Killed for wearing shots
It's hard to imagine what extenuating circumstances there could have been to make this anything but shameful: an Iraqi tennis coach and his male players were shot, supposedly for wearing shots. Another story here.
wg
It's hard to imagine what extenuating circumstances there could have been to make this anything but shameful: an Iraqi tennis coach and his male players were shot, supposedly for wearing shots. Another story here.
wg
New Zealand player Mark Nielsen is in the news today: tested positive for a banned substance, finasteride.
Expect more of these cases: finasteride is commonly found in hair-restoration products. It's banned because it can be used to mask steroids, but it seems so much more likely (and funnier) that they really are taking it because they're worrying about hair loss. Plenty of players on the men's tour with hair loss problems over the years (Sampras, Agassi the first who spring to mind).
wg
Sky Sports during Indian Wells has been running ads for...um...a car, I think, in which John McEnroe fights with a traffic warden over a "line call" -- that is, whether or not his car is parked within the legal lines. I guess we're supposed to be amused at the notion that either a) McEnroe is genuinely just like that all the time or b) that he is self-aware enough to make fun of himself. The ultimate impression, though, is neither: just an old, tired act that's been played many too many times. McEnroe may have grown up enough to recognize that it was bad behavior; if so, the right thing to do now is to Stop Making Money Off It.
wg
It's often seemed to me that despite the change of year number the Australian season is more of a continuation of last year, and the new year really starts around Indian Wells. For example, the WTA player dominant in 2003 won the 2004 AO, the 2002 dominant player won the 2003 AO, and so on. This year, the pattern that's continuing seems to be injuries: Sharapova is out of Adelaide, Nadal is out of Chenna and maybe Sydney, and so on. It's truly dismaying, but it's hardly surprising. Federer this week was quoted in a story as saying that it doesn't really feel to him like a new anything because the off-season is so short. (And it's even shorter for players who, like Sharapova, spent December playing exhibitions, not the smartest thing to do if you already have a shoulder injury).
I suppose it's some kind of balance that we're getting Hingis back. Although why do John McEnroe and Pat Cash have to follow her?
wg