End of an era

Not been here in ages. With the sad news today thought of you guys on 606v2 with which I had so much fun back in the day. The GOAT debate, time violations, being banned by Julius for my spirited debate, trying to suss laverfan out, wanting to arrange a 606v2 coach trip so I could sit next to caledonion craig, rival friendship with socal76, just plain rivaly with tenez and alliegences with It Must Be Love and Haddie-nuff.

Sigh. Where has time gone. And now here we are the end of an era. Federer retiring after an amazing career. Things will never be quite the same again

Yes, there were many lively 606 times back in the day.

You omitted to mention the legendary ‘Unbiased Educator’ (aka Uneducated Bias !) and a host of aliases such as Simple Analyst etc etc. with postings so full of guff, so utterly bizarre, and so irrational, that they were very often far more entertaining than anything based on fact.

hawkeye wrote:...being banned by Julius for my spirited debate...

Hehe. I didn't ban you, did I? Maybe I did, but spirited debate would not have been the reason

I recall people talking about a weak era but can't remember what were its alleged dates.

No name Bertie wrote:I recall people talking about a weak era but can't remember what were its alleged dates.

The "Wee Kiera" was a collection of several (20) 2-week periods that coincided with the slams that Federer won.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:I recall people talking about a weak era but can't remember what were its alleged dates.

The "Wee Kiera" was a collection of several (20) 2-week periods that coincided with the slams that Federer won.

Ah yes. Plus, let’s not forget there was maybe another definition of “Wee Kiera”….. which covered an ever-so-brief spell of just five years stretching from around 2005 to 2010. And it just happened to coincide with a period during which The Fed made 18 out of 19 successive Slam Finals.

It was indeed such a terribly “Wee Kiera” that midway through it - when Fed was still sitting at World No. 1 in 2008 - his only competition was Rafa at number 2, and Djoko at 3.

Very good to see some of the old names back on this board.

But what would be really good would be to see the old lags (with apologies to Lags72) posting regularly again.

Some of the topics, even Slams, can tend to get a poor response. The Big 3 era may be about to end but we have the youngest-ever number one and some bright young things making the future rosy.

lags72 wrote:Yes, there were many lively 606 times back in the day.

You omitted to mention the legendary ‘Unbiased Educator’ (aka Uneducated Bias !) and a host of aliases such as Simple Analyst etc etc. with postings so full of guff, so utterly bizarre, and so irrational, that they were very often far more entertaining than anything based on fact.

How could I have possibly forgot the "Unbiased Educator"? Such a great name! I suspect there were one or two posters who didn't go by that name but acted as if they were Also I forgot noleisthebest who made and allegiance with Tenez not based on their fan support because that was different (Novak and Fed) but their joint dislike and suspicion of Rafa. I think they left and made a forum of their own? Probably forgot to mention but havn't forgot many others including yourself  

No name Bertie wrote:I recall people talking about a weak era but can't remember what were its alleged dates.

Oh yes! There was also talk of a golden era. I can also remember starting a thread proposing that the golden era was nothing of the sort it was merely gold plate. Scratch the surface and apart from Rafa, Fed and Nole and there was nothing underneath. This started the sort of debate that used to get me banned    

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:...being banned by Julius for my spirited debate...

Hehe. I didn't ban you, did I? Maybe I did, but spirited debate would not have been the reason

Haha. Oh yes you did. When I came here for the first time in years there was even a private message from you waiting in my in box threatening to ban me if I didn't behave. I have no idea what for    

sirfredperry wrote:The Big 3 era may be about to end but we have the youngest-ever number one and some bright young things making the future rosy.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    Please don't hit me with a big stick Julius  

Hi again hawkeye.

Debate got really fruity in those days as we had staunch Federer fans who would slate Nadal and laud their man. Nadal fans who'd defend their man stoically and Djokovic fans (the likes of socal376 and noleisthebest are the two I remember) along with present day Djokovic fan slasher mcguirk who fought in Novak's corner for the recognition he deserved.

Stoic isn't the word that springs to mind for me

JuliusHMarx wrote:Stoic isn't the word that springs to mind for me

Nor for me !

In the case of some of the more (ahem) zealous Nadal ‘fans’ dating back over the years (especially from the old 606), my very clear recollection is that they were far more interested in simply abusing Federer as much as possible ……. certainly more so than articulating any ‘stoic’ defence of his Spanish rival.

I suppose there is always a balance to try to maintain between the breakdown of a forum / sub-forum due to enthusiastic bantering and fan rivalry and everyone disappearing. My feeling is that any forum like tennis needs a next gen while the old gen retire or find other things to do.

Water under the bridge now.

Some of the vitriol became so tiresome that many / most of the genuine tennis fans (as opposed to keyboard warriors who were simply looking for a fight) lost interest in the Forum once the original 606 was closed down. The new version did slowly gain traction, and with more respectful behaviour and good moderation it became a far better place ; but in terms of total traffic, it is a merely a pale shadow of what it once was.

lags72 wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Stoic isn't the word that springs to mind for me

Nor for me !

In the case of some of the more (ahem) zealous Nadal ‘fans’ dating back over the years (especially from the old 606), my very clear recollection is that they were far more interested in simply abusing Federer as much as possible ……. certainly more so than articulating any ‘stoic’ defence of his Spanish rival.

It very much worked both ways though. Federer fans hating on Nadal and his fans - yes that did happen too. Certainly not all one way traffic.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

lags72 wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Stoic isn't the word that springs to mind for me

Nor for me !

In the case of some of the more (ahem) zealous Nadal ‘fans’ dating back over the years (especially from the old 606), my very clear recollection is that they were far more interested in simply abusing Federer as much as possible ……. certainly more so than articulating any ‘stoic’ defence of his Spanish rival.

It very much worked both ways though. Federer fans hating on Nadal and his fans - yes that did happen too. Certainly not all one way traffic.

It worked all three ways.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

lags72 wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Stoic isn't the word that springs to mind for me

Nor for me !

In the case of some of the more (ahem) zealous Nadal ‘fans’ dating back over the years (especially from the old 606), my very clear recollection is that they were far more interested in simply abusing Federer as much as possible ……. certainly more so than articulating any ‘stoic’ defence of his Spanish rival.

It very much worked both ways though. Federer fans hating on Nadal and his fans - yes that did happen too. Certainly not all one way traffic.

It worked all three ways.

Yes. Of course it did. To differing degrees and in differing ways and this manifested itself in varying ways. Once admin began reigning people in many left to form their own groups such as Tenez and BogBrush or left for pastures news as happened with Haddie-Nuff, socal376, Hawkeye and noleisthebest.

Did laverfan rein people in?
I know I didn't. I was actually pretty tolerant to the abuse and threats I got in PMs. And of course there were the "if you don't rein so and so in, I'll leave" messages.

lags72 wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:I recall people talking about a weak era but can't remember what were its alleged dates.

The "Wee Kiera" was a collection of several (20) 2-week periods that coincided with the slams that Federer won.

Ah yes. Plus, let’s not forget there was maybe another definition of “Wee Kiera”….. which covered an ever-so-brief spell of just five years stretching from around 2005 to 2010. And it just happened to coincide with a period during which The Fed made 18 out of 19 successive Slam Finals.

It was indeed such a terribly “Wee Kiera” that midway through it - when Fed was still sitting at World No. 1 in 2008 - his only competition was Rafa at number 2, and Djoko at 3.

It is a weak era and Federer's achievements must be measured in that context.

I recall mention of the weak era but when I started posting it seemed  that the anti-Nadal types were the most noticeable - nadull, moonballer, pedal, baseline grinder, talentless, time between points cheat, Victor Conte secret list of dopers.   Amusing in moderation but tiresome when repetitive.

Mochyn du wrote:

It is a weak era and Federer's achievements must be measured in that context.

You’re so right !  And I’m totally convinced  

Any period in which the top three ranking spots were occupied by three players who have racked up over 60 Slam titles between them is self-evidently Wee Keira.

I wonder when the next Wee Keira will come along ….. ?  Maybe we’re already in it.

JuliusHMarx wrote:Did laverfan rein people in?
I know I didn't. I was actually pretty tolerant to the abuse and threats I got in PMs. And of course there were the "if you don't rein so and so in, I'll leave" messages.

Admin reigned people in (not laverfan or you but there are many other Admin) and bans of varying lengths were handed out. I do remember people complaining about heavy-handedness which led to those ticked off then leaving for pastures new.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:Did laverfan rein people in?
I know I didn't. I was actually pretty tolerant to the abuse and threats I got in PMs. And of course there were the "if you don't rein so and so in, I'll leave" messages.

Admin reigned people in (not laverfan or you but there are many other Admin) and bans of varying lengths were handed out. I do remember people complaining about heavy-handedness which led to those ticked off then leaving for pastures new.

I do recall numerous complaints against Tenez, and he got permanently banned by non Tennis admins without laverfan or myself being consulted, then a couple of others then left as well.

Then there was another tennis admin who did get a bit heavy handed at times.

Nowadays we're all a lot more mature!!

lags72 wrote:

Mochyn du wrote:

It is a weak era and Federer's achievements must be measured in that context.

You’re so right !  And I’m totally convinced  

Any period in which the top three ranking spots were occupied by three players who have racked up over 60 Slam titles between them is self-evidently Wee Keira.

I wonder when the next Wee Keira will come along ….. ?  Maybe we’re already in it.

That comment, word for word was always left by a particular poster on most Federer threads. I found it funny anyway.

Mochyn du wrote:……………………..  I found it funny anyway.

That’s good ! …… And you could have had so much fun in the old days (on the original 606) when a good number of entertaining posters (notably the likes of Unbiased Educator, who I don’t think ever truly realised just how much amusement he created !) used to trot out their familiar weak era waffle on an almost weekly basis ; while at the same time, sundry others would come out with equally wacky views but ‘from the other side of the net’ so to speak. It was quite surreal at times  

The Forum was undoubtedly far livelier than today’s version, although back then many posters seemed to get their kicks from denigrating various players and fellow-posters rather than actually enjoying professional tennis. In truth, I was never convinced that some of the more extreme posters had any serious interest in the sport (and even if so, they all gradually drifted away)

That was a 606 era all of its own, but things have moved on …… all water under the bridge now of course, as already mentioned.

So what are your favorite put-downs of the top four?  If you can add the name of the poster that coined the term then even better.

Federer: ...... Cry baby
Nadal: ......... Nadull
Djokovic: ..... Chokovic
Murray: ....... Mugray

@ No name Bertie - I seem to remember that Fed was known much more as ‘The Basel Bungler’ than Cry Baby. Can’t recall Murray quite reaching the necessary status for put-downs (but I could be very wrong on that)

A lot of old poster names from the original 606 come to mind ……. but am struggling to link them in the way you suggest, sorry

No prizes for me !

Of course, the goings on at Fed's last match showed how much mutual respect there was between the top 3 and some clown (Murray's own description). I think they all understood how each one's legacy added to the rivalry.

It seems that nowadays Roger and Rafa are genuine friends much more than friendly rivals.

dummy_half wrote: ……………


It seems that nowadays Roger and Rafa are genuine friends much more than friendly rivals.

Very true. And it has been that way for some years now.

The one episode that for me clarified the strength of their relationship was Rafa asking Roger to be the ‘star guest’ at the formal opening ceremony of his Majorca academy. Rafa was evidently delighted by Roger’s instant agreement (AFAIK, he was the only pro from the main Tour to be invited)