Episodes
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Episode 254: How We Carry on While Stopped, with Mike Cation
Monday Apr 27, 2020
Monday Apr 27, 2020
For another perspective on life without tennis from someone inside the sport, Ben is joined by NCR favorite Mike Cation, co-host of the Behind the Racquet podcast, who shares his experiences now that his commentary work has ceased indefinitely with the sport halted due to coronavirus.
We discuss the impact of the current moment on both financial and mental health, how lower-ranked players might be especially affected, and on the strains of exhibition match ideas which are popping up in all sorts of various places. We also discuss payment ideas, for players and coaches alike.
These are tough, weird times, but there is comfort to be found, for sure, in knowing just how many people are in this together.
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCR254!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Episode 253: The Dudes Wanna Merge Now? (With Reem Abulleil)
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
Wednesday Apr 22, 2020
The tennis world is stopped, but it got suddenly busy on Wednesday with Roger Federer expressing a view that he'd like to see the ATP and WTA tours merge into one organization after decades of being side-by-side but separate. More curiously, Rafael Nadal, not a supporter of equality measures in tennis, quickly endorsed this idea.
What is going on? Ben is joined by Reem Abulleil try to figure out what's happening here, where it's coming from, and what it might mean for the futures of the tours. We have a lot of questions and a lot of suspicions.
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCR253!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Episode 252: How to Begin to Restart, with Mark Ein
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
With the traditional European clay swing and the grass court circuit both off the calendar for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the next possible start line for the sport is the summer hardcourt stretch in North America, on which the first big combined event would be the Citi Open in Washington.
To discuss how the tournament is preparing and thinking currently, Ben is joined by Citi Open owner Mark Ein, who gives his insights and perspectives about how tennis might return after months away, and in what form.
Though the event is still months away, there's lots of ideas and contingencies already floating around, and Mark walks us through several different scenarios which should help to illuminate this murky landscape more clearly for listeners.
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCR252!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Friday Apr 03, 2020
Episode 251b: NCR Book Club Author Chat - Jon Wertheim
Friday Apr 03, 2020
Friday Apr 03, 2020
To enhance our discussion and understanding of NCR Book Club selection Venus Envy, Ben and Courtney are joined by Jon Wertheim to chat about his experiences writing the book and how he looks back on it, two decades later.
How has the tour changed since? How will history remember Anna Kournikova? And what is the current state of tennis in the publishing world?
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCRBookClub!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Episode 251a: NCR Book Club - "Venus Envy" by Jon Wertheim
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
Ben and Courtney are delighted to bring you the long-awaited first discussion of the NCR Book Club, chatting about one of our favorite tennis tomes: Venus Envy by Jon Wertheim, which covers the 2000 season on the WTA Tour
We discuss the colorful characters, what's changed in the sport in the last two decades, and how the book is a great snapshot of a moment on tour which is often sanitized or glossed over in modern narratives. Plus, a whole lot more.
We will have another episode on Venus Envy featuring author Jon Wertheim later this week. The NCR Book Club next continues on to our next selection: Hard Courts by John Feinstein.
After the book chat, Ben and Courtney debrief on life in our current quarantines. It's a weird time, y'all.
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has ceased, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCRBookClub!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.