Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[tenniscoach1]

this is, of course, very true. Freedom of speech is a very important aspect of any meaningful discussion. The discussions on the forum are rather mundane now. Much of the reason is due to lack of interest and there really isn't anything interesting to discuss since roger federer left the stadium. Much as i suggested so many times in this very thread...the air was sucked out of the balloon. The forum is reduced to a very few posters who have limited experience in tennis and the insights are surface and shallow. It was actually a better place when there was real diversity in multiple strong personalities. Geoffwilliams, bottle, 10splayer, tennis_chiro. Even stotty when he was licensedcoach...before he "changed". Klacr, lobanddropshot and phil a couple of others. There were a bunch of great characters...including hockeyscout. When you have such strict boundaries and the threat of expulsion if you don't comply you dumb it down. Politics and personal stuff is always mixed up in any interesting subject. You cannot expect to weed it completely out and maintain any interest save for the go alongs to get along. All the liking and licking gets a bit boring. Tennis is dumbed down as a matter of fact. Modern tennis views the dropshot as a watershed moment...for example. It has the possibility of breaking up another mind numbing backcourt rally. But the straw that breaks the camel's back here came in the form of a poster who had written a total of four posts and he was calling me out over some hypersensitive moment he was having. All of a sudden i was warned that i had two strikes against me and i wasn't aware of the first one. The monthly articles have maintained a consistent level of interest. My point about the forum still stands. It doesn't matter if you agree or not. You are entitled to think and decide for yourself. All things must pass and it appears that is what happened to the forum.

Some very good points here.

[stroke]

Hey, I have already pleaded with JY to resurrect the "New Years Serve" thread. What else can one do.

[don_budge]

Generally I just show someone the door when they start giving suggestions on how to run things, arguing with my big studs and alpha males who are achieving results or being tattletale’s. Nothing wrong with the group getting political and personal: you get better when you know where everyone stands. The best posters on this board have traditionally been the most political and personal … and, that edge makes everyone better. Best way to handle problems as a coach or manager is to let the room handle it, step back and give your studs runway. A guy like Steve understands this having played baseball and working in real organizations where men act like men and the ladies hold it all together day in and day out by moving mountains.

This is, of course, very true. Freedom of speech is a very important aspect of any meaningful discussion. The discussions on the forum are rather mundane now. Much of the reason is due to lack of interest and there really isn't anything interesting to discuss since Roger Federer left the stadium. Much as I suggested so many times in this very thread...the air was sucked out of the balloon. The forum is reduced to a very few posters who have limited experience in tennis and the insights are surface and shallow. It was actually a better place when there was real diversity in multiple strong personalities. GeoffWilliams, bottle, 10splayer, tennis_chiro. Even stotty when he was licensedcoach...before he "changed". klacr, lobanddropshot and Phil a couple of others. There were a bunch of great characters...including hockeyscout.

When you have such strict boundaries and the threat of expulsion if you don't comply you dumb it down. Politics and personal stuff is always mixed up in any interesting subject. You cannot expect to weed it completely out and maintain any interest save for the go alongs to get along. All the liking and licking gets a bit boring. Tennis is dumbed down as a matter of fact. Modern tennis views the dropshot as a watershed moment...for example. It has the possibility of breaking up another mind numbing backcourt rally. But the straw that breaks the camel's back here came in the form of a poster who had written a total of four posts and he was calling me out over some hypersensitive moment he was having. All of a sudden I was warned that I had two strikes against me and I wasn't aware of the first one.

The monthly articles have maintained a consistent level of interest. My point about the forum still stands. It doesn't matter if you agree or not. You are entitled to think and decide for yourself. All things must pass and it appears that is what happened to the forum.

[tenniscoach1]

It is very difficult to find a great Risk Manager nowadays it seems.

Unlike many … I pay each month instead of viewing the cloned dark web version of the site and using the telegram email bot group that posts every article over the chat group. Not only is a risk manager needed here - but, a Privacy Manager is needed as well. One of the first thing a privacy manager can do is work hand in hand with the coding team and risk management to eliminate the many back doors on this site - a great idea would be a bug bounty program that offer monetary rewards to ethical hackers for who report the bugs/vulnerabilities in this system. This site has great potential with a few million in investment, buying other companies to merge it with and offering more in depth programming, up-selling, lead generation, training, marketing, TikTok and Instagram.

[tenniscoach1]

TC1 thanks for the advice. Are you trying to imply you are gonna sue me now? It's a tennis site--if you want to post your political views or personal attacks there are plenty of places for that--other places.

John - when I think about suing I ask one question - can I crush them, keep them in court forever till someone breaks in a settlement game of chicken, does this business have enough money for me to recover my lawyers fee and discovery/investigation costs and do my risk management people approve the potential loss if I lose?

What would make you think I would sue you ha-ha ... I simply stated a fact you need a risk manager.

[stroke]

It is very difficult to find a great Risk Manager nowadays it seems.

[johnyandell]

TC1 thanks for the advice. Are you trying to imply you are gonna sue me now? It's a tennis site--if you want to post your political views or personal attacks there are plenty of places for that--other places.

[tenniscoach1]

Yep...welcome aboard. But I have some bad news for you...you are late. Late for the party. The forum was once upon a time a different kind of place than it is now. Now it is cancel culture. If your opinion is not on board with the herd...forget about it. So it is best to have a life...golf is a much more interesting sport. I admit...my tennis playing days are over. But tradition still is on my mind. I even wonder how people lived 2,000 years ago when Christianity was introduced to the world. The birth of many of our traditions in the Western world. These are being canceled as well. For a long time I wrote about Roger Federer. I wrote about him as "The Living Proof". As if there was a time when things were actually better. Or not. I was only musing. Just as I was in the post below. Musing about traditionalism versus modernism.

Tennis is a woke sport by definition. All sense of tradition was demolished and what prevailed does not even resemble what it used to be. You cannot stop progress...but remember every invention comes with a curse. Welcome aboard. Now you are entering frontiers unknown. But one look at the modern game of tennis will tell you a thing or two...now that Roger Federer is gone. The Living Proof. It is a dead sport. The forum is further proof of that. All agreeing. Nodding in collective harmony. Diverse opinions are explicitly forbidden. It's weak. Very weak. It's engineered...not evolving. Best of luck. Sincerely. Best of luck.

The fourth post from notibo was brilliant. So was stroke's 3,654th. I'm giving it a like. Both of them. For their sheer brilliance.

Greatest post ever.

[tenniscoach1]

Not really sure what directly you disagree with John?

You do realize what “guidelines” mean?

“Simply put, guidelines are general recommendations; they're not mandatory or required.”

Not sure how the Risk Manager at your site missed informing you of this … you need lawyers to write that properly as any action you take puts the organization at considerable legal and financial risk.

[johnyandell]

TC1,
I couldn't disagree more. Here are the Forum guidelines:

To all Tennisplayer Subscribers,

Welcome to the Forum and the opportunity to discuss everything having to do with the game with your fellow subscribers and our writers and contributors.

The good news is, our subscribers are passionate about tennis. We look forward to hearing you share you questions, comments and thoughts. You are free to agree and disagree as you see fit.

The (ocassionally) bad news is that passion can run rampant, and if you have experience with message boards in general you know that posters often say things in forums that would never pass in person to person communication.

Please be passionate and respectful. Personal attacks are out. Ridicule is out. Denigrating the views of others is out. If necessary, we can all agree to disagree--politely.

Trolls will be subject to ban.

What's a troll? Someone who sows discord by posting inflammatory or inaccurate messages in an online community, with the intent of provoking readers. Someone who refuses to engage in discussion when his views are questioned and cannot offer evidence to support his or her views.

So if you're able to stay in the guidelines fantastic. And if you can't you'll find your posts deleted and/or banned. These guidelines apply to our contributors, myself as well as all subscribers.

John Yandell

[tenniscoach1]

That was an amazing thread. I have to admit, it was captivating being so up close and personal to a certifiable loon. Crazy breeds interest.

[tenniscoach1]

Well the more the merrier but certain threads had gotten too personal/political

Generally I just show someone the door when they start giving suggestions on how to run things, arguing with my big studs and alpha males who are achieving results or being tattletale’s. Nothing wrong with the group getting political and personal: you get better when you know where everyone stands. The best posters on this board have traditionally been the most political and personal … and, that edge makes everyone better. Best way to handle problems as a coach or manager is to let the room handle it, step back and give your studs runway. A guy like Steve understands this having played baseball and working in real organizations where men act like men and the ladies hold it all together day in and day out by moving mountains.

[don_budge]

11,578 views / 475 posts = 24.374 average views per post

[johnyandell]

Well the more the merrier but certain threads had gotten too personal/political

[stroke]

So, you disagree with Don Budge? Why?

Great thought provoking question.