Week 31 - WTA Premier $800K - Carlsbad, CA, USA - Hard

WD40 · Club Coach

RE: Week 31 - WTA Premier $800K - Carlsbad, CA, USA - Hard

philwrig · Hall of fame

From tennis forum:

1st set was mainly down to Petra serving much better, but as match wore on, Petra was winning most of the longer rallies and was looking much fitter than for a long time. Laura also made too many unforced errors, and reacted by monologuing in her usual style.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Madeline wrote:
You surprise me, SC. Even a dinosaur like me knows what that term means.

I'm pleased that I retain the capacity to surprise & terribly sorry if I've disappointed you by revealing what you clearly perceive to be an unpardonable gap in my knowledge of Yank sports-speak (on a British board, for God's sake! disbelief ). Given that I take pride in improving my knowledge of various genuine foreign languages, as opposed to jargon deliberately designed to to be intelligible only to those admitted to the inner sanctum & unintelligible to the world at large, however, I shan't lose any sleep over it. wink

Josh · Challenger level

This link suggests the word has been around since the 1920s, so I don't think it's just an inner sanctum who are aware of the meaning!

SMC1809 · All-time great

Stircrazy wrote:
Madeline wrote:
You surprise me, SC. Even a dinosaur like me knows what that term means.
I'm pleased that I retain the capacity to surprise & terribly sorry if I've disappointed you by revealing what you clearly perceive to be an unpardonable gap in my knowledge of Yank sports-speak (on a British board, for God's sake! ). Given that I take pride in improving my knowledge of various genuine foreign languages, as opposed to jargon deliberately designed to to be intelligible only to those admitted to the inner sanctum & unintelligible to the world at large, however, I shan't lose any sleep over it.

And this plea of ignorance from the person who introduced 'squeaky culo time' to the forum. (Laugh out load)

steven · Tennis legend

I don't think I'd come across 'clutch' before listening to US commentary on tennis streams (or maybe listening to baseball commentary, I'm not sure) but they do use it quite a lot these days. It's one of the US terms I really can't stand though!

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Based on the stats Laura's doubles was lost as convincingly as singles but with a 'fairer' score line. Was always going to be tough against a very good doubles pairing. Add that to the fact that Laura will have been tired from the harsh scheduling (neither Kvitova or Kops-Jones/Spears playing today so I'm still not sure what the big rush was to squeeze Laura's matches into as little time as possible?) and I wasn't expecting to wake up and see that they had won.

I do also feel that team Robmond have been worked out tactically to some extent by specialist doubles teams, which might explain why they had most success in their first tournament. Teams are targeting Laura at the net and doing everything possible to avoid in engaging with her in baseline rallies.

I think Laura will improve as the American season continues so it's a satisfactory start.

-- Edited by tony_orient on Thursday 1st of August 2013 08:55:53 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

Think I'm most familiar with it from golf, i.e. clutch putt, and certainly have been familiar with it for as long as I can remember. I seriously cannot personally see an ussue with it.

I really do have diifficulty with how some folk, indeed language experts, have such a reactionary attitude to many Americanisms and / or sports connected words / phrases coming into more widespread usage. To me, all languages are constantly evolving and there are to different minds good and bad additions.

Personally I prefer many Amerucan phrases to some closer to home such as "down the pan" - not that that particularly bothers me.

Chill ( now where did that orginate ? )

wolf · Tennis legend

I've always thought Raymond/Robson to be a very odd pairing. Capable of beating anyone on their day and perhaps ideal in a one off tournament like Miami when Lisa had to look for a partner at the last minute and Laura can swing freely without pressure, but Laura will hardly provide the consistency a top player like Lisa I would have thought would look for in a partner.

Maza1987 · Challenger level

Hear clutch all the time in basketball commentary.

I thought it stemmed from clutch in a car (i.e. Not easy to master, especially for Americans who primarily use automatics).

P.s. Apart from that one good performance in the premier this year, Robmond has a been poor partnership.

-- Edited by Maza1987 on Thursday 1st of August 2013 06:48:12 PM

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Stircrazy wrote:
AliBlahBlah wrote:
In baseball, Sabermetricians (the specialized analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity.) have been trying for quite a while to derive a satisfactory stat that measures 'clutch', or 'clutch effectiveness', to no avail.

In their context it would be used for things like converting situations when a single hit will score runs, or multiple runs that could decide a result; or, as a pitcher, getting the required number of people out to close out or save a game, and so on.

It's such a nebulous idea that it's hard to define it well enough to measure it, but I can certainly see the value in it if it can be done.

For someone so touchy when I gave a bit of friendly banter (the smiley was the clue), you don't mind dishing it out!

-- Edited by Madeline on Thursday 1st of August 2013 08:26:27 PM

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

SMC1809 wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
Madeline wrote:
You surprise me, SC. Even a dinosaur like me knows what that term means.
I'm pleased that I retain the capacity to surprise & terribly sorry if I've disappointed you by revealing what you clearly perceive to be an unpardonable gap in my knowledge of Yank sports-speak (on a British board, for God's sake! ). Given that I take pride in improving my knowledge of various genuine foreign languages, as opposed to jargon deliberately designed to to be intelligible only to those admitted to the inner sanctum & unintelligible to the world at large, however, I shan't lose any sleep over it.
And this plea of ignorance from the person who introduced 'squeaky culo time' to the forum.

I didn't. Bob in Spain was the first to use that. it appealed to me as a Spanish-speaker, so I started using it myself after that.

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
I really do have diifficulty with how some folk, indeed language experts, have such a reactionary attitude to many Americanisms and / or sports connected words / phrases coming into more widespread usage. To me, all languages are constantly evolving and there are to different minds good and bad additions.

I agree ... but that means we're allowed, completely subjectively, to dislike some of the additions, aren't we?

As for 'squeaky culo' ... poor Bob, getting the blame again (quite rightly though, it was him who introduced it!)

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Getting back to this tournament, Anne is making her BT Sport début. Will be interesting to see how the BT coverage compares to Eurosport's which is always competent if a bit low budget. I'm not convinced by Lynsey Hipgrave as a presenter but it's early days so I'll give her a chance. I think Anne will do a good job once she settles in.

(plus a few points from Lauras dubs at groundspass.net/)

-- Edited by tony_orient on Thursday 1st of August 2013 09:51:06 PM

Peter too · Tennis legend

"clutch" "squeaky culo time"

It's all Greek to me!