A. Jaeger - I lost '83 Wimbledon final on purpose

[Moderator1]

This may be on Wimbledon thread but I thought it deserved to stand on its own smelly merits.
I call b.s. but it certainly is interesting.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/tennis/story/10887862

 

[nafselon]

This may be on Wimbledon thread but I thought it deserved to stand on its own smelly merits.
I call b.s. but it certainly is interesting.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/tennis/story/10887862

Martina was going to thoroughly whip her ass anyway so it's not that interesting. Jaeger had no choice in the matter, no one was beating that Martina at that stage in her career. If she wasn't completely distraught...maybe she loses 6-1, 6-3.

 

[JakeandElwood]

I call b.s. too. She threw the match because she interrupted Martina's preparation? From her description of the events it sounds like she didn't even get the time of day from her.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Apparently Jaeger wanted to remind everyone who she was.

She doesn't have a book coming out soon does she?

 

[Ace]

She interrupted her preparation? She was at the kitchen table. What was she preparing? Dinner?

 

[Smallpotatoes]

It's not like Martina wouldn't have beaten her anyway.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

So Martina merely glancing up at her "ruined" Martina's preparation for the final, yet a huge blowup between Jaeger and her father didn't affect Andrea?

 

[Small Town Guy]

The Denver Broncos would also like to admit they lost that Super Bowl to the Niners on purpose, and Duke's admitted to throwing the 1990 title game against UNLV (and you thought it was UNLV who'd blown the 91 game on purpose). The Bills's first Super Bowl loss to the Cowboys? On purpose.

And the Generals threw their game against the Globetrotters on December 4, 1984 in Sioux Falls.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Last I heard, Andrea was studying to be a nun. Is she one now?

 

[TwoGloves]

Last I heard, Andrea was studying to be a nun. Is she one now?

Story says she became one in 2006.

 

[Sean Smyth]

If you're gonna throw a match, wouldn't you want to lose 6-0, 6-0? Or at least throw up the doughnut in the second set, not the first?

 

[Bubbler]

I think Jaeger has claimed this before. I seem to remember a HBO Real Sports from a few years ago where she at least implied it.

 

[nafselon]

The problem is...we'll never know because she had a 100,000,000,000-1 chance of beating her anyway. And Martina was so dominate and ruthless that her beating Jaeger like drum was pretty easy to fathom.

So maybe Andrea threw the match but it didn't matter she could've fought her ass off and lost just as easily

 

[Stone Cane]

I would like to announce that I've thrown the last 17 APSE 100,000 - 250,000 columnist contests.

 

[SigR]

It's like some of you don't even know what it's like to have principles, to understand that sportsmanship goes beyond shaking the other team's hand at the end of the game.

Does it mean she should have not played to her best in the finals? Probably no. But I absolutely believe someone would be capable of struggling with the decision and in the end deciding to let the other person win. (It is irrelevant whether she was an underdog or was likely to lose anyway--she had a chance to win and it's believable that she didn't take it)

Some of you need to stop pocketing your ethics from American Idol.

 

[agateguy]

I'd like to add that Dennis Eckersley allowed Kirk Gibson to hit that home run on purpose so Eckersley wouldn't have to pitch to Steve Sax.

 

[forever_town]

My big question is: If she threw that match on purpose, why are we only now hearing about it 25 years later?

I doubt very seriously Andrea Jaeger would have won that match if she were playing her best tennis. Not against Martina Navratilova in 1983.

And even if she did lose on purpose, what would she have to gain from a 25-years-later admission?

 

[jambalaya]

I think she already made this claim on an ESPN feature last fall. Still have not heard from Martina on this, however.

 

[pressmurphy]

We've seen the effect their respective fathers have had on Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce.
You're telling me that an argument with her father couldn't have sent Jaeger into a 24-hour (non-drunken) stupor during which this teen could not possibye have cared less about winning some tennis match that was 100 times more important to dad than to her?
As a total aside, but hardly unrelated, you are calling into question the integrity of a nun, which immediately qualifies this as one of the more dubious threads of the summer.

 

[TwoGloves]

My big question is: If she threw that match on purpose, why are we only now hearing about it 25 years later?

I doubt very seriously Andrea Jaeger would have won that match if she were playing her best tennis. Not against Martina Navratilova in 1983.

And even if she did lose on purpose, what would she have to gain from a 25-years-later admission?

She and Lt. Dan are making their peace with God.