’m blond!" On tennis players online: "The guy is like Neo in Matrix. He has no idea what he is writing anymore or who he is writing to. He just puts 'lol' and moves on to the next window. The girl is probably telling him that her kittens died and he just says, 'lol.' At the same time he is listening to Bow Wow and tries to sing along. The funniest stuff on Earth. A French dude is trying to rap! Impossible to watch without a condescending smile!" And more!

Friday Java Fun

Rhaomi — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:45:07 -0800

Two slimes. One circle. Infinite addiction. Welcome to the world of Slimeball. Slime Volleyball, AKA "One Slime", is the old standby, but scads of mods and variants have proliferated over time: Two-player Slime Volleyball, with stats and uniforms and game-modifying codes Power Slime, a Volleyball variant where the players are given random special abilities Slime Soccer, Slime Space Soccer, Slime Bowling, Slime Tennis, Slime Ice Hockey, and Slime Basketball Slime Dodgeball and Slime Rugby, two games with magnetic play in which slimes can "pick up" the ball on their domes and toss them across the field. Slime Cricket and Slime Boxing, too. Have you proven yourself unworthy? Search for winning strategies on the SlimeWiki. Or just vent your frustrations to your fellow Inferior Human Controlled Slimes on the Slime Forum. And finally, an (aging) online solution for enterprising Mefites itching to deliver a virtual smackdown.

Ungh!

chuckdarwin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:53:53 -0800

Tennis, anyone?

College Tennis in the Sixties

wittgenstein — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:10:19 -0800

"The women's tennis team at Grand Canyon University in Arizona has an unusual player this year — a 60-year-old named Sheila Johnson. She played for three years at Arizona State in the '60s, but still had one year of eligibility left." NPR story. Newspaper Article. Sports Illustrated Article. Picture of the team and Stats. This story just made me feel good.

A credit to his race: the human race

psmealey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:06:27 -0800

Arthur Ashe's words and legacy. Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) was the first (and only) black man to win Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the US Open tennis tournaments and a very vocal civil rights activist and leader. Last week on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, Brian had on Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe[embedded audio player] and they were remembering a moment on Martin Luther King Day 1993, when Arthur called into the show from his hospital room (he died three weeks later). His views from Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Muhammad Ali and the 1966 and 1992 Los Angeles riots are at once eloquent and riveting.

Don't say it, spray it

mattoxic — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:54:01 -0800

Did the Victorian police overreact in spraying capsicum spray into spectators at the Australian open tennis on Tuesday night? The officers say they were protecting themselves, it seems not all agree and legal action might ensue. Is the Australian Open (or any international sporting contest in Australia) still a family friendly environment?

Layer Tennis

GuyZero — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:47:04 -0800

Layer Tennis. Head-to-head graphic artist competition!

Bloated Wikipedia Pages

brain_drain — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:42:35 -0800

The 8 Most Needlessly-Detailed Wikipedia Entries

Kaysone Phomvihane

PHINC — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:10:32 -0800

He fought battles on the Plain of Jars, hid his rebel faction in caves for nine years to escape U.S bombs and now has a huge museum in Vientiane. Laos' Kaysone Phomvihane is not the most well documented 20th century communist leader. And not everybody is happy about him of course. But if you want to judge him for yourself go to Laos and visit those caves or visit his humble residence and have a look at his tennis shoes.

Andre Agassi -- 20 Years of Punishment

ericb — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 15:43:05 -0800

20 Years of Punishment
Agassi's incredible journey ended today with his loss at the U.S. Open. A class act throughout the years.

love is nothing

The Jesse Helms — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:01:00 -0800

Federer as Religious Experience by David Foster Wallace.

because it spreads like a virus? get it?

skrike — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 13:15:53 -0800

Agency.com — best known for their work on... well not much really — recently had the opportunity to bid on the interactive account for Subway Restaurants. Their idea was to create a pitch video (embedded youtube) showing them brainstorming for ideas for the pitch video. They posted it online hoping to make it go viral, but the only viral thing about it really was that it used the word viral in it as many times as possible and tried to show how hip, edgy and cool they are.

Coudal Partners — best known for sponsoring matches of Photoshop Tennis... although the archives of past matches are currently down... they spawned legions of copycats, — decided to post their own Unsolicited Response video (embedded quicktime) which in turn is much funnier than the original.

So what makes a lame attempt at viral video actually GO viral? With so much discussion on advertising forums saying it isn't, all the attention it has been getting is ensuring that it is.

The more things change.

bardic — Sun, 28 May 2006 01:24:19 -0800

Newsfilter: Members of Iraq's tennis team shot "for wearing shorts." Being an Iraqi athlete is no easier than before. Just ask members of the Iraqi Taekwondo squad. More.

Tennis, anyone...?

forallmankind — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 10:17:37 -0800

Tennis, anyone...?

Agassi vs. Blake

quadog — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:56:16 -0800

The Old Man vs. The Comeback Kid. On Wednesday evening at 7pm EST Andre Agassi will face James Blake in the US Open Quarterfinals. At 35, this will be Agassi's 20th appearance at the US Open. Although he's been persistently dodging plans for retirement this may possibly be the last time Agassi graces Arthur Ashe court. James Blake's story is different. At 25, he's spent the past year and a half recovering from a neck fracture, the death of his father and an illness in which he temporarily lost feeling in his face and suffered from blurry vision. He will also be the first black man to reach the quarterfinals in the US open in 23 years. Will this match-up be a passing of the torch to a younger generation of US men's tennis players or will experience prevail over youth? Regardless, this may be one of the most anticipated matches at the US Open since Agassi faced Pete Sampras in the 2002 final.

The boob is back

furtive — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 11:40:33 -0800

Maria Sharapova has supplanted Kournikova as the new hotness, at least when it comes to Japanese bedroom accessories. (mildly NSFW)

Ball Sports & physics

OmieWise — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 12:25:19 -0800

Par 5 site on the science of golf balls. Service on the newly sized tennis ball. Return on the flight of tennis balls: Part 1; Rally with Part 2. Back and forth again with Ball/Court Interaction 1 and 2, and the aerodynamics of tennis ball coverings puts it away for the point. (And apparently, the weight inside a bowling ball isn't spherical and so modeling the movement of bowling balls takes university papers and presentations.[PDF])

Ma ma ma my Sharapova!

MmmKlunk — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 07:50:46 -0800

Happy 18th Birthday Maria Sharapova! A music video by ESPN's Bristol Bob and the Page 2 Crue, made in honor of Maria Sharapova's 18th birthday. Make sure you crank the volume knob up to 11, because now you, too, can sing along to the tune of The Knack's "My Sharona."

Money, Power And Sport

MiguelCardoso — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 19:08:06 -0800

The New European Football Champion Will Be Greece Or Portugal: Sunday's Euro 2004 match is the first final ever between two national teams who've never made a final before, after dispatching the biggest, richest European powers like England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova, a 17-year old Russian from Siberia has won Wimbledon, defeating the mighty Serena Williams. Perhaps size and money, despite the multi-million contracts, still aren't everything in sport. Or does it depend on the sport? [More inside.]

Tennis player's parent drugs his opponents

Spezzatura — Wed, 06 Aug 2003 10:02:10 -0800

Sometimes a parent can go a little too far helping out a kid. In this case - way too far, when it comes to drugging the competition.

Anyone for tardis tennis?

biffa — Fri, 04 Jul 2003 07:38:56 -0800

Anyone for tardis tennis? Not much of an FPP, but its Friday and its Flash and its mildly irritating fun.

Tennis fans Slammed

somethingotherthan — Sun, 09 Mar 2003 14:28:18 -0800

If you are a prominent sports organization suffering under budget cuts and dwindling crowds, not to mention if some of your main players are threatening to form a breakaway group, what could possibly be your next move? How about alienating your fans? That's exactly what the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men's professional tennis, did. More inside . . .

Williams Tennis Association?

111 — Thu, 23 Jan 2003 13:16:39 -0800

From "Elle" to "Infinite Jest", the world acknowledges their greatness. They're about to meet in their fourth consecutive Grand Slam final. Are these sisters invincible?

Burgatron — Sun, 30 Jun 2002 05:33:11 -0800

Serial prankster Karl Powers finishes his trifecta of Pranks with a hit on centre court at Wimbledon. He first joined the Manchester United team for a photograph, then donned the cricket whites and marched out onto Headingley during an Ashes Test with Australia.