Episodes
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
Episode 215: Laver Cup with Liz Clarke
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
Wednesday Sep 26, 2018
With Courtney in China for a bit, Ben was delighted to meet up in D.C. with The Washington Post's Liz Clarke, who recently returned from Chicago where she covered the second Laver Cup, the novel new event which seems to defy expectations and definitions in tennis in first two successful editions.
Ben and Liz discuss her impressions of the event and how players and crowds have taken to it, what makes it work, the definition of "exhibition," and her take on the competing interests in men's tennis now.
Liz also shares her experience and wisdom on what makes tennis' struggles so uniquely frustrating and self-sabotaging (and please do go buy her great book on NASCAR if that bit piques your interest whatsoever).
And, of course, The Boss plays her out.
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR215!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Saturday Sep 15, 2018
Episode 214b: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 2: Everything Else
Saturday Sep 15, 2018
Saturday Sep 15, 2018
After spending the last episode on Naomi Osaka and what happened in her final against Serena Williams, Ben and Courtney move on to the rest of the U.S. Open.
Well, after an explanation of what "Pique" is, a bit more on Serena: what do we make of her not being the closer she once was deep in Slams?
Then, other topics include: the heat and the slow courts, the impact of moments when non-tennis media becomes interested in the sport, women's top-10 fleeing Slams early, champion Novak Djokovic, runner-up Juan Martin del Potro, and Mo Lahyani's absurd intervention into the Kyrgios-Herbert match.
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR214b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
Episode 214a: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 1: Osaka, Serena, Ramos
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
The 2018 U.S. Open was absurdly eventful, and the women's side finished with tremendous controversy, so we devote most of this first wrap-up episode to that.
But first, we spend ample time on our new breakthrough champion, Naomi Osaka, and her stunning performance.
Then we dive headlong into everything that happened in the second set of her win over Serena Williams, which sparked worldwide discussion about officiating, sexism, and more. It was a whole big mess, and we hope we're able to clean it off and sort it out pretty well for you here.
Part 2, on everything else that happened at the U.S. Open, coming later this week.
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR214a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Thursday Sep 06, 2018
Episode 213: When NCR Met Naomi Osaka
Thursday Sep 06, 2018
Thursday Sep 06, 2018
With Naomi Osaka reaching the U.S. Open final, Ben and Courtney revisit the first time we discussed her, back on Episode 83 in August 2014. We had never heard of her before that week, but we were immediately intrigued and excited.
We get a lot of things wrong on NCR, as anyone who listens knows, but we think we got this one right.
We also mention Courtney's interview with her on WTA Insider.
We'll be back after the finals to wrap up this whole very steamy tournament.
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR213!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!