Dein erstes Forum » Chicago Bulls for five years, and poin

Tennis has never been healthier, but there is also a restlessness underlying those strong foundations.First and foremost, the overarching question is whether the tradition-heavy game is too resistant to change and innovation. Tennis is in many ways behind the times when it comes to reform and keeping up with modern times. But thats just part of it. Consider these concerns:What happens when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters -- a quartet of players for the ages -- retire?Will audiences coming to maturity in the social media age be interested in matches lasting four or five hours?Are uber-fit, super-consistent baseliners such as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray exerting themselves so much that risking injury calls into question the viability of the current tour structure with its Grand Slams plus nine gold-standard ATP Masters 1000 events?Is the constant theme of injury just excuse-making by semi-sore losers or a genuine source of concern?These and other questions are being evaluated by many stakeholders -- none more diligently than the ATP Tour. The current 10-year Brave New World agreement that has governed prize money and the calendar expires at the end of 2018.Most sports make changes when things arent going well, the ATPs executive director, Chris Kermode, recently told ESPN.com. Weve had tremendous success. The challenge for us is looking forward, anticipating the hurdles or pitfalls for tennis in the next 10 or 15 years.The ATP isnt the only organization interested in change. The ITF recently initiated a proposed restructuring of the hallowed Davis Cup competition, the centerpiece of which would be a combined Davis Cup-Fed Cup final played annually at a neutral site.The USTA fired the first shot in the battle of match length, using a visible, 20-second shot clock during its official junior championships at the US Open. Remember, the American Slam event introduced the tiebreaker and Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling.Electronic line-calling was the perfect example of evolutionary change in tennis, Stacey Allaster, who is the USTA chief executive of pro tennis and who served as CEO of the WTA Tour, told ESPN.com. It didnt change rules, but it enforced them, and it made the game more interesting and fun for everyone.One immediate measure the ATP is taking to prepare for a generational transition among the players is a new event for 2017 -- an under-21 World Tour Finals. Its intended to promote rising young stars such as Alexander Zverev of Germany and Taylor Fritz of the U.S. It will be much like the main year-end championships with the young players qualifying via points earned in main tour events. The ATP also will use the event to experiment with different formats or scoring systems.Well ask the fans what we should try, Kermode said, Play the let serve? Fast Four or no-ad scoring? Its all on the table.Thats all well and good for an exhibition event meant to promote young talent (there will be no rankings points at stake). But it would probably take something cataclysmic -- a massive exodus of fans or loss of revenue -- to get the pros to check off on more drastic changes.No-ad scoring eliminates deuce and advantage points; the first player to win four points takes the game. Fast Four is a format that allows for a competitive five-set match to be completed in about 90 minutes. In Fast Four, the scoring is no-ad and tiebreaks are played at 4-all in each set.Many of the stakeholders in the game would like to see much shorter mens matches. Television executives love the kind of certainty and brevity Fast Four delivers. Streamlined scoring has found a home in exhibition-style team play, but the minute it comes anywhere near official tournaments, the players cry No way.As a group, the pros have always been extremely conservative. They kicked and fought against the introduction of the tiebreaker. More recently, the radical changes forced upon doubles (no-ad scoring and the super tiebreaker instead of a third set) were originally decried as a death knell, but theyve been accepted and even embraced by many. Doubles might be more visible now than before the changes. Will doubles give scoring changes a foot in the door?The grass roots are already deep into experimental formats, conditioning an entire generation of future players and fans. The NCAA uses the no-ad format, among other departures. Rec leagues run by the USTA have also recognized that, for most adults, especially parents, their tennis commitment has to fit into a specific window of time.Although radical change is a tough and risky sell to the pros, Allaster sees more opportunity for win-win scenarios.Imagine the shot clock on the scoreboard, Allaster said, and the fans wondering how many more times the player can bounce the ball or adjust the headband before she runs out of time. Thats added value.She also believes a fair amount of fat could be carved away from the game without striking a blow at the heart of tradition. In other pro sports, games that start at 4 p.m. start at 4 p.m. The first ball in tennis often isnt hit until 15 or 20 minutes into a broadcast. Were looking at things like the warm-up [the NCAA has already eliminated it, successfully], medical timeouts, between-set breaks, Allaster said. Were having conversations about all those things.Of course, the pros exist on a different plane and play a different game from that of collegiate or weekend warriors. The most powerful argument for the status quo is the old saw: If it aint broke, dont fix it.Kermode said that, since 2009, the television audience for ATP Masters 1000 events has grown 73 percent, to a massive 510 million viewers. That degree of success suggests that the current, clear three-tier tour structure (250, 500, 1000) will be retained for 2019 and beyond.That might come as a surprise to those who feel the demands on todays top players are too onerous and manifest in the injuries that have repeatedly sidelined top players. But the pros know the system has rewarded them handsomely. And, as Kermode said, veterans have some exemptions, and the tendency is for careers to last longer than ever.The Big Four has taken tennis to a new, extraordinary level. Parse it any way you like, but its difficult to imagine applying the word epic to any match lasting just 90 minutes. Of course, theres another half to that equation. You need virtual supermen capable of producing riveting tennis to generate adjectives such as epic, or else four hours can seem like a long, dry time.Nobody in tennis wants to be caught asking Where have all the supermen gone? Thats why all options are on the table.Discount NCAA Jerseys . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. http://www.cheapcollegejerseys.net/ . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Cheap College Jerseys . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. College Jerseys Outlet .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Spains two losses to open the Olympics seem like a distant memory after three straight wins has put the Spanish mens basketball team back into medal contention.Spain advanced to the quarterfinals with a 92-73 win against Argentina on Monday and suddenly is playing as well as any team in the tournament.We had a distracting situation during our training camp and many players missed many, many practices, Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. We couldnt really get 100 percent prepared and it showed.We have been in this situation before. We know how to play under pressure. There are a lot of players who know what it takes to win, especially with a lot of self-confidence. We know each other really well. .... Were not a team (that will) get crushed after the second loss.The two-time defending silver medalists (3-2) are the No. 2 seed in Group B and face France (3-2), which finished third in Group A. With Spains win, Brazil was eliminated.France and Spain have meet in some pivotal games in big tournaments.Spain knocked France out in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Olympics, but France exacted some revenge in 2014, beating Spain in the World Cup -- in Spain. But Spain returned the favor last summer, beating France in the semifinals of the EuroBasket to clinch an Olympic berth.Every matchup is so close and we know each other too good, Spain guard Jose Calderon said. So, lets see what happens in two days. I think were ready for that fight, I think that theyre ready as well and well see.Spain fell behind 8-0 to start the game, but regrouped to take a 22-11 first-quarter lead that it never gave up.dddddddddddd Rudy Fernandez scored 10 straight during the 22-3 scoring run and finished with 23 points.The Argentines (3-2) seemed to play with a sense of urgency only in spurts and never got within 10 points in the second half. Previous starters Andres Nocioni, who played for the Chicago Bulls for five years, and point guard Facundo Campazzo both came off the bench.We needed our full energy to play against Spain, Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. It was our fifth game, we played 48 hours ago, two overtimes. ... Was not a good day for us to play a team like Spain. Theyre more athletic, bigger than us. They (have) NBA experience and they know how to play these games. They need to win because if not they go home.Argentina already had a quarterfinal berth in hand. Its seed wont be determined until after the last game of pool play, Lithuania-Croatia.Nicolas Laprovittola paced Argentina with 21.We were lacking a little bit of juice after the tough, tough game against Brazil, Argentina guard Manu Ginobili said. And to add, theyre a great team. Theyre a great team that started the tournament struggling, losing two games they shouldnt have lost. So they ended up needing this game a lot. They wanted it more. They were more aggressive and they played sharper than us.We wanted to win, too. Its not that we didnt care. ' ' '