No Challenges Remaining

Episode 263: Can Tennis Stars Be Trusted to Act Responsibly? (With Reem Abulleil)

The fall out from the Adria Tour coronavirus cluster took an unexpected trip to the dance floor within a week later, with video surfacing of Alexander Zverev partying in Monte Carlo just days after being repeatedly exposed to the disease (and promising to follow health protocols) enraging people around the sport in tennis and severely damaging trust in tennis players.

To discuss the ramifications, and the notions of a code of conduct, Ben is joined by NCR's Middle East correspondent Reem Abulleil (please do support her Patreon as well!) to talk about what the tours can and can't do, the corrosive effects of selfishness in tennis, and more. 

Should tennis continue on without putting super rigid restrictions on personnel behavior in place? And if tennis has to do so much in a pandemic that it stops being fun, should it just stop all together? Big, bleak conversations are had here, but we also had a lot of fun.

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 #NCR263!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 244: A Picture Perfect Tour, with Jimmie

This week we bring to your ears a conversation with one of the sharpest eyes on tour: traveling women's tennis photographer Jimmie, who follows the tour year round with a dedication to the sport no other photographer can match.

We talk about how Jimmie worked his way onto the tour, building himself as a trusted person in the fabric of the tour, and what his days and weeks look like as he depicts the women of the WTA in new and fresh ways with an unrelenting schedule (which even included some off-season ventures).

If you'd like to support our show, 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 who have already given their support!  

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 #NCR244!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 243f: Australian Open - Sofia Kenin's American Dream Come True

Ben and Courtney wrap up the Australian Open starting with the women's side, in which Sofia Kenin leaves Melbourne as the unexpected champion.

How did she fly under the radar for so long? What does her story say about the immigrant experience in tennis? And what can we expect next from her?

We also discuss Garbine Muguruza's revival, Ash Barty's coping mechanism, and more from the second week of the Australian Open on the women's side.

Men's wrap show out soon! 

If you'd like to support our show, 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! 

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 #NCRAusOpen!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 237: Tennis Power Plays with Lindsay Gibbs

NCR is delighted to welcome back Lindsay Gibbs, creator of Power Plays, for a wide-ranging discussion of sexism in sports, anchored (obviously in tennis).

Ben and Lindsay start with the massive symbolic importance of the mega millions on offer to the WTA Top 8 in Shenzhen, what that signals for women's sports, but also how that signal might be muddled by the relative lack of coverage or attendance at the event.

We also compare the WTA to the LPGA, talk about how athlete activism can be built, and much more. 

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 #NCR237!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 215: Laver Cup with Liz Clarke

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!

Episode 208: Eleanor Preston

Ben and Courtney go back to their curtain-pulling roots to bring you the wisdom of Eleanor Preston, who works as Media Manager at the Nature Valley Classic where B+C were this week, as well as other various roles in sporting events around the globe.

We discuss credentialing (one of the things we're asked about most), press conferences, diversity in media, and much more. We then finish with a very brief wrap of what's happened on the grass so far.

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 #NCR208!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 200: Mary Carillo

Ben and Courtney are delighted to see their ersatz odometer click over to 200 with their dear friend Mary Carillo at the Australian Open (the 200th Grand Slam of the Open Era, no less!). She's our kind of people. 

Mary, in Melbourne for Tennis Channel, is also in the midst of reporting for HBO's Real Sports about the controversy surrounding the Australian Open's Margaret Court Arena, which has faced calls for a name change or boycott as its namesake, the Grand Slam champ-turned-pastor Margaret Court has continued to escalate her crusade against gay and transgender people, including children.

We discuss many of the sides of this complex issue, the perspectives of Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, as well as how BJK serve-and-volleyed Tennis Australia before the tournament began.

We end with Mary's enduring love for tennis, as well as her iconic moment regarding another racquet sport: badminton.

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 #NCR200!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 173: Kicking Back With Questions #1

 

With the off-season upon us, Ben and Courtney curl up into their mailbag of questions and use it to keep warm through the winter, while at the same time answering its contents to share the warmth of tennis to all who listen. Gosh I hope no one read that paragraph, it was not our best.

Questions come from all sides on general tennis topics such as: Legacy padding! Bro Culture! Sustaining fledgling pro careers! Singles and doubles specializations! And conflicts of interest!

If you are someone who still has some show-based Kickstarter reward you're waiting on, we'd love for you to message us with your ideas so we can deliver them to you post haste! 

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR173!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 169: Steve Simon (and the Streams)

With the WTA season wrapping up in Singapore this week, there's no better time to check in with women's tennis boss Steve Simon, who is finishing up his first full year as the tour's chief executive. It's been a turbulent year in tennis, at times, but Simon also made waves of his own this fall by expressing interest in revamping the tennis scoring system to shorten singles matches, including eliminating third sets in lieu of super tiebreaks. Speaking to Ben by phone from Singapore on semifinal Saturday, Simon discusses that as well as other various tour quandaries, including what, if anything, the WTA has planned to cover for its exodus from the ATP Media controled streaming platform, TennisTV, starting in 2017.

Speaking of streaming, we then shift to an issue that more affects the journalistic side of the equation: the live streaming of press conferences. After a snippet of the Steve Simon's State of the WTA address via the WTA Insider podcast, We bat around the topic in a roundtable with two NCR favorite guests, Reem Abulleil and Simon Cambers.

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook  (leave comments on the episode thread!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR169!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

(This episode title is not a band name...yet.)