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Last Updated: January 28, 2002 - Monday [Adelaide Time] Mark has a need. A need for speed. I'm sure this isn't a NEWSFLASH anymore but yes, yes, Mark was booked for speeding in his Mom's BMW. According to my very own mother, she heard that Mark was driving 77km/h in a 60 Zone. Hmmm.....sounds a little like me :-) Only difference, I don't have a BMW :-( But I'm glad to know I'm in good company {not that we here at AOTM condone speeding!} Anyhoo! So yeah, just shows that Mark's still in Australia and having a little fun on the roads. I'm sure he'll renew his drivers license first thing tomorrow morning..... No other updates really, just wanted to check online and see how the media has sensationalised this new incident. I'm sure the tag 'Bad Boy' will be used once again. Then when Mark comes good, they'll give him the title of 'Reformed Bad Boy'. We know how it goes don't we? Slow down Mark, slow down. We want you in one piece, playing your heart out on the tennis court. {P.S. Love the beanie look though, keep that up!} As that late 80s song goes: "Baby, you can drive my car" Ending
Quote: "It's a huge year for Mark Philippoussis" - Bruce
McAvaney Last Updated: January 27, 2002 - Sunday [Adelaide Time] The King and Queen of the Australian Open have been crowned :-) Congratulations to Jennifer Capriati and Thomas Johannson for conquering Melbourne Park this year. They are worthy champions. Can't wait for next year's Australian Open! No major updates for AOTM today but there are some major announcements: For one, *someone* has to go back to work this coming week :-( I guess all great things must come to an end and for me, my Summer of Tennis ends tomorrow :-( Which means, I probably won't be able to update during the week but only rather during the weekends. Seeing Mark doesn't play 'til February 15, there really isn't much to report, apart from the occassional 'Special AOTM Feature' here and there. Tennis-wise, watch out for the First Round Davis Cup tie against Argentina. Without Hewitt, Rafter and Philippoussis, it's looking a little dodgy but hopefully the great DC Guys can pull of a win. Go Australia! We're still accepting e-mails so don't be afraid to e-mail us about anything and everything! Our Inboxes are always open to fellow Flip Fans out there :-) Flip It, Flip It Good! Ending
Quote: "It's a huge year for Mark Philippoussis" - Bruce
McAvaney Last Updated: January 23, 2002 - Wednesday [Adelaide Time] Ooohhhh two updates in a row, I must be on something! We had a bit of a scare at AOTM HQ today. While I was actually doing 'work', the scanner decided to go bunta and take the HD down with it. My heart skipped a beat because my AOTM Files aren't backed-up {due to laziness} and if I lost it all, I wouldn't have the patience to start over {unless Mark himself comes knocking at my door and pleaded to me on both knees}. So let's just hope that from now on 'Lenny' behaves and don't give me any grief :-) Anyhoo! I have updated :-) The Kroger St. Jude banner below this is where Mark will be playing next. Check out the site and you'll see that Mark is among this year's Acceptance List 'Winners'. Looks like a great field this year but I hope they're all aware that Mark's Defending Champion - no one better mess with him coz this one's his for the taking! Go Mark! Or as my new catch-cry goes: FLIP IT, FLIP IT GOOD! With other matters, I finally completed the 'Ten Reasons' Page. Had a mental block for two last ones but thanks to some Mark Fans who was more than obliging to help out, I managed to close the List up. See the 'Check It Out' Section below for more details :-) By the way, don't blame us for all the 'Butt, Eyes, Lips, Nipples' Suggestions - they weren't from us! Finally, we're currently working on a Mark Valentine's Day Page :-) Let's just hope my Compiler works so I can do some Java Applets for y'all. It's all just a matter of getting this darn thing to get with the program. But I am taking suggestions for any Theme Music you all think would be appropriate for a V-Day Page {P.S. 'Shy Guy' is off the list. Yes, it's Mark's favourite song but let's not go that way, k?}. Send them in to us TODAY! Also, we've opened 'The Flip Vault', where we'll be putting {only} our favourite interviews, articles and comments about Mark. We like to keep the memories we choose to remember :-) Check it out if you feel like some Mark Reminiscing.... {So far there Mark's Post-Match Interviews from this year's Australian Open are available. More will come soon, we just need to read them all}.
Last Updated: January 22, 2002 - Tuesday [Adelaide Time] I give up! I give up on trying to predict who will win this year's Australian Open. Nothing about this year's tournament can be deemed 'predictable' because it's ever changing every minute! One minute Pete Sampras' cruising, the next he's 2 sets to love down to Marat Safin! When will the madness end? *lol* Needless to say, I refuse to say who I think {or want} will win this first Grand Slam. All I know is that it's none of the ones I predicted from the start {which is much the case each year}. To top it all off, no Mark News roaming the papers or TV {even the typical tabloid magazines who have a knack of covering Mark-related gossip has gone in hiatus}. There's news here and there but nothing too juicy :-) Speaking of Mark, could everyone please read our newly updated 'Disclaimer' Page. Just so that we no longer get those 'I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, MARK!' e-mails. We're still getting them and it's getting beyond ridiculous! Finally, go check out the 'Check It Out' Section underneath Mark's pics below and see a newly added section that'll make you smile in delight :-)
Last Updated: January 18, 2002 - Friday [Adelaide Time] "It's Oh so quiet, it's oh so still...." With Mark's departure from this year's Australian Open life's been pretty quiet/dull for us around here. Where's all the excitement when your favourite player is out of the tournament? To make matters worse, the seeded, veteran-type players have also decided to take an early break along with some of the exciting, young guns of the game {think Roddick, Dent, Hewitt, the list ultimately goes on}. My tip for the Men's is still Sentimental Man himself, Pete Sampras. Although, would find absolute joy in seeing Roger Federer hold up that trophy :-) For the Women's anyone BUT Martina Hingis and I'll be happy :-) Now, today, it was announced that Lleyton Hewitt has made himself unavailable for the First Round Davis Cup tie against Argentina next month. Disappointing news obviously for Australia as they'll be going into the tie without a 'headline player' who can assure them {or at least half assure them} of victory. I'm a huge fan of DC and always look forward to the matches. But with the whole Mark thing on that here's how I would like to summarise it: Would the whole of Australia LOVE to see Mark play DC? YES. Would Mark himself LOVE to see play DC for Australia? YES. Should Mark play DC if he isn't 100% ready and fit? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And finally, should Mark be scorned for making himself unavailable for DC matches? DEFINITELY NOT! Should any of us interfere {with our opinions on the matter} over Mark's decision? NO! NO! NO! I say mind your own business! If the guy doesn't wanna play, can't play, not ready to play then that's his deal! Let's all just get over it and leave the guy alone, for crying out loud! Hmm...that was me ranting. I only rant because I've had enough of reading 'this and that' about the whole DC matter. When will all the criticism end I wonder? I await that day..... Speaking of Davis Cup, I would like to make this call out to anyone who has the DC Final against France on PAL or NTSC Tape. I'm in desperate WANT to watch it again but no longer have a copy. I would really appreciate it if anyone could make me/lend me a copy. Postage, Handling & Photos will be provided :-) Contact me at anodetomark@yahoo.com - PLEASE! {Also, if anyone has the Melbourne DC Parade, I would love that too!} And while we're on the subject of Mark Photos, anyone who has 'real photos' of Mark and would like to swap with me, do contact me as I would love other photos of Mark for personal use. Cheers! Finally, I've added a New Section {see 'Check It Out' Section underneath Mark's photo below} which includes scanned articles that I collated from the Adelaide Tournament Week. There's more to come from that batch including some during the Australian Open - will scan them all in the next week or so. So everyone, enjoy the rest of the Australian Open and catch you all real soon!
Last Updated: January 16, 2002 - Wednesday [Adelaide Time] Mark's Australian Open 2002 Campaign is over :-( As you all would have found out by now, Mark was beaten in straight sets by Greg Rusedski. But Mark should {and I'm sure will} take a lot of positives away from the past two weeks - first Adelaide and his First Round Match at the Australian Open. Unfortunately today, Greg was the better player. But there's always another day.... Congratulations to Mark for making such an impressionable start to the year. Here's hoping that he will continue his rise back to where he belongs but more importantly, to improve and sustain his good health from now on. With regards to Site Updates, we're still looking for Mark Fan Fic Submissions! Send yours in TODAY and we'll give you a prize :-) Also, we've added a Brand New Section to AOTM, one that takes a lighther look at the World of Tennis. We like to call it 'Tennis Bloopers'- we notice a few funny {and odd} things about this game and thought we'd share it with you. If you've got your very own Tennis Blooper, send it in to us! Finally, we're working on the Video Clips. With the Australian Open and recuperating from our {Social} Tennis Games, we haven't managed to turn them into WMP Files. Soon we hope, soon :-) In the meantime, you can go have a look at Rosemary's Mark Photos from the 2000 US Open. I re-scanned most of her photos and thought we'd add it to the AOTM Photo Collection. Enjoy! By the way, just for the record I am now rooting for Roger Federer :-)
Last Updated: January 15, 2002 - Tuesday [Adelaide Time] When you're HOT, you're HOT! Last night, Mark most definitely showed us {and the whole world} that he's one HOT player right now {and that's not only in appearance either}. With his powerful {and accurate} serve, he blew Spain's Galo Blanco right off the court in straight glorious sets. If that wasn't a message to this upcoming opponents then I don't know what is! Tim Henman better watch out this time around....{but Greg Rusedski's first up}. Mark will surely play his Second Round Match tomorrow afternoon against Britain's Greg Rusedski. I personally have not see these two play but according to Johanna Griggs, their Head-to-Head is 2-1 in Greg's favour. Interesting.... Just a special mention from last night's match, kudos to Mark for signing *every* autograph book, massive tennis ball, t-shirt and motorcycle helmet {?%#@} shoved his way :-) He did not disappoint his many fans last night and that's always refreshing to see, players accommodating their fans. A round of applause for Mark *clap clap clap* On a final note, I noticed something while watching Johanna Griggs do a post-match interview with Mark last night. That is: Mark looks 10 times better in person ;-P Now that I have actually seen him in person, I can say that! *he he* But seriously, he does! Don't know whether it was the studio lighting or the fact that he had just finished a three-set match but whatever it was, he looks mighty finer in the flesh. That's not to say that he failed to 'glisten' last night! *he he* On a final, final note: if anyone out there has any Mark Fan Fiction they want hosted, I'd be more than happy to host it on here at AOTM. Alternatively, if you would like to get creative and write your very own Mark Philippoussis Fan Fic, feel free to do so, submit in to us here and we'll give you a Mark Photo for your trouble! That's if you need more incentive than writing a story about Mark....E-mail your Mark Fan Fiction Stories to anodetomark@yahoo.com - {Please Put: MARK FAN FIC on the Subject Line. Cheers!}
Last Updated: January 13, 2002 - Sunday [Adelaide Time]
I thought today we'd open with a very cool Philippoussis Animated Gif which was created by Soz of enqvistonline fame :-) Although her true allegiance most probably lies with Swede Thomas Enqvist, she was nice enough to indulge us with a Mark Gif. Be sure to check out her site, it's well organised and fancier than this humble one ;-) And remember, go to The ATP Fanlisting and VOTE for Mark in the Player Poll! The Australian Open starts TOMORROW! Get ready for two whole weeks of breathing, eating, sleeping and even drooling TENNIS {or Mark, for that matter}. Coverage will be provided by the 'legends' down there in Channel 7. As they always say, Check your local guides! My Australian Open 2002 Predictions: I've finally made my prediction as to who will win the Australian Open. For the Men's I'm predicting it'll be Andre Agassi - I like his form at Kooyong and if he keeps it up, he might just win it again. My heart is wanting, yearning, whatever-you-wanna-call-it to see Mark win the Open. Rusedski and Henman, all before the Quarters now that's a tough ask if I might just say so. But as George Michael would sing: "You've gotta have faith!" With the Women's, I can't go past Venus Williams and Martina Hingis. Jennifer Capriati's looking a little dodgy thanks to her hip injury while Serena Williams is the same with her ankle sprain from the Adidas International. An outside chance would be Kim Clistjers. I personally wouldn't mind 'She Lleyton' to win the Open, she seems like a likeable person. How she...okay, we'll leave it at that.... The other day I created some Mark Wallpapers. The photos I used are my own so if you liked the pics I took from The AAPT Championships then you'll like these ones. They can be found at my Scud Creations Page or alternatively, if you are a member of my AOTM Yahoo! Club, they are also uploaded under the Photo Album Section.
Last Updated: January 11, 2002 - Friday [Adelaide Time] "Scud and Stubbs bury the hatchet" were the words that came out of Tim Webster's mouth last night. Aaahhhh, music to our ears that was. It was only a matter of time before Colin Stubbs 'forgave and forget' about the Colonial Classic Chaos back in 2000. After Mark single-handedly 'saved' the AAPT Championships here in Adelaide last week, from financial ruin, Mr. Stubbs thought he'd return the favour :-) Mind you, that's just my opinion.... This morning, the draw for the 2002 Australian Open was conducted in Melbourne and drum-roll please....Mark will be playing Galo Blanco of Spain for his First Round Match. I have no knowledge of Mark and Blanco's match record so I can't predict whether Mark will find it a tough match. But then again, don't they all think that the First Round is the toughest? More Mark News: Read my local paper today, The Advertiser, and read something about the ACC conducting an investigation on whether or not the the promoters of the Peter's Drumstick Challenge misled people by advertising that Mark will be their headline player. Good on the ACC, I think it's only right that people who had bought their tickets months ago get some sort of explanation. Whoever was in the wrong should be made accountable! Our 2002 Australian Open Plans have not been successful. Things were looking good at the beginning of the week but then Melbourne Park informed us that no tickets were available :-( Oh well, serves us right for not 'planning' way in advance. Next year, next year... One from the Photo Vault....
Last Updated: January 9, 2002 - Wednesday [Adelaide Time] I'm over it now. Mark's loss. I've accepted it. FINALLY! You all say under your breath. But hear me out, we watched him for a whole week, got caught up with all the emotion that goes along with such a 'comeback' and yes, at the end we expected a lot and when we didn't get it, it was only natural to feel deflated. I think we probably took the loss much harder than Mark did! I plan to update a whole heap of other stuff in the next week or so, which will also include a little personal page for Eloisa and I. You see, today we went back to the Tennis Club we're members of and had a hit. We were a little rusty in the beginning but we *nearly* won our '15-and-you-win' game against Ray. If Mark himself had seen our game today he would have been pissing himself laughing! It wasn't the kind of 'comeback' we had hoped but it's a start....(BTW, I was wearing my Mark Fila Hat). Also, gonna plug a site to you all, it's called the ATP Fanlisting. The Webmistress of this fab site was an usher at the AAPT Championships and she's pretty groovy :-) Go check out her 'Obsessed' page *he he* More importantly, go to the Polls Section and VOTE FOR MARK! It'd be cool to have him on the 'Previous Winners' page. I get a kick out of lil' things like that :-)
On a final note, in the next week or so I will be deleting all the files for AOTM Version 1. Due to the fact that this Site is growing, we need more space for all the files we're planning on uploading. So there'll be some 'Summer [Spring] Cleaning'. So if you wanna read all the 'old stuff', you better get with the program cause it might not be there next time you come back. Remember, I no longer have the files on my HD for AOTM V1 so once it's lost, it's lost :-( Keeping
Up With Mark: Just for Fun:
Last Updated: January 8, 2002 - Tuesday [Adelaide Time] Withdrawals. We're suffering from Mark Withdrawals, or rather, an overall Tennis Withdrawal :-( I wished we had all the money in the world to do a 'Tennis Tour' for one whole year. Although I'm sure that will be very exhausting, it will be worth every minute. If only.... But enough Daydreaming! Today I'm going to put up our 'Highlights and Lowlights' Page - all the fantabulous things we found at this years AAPT Championships and not not to fantastic. We're gonna be brutally honest but not too harsh I hope... [The Highlights and Lowlights of The 2002 AAPT Championships] With other matters, the Adidas International is currently on in Sydney and for those outside Sydney, check your TV Guide for coverage details! As for Mark's Exhibition match in Melbourne, as far as I could find out there's no planned coverage of the event. At the same time, I read in the paper that the players will be playing at any day that they choose. Don't exactly know how that will work but it'd be interesting to see. Will Lleyton Hewitt be fit in time to take on Mark? That's the $64 question.... And finally, THANK YOU to all those who emailed us to THANK us for all the photos :-) It's impossible to answer all of you individually so we're taking this opportunity to do that NOW. THANKS for the THANKS :-)
Last Updated: January 7, 2002 - Monday [Adelaide Time] The Adelaide AAPT Championships is over for another year. Unfortunately it didn't end the way we all would have wanted but that doesn't mean it that the AAPT Tournament wasn't a success for Mark. I am sure that Mark has taken a lot of positive things out of his week here in Adelaide. For a player who has been sidelined for months because of injury, reaching the Final was nothing BUT incredible! Mark can now go to the Australian Open with much needed confidence and we wish him all the best for the First Grand Slam of the Year and beyond... On a personal note, life has somewhat come back to normal for us here. It did seem a little strange not getting up in the morning and not heading straight to Memorial Drive for some tennis. I'm sure we will eventually get used to not being so excited about each day. Afterall we've only got 51 weeks to wait til the 2003 AAPT Championships! Also, there will be some minor changes here in AOTM. Soon I will be adding my cousin, Eloisa, as another Mark Fan who'll be helping me out with things around here. She'll mostly be organising all the videos that we took this week. More details soon :-) Finally, 'The Last Days' Pictures are now here. Unfortunately this will be the last batch of photos from us this year unless we totally lose our minds (and our budget) by deciding to trek down to Melbourne for the Open. Could we handle two weeks of total madness? (in a good way of madness that is). Just click on the VERY FINAL photo we took of Mark last night to get to the last batch of photos!
Last Updated: January 5, 2002 - Saturday [Adelaide Time] Just one match away from the ultimate start to the Year 2002. Just one more match.... Tomorrow is THE DAY that will define just what kind of Australian Summer Mark will be having. Tomorrow he meets his doubles partner Tim Henman. Tomorrow we will be there cheering on Mark. Tomorrow cannot get here any sooner! But that's tomorrow, today we've got more photos to share with you. Just click on THE MAN!
Last Updated: January 3, 2002 - Thursday [Adelaide Time] Happy New Year One and All! "Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day...." Can you all tell that I had one heck of a good night's sleep last night? After 3 days at the AAPT Championships, which took quite a bit out of us, I'm here to update the site.....with *some* pictures to share with you all. I only managed to get one set of my photos done today :-( But not to worry, I hope to get the others uploaded by Monday at the latest. In the meantime just savour the ones I've got so far. My AAPT Championships Diary won't be out til sometime next week too. I've gotta sit down and actually think about it, rather than rambling dribble (no one wants that). So I'll let you all know when that comes out! I'll be sure to do a no-holds barred account of every Mark-Moment *he he* Finally, it took me a (long) while to upload it but it's finally here! Shooz's 2001 US Open Report - Thanks Shooz! Okay, with no further ado...I give you "The What A Butt! Pictures"
Cheers, ***** Please view AOTM V2 with Internet Explorer 5.0+ ***** © An Ode To Mark 2000-2002 |
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