Other Sports: Page 232 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Other Sports

Claudius

mdgoonah41 wrote:
you know what i was thinking about? watching federer v djokovic yesterday, if you had said that both guys were in their mid-late 20s, would that have been surprising with the level of play they both showed? sampras, who was the GOAT when i was growing up, retired at 31. agassi retired at 36, but he was basically done at the top level at 32-33. federer is 37, djokovic is 32, and nadal is 33. what they are doing in their early (and in federer's case, mid) 30s is incredible

seriously. this decade only 4 guys have had a look in at the Slams: Stan, Delpo, Murray and Cilic.
I don't even know who's going to take the reins from them

Rohit

I am sure sports science has come a long way since when Sampras and Agassi was the most incredible rivalry. It has kept sportsmen competitive beyond what was once possible.

Not to take anything away from these outstanding sportsmen. I personally haven't got bored yet.

mdgoonah41

this is just astounding;

from the australian open in 2004 through this year's wimbledon, there have been 63 grand slam finals

federer: 19 wins
nadal: 18 wins
djokovic: 16 wins
wawrinka: 3 wins
murray: 3 wins
gaudio: 1 win
del porto: 1 win
cilic: 1 win
safin: 1 win

so, federer, nadal and djokovic have won 84% of the 63 grand slams contested in 16 years. that is absolutely bananas.

if you shrink it down to 2004 to 2010, there were 28 grand slams, federer won 15, nadal won 9, djokovic, safin, gaudio and del porto each won 1. federer and nadal combined to win 86% of the grand slams in that 7 year period.

MuswellHillGooner

Tour de France hotting up nicely.
I like swashbuckling types so i've enjoyed watching Alaphilippe but may have pick another rider as the mountain stages kick in.

MuswellHillGooner

Unfortunately doping murmurs have started again in the comments section.
Earth Arrow:
"Love the tour but how can I trust cycling since Lance broke all our hearts and now Sky are being scrutinized, Alaphilipes efforts seem extraordinary???"
Bogdan Tomin:
"Is it possible that Alaphilippe made such a transformation into a GC rider without using banned substances?"
Severin Adam:
"INEOS' doctors will make sure that Thomas makes an amazing comeback and wins - guy that hasn't really had any notable results the whole season."

Bold Tone

I loved the Tour for years from the days of Stephen Roche, Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond.
It was a combination of the boredom of Lance Armstrong's total domination and Channel 4 losing the rights to Sky that disillusioned me.
Everyone suspected juicing was taking place but the US Postal team took it to another level.
Their doping was run by the team so used the best doctors in a scientific manner.
From his first Tour victory, without even hearing any evidence, i knew he was doping as a domestique of his pedigree does not transform into a GC-level rider. His ability and body type meant the best he could hope for was a break-away win.
e: Every other team joined in but were never as good (till Team Sky?)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/06/team-sky-cycling-integrity-british-team-doping-allegation

Bold Tone

What started it off

What got me seriously interested

Tour de France Greatest Moments - Part 1/5

Tour de France Greatest Moments - Part 2/5

Tour de France Greatest Moments - Part 3/5

Tour de France Greatest Moments - Part 4/5

Tour de France Greatest Moments - Part 5/5

Segway

Cycling is a fantastic sport with really unbelievable athletes and Tour de France especially is one of the most special and historic sporting events in the world. But doping has ruined it for me. Some of my favourite sportsmen were Michael Rasmussen and Lance Armstrong and literally all of the historically great Danish cyclists have confessed that they used doping during their careers.

Bold Tone

Qwiss

I thought England were supposed to be good at cricket again?

Bold Tone

Don't count your chickens ...
Cricket is a funny old game!

MuswellHillGooner

Rowe and Martin were both expelled from the race after it appeared the two men and their teams had an on-road spat in the final kilometers of the stage
https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/tour-de-france/luke-rowe-and-tony-martin-disqualified-after-incident-in-stage-17_497952

invisibleman18

Qwiss! wrote:
I thought England were supposed to be good at cricket again?

Different format and most of the team were different to the World Cup one, but still atrocious. Weird seeing us with a good ODI team but shite test team when throughout my life it's usually been the other way round.

arsedocmd

Prolly just post world cup stupor. They'll get the job done in second innings.

invisibleman18

Hmmm, the few who played in the final probably shouldn't have played this one. Big concerns for the Ashes regardless of this game though with a top 3 without a test score of any note between them. Heavily dependent on Root, Bairstow and Buttler for runs.

Rohit

invisibleman18 wrote:
Qwiss! wrote:
I thought England were supposed to be good at cricket again?

Different format and most of the team were different to the World Cup one, but still atrocious. Weird seeing us with a good ODI team but shite test team when throughout my life it's usually been the other way round.

It was a very conscious effort on the ECB's part to focus on white ball cricket. They played a brand of Cricket unlike any seen in ODIs before. It was their big tournament at a time when the sport was dying in the country. They needed to win it.

invisibleman18

Absolutely. When I think back to the misery of sitting at the stadium in Wellington watching the shambolic displays against NZ and Sri Lanka at the 2015 World Cup it feels worth it for this result. The NZ game back then especially was probably my lowest point as a sports fan.

Bold Tone

Muswell Hill Gooner wrote:
Rowe and Martin were both expelled from the race after it appeared the two men and their teams had an on-road spat in the final kilometers of the stage
https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/tour-de-france/luke-rowe-and-tony-martin-disqualified-after-incident-in-stage-17_497952

I now understand why Martin did a draymond as he was reacting to what Rowe had done to his team GC rider, Kruiswijk, earlier.

Anyway, the real "Tour" (GC battle) starts today with the two favourites a strongman light as i don't think Alaphilippe survives the three consecutive mountain stages after cracking on the lower category climb on stage 15

Bold Tone

RIP Maxim Dadashev.
Poor guy was fighting to try and win a green card so he could bring his wife and daughter to America.
Reminder of how dangerous boxing can be.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/23/maxim-dadashev-russian-boxer-dies-injuries-fight

flobaba

R.I.P.

It’s a brutal “sport”. His corner was cowardly, they failed at basically the one thing they are there for- to save the fighter from himself.

I was extremely apprehensive about Pacquaio’s fight against Thurman for exactly the same reason

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