So that's why he can't beat Federer...brain tumor. Roddick is a seriously funny dude sometimes though, little whiny at the officials though, but what richass baby tennis player ain't?

>> ^ghark:

You guys bitching about tennis fail to comprehend why we watch sport in the first place - because we are rooting for one of the teams or individuals. Watching any sport that you have no idea about is a bit bland because you don't have a team you are going for, you don't understand the rules, etc. So you're criticisms of tennis as a sport simply underline your ignorance of the game and it's players.
In the end it mostly comes down to what you got introduced to as a kid, you guys that are fans of NFL, baseball etc probably enjoy it because your dad cracked open a beer on Saturdays and let you watch the game with him, so you have strong memories of the game from a young age, you know how it works, and you have some knowledge of the players - that's about it really. If your dad introduced you to goat racing when you were 5 you'd be just as hot about that.
/rant off


I will adress your pionts one by one

"You guys bitching about tennis fail to comprehend why we watch sport in the first place - because we are rooting for one of the teams or individuals"

Rooting for one of the teams or individuals is just one aspect of sport and if you are watching a sport only for this then the sport could be anything might as well just bet on coin tosses.

"Watching any sport that you have no idea about is a bit bland because you don't have a team you are going for, you don't understand the rules, etc. So you're criticisms of tennis as a sport simply underline your ignorance of the game and it's players."

Although it might be the case that with Manny sports not knowing anything about a sport or the basic rules will make it bland for the general observer , I'm sure Manny people know the rules have played and follow sports and still can say why X sport is more bland or a worse spectator sport than another.

I know allot about tennis have watched allot of matches Your average tennis match i think can objectivly be described as predictable and bland , the same goes for most of the modern sports that are popular.


"In the end it mostly comes down to what you got introduced to as a kid,"


Again this can also be true but anny thinking person who looks for new exsperances will not simply go for things they are culturally indoctranted with.

you can also really enjoy all the external aspects of a sport the family gatherings and social aspects but then you are enjoying all the exsternal factors and not the macro aspects of the sport.

Tennis is actually a good example for this Its easy to follow interms of play x is winning will he wont he get the piont and you have tention derived from match pionts and what have you , However this same tention could be derived from a computer simulated match , and most matches play out in exactly the same way due to the lack of room for players to be creative and put an origonal stamp on play. ( this is a problem with Manny mainsteem sports It seems that people are more concernd with the ablity to follow the score and supporting a team or player and how clear that is over the macro elements of the game.

Now Granted there have been some tennis players that have played creatively but tennis produces very few of these players and evan these players often have bland matches. looking at other sports like English football you have countless players that play in a demonstrably different way to an existent where Evan a casual observer would notice. zeedane for example , or in f1 Michal Schumacher , personally i still think English football and F1 are still mindnumbingly bland for the most part but at least in something like f1 you have compleaty unexspected things happaning quite regulary ( cars blowing up people getting run over as well as pure racing thats uneequ )


Almost rant off ...

I still say you can objectively say x sport is a worse spectator sport than Y , and i would say that Tennis for the resion of lack of creativity afforded to its players makes a pore spectator sport.

I all-so apreceat that people have largely irrational motivations for why they like x sport over y nothing wrong with people enjoying stupid shit i enjoy stupid shit on a daily basis.

one thing that baffels me is the amount of people that turn out and watch these sports when we have the technology and ablity to have people competing them selfs and getting the benefit of not only seeing who will win but fitness and direct social interaction. if im to watch other humans partcing in an activty it has to be something Incredible that my mind cannot conseve of and that i cannot simply watch on a video.

>> ^Crosswords:

I agree somewhat with Westy, it certainly lacks the flair of American football when a player makes a spectacular catch, or well executed plays trounce their opponents.

I've been trying to watch some NFL games on tv here in Finland when I have the opportunity, because I do think that handegg is basically a good game, requiring a lot of tactical and strategical thinking along with high amounts of athleticism. The problem is that it's impossible to watch. Totally, completely impossible. We lack the advertisements you guys get over there, and since there really isn't anything to replace them with they have to put on a blank screen (because they don't get the feed during the advertisements either), so you get a few minutes of game time and then you get a static image with some elevator music playing until you get back to the game for another few minutes. If only the pauses between plays would be more along the lines of 10 seconds, tops...


At least the Super Bowl had some historical footage to show during the commercial breaks...

Other guy should have been able to return that, I just think he was surprised to see it come back. I agree somewhat with Westy, it certainly lacks the flair of American football when a player makes a spectacular catch, or well executed plays trounce their opponents. Even baseball which is paint drying boring for 90% of the game has homeruns, base-stealing etc to keep things exciting every now and then. Tennis is one of those you have to have played to understand the difficulty and skills of shots the pro's make on a consistent basis. I think that was as great shot by Roddick. I think he failed to completely anticipate where it was going, but managed to compensate for that failure with speed and skill.

Funny, I didn't notice his hair. I was distracted by his tookis.


>> ^nanrod:

So that's why Roddick always wears a hat.

I think everyone was just like Roddick after that shot was made. He never stops to impress the crowd with his impressive shots.

So that's why Roddick always wears a hat.

>> ^grinter:

I'm guessing that he wasn't too bothered by the skinned elbow.


Pure adrenaline rush by that point, no doubt..

Really? I thought he was full of poop. Armchair quarterback, who couldn't do what Roddick does in his dreams.

But then.... if you say so....

In reply to this comment by kymbos:
Westy makes some rather salient points. Thank you.

I feel really sorry for Roddick, especially after what happened to him at Wimbledon this year..

I really like Roddick, and respect his honesty. I'm sorry he hasn't gotten better rewards for his effort over the years.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'smash, ace, power, serve, clay' to 'smash, ace, power, serve, clay, andy roddick' - edited by JAPR

Indeed a commercial, and there's nothing to suggest the story is real either, although I'm sure Roddick loves that it continues to be believed.

Just think about how hard it would be to get ANYTHING into a clay court, let alone a tennis ball.

From Sports Illustrated 2003:
"Awhile back, a commercial featured Andy Roddick serving on red clay. When he served, the ball stuck on the clay in the service box. Please confirm for me that this was fake, and help me set a simple-minded friend straight.
--James, Champaign, Ill.
It was indeed fake. I once asked Roddick how they filmed it and he wouldn't give the details up. "

And from the Google thread posted by Zifnab, the page from the agency that created the ad: http://www.methodstudios.com/index.cgi?f=o&f2=x&f3=455&f4=&c=pxaGKuu
6w1lLE

Doh, I've having no luck today. Searched on Andy Roddick so didn't find it...

Oh well *discard.

Damn, you shouldn't lose a point for tossing your racket. That was awesome.

LOL, 17 mph pitch.

Andy Roddick is AWESOME.