tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912742963368399051.post6552175450524375124..comments2023-04-12T02:10:16.610-07:00Comments on Sea Songs: A satisfying humiliation for Little EnglandersRobin Carmodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05825645880870474801noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912742963368399051.post-29448414381141896082009-06-30T19:59:59.289-07:002009-06-30T19:59:59.289-07:00I think a lot more money was put into tennis in Ea...I think a lot more money was put into tennis in Eastern Europe in the 1990s and 2000s, especially in Serbia (where I think it may have been a particular priority under Milosevic). I think British tennis was bound to suffer for a long time for the same reason as a great many other British things (not least English football) - the sheer weight of suffocating, unchangeable history. But it was also underfunded, and was specifically damaged by the cultural fear of competition and of trying hard whose opposition *from within* was one of the few partially good things about Thatcherism. There are many elements, few of which are purely about sport (but then sport, at least on the level I find it most interesting, rarely is).Robin Carmodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05825645880870474801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6912742963368399051.post-86686860132357280762009-06-30T00:14:34.768-07:002009-06-30T00:14:34.768-07:00Yes - Murray has what I would call guts and determ...Yes - Murray has what I would call guts and determination.<br /><br />What do you think of the greater decline of British tennis, if indeed there is one? I don't know that there is - if you mean that the Eastern Europeans have risen up, just because of some of their fighting qualities.Adelaide Duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490123934889071074noreply@blogger.com