Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner wins 70-68 in 5th*

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Isner looks in bad shape.

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

I've argued for many years that baseball games in the regular season should go into the books as ties at a certain point (12 innings, 14 innings, whatever). Not only is it incredibly boring, it messes up the entire pitching staff for the better part of the next week. Hockey games have a definite end point in the regular season and even the playoffs may soon change. EVERYTHING needs an end point.

How much of an advantage is the opponent in the next round going to have? These guys are playing now three straight days, longest match in history. And now will have to come back Friday to play a second-round match against someone who's had a full day off. Is that really fair, either?

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

This thing goes less than 10 minutes tomorrow. Book it.

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Could be a smart wager. I'd say about 20..

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Tough beans. If you were a better player you'd have finished the guy off earlier. That goes for both of them.

And no, everything doesn't need an end point by way of changing how the game is played. Is it inconvenient and even problematic if lengthy overtimes happen? Sure. But that doesn't occur to me as reason enough to eliminate such scenarios.

I think having these rare events is a nice change of pace in a ADD deadline-driven world.

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Why couldn't they move the match to Centre Court and finish there?

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Rochester. Ripken and Boggs both played in that game (though I think Ripken was called up to Baltimore before they finished it).

Best anecdote from that game was Pawtucket (and future Red Sox) reliever Luis Aponte coming home at dawn, and his wife refusing to let him in the house because she figured he'd been out drinking all night after the game. He grabbed the newspaper off the front steps to show her the game story as proof, only to find the game ran so late, the story didn't make the paper.

Here's a 25th anniversary story the NYT ran in 2006:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/24/sports/baseball/24longest.html

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

The Nicolas Mahut and John Isner match has gone on LONGER THAN THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. Respect. Tennis announcers need to stop referring to it as the "5th and deciding set." This set is not deciding anything.

Mahut and Isner are not people. They are god damned superheroes.

Watching them trade games, clearly kilometers-deep into one another's heads, holding 50-some consecutive serves without taking a break until the 59th game -- it’s absolutely majestic.

Isner is an American, seeded 23rd at Wimbledon. He’s a heap of a man, at this point, with his hands on his knees by the ninth hour. At 6-foot-9, 250 lbs., he’s coasting on his size. He has recorded 98 aces so far.
http://boston.com/community/blogs/todays_soundtrack/2010/06/soundtrack_theyre_going_the_di.html

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Well, it wasn't expected to be much of an advantage, since Thiemo De Bakker (the second-round opponent for Isner or Mahut) ALSO had his first-round match suspended by darkness Tuesday and went on to win it 16-14 in the fifth on Wednesday. But he should be plenty rested by Friday.

I believe there was a match going on at the time (one that had been moved to CC when play on other courts ran long). So they would have had to cool their heels for however long that match took, then resume.

Could have been done, I guess. But I've never seen a match change venue after it started. There might even be a rule against it. They are going back out to Court 18 tomorrow . . . so that tells me they have no choice. Otherwise, why not send them out to Centre Court tomorrow for the historic ending?

 

Re: Wimbledon Running Thread. *Updated--Isner-Mahut 59-59 in 5th, suspended*

Maybe HRH doesn't want it on Centre Court...