Is there an Eastern European "walk-about" mentality?

B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
During the Djokovic-Gasquet match, Cliff Drysdale made some comment about Djokovic and his tendency to go through lulls in matches where he's "on walk-about." Cliffy ascribed this trait to Eastern Europeans, but then noted Lendl as someone for whom this trait did not apply. He then stopped talking. It was bizarre. While Djokovic may indeed go through lulls, what was the point in trying to make it some sort of cultural/regional trait.

Sometimes I think these guys just talk out their a** and hope for the best.
 
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S

simi

Hall of Fame
Cliff is usually pretty good. About the best outside the Brit announcers. He must have just gone on a short mental "walk about", realized it, and wisely shut himself up.
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
simi said:
Cliff is usually pretty good. About the best outside the Brit announcers. He must have just gone on a short mental "walk about", realized it, and wisely shut himself up.
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Yeah, generally I like Cliff. He seemed like he was trying too hard to give some insight into Djokovic's performance, and came up with a baseless statement before noting Lendl and realizing that his "theory" had no merit.
 
M

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
If you watched a lot of tennis in the 70s/80s you would know where he's coming from. Eastern Europeans were understandably treated like they were from a different world among the media of the time, considering the state of the world then (& Lendl was especially criticized for his walkabouts, as was Mecir)

Maybe Cliff just had a flashback from his commentary in 1982, a time in which no one would have blinked an eye at this comment.

Many commentators(from many countries) try to generalize French & American athletes today, so this isn't really a big deal.

Considering the hundreds of matches Drysdale called with Lendl it may be hard to get him out of his mind. He probably said this comment a hundred times in the 80s and had many agree with him.
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Moose Malloy said:
If you watched a lot of tennis in the 70s/80s you would know where he's coming from. Eastern Europeans were understandably treated like they were from a different world among the media of the time, considering the state of the world then (& Lendl was especially criticized for his walkabouts, as was Mecir)

Maybe Cliff just had a flashback from his commentary in 1982, a time in which no one would have blinked an eye at this comment.

Many commentators(from many countries) try to generalize French & American athletes today, so this isn't really a big deal.

Considering the hundreds of matches Drysdale called with Lendl it may be hard to get him out of his mind. He probably said this comment a hundred times in the 80s and had many agree with him.
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So, there is some basis for his comment. I really had no idea. I thought he was just grasping at straws.
 
Legend of Borg

Legend of Borg

G.O.A.T.
bluetrain4 said:
During the Djokovic-Gasquet match, Cliff Drysdale made some comment about Djokovic and his tendency to go through lulls in matches where he's "on walk-about." Cliffy ascribed this trait to Eastern Europeans, but then noted Lendl as someone for whom this trait did not apply. He then stopped talking. It was bizarre. While Djokovic may indeed go through lulls, what was the point in trying to make it some sort of cultural/regional trait.

Sometimes I think these guys just talk out their a** and hope for the best.
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Yes, and then, realizing he just made an arse out of himself he quietly shuts up. Such an annoying comment by Drysdale. Argghhhh!
 
S

simi

Hall of Fame
Richie Rich said:
Originally Posted by simi
About the best outside the Brit announcers.
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that says a lot when Cliff is South African
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Huh??? I know Drysdale is from SA. No secret there. When I referred to "Brit announcers", I was referring to the guys who do the commentary here in the U.S. during the Master Series tournaments on the Tennis Channel. Right now, they are doing the Shanghai Doubles commentary, (also on the Tennis Channel), while the usual band of jokers are doing the ESPN2 Singles commentary.

Of the "usual band of jokers", Drysdale is the best.
 
Richie Rich

Richie Rich

Legend
simi said:
Huh??? I know Drysdale is from SA. No secret there. When I referred to "Brit announcers", I was referring to the guys who do the commentary here in the U.S. during the Master Series tournaments on the Tennis Channel. Right now, they are doing the Shanghai Doubles commentary, (also on the Tennis Channel), while the usual band of jokers are doing the ESPN2 Singles commentary.

Of the "usual band of jokers", Drysdale is the best.
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sorry, my bad. not reading so well tonight
 
H

Hooooon

Rookie
djokovic simply doesn't feel like he has to treat every tourney the same. agassi and sampras did it their entire careers. djoko's appearance fee for shanghai was $XXX,XXX.XX, if he'd rather not train hard for the tourney and simply show up who's to stop him.
 
S

simi

Hall of Fame
Hooooon said:
djokovic simply doesn't feel like he has to treat every tourney the same. agassi and sampras did it their entire careers. djoko's appearance fee for shanghai was $XXX,XXX.XX, if he'd rather not train hard for the tourney and simply show up who's to stop him.
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You sure about Sampras? It is well know that in the later part of his career, he focused his efforts on the "majors" and not so much on the "lesser" tournaments.
 
Z

Zverev

Professional
I hate when people apply their own racist prejudices and present it as something objective. And this guy does it a lot. It doesn't matter the comment are positive or negative - it just sucks.
I remember somethin g like that " ALL russian players have this balance because they ALL go to balet classe when kids"
BS like that, always trying to round up, The guy sucks.
 
F

flyboy1

New User
I seriously doubt that Cliff Drysdale meant anything offensive by his comments. People from other parts of the world are not as obsessed as we are in the States about being politically correct. For those of you who have spend any time outside the country, you've probably noticed that in countries with large eastern european communities that there are differences between them and the "natives". In London, or Dublin, for example, you can always tell who the eastern europeans are because of how they walk. The "native" Londoners and Dubliners walk pretty fast and many will seemingly run you over if you're not walking up to their speed. The eastern europeans have a different cadence. They're more laid back and relaxed and take their time. It's not good or bad, it's just different. It's probably not what Cliff Drysdale was talking about, but there are definitely differences between western and eastern europeans. Again, these differences aren't bad, they're just differences. Let's not get our panties in a twist just because someone brings up cultural differences. I know here in the U.S. we aren't allowed to bring up those kinds of things, but in other parts of the world, it is VERY common.
 
H

Hooooon

Rookie
simi said:
You sure about Sampras? It is well know that in the later part of his career, he focused his efforts on the "majors" and not so much on the "lesser" tournaments.
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that's what i said... and djoko is doing the same. they collect appearance fees and tank at small tourneys and give a **** at majors
 
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