JMac the *******

[rafan]

Originally Posted by namelessone

The French giving zero support to Nadal has to do more with their general attitude than their supposed love for Soderling. Let's be honest for a second. Nadal never got much love in Paris,even though he is a 4 times champion there. The French(well actually the parisians not all the french) are snobs and they like their champions to play beautifully,which is pretty funny,since clay champions are usually grinders a la Nadal/Muster/Borg and so on.

There are several facts going against Nadal in his quest for the approval of the RG crowd:

-he's a grinder and the french like players with elegant game and strokes.

-he's Spanish and for all those who know European realities,know that there is a underlying rivalry between the French and Spanish in a lot of areas,not just sports. It's like this with all big,important countries who are neighbors. It's not easy to see how the Spanish own them in football(both in the national team and clubs),win their GS slam event year after year,hell even in cycling Contador won the Tour de France.

-he doesn't speak French and in France that helps. It's no coincidence that Federer and Henin are so loved over there and it's only natural because you can connect to the player better if he speaks your language.

The French crowd wanted Nadal to lose so that Federer could win RG. It's as simple as that really. McEnroe knows more about tennis than any of us and if even he thought this behaviour strange then there is something to it and I don't think he is a *******. And he is not the only commentator who has mentioned that this is weird.To put it into perspective for Fed fans,it's like Federer getting little to no support in USO when he is in trouble because the newyorkers wanted Nadal to finally win and get a Career Slam. That would be an abomination,because Fed has always had the crowd on his side at his favourite slams.

The underdog theory falls flat on its face and I will tell you why in a minute. If the french wanted a better quality upset they would have rooted for Nadal in the end of the 4th because a 5 setter is a better dethroning of a champion and they would have seen more thrilling tennis,because they would have made it to a deciding set. But,unbelievably,the crowd rooted for Soderling in the 4th set tiebreak,even after they guy had gained a large lead(he won that tiebreak 7-1 or something like that). In the one moment when their 4 times champion needed a bit of support,because he could have pushed the match to 5 sets,the french chose not to give that support. Many commentators said on the spot how weird that moment was but they were probably *******s,right?

So Soderling eliminated Nadal. Does he receive a lot of love in the next rounds? Well not really,at least not like in the Nadal match. Then the final comes along. Soderling,the crowd favourite according to the underdog theory,is ignored by the crowd who turn to Federer,the huge favourite in that match. Besides soderling's box no one in that whole arena was rooting for Soderling,everybody wanted Fed to win. They cheered twice as hard for Fed's winners,gasped when Fed made errors and cheered on Soderling's mistakes. Kinda weird how they dumped the lovable underdog once their actual favourite player(fed) stepped on-court,isn't it? If they really liked Soderling,they would have pulled for him on that day but they didn't. They only turned to him when he got the job done,which was to take Nadal out.

But hey,who am I to accuse the crowd,right? Then again I trust McEnroe's words more than I trust some TW'ers who want to believe that Soderling was cheered on in RG because he was the underdog,not because the French wanted Nadal out.

I cannot take on board this total lack of affection from the French for Nadal. For a start, his looks must have stirred the blood of many a young French girl(and not so young at that). His game may not be that of a ballerina but his incredible self control and demeanour on court puts him in a class ( and I mean 'class' )of his own. Nadal has already set an example to the young by showing how you can be successful, rich and still be true to yourself. It is impossible to get a crowd just to support one player. There will also be the people who attend just to stir things up for the sake of it. No I cannot believe that the majority of the French were anti - Nadal. It is just that some people can shout that bit louder!

[OddJack]

I go with Johnny on this one. I think cheering against Nadal in that certain occasion was not appropriate.

[theroleoftheunderdog]

too bad *********s can't even comprehend why some ppl dislike nadal

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by theroleoftheunderdog

too bad *********s can't even comprehend why some ppl dislike nadal

Too bad some people can't understand why so many people like/respect Nadal worldwide. Only in Paris do they pull this crap. He got booed in 2005 when the translator mistranslated from Spanish to French(in the trophy ceremony),got booed in 2008 when he retired in paris masters and got zero support from them in 2009.

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by theroleoftheunderdog

too bad *********s can't even comprehend why some ppl dislike nadal

Too bad some people can't understand why so many people like/respect Nadal worldwide. Only in Paris do they pull this crap. He got booed in 2005 when the translator mistranslated from Spanish to French(in the trophy ceremony),got booed in 2008 when he retired in paris masters and got zero support from them in 2009.

But to be fair,he is not the only champion who has had problems with the fickle parisian crowds.

[theroleoftheunderdog]

Originally Posted by namelessone

Too bad some people can't understand why so many people like/respect Nadal worldwide. Only in Paris do they pull this crap. He got booed in 2005 when the translator mistranslated from Spanish to French(in the trophy ceremony),got booed in 2008 when he retired in paris masters and got zero support from them in 2009.

many people who like nadal like fed. this is not the case with the french at all. many like nadal because of his fighting qualities. but don't expect nadal to get any more popular anytime soon because coming back from an injury leads to a lot of support.

i wouldn't say the paris crowd is fickle. they don't change allegiances that much. if you are liked, then you are liked. roddick has always seem to be liked by the parisians for example

[namelessone]

Originally Posted by theroleoftheunderdog

many people who like nadal like fed. this is not the case with the french at all. many like nadal because of his fighting qualities. but don't expect nadal to get any more popular anytime soon because coming back from an injury leads to a lot of support.

So will Nadal get more support or not?
Because in the first bolded part you say we probably won't and in the second you say having a injury leads to a lot of support.

[theroleoftheunderdog]

Originally Posted by namelessone

So will Nadal get more support or not?
Because in the first bolded part you say we probably won't and in the second you say having a injury leads to a lot of support.

the first part i mean by people who don't like nadal no matter what the circumstances like the french aren't going to start supporting him. on the other hand, more general fans who don't follow tennis closely as supposedly the french do might support nadal more now.

[namelessone]

Yeah but here's the thing,when they boo you in other venues,regardless of who you are,they do it for a good reason. Djokovic got booed in USO because of his comments against Roddick. The NY'ers have forgiven him since. Players get booed elsewhere when the crowd feels like they are cheating,like taking too many timeouts,cheating on ball marks and so on.

In RG for example they boo you for checking freaking ball marks. The one surface where you can see for yourself where he ball went and the parisians seem to have a problem with that. They even booed former crowd darling justine henin when she went to check a ball mark. The thing is,in any other big venue,they crowd won't be against you unless you are playing a local player or you have done something to offend them. In Paris they decide that they don't like you and that's it. You simply cannot make amends with these people unlike with crowds elsewhere.

Here is a nice impartial article on the fickle paris crowd:

http://www.gototennisblog.com/2009/0...ench-syndrome/

[bolo]

Imo johnny mac is a huge fan of nadal. Remember when he hit with nadal during the 2008 wimbledon and came away raving about how hard it was to handle nadal's spin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7490980.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4270919.ece

[theroleoftheunderdog]

Originally Posted by namelessone

Yeah but here's the thing,when they boo you in other venues,regardless of who you are,they do it for a good reason. Djokovic got booed in USO because of his comments against Roddick. The NY'ers have forgiven him since. Players get booed elsewhere when the crowd feels like they are cheating,like taking too many timeouts,cheating on ball marks and so on.

In RG for example they boo you for checking freaking ball marks. The one surface where you can see for yourself where he ball went and the parisians seem to have a problem with that. They even booed former crowd darling justine henin when she went to check a ball mark. The thing is,in any other big venue,they crowd won't be against you unless you are playing a local player or you have done something to offend them. In Paris they decide that they don't like you and that's it. You simply cannot make amends with these people unlike with crowds elsewhere.

Here is a nice impartial article on the fickle paris crowd:

http://www.gototennisblog.com/2009/0...ench-syndrome/

lol did u see yesterday's verdaco-isner match. isner's shot on verdasco's side was called in, but verdasco challenged and the ball was out. the us open crowd booed that. so that was interesting. i agree the parisians boo everyone who checks a ball mark. it might be a different mindset with the french just on booing in general, something ingrained with them.

[8PAQ]

Originally Posted by namelessone

The French giving zero support to Nadal has to do more with their general attitude than their supposed love for Soderling. Let's be honest for a second. Nadal never got much love in Paris,even though he is a 4 times champion there. The French(well actually the parisians not all the french) are snobs and they like their champions to play beautifully,which is pretty funny,since clay champions are usually grinders a la Nadal/Muster/Borg and so on.

There are several facts going against Nadal in his quest for the approval of the RG crowd:

-he's a grinder and the french like players with elegant game and strokes.

-he's Spanish and for all those who know European realities,know that there is a underlying rivalry between the French and Spanish in a lot of areas,not just sports. It's like this with all big,important countries who are neighbors. It's not easy to see how the Spanish own them in football(both in the national team and clubs),win their GS slam event year after year,hell even in cycling Contador won the Tour de France.

-he doesn't speak French and in France that helps. It's no coincidence that Federer and Henin are so loved over there and it's only natural because you can connect to the player better if he speaks your language.

The French crowd wanted Nadal to lose so that Federer could win RG. It's as simple as that really. McEnroe knows more about tennis than any of us and if even he thought this behaviour strange then there is something to it and I don't think he is a *******. And he is not the only commentator who has mentioned that this is weird.To put it into perspective for Fed fans,it's like Federer getting little to no support in USO when he is in trouble because the newyorkers wanted Nadal to finally win and get a Career Slam. That would be an abomination,because Fed has always had the crowd on his side at his favourite slams.

The underdog theory falls flat on its face and I will tell you why in a minute. If the french wanted a better quality upset they would have rooted for Nadal in the end of the 4th because a 5 setter is a better dethroning of a champion and they would have seen more thrilling tennis,because they would have made it to a deciding set. But,unbelievably,the crowd rooted for Soderling in the 4th set tiebreak,even after they guy had gained a large lead(he won that tiebreak 7-1 or something like that). In the one moment when their 4 times champion needed a bit of support,because he could have pushed the match to 5 sets,the french chose not to give that support. Many commentators said on the spot how weird that moment was but they were probably *******s,right?

So Soderling eliminated Nadal. Does he receive a lot of love in the next rounds? Well not really,at least not like in the Nadal match. Then the final comes along. Soderling,the crowd favourite according to the underdog theory,is ignored by the crowd who turn to Federer,the huge favourite in that match. Besides soderling's box no one in that whole arena was rooting for Soderling,everybody wanted Fed to win. They cheered twice as hard for Fed's winners,gasped when Fed made errors and cheered on Soderling's mistakes. Kinda weird how they dumped the lovable underdog once their actual favourite player(fed) stepped on-court,isn't it? If they really liked Soderling,they would have pulled for him on that day but they didn't. They only turned to him when he got the job done,which was to take Nadal out.

But hey,who am I to accuse the crowd,right? Then again I trust McEnroe's words more than I trust some TW'ers who want to believe that Soderling was cheered on in RG because he was the underdog,not because the French wanted Nadal out.

I like your posts. Once again, very good analysis.

[jamesblakefan#1]

Its happening again tonight. The NYC crowd is behind Monfils, and McEnroe doesn't get it. Apparently McEnroe doesn't understand the concept of 'the underdog'. theroleoftheunderdog is his least favorite TTW poster, from what I hear.

[Defcon]

Its not the underdog. Crowds NEVER cheer against Fed. I think he's surprised that crowds almost never cheer Nadal.

[emerckx53]

Originally Posted by kanamit

Watching him commentate the Soderling-Davy match and instead of commenting on the match itself, he's complaining about GS attendees cheering for Nadal's opponents. "I bet 90% of the French Open audience had no idea what Soderling's first name was!" (JMac, you don't even know how to pronounce Soderling: it's SODERLING, not SAHHDERLING). "Can you believe that people here were chanting for Kiefer? What did Nadal ever do to them except give 110%."

Believe it or not, JMac, some people just like to support the underdog! Hard to believe, I know, considering that you're the ultimate bandwagon jumper and brown-noser who effusively praises every top 5 player when they're on court. Also, can you learn to shush during points? K thanx.

I am sure he will see your post and change for you......talk about a ****!