Tennis players are athletes.

No more. No less.

They are not poets. They are not linguists. They are not great orators meant to give great speeches around the world.

However, some of the things that came out of their mouths this year were worthy of awards. Seriously, these guys needed to be given Pulitzer Prizes for these golden charms they kept spewing.

Of course, I'm being extremely sarcastic in saying this. Some of the comments made by the players only showed us how insecure they were in their capabilities and/or that they could be big jerks underneath all that glitz and glamour. It was like they all had a severe case of diarrhea of the mouth.
( Gems Are Contagious... )

For kicks and giggles, look at the namesake for the title

Oh, I'm going to ENJOY this blog.

You know that one player on the tour who just hits the ball with reckless abandon? They smack winners almost as much as they smack unforced errors. They have oodles and oodles of talent. They have yet to put it all together, though. Once they do, you just know they'll be a force to be reckoned with.

In the WTA, the ball is tossed around a lot for this player. We had Agnieszka Radwanska. We had Victoria Azarenka. We had Caroline Wozniacki. Well, of those three players, I can say that only one of them hits the ball hard (Crown Vic) and their serves all suck. But still, you catch my drift. They've all been in the top 10 at one point or another. Sunshine is a recent Grand Slam finalist.

However, I'm not talking about the ladies. I'm here to talk about everyone's FAVORITE slacker. I'm going to talk about the man with the boyish good looks. The one who will hit 40 winners in a match and come out with 80 unforced errors. That's right. I'm going to talk about everyone's favorite delinquent Latvian:

Ernests Gulbis.

What was one of the best parts about this year?

Seeing how many nicknames we could come up for the players.

Generally, this trend was much easier done with the male players than for the female players. Why? The guys were so much easier to make fun of. We expected piss-poor tennis from the ladies most of the time (and we got it). Plus, I'm a girl. Why would I make fun of my own species? Anyway, cb_s was one of the co-conspirators of the nickname trend along with me. I just pretty much took it from there. She started calling Andy Murray by "Snag" and it grew to various forms of that name.

The more nicknames one player has, obviously the more he gets talked about. So, it should be considered an honor and a privilege to receive a nickname from me or one of the others I associate with on Livejournal and/or Twitter. It means that a player is doing something... relatively right. They've piqued my interest for whatever reason.
( A Tennis Player by Any Other Name... )

"Hater" is a term I usually reserve for those who hate on certain ATP players or any other player in any other sport I watch. I'll be the first to admit that I hate on a regular basis on the New England Patriots. I just do not like that team in general. I think they suck, regardless if the statistics say otherwise. I mean, half the people who like them only like them because they win everything and know diddly-shit about football.

But that's a subject for another blog.

The first topic is about haters. A lot of hating has being going on. The most hated on thing is none other than everyone's slacking sporting authority: the WTA.

Yes, the WTA has not exactly been living up to expectations lately. That is not really a big surprise. Considering the unrest and the top of the rankings, the young upstarts, and the ones not able to keep a decent streak going, it's not wonder that everyone hates on the WTA. I would too.
( Part 1... )

The 2009 season is almost over. We all know what that means...

YEAR-END POSTS!!!

Last year, I did eight posts to commemorate the 2008 season.

Yes, you read that right. EIGHT.

So, since this year ends with a nine, I will be doing NINE. I already have one topic set.  If you have my Twitter, you already know what it is. All I have to do is think about eight other topics and I'm good. Believe me people; it isn't as hard at seems. I'm a writer. This is what I was BORN to do. Write.

I don't know if I'll post all nine at this blog or five here and four at Wordpress (or four  here and five at Wordpress, or all nine at Wordpress and leave Livejournal SOL). I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Anysmoo, I don't know when the first post will be up, but it'll be soon.

TTFN

... just a link.

Hope you enjoy.

Phoning it in...

That's what it looks like a lot of our top players are doing now, doesn't it?

Post-US Open syndrome seems to have gotten the best of them, even though the tournament ended about a month ago. For the ladies, there is no excuse. The majority of the top seeds went out in the first three rounds in the first place, so there should not have had any hangover at all. But what is this we see come the last month and a half of the tennis season?

Piss-poor tennis. Players who should be destroyed on court getting the best of the best. Unexpected losses. Grand Slam winners go down in flames.
( Pick Up the Phone... )

I really should lay off eating before I go to sleep. Maybe it was that milk. It HAD to be the milk. Or perhaps I should stop being such a night owl and go to sleep at a decent hour. 5am isn't exactly decent, is it? I mean, I have the weirdest dreams sometimes. The latest edition of "Dreaming with Erin" involved a myriad of nouns (that's people, places, and things for all of you who sucked at English). The strange thing is, it was somewhat based on reality and so stupid that it could not POSSIBLY happen in reality (at least HOW IT HAPPENED could not HAPPEN. Does that make sense?).

Anyway, Nole was in it. I NEVER dream about Nole. Rafa was in it. I occasionally dream about Rafa. Sue me. Norm-fucking-Chryst (the chair umpire who was at the Nole-Roger semifinal who can't see shit) was in it. I'm incredibly grossed out as to WHY he was in it, but I'll to his purpose in a second.
( Beyonce Says It Best... )

The US Open FINALLY concluded today (or yesterday. It's after 3am here). After rain and wind wreaked havoc on what supposed to be Championship Weekend, it actually turned into more of a Championship Monday.

While who I did want to win came up short (again), I can take some solace in other things. The Tennis Keeper Up Top did not completely and totally screw me. In fact, she might have actually given me further inspiration for other blogs later on. So, thank you, Tennis Keeper Up Top. You never cease to amaze. Once I think I have you figured out, you throw a curve ball at me.

It keeps me guessing.

It keeps me on my toes.
( Breathe A Sigh of Relief... )

confidence: noun - belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance
confident: adjective - sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness, etc.; self-confident; bold

I am confident.

I am a confident person.

I am confident in many aspects of my life. I do not need anyone's approval on anything about myself. Some might say I think highly of myself. Perhaps I do. Yeah, I said it. I have a very high opinion of myself. I do not see anything wrong with the way carry myself. I do so with my head held high. I expect a lot out of myself as well. Is my confidence ever mistranslated into arrogance? Probably...

Usually, to that I say one thing:

If you don't like it, you can go to hell.

To be an athlete you must have confidence. It almost comes in the job description: Confidence required.
( ... You Can Go To Hell )