11/05/24
June 09, 2005
Ice Cold in Wimbledon: - "They called him the ice man, but there was so much more to Björn Borg than cool detachment and a wispy beard. Twenty-five years after the Swede's last and greatest Wimbledon triumph, award-winning novelist Tim Pears offers a remarkable portrait of the rebellious teenager who became an accidental Nordic mystic - and an all-time great."
Sheesh. LSS, please go away. I wonder what kind of player Borg would turn into these days, now that racquet technology has had such a big impact on player development. Terrific article, JJ. Thanks for the link.
posted by Uncle Toby at 03:35 PM on June 09, 2005
Tennis is for GIRLS
posted by iplayforkeeps at 05:11 PM on June 09, 2005
Sounds like we have a couple who are are not athletic enough to play tennis! Ha! Borg was great, and a humble champion!
posted by bankman at 08:32 PM on June 09, 2005
Sounds like we have a couple who are are not athletic enough to play tennis! Ha! That's usually the most plausible explanation when a fenugi pops off with the "[insert sport name] sucks" line. Wimbledon in 11 days!!!
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:45 PM on June 09, 2005
Nope, tennis is still for girls
posted by iplayforkeeps at 10:29 PM on June 09, 2005
Absolutely fantastic article. I have just the vaguest memories of Borg playing, mostly I remember McEnroe's early career, which was defined in part through matches against Borg. Thanks for the great link. Anybody who thinks tennis either A) sucks or B) is for girls has never played, or gotten to know the game. It is a beautiful sport. I especially love the fact that there are multiple ways to beat a superior player, or at least to negate their strengths. David Foster Wallace has written some wonderful pieces on tennis, which I highly recommend.
posted by vito90 at 12:44 AM on June 10, 2005
I have to confess that the thing that made me laugh the loudest yesterday was when I came back to see if anyone had posted a comment to this link to find only the first comment. It shouldn't have been funny, but somehow, the voice I had in my head made it so. I enjoyed the article - I'm young enough that all I ever really knew of Borg were a few pictures and some stories my mum would tell me. It was nice to read about the man behind the mystique. I particularly liked the line about him coming out for the final set in the 1980 final "as though nothing had happened." I would also add that, strictly speaking, the comment "Tennis is for girls." is accurate. It is for girls. And boys. And women. And men. But not Muppets.
posted by JJ at 04:12 AM on June 10, 2005
A great article, cheers JJ. Looking forward to wimbledon!!!!
posted by BigCalm at 05:23 AM on June 10, 2005
Who cares, tennis sucks!