McEnroe could explode at umpires but I can't recall him doing anything near as bad as Serena's appalling behaviour in this tournament. There was more devil in him than anything else. Nor Nastase, who was more of a jester on court than truly unsporting. Nobody can seriously dispute Serena's status as a great tennis player, but a champion can't do what she did. No excuses - she was wrong and should admit it rather than hiding behind an ism.

Serena Williams' nursery tantrum was truly cringeworthy. Never mind praising the other girl later, she'd already ruined her day. As you say Hoy the focus on various isms since is a bad joke, and if she's apologised to the umpire I've missed it.

Even the praising of Osaka seemed a bit “look at me, how wonderful I am”.

Greetings Kiwi.

Did you watch any of the rugby this weekend? The plot line is becoming rather monotonous. Rampant All Black, and haplesd boks and Aussis. The boks actually remind me of arsenal somehow. One senses that a massive dose of laxatives is just about the only thing that might work.

I can see Argentina beating australia in Argentina, and the log ending up with NZ with a 100% record and the rest all tied for last ...

Sorry to say on this occasion Serena comes across as a very privileged and powerful individual who couldn't accept the umpire's decision when she was losing a tennis match. She compounds matters by then creating the smokescreen of sexism to cover her dreadful on-court behaviour. It is what it is - poor sportswomanship. La Bueno was fiery but she would never have let her standards drop so low.

Gidday Decaf

..... no not much . The All Blacks were playing at the same time as the NZ Warriors rugby league were taking on the Penrith Panthers in the knock out stages of the Aussie rugby league competition . Seeing as it was 'only' Argentina I opted more of the latter and then the Sydney Roosters were doing battle at the same time as Oz v Boks so never saw any of that .
The Argies acquitted themselves well although we 'd blooded about six newcomers .

The "monotonous" plot is in my humble opinion of your own making .

South Africa has had a disproportional say in how the Super 15 is set up .... citing travel cost etc etc you've installed yourself in a cosy little conference with the Agentinian entry and the Japanese Sunwolves [ the latter pretty hopeless ]

This competition hones the skills of future All Blacks , Boks and Wallabies

It's like Arsenal playing in a league with Southampton , West Ham , Newcastle , Swindon , Hereford and Leyton Orient each year
and expecting massive improvement .

Can't remember the exact details but the son who follows it avidly ...[ not Granty Boy ; he wouldn't know the difference between rugby and ping pong ]

.. told me the SA finalist last year never played one Kiwi team in the run up and this year the Lions [ ?] made the final had less points than the fourth and fifth Kiwi teams .

The arse backwards way the competition is set up the top two of each conference goes through plus a couple of lucky losers ...something like that ,
which ensures SA and Australian participation in the finals to appease the 'money ' men and televison audiences from those countries even when their teams haven't neccesarily earned the right .

Kiwi teams are stronger in the first place so playing each other more often increases the divide between us and you .

Australia suffers in the same way
Think in the last forty odd encounters the Aussie teams have scored one win over a Kiwi team .

Plus we have a very very very good coach ....Steve Hansen would have to be the best ever .

Fair enough omoh. When I saw it was cringeworthy. Born out of frustration no doubt. I assume it will be put behind her. It won't permanently tarnish her legacy.

Very happy for the winner though. The media is trying to make her the ambassador for Japanese tennis. Born in Japan, but left at age 3. She's culturally Haitian American like so many others in Miami where she lived with the Haitian side of her family. She politely sidesteps it.

Hi Kiwi,

You clearly have excellent underage structures and coaching. You also have the advantage that any really talented kid will play rugby, whereas in most countries other sports cone into it. And maybe most importantly of all you had one of the greatest No.10s in history and when he retired, his replacement turned out to be another genius. Like having Pele in your team and once he hangs his boots up you get Messi.

Hi Kiwi,

You clearly have excellent underage structures and coaching. You also have the advantage that any really talented kid will play rugby, whereas in most countries other sports cone into it. And maybe most importantly of all you had one of the greatest No.10s in history and when he retired, his replacement turned out to be another genius. Like having Pele in your team and once he hangs his boots up you get Messi.

Even the praising of Osaka seemed a bit “look at me, how wonderful I am”.

All true Dec .... Liam Messam used to play soccer with two of my kids till he was about thirteen then switched to rugby , second bloke you refer to ; Beauden Barrett did the same .

More money , much higher profile for our rugby players .

Represented NZ at soccer ...oh yeah ... yawn ....... he was an All Black ...wow


Guy who works at the Op Shop is an ex All Black .. Hika Ried .... he did a bit of coaching in Ireland for a club supported by some well heeled Irish building contractor Ray O' Rourke ....who now shouts him and his wife first class air fares , top accomodation , tickets to all the games at every world cup .

You don't address my point. Has there been consistency? This was like a ref who suddenly decided to go gung-ho with yellows. Sometime de-escalation is the thing to do.

Also, I was very surprised that you manage to argue that McEnroe and Nastasie were not worse. That sort of justification is exactly what causes the perception of sexism.

Evening Decaf

Chris Evert commented something to the effect of that while you see male tennis players breaking these sort of rules and getting code violations, they almost always rein it in before they get docked a game. Serena lost it completely. What is the official supposed to do when he's called a liar and a theif?
Quite interesting too that the male players being cited are McEnroe and Nastase - who were in their prime about 40 years ago! Couldn't they think of anybody more contemporary?

Quite interesting too that the male players being cited are McEnroe and Nastase - who were in their prime about 40 years ago! Couldn't they think of anybody more contemporary?

Ahhh but you don't understand old people Brom ............. Mac , Nasty it seems but yesterday plus the mention of them shows his expansive knowledge of the tennis world ...hoping to pitch a bit out of your league so to speak .

Oldies have no idea what they had for lunch two hours previous but total recall for events from fifty / sixty years back .

Bet Old Man is searching through his clippings in the attic this minute to see if "Big" Bill Tilden or Jean Borotra had any disagreements with officials .

You want something a little more modern ; how about Jeff Tarango https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzQ2-EwgdXQ

Oh there wasn't just Jeff Tarango. Here's a list.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com ... story/amp/

He ABSOLUTELY bossed the Midfield.

He is an exceptional player, in the right system.

And if the Island Monkeys in England can't see that, well...that's because most of them are monkeys.

Quite good at throwing their own *%^@ around, but as for football?

Ha ha. The English thought Wenger had new ideas!

He ABSOLUTELY bossed the Midfield.

He is an exceptional player, in the right system.

And if the Island Monkeys in England can't see that, well...that's because most of them are monkeys.

Quite good at throwing their own sh.it around, but as for football?

Ha ha. The English thought Wenger had new ideas!

Hmmm ........ well if he is this reincarnated Roy Keane / Patrick Vieira combo ....how come the Arsenal midfield gets steamrolled more often than not .

Jesus wept, if a "Roy Keane / Patrick Vieira combo" is your starting point for judging midfielders, are you sure your expectations are high enough?

Hmmm ........ well if he is this reincarnated Roy Keane / Patrick Vieira combo ....how come the Arsenal midfield gets steamrolled more often than not .

I think you're right about Xhaka, Babu. One of the players I've read most utter claptrap about on this forum, although I exclude the likes of Hazuki from that observation. I'm not sure the people I don't exclude from it are all English though.

He is far from being exceptional. He wouldn't make the first 11 for any of the other top 6 clubs.

In the right system he would. Dyer has played plenty of games in midfield for Tottenham and I think Xhaka is comfortably better than him.

What is the right system? And what is even his best position? It's definitely not defensive midfielder (a role that Dier is far superior at). It's not box to box midfielder as he doesn't have the pace or athleticism. Lomekian has suggested a Pirlo type role but he is simply miles away from being that good. Can he play a position like Eriksen or David Silva? Not to their level. So a sort of neat and tidy continuity player?

You had ample opportunity to 'toughen up' in the states...lol.
Dodge ball...sadistic PE teachers is a cliche. A lot of them former marines. Girls weren't immune either. Girls would often feign cramps, etc, and many a PE teacher sent them to the nurse for a note knowing they probably didn't even have their first period yet. Girls hated dodge ball because it was co-ed and nerdish, bookish girls got beaned in the head. Dodge ball was revenge time. The class bully was either doing most of the hitting or getting hit. No middle ground. I've seen teammates of class bullies get out of the way and give the other side free reign on him..haha.

What makes these things far worse these days in the era of snowflakes (per you Babu) is that the students are much, much bigger. Did you see LeBron James in HS? There is a reason he could go straight to pros and handle the physicality. 2 or 3 generations of families eating steroid enriched meat has produced some man-boys.

HS football is now big business. These kids are huge, quick as cats and strong as oxes.

Babu mentioned a midfield of Torreira, Xhaka and Ramsey working. My guess is that this may well be Ramsey's last season due to his contract situation. But I can see Torreira, Xhaka and Guendouzi also working.

Emery is using Ramsey further forward. I would like to see a midfield combo of Xhaka, Torreira, and Guendouzi. Should make us a bit more solid defensively. Guendouzi could be the new Ray Parlour.

I'd say Guendouzi is technically a lot more gifted than Parlour.

Wot? The Romford Pele? Surely not.

All points bulletin out for Hodd. Where have you been hiding? Big changes at The Arsenal. Emery's era has begun and not a peep. Report in!