The Deuce Club, 10.1
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by Jackie Roe, TW Social Director
Hi there, TWibe! I thought we'd do something a little different **today in the Deuce Club, as tomorrow marks my two-year anniversary as your TW "Social Director." (Here's a link to my debut DC post.) Can you believe it's been that long? I can, and I can't. Sometimes I barely remember what my Fridays were like before the DC. Other times it feels like I'm still in the nascent stages of this gig, still working out the best ways to build the TW community and bring everyone together. In any case, I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this experience, which has been at turns enlightening, challenging (in the best possible way), and uplifting.
I hadn't planned to do anything special to celebrate, but when I brought it up to TWibers gauloises and whitelinefever, they came up with the idea for me to do a nostalgia post. A "the way we were" kind of thing. My eyes lit up at the suggestion; comparing our experiences as tennis fans now vs. then was bound to be an interesting exercise, given how much the tennis landscape has changed.
Not just the tennis landscape, but the TW landscape, as well. Can you remember what things were like back then? October 2008—when my wrestling obsession was still a surprise to the TWibe; when the Your Call was our regular hangout spot; when Aussiemarg was still abusing the comma(!); when Jacko, Nancy, Rachael, Sam, tangi, and Whitney were DC regulars; when our TennisWorld > Real WorldFacebook group had only 80 members (now we’re at over 300, though "groups" in Facebook seem to be obsolete).
But let's go back to the tennis. whitelinefever and I dug up some old TW comments to demonstrate the changing of the times. They should make you chuckle:
From that first DC post, dated 10/2/08. . .
aussiemarg:
was reading comments made by safina in her match,her 1st set a breeze,2nd set,mmm,but you know her always plays herself into tornaments these days,which is a good sign,i like her thoughts though,she has improved in the mind matter
tangi:
. . .Don't know if you saw the pic of Ana chatting up Verdasco at an airport the other day. . .
Violetta:
Yay! Crazy Elf won! Ferru is the highest ranked player he's beaten since his reign of Elf terror started. Commiserations to the honey bear fans!
I'm extremely curious to see what Juan could do on HC against the top 3. Not to make excuses, but he was kind of whipped in the USO QF against Muzzah (Juan's fault for taking 5 sets to beat Canas in the first round, which was ridiculous). I really don't think he can beat Nole or Roger. Rafa? Maybe, since I think Delpo has better HC weapons and he's developed the same hatred of losing that Rafa has. I don't know...I guess we'll see in November, won't we?
crazyone, in response to Violetta:
I think he can beat any of them in a masters series, but I don't think he beats Roger in a HC slam just yet. Probably not Rafa or Novak in a slam either.
And here's a fun one from a few months later, before the 2009 Australian Open. . .
piyush sharma, ottawa, canada:
fedex has had the benefit of wek competetition;
but now the competetition is stronger in rafa-murray-joker;
hence the grand slams are drying up for him;
And these, during the latter stages of the '09 AO. . .
Sher:
You need ONE MORE POINT at that intensity rafa. Or you'll be in trouble later.
felizjulianidad:
WOW.
Nadal is officially an all-surface threat.
Beckham:
And it's over...Roger Federer is NEVER going to beat Rafa at anything significant ever again....NEVER...
Then again, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
We still had Master Ace providing us with schedules, score updates, match calls, and astute analyses and predictions; still had jewell serving us daily doses of tea and harmony. And still this from Samantha Elin: Go Caroline, Scandinavia's #1!
And we're still having a ball.
Did you enjoy the trip down memory lane? Now I'd like you to think back to two years ago and tell us about:
Finally, if you have any ideas for the DC going forward, I'm happy to hear them. Here's to another two years of DC fun!