Magic Johnson: The GOAT, the king, the legend...

Peter Ramos26 said:Look, let's be real—he's got the best serve in history, period. It’s obvious you don't grasp just how much a serve dictates everything in tennis. If your serve is garbage, it’s basically like playing twenty minutes of a handball match while being down a man.

So, where did that "twenty minutes shorthanded" stat come from?

Are we just making stuff up now? Just throwing random numbers at the wall?

I mean, sure, you could compare it to bad defense in handball... but twenty minutes short-handed? That's a stretch.

Alex Cook said:If that’s the sticking point, then honestly, screw the whole thing. You bring handball to the States, you rename it...🤔...let's call it the NHA, run four 15-minute quarters instead of two 30-minute halves, toss in two timeouts per quarter, and just go for it. Stick commercials in whenever.
Just as an example—you can tweak the rules to suit whatever sponsors are footing the bill.

Look, the entire sporting culture in the US versus Europe is fundamentally different—that’s exactly why baseball never really caught on in Europe. Sure, people follow it, they know what it is, but it remains a pretty abstract concept over there.

The truth is—and I know you handball fanatics hate to admit this—handball isn't exactly easy to love. Even with how much they've sped up the game lately, it still feels kind of formulaic. It doesn't stand out from anything else. That’s why Magic Johnson was such a revelation; he took his unorthodox style—which he basically brought over from the basketball court 😍—and dragged the sport to an entirely different level.

It goes back to that financial sacrifice I was talking about. Nobody is handing you a guarantee that you'll turn into a world-class tennis player. Not every kid training tennis comes from money.
For instance, obviously, the child of a warehouse worker and a clerk at Walmart isn't going to be hitting the courts, but the kid of two high school professors might have a shot. But even then, there’s a catch: they have to be insanely talented, and the parents have to be willing to tank their own standard of living just to fund the kid's development.

When it comes to team sports, you need that same level of sacrifice. Which is exactly why a local politician will never become a Thierry Henry.🙂
The only real difference is that in a team sport, you're actually allowed to have a bad day. That's the one silver lining.

The issue is, I just can't...

The FIFA is incredibly stubborn when it comes to the rulebook... and frankly, they couldn't care less about Americans...

Alex Cook said:.....

....

I agree with everyone here. 👍
Of course, whether we are talking about tennis or handball, any sport requires significant financial investment and personal sacrifice. But above all, you need talent. In a team sport, even if you aren't the most gifted player on the court, you still contribute to the team's success. Being exceptionally talented helps, certainly, but it doesn't guarantee a win. In fact, victory is never guaranteed—even in individual sports—though in those cases, you rely much more heavily on your own abilities.
Regarding the discussion on creativity, I don't think we can meaningfully compare individual and team sports. The most creative disciplines are likely the racket sports, though I wouldn't necessarily say tennis is the pinnacle of that, just as handball isn't usually the first thing people think of when they hear the word "creativity."

Adam Collins4 said:Handball has definitely "sped up" over the last decade...

Just watch any game from the German league and I bet you'll change your mind...

Look, I didn't say it was slow or boring to me—just to Americans. And we all know how they are...😁

Adam Collins4 said:The issue is that they can't...

FIFA is just way too "stubborn" when it comes to the rules... plus, they don't give a damn about Americans...

And right there, you've got the whole hidden cause-and-effect loop behind why handball isn't catching on across the Great Plains.

Basically, if you pitched handball to them as some kind of hybrid between hockey and basketball... I think they might actually bite, provided you tweaked a few rules...

I mean, they actually accepted soccer, for God's sake.😁

Adam Collins4 said:Wow, nothing like an ad hominem to win an argument... how classy...

The GOAT... maybe only Pete Sampras tops him...

Seriously though, saying there’s more variety in tennis is kind of a joke... just waiting for someone to claim baseball or cricket has more "variety"...

And where was all that "variety" during those calls against Andy Murray?

Right, so we went from Federer straight to Murray? Did I say every player has variety? Or was I just talking about Federer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbP6u...eature=related

You know, if you really want to understand how much handball matters, just look at the facts. In a country like France, where they’ve got World Cup titles and Olympic gold hanging on the walls, something crazy happens: about 80% of the population couldn't tell you a single thing about the sport. When the World Cup rolls around, you've basically got two journalists covering the whole thing, and by the time the news hits the stands, you're digging through page 15 just to find a headline. It’s funny, though, because we love to talk ourselves up, acting like we're some kind of ultimate athletic powerhouse, fueling this massive fantasy that we’re the most sporting nation on the planet.

Matthew Anderson4 said:Right, and when did we jump from Roger Federer to Andy Murray? Am I claiming every single tennis player has some magical flair? Or am I just talking about Federer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbP6u...eature=related

Clearly struggling with basic reading comprehension here...

I was asking where all that magic disappeared to once he faced Murray...

And what exactly are you trying to prove with that clip? That he’s got perfect returns?

That’s literally what training is for...

Maybe take a second to look up what "imagination" actually means...

It’s like saying Karabatić is overflowing with imagination when it comes to handball...

vividheron10 said:If you want to know how much people actually care about handball, look at the stats—or lack thereof. In a country like France, where they've won everything from the World Cup to Olympic gold, like 80% of the population couldn't tell you a single thing about the sport. You’ll see two journalists covering the World Cup, and if you’re lucky, you might find an article buried on page 15 of the paper. Of course, we love to pretend it's the greatest sport ever invented just so we can feed that ego of ours about being the "most athletic nation on Earth."

Do you actually have any hard data to back up those numbers?

Or are we just making stuff up as we go?

Adam Collins4 said:Asking where all that talent went against Andy Murray...

Guess he’s allowed to have an off day? Or does every single match have to be flawless? 😕

Adam Collins4 said:And what's the point of a clip? To prove his returns are perfect?

Nah, just to show he sees things others don't. Imagination. If you don't see it, then nothing. You've got your opinion and I've got mine. We can go back and forth all night, but we're just gonna end up in the same spot.

Matthew Anderson4 said:I guess he’s allowed to have an off day? Or does every single match have to be a masterpiece? 😕

No, it's more about doing things other players wouldn't even dream of—pure imagination. If you don't see that, then you're just missing the point entirely. You've got your fixed opinion that you refuse to budge on, and honestly, I'm the same way. We can go back and forth all night, but we’re just going to end up right back where we started.

Perfection is actually just doing what everyone else fails at... which, again, comes down to sheer discipline...

Do some digging into his training schedule compared to the rest of the guys on the tour...

Pretty sure a lot of them are putting in extra hours, especially now that he's hit 28. But training can only take you so far; without that natural talent and a soft touch, you're stuck no matter how hard you work.

He absolutely crushed it on this EP as well.

Smith is just on another level; he's an absolute outlier and the kind of guy who keeps the whole squad fired up.