We want our rivals to hate each other. Hate. It's about good vs. evil, black hat vs. white hat. It's about right and wrong.
No way can they be friends.
That's what has helped Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Their dislike for each other has fueled the fun.
Remember a few months ago when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, in a charity exhibition in California for victims in Haiti, started bickering over their microphones? Sampras ended up serving at Agassi's head.
See? Good, healthy, hard feelings. Even suffering people and a good cause couldn't get between the self-absorption.
How many old-time NFL players have you heard complain about players today shaking hands with the other team after games?
In their day, three hours of eye-gouging, spitting and spearing to the back were not just about fun and games. They meant something.
That brings us to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, maybe the best individual rivalry in sports today. It would be better if they would play each other a little more often.
The bigger problem is this: they like each other.
Yuck.
Their fans get it. Long hair vs. short hair. Righty vs. lefty. Fluid strokes vs. vicious topspin. Federer fans think that Nadal fakes injuries every time he's about to lose. Nadal fans think that Federer says mean things; earlier in the year he said that winning on clay doesn't take much. Clay is Nadal's specialty.
Seems tame to me. Truth is, they like each other, respect each other.
Serena Williams and Justine Henin? Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe? No Christmas cards.
And now a video has emerged of Federer and Nadal that is really ugly. I mean, it's ugly in that it contradicts what we've all believed a healthy rivalry is supposed to be about.
Giggling. Tough to even say it.
They sat next to each other doing a commercial, presumably for an exhibition match they are planning at the end of the year. It's not clear, though, how new this video is.
Federer asks Nadal what he's going to get him for Christmas, and Nadal says he will go to Switzerland to play an exhibition for Federer's charity. Nadal asks what he's getting. Federer says he'll throw him the first set.
Problem was they both get the giggles. And just as you're appalled at these two gladiators of sport sitting there looking like 7-year-old girls, you find that you can't stop giggling either.
What are sports coming to anyway if they're going to be about sportsmanship and camaraderie?
========================================
A bit more profit in "tank week" so very happy. A few matches rolled over to today, I am assuming due to rain (I was at work so didn't see why) so they will get totaled on today's profit/loss tomorrow morning.
I think there will still be some tanks this week so if a sequence runs to a later bet I highly doubt I will be lumping on as to then see it lose if someone decided to tank would be very annoying.
I would be much happier breaking it down and recovering over time, hopefully in the first few days of the US Open so that the loss isn't dragging on for too long.
hi rod, what's the point of continuing this system in weeks like New Haven? Surely that's just asking for trouble?!! I think you were lucky to make a profit last night
ReplyDeleteit seems to me that your system will be successful as long as you don't get hit by a freak run of results. It's seems much more likely that those sorts of freak results will happen in New Haven, Newport, Eastbourne or Nice for example than it will in the Grand Slams. I reckon you should use your own opinion sometimes and avoid bets that are obviously dangerous, whilst sticking to the system 90% of the time.
good to see your continued success anyway,
best of luck,
tsonga
Hi Tsonga,
ReplyDeleteThe main reason for continuing in weeks like this (albeit a bit more cautiously) is mainly due to the fact that all the research I done didn't exclude any tournaments.
If I missed this week for example, I could have a stage 3 bet that "would" have won should I have done it, but then carry on next week and it could lose twice (after it's win that I missed) and that means a losing stage 4 bet for me.
It may not happen like that by just missing one tournament but I don't want to take the risk, I'm happy just taking a smaller risk and breaking them down slightly earlier.
Hows your site now mate? Picked up again?
I don't believe it's ever a bad thing to miss a week of betting. I used to worry about missing some great bets, but now I take the attitude that there are always good bets around the corner.
ReplyDeleteI see your point though - your stats cover the whole year and you don't want to miss anything out. I do feel you should avoid the bets that you think are obviously bad bets though, even if your system picks them.
my tips are going well at the moment, profits are ok and I'm backing every one of my tips with £500! Tonights tips are from the US Open qualies - Berankis and Bogdanovic (yes I'm shitting myself about this one!!)
Yes mate, if there is an obviously bad bet then I will break it down if it's a later stage bet to minimise risk but if it's a stage 1 or 2 then I'll go ahead with it (Stepanek recently has cost a little when he first came back).
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you have picked it back up. Qualies seem to be a bit dodgy for my system at times so glad to hear you are going for it!
I reckon qualies for a slam are pretty reliable. there's not a lot of money in the betting markets so not much chance of a fix. also there's no reason to doubt any player's motivation especially when they're into the 2nd or 3rd round. Also the rules on lucky losers are different in the slams compared to the regular tour events.
ReplyDeleteMy tip for this afternoon is Dodig at 1.3 with paddypower. the market's also up on betfair but no liquidity in the moment,
tsonga