Roddick/Federer

[JTWood]

Yeah this has truly been incredible. Somewhere, JTWood is screeching like a little school girl.

It certainly was an amazing match.

You really have to feel for a guy that only loses his serve once, while breaking his opponent twice, and still loses.

In the end, though, it was the four, missed set points that were Roddick's undoing.

What a way to claim the all-time grand slam record, eh?

[JTWood]

Boy you guys really can't read can you. In the last five years tennis has consistently produced the most exciting and epic events in sports. I never once said that the match yesterday was the single most exciting event of the last five years.

It would be much more exciting and epic if it wasn't tennis.

I don't think you can argue with the epic nature of some of these recent tennis matches. They've been simply astounding.

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

[Yoda]

Americans don't care about tennis right now because no American is dominating.

[Inukchuk]

To be completely honest though, the more I read through this thread, the more I'd like to see the match despite the fact that I know nothing about tennis.

[Tavish]

Boy you guys really can't read can you. In the last five years tennis has consistently produced the most exciting and epic events in sports. I never once said that the match yesterday was the single most exciting event of the last five years.

It would be much more exciting and epic if it wasn't tennis.

I don't think you can argue with the epic nature of some of these recent tennis matches. They've been simply astounding.

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

Its not even so much that for me anymore. Golf has that same design and does fairly well for drama and holding viewers attention. I used to love watching tennis, but both the Men's and Women's final this year was the perfect microcosm for why I can't stand watching high level tennis anymore (particularly mens).

5 hours of nonreturnable serves just doesn't hold my interest. Its arena league football without the cheerleaders.

[The Artful Dodger]

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

I think the "instant hero" bit is just one of the symptoms, not the cause as to why certain sports don't catch on in America. In general, Americans have short attention spans. What's presented on the field has to be simple, straightforward, and there has to be something considered eventful for every 10 seconds that elapses. Even the commercials that air during televised sporting events and the way replays are presented are meant to retain your attention. What's more, if a deep understanding of the game entails that one has to "keep their eye off the ball", then most Americans won't bother with it. Soccer is the finest example as to why it doesn't catch on in America. Most people will interpret the action by who has the ball, but don't peer around at the rest of the pitch to see the game within the game, and the width of the field doesn't help matters. However, I do think tennis has more promise as a sport that will be regularly viewed in America because of its simplicity and the idea that something is happening every second or so.

[JTWood]

I don't think you can argue with the epic nature of some of these recent tennis matches. They've been simply astounding.

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

Its not even so much that for me anymore. Golf has that same design and does fairly well for drama and holding viewers attention. I used to love watching tennis, but both the Men's and Women's final this year was the perfect microcosm for why I can't stand watching high level tennis anymore (particularly mens).

5 hours of nonreturnable serves just doesn't hold my interest. Its arena league football without the cheerleaders.

I've never understood what's appealing about watching golf. It's like watching tennis insomuch as it's easier to appreciate if you understand how complicated the shots are. Except, instead of hundreds of strokes, you get dozens of them. It's super slow tennis with a nice backdrop and no one to return your 350-yard drive.

[Yoda]

That is a good point on the serves. While exciting, it was sort of stupid that Federer had like 40 aces in the final set.

[Metroid]

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

I think the "instant hero" bit is just one of the symptoms, not the cause as to why certain sports don't catch on in America. In general, Americans have short attention spans. What's presented on the field has to be simple, straightforward, and there has to be something considered eventful for every 10 seconds that elapses. Even the commercials that air during televised sporting events and the way replays are presented are meant to retain your attention. What's more, if a deep understanding of the game entails that one has to "keep their eye off the ball", then most Americans won't bother with it. Soccer is the finest example as to why it doesn't catch on in America. Most people will interpret the action by who has the ball, but don't peer around at the rest of the pitch to see the game within the game, and the width of the field doesn't help matters. However, I do think tennis has more promise as a sport that will be regularly viewed in America because of its simplicity and the idea that something is happening every second or so.

I'm not sure you could sound any more condescending, go ahead and try though...I'll wait.

[Tavish]

Tennis will never be exciting, though. It lacks the one thing that any sport must have to be considered exciting in America:

The instant hero.

If you can't win or lose the entire game/match/round/whatever in one, instantaneous moment, Americans will never fully appreciate the sport. That's why hockey, tennis, and soccer won't catch on here in the States nearly to the same extent that they do in other parts of the world.

I think the "instant hero" bit is just one of the symptoms, not the cause as to why certain sports don't catch on in America. In general, Americans have short attention spans. What's presented on the field has to be simple, straightforward, and there has to be something considered eventful for every 10 seconds that elapses. Even the commercials that air during televised sporting events and the way replays are presented are meant to retain your attention. What's more, if a deep understanding of the game entails that one has to "keep their eye off the ball", then most Americans won't bother with it. Soccer is the finest example as to why it doesn't catch on in America. Most people will interpret the action by who has the ball, but don't peer around at the rest of the pitch to see the game within the game, and the width of the field doesn't help matters. However, I do think tennis has more promise as a sport that will be regularly viewed in America because of its simplicity and the idea that something is happening every second or so.

I'm not sure you could sound any more condescending, go ahead and try though...I'll wait.

At least you made it through it. It bored me after two sentences so I went elsewhere.