Topic: 2012 Olympics Men's Singles Gold - First Take

[FedFanForever]

Nadal is OUT of the Olympics!

[oracle86]

Nadal is OUT of the Olympics!

So Fed and Nole will be in opposite halves of the draw. I wonder in which side will Murray end up.

[Start da Game]

so now even the olympic tennis championships begins without its defending champion.........absolutely pathetic........this edition is now an event of zero credibility without its defending champion.........
 
it would be truly the most heinous thing of 2012 if flukerer is to gain a strength of 100 lions in the absence of his nemesis and grunt over the chicken arse fighters murray and djokovic in indoor conditions........

whoever wins the olympic gold must have an asterix sign embedded in the medal.........there is no doubt about it........tennis without nadal is a total joke........

[oracle86]

Nadal isn't fit to play.  How on earth is it Federer's fault?  If you want to blame someone, then blame Nadal. Blame his high intensity style of play for ruining his body. Blame his bloated clay schedule. [Isn't there a pattern here? Rafa gets injured mostly after Roland Garros].

There are no asterisks in tennis.

[pawan89]

Some posters on this forum really help me work on my patience. It's awesome 

[Dallas]

Nadal isn't fit to play.  How on earth is it Federer's fault?  If you want to blame someone, then blame Nadal. Blame his high intensity style of play for ruining his body. Blame his bloated clay schedule. [Isn't there a pattern here? Rafa gets injured mostly after Roland Garros].

There are no asterisks in tennis.

Bravo!!!!!!

[monstertruck]

Some posters on this forum really help me work on my patience. It's awesome 

I know what you mean, Freebird, Dallas, and Alex, can all be very annoying....

[phoneix]

When Nadal retires, will every event have an asterisk next to it?

[swish]

so now even the olympic tennis championships begins without its defending champion.........absolutely pathetic........this edition is now an event of zero credibility without its defending champion.........
 
it would be truly the most heinous thing of 2012 if flukerer is to gain a strength of 100 lions in the absence of his nemesis and grunt over the chicken arse fighters murray and djokovic in indoor conditions........

whoever wins the olympic gold must have an asterix sign embedded in the medal.........there is no doubt about it........tennis without nadal is a total joke........

Scheduling in the right way is part of tennis, make the wrong decisions and you pay.
Don't listen to your body and you pay.
 
 
 
Fed will have a chance to have a gold in both doubles and singles.
 
 

[FreeBird]

Some posters on this forum really help me work on my patience. It's awesome 

Whasup Dr P!

Zero credibility is indeed the operative phrase, but it has nothing to do with the state of Olympic tennis with or without Rafa.  Tough business when one's wishes clash so violently with reality.

[FreeBird]

When Nadal retires, will every event have an asterisk next to it?

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to cancel any event in which Rafa is unable to compete due to injury.  I mean, the result has zero credibility otherwise.  I'm sure the fans will understand - after all, they're only there to root on Rafa anyway...

[Start da Game]

yeah go on keep mocking........keep believing that a big tournament without its defending champion is just as good and as strong........

when djokovic lost all of a sudden in RG 2011, its people like you who jumped in and said that nadal was lucky to have won that roland garros........the funny thing is that they claimed it baseless without even having any past examples of djokovic's dominance over rafa in roland garros and now when i am just saying this based on nadal's great olympic history and certainly a win over djokovic there, the same people jump on me........ 

[FedFanForever]

yeah go on keep mocking........keep believing that a big tournament without its defending champion is just as good and as strong........

when djokovic lost all of a sudden in RG 2011, its people like you who jumped in and said that nadal was lucky to have won that roland garros........the funny thing is that they claimed it baseless without even having any past examples of djokovic's dominance over rafa in roland garros and now when i am just saying this based on nadal's great olympic history and certainly a win over djokovic there, the same people jump on me........

Shankar - nobody really cares what you think.

[FreeBird]

yeah go on keep mocking........keep believing that a big tournament without its defending champion is just as good and as strong........

when djokovic lost all of a sudden in RG 2011, its people like you who jumped in and said that nadal was lucky to have won that roland garros........the funny thing is that they claimed it baseless without even having any past examples of djokovic's dominance over rafa in roland garros and now when i am just saying this based on nadal's great olympic history and certainly a win over djokovic there, the same people jump on me........

As far as whether the field is 'stonger' with Nadal in it, it comes down to whether he's really injured.  I'm simply taking him at his word, he really is injured and unable to compete near his optimal level.  Could he beat some lower level players injured?  Sure.  But is the field 'stronger' with an injured Rafa in it?  At the top level, probably not.  Note that I'm not talking about a healthy Nadal, because that doesn't exist at the current time.

As far as whether it makes a difference if the defending champion is in the draw, you need look no further than the 2008 Olympics (wait!  Isn't that the one Rafa won??), when Massu needed a wildcard to defend his 2004 Gold.  You tell me - did that wildcard for Massu make a difference in Rafa's 2008 Gold?

I don't recall dissing Rafa's 2011 French title, feel free to prove me wrong.  But I can certainly see being tempted to use the argument as an example of using your own twisted logic against you, since that's a line you seem to parrot on a regular basis. 

[FreeBird]

Shankar - nobody really cares what you think.

I must confess some interest, sort of a fascination with what amounts to a logical train wreck. Apologies for indulging my weakness....

[RainerShuttle]

I haven't been here for a while but who is this Start da Game ass clown?
Shame that Rafa isn't going to be at the Olympics and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the strong anti-doping tests they have. Just hope he gets well soon so he can lose early at the USO and see what other excuses are made for this. Some Nadal fans are way worse than Fed fans.

[phoneix]

Something to think about: only once has any played defended any medal in Olympic tennis (Fernando Gonzalez defending Bronze).

[Tennis4you]

When Nadal retires, will every event have an asterisk next to it?

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to cancel any event in which Rafa is unable to compete due to injury.  I mean, the result has zero credibility otherwise.  I'm sure the fans will understand - after all, they're only there to root on Rafa anyway...

Personally I thought they should have canceled Wimbledon after Nadal lost in round 2. 

[monstertruck]

Who let the dogs out?

[Start da Game]

yeah go on keep mocking........keep believing that a big tournament without its defending champion is just as good and as strong........

when djokovic lost all of a sudden in RG 2011, its people like you who jumped in and said that nadal was lucky to have won that roland garros........the funny thing is that they claimed it baseless without even having any past examples of djokovic's dominance over rafa in roland garros and now when i am just saying this based on nadal's great olympic history and certainly a win over djokovic there, the same people jump on me........

As far as whether the field is 'stonger' with Nadal in it, it comes down to whether he's really injured.  I'm simply taking him at his word, he really is injured and unable to compete near his optimal level.  Could he beat some lower level players injured?  Sure.  But is the field 'stronger' with an injured Rafa in it?  At the top level, probably not.  Note that I'm not talking about a healthy Nadal, because that doesn't exist at the current time.

As far as whether it makes a difference if the defending champion is in the draw, you need look no further than the 2008 Olympics (wait!  Isn't that the one Rafa won??), when Massu needed a wildcard to defend his 2004 Gold.  You tell me - did that wildcard for Massu make a difference in Rafa's 2008 Gold?

I don't recall dissing Rafa's 2011 French title, feel free to prove me wrong.  But I can certainly see being tempted to use the argument as an example of using your own twisted logic against you, since that's a line you seem to parrot on a regular basis.

yes you aren't talking of healthy nadal and that's exactly my point.......the bottom line is nadal not being healthy clearly weakens the field........

you compare massu who was not even in the top 20 contenders for gold at 2008 olympics to nadal who was a clear cut top contender at 2012 and defending champion.........i have heard it all now........