[Jesse Pentecost] Small Miracles

[tented]

In "Small Miracles" Jesse Pentecost discusses the Paris Masters quarterfinals.

 

[Kieran]

Very good. Very, very good! We're on a roll today with excellent blog posts, including El Dude's.

But it's testy too, isn't it? Or rather, it's provocative. I mean, what's the point in watching tennis if you're not partisan? We're not watching paintings hanging on a museum wall, we're watching flesh and blood men trying to hammer each other, and from this we get vicariously involved. So to call tennis fans "dullards" because they love one and hate another is to miss the point of being a fan, in my opinion. I never watch a tennis match from a dispassionate position, especially when the top players are involved. This is what brings it even more alive for me. It maybe low-level, etc, but it's part of being a fan. Yes, I love tennis - but it becomes a greater sport for me when I have a horse in the race.

And even sweeter to witness when somebody elses horse gets beaten!

In a sense, all fans are alike: the players names just change. But that's also what makes for a unique atmosphere. Imagine a slam final where the "audience" didn't mind who won or lost, but just enjoyed the aesthetics on display. There'd be polite applause, no crescendo of visceral spleen when your champ's opponent misses a huge sitter, no ripple of barely suppressed animalistic glee at a double fault, no vital roar of satisfaction or collective gasp of prolonged misery at the result.

In fact, it would be like tennis was loved at all!