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Message
re: Jimmy Connor's 30 for 30
Posted on 10/30/13 at 9:46 am to Baloo
Posted on 10/30/13 at 9:46 am to Baloo
quote:it doesnt add up
Connors explanation for not talking to Krickstein ever again were just such BS. "Oh, what can you do? I'm just an a-hole."
they were friends
they compete and conners wins
they never talk again
something happened. they might not want to talk about it, but why wouldnt they talk?
0
Posted on 10/30/13 at 10:03 am to Baloo
I did like the parallels they made to Pete Rose, and this
is another similarity.
quote:
It's kind of sad because you can tell he's lonely
is another similarity.
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:40 am to LSUJuice
I'm with the rest of you guys, I don't get how they never spoke after that match. In any case, it was another really good 30 for 30 and I learned quite a bit. For the record I never was much of a Connors fan when he was at his peak (late 70's - early 80's), although I did have a T2000 racket. When he made that run in 91, he sort of won me over a little bit. On the other hand, I was a big fan of McEnroe.
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:43 am to Baloo
quote:Right. I'm pretty surprised to see that this comes as a surprise to others. I'm not even a casual tennis fan, but I've always known that he was a grade-A jerk off.
Connors has always been an a-hole.
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:44 am to LSUJuice
quote:That's funny. I always thought they looked alike.
I did like the parallels they made to Pete Rose
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:51 am to Grit-Eating Shin
quote:
I'm pretty surprised to see that this comes as a surprise to others.
His heyday was probably before the time of most posters here. A lot of people only know of him from his '91 run. Believe it or not, he had mellowed quite a bit by 1991.
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:54 am to MountainTiger
Well, I'm only 35, but still knew him as an a-hole.
Posted on 10/30/13 at 11:59 am to Grit-Eating Shin
quote:
Connors has always been an a-hole.
Right. I'm pretty surprised to see that this comes as a surprise to others.
I imagine most are too young to remember the Connor and Ilie Nastase days. There wasn't much in the way of sports on TV but those guys made watching tennis fun, even for non tennis fans.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:11 am to Grit-Eating Shin
quote:
Well, I'm only 35, but still knew him as an a-hole.
His assholery is so well-documented. It's usually a stretch to say that it's a "fact" that somebody is an a-hole, but I'm almost willing to go there with Connors. Agassi talks about Connors at length in his autobiography, and it echoes everything else I've heard about him from his peers.
Dude is an arse. At least he seems comfortable with it.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:17 am to Rouge
quote:
was waiting for the one question.....why?
and you can tell that fowler really loves tennis.
1. Fowler really really loves tennis.
2. The best part of the documentary was Fowler's reaction upon hearing that Connors had never once reached out to Krickstein. That was gold.
Overall, I thought it was a really really good doc, and the best I've seen from the new string of 30 for 30s. I do agree with the one poster who said that they should have emphasized his success in the 70s more than his dropoff in the early 80s. I honestly don't know a ton about the early years of Connors' career, and I would have liked to have seen more early footage with him and a young Borg among others.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:26 am to Bunk Moreland
quote:
Yeah, it's weird. I always liked Mac's tirades, and most of his animosity seemed to be directed to umps, not other players (Lendl is a big exception here). But, Jimmy always seemed really low level crude and made a point of fricking with the other guy. I always knew Mac was buddies with Vitas, but I was surprised in reading his book, how much he rolled with Borg. Jimmy was more of a loner out there, although I respect him for the chicks he banged.
It was interesting how he remarked that he was friends with Nastase who beat him ten times in a row. It sounds to me like his a-hole routine was at first a role that he felt he needed to play to get the most out of his game. I can actually understand that. For some people it's hard to separate out the off-court stuff with the actual game itself. Nadal is an example of the complete opposite. He plays with that same tenacity but then flips the switch as soon as the match is over. Connors couldn't do that. I get it.
But then why remain an a-hole when you're done playing? Why not give Aaron Krickstein a call?
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:43 am to Choupique19
quote:
I think the McEnroe's comments were very telling. I always remembered McEnroe was a jerk on the court, but even McEnroe said that you've got to leave that kind of stuff on the court. McEnroe has been hired to broadcast and has remained highly visible since his playing days. It's obvious that nobody like Connors because he disappeared after his career was over.
I also think it helps that Mcenroe is a really bright guy. He went from complete jerk with an uncontrollable temper to one of the most respected voices in the tennis community because he had it in him to make that transformation.
Connors seems hypercompetitive in a way that reminds me a little bit of Michael Jordan. Neither of them have the ability to turn down the "absurdly competitive" knob. Not even for a few minutes to, say, give a hall of fame speech or give Aaron Krickstein a call.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:56 am to Rouge
quote:
and you can tell that fowler really loves tennis.
quote:
and you can tell that fowler really loves tennis.
There's not another American sports broadcaster who do tennis the way Fowler can. He's absolutely brilliant. I've watched tennis all over the world, and even when I was in London for Wimbledon I found myself missing Fowler's broadcast. I have no idea what ESPN is going to do when he hangs them up. He's their best broadcaster by a country mile.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 1:57 am to TejasHorn
quote:
Even so, tennis was soooo much better back then.
W
T
frick?!?!
Posted on 11/7/13 at 2:03 am to DeonG
DeonG bringing some good stuff to this thread.
As mentioned, Connors is one of the biggest dicks in all of sports. He's essentially been outcast from the sport. A guy like McEnroe was able to leave that shite on the court, realize his place/role in tennis, and live outside of the matches and outside of his career. Connors to this day is a prick who can't let things go.
I don't know if it seems too obvious, but 30 for 30 absolutely has to do a series on either the tiebreaker or the Rafa-Fed Wimbledon epic. Both of them seem to obvious to be missed, but lately it seems like they've been going for more obscure stories.
As mentioned, Connors is one of the biggest dicks in all of sports. He's essentially been outcast from the sport. A guy like McEnroe was able to leave that shite on the court, realize his place/role in tennis, and live outside of the matches and outside of his career. Connors to this day is a prick who can't let things go.
I don't know if it seems too obvious, but 30 for 30 absolutely has to do a series on either the tiebreaker or the Rafa-Fed Wimbledon epic. Both of them seem to obvious to be missed, but lately it seems like they've been going for more obscure stories.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 6:03 am to FootballNostradamus
quote:
There's not another American sports broadcaster who do tennis the way Fowler can. He's absolutely brilliant. I've watched tennis all over the world, and even when I was in London for Wimbledon I found myself missing Fowler's broadcast. I have no idea what ESPN is going to do when he hangs them up. He's their best broadcaster by a country mile.
I agree. What's so great about Fowler is his ability to keep the discussion at the level of the common viewer. I can't think of a good example off the top of my head, but numerous times when, say, Patrick Mcenroe starts making a point that might be obvious to hard core tennis fans or former pros but not to a casual tennis fan, I've heard Fowler pose to him the simple question of "why is that?", which makes P-Mac explain his point in a more relatable way.
That may not sound like a big deal, but I think it is. Being able to recognize when the announcers are beginning to speak in colloquial terms and quickly bringing the discussion back to good old fashioned simple man's English is a hugely important skill for an announcer.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 6:17 am to FootballNostradamus
quote:
As mentioned, Connors is one of the biggest dicks in all of sports. He's essentially been outcast from the sport. A guy like McEnroe was able to leave that shite on the court, realize his place/role in tennis, and live outside of the matches and outside of his career. Connors to this day is a prick who can't let things go.
I don't know if it seems too obvious, but 30 for 30 absolutely has to do a series on either the tiebreaker or the Rafa-Fed Wimbledon epic. Both of them seem to obvious to be missed, but lately it seems like they've been going for more obscure stories
When you say "the tiebreaker", I assume you're referring to Mac and Borg? If so, I doubt 30 for 30 will do anything on it. The HBO documentary "Fire and Ice" was really really good, and I doubt 30 for 30 would do a docu that's been done and been done well. Similarly, I doubt we'll see a 30 for 30 on the thrilla in manila. The HBO doc on that was just masterfully good.
But as far as Rafa-Fed, I would totally love to see something like that. It might not happen just because it's so recent and both guys are still playing, but at some point in the future there will definitely definitely be a docu done on the Rafa-Fed rivalry. It's just such a great storyline. You've got Fed, who has already been anointed as the GOAT by every talking head and their cousin (this anointing was premature, but that's a different topic altogether), but then along comes this Spanish dirtballer who keeps stealing his lunch money, and not just stealing his lunch money, but breaking into his house, marching confidently into his bedroom, and stealing his lunch money right from the wallet sitting on his dresser with both Fed and Mirka two feet away in their bed wide awake and watching the whole scene.
We find out later that the spanish kid may have actually just been the better tennis player all along. But as it was unfolding, and coming to a head at the 2008 Wimby final, it was very compelling stuff.
Posted on 11/7/13 at 3:42 pm to DeonG
quote:
When you say "the tiebreaker", I assume you're referring to Mac and Borg? If so, I doubt 30 for 30 will do anything on it. The HBO documentary "Fire and Ice" was really really good, and I doubt 30 for 30 would do a docu that's been done and been done well. Similarly, I doubt we'll see a 30 for 30 on the thrilla in manila. The HBO doc on that was just masterfully good.
Yea I'd forgotten about the HBO documentary, definitely probably won't overlap with something HBO has already done.
quote:
But as far as Rafa-Fed, I would totally love to see something like that. It might not happen just because it's so recent and both guys are still playing, but at some point in the future there will definitely definitely be a docu done on the Rafa-Fed rivalry. It's just such a great storyline. You've got Fed, who has already been anointed as the GOAT by every talking head and their cousin (this anointing was premature, but that's a different topic altogether), but then along comes this Spanish dirtballer who keeps stealing his lunch money, and not just stealing his lunch money, but breaking into his house, marching confidently into his bedroom, and stealing his lunch money right from the wallet sitting on his dresser with both Fed and Mirka two feet away in their bed wide awake and watching the whole scene.
We find out later that the spanish kid may have actually just been the better tennis player all along. But as it was unfolding, and coming to a head at the 2008 Wimby final, it was very compelling stuff.
O yea, if they do the entire buildup it would be one of the better ones yet. Strokes of Genius or whatever the title detailing that match is called is absolutely incredible, one of my favorite books ever, read it in probably 2 days.
One of the things lost in the talk of that match over the years is the rain delays and how each affected the two players differently. Some of the behind the scenes aspects from those delays was awesome to read about and would be even better on film.
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