Blake [15] vs. Gonzalez [15], Olympics Semi

Gonzo or Blake?

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    39
  • Poll closed .
Yes I feel sorry for Blake and I thought he played the best throughout. Frankly I have become dissolusioned with the olympic tennis after hearing from Andy Murray's mother in the newspaper this morning that the players did not know until midnight what time they were playing next day!
 
daddy said:
Eh, I can remember that earlier this year Robredo did something like this, or similar but can not recall what was it, anyone else ? While people whine abut Nadal and Djokovic they'd never do anything like this ...
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I completely agree. Federer wouldn't either. I don't think most tennis players want to win using cheap tactics like that. Gonzalez knew what he was doing. Did Blake shake his hand? I missed it.
 
The negative publicity Gonzalez gets won't be worth the Gold Medal even if he has a clear conscience somehow. God save him.
 
I don´t think that point would have made any difference. It was the first point of the game and Gonzo held serve easily.
What a disappointment for Blake, the day after the biggest win of his career he blows 3 MP to get to the final and will have a hard time getting a medal now.
I´m now convinced the winner of the 2nd semifinal gets the gold. The bronze will be harder to win than the gold for Nadal/Djokovic.
 
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Don't forget Blake also blew a triple break point chance in the 6th game of the 3rd set. That may have been enough to seal the deal and win the match for him the way he was holding serve until the very end.
 
No doubt about that, Nadal is on a whole nother level to these guys. Djok is a little flawed though mentally.
 
BreakPoint said:
Don't forget Blake also blew a triple break point chance in the 6th game of the 3rd set. That may have been enough to seal the deal and win the match for him the way he was holding serve until the very end.
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He also blew 3 MP's

Edit: Sorry Breakpoint, I thought you were talking about the 2nd set.
 
Zaragoza said:
I don´t think that point would have made any difference. It was the first point of the game and Gonzo held serve easily.
What a disappointment for Blake, the day after the biggest win of his career he blows 3 MP to ge t to the final and will have a hard time getting a medal now.
I´m now convinced the winner of the 2nd semifinal gets the gold. The bronze will be harder to win than the gold for Nadal/Djokovic.
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It's not the impact of the point that is the issue. It is Gonzo's character as well as the negative affect it had on Blake (even though that is his fault). Hard to like someone who knowingly steals a point like that.
 
I actually do like Gonzo, and in normal cases, I'd probably root for him over Blake. Whether or not Blake would've won the game after that call is not the problem as Pwned said...it's Gonzo's character (or lack thereof) that's the issue. He deserves the medal for his effort, but it does feel a little dirty after that incident.
 
Zaragoza said:
I don´t think that point would have made any difference. It was the first point of the game and Gonzo held serve easily.
What a disappointment for Blake, the day after the biggest win of his career he blows 3 MP to ge t to the final and will have a hard time getting a medal now.
I´m now convinced the winner of the 2nd semifinal gets the gold. The bronze will be harder to win than the gold for Nadal/Djokovic.
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We don't know how much that point rankled Blake, even if it maybe shouldn't have. After that point, Gonzalez holds serve easily then breaks Blake. It could have been a match changing bad call, but we will never know.
 
tennissavy said:
Well, I've been hearing it for years, from uneducated people, but to finally see it in writing...ughhh. There is no such word as NOTHER.
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Yeah I know, but I'm not a snob so I don't take these kind of things seriously.
 
MSNBC is showing the match right now and they just showed that point when Gonzo touched the ball and both Jimmy Arias and Barry Mackay both said that Gonzo DEFINITELY touched the ball. No doubt in their minds as they said the ball definitely moved from its trajectory. Match is still on MSNBC.
 
what happened?

can anyone tell me? i lost the last points of the match!
 
BreakPoint said:
MSNBC is showing the match right now and they just showed that point when Gonzo touched the ball and both Jimmy Arias and Barry Mackay both said that Gonzo DEFINITELY touched the ball. No doubt in their minds as they said the ball definitely moved from its trajectory. Match is still on MSNBC.
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Despite of what the american commentators say, does the replay show that he definitely touched the ball? I didn´t have the chance to watch the replay on tv.
 
So do you guys believe i know what i am doing ? I told you guys, Gonzo will play out of his mind just because he is playing for his country. and he won. i do believe James was the favorite coming into this match
 
Zaragoza said:
Despite of what the american commentators say, does the replay show that he definitely touched the ball? I didn´t have the chance to watch the replay on tv.
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The ball changed trajectories. What else could have happened? The ball was way over the net.
 
Zaragoza said:
Despite of what the american commentators say, does the replay show that he definitely touched the ball? I didn´t have the chance to watch the replay on tv.
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It was obvious to me on the STREAM as it happened live. I thought Blake had surely won the point. There is NO QUESTION it hit his racquet.
 
how sad for blake, i thought for sure he would bring home at least a silver, maybe even a good shot at showing up mardy fish. Guess not. Maybe he had too many victory beers after federer.
 
latinking said:
Neither Nadal or Joker has beaten Gonzo on hard court.
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Nice dig but lets just put things into perspective, He beat Djokovic who was 18 at the time while he was firmly top 10 and in top form. He beat Nadal while he was 18 and once again in Aussie 07 but it is fair to say Rafa is not what he was 18 months ago, nor is Gonzo.
 
To come to think of it, Jimmy Arias calling Gonzo a cheater may not be so fair. How would you react if the ball touches your racket and umpire doesn't notice it ?? with Gold medal on the line, would you come out and say i give away the point ??????
 
Fedace said:
To come to think of it, Jimmy Arias calling Gonzo a cheater may not be so fair. How would you react if the ball touches your racket and umpire doesn't notice it ?? with Gold medal on the line, would you come out and say i give away the point ??????
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Yes. .
 
Fedace said:
To come to think of it, Jimmy Arias calling Gonzo a cheater may not be so fair. How would you react if the ball touches your racket and umpire doesn't notice it ?? with Gold medal on the line, would you come out and say i give away the point ??????
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He may win gold, but he loses his humanity
 
daddy said:
Yeah sure. How come there are so many honest people on the boards and so many hookers on the court .. ? Not refering to you personaly so do not be offended that I quoted you ..
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Yes but would you come out and give away the point ? if you were just few points away from playing for the Gold for your country ??? makes you think a bit...:confused:
 
Fedace said:
To come to think of it, Jimmy Arias calling Gonzo a cheater may not be so fair. How would you react if the ball touches your racket and umpire doesn't notice it ?? with Gold medal on the line, would you come out and say i give away the point ??????
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Yeah of course I would give away the point. What else would I do? It'd be a reflex action. It's like in club tennis when you don't have umpires you make your own calls.
 
I don't see how a Gold/Silver medal would change your honesty. Its just a reflex reaction. Either you are honest person or you ain't. Honest players would react by telling the umpire.
 
daddy said:
Yeah sure. How come there are so many honest people on the boards and so many hookers on the court .. ? Not refering to you personaly so do not be offended that I quoted you ..
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Playing ping pong games with a friend I concede points in similar situations. In the Olympics with that much on the line there is no question I would. I would cheat with a friend before I did something like that in the Olympics, on live TV no less. The more serious the game the more imperative honesty is, in my opinion.
 
daddy said:
Nice dig but lets just put things into perspective, He beat Djokovic who was 18 at the time while he was firmly top 10 and in top form. He beat Nadal while he was 18 and once again in Aussie 07 but it is fair to say Rafa is not what he was 18 months ago, nor is Gonzo.
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True Joker was not the Joker of today. Just put up the fatcs.

Joker has a better shot to beat Gonzo than Nadal. Gonzo so Far has owned Nadal on Hard. Kind of a bad matchup for Nadal.
 
Pwned said:
Playing ping pong games with a friend I concede points in similar situations. In the Olympics with that much on the line there is no question I would. I would cheat with a friend before I did something like that in the Olympics, on live TV no less. The more serious the game the more imperative honesty is, in my opinion.
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Theory. Practise says that games with nothing to lose/win are usually very fair and honest while many pro players cheat given the chance. Even besides the challange systhem in place, even besides the Umpire and the crowd and the public and cameras etc.
 
Pwned said:
Playing ping pong games with a friend I concede points in similar situations. In the Olympics with that much on the line there is no question I would. I would cheat with a friend before I did something like that in the Olympics, on live TV no less. The more serious the game the more imperative honesty is, in my opinion.
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I know what you mean. but we are animals that act on instinct on many situation. On event of this magnitude, it maybe a reflex action to not say anything. Our animal survival instinct kicks in and we don't always think about integrity.:(
 
I don't see many examples of cheating in pro tennis. But I'd expect it to happen in the US Open more than the Olympics because the money is so big in Slams so even an honest player it could be argued has a right to cheat if he needs the money for his family (if it was a poorly ranked player who has a chance to do well for once and has a wife and children to support). But in the Olympics there's no excuse for cheating, since the Olympics is supposed to be all "goody-goody" except for the drugs and there's not money to fight for. Anyway, there isn't many ways to cheat on a tennis court (in pro tennis).
 
daddy said:
Theory. Practise says that games with nothing to lose/win are usually very fair and honest while many pro players cheat given the chance. Even besides the challange systhem in place, even besides the Umpire and the crowd and the public and cameras etc.
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In my opinion it comes down to character. Either you are a person who does the right thing or are a person who takes the easy/cheap dishonest point. I can't prove I would concede the point, that'd be impossible as I'll never be in that situation. All I can say is I couldn't sleep if I did something like that. It's the kind of thing that eats away at my brain. Knowing that and knowing that conceding is the right thing to do, especially when the opponent has noticed, I would have the foresight to concede the point.
 
Fedace said:
I know what you mean. but we are animals that act on instinct on many situation. On event of this magnitude, it maybe a reflex action to not say anything. Our animal survival instinct kicks in and we don't always think about integrity.:(
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That's a distinct possibility. However, I think Gonzo had enough time to rationalize the situation, quite enough time. Who knows? Blake shouldn't have let it get to him anyway. Squandered BPs and MPs are part of the tale too.
 
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