First Blog

Tennis in 2017.  I am well into a study of tennis professionals, looking over their careers.  Here are some preliminary conclusions.  They may apply to your very own world – particularly if you vie for a top spot at whatever you do.  Looking at top-100 ranked pros over the last twenty years, we note there are only four hovering at the top.  They are Andy Murray (now #1), Novac Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.  Also we include Stan Warinka, currently ranked #3. Here are a couple of observations about the top players.  All entered the top 100 in the lower half.  (Many were ranked below number 100 for a year or so after turning pro.)  These four have been at the top for years now. All rankings are based strictly on tournament performance and how they performed.  Sports writers notwithstanding, did not play a role. After a season or two with low rankings they emerged to the very top echelon right away.  They stayed there year-after-year. For example, from 2005 to pre

Blender politics.  We are in an era of extremes in views, in actions, and in opinions.  Appointees seem far more political than ever before. They are not shy about expression of beliefs.  But all seem more subject to the turbulence created by variations in power.  The result is what I call “blender politics” wherein personalities are chewed up by events beyond their direct control or by minor mistakes.  Michael Flynn was the first, though he participated in his own chopping.   Thrown under the bus was an affectation used for many Obama appointees.   We await post-Obama bus crushees; perhaps Susan Rice may be the first, maybe even for the blender treatment.   For Trump, it seems all are sitting in their own personal blender awaiting the switch to be turned on. Time will tell.   

April 1, 2017.  Modern tennis.  I’ve been watching professional tennis for decades.  Oh, the days of Rosewall, Laver, Ashe and others.  Those were the days! One thing I always noted was that pro tennis players were the models of decorum.  Until, that is, the time of Jimmy Conners, a rather emotional player, and John McEnroe, a player given to temper.  They were the exceptions at the very top. On the whole, emotional reservation of players was the rule.  But lately, we see younger players expressing extreme emotions on the court.  Case in point: Federer (age 35, and old with established talent) vs Grygio (age 21, and young with great talent) at the Miami Open, 2017.   Loud swearing is common.   Breaking tennis rackets is everyday.   It is something like the frustrated player, bothered by poor playing or bad luck, can deflect the blame onto his racket by smashing it.   I think we see this in our younger generation, using violence to express frustration if their situation is not as d