A message from Andy

L

Love40

Rookie
Have you guys seen this? I apologize if this has already been posted.

From Andy Roddick's web site (andyroddick.com):


Message From Andy
By Andy Roddick
2005-09-08

Hey all!! first and foremost i wanna apologize for my us open. i was more prepared for that tournament than i have ever felt before. unfortunately, that did not translate. i am not going to lie. this loss cut deeper than any one i have ever had. i am normally pretty good about bouncing right back, and having a good outlook on things starting the next day. this one took a little while though. i had to remove myself from everything. it was tough to get away from it, considering it was a pretty hot topic of conversation around the country. i am lucky enough to have great friends who really took time out to hang out.

I am ready now though. i am ready to put all of this behind me, and start my preparation for trying to get back to number one next year. as weird as it sounds, losses almost motivate more than success. i cannot wait to play davis cup in a couple of weeks, and am looking forward to a strong fall season.

Even though my loss was upsetting personally, there has been a tragedy in the world in the form of hurricane katrina. i think we all need to realize how lucky we are to be healthy. i truly feel blessed. it makes our day to day problems seem rightfully petty. i also love how our country reacts to adversity, and we all truly become one to help in the fight. i ask that each of u take a second and just realize how lucky we all are.

I am going to end this ramble on a positive note. i cannot express how excited i am for robby ginepri and james blake. they have been friends of mine for a long time, and the whole group was catching flak earlier in the summer for not producing results. people were saying that i was the only American, save andre, capable of making a real run in a slam..... they quieted a lot of doubters, and i can't wait til next year when we are all healthy and playing well. i hope everyone reading this was as lucky as me and got the chance to watch the agassi/blake match last night. it was unreal tennis played by the two best sportsmen in the game. i have never been so conflicted watching a match, but it was an absolute privilege to watch. i am so happy for james to be doing well after the year he had last year. to come back from what he went through even better than before is a real testament to his character.

Lastly, i want to thank all of u for your support. i love u guys and cannot thank u enough

andy
 
Andy's personality is definitely something to admire, and take it from someone who's actually had the chance to meet him.

He really knows what's going on and he just lays back and takes it in stride.

Andy's just a guy that you can never count out.
 
Rodzilla said:
Andy's personality is definitely something to admire, and take it from someone who's actually had the chance to meet him.

He really knows what's going on and he just lays back and takes it in stride.

Andy's just a guy that you can never count out.
Click to expand...
I agree. I keep remembering all the matches he got pulverized by Federer, and right after he still managed to offer a humoruous analysis of the match. There are not too many players who can keep such a good and healthy perspective after losing a match, especially for like the tenth time in a row, and that is something to really admire.
 
I love his net-speak. Andy's a good guy. His heart is in the right place.

I just wish his head would get back in the right place too. He needs to get his confidence back and start winning some big matches. His win over Hewitt at Cincy was a great start.

Unfortunately his crashout at USO first round kind of negated all that hard work. *sob*
 
Come on Andy regain the fire and knock Federer from the number 1 spot. His best chance is at Wimbledon IMO. I would love him to regain the form of 2003, when he was playing some awesome tennis against Roger at Wimby prior to the rain dealy.
 
gugafanatic said:
Come on Andy regain the fire and knock Federer from the number 1 spot. His best chance is at Wimbledon IMO. I would love him to regain the form of 2003, when he was playing some awesome tennis against Roger at Wimby prior to the rain dealy.
Click to expand...

Why is there so much talk of that form in 2003? IMO, the way he played at times during the 2004 Wimbly final against Federer was the best I have ever seen Andy play. I do want Andy to regain his fire and swagger as well.

This message sounds much like the work of Andy. It's written on a lighter note, shows heart, and shows understanding of what's going on.
 
rommil said:
You are right......until you see Roddick carries on about a questionable call. That really turns it off for me.
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But he's tuned that down as he's gotten older, and he really is a nice guy.
 
Sorry, I admit I'm not a Roddick fan but has anyone figured into the equation that he is just 23 years of age. On hindsight, me at 23 years of age didn’t know **** all about life in general let alone the added burden of life as a tennis pro in the public eye with the subsequent pressure of the American nation waiting on baited breath for his anticipated conquering of all players who came before him.

Feel free for anyone to respond but only do this if you have an equivalent degree of pressure placed upon you at the same age…..

Tough in my books…just remember he is young of age and human after all, regardless of your opinions of him and expectations shown in this forum.
 
Great post. Really hope the guy does well at the championships this year and the slams next year.

Maybe this will be good motivation to win the TMS events in fall. I've always thought he should have had better results in the major indoor events.
 
alienhamster said:
Great post. Really hope the guy does well at the championships this year and the slams next year.

Maybe this will be good motivation to win the TMS events in fall. I've always thought he should have had better results in the major indoor events.
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I think for guys who don't regularly play indoors in Europe, it's difficult. I remember Pat Rafter saying it was the time of year he hated most. And goodness knows, he excelled on fast surfaces.
 
This 'letter' is somewhat too self-indulgent and self-important for my liking (apologizing to people for his U.S. Open loss? - please...)

As well, if he truly wishes to be a positive role model for kids, he should learn better sentence structure, use slang terms more sparingly (like less than three times per sentence), and, lastly, learn which words within a sentence require Capitalization.
 
thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

Andy's a great guy, and a great sportsman - he reminds me of Patrick Rafter, than which there can be no higher praise.
Let's hope he'll bounce back from this and go on to greater things.
 
Deuce said:
This 'letter' is somewhat too self-indulgent and self-important for my liking (apologizing to people for his U.S. Open loss? - please...)

As well, if he truly wishes to be a positive role model for kids, he should learn better sentence structure, use slang terms more sparingly (like less than three times per sentence), and, lastly, learn which words within a sentence require Capitalization.
Click to expand...
If you can't find anything else to criticize, go after grammar and spelling, right? :roll:

And this letter is a letter to his fans on the website. They (er, we) took his loss very hard, maybe harder than he did. It's just something to reassure us that he, although affected by it, is taking it in stride. I don't think it's self-indulgent; after all, it appeared on his website and was not a press release.
 
Haka Boy said:
Sorry, I admit I'm not a Roddick fan but has anyone figured into the equation that he is just 23 years of age. On hindsight, me at 23 years of age didn’t know **** all about life in general let alone the added burden of life as a tennis pro in the public eye with the subsequent pressure of the American nation waiting on baited breath for his anticipated conquering of all players who came before him.

Feel free for anyone to respond but only do this if you have an equivalent degree of pressure placed upon you at the same age…..

Tough in my books…just remember he is young of age and human after all, regardless of your opinions of him and expectations shown in this forum.
Click to expand...


well said!
 
Deuce said:
This 'letter' is somewhat too self-indulgent and self-important for my liking (apologizing to people for his U.S. Open loss? - please...)

As well, if he truly wishes to be a positive role model for kids, he should learn better sentence structure, use slang terms more sparingly (like less than three times per sentence), and, lastly, learn which words within a sentence require Capitalization.
Click to expand...

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this message was posted on his official website -- not on a general messageboard. So, of course, he was writing for that audience.

He's a Pro tennis player, not an English major. And that's just the way he is. I like the informality. And that's the way many young people write these days, particularly on IM, they don't use caps and such. I don't say I agree with it (goes against my teaching), but good on Andy for taking the time to write a message to his fans.

The editors could have fixed it up, but they left it the way Andy writes. And I think that's a good thing. He's more articulate than many sports pros.
 
VamosRafa said:
Let's not lose sight of the fact that this message was posted on his official website -- not on a general messageboard. So, of course, he was writing for that audience.

He's a Pro tennis player, not an English major. And that's just the way he is. I like the informality. And that's the way many young people write these days, particularly on IM, they don't use caps and such. I don't say I agree with it (goes against my teaching), but good on Andy for taking the time to write a message to his fans.

The editors could have fixed it up, but they left it the way Andy writes. And I think that's a good thing. He's more articulate than many sports pros.
Click to expand...

And let's not lose sight of the fact that you are entirely biased and extremely star-struck, Susan - and because of this clear bias, your perspective on 'Andy', or 'Rafa', or any other male tennis 'star' you might go 'ga-ga' about in the future, is essentially worthless.

Noelle - you, as well, possess a clear bias on the subject of Roddick.
I believe that a 23 year old supposed adult ought to be able to write better than a semi-literate 12 year old. Especially if the former is 'famous' and wishes to be known as a positive role model.
 
Of course I possess a bias about Andy, and I freely admit it. :) I'm not defending his writing style either, but let's just say I think you were just looking for something to criticize about Roddick's letter. Alicia Keys, a singer whom many regard as a positive role model for young people, writes in slang, no-caps, and uses web abbreviations on her official website. That's just the way these people choose to write.

People look up to Roddick because he's one of the best tennis players, not because he writes well. Going after his writing style is kind of... cheap.

Deuce said:
And let's not lose sight of the fact that you are entirely biased and extremely star-struck, Susan - and because of this clear bias, your perspective on 'Andy', or 'Rafa', or any other male tennis 'star' you might go 'ga-ga' about in the future, is essentially worthless.
Click to expand...
And why should that be worthless? Everyone is entitled to state their opinion and perspective. What people say is essentially written from their own point-of-view anyway; it's in the eye of the beholder whether that opinion has any worth. Clearly you think my opinions and Susan's are worthless, but that doesn't mean you should be trying to silence them.
 
Noelle said:
And why should that be worthless? Everyone is entitled to state their opinion and perspective. What people say is essentially written from their own point-of-view anyway; it's in the eye of the beholder whether that opinion has any worth.
Click to expand...

No worries, Noelle. I have spent 4-1/2 years doing websites for players -- first Andy, and now Rafa (2-1/2 years), and Deuce just doesn't get it. And he doesn't have to. He doesn't have to do the work necessary to create or update the site. Nor does he have to be up in a few hours to update the China Open scores.

That's my job. So I'll leave you now. Take care, Noelle. You are very sweet. :-)
 
A little advice 2 Susan & Noelle, and others 2 lol: Just treat everythin that steam (aka Deuce) says 2 u like its a joke. That gets him 2 leave u alone. Trust me, Ive done it several times.;)
 
Maybe he should've had a Harvard grad proofread it, before he posted it on his website. Or at least Blake could've looked at it first.
As others have posted, isnt the style supposed to match the vernacular. Might look a bit funny if Roddick had written the whole thing in a professorial tone.

Dear loyal fans:
My recent defeat at the US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing New York, 2005 is terribly dissappointing to me. Although I had hoped my preparation was adequate, I was much like Stendahl's Julian arriving in Paris in The Red and the Black: While attempting to rise above my provincial origins and achieve greatness I embarassed myself. Perahps, a better model would've been Voltaire's Candide; I should return to "cultivating my garden." I hope that like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, that which does not kill me will make me stronger.

Well, the hurricaine puts our mundane problems in perspective. In a similar fashion Wittgenstein came to see the banality of philosophy when he worked in a hospital. I apologize to my fans for the lack of footnotes. I realize on the website of the tennis player, Roger Federer, that he often supports each thesis statement with multiple references to scholarly articles. In the future, I hope not to dissappoint my erudite fans.

On a final note, Im organizing a reading group for tennis pros. Can anyone suggest, who should join and whether we should start with Proust or Rilke. Thanks in advance, you humble author,
Andy Roddick
 
Noelle said:
If you can't find anything else to criticize, go after grammar and spelling, right? :roll:

And this letter is a letter to his fans on the website. They (er, we) took his loss very hard, maybe harder than he did. It's just something to reassure us that he, although affected by it, is taking it in stride. I don't think it's self-indulgent; after all, it appeared on his website and was not a press release.
Click to expand...
Well said. After reading ten years of similar on Tim Henman's website, you guys should be glad that you've got world class players who DO win slams. (although to be fair to Tim, he has never possessed that certain "spark" that makes great champs.) But he's the best we've had in 70 years :-|

In Agassi and Roddick not have you only got two great champs (Roddick will win more) you also have two thoroughly nice Sportsmen.
 
Deuce said:
And let's not lose sight of the fact that you are entirely biased and extremely star-struck, Susan - and because of this clear bias, your perspective on 'Andy', or 'Rafa', or any other male tennis 'star' you might go 'ga-ga' about in the future, is essentially worthless.

Noelle - you, as well, possess a clear bias on the subject of Roddick.
I believe that a 23 year old supposed adult ought to be able to write better than a semi-literate 12 year old. Especially if the former is 'famous' and wishes to be known as a positive role model.
Click to expand...

Deuce, others have defended their perspectives from your unfair criticisms with valid reasons. Whereas you merely proclaim they are biased and have worthless opinions. You are the one who is biased, and your perspective is the one which is "essentially worthless"
 
Andy's a nice guy, but he just doesn't have the game to hang with Federer. Andy should switch to lefty everything except his serve and give Roger trouble with his new lefty spins.
 
callitout said:
On a final note, Im organizing a reading group for tennis pros. Can anyone suggest, who should join and whether we should start with Proust or Rilke. Thanks in advance, you humble author,
Andy Roddick
Click to expand...

Callit, that is HILLARIOUS. You should offer your services as chief editor to Roddick's clan. :)
 
Noelle said:
If you can't find anything else to criticize, go after grammar and spelling, right? :roll:
Click to expand...

Amen.

Some people will take any chance they get to rip apart a player, and even searching for reasons to do so. Its absurd to think that anyone could actually find something negative about this letter, especially its grammar. You really think some 12 year olds reading that are going to think "Oh Andy uses great punctuation! I should too!"?

Please - stop missing the point.
 
callitout said:
Maybe he should've had a Harvard grad proofread it, before he posted it on his website.
Click to expand...

Word. Or maybe even a high school drop out.

Deuce's problem is that his tiny little brain can't parse change. Tennis changes, language changes, morals change, etc. We're not speaking ye olde english anymore, nor do we play on hour glass shaped courts, nor do we go around quoting Leviticus (or at least, most of us don't).

It'd be easier for everyone if he'd shut his trap, but whatever.

...

Andy is great kid. At 23, most elite players were completely off the charts with their behavior. I don't like his game, but his attitude has made me a fan, and on balance he's several orders of magnitude better for the game than people like Deuce.
 
Noelle said:
If you can't find anything else to criticize, go after grammar and spelling, right? :roll:

And this letter is a letter to his fans on the website. They (er, we) took his loss very hard, maybe harder than he did. It's just something to reassure us that he, although affected by it, is taking it in stride. I don't think it's self-indulgent; after all, it appeared on his website and was not a press release.
Click to expand...
Excellent post, Noelle. Deuce is just a pill who is obsessed with hating Roddick no matter what. You can't get any more pathetic than that. lol.
 
Deuce just doesn't have much respect for tennis pros. It's not necessarily that he dislikes them, he just doesn't see much virtue in them.
 
callitout said:
Dear loyal fans:
My recent defeat at the US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing New York, 2005 is terribly dissappointing to me. Although I had hoped my preparation was adequate, I was much like Stendahl's Julian arriving in Paris in The Red and the Black: While attempting to rise above my provincial origins and achieve greatness I embarassed myself. Perahps, a better model would've been Voltaire's Candide; I should return to "cultivating my garden." I hope that like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, that which does not kill me will make me stronger.

Well, the hurricaine puts our mundane problems in perspective. In a similar fashion Wittgenstein came to see the banality of philosophy when he worked in a hospital. I apologize to my fans for the lack of footnotes. I realize on the website of the tennis player, Roger Federer, that he often supports each thesis statement with multiple references to scholarly articles. In the future, I hope not to dissappoint my erudite fans.

On a final note, Im organizing a reading group for tennis pros. Can anyone suggest, who should join and whether we should start with Proust or Rilke. Thanks in advance, you humble author,
Andy Roddick
Click to expand...

Refreshingly clever for this message board. Thanks.
 
@wright said:
Deuce just doesn't have much for tennis pros. It's not necessarily that he dislikes them, he just doesn't see much virtue in them.
Click to expand...

Or in people who do their websites. Gotcha!!!

Noelle, your "revised" letter by Andy is hilarious. Definitely gotta join that reading group. *rofl*
 
12 year old: Mommy look Andy Roddick is playing on TV.
Mom: Turn it off, I don't want you watching that man, he doesn't capitilize the first letter in his sentences.

C'mon give me a break.
 
i don't enjoy watching him play (besides getting astounded by the 150 mph serves), but i do pull for him here and there just to fulfill the urge to woot! woot! for the underdog (when playing against Roger). his letter, if that's indeed his, shows a lot of maturity for a 23-yr. old. i've never liked hype, and it's also why i couldn't stand Kournikova's game. the amount of coverage she received was purely from her barely legal sex appeal, with which the male public was so enamoured. repulsive, really. maria's got some game, but she's got another year to grow. If Venus can get her serves back, use her volleys more and shed her chandalier earrings, she may just win a few more slams. Serena, need i say more?? lose the hamburgers!!!!

So, yes, I look forward to seeing Andy getting his fire back, and rise to the top along with his fellow americans. I alos see Taylor Dent making a bg dent on the tour this coming year. If he keeps losing weight, and stay fit, he will go far in England.
 
Noelle: Alicia Keys sucks. period. Alright, Fallen was a decent eye-opener for a rookie. but, definitely undeserving of the musical genius Stevie Wonder's golden endorsements. her lyrics are shallow, and her short-lived travel column on Daily News was a farce. Seriously, my little sister in fourth grade can truly come up with better songs. Again, no hype for me. Let's face it, the American general public is filled with, unfortunately, too many impressionable idiots (adults | teeny boppers are exempt from that label until they've reached the age of 18).

Nadal is good, but his capri pants, wetsuit shirt and his incessant fixing of his tube socks, all gost to go.

Anyway, Federer is too perfect it's almost boring and frustrating to watch. he makes feel like you are a piece of turd on the court. he really brings out the player-hater in me. well, at least he shows more emotion on the court than Sampras ever did. Sampras = the ultimate stone cold mute.

Don't take anything i've said too seriously, it's all just silly commentary.


HAve a good night.
 
Missing by Roddick was any comment about Taylor Dent. Dent has been playing good T this summer as well as we know, and played Hewitt the 3rd seed pretty tough I would say.
 
I must honestly say that some of you are simply downright stupid. There's no other word.

From the buffoons who accuse me of being a 'Roddick hater' (how utterly cliché), to the utter genius who claims that I have a "little brain" (and who is obsessed with my posts), to the over-aged cheerleader who cannot ever tolerate any criticism of her 'heroes' and 'idols'... all of YOUR personal biases come through very clearly.

Am I truly biased against Roddick? If I am, I surely am unaware of it. As such, I would like to see examples of this bias. Please - enlighten me.

Still other 'extremists' deliberately miss the very simple point I am making - mocking by way of encouraging Andy to write in Midieval English, or some derivative thereof. Of course, I never suggested such a thing. I do, however, feel that Roddick could have, with just slightly more effort, produced a 'letter' which was of a noticeably higher standard and was better written than the one presented. Something worthy of an adult, for example. And, yes, this would have an influence insofar as young fans are concerned - it would encourage them to higher standards of writing, which is an entirely positive thing.

What I saw was an 'open letter' written by a 23 year old which was written in the 'literary style' (if one can call that a style) of a young adolescent who had learned his 'literacy' from the internet exclusively. That the majority here have defended his writing - obviously feeling that dear (or is it 'poor') Andy could do no better - rather strongly - and disappointingly - suggests a comfort and contentment with a very low standard of literacy among adults.

Samuel Clemens (among others, to be sure) is no doubt rolling in his grave.

Every time I feel that this culture has been 'dumbed down' to the lower limit, I see this kind of reaction (of posters in this thread), and realize that it apparently has still greater depths to explore. When there is such objection to what was never before considered a HIGH standard, but merely an average standard - that of adults actually producing proper sentences, capitalizing proper names, beginnings of sentences, and the word 'I', and spelling 'you' using all three letters rather than but one - it is clear that the erosion is disturbingly incomplete.
 
Deuce said:
This 'letter' is somewhat too self-indulgent and self-important for my liking (apologizing to people for his U.S. Open loss? - please...)

As well, if he truly wishes to be a positive role model for kids, he should learn better sentence structure, use slang terms more sparingly (like less than three times per sentence), and, lastly, learn which words within a sentence require Capitalization.
Click to expand...
Deuce, seriously, please enroll in a basic linguistics (or even a composition) course. One of the basic things you learn about language use is that language conventions differ markedly in different communities and for different audiences. There's nothing inherently "better" about the Standard forms you're prescribing, except that you've bought into the myth that for some reason non-slang and formal sentence structures are just inherently good for human beings. Moreover, callitout's excellent parody already made the point better than I could here: the use of formal structures may in fact be less effective at communicating certain ideas for certain audiences.

Check out the book Verbal Hygiene before you call people out on their grammar again.
 
i dont think the letter was bad he apologized to his fans the letter was on his website for his fans, its not like he rented out space in the nytimes or anything. also he wasnt writing a english paper just a note to his fans to get his message across. and if the grammer was bad at least we know a ghost writer didnt write it he himself took the time to do it himself. as oppossed to some of the announcements serena williams makes about why shes withdrawing from a tournament sounding like her publicist wrote it
 
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