Has Brad Gilbert declared WAR on the sports community?

[Stratsworth]

"Through an ESPN conference call, Andre Agassi's former coach said: 'If Federer were to win the Open, if he's not the greatest athlete on every kind of major publication it will be the greatest injustice I've ever seen for tennis."

Don't be fooled, TTWers - Brad Gilbert has thrown down the gauntlet.

Have we learned nothing from the GOAT civil wars? Have they not splintered the online tennis community? Have the grass, clay, and hard courts not been stained Doritos orange by the fingers of keyboard warriors?

Have we forgotten the tragic souls of trolls long gone?

Has Rico's* comically tragic descent into madness and subsequent banishment to lesser forums taught us NOTHING?!

Brad Gilbert would have us enter a long, drawn-out forum war with the sports community as a whole.

Mothers without sons, wives without husbands, pets temporarily neglected as battles rage under the artificial lights of computer screens. Deafening cries of "One more minute, Mom! I'm in the middle of a POAST!" will echo throughout eternity as our descendants look back in abject shame.

I implore you all, fellow TTWers - take a stand now and REJECT the notion of sports GOAT.

(Just be content that Fed is the best thing that ever happened to tennis, and by the power of his irrefutable tennis GOAThood will one day bring about world peace and be crowned GOAT of the human race)

*Username has been changed to protect the occasionally innocent

 

[Rago]

Wouldn't surprise me to see him change his tune somewhere later down the line.

 

[TennisATP]

He's right. That's why Nadal should be praised because he's the only one who's saving our sport otherwise Federer would be so far ahead vs everyone and literally spit on all past champions and tennis history. Without Nadal, Federer would have already killed tennis.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

 

[tennis_crazy]

He's right. That's why Nadal should be praised because he's the only one who's saving our sport otherwise Federer would be so far ahead vs everyone and literally spit on all past champions and tennis history. Without Nadal, Federer would have already killed tennis.

Halo Mr. Neutral!!

 

[Nostradamus]

Wouldn't surprise me to see him change his tune somewhere later down the line.

man,, Seriously,,,,,,,,,,,,,WHEN is Winning Ugly 2 coming out ??????????????????????????

 

[Deleted member 743561]

He's right. That's why Nadal should be praised because he's the only one who's saving our sport otherwise Federer would be so far ahead vs everyone and literally spit on all past champions and tennis history. Without Nadal, Federer would have already killed tennis.

It may be the case that Nadal has succeeded in enhancing the GOAT's status. Beautiful tennis overcame pestilence. Inventiveness ousted mechanical scourge. It is poetic. The fact that Nadal hung around long enough for the comeuppance at the hands of his elder tosses a nice cherry on top. Nadal did his level best to kill tennis but it survived. Will his own legacy be so fortunate?

 

[TennisATP]

It may be the case that Nadal has succeeded in enhancing the GOAT's status. Beautiful tennis overcome pestilence. Inventiveness ousted a mechanical scourge. It is poetic. The fact that Nadal hung around long enough for the comeuppance at the hands of his elder tosses a nice cherry on top. Nadal did his level best to kill tennis but it survived. Will his own legacy be so fortunate?

Actually I feel that Nadal's record on clay and RG will stand the test of time longer than Federer's total slams. His legacy will be immortal while Roger might become the next Pete.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Actually I feel that Nadal's record on clay and RG will stand the test of time longer than Federer's total slams. His legacy will be immortal while Roger might become the next Pete.

Nadal loves him a margin.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Don't be fooled, TTWers - Brad Gilbert has thrown down the gauntlet.

Have we learned nothing from the GOAT civil wars? Have they not splintered the online tennis community? Have the grass, clay, and hard courts not been stained Doritos orange by the fingers of keyboard warriors?

Have we forgotten the tragic souls of trolls long gone?

Has Rico's* comically tragic descent into madness and subsequent banishment to lesser forums taught us NOTHING?!

Brad Gilbert would have us enter a long, drawn-out forum war with the sports community as a whole.

Mothers without sons, wives without husbands, pets temporarily neglected as battles rage under the artificial lights of computer screens. Deafening cries of "One more minute, Mom! I'm in the middle of a POAST!" will echo throughout eternity as our descendants look back in abject shame.

I implore you all, fellow TTWers - take a stand now and REJECT the notion of sports GOAT.

(Just be content that Fed is the best thing that ever happened to tennis, and by the power of his irrefutable tennis GOAThood will one day bring about world peace and be crowned GOAT of the human race)

*Username has been changed to protect the occasionally innocent

haha, on a re-read of the OP, I still belly laughed like three times. What manner of legend have we here?

 

[True Fanerer]

Don't be fooled, TTWers - Brad Gilbert has thrown down the gauntlet.

Have we learned nothing from the GOAT civil wars? Have they not splintered the online tennis community? Have the grass, clay, and hard courts not been stained Doritos orange by the fingers of keyboard warriors?

Have we forgotten the tragic souls of trolls long gone?

Has Rico's* comically tragic descent into madness and subsequent banishment to lesser forums taught us NOTHING?!

Brad Gilbert would have us enter a long, drawn-out forum war with the sports community as a whole.

Mothers without sons, wives without husbands, pets temporarily neglected as battles rage under the artificial lights of computer screens. Deafening cries of "One more minute, Mom! I'm in the middle of a POAST!" will echo throughout eternity as our descendants look back in abject shame.

I implore you all, fellow TTWers - take a stand now and REJECT the notion of sports GOAT.

(Just be content that Fed is the best thing that ever happened to tennis, and by the power of his irrefutable tennis GOAThood will one day bring about world peace and be crowned GOAT of the human race)

*Username has been changed to protect the occasionally innocent

Lol keep em coming

 

[Rago]

-

 

[Goosehead]

bet john McEnroe never bought a copy of winning ugly...

after his little finger talent barb and losing to brad in 1985 world tour finals (held jan1986).

has the gilbert declared war on sports ?..dunno, could be..maybe he also shoots ugly with his hand cannon.

so look out sports (and I'm not talking about the huey lewis and the news album). released in 1985 so reference ties in nicely with theme of my poast.

 

[skip1969]

Have we learned nothing . . .

OP, I have learned. And I have lost. Lost many a dear friend and online acquaintance, through the senselessness of the GOAT Wars. I have seen the horrors of war; seen brilliant poasters with so many years of poasting in front of them . . . cut down in their primes. That loss still haunts me, for we can never again return to those happy, idyllic years on TTW. The years before the GOAT Wars, before the scourge of Fedal . . . when there was a tranquil and sustained peace on TTW. The memories of those halcyon days are beautiful to me still, and I will carry them with me forever.

So, this is my Testament to you, OP. I will reject the folly of "sports GOAT." I reject it with all of my heart, with every fibre of my being, and every soft clickity click of my keyboard. I reject it for my sake, and yours . . . for the sake of every poaster long gone, and every poaster yet to find a forum in which to blithely share his opinions with the world. I see a future bright with promise and filled with sub-forums. And nowhere in that promised land is there room for Brad Gilbert and those of his ilk, who have learned nothing from forum wars past.

I speak for all of those poasters now silent and gone. I speak for the future. I speak for peace.

 

[Red Rick]

No he just wants all the Fed fans to like him

I swear tha the easiest way for Trump to improve is approval rating would be to tweet some praise about Federer

 

[Poisoned Slice]

No he just wants all the Fed fans to like him

 

[Red Rick]

Lol

 

[West Coast Ace]

This cabal of 'sports publications' just yawned and said 'Brad who?'

Brad doing his JMac, Wilander impression, trying to
Stay relevant with a controversial statement.

I love our sport. But to much of the world that the non-tennis press caters to, tennis will always be a rich person's sport (and with good reason). So a sport that is unwelcoming to most of the people on the planet cannot have the greatest athlete.

 

[Deon Sanders]

Actually I feel that Nadal's record on clay and RG will stand the test of time longer than Federer's total slams. His legacy will be immortal while Roger might become the next Pete.

No one outside western Europe cares about clay

Not even the governing body of tennis, the ITF, who considers it a third tier surface

 

[Jaitock1991]

Yes he has. And he's going to win the war ugly.

 

[Talker]

Coner wants a rematch. I don't want to see Mayweather again though.

EDIT: Looks like the wrong thread. LOL

 

[tennis_crazy]

No one outside eastern Europe cares about clay

Not even the governing body of tennis, the ITF, who considers it a third tier surface

Jeez...Bull himself doesn't care much for clay.
His academy has 20+ hardcourts but a mere 7 claycourts...
He doesn't seem to practice what he preaches!!

 

[DRII]

It may be the case that Nadal has succeeded in enhancing the GOAT's status. Beautiful tennis overcame pestilence. Inventiveness ousted mechanical scourge. It is poetic. The fact that Nadal hung around long enough for the comeuppance at the hands of his elder tosses a nice cherry on top. Nadal did his level best to kill tennis but it survived. Will his own legacy be so fortunate?

guess you're unfamiliar with the plethora of stories about various emperors succumbing to gladiators; the status quo eventually coming to embrace rebels and rebellion...

your bourgeois embrace of elitism and allure to aristocratic analogy belies what most tend to remember and romanticize.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

.

 

[DRII]

Creativity is class-specific?

Neither is a-holery. That's his biggest issue. It's vile tennis. He did get rich off it, though.

got rich and slayed the king far more times than he was figuratively beheaded.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

.

 

[tennis_crazy]

got rich and slayed the king far more times than he was figuratively beheaded.

Still coming short of the king all along!!

 

[Stratsworth]

He's right. That's why Nadal should be praised because he's the only one who's saving our sport otherwise Federer would be so far ahead vs everyone and literally spit on all past champions and tennis history. Without Nadal, Federer would have already killed tennis.

As if damaging your way of thinking via resentment isn't bad enough, the belief that one man's success extinguishes greatness in others is poisonous. It will seep into every facet of your life and hinder success and every turn. If you never want to achieve greatness, then by all means continue in that mode of thinking.

It was a widely held belief that running a 4 minute mile could never happen. Roger Bannister then ran a 3:59.4 in 1954. A psychological barrier had been broken, and five weeks later Bannister's time was bested. The floodgates have stayed open to this day. The once impossible has now become a standard for professional runners. So why didn't competitive running die that day?

Because a winner see greatness and thinks "I will not only DO that, but I will do BETTER than that'. To suggest that the greatness of one man would kill an entire sport contradicts everything we know about success. Federer & Nadal accomplish the exact opposite of what you suggest - they raise each other to new heights of success, while showing others that the impossible is possible.

(BTW, true champions like Federer and Nadal do not figuratively spit on history and former greats, as you suggest, and they most certainly do not LITERALLY spit on them)

 

[TennisATP]

No male tennis player will ever be considered the greatest athlete of all-time simply because tennis will never be as big as other sports such as soccer, not even close.

The only tennis player who could get that claim and probably already has is Serena Williams because in terms of sports for women, tennis is pretty much the biggest worldwide.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

No male tennis player will ever be considered the greatest athlete of all-time simply because tennis will never be as big as other sports such as soccer, not even close.

The only tennis player who could get that claim and probably already has is Serena Williams because in terms of sports for women, tennis is pretty much the biggest worldwide.

Completely different set of criteria for judging team sports and individual sports. His achievements are pretty much nonpareil in the latter, at this point.

 

[Rago]

-

 

[TennisATP]

Completely different set of criteria for judging team sports and individual sports. His achievements are pretty much nonpareil in the latter, at this point.

Bolt was even more dominant than Federer. Phelps too. They had no rivals. With Federer, he has close rivals like Nadal and Djokovic who are up there too, he wasn't clearly the best of his generation (like Serena or Bolt). Also you have legends like Ali, I don't think any tennis player will reach that kind of "level". These are all examples of individual athletes. You also have people like Tiger Woods who had no rivals for a long time, or Schumacher..

The point is, it's hard to say one athlete is the clear greatest. I'd probably pick Bolt because everyone can run no matter what country you are and no matter what your upbringing or situation is, the competition is much harder. Tennis is too expensive and specific, not everyone has access to tennis courts, equipment, etc. Running will always be the ultimate and Bolt dominated more than any tennis player out there even Serena. But most people would also include soccer players and other team sports. You can't say that Jordan can't be considered because it's a team sport, every list would include him cause he's the one who made the difference.

 

[Deleted member 743561]

Bolt was even more dominant than Federer. Phelps too. They had no rivals. With Federer, he has close rivals like Nadal and Djokovic. Also you have legends like Ali, I don't think any tennis player will reach that kind of "level". These are all examples of individual athletes. You also have people like Tiger Woods who had no rivals for a long time, or Schumacher.. The point is, it's hard to say one athlete is the clearly greatest. I'd probably pick Bolt because everyone can run, the competition is much harder. Tennis is too expensive and specific, not everyone has access to tennis courts, etc. Running will always be the ultimate and Bolt dominated more than any tennis player out there even Serena.

More limited skill sets. Also, they didn't do it year-in-year-out for like 20 years. Those are hardly comparable. That's actually really ignorant to float those names. Bolt's events last a matter of seconds. And did you really just float the name of someone who races a machine as a comparable athlete?

 

[TennisATP]

More limited skill sets. Also, they didn't do it year-in-year-out for like 20 years. Those are hardly comparable. That's actually really ignorant to float those names. Bolt's events last a matter of seconds. And did you really just float the name of someone who races a machine as a comparable athlete?

They are considered athletes, you don't make the rules. If you want to talk about machines, Federer uses a racket and a ball, Bolt only uses his body. Heck Federer doesn't even look like an athlete compared to Bolt.

 

[tennisaddict]

Bolt was even more dominant than Federer. Phelps too. They had no rivals. With Federer, he has close rivals like Nadal and Djokovic who are up there too, he wasn't clearly the best of his generation (like Serena or Bolt). Also you have legends like Ali, I don't think any tennis player will reach that kind of "level". These are all examples of individual athletes. You also have people like Tiger Woods who had no rivals for a long time, or Schumacher..

The point is, it's hard to say one athlete is the clear greatest. I'd probably pick Bolt because everyone can run no matter what country you are and no matter what your upbringing or situation is, the competition is much harder. Tennis is too expensive and specific, not everyone has access to tennis courts, equipment, etc. Running will always be the ultimate and Bolt dominated more than any tennis player out there even Serena. But most people would also include soccer players and other team sports. You can't say that Jordan can't be considered because it's a team sport, every list would include him cause he's the one who made the difference.

Tennis is the toughest individual sport in the world . Ask any professional player in any sport and you would get the same answer .

It is just not physical . There are mental , strategy , fitness , reflex, quickness , deftness aspects all coming into Play

 

[Deleted member 743561]

.

 

[TennisATP]

Look i'm not going to waste more time since this is a forum that allowed a thread called "is Federer God?.. Better than God?" so obviously nothing will be objective around here ... A God who is owned by his 2 biggest rivals 3-9 and 6-9 in slams... yeah ok... lol

 

[tennis_crazy]

Look i'm not going to waste more time since this is a forum that allowed a thread called "is Federer God?.. Better than God?" so obviously nothing will be objective around here ... A God who is owned by his 2 biggest rivals 3-9 and 6-9 in slams... yeah ok... lol

Once again Bhah Bhah blackship??
You don't get tired? Don't you Mr. Neutral!!

 

[moonballs]

Look i'm not going to waste more time since this is a forum that allowed a thread called "is Federer God?.. Better than God?" so obviously nothing will be objective around here ... A God who is owned by his 2 biggest rivals 3-9 and 6-9 in slams... yeah ok... lol

Those numbers you are quoting is just excuses for his rivals without 19 slams under their belt.

 

[Rago]

Look i'm not going to waste more time since this is a forum

Lost again? Let me kindly direct you to the right place; ************* forums thataway --------->

 

[deacsyoga]

Considering nobody outside of tennis even knows who Brad Gilbert is, I dont think that is a concern.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Look i'm not going to waste more time since this is a forum that allowed a thread called "is Federer God?.. Better than God?" so obviously nothing will be objective around here ... A God who is owned by his 2 biggest rivals 3-9 and 6-9 in slams... yeah ok... lol

Quoting matches where Fed was like a billion years old... Lol.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Considering nobody outside of tennis even knows who Brad Gilbert is, I dont think that is a concern.

Exactly.