BSR

The injury was in his left shoulder. I believe he destroys rackets with his right arm. I do feel bad for Stojanovic. First, Novak plays like sh*t in the semifinal, then withdraws from the bronze medal match. Mind you, Team Australia was strongly favored to win. Besides being the #1 in singles, Barty is also a top doubles player and Peers is a doubles Slam champion (2017 Australia Open) whereas Stojanovic is a lower-ranked doubles player and Novak for all his singles prowess is actually a really awful doubles player. Nonetheless, I'm sure Stojanovic would have appreciated at least the chance to win a medal.

That was bad reporting by the French sports daily l'Équipe. They later issued a correction and an apology, but not until after dozens of other news outlets already published the story. Novak did talk about pressure is a privilege (don't know if Billy Jean King said that or just tries to take credit for it), adding that without pressure we wouldn't have professional sports. But he in no way connected it to Simone Biles. I saw the l'Équipe tweet where they acknowledged their mistake (my decades-rusty high school French can still make out simple stuff).

I haven't been able to watch the matches, but it sounds like the Olympics were a disaster for Novak. First, he loses in the semifinal, ending his chances for that elusive gold medal. Then apparently Pablo Carreño Busta (a player he should be able to beat with one hand tied behind his back) plays the match of his life & denies Novak a consolation bronze. Adding insult to injury, I read he played like sh*t in the mixed semifinal, killing his chance of a gold there. As if all that weren't enough, he defaults from the bronze medal match in the mixed with a shoulder injury. I'm baffled that Novak even entered the mixed, a move the Serbian team opposed (funny how 20-time Slam champions always get the last word). Given how much he struggles in the heat & humidity, you'd think he'd want to save all his strength for the singles. All around, the Tokyo Olympics is something he'd like to erase from memory as soon as possible. Apparently both Carreño & Zverev were reduced to tears after their wins over Novak. I don't know if they were so emotional because it's the Olympics or simply because they beat Novak, who has been invincible in the Slams this year. Carreño had never beaten Novak in a completed match (his one "win" over Novak was the disqualification at the USO), and Zverev hadn't beaten Novak in 2.5 years. *sigh* I just hope Novak can rest up and get himself together for the US Open. With the intense pressure of the calendar-year Grand Slam, Novak will feel he's carrying an anvil on his back. The two defeats in Tokyo will give not just Carreño & Zverev but all the top players the belief that they can beat Novak. If Novak somehow wins in New York, it will be a truly monumental achievement.

Of the 14 Adria players, 10 are from former Yugoslavia countries, 4 from other countries. But even many of the Serbs/Croats live elsewhere. Novak himself lives in Monte Carlo and trains a lot in Spain (the house he bought in Marbella is jaw-dropping), where the infection rate was (and still is) sky-high. I agree, what Novak did was truly boneheaded. I wasn't trying to make excuses for the guy, just tried to present what went into his thinking.

As to your first point, I don't think it's a big deal if for the next few years a person's sex life (because there's no romance) is exclusively gay4pay encounters. Much beyond the short term, however, I think a person would need more of a connection. That said, I don't know @studchaser. Maybe he doesn't need or even particularly want romance. Regarding your second point, I'm sure there are plenty of times a gay escort has zero physical attraction for a male client but, as you said, finds something attractive about that client: nice guy, great sense of humor, intelligence. Why can't that be true of a straight escort with a male client? I've known plenty of young straight guys with such a strong sex drive they could get off with a coffee table as a sexual partner. If instead of a coffee table, his sexual partner is a well-to-do gay man with a sharp wit, even better. A while back, I had a chat with a stripper who for whatever reason really opened up to me. Even though he was straight, he was in a long-term, committed relationship with an older gay man. It turns out that this guy had a pretty tough time of it growing up, much of his childhood in foster care. He said that his partner was the first person who truly cared about him. They lived in a town in Massachusetts where even the cheapest house costs a pretty penny, so the stripper was well taken care of financially. From his tone and the way he talked about his partner, he was emotionally well cared for also. Like the great sage Joaquin Andujar used to say, "You can sum up baseball in one word: ya never know."

Hindsight is 20/20 vision. At the time the Adria Tour was held, the Covid infection rate was extremely low in Serbia, and the government didn't impose any capacity limits, social distancing, or mask mandates. Novak was trying to do something positive for tennis and for Serbia, and all the proceeds were going to charity. Well, it all blew up in his face when most (all?) the Adria participants tested positive for Covid. Yes, truly a boneheaded move by Novak, but that's easy for me to say now.

As a die-hard Novak fan, I'm sad he lost because the gold medal matters so much to him. But my personal opinion? Meh, I don't really care. Tennis at the Olympics is a quirky event. Sure, some great players have won gold (Steffi, Rafa, Serena) but so have some far-from-great players (Nicolas Massu, Marc Rosset, Monica Puig). Juan Martin del Potro achieved tennis immortality when he won the 2009 US Open; gold medalists Massu, Puig & Rosset did not. Mind you, at the US Open I'll be rooting for Novak like a madman because Slams do matter, and winning the calendar-year Grand Slam is the ultimate achievement in the sport. The Olympic gold medal is the ultimate achievement in track & field, swimming, gymnastics, and so many other sports -- but not in tennis.

I think the issue is availability, not cost. My cousins in the Philippines were itching to get vaccinated yet received their 2nd shot just a few days ago. Are you sure the vaccine was available in all countries in time for athletes to have gotten their 2nd shot at least 2 weeks before traveling to Japan? A few athletes have had to drop out because of positive Covid tests, some before traveling to Japan, some in the middle of competition. I hate to think of the disappointment of training so hard & sacrificing so much, just to get eliminated by a Covid test.

Worked like a charm. Thank you!

Gosh, I really overcomplicated things, didn't I? Let's see if it works. The following video is the Ballet Nacional de España dancing sevillanas, a variety of flamenco. With most sevillanas pairs, the woman tends to be very good whereas the man, uh, not so much. Don't ask me why Spanish men are so subpar at sevillanas. In the video, the woman is the best sevillanas dancer I've ever seen, but more impressive is that the man is almost as good as she is.

I read a couple of interesting news bits over on men's tennis forum. The Japanese were happy to schedule the Olympics in the fall, but NBC didn't want to compete for ratings against (American) football. Money talks, and NBC's container ship full of cash speaks so loudly it'll blow out your eardrums. As for scheduling matches in the late afternoon & evening, two problems: 1) with 5 tennis events (men's & women's singles, men's & women's doubles, plus mixed doubles) in a short time frame and the ever-looming threat of rain (only 1 court has a retractable roof), schedulers had to pack the matches in, which meant starting in the heat of the day; and 2) much of the staff running the tennis venue are volunteers, who were told that matches would start at 11am & end in the late afternoon. The organizers can't exactly force them to switch their schedules to work from late afternoon well into the night because after all they're volunteers.

Pardon my tech ineptitude, but I can post videos only by linking text, which shows up as blue & underscored. But I notice that other members post YouTube vids so that they show up in the post and can be viewed directly in on the forum thread, without switching over to the YouTube app. How do you do that? Thanks in advance!

As much as Hollywood pushes "can play" casting, I often look at 20-somethings playing 16yo high schoolers like, "you're kidding, right?" If it's just too difficult to find a bunch of 16yo actors to play 16yo's, I can understand that. But if casting directors honestly think that a 29yo can pass as a high school student (e.g., Gabrielle Carteris in Beverly Hills 90210), then they're flat out insulting our intelligence. As long as an escort posts recent & accurate (i.e., no photoshopping) pictures in their ad, I'm not too bothered by a little age-shaving. But if an escort who advertises as 21 shows up & is clearly into his 30s, I probably wouldn't hire him again, even if it were a good experience. A little fudging, OK. But flagrant dishonesty is just too much of a turnoff.

After a ballkid needed medical attention, after the women's draw had 3 retirements due to the extreme conditions, and most importantly after all US singles players have been eliminated, the schedulers finally agreed to bend a bit. Today's men's singles quarterfinals will start at 3pm instead of 11am. It'll still be plenty hot, and the court will have no shade (at least at the start of the match), but at least the players will be spared the worst heat of the day. @JoeMendoza apparently the members of the IOC, who traverse the globe in private jets and stay in 5-star hotels, don't have Internet access. How tragic! Perhaps we should start up a GoFundMe.

Not 100% sure, but I don't think they require athletes to be fully vaccinated. I know that the men's & women's tennis tours do not require players to be vaccinated. While #1 Novak Djokovic won't say if he's been vaccinated or not, he has been outspoken in his opposition to mandating vaccination for tennis professionals. Edited to add: No, the IOC does not require athletes to be vaccinated. According to the IOC handbook, "[athletes] will not be required to have received a vaccine in order to participate."

Oh boy, I have such a crush on Max Whitlock -- British gymnast who won gold in floor exercise & pommel horse Rio 2016 for those unfamiliar with him. YouTube video of a shirtless Max Whitlock

Very true that when NBC forked over the container ship of cash for broadcasting rights, they didn't know who was & wasn't playing or how deep Americans would go. They were probably hoping that living legend (any player with double-digit Slams is a LL) Serena Williams would play. She has greatly reduced her playing schedule but loves the Olympic experience. Unfortunately, her hamstring injury from a slip on the slick Wimbledon grass killed any chance of her going to Tokyo. Superstar Coco Gauff had a great chance of winning gold and would have brought in blockbuster TV ratings, but she got knocked out by a positive Covid test.

Forget NBC, what about Japan's own TV ratings? Naomi Osaka is the favorite to win gold, especially after #1 Ash Barty got upset in the 1st Round. And Kei Nishikori looked like his old self (he was once ranked as high as #4, now #69) in his upset over #7 Andrey Rublev. I'm not confident in Kei's medal chances (he'd have to beat near-invincible Novak in the quarters), but surely all of Japan will be glued to his matches, as well as Osaka's. TV ratings for Japan's two tennis stars would be so much higher if their matches were at 7pm, when people were home from work, instead of the middle of the day.

If I recall correctly, the IOC shifted the Seoul Games to late Sept (9/17-10/2) because of the sweltering heat in July & August. If they made an exception then, why can't they make one for Tokyo? The heat & humidity aren't just uncomfortable; they're dangerous. As for the tennis schedule, American tennis fans tend to tune in only when an American is playing, or Federer. Two US women are already out, although Jen Brady has a shot at a medal (hey, if Monica Puig could win gold ... ). Two American men (Tommy Paul & Tennys Sandgren) lost in the 1st Round. No diss to Marcos Giron & Frances Tiafoe (again, if Monica Puig ... ), but their chances at a medal are awfully slim. I doubt Russian TV paid anywhere near what NBC did for broadcasting rights, but the Russian men have a great chance of medaling, even gold. Of course, all of Serbia is riveted to the TV to watch Novak, but I doubt Serbian TV paid even 0.01% what NBC did. You are correct in that the 11am start is better for the US market. I just doubt many US fans are watching Olympic tennis. Late afternoon/evening matches are better for Europeans -- not evening prime time but at least later in the day. Not just Novak, #2 Daniil Medvedev also complained about the heat & asked that the matches be scheduled in the evening. Roland Garros finalist Pavlyuchenkova complained that when she went to get ice to cool off during a changeover, it had all melted! But honestly, unless there's a serious medical incident, the ITF will keep scheduling matches in the heat of the day.

Oops, apparently there are no night matches in tennis. Novak has complained about the scheduling. At sites with high heat/humidity, they usually start the matches much later. At Los Cabos (finals are tomorrow), they start matches at 5pm. In Tokyo the matches start at 11am, and even though Novak's match was the last of the day, they still finished before 5pm. He's spoken with a number of fellow players, who agree the conditions are brutal, the worst they've ever experienced. The ITF responded that they had to schedule the matches during the day to allow time for rain delays & heat breaks (matches postponed if the heat index goes above a certain point). Even if other players start speaking out publicly, I doubt the ITF will budge. My issue isn't so much with the ITF as much as with the International Olympic Committee. Why do they award the Games to host cities with sweltering summers? Why do the schedule the Games during the hottest/most humid weeks of the year? At least when the IOC gave Seoul the 1988 Games, they had the decency to schedule them in late September. Tennis players are struggling, but the ones I really worry about are the marathoners & triathletes. If a marathoner/triathlete has trained for years and made huge sacrifices to compete in the Olympics, they will likely keep pushing themselves even in the most sweltering conditions. Even in the early morning or evening when temps are lower, the humidity is still near saturation point. No Olympic athlete wants to quit, but I'd much rather they quit than collapse, or worse.

All the player withdrawals aside, Novak Djokovic's path to a gold medal is surprisingly difficult. In the 2nd Round, he could face big serve+big forehand Jan-Lennard Struff, a chronic underachiever (imo), someone who might put it all together in any given match. In R3, Novak could face Musetti, who took the first 2 sets off him at Roland Garros. After that, he could face Rublev (currently #7) in the quarters, #5 Zverev in the semis, and #2 Medvedev in the final -- yikes! As tough as his draw is, I still think Novak's biggest challenge will be the sweltering heat & humidity because Novak struggles more than most in the heat. His ATG (all time great) status might get his matches scheduled in the evening, when he won't have to deal with the sun (although it'll still be swampy humid), but who knows?

Getting abandoned must be so traumatic for dogs. I think of the stress the big fella would have suffered had you not been there to rescue him. On behalf of dog lovers everywhere, thank you for everything you did for him. You mentioned the couple who adopted him live fairly nearby. Hopefully you'll run into him/them one day and see how he's doing. I'm sure he'll remember you.

I've lived in two gayborhoods, NYC's West Village (in the mid-1980s) and Boston's South End (1988-2000). Well, at least they used to be gayborhoods when I lived there. Now they're just neighborhoods for anyone with enough $$$ to afford the eye-popping prices. Funny enough, a straight coworker who also lived in the South End used to complain far more than I ever did about how the gayborhood was disappearing & all the straights were moving in.

Steffi Graf won the Golden Slam (all 4 majors plus the Olympic gold medal in 1 calendar year) in 1988, but no man has ever done it. The only two men to win the Grand Slam are Don Budge and Rod Laver, but tennis was not an Olympic sport between 1924 & 1988. Besides, 1938 & 1969 weren't Olympic years. Philippe Chatrier, former head of the French Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation, was the driving force behind tennis's reinstatement in the Olympics. He thought that by making tennis an Olympic sport, the old Soviet Union and Soviet bloc countries would develop tennis much more because they valued the Olympics so highly. He turned out to be right. The old Soviet Union wasn't much of a tennis country back in the day, but Russia currently has 4 players in the top 25, including the #2 & #7.

In tennis, the players are dropping like flies: some because they don't want to deal with all the restrictions (many players report that living in a bubble is really stressful) and the empty stadium, some because they're injured (Federer, Berrettini) and some because they tested positive for Covid & are barred from competition (DeMinaur). While the men's field (sorry, don't follow the women as closely) has many notable absences, the singles draw is still pretty strong, featuring Novak, Tsitsipas, and the Russians (Medvedev, Rublev, Khachanov, Karatsev). I think one factor for some players' decision to withdraw is that the Olympics don't matter as much in tennis. Sure, an Olympic medal would be nice, but the four Slams remain the summit of achievement in the sport. For example, Denis Shapovalov gladly put up with all the bubble restrictions at Wimbledon (all players were confined to one hotel, not allowed to leave except to go to the AELTC, the bus ride to the AELTC took 1.5 hours, no private transportation allowed, limited entourages, no contact allowed with family/friends attending) because after all, it's Wimbledon. But he said he couldn't deal with the bubble restrictions in Tokyo. Some exceptions of course : Novak desperately wants an Olympic gold medal for Serbia, Tsitsipas is very excited about representing Greece, and for the Russians the Olympics are huge, as big if not bigger than the Slams. I doubt other sports are suffering as many withdrawals because in most sports the Olympics are the summit of achievement. Whereas tennis players almost unanimously would pick a Wimbledon title over Olympic gold, sports like track & field, swimming & diving, gymnastics, etc. don't have anything like Wimbledon. The Olympics are it for them. As for my pick for the gold medal, it's between Novak and Medvedev. Novak in normal conditions would be the overwhelming favorite because he's won the last 3 Slams, trouncing Medvedev in the Australian Open final. But Tokyo will be sweltering (temps in the 90s with very high humidity), and Novak struggles more than most in the heat. Mind you, I'm not sure how well Medvedev deals with extreme heat & humidity, just know that Novak will not be at his best.