Non-AFL chat thread

[Bemoreboyddog]

Fergus

 

[NBates]

Our family home in suburban Chicago that we've had for almost 56 years went on the market today(in the US), one year to the day that my mum passed away(June 16) and 47 days after I left it. We moved in on Sept, 2, 1961, the day before my 9th birthday. It's not every kid that gets a home for his birthday.

After looking at the pics on the real estate site, it saddens me that I will never see it again. My first cat which died in 1975 is buried in the backyard along with the many turtles, frogs, birds, fish and our two ducks from the late 60s, Dick and Daffy.

My late father worked two jobs for many years so that we could afford a home in the suburbs and escape the city. This Sunday is Father's Day in the US. Thanks, dad, for the best gift ever. [emoji813]s:

You always have brilliant posts Chicago and i can relate to this one. Mum turned 94 today. She's been in a nursing home for about 18 months now while a nephew and his friend are minding the old house i grew up in. The family are thinking of selling soon , which is inevitable and i have no qualms with, but like you we have 4 dogs, guinea pig, tortoise, birds buried there. That's hard for me to get my head around as an animal lover. I at least hope whoever buys it lives in it as it's a weather board and the trend is to demolish and build units or new houses. If they do that I just can't bear to think about it - but they'll get the shock of their lives and think Norman Bates once lived there if they dig them all up!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[Chicago1]

Thanks for that. I wish your mum a happy birthday. Having mum reach 90 was one of the greatest joys of my life. I'm so glad that I was able to keep mum in our home until one week before she died.

Seeing the pics of an empty house is heartbreaking. I saw my old bedroom that I occupied solely for 17 years and that I was packing up just two months ago. It was once shared with two of my brothers. In the 25 years I lived here from 1975 to 2000 I always knew that I had a place to go home to. I have no reason to go back now.

I miss feeding the local squirrels peanuts. They'd sometimes see me walking up the street from the store and would come running to get a peanut which I always kept in my jacket pocket. I swear that one or two knocked on the front door when I slept in and they were hungry. I once ran outside in the winter while wearing my pajamas when a hawk came swooping down toward one of my squirrels that was eating some sunflower seeds I had left out. It was about -5C with snow on the ground, but nothing was going to kill Stumpy(named so because the back part of his tail was missing).

We also had a birdhouse and feeders in the front garden. I once rescued a fallen robin that I kept in my bedroom until it recovered. It did poop all over, but it was worth it when I set him free and he didn't want to leave. He did fly away the next day, so I knew my job was done. We had a golden finch feeder by the front window and it used to give mum joy seeing them fly up close to the window since she rarely went outside the last two years.

I took great pride in the front garden where mum had a religious statue. I even had a gardenia bush out there which I got when it was small and brought it inside to live in our basement every winter. It never could have survived a Chicago winter. It got so big that my two nephews had to come over to carry it downstairs the last two years. I think we were the only home in our town to have a gardenia that huge in a garden. I gave it to my sister before I left and I'm sure it's dead now after over eight years.

My dad had planted pine trees in the front yard back in 1962. After he died I would cut branches off them and put them on his grave during the winter with a Christmas wreath mom had made. The lilac bushes he planted at the same time were blooming in the backyard when I left on April 30th.

We remodeled part of the inside of the house after my dad died so it was easier to maintain. While mum was in hospital three years ago, I redid her bedroom, painting it, getting a new mattress and fitting it with safety features including a commode. The worst part was scraping off the popcorn ceiling. Whoever started that painting trend should be drawn and quartered.

I guess it was all of these things that made our house a home. I can almost see my dad at his barbecue in the backyard making chicken for all of us on a hot summer's Sunday afternoon after church while we kids ran around playing "running bases".

 

[NBates]

Thanks for that. I wish your mum a happy birthday. Having mum reach 90 was one of the greatest joys of my life. I'm so glad that I was able to keep mum in our home until one week before she died.

Seeing the pics of an empty house is heartbreaking. I saw my old bedroom that I occupied solely for 17 years and that I was packing up just two months ago. It was once shared with two of my brothers. In the 25 years I lived here from 1975 to 2000 I always knew that I had a place to go home to. I have no reason to go back now.

I miss feeding the local squirrels peanuts. They'd sometimes see me walking up the street from the store and would come running to get a peanut which I always kept in my jacket pocket. I swear that one or two knocked on the front door when I slept in and they were hungry. I once ran outside in the winter while wearing my pajamas when a hawk came swooping down toward one of my squirrels that was eating some sunflower seeds I had left out. It was about -5C with snow on the ground, but nothing was going to kill Stumpy(named so because the back part of his tail was missing).

We also had a birdhouse and feeders in the front garden. I once rescued a fallen robin that I kept in my bedroom until it recovered. It did poop all over, but it was worth it when I set him free and he didn't want to leave. He did fly away the next day, so I knew my job was done. We had a golden finch feeder by the front window and it used to give mum joy seeing them fly up close to the window since she rarely went outside the last two years.

I took great pride in the front garden where mum had a religious statue. I even had a gardenia bush out there which I got when it was small and brought it inside to live in our basement every winter. It never could have survived a Chicago winter. It got so big that my two nephews had to come over to carry it downstairs the last two years. I think we were the only home in our town to have a gardenia that huge in a garden. I gave it to my sister before I left and I'm sure it's dead now after over eight years.

My dad had planted pine trees in the front yard back in 1962. After he died I would cut branches off them and put them on his grave during the winter with a Christmas wreath mom had made. The lilac bushes he planted at the same time were blooming in the backyard when I left on April 30th.

We remodeled part of the inside of the house after my dad died so it was easier to maintain. While mum was in hospital three years ago, I redid her bedroom, painting it, getting a new mattress and fitting it with safety features including a commode. The worst part was scraping off the popcorn ceiling. Whoever started that painting trend should be drawn and quartered.

I guess it was all of these things that made our house a home. I can almost see my dad at his barbecue in the backyard making chicken for all of us on a hot summer's Sunday afternoon after church while we kids ran around playing "running bases".

What great memories Chicago.

I understand. I haven't been past the old house after we cleaned it out for the nephew to move in. I don't think i ever will.

Squirrels would be fantastic! What a great relationship [emoji38]. We have a couple of Magpies who come to our current house and warble for us to give them some mince. Like your squirrels knocking on doors, they'll sing us a tune of we're sleeping in on a sat morning. We have made deals with them on a few occasions about them casting a spell on their AFL namesakes and we'll double the food handout (it's worked so far! ).

And I nearly fell over when i read "Stumpy". We had a beloved cat named that because he had a stump for a tail who we lost only last year. The spookiest thing was i was just talking to the other half about him just before i read your post! Not kidding!!!!

Our stars must be aligned or sommit!!!!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[mambavino]

Can't wait to see Lonzo Ball in the purple and gold. Whatever you think of his dad, the kids skills and court vision are straight fire.

Speak it into existence..... Ball is life.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Jimmy Butler is a Timberwolf.

LaVine

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Do yourself a favour watch a replay of Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Pure insanity.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Do yourself watch a replay of Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Pure insanity.

Most ridiculous race I think I've ever seen. I was going to bed over an hour ago. Couldn't stop watching. Going to pay for it tomorrow.

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Most ridiculous race I think I've ever seen. I was going to bed over an hour ago. Couldn't stop watching. Going to pay for it tomorrow.

The fact that the two force indias crashing into each other isn't in like the top 20 crazy things to happen says it all really.

 

[The City Boyz]

Most ridiculous race I think I've ever seen. I was going to bed over an hour ago. Couldn't stop watching. Going to pay for it tomorrow.

Holy ****!!! That was unbelieveable!!
Most incredible thing, astounding.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Interviewer: Let's talk about Serena Williams
McEnroe: I think she's the greatest female tennis player of all time
Interviewer: Why qualify it? Why not the greatest player period?
McEnroe: Because she wouldn't be able to beat a lot of the male players.

The world: McEnroe is a misogynist and a pig.

Strange times we live in. Had to laugh at Tony Jones suggesting she'd beat Kyrgios. I don't like Kyrgios as much as the next guy but the bloke has beaten Djokovic twice this year.

 

[The City Boyz]

Interviewer: Let's talk about Serena Williams
McEnroe: I think she's the great female tennis player of all time
Interviewer: Why qualify it? Why not the greatest player period?
McEnroe: Because she wouldn't be able to beat a lot of the male players.

The world: McEnroe is a misogynist and a pig.

Strange times we live in. Had to laugh at Tony Jones suggesting she'd be Kyrgios. I don't like Kyrgios as much as the next guy but the bloke has beaten Djokovic twice this year.

FMD that's just dumb. I doubt she'd beat anyone in the top 1000 tbh

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Interviewer: Let's talk about Serena Williams
McEnroe: I think she's the great female tennis player of all time
Interviewer: Why qualify it? Why not the greatest player period?
McEnroe: Because she wouldn't be able to beat a lot of the male players.

The world: McEnroe is a misogynist and a pig.

Strange times we live in. Had to laugh at Tony Jones suggesting she'd be Kyrgios. I don't like Kyrgios as much as the next guy but the bloke has beaten Djokovic twice this year.

Beating Djokovic isn't what it used to be.

McEnroe isn't a misogynst but he is kind of an idiot (at least on this one).

Someone as knowledgeable and experienced in the sport as him was pretty stupid to entertain the premise of the topic when it originally came up.

They are completely different beasts and can't be compared. Even when you look at her level of dominance against male counterparts of the same era in Nadal and Fed you have to realise that the talent pool just isn't deep due to early retirement from some of her best rivals and less global participation on the women's side as a whole (an issue in women's sport globally). My hunch is that Serena may have been this good comparatively no matter what but there no exact way of knowing so you should try to.

It just came across highly disrespectful.

It's kind of funny the way people are stunned he hasn't apologised though. They clearly don't know the first thing about McEnroe.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Serena is the greatest female tennis player hands down. She is a generation ahead of the curve in terms of her power game. You make a good point about some of her rivals but I have a feeling she would've been winning these grand slams still. Perhaps having a close rival may have pushed her to higher heights, we'll never know.

Now I'm not sure how the issue was originally brought up. If he brought it up in his book it is very floggish to start potting her and it's very disrespectful. And I'd change my stance in an instant.

It looked like the topic came up when he was doing an interview and I think the view is quite valid. It seems that people think adding 'female' to the line is doing a great disservice to her achievements and I'm not sure why that's the case. We don't ever talk about Lisa Leslie being the GOAT of basketball, or Meg Lanning being the best cricketer in the world.

The question only ever comes up in tennis. I agree that male tennis and female tennis are completely different sports so I wish the comparison would stop coming up. McEnroe would be loving the attention though.

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Serena is the greatest female tennis player hands down. She is a generation ahead of the curve in terms of her power game. You make a good point about some of her rivals but I have a feeling she would've been winning these grand slams still. Perhaps having a close rival may have pushed her to higher heights, we'll never know.

Now I'm not sure how the issue was originally brought up. If he brought it up in his book it is very floggish to start potting her and it's very disrespectful. And I'd change my stance in an instant.

It looked like the topic came up when he was doing an interview and I think the view is quite valid. It seems that people think adding 'female' to the line is doing a great disservice to her achievements and I'm not sure why that's the case. We don't ever talk about Lisa Leslie being the GOAT of basketball, or Meg Lanning being the best cricketer in the world.

The question only ever comes up in tennis. I agree that male tennis and female tennis are completely different sports so I wish the comparison would stop coming up. McEnroe would be loving the attention though.

I think it's disrespectful because when referring to a male sportsperson it's not usually said 'X was the greatest male player of all time' its generally just 'greatest player of all time'.

While I think for sports which are in the the formative stages on the women's side such as AFL this is acceptable and understandable because it's relatively new and you don't have much history to draw on in your judgement.

For sports such as tennis which have been professional on the women's side for a long time and has a great history of many incredible champions, the gender distinction should either not be need to be made or made equally. This is why I think it was particularly acute in this instance.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

I think it's disrespectful because when referring to a male sportsperson it's not usually said 'X was the greatest male player of all time' its generally just 'greatest player of all time'.

While I think for sports which are in the the formative stages on the women's side such as AFL this is acceptable and understandable because it's relatively new and you don't have much history to draw on in your judgement.

For sports such as tennis which have been professional on the women's side for over 50 years and has a great history of many incredible champions, the gender distinction should either not need to be made or made equally. This is why I think it was particularly acute in this instance.

That's fair enough.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

I think it's disrespectful because when referring to a male sportsperson it's not usually said 'X was the greatest male player of all time' its generally just 'greatest player of all time'.

While I think for sports which are in the the formative stages on the women's side such as AFL this is acceptable and understandable because it's relatively new and you don't have much history to draw on in your judgement.

For sports such as tennis which have been professional on the women's side for a long time and has a great history of many incredible champions, the gender distinction should either not be need to be made or made equally. This is why I think it was particularly acute in this instance.

I disagree. If an even playing field is what is sought then making that distinction is important in this instance.

She's not the greatest tennis player of all time because she would be beaten by a lot of male players. The old GOAT arguments focus on in their prime; Fed in his prime would beat her.

So talking generally, she's a great tennis player. Talking more specifically, she's the greatest female tennis player of all time, to me shows more respect to her ability. No female ever would beat her. Ever.

When talking AFL, it wouldn't be disrespectful to Wayne Carey to say he's the greatest North Melbourne player of all time, even though he's got claims to be the greatest AFL player ever. I know it's a long pallallel but the premise of respect is the same.

 

[timtamWB]

The PC world has gone mad **** me.

 

[Igloo]

Didn't the Williams sisters both play against men many years ago in some exhibition match and they lost?

Edit: Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battl...998:_Karsten_Braasch_vs._the_Williams_sisters
"Another event dubbed a "Battle of the Sexes" took place during the 1998 Australian Open[34] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world's top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both. Braasch was described by one journalist as "a man whose training regime centered around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple bottles of ice cold lager".[35][36] The matches took place on court number 12 in Melbourne Park,[37] after Braasch had finished a round of golf and two beers. He first took on Serena and after leading 5–0, beat her 6–1. Venus then walked on court and again Braasch was victorious, this time winning 6–2.[38] Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance". He added that he had played like someone ranked 600th in order to keep the game "fun".[39] Braasch said the big difference was that men can chase down shots much easier, and that men put spin on the ball that the women can't handle. The Williams sisters adjusted their claim to beating men outside the top 350."

Obviously Serena is a lot better than she was in 1998, but the point remains.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

She should be referred to as the greatest female tennis player ever as there is no evidence to suggest she is the greatest tennis player ever (I.e. she has never beaten a male player), just as Federer is the greatest male tennis player ever for the same reason. The distinction is a logical one and the reaction to McEnroe's initial comments is wildly disproportionate.

McEnroe is still an idiot for getting sucked into it, though.

 

[BEaston]

The definition of greatest could be different though.

You could say whichever player, male or female, has won the most grand slams is the greatest (overall). Rather than who could beat who in a single match.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

She should be referred to as the greatest female tennis player ever as there is no evidence to suggest she is the greatest tennis player ever (I.e. she has never beaten a male player), just as Federer is the greatest male tennis player ever for the same reason. The distinction is a logical one and the reaction to McEnroe's initial comments is wildly disproportionate.

McEnroe is still an idiot for getting sucked into it, though.

If that's the case you can't say anyone is the greatest ever, because there is no evidence to suggest it. There is no evidence to suggest that Federer would beat Laver so using the above as a template, all we can say is that Fed is the greatest player to play over the course of his career.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

The definition of greatest could be different though.

You could say whichever player, male or female, has won the most grand slams is the greatest (overall). Rather than who could beat who in a single match.

If that's the case you can't say anyone is the greatest ever, because there is no evidence to suggest it. There is no evidence to suggest that Federer would beat Laver so using the above as a template, all we can say is that Fed is the greatest player to play over the course of his career.

Fair points from both.

Generally I stay away from the GOAT type discussions for the reasons you've both outlined (plus I think it's a pretty meaningless discussion in the first place). I think the overarching point is that there are a number of logical reasons that somebody could hold the opinion that Serena is the "greatest female tennis player ever" without being labelled an -ist of some kind.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

I'm still of the opinion that to be the greatest player in the world that you need to be better than everyone else. It's not really fair for the women as men have a significant physical advantage over them but it's just the way life is. Maybe it's easier just to stop the greatest player commentary and refer to them in their different sports. I'm happy to argue that Federer/Nadal/whoever is the greatest male tennis player rather than just greatest player of all time from now on.

I'm still sick of the way the media works too. They ask loaded questions trying to get the headline they're after and run from there. I doubt McEnroe cares what light he's painted in, all publicity is good and his book sales are probably going through the roof.

 

[BEaston]

Not sure I actually saw any article calling McEnroe sexist for his comments though? Anyone got a link?