Talk:James Blake (tennis)

Untitled

Sean123123, Welcome to Wikipedia. Something you may not be aware of: Images posted to Wikipedia, like the Blake ones you posted, must be free of copyright restrictions. They will be removed if not. You should also give caption and source information when uploading. Read Wikipedia:Image use policy. Bbpen 00:01, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Girlfriend

Is he really dating Heather Mitts? I tried to find anything about it on the internet (I mean really tried; can you imagine, Heather Mitts? Amazing!), and I found one person mentioning it today in a tennis web forum (probably in response to the wikipedia article). Then again, it got added to the article today, so maybe it hasn't come out yet? Jairuscobb 05:14, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, SI decided to pick it up (if warily), so I'm sold on it. Jairuscobb 07:00, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

References

This article is pretty comprehensive, and moving along nicely. But, it is in serious need of references. I've added a couple, but it still needs a lot of work.--Esprit15d 20:35, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Ditto on the references part. For example, need reference for statement that Blake thought Hewitt's remark racist. Good luck. As I remember his answer to the press, he handled it classily without pretending that he can read other people's minds. This article ditches the responsibility for that judgement onto him, so quote him then.

Racial "ambivalence"? What's wrong with being half black and half white? Or did you mean to accuse him of being partly racist and partly not racist? Or is that just a pejorative code-word for failing to say that racism is plaguing his life and so on and so on?

Furthermore, the headline takes a side. And where is all this assumed racism in tennis? Citations of evidence, please.

"Should of" is not a verb! Ken2849 01:34, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Photo needed

The image referenced did not exist, so I deleted it. Someone needs to upload a non-copyright photo of James Blake. unfutz 04:09, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Well, I add photo. I think he is really cute there.Aishe

JBLOCK

No mention of the J-Block?

I am not sure if balding took place for him to shave his hair, im sure it was for charity....may there be an answer or clarification

Hair balding

I demand clarification becuase i believe that blake shaved his hair for charity, but within that i may be subdued to believe the elementry fact that he may of seen balding and shaved for charity but in those segments of my question i would indulge in some clarification of this matter....?

I think that mention of the J-Block would be worthwhile to include in his bio but not sure how to work it in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dfs3 (talk • contribs) 19:22, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Removal of "literary success and controversy over racial ambivalence" section

I removed the bulk of the section and moved the part about his book into the introduction, since his book made the best-seller list and few tennis players have written best-selling books. I'd be fine with someone moving the book into a different section though.

The section I removed was riddled with errors--for one, Toure doesn't say that Blake has psychological issues caused by being black. He quotes several people as saying this and then says "Apparently, the feeling that’s held Blake back has held back many." Toure also doesn't "criticize" Blake for not focusing on race: he merely mentions it. The part about Hewitt "humiliating" Blake is speculation. Blake could have been saddened, or angered, or some other emotion, so without a quote from Blake about his feelings we should leave it out.

link to Toure review: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/review/Toure-t.html?ex=1189051200&en=97ecc563ad4aac26&ei=5070

The review from Toure might be notable, but the present form of the synopsis of that review was innacurate enough to justify deletion. MrVibrating 18:54, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Playing Style

How about adding a playing style section to the article. Playing style essentially summarizes the player.Leonidas1982 (talk) 03:58, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Career Highlights/Notable Matches

It seems to me that these two sections could be combined. A couple matches are listed in both sections as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.0.57.223 (talk) 08:26, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Place of Birth

Can someone confirm whether he was born in Yonkers, or Fairfield CT?Carpe Diem (talk) 05:06, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

External links

I cleaned up the section as it was turning into a linkfarm. Here are some of the salvaged links which might be useful in article improvement:

• 'Comback Kid James Blake'
• Interview with Blake on Forbes Video
• Father Thomas Blake's obituary
• James Blake News Articles
• Men's Vogue interview

^LeaveSleaves 19:09, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Career Highlights

This section seems completely pointless. As the tag says, it is a list of miscellaneous information - something to be avoided - and the information is all available in the career section. I'll be bold and remove it. Alan16 ^talk_count 12:23, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Also made a couple of other edits. Notably, I removed the score from the opening paragraph - it seemed unnecessary. Alan16 ^talk_count 12:32, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Unencyclopedic Template

Hi, I've added the unencycopedic template to this article because it reads very poorly. In my opinion it is probably too long, reads a lot like an essay, and in some sections such as that on Playing Style, doesn't adhere to WP:NPOV. I think this page could benefit from editors who know a little about the career of James Blake making the article more concise, readable, and more in the style of a proper encyclopedic entry. Icosahedron (talk) 13:47, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

James Blake Tennis Court at Fairfield Warde High School

I believe the high school he attended (Fairfield Warde High School) named a tennis court (on the campus) after him. http://www.newengland.usta.com/News/News-and-Events/2006_05/330686_Fairfield_Connecticut_Honors_Hometown_Hero_James_Blake/

CTRL+F = named

-TWillisJr — Preceding unsigned comment added by Twillisjr (talk • contribs) 00:00, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Moved

Given that the musician's article has been the most viewed for all bar a few days in the last year or so, and this will only increase given his recent award, I have moved this article and moved the disambiguation page to James Blake. I suspect that the musician will eventually clearly be the primary target but for now this is a better outcome. Black Kite (talk) 08:51, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Arrest

Excuse me, "strikingly similar"? Can we edit this in favor of the truth, ie the guy looked nothing like James Blake? https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/james-frascatore.jpg?w=279&h=300 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.115.65.7 (talk) 06:49, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070321145658/http://www.atptennis.com/en/news/2007/round_robin1.asp to http://www.atptennis.com/en/news/2007/round_robin1.asp
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Equipment and endorsements Section

I would suggest removing this section. It may have been relevant for some readers/fans of the very specific weighting tensions, and whether Blake did or did not feel comfortable with specific rackets from 2009 to 2010 etc, but it comes across as really irrelevant now. Describing his specific rackets in terms of "Six.One Tour strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 16L strings at high tension (60+ pounds)" is way too much detail. Also, in the periods that his rackets are discussed (2009 onward) Blake's ranking had dropped considerably already (it was the last stage of his career). Equivalent retired players of that period really vary as to whether they have this 'equipments' section (some do, some don't) - so it certainly isn't an absolutely essential section.

If for some people it feels essential to keep it, the section could definitely be reduced in detail by a couple of sentences. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.225.225.222 (talk) 22:58, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

2009-2013: Later Years section...

This section has been written with far too much detail (most likely contemporaneously) and so appears to have far too much weighting in the overall 'career' section. It is/was actually almost equal in length/detail as to the '2005-2008' section of his' 'Career' (the prime years of his career when he was regularly making the later stages of tournaments and had a ranking inside the top 20) on his wiki page. In the last four years (2010-2013) alone, he reached just the one semi-final, so it doesn't make sense to have so much written on this period comparatively to 2005-2008 (when he was regularly reaching tournament finals and the second week of grand slams). Significantly reducing this 'twilight' section makes sense seven years on since his retirement, and 11 years on since he was last a top 20 player. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.225.225.222 (talk) 23:04, 9 July 2020 (UTC)