Posts by George Robinson43

That sums it up perfectly.
Pešalov = Fak. It doesn't matter how many medals he won for Bulgaria; he effectively burned his bridges the moment he moved to America just to chase a paycheck. Now, he’s stuck living in Sofia like a complete nobody, and honestly, nobody even cares about his situation or how he's getting by. It’s as if he simply vanished from the map.

What does 300 $0.00 even matter when biathletes are pulling in $10,000,000 a year? 😂

Kenneth Watson26 said:I’m with you there. There is absolutely no reason to trash "us" or celebrate him for brushing off our alliance.

Do you honestly think many people here see Fak as a role model? It feels like half of America would happily trade their citizenship if they had the chance.

Joshua Doyle75 said:It seems he simply can't get enough! It’s much like a marathon runner who refuses to stop even after crossing the finish line. $12 Think of it like this: you get a steady monthly salary, lucrative endorsement deals, and a guaranteed career path waiting for you once you retire—such as becoming a drill instructor!
Let him go; honestly, who is even going to shed a tear?

Well, that settles it. He essentially traded his citizenship for a massive payday.
Essentially, he didn't even sell him because our laws regarding dual citizenship are such a total mess!
In some much harsher nations, like ours, you'd be stripped of your citizenship the moment you picked up a Canadian passport.
I find these kinds of outbursts absolutely hilarious—the whole "we didn't invest in him, so it's our fault" routine. In the States, you have hundreds of athletes who never saw a dime of funding, yet they don't make headlines with this kind of drama like Fak does. Honestly, who cares? He wanted to be Canadian? Well, mission accomplished. Who even gives a damn about Fak?
Is anyone here actually losing sleep over what kind of results the Canadian canoeist Blaž Cof might pull off? Likely nobody. If that's the case, why on earth would anyone be stressing over Jakob Fak?

Kenneth Watson26 said:🤦

The Kostelić family should have done the exact same thing, along with anyone else struggling under the subpar working conditions we face in this country.

Fak simply put himself on the market and sold his services to the highest bidder.
There’s nothing controversial about it. Our American laws actually permit this, ensuring he won't lose his US citizenship even if he becomes a Canadian citizen.
It is much like what Draganja attempted with Qatar—that plan fell through because the other three swimmers in the relay refused to represent a foreign nation just for a paycheck.
At the end of the day, you have people who will take those deals, and then you have those who never would.

Jeremy Turner9 said:Will this impact the growth and popularity of biathlon in America?

To be honest, biathlon has always been essentially a one-man show. Consequently, its popularity will likely remain completely stagnant.
If I were in Jakob Fak's shoes, I wouldn't make such a move, but if he decided to sell out to whoever offered the biggest paycheck, then well, I wish him all the luck in the world.
I have zero respect for Canada, whether in sports or otherwise, so I truly hope he faces nothing but athletic failure and leaves his sponsors pulling their hair out in frustration. 🙂

Here is a track for that "passable" era before things went south. 🙂
King Missile - Martin Scorsese

They actually stripped out about 20 instances of the F-word from this version. 🙂

I have downloaded it, yet I simply cannot bring myself to open it. I shall have to force myself to dive in this weekend.

Goodness gracious! Someone actually dug up this thread from 2003. In the years since, Sandler has moved far beyond playing those dimwitted characters.

It appears that Semenay's mother is actually male. 🙏 🙏

And there it is—pure gold! 🙂

204 👍

I feel compelled to weigh in as well:

Usain Bolt 🙏 🙏 🙏

I surrender.
It seems two self-proclaimed tennis experts have finally emerged from the shadows. ☕

Matthew Anderson4 said:Look, I see you're posting in the ATP/WTA thread, so I assume you actually know a thing or two about this.

Exactly. I started posting over on the number one site. ☕

First off, I am deeply involved in tennis and I personally know people ranked around 200. I'm certainly not suggesting they are paupers struggling to survive every single day.

But hold on. Just a few posts ago, you were claiming a player needs to be around rank 100 just to break even on expenses.
How exactly does the crew ranked 200 or 300 stay afloat while grinding through Challengers twelve months a year? Does money just fall from the sky like it did back in Mojsijev's era?

So, I went over to the ATP website and randomly typed in Bozoljac (ranked 133rd), and saw he earned 530€ for reaching the quarterfinals of a Challenger in Wolfsburg. It sounds like decent money, but once you subtract travel, coaches, and all those little extras, what's actually left?

Perhaps Bozoljac will finally find his footing when he starts tossing pizzas at a local shop. He might actually earn more there than he does in pro tennis right now! ☕

A few years back, Ljubo was paying his fitness coach 20,000€ a month. Who knows how much Piatti pulls in.

A fitness coach making 20,000$? Maybe Piatti makes 50,000$?
If he was paying Piatti 50,000 a month, then Piatti basically wiped out everything he earned. It seems Ljubičić didn't actually make any money; he's likely just drowning in debt because of Piatti.
Let's start a fundraiser to help Ljubo ljubiti trubiti.

Regarding the second point. Becoming a coach isn't easy, but it's true that once you make it, there is significant money involved. I personally know a coach who currently earns about 11 $0.00 a month working roughly six hours a day.

One such individual works in the office right next to mine.
Basically, this guy puts in an eight-hour workday and clears about $1833, and then heads to the courts in the afternoon to earn more than double his monthly salary—all without pulling six-hour coaching sessions daily.
He is someone who walked away from tennis at age 19 because things just weren't clicking for him.

Peter Ramos26 said:John Isner has quite simply the greatest serve in history, plain and simple. It’s clear you don't grasp just how vital a dominant serve is in tennis. Having a weak serve is essentially like playing handball with one less man on the court for 20 minutes of a match!

And how many minutes would you be playing short-handed in handball if you lacked a backhand, footwork, lobs, drop shots, and everything else that Isner doesn't possess?
Are we talking about playing 360 minutes shorthanded in a 60-minute game?

Alex Cook said:We also have to consider the massive financial sacrifices made by families with a talented kid in tennis. Team sports are much more accessible, affordable, and can reach a wider audience. It’s generally easier to find success there.

.

Sacrificing various aspects of life is a fundamental requirement for achieving success in any athletic endeavor whatsoever.
Do you honestly believe kids in team sports win Golden Boot awards while they're out partying, smoking, or just being reckless?
In fact, if you look at tennis players, many actually manage to complete their college degrees while competing on the tour. So, what kind of "sacrifice" are we even talking about here?

Matthew Anderson4 said:Exactly. Unless you’re in the top hundred, you aren't really making it. But out of how many? Millions of people playing? Take handball, for example. You could play in the German second division and actually make a living. That kind of stability just doesn't exist in tennis.

😂

Think about it this way: you play tennis, realize you aren't quite at the pro level, and decide to move to Germany to coach wealthy kids. You’ll likely end up earning more than a handball player in the second division!
That isn't an option in handball, yet hundreds of thousands—probably millions—of people live very comfortable lives through tennis in that exact manner.
It seems to me you only follow tennis via TV and internet forums, which leads you to believe everyone ranked outside the top 100 is basically broke.

Yes, precisely. Tennis is significantly more expensive. That is the core reason why you practically have to be in the top 100 or 150 just to cover your basic overhead.

If people actually listened to you, they would start wondering how anyone survives on the Challenger or Futures circuits.

Here is another example for you.

Alex Ovechkin over at the Washington Capitals has a contract worth $124,000,000.
To put that in perspective, Ovechkin alone will earn as much as a podium of elite handball players combined over their entire careers, or even double what Roger Federer makes.
We are looking at a sport that isn't nearly as widespread as handball and has a significantly smaller player base.
The bottom line is simply this: it is massive in the US, where sports are tied to an enormous business machine. It is the exact same story with tennis. If it weren't popular in the States, it wouldn't even exist at a professional level. However, since tennis is slightly less dominant in the US than hockey is, you end up with one player like Ovechkin earning as much as both Federer and Rafael Nadal put together.

Matthew Anderson4 said:Good grief! 🤣
Roger Federer lacks wit and imagination? My friend, you should probably just walk away from tennis altogether 😉

Achieving success in both tennis and a sport like handball is an incomparable feat! To actually make a living off tennis, you have to be in the top 200—and that’s being generous; if you aren't in the top 100, your earnings won't even cover your travel expenses.

To live comfortably from tennis, you need the caliber of someone like Ivo Karlović.
Think about it: in that sport, you can earn $3,000,000 solely from your serve.

Let me reiterate, just in case it wasn't clear—the serve alone brings in $3,000,000 in tennis.

If you fall below the top 100—which essentially means you lack a decent serve, backhand, or forehand and are just some semi-pro playing the Challenger circuit—you can always make a buck by betting against yourself.
That is the grueling reality of a tennis player's life. ☕

Now, consider this: how much physical punishment does Ivano Balić have to endure to earn $3,000,000? Perhaps 5 to 10 years playing in the NFL?
Let’s compare Ivano Balić's imaginary $3,000,000 to Banderin's actual $3,000,000. Let's see who truly bled more to reach those numbers before we try to lecture anyone on how difficult it is to make money in tennis.