Folie à deux
- Pronunciation: \fȯ-lē-ä-ˈdœ, ˌfä-lē-ˌä-ˈdə(r)\
- Function: noun
- Etymology: French, literally, double madness
- Date: circa 1892
Definition: The presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another.
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This rare psychotic disorder is the only feasible way I can describe yesterday's Wimbledon final. The latest edition of Federer/Nadal will no doubt he hyped as a "changing of the guard," a sure sign the world's greatest tennis player has reached the back nine of his career. I don't care about all that, to be honest. Having grown up on Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi playing well into their 30s, both Federer and Nadal are still very young, and certainly in their prime.
What blew my mind, melted my face off, left me drooling, etc was the ebb and flow of this match; the rollercoaster effect, if you will. Nadal stormed out of the gates to take a commanding (and demoralizing) two set lead on the 5-time defending champion. Nadal looked crisp, was hitting the big shots, and generally not making many mistakes...and then the rains came. To heighten the suspense, keep in mind that up to this point, Roger hadn't lost a match at the All England Club since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" was #1 and the first "Spider-Man" had just come out. That he had not dropped a set in the tournament until facing Nadal is the status quo for Roger, always overlooked, but incredibly impressive.
Federer came out after the first rain delay looking like the world's #1 player. Rafa hadn't given up, nor was he resting on his comfy lead--he was simply being outplayed (albeit barely). Before you could blink, Federer had evened things up 2-2 after consecutive tiebreakers. The fifth set was exhausting (longest Wimbledon final ever, difficult (the lighting became a factor), and thrilling. Both men fought heroically, as displayed by their 8-8 fifth set finale. In the end, you can point to Nadal's youth and quick adaptation to grass to explain his win, or focus on Federer converting only 1 out of 13 break chances to justify his loss.
All I know is that at the end of the day, this is up there with the following matches as being truly special to me:
- Sampras/Agassi - 1995 US Open
- Sampras/Federer - 2000 Wimbledon
- Sampras/Agassi - 2001-2002 US Open
- Sampras/Roddick - 2002 US Open
- Federer/Roddick - 2004 Wimbledon
- Federer/Nadal - 2007-2008 Wimbledon
Preaching in Challenging Times
7 years ago
2 comments:
Very nice write-up. What really impressed me about the match was Fed's ability to pull out an ace whenever he was backed into a corner. The dude is ice cold.
July 7, 2008 at 9:18 PMHi there, excellent piece, we might not share a madness, though we do have one thing in common!!
November 6, 2012 at 11:02 PMTo be released on the 12-12-12 - A Madness Shared by Two, is not only the true untold story about the lives of Sabina and Ursula Eriksson, alongside the murder of Glenn Hollinshead, based on a critique re-examination of the BBC’s Madness in the Fast Lane documentary that had 7 million viewers [with a conservative estimate of around a further 15 million people having since watched this film via the internet and on websites such as YouTube],glued to their TV screens watching the twin sisters propelling themselves into the fast lane of the oncoming traffic on the UK’s-M6 motorway, as Ursula manages to throw herself under the wheels of a 40ft articulated lorry travelling at 60mph, that seems to swallow her up and spit her lifeless looking body back out of its rear end. It is also the result of a thorough investigation into what might have really happened on those fateful days that led up to this tragic slaying of an innocent man. We challenge the “Official Storyline” and expose what really occurred just hours before M6 dash, for it is here for the first time we expose the Eriksson sisters were “arrested” under the Mental Health Act, though this vital caught on film evidence was edited out of the original BBC films. This will come as a great surprise to many people who questioned; ‘...how was it possible Sabina could have been released from hospital after only five hours’ following their ‘suicide attempt’ on the M6? We also reveal that the coroner’s report shows that the injuries inflicted on Glenn, indicate more than one person probably killed him and that Sabina could be totally innocent. Yet this obvious evidence seems to have been brushed under the carpet, or at the very least, it was never challenged. We explain how these twins were very likely embroiled in a major drugs smuggling ring and that they had been under “Obbo” [police observation] prior to the M6 incident, and was probably so for quite some period of time. As a result of our findings, legal action is now being sought and brought against the police and other related authoritative bodies by the Hollinshead family. http://extracts.wix.com/amadnesssharedbytwo#!home/BlankPage_0
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