Tennis

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Mar 13, 2009
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arcus said:
Tennis to announce provisional suspensions in future.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2016/05/25/international-tennis-federation-to-change-anti-doping-procedures/

The headline "International Tennis Federation to change anti-doping procedures to stop the 'silent ban" is misleading, as this does not pertain to what most fans think of as a silent ban.

It refers to announcing adverse analytic findings in advance of a disciplinary tribunal's adjudication that the athlete committed an anti-doping rule violation. This is not at all the same as suspending an athlete for an ADRV, but keeping that sanction secret, a practice that some fans/commentators have speculated about in the past (including Nadal's French former-ministerial pal).

I'm all for increased transparency, but not announcing provisional suspensions in advance of a tribunal is not that big of a step forward, IMHO. I believe there many more impactful things that the ITF could do to augment their anti-doping program.

the biggest surprise is not the silent ban but the fact nadal tested positive in the first place
 
Aug 6, 2011
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"Sooner or later [this] would come up in tennis too,"
(...)
"I think tennis has been very protected for many years."
(...)
"Slowly it's been coming ... [there have been] illegal things in other sports. I'm not surprised that this happened in tennis,"
(...)
"When it comes up it's always a big question mark. But I think it's good; I know that they check the players regularly,"
(...)
"All these question marks, they have to solve those, but I think tennis is one of the cleanest sports anyway."

Great stuff, it's like Omerta 101.

First, mention and incriminate other sports (Others sports are bad)
Second, the good ol' "plenty of tests, they must be clean" (Tennis is good)
And, finally, conclude that it means Tennis is one of the cleanest. (Tennis is much better than other sports)

Oh, sure, he could have condensed that:

"Tennis players are the most frequently tested athletes, it's clean as can be"

But that would advanced Omerta.
 
Jun 22, 2010
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Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.
 
Aug 6, 2011
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BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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WillemS said:
BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.
Exactly, athletes have NEVER been know to lie or make up wild excuses. Good call.
 
Jun 22, 2010
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WillemS said:
BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.

I didn't read the statement, just saw that he withdrew. It's hard to tell sometimes, but, was that sarcasm?
 
Apr 3, 2016
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It almost certainly was sarcasm. Although I didn't see him play his last two matches as frankly I find him incredibly boring to watch, he must have been in great shape to only drop three games to the monster serving groth. I saw his interview after pulling out and wasn't sure whether it was a great tan or he actually was glowing.
 
Apr 14, 2015
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Remmie123 said:
It almost certainly was sarcasm. Although I didn't see him play his last two matches as frankly I find him incredibly boring to watch, he must have been in great shape to only drop three games to the monster serving groth. I saw his interview after pulling out and wasn't sure whether it was a great tan or he actually was glowing.

Brilliant!
 
May 13, 2009
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sniper said:
Squire said:
Borg emerged as one of the fittest players ever in a period when Sweden was pioneering research on blood doping.
Coincidence? Maybe.
In any case, this omerta talk is such a giveaway.

Borg was not just fit with a standing heart rate of 45, he was and maybe still is one of the fastest individuals to ever step on a tennis court. We still can't manufacturer that but the Swedes did put together a nice group of top players at that time.
 
May 13, 2009
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WillemS said:
BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.

He lost a total of 9 games over 6 sets and won both matches in straights. I wish I would have been blessed with such a worthless wrist.
 
Oct 16, 2010
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robow7 said:
sniper said:
Squire said:
Borg emerged as one of the fittest players ever in a period when Sweden was pioneering research on blood doping.
Coincidence? Maybe.
In any case, this omerta talk is such a giveaway.

Borg was not just fit with a standing heart rate of 45, he was and maybe still is one of the fastest individuals to ever step on a tennis court. We still can't manufacturer that but the Swedes did put together a nice group of top players at that time.
i never checked specifically for this, but Ekblom (Swedish physiologist who did famous work on blood doping already in the early 70s) has one publication together with OTC guy Ed Burke from 1982 on tennis. Not about blood doping, but goes to show he was at least interested also in tennis.

Burke E R, Ekblom B.
Influence of fluid ingestion and dehydration on precision and endurance in tennis.
Athletic Training 275
-277, 1982.

Together at a conference:
Burke E, Ekblom B.
Influence of fluid hydration on precision and endurance in tennis.
World Congress Sports Medicine, Wien 1982.

Burke is the guy who (co)organized the 1984 blood doping program for USCF.
 
Aug 6, 2011
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robow7 said:
WillemS said:
BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.

He lost a total of 9 games over 6 sets and won both matches in straights. I wish I would have been blessed with such a worthless wrist.

Yeah, I was being sarcastic, albeit maybe a bit too subtle.

Also, my terminology was off, I meant 'else he wouldn't have lost a single game' with 'straight sets'
 
Mar 13, 2009
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BullsFan22 said:
WillemS said:
BullsFan22 said:
Nadal just withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury. Wonder if it's a silent ban. He looked ok through the first couple matches here. Of course, things can change even when you are resting and recovering, but this seems very strange to me.

No, you're most definitely wrong, haven't you read his statement?

He risks breaking his wrist if he continues and his play showed it; how else did he lose those 9 games in two matches? That clearly indicates he must have been injured, else he would have won both in straight sets.

I didn't read the statement, just saw that he withdrew. It's hard to tell sometimes, but, was that sarcasm?

Poe's law
 
Mar 13, 2009
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robow7 said:
sniper said:
Squire said:
Borg emerged as one of the fittest players ever in a period when Sweden was pioneering research on blood doping.
Coincidence? Maybe.
In any case, this omerta talk is such a giveaway.

Borg was not just fit with a standing heart rate of 45, he was and maybe still is one of the fastest individuals to ever step on a tennis court. We still can't manufacturer that but the Swedes did put together a nice group of top players at that time.

but apart from the Australians, who else played the sport with a national intensity and fervour. The East was yet to enter. South America may have had Vitas and Nastase, but they were yet to enter en mass.

so the sample pool was so minute compared to today
 
May 13, 2009
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blackcat said:
robow7 said:
sniper said:
Squire said:
Borg emerged as one of the fittest players ever in a period when Sweden was pioneering research on blood doping.
Coincidence? Maybe.
In any case, this omerta talk is such a giveaway.

Borg was not just fit with a standing heart rate of 45, he was and maybe still is one of the fastest individuals to ever step on a tennis court. We still can't manufacturer that but the Swedes did put together a nice group of top players at that time.

but apart from the Australians, who else played the sport with a national intensity and fervour. The East was yet to enter. South America may have had Vitas and Nastase, but they were yet to enter en mass.

so the sample pool was so minute compared to today


Nastase was from Romania and there were several eastern block players like Jan Kodes and Tiriac before him but the French and the Italians have always been integral to the sport.