Roger was on the ropes throughout the first set but his iron clad mental toughness shone during critical points late. From the opening serve of the first set breaker, the wilting effect had hit Tomas perceptibly.
It’s rare that you see Roger make a poor shot selection. In particular, on this day his backhand was exacting short hop topspin loops with concise accuracy during particular episodes of desperation which proved more than just defensive at times. He used a well disguised backhand drop shot also which definitely caught Berdych off guard.
There is never any inefficient energy expelled during the Roger Federer ground strokes. At 36, his court movement is still lizard like tracking shots with the benefit of an anticipatory sense matched by nobody. You may have to be a tennis player to appreciate the extensiveness and exquisiteness of the Roger Federer grab bag of tennis shots. It’s one thing to possess the arsenal but to know exactly when and how to deploy it with blazing reactionary instinct is another. He never seems to waver when down a break and you’ll never see him quiver at the very rare miss hit. He doesn’t short circuit stroke fundamentals in spite of his prowess and continues to glow in the glory of victory with a modest charisma destined to color the record books with distinction.
Waxing becomes more important as temperatures rise because the subtleties associated with stride length, kick wax surface length, wax application technique all play into your ability to maintain stride when course manoeuvrability becomes restricted. You’ll find that you can really blaze in moderate temperatures if you’ve prepared your skis effectively for the conditions.
If it’s old snow, you’re using glister as your kick wax. This stuff is gooey and you don’t need that much. In fact, I recommend that you shorten from your cold weather kick wax length because of the power of this stuff. You want to be careful that you don’t get it in contact with your glide bases because it’s a nuisance to remove while anticipating your ski day. On course it’s best to take breaks during the flats since restart will be easier since glister wants to adhere while stationery. Take full advantage of the slick conditions by extending even further during stride. Aim for a 90 degree finish at the knee with aggressive poling. On a good track with nicely prepared skis, these are the days where you’re close to the athletic zone actualizing the benefits of this aerobic winter sport.
Don’t despair, “skin skis” (google it) are now all the rage allowing you to bypass the kick wax procedure should you want to just get out on the trails with no fuss.
Now it’s the CFL commissioner who’s has been espousing what he thinks the city of Calgary needs to support the Calgary Stampeders.
Well, if you fumble the ball at the three yard line with a minute plus left in the championship game negating the opportunity for a two score point spread and fellow players are indifferent to positioning themselves correctly on the field to defend against the possibility of a fumble – I’m not so sure that the “professionals” care enough about their team for me as a taxpayer to care about them? Seven of them had literally littered the right half of the field immobile. This is not good football. This is laziness and poor execution of backup coverage at the most critical moment of the most critical game in the season. Yes, the Argo scampered the full 107 yards for the TD. This indifference is not dissimilar to the Stampeder holding penalties at critical junctures in the game or the objectional conduct perpetrated by a player wallowing in disappointment over failed execution.
Miraculously, the Stampeders found redemption with seconds left in the game after a dropped pass when a completion left them within field goal distance of tying. When a second down field goal could have put the game into overtime under poor play conditions, the team opted for the more risky play of throwing down field setting up the ultimate sorry end via interception.
Any hard core Stampeder fan who witnessed a similar meltdown in 2016 must be questioning their season ticket purchase plan for 2018. I certainly would be. In fact, I had given up my season tickets years ago not because of poor execution and player indifference but because of the continual interference of fellow fans as they made their frequent trips to the beer stands and loos during the action. For some it’s just a beer fest and the game doesn’t matter much anyways but for a sportsman such as myself, it’s simply too tough to watch at times other than the concluding spectacle. There’s certainly good grace in losing a battle fought with furor but this morning I’m in gratitude for my severed cable TV and having not given this team my attention during the season.
Of course the U.S President of the United States, Donald Trump, should have ceased reactionary tweeting when he took office at the White House. Of course he should not have waded into this anthem kneeling chicanery enacted by NFL players through twitter. However; he is entitled to have an opinion with respect to protocols, conduct, and assembly of Americans in witness to the ceremony of the country’s national anthem.
Americans exercising their civil liberty are entitled to their opinion regarding each others’ conduct. If a citizen has a grudge to bear against their country, they have the freewill to express themselves within their law abiding rights. Each American has the autonomy to choose which way they wish to fight their civil battles within their rights. I suspect that many Americans lacking weekly television exposure while administering their own rights for justice would rather see NFL players take their grievance(s) to the appropriate forum for resolution rather than grandstanding in front of folks enthusiastic about watching some football.
I, personally, stopped watching football in 2014 upon learning of an NFL player beating his wife in a casino elevator. There was much ado about whether the player should be suspended by the league or not. The story line had morphed from the strategy of defensive alignment, pass protection, finger tip end zone catches, and fourth down late game conversions into a gong show about the conduct of privileged elite players having difficult managing themselves.
Chris Iorfida of the CBC has penned a thoughtful piece on the death of “Mixed Martial Arts” fighter Tim Hague. It was with great sadness that we learned of this tragedy. There will be an investigation and it’s looking like somebody responsible for the sanctioning of the contest is going to be up against some hard questions but in spite of the grilling, I suggest that the public at large needs to take a hard look at the savagery of these bouts and the appeal they have for their entertainment dollar. When UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge) first came out, I was frankly aghast. Call me conceited or pollyannaish but my instinct at the time was, “don’t these people have better things to do than watch their kindred get pummeled? Where have we gone as a society? What are we teaching our children? What would our bona fide soldiers from history think of our sense of amusement toward their means of sacrifice for our liberty?”
I recall sitting in a first year “ethics in sport” university class among fellow idealists of youth while witnessing the result of a poll conducted by our professor. “Who thinks boxing should be outlawed?” The result was overwhelmingly in favor. Appreciably, as Mr. Iorfida points out in his article, there are governing bodies set up with criteria in place for the purpose of ensuring that mismatches do not occur. However; something may have gone awry here and there’s nothing to say that the same outcome could not arise even if competitors are equally matched. I was a big football fan until the evidence started to pour in that men’s lives after football were being detrimentally affected because of the impact of repetitive brain blows. It took a class action law suit for the NFL elites to finally pay attention. I do actually adjust my way of thinking in lieu of facts as they are presented. Hopefully, the market for this kind of thing starts to dry up because of people’s refute of indignity while the aesthetic purity and tight regulatory execution of formal disciplines of “martial arts” thrives.