[Laqswrnm]

I didn't see the J-Block this year but sat right in front of them at Blake-Koubek match last year. They really didn't bother me that much. They were sort of annoying and obnoxious but what sport doesn't have a few of those fans.

While the J-Block may not be my favorite, I think they have the right to exist and that they make things a little more fun.

I'll make another point which may be unpopular. I am puzzled why tennis has evolved as a sport where you have to be quiet during play and have to wait for 2 to 3 games before coming back to your seat from the washroom. I love watching tennis and love going to the U.S. Open but I really think the players could play through a little noise.

In addition, at Armstrong, there is constant noise coming from Ashe and the Grandstand as well as jets flying overhead whenever yet fans have to sit down, shut up and not move.

If Kobe Bryant can hit 2 free throws with the crowd going wild behind the basket and Derek Jeter can hit a 90 mile an hour fastball with constant noise, surely Mardy Fish can hit a serve with the J-Block yelling.

[Ettiominiw]

I didn't see the J-Block this year but sat right in front of them at Blake-Koubek match last year. They really didn't bother me that much. They were sort of annoying and obnoxious but what sport doesn't have a few of those fans.

While the J-Block may not be my favorite, I think they have the right to exist and that they make things a little more fun.

I'll make another point which may be unpopular. I am puzzled why tennis has evolved as a sport where you have to be quiet during play and have to wait for 2 to 3 games before coming back to your seat from the washroom. I love watching tennis and love going to the U.S. Open but I really think the players could play through a little noise.

In addition, at Armstrong, there is constant noise coming from Ashe and the Grandstand as well as jets flying overhead whenever yet fans have to sit down, shut up and not move.

If Kobe Bryant can hit 2 free throws with the crowd going wild behind the basket and Derek Jeter can hit a 90 mile an hour fastball with constant noise, surely Mardy Fish can hit a serve with the J-Block yelling.

Speaking for myself, when there's a lot of distractions, my tennis game goes down the toilet. It's just a inevitable fact of the human brain's inability to handle a ton of information. Precision drops with sensory overload. Tennis players are out there trying to watch a ball going over a hundred MPH sometimes and then trying to hit it in precisely the middle of the racket. It's exceedingly difficult (it's why I respect tennis and tennis players in the first place). Making tennis matches like basketball games only serves to lower the quality of play and quality of the experience.

[freddyujnf]

I've heard that before. I forget who else couldn't stand them. Was it last year's USO? Or someone who attended New Haven last year?

I thought Ullrich was terrific. Something about their enthusiasm being awesome, but please respect the players.

Me. I complained about their behavior against Roger when he played Blake. Glad they're gone.

[fedordzen]

I've heard that before. I forget who else couldn't stand them. Was it last year's USO? Or someone who attended New Haven last year?

I thought Ullrich was terrific. Something about their enthusiasm being awesome, but please respect the players.

I work in New Haven and I have to say it has been really bad. I sent a few posts last year about how embarrased I was to be originally rooting for James when during his semifinal match with Paul Henri the block was OUT OF CONTROL. Clearly affected the outcome as did some cameramen who rolled onto the court when PHM was STILL in the set only to be admonished by the chair umpire who should have done much more but I have no idea what one could do in that scenario when a camera crew invades a service returners space. Pam Shriver was even a tool in the crowd. The only saving grace was James' mom and brother who were directly in front of me and very civilized. I will never root for him with the block present again and maybe the olympics was a karmic what goes around comes around.

[Laqswrnm]

Speaking for myself, when there's a lot of distractions, my tennis game goes down the toilet. It's just a inevitable fact of the human brain's inability to handle a ton of information. Precision drops with sensory overload. Tennis players are out there trying to watch a ball going over a hundred MPH sometimes and then trying to hit it in precisely the middle of the racket. It's exceedingly difficult (it's why I respect tennis and tennis players in the first place). Making tennis matches like basketball games only serves to lower the quality of play and quality of the experience.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that a tennis match should be allowed to go out of control like basketball, football etc. but I really think a little more noise tolerance could be exercised.

[QxmFwtlam]

I don't mind fans rooting ferociously for their player.

What I object to is clapping during service faults and refusing to clap when your player's opponent hits a winner. I watched the J-Block closely Saturday night. NOT ONCE did I see anyone in their box show Mardy Fish even a minimal amount of respect.

Last night, I finally got around to sending an email to James Blake's site:
*****

James, I doubt you actually read emails from random scrub fans… But just in case…

I was in Ashe Stadium for your match against Mardy Fish. I must confess that I missed the first set because I was watching Ferrer/Nishikori on Armstrong. But I arrived at the start of the second.

Since then, I’ve also read your post-match interview following your loss to Mardy. And putting it all together, it’s clear that you don’t fully understand how the J-Block behaved that evening.

NEVER, NOT ONCE, did anyone in the J-Block applaud a Mardy winner.

NEVER, NOT ONCE, did anyone in the J-Block applaud an ace from Mardy.

But when Mardy missed a first serve. They clapped.

When Mardy missed a second serve, they stood up and cheered.

The people who were in the box that night do not exemplify the kind of values that I believe you hold… The kind of values that chastised Fernando Gonzalez for poor sportsmanship when he and everyone else knew that ball hit his racquet in Beijing, but did nothing.

Will you do nothing about the J-Block? And if that’s the case, are you really so different from Gonzo?

Their behavior that evening, James, was reprehensible. I was embarrassed for you. When you’re on the court, you can’t see how they behave. But from the nosebleed seats in Ashe, we can see them. And it was a shameful display.

Worse yet, it reflected badly on you. Which is why I was rooting for Mardy. That’s unfair. But that’s the effect that the J-Block had on me.

I hope you rectify the situation and teach them the basics of tennis etiquette. You applaud your opponents’ winners, James. Shouldn’t they?

[sherrferris]

Good letter, Dry. Here's hoping Jimmy reads it!

[Buildityrit]

I don't have a link or anything, but I've heard John McEnroe say on more than one occasion say the Blake/Fish match was effectively the end of the J Block (and good riddance).

I will say, though, that James doesn't really have any control over what's going on, nor does any player really have control over their fans. He can ask them to be quiet and more respectful, which he did, but after that it's kinda out of his hands. And as long as they allow alcohol at sporting events, the stands are going to be populated with various individuals who behave like asses.

[pongeystrhjst]

Dry,
Hope James read your request.

[gluckmeea]

I don't have a link or anything, but I've heard John McEnroe say on more than one occasion say the Blake/Fish match was effectively the end of the J Block (and good riddance).

I will say, though, that James doesn't really have any control over what's going on, nor does any player really have control over their fans. He can ask them to be quiet and more respectful, which he did, but after that it's kinda out of his hands. And as long as they allow alcohol at sporting events, the stands are going to be populated with various individuals who behave like asses.

Late innings at baseball games always get kinda dicey because of alcohol (even though they stop serving in the 7th).

[Ettiominiw]

I don't have a link or anything, but I've heard John McEnroe say on more than one occasion say the Blake/Fish match was effectively the end of the J Block (and good riddance).

I will say, though, that James doesn't really have any control over what's going on, nor does any player really have control over their fans. He can ask them to be quiet and more respectful, which he did, but after that it's kinda out of his hands. And as long as they allow alcohol at sporting events, the stands are going to be populated with various individuals who behave like asses.

I'm not sure it is totally out of his hands though. At least some of them are provided tickets by or through James in the first place, right? Maybe he should stop giving tickets to the worst offenders (a sizeable bunch from what it seems).

[georgshult]

Dry you're such an activist!

[QxmFwtlam]

Dry you're such an activist!

When I get a burr up my ass about something, yes. But it's a very disappointing way to make a living. I don't recommend it.

[TeNuaTe]

I'm not sure it is totally out of his hands though. At least some of them are provided tickets by or through James in the first place, right? Maybe he should stop giving tickets to the worst offenders (a sizeable bunch from what it seems).

That's the missing part of this conversation that's been confusing me. I try really hard not to hold people's fans against them (not that I'm claiming I'm always successful ), but I do hold the J-Block against James because he makes them possible. They are, or started out as, personal acquaintances of his, he buys them tickets/corporate boxes, and then he defends them when they get heinously obnoxious like they did when he played Mardy. IMO, he does bear some responsibility for their behaviour, or for allowing the monster to be created in the first place. I sat through a match with the J-Block two years ago and they were obnoxious and boorish then... and they haven't gotten better.

[QxmFwtlam]

Tonight was the first time I've seen them in action other than via TV. Let me begin by saying that the J-Block of today may not be the J-Block of yesteryear, which got a lot of positive press and was wide heralded as a group of really cool people who came out to support James Blake whenever possible.

But the group I saw tonight on Ashe was as classless, disgusting group of people, as fans go. They were loud (which is totally fine), but they were also rude to Mardy Fish... They never clapped his winners--NOT ONCE. They cheared his double faults and errors... They even earned chastisement from the chair umpire for their behavior, which in turn garnered widespread praise from the crowd.

I'll tell you this much... These bozos do not in any way reflect the James Blake I've come to know... A player who applauds his opponents winners, who advocates for sportsmanship, and who has gone out of his way to demonstrate class at nearly every turn.

By the end of the match, I was hoping James would lose... Just because of the classless behavior of the J-Block blockheads. I hope I never see them again. Not one of them would know class if it bit them in the ass.

[sherrferris]

I thought it was pretty telling tonight when James was asking the umpire to tell them to shut up.

[UpperMan]

I'm embarrassed by them.

[gluckmeea]

Tonight was the first time I've seen them in action other than via TV. Let me begin by saying that the J-Block of today may not be the J-Block of yesteryear, which got a lot of positive press and was wide heralded as a group of really cool people who came out to support James Blake whenever possible.

But the group I saw tonight on Ashe was as classless, disgusting group of people, as fans go. They were loud (which is totally fine), but they were also rude to Mardy Fish... They never clapped his winners--NOT ONCE. They cheared his double faults and errors... They even earned chastisement from the chair umpire for their behavior, which in turn garnered widespread praise from the crowd.

I'll tell you this much... These bozos do not in any way reflect the James Blake I've come to know... A player who applauds his opponents winners, who advocates for sportsmanship, and who has gone out of his way to demonstrate class at nearly every turn.

By the end of the match, I was hoping James would lose... Just because of the classless behavior of the J-Block blockheads. I hope I never see them again. Not one of them would know class if it bit them in the ass.

I've heard that before. I forget who else couldn't stand them. Was it last year's USO? Or someone who attended New Haven last year?

I thought Ullrich was terrific. Something about their enthusiasm being awesome, but please respect the players.

[jhkjurter]

Tonight was the first time I've seen them in action other than via TV. Let me begin by saying that the J-Block of today may not be the J-Block of yesteryear, which got a lot of positive press and was wide heralded as a group of really cool people who came out to support James Blake whenever possible.

But the group I saw tonight on Ashe was as classless, disgusting group of people, as fans go. They were loud (which is totally fine), but they were also rude to Mardy Fish... They never clapped his winners--NOT ONCE. They cheared his double faults and errors... They even earned chastisement from the chair umpire for their behavior, which in turn garnered widespread praise from the crowd.

Wow. And I wasn't even with them to shout my encouragement.

From what I know of them, it's not the same crowd as the original J-Block.

[QxmFwtlam]

It was clear tonight that they may be fans of James, but they're not fans of tennis. They were a major eyesore on the match.

I really don't think it's the same group as the original, but I could be wrong... Or perhaps I just wasn't paying enough attention... But the group I saw tonight was absolutely disgusting...

And if James was the one who sought to curb their behavior, they didn't learn a thing... And you have to wonder.... Were they a factor in the fact that he wasn't able to produce his best tennis? Was he ashamed of them? Because THAT very well could be the case....