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When tennis meets poker The other week, I wrote about the Bridge card game ploy known as the Yarborough – taken from the third James Bond story, Moonraker. The names given to various card game gambits can be wonderful. Consider this one:
The author has an amusing, though unkind, name for a holding of Ace King. He calls it ‘Kournikova’ because it is very pretty but never wins.
Well, I rather liked her.
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After a strenuous evening of bridge, one of my friends (who had been stuck with a very stupid partner who tended to overbid drastically) ended the game with the gambit known as “Rochambeau.”
As played in South Park, Colorado.
There are better poker names than that(though admittedly, not many). Most notably, a Q3 is a “Gay Waiter” – a queen with a trey.
I also like how she looks, but she wasn’t a major tennis player- did she ever actually win Wimbledon, or any other big match? As a model, though, she’d be very good.
The Anna Kournikova description for AK has been around for a while. It is a good description of the hand.
Funny how many blondes dye their eyebrows brown, isn’t it 🙂
I always thought La Kournikova looked like a Moscow street prostitute (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and was only “beautiful” through her outstanding physical conditioning. (Too skinny for me, too, but it takes all kinds.)
That said, I don’t think anyone has ever denied that the Kournikova Ethos was anything other than an appearance-based marketing campaign.
I like 10-4, Big Trucky.
Not a bad tenis career.
“Kournikova was a member of the Russian delegation to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1997, as a 16-year-old, she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, where she lost to the eventual champion, Martina Hingis by a score of 6-3, 6-2. 1998 was her breakthrough year, when she broke into the WTA’s top 20 rankings for the first time and scored impressive victories over Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Steffi Graf. Kournikova’s two Grand Slam doubles titles came in 1999 and 2002, both at the Australian Open in the Women’s Doubles event with partner Martina Hingis, with whom she played frequently starting in 1999.”
“her career high singles ranking was No.8”
How many people are no 8 in world ranking ?
I think the AK is called Kournikova because of the initials of the name (Anna Kournikova).
Kournikova was also one of the best, if not the best female doubles player in the world for about 4 years. Doubles players never get any accolades though.
And how many players have hade higher rankings and more successful careers, but are snubbed by the sports broadcasters because they don’t make the target demographic horny? (2004 US Open titlist Svetlana Kuznetsova comes to mind immediately.)
Maria Sharapova was getting inordinate attention a full year before she won Wimbledon, crowding out other people who play tennis better, and are more interesting to watch. And when she finally got to #1 in 2005, she did it with statistically the worst record for a #1 player. Yet she didn’t come in for the criticism for being a “weak” #1 without holding one of the four majors, the way that, say, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, and Martina Hingis before her did.
Catering to the perv demo is not good for tennis in the long run. (And I don’t think either Kournikova or Sharapova is that good-looking.)
Don’t forget 99, German virgin. (“Nein! Nein!”)
Yobbo:
Kournikova was not one of the best doubles players; she was fortunate to be partnered with Martina Hingis, who was the best doubles player of that time period.
A look at Hingis’ record shows she won doubles titles with eight players not named Kournikova, including such players not noted for doubles as Mary Pierce.
Surprsingly, Kournikova did win doubles titles with two players other than Hingis. However, the two times they faced each other in doubles, Hingis was victorious.
(And I don’t think either Kournikova or Sharapova is that good-looking.)
That’s not an acceptable comment. We don’t care what you think. We won’t accept mud slinging.
Anyway, there are no woman tennis players that look remotely as good as these ladies.
You are now officially declared nuts!
Sorry, but I think Elena Dementieva is much more natural looking (and good looking) than either Kournikova or Sharapova. And as I implied, I watch tennis to see good tennis, not for sexual titillation.
And I note that my link to Kournikova’s link was broken — and that I got her doubles record wrong. I missed her titles with Natasha Zvereva and Janet Lee. She won with four players other than Hingis. However, the ITF page lists Kournikova/Hingis as having won seven tournaments together, which is one less than the number of other partners Hingis won tournaments with. I still stand by my claim of Hingis being the much better player in that doubles team.
Entrance through French Windows from the garden-
Tarquin, dressed in shorts, sweater tied carelessly around the neck, Raquet under arm….
I say you chaps!!
Anyone for Bridge??
That bidding thing? It’s organised cheating you know!
No It is really!!!
Don’t try to tell us you watch women’s beach volleyball just for the sport, we won’t believe. (Same for tennis…)
I watch it for the babes, pure and simple.
I watch it for the babes. Hopefully neither pure, nor simple.
(Okay, I’ll shut up and go to bed now.)
Actually, I don’t watch beach volleyball at all.
And I actually prefer watching the rare occasions the networks show doubles in tennis, at least when they’re not showing the obnoxious Bryan brothers. The teamwork involved in doubles makes it much more interesting than singles most of the time.
Actually, I don’t watch beach volleyball at all. 🙂