Sunday, July 16, 2017

Class Act

American tennis player Sam Querrey (from our own San Francisco) beat top seeded and 2016 Men’s title holder Andy Murray of Great Britain in this year’s Wimbledon quarter finals. That was a big upset. But Andy’s interview after his loss is a class act.
 
A reporter, questioning Andy about his loss, said: Querrey was the "first US player to reach a Major semi-final since 2009". Andy immediately corrected the reporter. He said: He was the first "male player" to achieve the feat. Let's not forget American Serena Williams has won 14 Grand Slams since January 2009.
 
Something similar happened to Andy last year. When he won the Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics, he was congratulated for being the first tennis player to win 2 gold medals. He said he was the first male tennis player to win 2 gold medals. He added, Venus and Serena Williams have each won 4 gold medals.
 
Can you see how people conveniently forget a word or two to their advantage and that gives a totally different meaning. Andy corrected those erring reporters.
 
Here is another example people conveniently forgetting a word or two to their advantage.
 
In 2016, Sania Mirza tweeted about her achievement of completing 80 consecutive weeks as world’s number one player. Cricket player Sanjay Manjarekar tweeted: No 1 doubles player you mean. Congrats!
 
Sania did not like Manjarekar’s comment. She replied: Since I don't play singles anymore isn't that obvious/common sense? my bad, common sense is not that common after all I guess.
 
Manjarekar replied: Well, you missed out an important detail for someone like me who lacks common sense :)
 
Sania gave a sarcastic reply to that. Clearly!!! So here you go http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/5989813/title/sania-mirza-hits-80-consecutive-weeks-at-world-no1 … .. An article with all the 'important details' .. :)

21 comments:

  1. If Serena Williams played on the men's circuit she would be ranked like 700th in the world. Yeah, I said it. It's the truth and I don't apologize for the truth.

    Then some stupid idiot reporter asked me where I would rank myself.
    I said, at age 58 I'd rank myself around 1200th.

    All class baby!!!!
    All day - Every Day!

    Regards,
    John McEnroe

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    1. Thanks for your comments John. You were a bad boy in your playing days. But as a commentator you were a class act. It was 2008 Wimbledon Men’s Final. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer. The match lasted a gut-wrenching 4 hours and 48 minutes. You praised both players’ mental toughness. You even said we are watching two of the greatest players ever and one of them may be the greatest ever. Knowing both players were emotionally drained, you cut short the post-match interview.

      You are a legend John.

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    2. I saw that match on YouTube. What a match!

      There seemed to be three players: the rain being the third one. The way Federer almost made a comeback, and Rafa then won it....I doubt we will see another one like that in our lifetimes.

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  2. Good One SG....Its annoying when people conveniently forget to provide exact details and have the audacity to not accept when anyone tries to correct.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Dee. You are right. Some point conveniently forget and do not like to be corrected.

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  3. Interesting tidbit on human frailty.Enjoyed reading it.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Mr. KP. I am glad you enjoyed this post.

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  4. Venus and Serena having won four gold medals each is the real class act :)

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. Yup. That's a class act.

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  5. I read about this last week and kudos to Andy. The reporter was taken aback for few seconds; didnt expect that. And about Sania Mirza missing out on the "doubles" detail; many of them thrashed Manjrekar and called him a chauvinist. Now SG, you have quoted 2 cases and they are similar yet so different. In first case; women achievement being ignored and in Sania's case; it was ok for her to miss that important detail.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Insignia. I did not know about Manjrekar being thrashed. Individual hero worship is very common in India. Some people have suggested Sania for Rajya Sabha membership (a la
      Sachin)

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    2. He was being scoffed at for making a big deal out of a "trivial" detail she missed and thus undermining her achievement.

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    3. Thanks for the information Insignia. I do not think it was “trivial”. I think it was very significant and intentional. It is as trivial as a Deputy Prime Minister signing documents leaving the “Deputy” from his title. Same way, a Vice Admiral dropping his Vice. Dropping a vice is good sometimes though. HaHaHa.

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  6. I really liked Andy's response to the journalists on both the occasions. A classy act indeed.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Shilpa. Yes it was a classy act,

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  7. I read the news on Andy Murray's response. That was indeed a classy act. But I didn't like the reporter's response. He tried to make a joke out of it :) Didn't work though.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajlakshmi. That reporter is stupid, me think.

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  8. yes, missing a few crucial words like in Sania's case can twist the facts. people in real life do too conveniently.

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  9. Yes, the responses were indeed class.Some people very conveniently forget or rather try to forget certain facts by avoiding a few basic words.A good topic for discussion.

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  10. Being at that level, Andy's behaviour is certainly inspiring. On the other hand, I am siding with Mr. Manjarekar on the Sania issue. Because a male player too would be judged on the same lines.

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  11. I think, it is easy to handle failure than success and popularity. People often act silly/immature when they are at the peak of their careers. Poor Sania, I hope she grows up soon!

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