I am a huge tennis fan. HUGE. I border on mildly obsessed at times. Back in the day I was known to be watching it whenever it was on tv. Nowadays I am often not home to watch all of those matches, but I try to at least TiVo the finals and I general know what is going on. I used to read Tennis Magazine religiously and could have spouted off information about any player like a seasoned commentator.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because I think tennis is one of the best sports there are. I was prompted to blog about it because I just watched Game 3 on the NBA finals and I was reminded again about a total pet peeve of mine:
I hate the last 20 seconds or so of most sporting events.
The Lakers had the ball with about 21 seconds to go and the commentators were freaking out that the Celtics were not fouling them. It happened the other night, too. The Lakers made a come back and they were saying how they just needed to keep fouling to make them shoot, stop the clock, etc. Ok...how often does that actually work? And I don't mean that in a "you should ever stop trying to win" way, but really-the fouling at the end of the game play is so annoying. Props to Boston for not pulling that shitty play tonight.
And the reason I brought up tennis is because the game is roughly the same until the end of the match. Sure, things will change depending on how tired the players are or the weather or something, but it's not like Andy Murray gets to 6-4 6-3 5-2 and then plays an entirely different game where his tactic is to get penalties called on his opponent. The closest likeness to the Fouling play in basketball is either 1) like when Martina Hingis served underhand in the French (?) Open years ago or 2) playing all drop shots in the last game. But in scenario 1 she was booed like whoa because it's super lame to do that! (just like fouling is super lame in the last few seconds of the game) and 2 at least the drop shot is an often-utilized shot.
I also hate it in football when, in the last few moments of the game, the QB downs the ball each time to run out the clock. But even that makes more sense to me than the bball play since they run the risk of an interception if they try to run or pass the football. In bball though, if you foul them, they get to take 2 shots* and they're usually going to make it! So yeah, then you either try to get the rebound or get the ball, but the defense is gonna be hella crazy. It just irks me. Can we make a rule that the fouling play can only be used if a team is 3 points or fewer behind?
Thank you.
*I do know the rules...usually in the last moments of the game they're going to be shooting for the called fouls.
5 comments:
I am gender biased about my sports.
I love women's tennis.
I love men's basketball.
Don't make me watch men's tennis or women's basketball because I'll spend the whole time pouting.
No idea why.
That's because women's basketball should only be played in schools. It's a terrible sport that never should have been made professional.
I disagree re: men's tennis, but I can see why you'd prefer the women's matches-they're usually more varied.
As a spectator, I hate the intentional walk in baseball. Ug! Even if it does make sense strategically. And I totally agree about the downing the ball. GR! Just play!
The fouling strategy rarely works, but it certainly did for Kansas in the national champ. game against Memphis this year. Incredible ending.
Remember when Michael Chang served underhand in the French? I think it was against Lendl, and he had really bad leg cramps. I don't think he got booed.
Ha, I never watch college bball. I hate it more than women's golf;)
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