{"id":21907,"date":"2023-07-16T16:40:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T23:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/?p=21907"},"modified":"2023-07-16T16:40:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T23:40:08","slug":"first-post-sunday-july-16-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/2023\/07\/16\/first-post-sunday-july-16-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"First Post: Sunday, July 16, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B3c6ESfLUVc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ladies &amp; gentlemen, your 2023 Wimbledon Gentlemen\u2019s champion, Mr. Carlos Alcaraz&#8230;ALCARAZ! Incoming anti-picklenickel screed arriving on the jump page in 3&#8230;2&#8230;1&#8230;<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Hail to the victor. Already the best tennis player on the planet, and now even more so. Yes, others have accomplished more, but if they all competed at their best, Carlos would emerge on top more often than not.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to hate The Djoker, especially in light of the last few years. Yet we remember a time when we felt the same way about Rogerr Federr. Indeed, when Djoker &amp; Federr met in that one U.S. Open Final for the first time, we were actively rooting for Djoker! After all, he had his lookalike Robert DeNiro viewing the action in Joker\u2019s box! We suppose we always want the new guy to beat the villainous guy on top, especially if that top guy is smug &amp; arrogant. Yes, part of the enjoyment of consuming sport-as-entertainment is hate-watching! Hate-watching! Rooting against!<\/p>\n<p>Except for Rafa \u2018The Bull\u2019 Nadal. When Nadal was in his pomp, we could never root against him. He was our guy. He still is. He was who took our mild participation &amp; interest in the sport and put us in a place where we were all-in, no turning back, and here we are some 15 yrs. later. Hell, we still play with a Babolat Aero inspired by Nadal from the earliest days of his career! Maybe for the next generation of bashers, pushers, retrievers &amp; net-monsters, Alcaraz will be their guy. He certainly possesses all the bona fides, and will so for a long time, Inshallah.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now, for the promised anti-picklenickel screed. You see in that paragraph just before this paragraph the words \u2018bashers, pushers, retrievers &amp; net-monsters\u2019. Well, already right there we have described the wide range of styles available to the conventional-tennis player. They all can win \u2014 bashers through sheer power, going for broke on most shots; pushers &amp; retrievers conversely simply happy to get every single ball back over the net with little regard for velocity or spin, just so long as it\u2019s one more time over the net than their opponent can muster; net-monsters looking for the opportunity to poach, intercept and volley for the easy-placement winner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But in picklenickel you have dinks &amp; donks &amp; not much else. The athleticism just is not there, just like the athleticism is not there in golf. Indeed, where the hell in either of those so-called sports is the element of giant, first-step footspeed? Or the swerving contortions necessary to twist a first-serve down the T for an ace? Or the physics-bending gyrations of the sliding backhand stab, or the forehand whipped dippingly down the line after a full-sprint dash beyond the sideline. Tennis is like deep-sea sport-fishing, wearing down the opponent bit-by-bit, like boxing without a clock; you must suffer &amp; endure to win. By comparison, picklenickel seems frivolous, like plucking a guppy out of a small fishbowl, or thumb-wrestling.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we are now public-court players here in sunny Southern California, which has always had a longstanding love-affair with the game. Yes, we\u2019ve been members at a couple of private clubs, but there\u2019s something forced about that experience. Dress-codes, or having to suffer the same kind of strivers &amp; posers you\u2019d probably want to steer clear of in real life, battling with other members to reserve court-time, etc.<\/p>\n<p>But on the public courts, you get the real lovers of the game; they just want to play, not make some kind of statement about their appearance, wealth or status. Also good about the public courts is you can play pretty much naked from the waist-up; not so at the private clubs! Also good about the public courts is the random socialization, and a true democracy of interaction. We have guys here on the public courts in Studio City who have won Grammys, sold millions of albums, been all over the world with fame &amp; fortune; yet we address them as fellow comrades on the tennis courts, no need for kowtowing or fawning or hero-worship \u2014 it\u2019s enough on the public courts &nbsp;to just play or jaw about the game. On the public courts, that\u2019s it: the game matters most.<\/p>\n<p>That said, Wimbledon is over. We no longer have to wear white, a tribute &amp; conceit we have always honored over the fortnight, even when we played at the private clubs. Tomorrow, back to neons &amp; shocking pinks &amp; greens &amp; crazy socks. But, on the public courts, when the heat beats down &amp; the sweat begins to pour, we shall have the added luxury of going shirtless.<\/p>\n<p>Always remember: FADS are BAD, mostly. Picklenickel will not be here by the time your Wimbledon 2033 champion is crowned. Probably. But they\u2019ll have to keep their shirt on. A white shirt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BestLine Racing Society Recap<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Canterbury, Gulf, Hawthorne, Swampatoga &amp; Woodbine from before. Louisiana was scheduled but canceled on account of weather.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Race 1 from Shakopee, Minn., saw #3 Mr Navigator (.314 Win Prob \/ 2.18-1 Fair Odds \/ 2.82-1 Premium Odds) sailing into the winner\u2019s circle at $9.20. Next race there, #5 Angel\u2019s Magic (.421 \/ 1.38 \/ 1.85) conjured-up a similar low-priced-overlay score at $7.60. Your winning $29.60 early daily double had a premium price of $21.77.<\/p>\n<p>To Hallandale Beach, Fla., for the sixth race there; in it, #5 Accomplished Girl (.558 \/ 0.79 \/ 1.15) ran to that billing in a $5-even win. Completing your winning $11-even exacta was #4 Time Passage (.304 \/ 2.29 \/ 3.61); the premium price on that comboa (comboa!) was $10.60.<\/p>\n<p>In Race 6 at Stickney, Ill., #6 Palace Magic (.398 \/ 1.51 \/ 2.02) ran royally at $6.80.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the opener at Swampatoga Falls, #6 Giroovin (.401 \/ 1.49 \/ 1.99) was movin\u2019, winning at $11-even. Completing your winning $28-even exacta was #3 Speakinofthedevil (.224 \/ 3.46 \/ 5.25); the premium price on that comboa (comboa!) was $24.87. Then in Race 6, #11 He\u2019s Got Swagger (.393 \/ 1.54 \/ 2.05) ran to that billing at $8.60.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lastly to Etobicoke Int\u2019l. and Race 9 there; #3 Sign of Beauty (.444 \/ 1.25 \/ 1.70) and #7 The Niigon Factor (.407 \/ 1.46 \/ 1.95) combined on your winning $13-even exacta whose premium price was $10.03. Then in the finale there, #4 Sarah\u2019s Dancer (.249 \/ 3.02 \/ 3.82) did some quality hoofing to win at $11.80. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>BestLine Racing Society Nightcap<\/strong>:&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Mountain<\/strong> tonight!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Strongshots<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Race 3<br \/>\n#1 Big Treat (.358 \/ 1.79 \/ 2.35)<\/p>\n<p>Race 5<br \/>\n#8 Dennis\u2019s Pride (.302 \/ 2.31 \/ 2.97)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Longshots<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Race 7<br \/>\n#5 Sassy Justice (.241 \/ 3.15 \/ 3.98)<br \/>\n#8 My Lovely Girl (.206 \/ 3.85 \/ 5.80)<br \/>\n#7 Orbit Mars (.167 \/ 4.99 \/ 7.38)<br \/>\n#2 Accolades Galore (.142 \/ 6.04 \/ 13.08)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ladies &amp; gentlemen, your 2023 Wimbledon Gentlemen\u2019s champion, Mr. Carlos Alcaraz&#8230;ALCARAZ! Incoming anti-picklenickel screed arriving on the jump page in 3&#8230;2&#8230;1&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pavW5M-5Hl","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21908,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21907\/revisions\/21908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}