I was reading (or sorta reading) this thread and it got me thinking. "People make so many excuses for when player X loses to player Y." And at the same time, people will refute those excuses when the shoe is on the other foot.
I've always believed that unless there were exceptional circumstances, a win is a win and a loss is a loss and that there is essentially no valid excuse for whenever a player loses a match (and if I haven't, let me take this time to withdraw any excuse I have made). To make an excuse is to posit the idea that "but for" the circumstances, the player wouldn't have lost. But since there is absolutely no way to prove that, you're just pushing for a hypothetical to be accepted as a fact. Nobody is perfect so taking a win for granted is ridiculous. The tour doesn't recognize hypothetical matches and when the shoe is on the other foot, you wouldn't, either. So it's a hypocritical, pointless, and intellectually dishonest "discussion".
Not to mention that just because player X may be going through something, who's to say that player Y isn't, either? Just because you don't announce your business to the world, it doesn't mean that you're not having issues. Player X isn't some special little flower where only bad things happen to him, and no one else. I frequently play tennis and the one thing that annoys me the most is when my opponent tells me about some random injury that they've been dealing with. Cool story, bro. I have shoulder pains and a sore foot, but I'm not going to complain about it. Just the other day, I was essentially playing with just one contact lens but I didn't try to work a sob story. And when you do mention it, it becomes a battle of the excuses in an effort to prove whose excuse is "more valid". It reminds me of a commercial I saw the other day:
If you're out here, you obviously don't have much concern for your "injury", so why should I or anybody else? If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't have stepped onto the court. I've won while injured. I've also lost while injured. Excuses are just ways to have your cake and eat it, too: if you win, you're this amazing spartan that can overcome adversity, and when you lose, it doesn't count. A win-win, so to speak. But there is no such thing as a win-win in sports. The ATP isn't going to award/take away points because you think you came up with a "valid" excuse, so it's pointless to argue for it. All things considered, it's NOT valid.
You have to EARN your victories. None of them are guaranteed.
I've always believed that unless there were exceptional circumstances, a win is a win and a loss is a loss and that there is essentially no valid excuse for whenever a player loses a match (and if I haven't, let me take this time to withdraw any excuse I have made). To make an excuse is to posit the idea that "but for" the circumstances, the player wouldn't have lost. But since there is absolutely no way to prove that, you're just pushing for a hypothetical to be accepted as a fact. Nobody is perfect so taking a win for granted is ridiculous. The tour doesn't recognize hypothetical matches and when the shoe is on the other foot, you wouldn't, either. So it's a hypocritical, pointless, and intellectually dishonest "discussion".
Not to mention that just because player X may be going through something, who's to say that player Y isn't, either? Just because you don't announce your business to the world, it doesn't mean that you're not having issues. Player X isn't some special little flower where only bad things happen to him, and no one else. I frequently play tennis and the one thing that annoys me the most is when my opponent tells me about some random injury that they've been dealing with. Cool story, bro. I have shoulder pains and a sore foot, but I'm not going to complain about it. Just the other day, I was essentially playing with just one contact lens but I didn't try to work a sob story. And when you do mention it, it becomes a battle of the excuses in an effort to prove whose excuse is "more valid". It reminds me of a commercial I saw the other day:
If you're out here, you obviously don't have much concern for your "injury", so why should I or anybody else? If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't have stepped onto the court. I've won while injured. I've also lost while injured. Excuses are just ways to have your cake and eat it, too: if you win, you're this amazing spartan that can overcome adversity, and when you lose, it doesn't count. A win-win, so to speak. But there is no such thing as a win-win in sports. The ATP isn't going to award/take away points because you think you came up with a "valid" excuse, so it's pointless to argue for it. All things considered, it's NOT valid.
You have to EARN your victories. None of them are guaranteed.
).
