Episodes
Friday Dec 21, 2018
Episode 219a: Remember When? 2018, Part 1
Friday Dec 21, 2018
Friday Dec 21, 2018
With a whole year behind them, Ben and Courtney have a whole lot to look back on, both fondly and...less fondly.
And so, the fairly annual "Remember When?" episode is here, at least the first third of it on the first four or so months on the season. All sorts of wacky things happened in Australia, and the year stayed interesting throughout.
These episodes are less about the headline grabbing stories and more about the smaller moments that made the year feel how it felt, and we do hope you enjoy it as a tasty dessert at the end of a year-long meal.
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 #NCRRememberWhen!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
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!
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
Episode 212: U.S. Open 2018 Draw Preview Spectacular
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
It's been a minute, but Ben and Courtney are back together to tee up the 2018 U.S. Open draw and do a little catching up on things we missed or covered in our lost post-Wimbledon episode.
First, the draws, which feature Serena Williams being dealt a gauntlet of her sister and Simona Halep, clearly the best player of the year. How do we assess the many threats in that quarter? And who else is well positioned to go deep?
On the men's side, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic seem like co-favorites, but how do their paths compare?
Also, we still agree about best-of-five, and now Andy Murray sees it our way. And one of us is more excited than the other about #poLLanskycaLLendarsLLam
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 #NCR212!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Saturday Jan 13, 2018
Episode 199d: 2018 Australian Open Preview
Saturday Jan 13, 2018
Saturday Jan 13, 2018
Ben and Courtney are back in your ears after far too long, and are in Melbourne ready to tee up the first Grand Slam of 2018.
On the women's side, we discuss the women who have surged to start the year (Halep, Kerber, Bencic...Giorgi?) and go through the draw thoroughly to find where openings might emerge.
On the men's side, Rafael Nadal is a clear draw winner, but there still manage to be lots of exciting early round match-ups throughout. And is it Roger's to lose, or can 2,000 points go to Goffindor?
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!
Tuesday Sep 26, 2017
Episode 199: Laver Cup (With Reem Abulleil)
Tuesday Sep 26, 2017
Tuesday Sep 26, 2017
As she returns from covering the inaugural Laver Cup, NCR's Middle East correspondant Reem Abulleil chats with Ben about the new competition, which proved to be stunningly successful and compelling despite being an exhibition made out of thin air by Roger Federer's marketing team.
What did Laver Cup get so right in its first try? Why were players so invested in it? And how can the stale and neglected Davis Cup learn from it to adapt for this changing tennis landscape?
Reem is the hero of our times.
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 #NCR199!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Episode 197: U.S. Open Preview!
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Monday Aug 28, 2017
It's our U.S. Open preview show! Ben and Courtney catch up on the happenings of the hardcourt season, and make all the tough picks as we breakdown the women's and men's draws in New York this year.
With Andy Murray's withdrawal the last of five from the ATP top 11, how should we feel about the men's field? And just how open is the women's draw, really, with eight women who can reach #1?
Lots of fun tangents, as per.
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 #NCR197!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Monday Jul 10, 2017
Episode 193: Wimbledon Manic Impressions
Monday Jul 10, 2017
Monday Jul 10, 2017
Second week already? I was just in the middle of a dream (about flying ants, probably).
With four rounds of Wimbledon in the books, Ben and Courtney chat about what has happened and what will at a Wimbledon that hadn't been super eventful, really, until Manic Monday clarified some things. What do we make of Angelique Kerber, who will depart the #1 ranking? Should Bernard Tomic face scorn for his comments? Why is Gilles Muller such a dad? All this and 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 #NCR193!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Saturday May 27, 2017
Episode 189: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2017
Saturday May 27, 2017
Saturday May 27, 2017
It's Slamming time again! Ben and Courtney break down the French Open draws for both the men's and women's.
On the women's side, where there are many favorites to choose from, who got the best and worst draws? And whose great draws and good recent forms could lead them to a second consecutive semifinal (or better)? There are multiple correct answers to that one.
On the men's side, could this be a tournament to get Murray or Djokovic back on track? Or is Rafael Nadal just too far ahead of the pack?
And 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 #NCR189!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Monday Apr 10, 2017
Episode 184: Resembling an Ensemble
Monday Apr 10, 2017
Monday Apr 10, 2017
With a quarter of 2017 now complete, Ben and Courtney try to make sense of it all. But does it make sense, really?
Daria Kasatkina won Charleston in an all-teen final, which should be a big result. But what are results anyhow, when every player seems to have a roughly equal share of success and failure these days? Which characters and plotlines are really relevant? Does TV have the answers?
The men's side is a completely different coin, because one beloved old dude (Roger Federer) has stepped up to fill the void. But just what is that void without Federer being there as a shiny glaze on top of an otherwise questionable confection?
Lastly, we make predictions for the French Open, an amusingly hopeless endeavor.
And 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 #NCR184!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.