MEN AND THEIR OATHS
Photo Courtesy of Coast Guard, California Highway Patrol and the Associated Press
It sounds as though the 77 year old pilot and his son were pretty cool as they waited two hours to be pulled from the sinking pontoon plane.
The AP reports the son says his dad landed it well, in the Pacific, a mile off shore of San Simeon, north of Cambria.
They were on their way for an annual Alaskan fishing trip when the engine died. Their locator beacon worked and in a couple of hours the Coast Guard chopper was at work pulling them up, just as the plane was beginning to sink.
What do you think a dad and son would have to say to each other as they bobbed amongst elephant seals, great white sharks and took the waves in a dead plane? Few conversations get that kind of setting.
COACHING YOURSELF IN OUTBURSTS
AND OTHER OATHS
It was amusing to hear what came from other tennis courts as our group took a break between sets. Guys were being vocal with them self, berating their own play or lack of control. Since the courts are on a school campus there is a club policy against profanity. In that context I heard a few God Bless Americas! being hurled in that voice that seems as if it struggles with control. Mostly, guys talking to themselves, like a coach; keep your eye on the ball (insert name), stroke it, don't poke it (insert name), oh!, where were you going with that shot (insert name)?
In a few minutes I was back on the court, and probably
fully engaged in that "hybrid coaching" well.
We love our games don't we?
See you down the trail.
Speaking of which, I tuned in to the last third of the last set of the Women's final in New York Sunday. I was amazed at the sound the loser makes with every stroke. I'm used to the grunting but this sounds like the final call of a dying pigeon!
ReplyDeleteThere's a big discussion and debate now about what is appropriate and what is not. It is not exclusive to women , though the male sound is more guttural. One of the women, I dare not say, utters a sound that is, to my ears, hintingly sexual.
Deleteyou sportsmen and your balls being battered about.
ReplyDeleteYes, that primal scream/grunting is too much. New rules coming.
-w-
Interesting post. I manage to resist grunting and swearing by avoiding sports altogether, except for swimming and it's hard to grunt or swear underwater.
ReplyDeleteThe offending female shrieker, who does "it'' on every stroke, is Maria Sharapova. She's Russian, so I don't think it's about sex. It's the sound that Muscovite barmaids make upon opening a bottle of vodka.
ReplyDeleteAs to Cambrian tennis vocalization, it's the non-linguistic utterances I love, both in variety and volume. I've threatened to tape-record them but, as usual, haven't followed through. I have noticed the turning of an occasional cow's head toward the courts. It seems like udder disdain, though at that distance I can't be sure.