Andy Murray forgot his mum

That's not how Wimbledon appeared to me; people that didn't show respect for their opponent [such as the Polish guy] were given short shrift by the crowd and the majority of players showed total respect [especially in the post match interviews] for their opponent.

Yes, I know deserving but it won't be long before the royal baby appears and that could be even more boring worse

Tegan couldn't agree more. deserving - a somewhat jaundiced view if I may say so. No one gets to the top in any discipline without being competitive. Life is competitive. AM seems like a nice guy, who wanted to win and did, with grace and humility. Did you feel the same about our athletes in the Olympics? Is it just that you object to the fact he will make a great deal of money?

I've long been interested in what drives someone to be successful; at sport in particular. For a start, it's not all about the money because it's a long way down the line that the financial rewards start to kick in. I always thought that, to be good at sport, you had to be physically capable, but then a friend who did showjumping explained how important the mental side of it was, and that's when it started to fascinate me. Has a long chat with my daughter about it yesterday, as she's training to do the race for life at the weekend but wants to do it in a really good time. Many years ago the school wanted her to do cross country running at county level but, although she's fiercely competitive in a lot of ways, she just didn't enjoy doing it so there was no point. Also puzzles me why, in this country more than any other, we seem to expect our successful people in any sphere to be 'nice' as well .

Don't most small children hate losing? One of my sisters was a 'sore loser'. We are, perhaps too good in this country at being 'good losers'. We need more winners - like Andy, Mo, Jess, and all the big winners at the Olympics.

I would ,of all the interpretations of jaundiced,like to think that your accusation of my opinion veered towards 'disappointed"or 'disillusioned' .It would from your demeanour however be more likely to be allied with "resentful","envious', 'jealous", but thats you isn't it? children are naturally ,competitive and can be naturally nasty as well, some of us attempt to civilise them,and show them that it is ok to be kind and considerate even when competing, after all how important is it to win,at the expense of someone else? It's a game, we play for fun, win or lose the taking part is whats important.
Thats a load of rubbish isn't it? You have got to beat someone into the ground, humiliate them,and punch the air to show how sportsmanlike you are, and how much better you are.Not that I am accusing A.m. of this, this appears to be the accepted idea of sportsmanship, that even some of the elderly seem to accept as good behaviour, easily sucked in aren't you?
That, that has become acceptable, is not necessarily acceptable, because it has become common practice.Consider some of the foul language that has become common parlance, the argot and patois that we hear, the disintegration of the society we knew ,so recently.How many times have you found yourselves saying, "What would my mother or father have thought of this,' or even, "what would my grand parents have said"?
A lot of this stems from the fact that the so called sportsmen, are the least "sporty" of all.They are talented in a particular field, and by hook or by crook they intend to make a kings ransom out of it, they need a team of intelligent managers to ensure this happens sometimes. Not having any business acumen themselves, but knowing when they are broke.this inevitably leads to high wages that are obscene, by anyones standards, and the high prices for the average person who wishes to see them perform.
"Life is competitive", because we, and I am not using the royal WE,have made it so. If you were not always trying to do someone down, not always trying to put something over on someone, not always trying to keep up with the Jonses, and doing all the other things that makes one feel better that your neighbours, or friends (I use the word friends with my tongue in my cheek) then we would all live in better times. Our husbands could go to see a match for half a crown again, well perhaps a little more.Does anyone know how much, the absolute gentleman, Stanley Matthews earned a week, at his peak?How many other players did he kick deliberately without thought for the damage he might do to their limbs and career?
time to go.

Anno I agree - I'm reminded of the saying 'Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser'.
Deserving Most people cannot begin to comprehend the dedication, determination and the sacrifices winners make to get to the top. It is quite possible to be bitterly disappointed with one's performance and the result of a match, but still behave in a courteous fashion towards one's opponent and supporters.
Novak Djokovic exemplified this after the match on Sunday.

I do not mind losing at games , may best man win , I can assure I am not a loser "at all^.

Stanley Matthews? Didn't he play 60 years ago? He may have been a 'gentleman' but do you consider that he would have turned down the money that exceptional individual sportsmen can earn now? It's a different ball game (excuse the pun) Andy Murray will and has generated a huge amount of revenue for Wimbledon, the BBC, his sponsers now and to come. That is a good thing, it means many people have jobs, making, supplying and serving - all because one child had the grit and determination to put himself through years of gruelling work and pain. It's not exclusive, anyone can do it surely, hit or kick a ball? Lots of people I suspect are born with a degree of talent, it takes a whole different character to nurture that into a world class athlete.

Who have you seen grinding their opponents into the ground?

Me neither Nonu although I always play to win

Sel !!

Obviously all your ducks are in a row , like mine .

why all the rhetoric?
Just say people play to win big money!
It's a profession
A way of life!
What's the difference between that and being a successful businessman?

Deserving -I don't follow your post - who is resentful, envious and jealous? If you are referring to another member of Gransnet, may I remind you that it is not in the guidelines to offer insults.

Well, Deserving - that's us "tellt" isn't it? And there was me thinking "Come on Andy!" or even "Well done Wiggo "(last year) in my innocence misapprehension that we can all take some pride in the sporting achievements of our countrymen/women. I know it's big bucks- it's entertainment and that is big bucks. Am I bothered? Not particularlly. It is an industry in itself. Whether you are talking about cricket, tennis, rugby, racing, cycling, football or underwater basket-weaving, whatever, sport employs many people, brings pleasure to others and what is wrong with that?
If some rags want to print the intimate details of Andy's early games of Monopoly or Wiggo's first stabilisers - so what?
Ami being unfair to suggest that you might lighten up a bit. OK maybe it's not your thing just leave it there?

Galen , or businesswoman ??

got be P.C.

Deserving should be allowed to have their say , same as the rest of us .

I saw fair play at Wimbledon. I liked seeing the winnng player achnowledge his good luck when the ball caught the net and and dropped on the opponent's side to win him a point. I like how the crowd applauds both players, even when one is not being gentlemanly. The hype isn't of Andy Murray's making. He'll be thinking about his next match now.

I'll never forget going to a football match and being surprised that people watching applauded the players, as it was something I never heard when it was on the telly.

Deserving If you get this annoyed at a sporting event, what do you do when you're really annoyed with something/someone?

Comes out shooting from the hip [[ajoke]

deserving's an old hand. Pops up occasionally to give us the benefit of his/her ponderings and moves on again...

Nonu and Ana

Actual LOLs and thanks.

It seems to me that a lot of GN people can't play tennis. I played match tennis at a low level for 8 years and all that about wanting to win and trying to catch your opposite number out is part of the game. The whole point of the game. That is why it is so satisfying to play because you want to win. There is no other reason for going onto the tennis court.
You might as well stay in your back yard and hit the ball against the kitchen wall.

That sums it up nicely Ana , wish they would post more often !!

Come on Deserving lets be "Avin" you .

I don't play any sort of sport [used to duck when the rounders ball came towards me at school saying 'but it's really hard and it'll hurt me']. What I can do, and that applies to most sports [with the possible exception of rugby which I don't understand] is know pretty quickly if what I am watching is good, even exceptional, and I saw a that at Wimbledon, with the Del Potro game and the final. I used to like hitting a ball against a wall and pretending I was winning something . In fact, I think I still would enjoy doing that [no suitable wall, though].