Faulkner

I was reminded of that absolutely epic Bronson Pinchot interview with AV Club years ago in which he goes IN on Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington. But he spoke a lot about his time on PS and how rough it was, how his relationship with Mark-Linn Baker was initially rocky but became a very deep bond. It is one of the most honest interviews I’ve certainly ever read from a celebrity.

https://www.avclub.com/bronson-pinchot-1798218088

It sort of serves Sascha right to have his match unravel due to a rain delay today. It was ridiculous that he didn’t get a time warning and racquet abuse violation during the Goffin match.

Halep is the also-ran again this year. Svitolina has looked amazing, but how many times has she looked “amazing” only to tank in Slams?

Thank you, Simona Halep!

4 hours ago, slick jones said:

@Faulkner  Anxiously awaiting your next list.

 

 

@Paul Raven   appreciate your suggestions, as always!

 

@PJ      Sorry it took so long,

 

Cady McClain

Ingo Rademacher

Cynthia Watros 

Jeffrey Vincent Parise

Priscilla Garita

Todd McKee

56 minutes ago, YRBB said:

And for this (thank God it's finally) FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018....

 

 

Who dis?

Great match between Kei and Novak. Kei’s level dropped considerably from that dominant first set, but that third set was an intense battle. Glad to see Novak putting together some solid wins. Not sure if he’s serving well enough to beat Rafa, but at least the fire is back.

I knew Ostapenko wouldn’t be steady enough to defeat a tenacious Maria. Not sure who has a better shot of taking out Maria, Halep or Garcia, but both have recent wins after her after nothing but losses. 

21 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

He looks good enough in that GIF to me, LOL!

 

As for the pictures, there are many hot ones throughout this great thread. I always say: looking is free, fun and harmless, so we should indulge ourselves!

 

That Boy Butter commercial is AMAZING!

 

And I have always appreciate plaid.

 

 

Nishikori beat the brakes off Kohlschreiber. Didn’t expect him to be so dominant in that matchup.

Djokovic is having trouble closing out Ramos-Vinolas. It’s sad that, if he gets over the line, he’ll have to meet Nishikori in the quarterfinals. They’ll knock the f*** out of each other, softening each other up to be easy pickings for Rafa. But somewhat encouraging signs from both.

Sad that Del Potro is seemingly injured. Hope he recovers for RG. 

The Zverev-Edmund TB looked epic. Sascha held his ground, though.

Meh, Sharapova. Can someone get this girl together in Serena’s absence? Not sure Ostapenko is the one to do it.

For those who watch the commercials during RuPaul’s Drag Race:

23 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

Halep and Keys is probably the only one I am going to skip.  Both rare incredibly boring, especially Keys.  Not really wild about anything Wozniacki related either, but Sevastova is pretty interesting.  

Sevastova’s perpetual cryface bugs the hell out of me, but I like how she can totally break down someone’s game under the right circumstances.

delete

41 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

Doping is so classy!  
 

Garbine should avoid 3 setters at all costs!  

Oh dear. Well, let’s see if Gavrilova has enough left to take out Masha.

The women’s matches look good tomorrow.

Konta/Ostapenko 

Kasatkina/Svitolina 

Halep/Keys

Sakkari/Kerber 

Venus/Kontaveit rematch

Sloane/Garcia

Dasha/Masha

Sevastova/Wozniacki 

Maria Sharapova is just the worst. I must admit she throws good shade at times, but someone who served a lengthy suspension for a failed drug test needs to have SEVERAL seats and be humble as Kendrick Lamar said.

She definitely deserves a fine, just like Jared Donaldson did. Actually what she did was worse. I’m seeing some people say she deserves a suspension, and that wouldn’t bother me. Adults just don’t resolve things with violence.

What a shameful tanking from Schwartzman.

Saw Venus survived a tough three-setter with Elena “HIYAAA!” Vesnina.

It’s crazy that, in lieu of Hawkeye, that clay court tennis doesn’t have instant replay like many other sports. Like the ability to

review video in the event of a dispute in which there’s no mark. It’s imprecise, but it would resolve issues with egregiously bad calls like this. 

The full exchange with Karolina:

25 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

There could be a big fine in her future.

 

 

Aaaaand Kei continues to thrive in three-setters with the win over Grigor. I love that guy!

13 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

Pliskova got a bad call and she was right. Her shot was in and when she asked opponent, Sakkari, to back her up, Sakkari said she didn't see it but was gracious enough to offer to replay the point. The Chair refused. 

 

Naomi has to find her place in Tennis and stick to it. 

Clay might not be her thing, but I suppose she’s having a rough patch. She has seemed emotional after the big IW win. A lot of stress and expectations.

Djokovic had a comprehensive win over Basilashvili. Nikoloz clearly isn’t an elite level player but he’s a big hitter and if Novak was off, that could have been a difficult match. Glad to see him get through it. Still, I’m not counting my chickens until they are hatched, and we’ve seen Novak look unbeatable in one match only to completely collapse in the next.

Fognini over Thiem! I think Dominic is probably exhausted from the big run at Madrid. Last season, Fabio really challenged Nadal in a couple matches only to throw in a bunch of WTF unforced errors. We’ll see if being on home soil again could allow him to make a run.

39 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

Emotion from Pliskova...a first!
 

https://twitter.com/Ashish__TV/status/996734671625977856

The Pliskobot is malfunctioning! 😂

Why was she so pissed at the chair?

Saw that Halep returned the favor from Indian Wells with her beatdown of Osaka. Yikes! 

35 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

He is still ranked #15. All his points came at the end of last year so he hasn't had anything to defend but first round loses from last year.

I'm probably one of his biggest fans but he needs to call it a day. He truly underachieved where his career is concerned. His mental lapses in matches were so tedious to watch every year. He should've won the US Open the year Cilic won it. He totally came out flat against Cilic and lost to him. He kept doing that a lot in his career. He should've won Wimbledon when he was in the finals against Rafa. He should've had 2 majors in his career but he got none.

He pretty much always beat who he was supposed to beat in the past, but he’s so much more vulnerable against lower-ranked players now. He could still play on, of course, if he remains healthy and still wants it. There are so many players who never contend for big titles who keep on truckin’ year after year. (Look at Kohlschreiber.) Tomas really seemed like he was on the upswing last spring into Wimbledon (where he played well).

20 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

I kind of feel bad for Berdych. I didn't see today's match but of the previous matches that I have seen, he looks a bit lost out there.

He came close quite few times but has been unable to grab that one complete breakthrough in the majors (i.e. "Slam"). 

I'm always loathe to say that anybody should retire, especially if they are uninjured and able to compete and want to compete but I wonder if maybe he's a bit burnt out, at the moment and perhaps a mini 'mental health' break might help.  All these consecutive first round losses cannot be good for the psyche.

On the women's side Ash Barty and another player whose name I can't remember (she's Canadian, I think) took breaks away from the game for mental health reasons. There should be no stigma for anyone who needs to take a break to restore their mental health.

I don’t find him to be a very likable or rootable guy, but I do too. I know he’s had a mental coach, but he’s been well-positioned to win majors and just never managed it. It’s definitely a head thing. He’s beaten all of the Big 4 multiple times (including SIX times against Federer, twice at Slams, once at Wimbledon), but just couldn’t do it when it mattered most. 

Gotta hand it to Shapovalov. He steps it up. He could have been a Tommy Paul/Casper Ruud type flash in the pan, but he’s still in the mix nearly a year after his breakthrough summer and is now in the Top 30. He’s pretty fearless and gutsy, which you can’t say for a lot of his peers.

Basilashvili is underrated eye candy.

Cecchinato can’t capitalize on the home crowd.

What is going on with Ash Barty?

1 hour ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Isn't this like his 3rd or 4th Masters 1000?!

His 3rd (after Rome and Montreal last year). He’s pacing ahead of Federer and Murray at this point. Djokovic had four at his age, while Nadal had 11 (!!!).

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Forget about Patrick Mulcahey's scripts for B&B; no one can do good work on that show.  Mulcahey is, hands down, the best script writer ever to work in soaps.  There's him, maybe Frank Salisbury, and then there's everyone else.

You can tell when it’s a Mulcahey script (I remember when Quinn had this long monologue about how women are punished for their sexuality, and I was like, yep, that is a PM script), but that show is a total waste of good scriptwriters (him and MVJ). 

He’s such a smart, interesting guy. An openly gay Catholic dude who is a major public figure in the BDSM/kink community.