I Read It Somewhat Differently. It Could Be About Shipping, But The Whole “own Personal Stories”

I love everything about this post

Tennis' popularity has been rising for the past few decades. Yet, with the high-profile superstardom it brought and the elegant image it projected, it is often easy to overlook why it is actually one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports to play on a professional level.

Here are a few major points that make it stand out:

There is no time limit in tennis. Uniquely rare in individual sports, tennis matches are won by points (winning 2 sets out of 3 or 3 sets out of 5), which means the match is going to be played until a winner is reached and the time it takes to finish one point is wholly dependent on rally length. The longest tennis match ever recorded is a first round Wimbledon 2010 match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, lasting for 11 hours and 5 minutes played over three days. The longest grand slam final (one that is played in one sitting) is the 5 hours and 53 minutes Australian Open 2012 match between Nadal and Djokovic. After the match, both could barely stand for the trophy ceremony.

Tennis matches cannot be won by a simple stroke of luck in the right moment, as its scoring measures consistency, requiring the highest level of physical fitness throughout the entirety of the match. Unlike simple accumulative score such as in football, tennis has a quirky rule that only allows players to win a game or a set if they won it consecutively twice. For instance, once players reached "deuce" (a 40-40 score) in a game, they would have to win two points in a row to win the game. If they win one and lose the next point, the result would always go back to deuce (neutral), no matter how long it takes.

Tennis is the only sports that are played in different surfaces. The four grand slams are played in hard courts, clay courts, and grass courts. The surfaces are incredibly crucial to the way the game plays out, as the ball bounced completely different both speed-wise and touch-wise on each, creating an immense variability in playing possibilites. Professional tennis players that go on tour have to switch between surfaces many times during a year, having to readjust their game completely once a new surface season began.

Breaking into the top rankings in tennis is a herculean task precisely because it was made to be so. Unlike in other sports such as football, tournament draws in tennis are not random, they are based on ranking seedings. This means that the top two ranked players are always positioned at opposite ends of the draws (i.e., they are only able to meet in the finals) and subsequently with the next in line. The quality of play thus always improves the closer you get to the end of the tournament. However, it also means that low-ranked players have to defeat the top 10 consecutively to actually win the tournament. This is very rare, and when it does happen it usually marks a new era of players, just as when Roger Federer upset Pete Sampras to win his first Wimbledon in 2003.

Tennis is, perhaps even more than a physical sport, a mental one. Sports analysts have noted that the majority of players in the top 50 have equally good forehands and backhands, except for rare cases such as the big three (i.e., Federer, Nadal, Djokovic), or service masters (e.g., Serena Williams, John Isner, etc.). What differentiates the superstars is mental strength during long and critical matches (e.g., championship or match points) because of the high chance of comeback that the scoring and no time-limit provides. For instance, Rafael Nadal won his 2022 Australian Open coming back after down 2 sets and a break point.

Tennis, especially in singles, is one of the loneliest, most individually competitive sports there is. Unlike team sports such as football or baseball, coaching during matches are highly forbidden and can lead to penalties. This means each player has zero contact with anyone during the usually 2 to 5 hours matches they play, relying solely on their own mental capacity, problem solving skills, and strategy decision.

Professional tennis is not only physically demanding it is also incredibly complicated technique-wise. There is an incredible array of shots available to play (a flat or topspin shot, a serve, a forehand, a backhand, a slice backhand, a drop-shot, etc.) and each has a different grip. Professional tennis playes usually change the way they hold their rackets mid-point, and has to vary them greatly to ensure different outcomes for each shot.

Strangely, unlike team sports such as football, tennis players share locker rooms with all their fellow competitors every tournament. Some tournaments such as Wimbledon even gather the top 20 players in a separate locker room. This means that rivals who play each other the most, especially in finals (as all the others would've left the locker room) would see each other more often than others. Top 50 players travelling around the world to play the competitive ATP (male) and WTA (female) world tour see their rivals and peers more than their own family. As tennis does not allow draws, when a tournament is over, the winner and the loser have to commiserate and celebrate in the same room.

This high amount of contact that players need to endure with each other, however, also elevates the standard of sportsmanship in the sports and have produced some of the most unique dynamics. Bonded through shared experiences of the worst and best moments in their lives, some maintained relationships lasting decades perhaps fittingly proving that in the end, even the most competitive sports cannot best our humane traits of friendship, respect, and love.

Fan fiction SALES? Okay, then.

j2 confirmed

I visited the museum last month, and my initial reaction to NOT!Lady Eva from the Milverton dramatization was that she looks exactly like Terry Jones in drag. That really affected the experience, I tell you. I kept hearing ‘he’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy’ in my head throughout the rest of the exhibit. 

I Have Beheld the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

I knew it would be cheesy. I was hoping it would be the right kind of cheesy. My hopes were fulfilled beyond my wildest dreams.

If you are planning to visit this place one day, and don’t want spoilers, let me just offer you the following advice: Go early. At noon, when we were finally admitted after waiting for at least half an hour in the broiling sun, the queue was already down the block. Since the museum itself takes about half an hour (we did it in 20 minutes due to time pressure…it’s a long story), I don’t recommend waiting in line for it any longer than that. It’s a tall, narrow, old-fashioned townhouse, so they don’t let in more than about 15 people at a time.

All right. Let me tell you about this ‘museum.’ 

Keep reading

I was going to say a few things – number one, back to my wife and Rafa. I wanted to just give a shoutout to him. He had an unbelieveable year himself, we had a great battle, and it’s because of a guy like him that I feel like I’ve become a better player as well, so he could well - could very well have been here as well tonight and standing here with this award…An incredible friend, and an incredible athlete, so just like to give a shoutout to him.

Roger Federer casually thanking his wife and Rafa in the same sentence and then talking about Rafa for 2 minutes, without actually mentioning Mirka until later. (via imagesofperfection)

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade (I’m a Fedal believer through and through), but they showed the ceremony on Eurosport Norway and not wanting to wake my housemates I listened to it with headphones. What I’m hearing is “back to my rival Rafa” (because Rafa was a fellow nominee who was featured in the video shown prior to the presentation), not “my wife and Rafa”. I’m perfectly willing to be challenged on this point (by native speakers with better headphones, lol).

Which doesn’t take ANYTHING away from the moment. He clearly had decided to mention Rafa first because, well, that’s what he does these days. He’s just at the forefront of Roger’s mind at all times. He clearly cherishes their relationship both on and off court so much. Roger has become incredibly sentimental about their rivalry, and very invested in maintaining the relationship after their careers end.

This is a funny anecdote, but it is also Norwegian mentality in a nutshell. Every time a report goes out that a transport strike (or something similar) is upcoming, and certain goods (usually specified by the media) may not be readily available, people go nuts and buy entire stocks whether it be butter, paper, bread, whatever. I don’t know whether to find it amusing or pathetic. It is a fascinating sociological issue for sure. 

tell me about the norwegian butter crisis (^▽^)

ok so the butter crisis (aka the most embarrassing moment in norwegian history) was caused by this “low carb, high fat” fad diet that was really big in 2011 and idk the details on how it worked but people ate a lot of butter, and towards the end of the year people were like “oh shit we’re gonna run out of butter” which basically caused everyone to panic and buy all the butter from every store and so we actually did run out. since this happened around christmas people were especially freaking out since we use a lot of butter in our christmas recipes and we tried getting our neighbour countires to give us some butter but most of them refused bc putting up a temporary butter market in norway would obviously not be very beneficial but luckily in the end denmark gave in and let us have some (although a lot of people didn’t wanna buy that bc apparently danish butter isn’t good enough for us??? idek the whole situation was ridiculous)

imo the best part of it was how hecking proud people who managed to get their hands on some butter were like they would change their facebook profile pics to them posing with butter the whole thing was just wild

“Wisdom hairs”. I’m gonna use that. I started greying in my teens. 

Jensen teasing Jared about his gray wisdom hairs. (X)

"Just a meaningless exho" my ass

Roger's eyes moisten and tucked into Rafa's neck while Rafa hugged him tight.

I never want to see Jensen (or Jared) pander to the Destiel/Cockles shippers again. It's not a legitimate selling point for the show, as the ratings regarding the most recent episode has demonstrated. Most regular viewers aren't shippers at all. They just want action/adventure, which SOAPernatural was once able to deliver, but no more.

God, I’m getting flashbacks to the discussions about John’s stag party in the BBC Sherlock fandom.

Not saying a word

(x)

Once again, the mysterious blond appears. And now he and Jared are wearing matching outfits. Anybody know who this guy is? 

ETA: Never mind, he’s a lawyer from Austin.

J2, friends and fans at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin for the Old Crow Medicine Show concert, June 17th 2016 (x.x.x.x)