![](http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k53/VeggieTodd/maria-sharapova.jpg")
Posted on 01/17/2014 9:30:20 AM PST by Dave346
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Sauna Championships continued Friday, disguised as a Grand Slam tennis tournament. Advancement here depended on survival, on remaining upright, on shade and hydration and on the coolest accessory in sports, something called an ice vest.
Much of the first week of the Australian Open had unfolded like an extreme sport.
For four days, starting Tuesday, the temperature climbed over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). It was the longest heat wave in the Melbourne area in more than 100 years, according to the Herald Sun. The newspaper said 243 people had gone to the hospital for heat exhaustion — and that was before the oppressive temperatures continued Friday.
At the Open in those four days, one player hallucinated and fainted, while another vomited; the soles of one player’s sneakers melted, as did the bottom of another player’s water bottle; cramps were common, as were complaints from stars and journeymen alike. One such complaint came from Ivan Dodig of Croatia, who said he had wondered whether he would die on court.
The takeaway was less about the temperatures and more about the gulf that widened over the week between the way officials attempted to portray the impact of the heat wave and what actually happened with the players. The tournament chose the nothing-to-see-here approach, and the longer that went on, the more absurd that seemed, amid the sea of red faces and collapsed bodies and heads balancing ice packs the way a model would a book.
This was an actual quote from Dr. Tim Wood, the tournament’s chief medical officer, to the BBC: “We’ve evolved on the high plains of Africa chasing antelope for eight hours under these conditions.”
And this was an actual quote from a Canadian player named Frank Dancevic:
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have watched some of the play on satellite. The players are dripping in sweat. One guy had it literally pouring off the bill of his cap like a stream.......................
In weather like that, there should be no play scheduled between noon and 6PM.
This is how we cope with summers in the western US. Get it done by noon, then get in the water or get inside.
Stupid officials. Someone is going to die and their family will sue them.
They should’ve cancelled play for the entire 4 days. Temps never dropped below 100 degrees during the daytime.
The tournament would’ve still been completed - it would be no different than a Wimbledon that got 4 days washed away by rain.
Instead no one is safe from the players to the spectators.
Even crazier is that the 2 main stadiums have roofs that have remained open despite the heat. What good is a roof if you never use it?
The intent is not to protect the players from the warm weather, but to gin up propaganda for the Global Warming liars.
“This was an actual quote from Dr. Tim Wood, the tournament’s chief medical officer, to the BBC: “We’ve evolved on the high plains of Africa chasing antelope for eight hours under these conditions.”
I smell a presidential ticket here.
Todd Aiken/Tim Wood for Potus 2016
This is a ways back...remember the first running of the “Iceberg Grand Prix” in Phoenix? Middle of June, when the mercury crawls over 110F on a regular basis. And they wondered why the Ostrich Festival in Chandler consistently outdrew the Grand Prix.
Tennis is a sissy sport anyway. Who cares. They should play outside in the winter as well.
Bingo.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.