Anyone forTennis.......Wimbledon 2013

[amateur51]

Aren't they all?

Amusing piece in the Grauniad today about female 'grunters' - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013...aria-sharapova

Do the men grunt as much, or is it only the women? If the men do, are women criticised for it because it's not 'lady like'? & do women do it to show that they are putting a lot of effort into playing & therefore deserve equal prize money with men?

Murray grunts, Hewitt grunts, lots of men grunt but not many people complain - is that because male grunting is heard as 'effortful' and female grunting is heard as 'excessive'? Dissertation topic- "Sexism and gender-based grunting in tennis"

[amateur51]

Women would deserve equal prize money if they played an equal number of sets. Simple.

On the other hand it could be argued that the women's game is more concentrated, more focussed, less tolerance of early error

I enjoy more women's matches than I enjoy men's matches because there are more rallies If as many people turn up to watch women's matches as they do for men's matches, and if the ticket prices are the same, then surely the case for equal prize money is clear

[amateur51]

She seems reluctant to take up a challenge from Andy Murray though

Maybe she wants Billie Jean to have first pop

[Sir Velo]

Murray grunts, Hewitt grunts, lots of men grunt but not many people complain - is that because male grunting is heard as 'effortful' and female grunting is heard as 'excessive'? Dissertation topic- "Sexism and gender-based grunting in tennis"

Point of order: watched match between Johansson and Radwanska: not a grunt to be heard. Conclusion: grunting is not a physiological sine qua non of hitting a tennis ball with power, but a cynical ploy hatched up to put off opponents. Anyone who watched Sharapova and her opponent would have seen large sections of the crowd barely able to contain their mirth as both parties appeared to engage in a spontaneous attempt to audition for a seventies porn movie with their sound effects.

[amateur51]

Point of order: watched match between Johansson and Radwanska: not a grunt to be heard. Conclusion: grunting is not a physiological sine qua non of hitting a tennis ball with power, but a cynical ploy hatched up to put off opponents. Anyone who watched Sharapova and her opponent would have seen large sections of the crowd barely able to contain their mirth as both parties appeared to engage in a spontaneous attempt to audition for a seventies porn movie with their sound effects.

I asserted that many men grunted, something I have observed. I bow to you superior knowledge re seventies porn movies.

Oddly enough, I can enjoy watching the tennis with the commentary volume turned right down while there is play, turning it up only to catch the informed comments of McEnroe et al in the intervals..

[Sir Velo]

I asserted that many men grunted, something I have observed. I bow to you superior knowledge re seventies porn movies.

Oddly enough, I can enjoy watching the tennis with the commentary volume turned right down while there is play, turning it up only to catch the informed comments of McEnroe et al in the intervals..

Generally McEnroe's comments are all you hear as he rarely lets his co-commentators get more than the passing word in edgeways IME. Poor old Tracy Austin looked around nervously like a startled rabbit everytime she started to speak in case Mac was about to muscle in with one of his 'cracks.

[Nick Armstrong]

I posted this on the 'Bloody News' thread but it's just as relevant here...

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?8290-The-bloody-news&p=308006#post308006

[Anna]

I see Laura Robson is through - which is good, but Andy Murray is still playing and likely to get through. I wonder why people don't like him, is it because he's Scottish and dour or that he's not a glamourous pretty boy (like, was it Agassi that had everyone swooning back in the day?)
As to the grunting, I've never seen a 1970s porn movie but if I did watch tennis I'd just turn the sound of grunts off. I think Ams' thesis on gender based grunting is basically very sound.

[Padraig]

Well done Laura, not least for refraining from squealing, but more for a convincing win in straight sets!

Anna, please use your influence with Caliban to discourage him from using multiple threads simultaneously; and when you have him in appropriately receptive listening mode, remind him that that name is Rafferty. Sean Rafferty.

[Nick Armstrong]

Rafferty. Sean Rafferty.

Licensed to chatter...

[Anna]

Anna, please use your influence with Caliban to discourage him from using multiple threads simultaneously; and when you have him in appropriately receptive listening mode, remind him that that name is Rafferty. Sean Rafferty.

I have no influence over Rumpole - Oh, I've tried, I've tried .......... but he just goes his own sweet way, he's a bit of a blithe spirit, a grasshopper flitting from thread to thread, a dragonfly hovering, now you see his iridescent darkness - now you don't!

[Padraig]

Licensed to chatter...

......and always in tune.

[Padraig]

I have no influence over Rumpole - Oh, I've tried, I've tried .......... but he just goes his own sweet way, he's a bit of a blithe spirit, a grasshopper flitting from thread to thread, a dragonfly hovering, now you see his iridescent darkness - now you don't!

Sounds like a case for Swatman/

[teamsaint]

Well done Laura, not least for refraining from squealing, but more for a convincing win in straight sets!

Anna, please use your influence with Caliban to discourage him from using multiple threads simultaneously; and when you have him in appropriately receptive listening mode, remind him that that name is Rafferty. Sean Rafferty.

well yes, that is an abbreviated version of his full moniker.........

[french frank]

That's Andy through, then, 6-2 6-4 7-5.