Running From City To City

So much excitement in the world of sports, just over the weekend. I wish I had another person to write for me, but thus far, it's just me (if you want to guest blog, let me know!) So that means not enough time to cover everything. My selection:

1. Exciting first weekend in the NFL. My brief observations: Brett Favre looks good in his new suit, eh? Did he really call them "New Yorkians"? As I told Novak Djokovic, I'm available for American culture lessons...Way to go Aaron Rodgers, even doing the "Lambeau Leap" like that other guy. Keep winning, they'll forget all about him...More and more the NFL seems like it stands for "Not For Long" with all of these significant injuries on day one, including Brady, Vince Young, Nate Burleson, at least 15 others. What gives?...What happened to the Colts?...The Philadelphia Eagles, and more specifically, Donovan McNabb, look very good...St. Louis looks...the same. And with the Lions performance, that makes two of them...Kudos, though, to Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan. Keep winning, they'll forget all about him...Happy to see Jay Cutler (with his Denver Broncos) doing well in his first regular season game since learning he has diabetes. Very much looking forward to seeing how the rest of this season shakes out, and I don't even have a fantasy team. Go figure.

2. U.S. Open wins by Roger Federer and Serena Williams. I love seeing people (around) my age still getting it done. Serena's final was much more interesting than Fed's, but the best matches were definitely played in their quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively. Each got a "milli"* and a half for their efforts and regained their respective perch at the top of the rankings - Fed, of course, not having left that long ago. This is a huge deal for Serena though, hence the high racquet throw at the end of the match. Her win effectively silences all of the critics who said her and her sister weren't dedicated to the game. They don't need to do what everyone else does. They're really just that good. And so is that Oreo commercial featuring the Williams sisters vs. the Manning brothers (see video in right corner). I love the concept but must admit I'd prefer it was for something healthy like, PowerBar, rather than Double Stuf Oreos. Ah, well.

3. I am really curious to know what in the world Monta Ellis did to his ankle that would cause him to lie to the Golden State Warriors about its cause. He claimed he hurt it playing basketball, but then it was discovered that he tore his deltoid ligament and had multiple scrapes and scratches, "not typical of a basketball injury." I got scratched in basketball once and still have the scar on my arm to prove it, but yeah, he really should have made sure his story would check out better than this before he decided to lie. I don't know him, but I'll guess it's something silly that violates his contract like wheelies on an ATV or motorcycle, parachuting, extreme jump roping, bear-wrestling, etc. I'm kinda hoping it's one of the latter two and not any of the first three. The truth comes to the light eventually...

4. Marion Jones left prison. Sad. (Some of these news stories are a little harsh, don't you think? I don't see other admitted dopers getting treated this harshly.)

5. I saw an ad the other morning for a new show on National Geographic called Dogtown: Saving the Michael Vick Dogs. Normally, I would think this was a great idea...if it weren't the season premiere of the Dogtown series and if it didn't include his name in the title. It seems a bit exploitative, premiering not coincidentally within a day of the Atlanta Falcon's own season. Not that I expect much out of Hollywood these days, but I thought National Geographic was different. I guess I was wrong. Why can't we let sleeping dogs lie?





*If anyone caught the MTV VMA's last night (DVR is again my new best friend!), 'Lil Wayne has officially taken over James Brown spot as the hardest working man in showbiz. The Kid Rock set confirmed it. I think his pants are the same length as the sleeves of my coat, though - he's not even sagging, he actually has them cut to only come up to his hip. What next?

Running from for Office*

Late night at the office, so as much as I wanted to avoid it, sometimes you just can't help having to. . . run. It. Down. Here goes:

1) 31-year old Daunte Culpepper, once a celebrated QB, now says he can't get a callback (much less a quarter back - ba dum bum!). He claims it's because he stands up for what he believes in and represents himself, which the league and teams don't like. On PTI (can't stop gushing about my love for DVR these days!), they basically said his personality must suck, and I tend to agree. There are plenty of team with - excuse my language - piss-poor QB's that Culpepper could play ahead of or behind. My benchmark here is none other than Joey Harrington. Joey had a job until he got a cut a few days ago, and if he can get a job . . . I'll stop here, but suffice it to say that Harrington's record speaks for itself, and if he's getting looks ahead of Culpepper, Daunte must really be in the inferno. Here's hoping he lands something in this tough economy.

2) It turns out that Chad Ocho Psycho** Cinco is not alone in his interesting name change. SI.com did a flip through Vault piece on this, including 13 different athlete name changes. If I had to pick one to take the cake, I'd have to go with the athlete formerly known as J.R. Henderson. After a stint at UCLA, Henderson wasn't able to find basketball success here, so he went to Japan and became a star. But it seems that he was too black to be put on Japan's national team. Not to fear, Henderson had a plan. He would change his last name to Sakuragi, get a Japanese passport, and then all would be well. "Well" meaning he could earn double his salary because he wasn't a foreigner, but not "well" for the national team, which failed to make it to Beijing for the Olympics this summer (and hasn't done so since 1976). That's dedication.

3) LeBron James got his "highness" handed to him by a warehouse worker in a game of H-O-R-S-E. I can't say that I'm really that surprised, since special skills aren't really Bron Bron's forte. Had he lost in an ego-strength competition, then I might have worried. But seriously - and don't tell anyone I said this - kudos to King James for even agreeing to participate. He just made this guy's life, which means if you know him (and even worse, if you play pickup ball with him) you're probably in for a real treat from here on out. (". . . and I kicked LeBron's ***, what have you done?")

4) Redeeming himself after the slight at the Republican National Convention last night (see asterisk at bottom of that post), Eli Manning and (Plaxi) Co. opened up the year like they ended it - with a win, this time over the Washington Redskins. I was at work and didn't watch the game, so that's all I've got for you, except that, as noted during the RNC, the Giants still don't get any respect. And they probably won't unless they win another one. One day, Eli. One day.

5) Another event I couldn't watch today but would have liked to: the U.S. Open. Someday, when I get to that U.S. Open round-up, perhaps I'll talk about the #3 male player in the world, Novak Djokovic, and his struggle to win over the fans. He got some positive attention when he did impressions of Raphael Nadal and Maria Sharapova, but since then, the crowd just hasn't been on his side. When I was in attendance for one of his matches the other night, I did notice that a lot of people were cheering for his opponent but I thought it was because they wanted to see more tennis (even though it was 1 a.m. and I was quite ready to go home). Maybe they just really don't like him. He can certainly make the occasional incendiary remark, as he did tonight following his win over "America's son," Andy Roddick.

Literally, I think sometimes his delivery just doesn't translate into English very well. Although he has a tendency to get "over-amped" and have a short temper, I really don't think he's a bad guy. It takes a big man to apologize for his remarks this evening - which he did - and he has seemed in the past to be truly hurt by the lack of support he receives from the American crowd. Maybe he just needs an advisor on American culture. The women do it (what, you thought Sharapova was a natural?), and if he wants to get anywhere near the endorsement money that the two men ranked above him get (assuming he continues to perform well), he really ought to look into that. I should add that I'm available, Novak, if you can see this.

Have a great weekend!


* This refers me to me running from my office, and Senator Obama running for his. And, yes, it should belong to him.

** Thanks, Tiger!

Yes, They Can

Of course I couldn't not mention the fact that Venus and Serena (you know their names) played an awesome quarterfinal last night. I don't have much to add here except to say that while it sucks that they had to play so early, I am SO proud of these girls. I'm just now watching the match (how did I live without DVR for so long?) and I can't help but wonder if Venus didn't throw this match. I say that because they are dead even in their head-to-head matches in Grand Slams and in the other tournaments, it's just a bit unbelievable that she's spraying shots and losing so many points on her own serve, especially since she was pretty much in control of the whole match - Serena only won three more points than her sister. But it's not totally unbelievable, so I'll cut Venus some slack. It has to be tough playing someone who knows you that well. It was tough for me to compete against my friends (especially when they cheated!) so I can imagine it's worse to play your sister.

For those who have been watching tennis for a while, you know how much the commentators hated on these girls before they'd ever played a professional tournament. I LOVED hearing Tracy Austin and John McEnroe have no choice but to gush over how great they are and how far they've come - from Compton to the biggest stage in the world - especially since they, along with Chrissy Evert, were the sisters' main detractors in the days of yore. And say what you want about their effort level, their dedication to the game, but these are the definition of awesome, and they are looking rather nice in their "old age" (by tennis standards). The career of an athlete is a blip on the radar of life compared to the career length of the typical 9 to 5'er. I'm all for working what you have while you have it.

So congratulations to both of these ladies. They've certainly earned it.

Coming Soon: U.S. Open trip recap

FYI, I did make it to the U.S. Open again this year. It's quickly becoming an enjoyable annual tradition. Stay tuned for my pics and post on my trip . . .

And another FYI . . . since Marat Safin did NOT stay in the tournament long enough for me to snap any pics of him, I'll use this one instead. (He did stay long enough to get fined, though). I don't think I could have captured this in person anyway.

Camera M.I.A., But The Show Must Go On

So I still can't find my camera, but I'm charging ahead and giving you the U.S. Open rundown. Take note of the following:

1. What the heck, AmEx? I was all excited about all the perks they were giving at the Open, including commemorative pins featuring Venus Williams and James Blake for spending at least $75 on my American Express card, which was not a problem (see #6, below). But the day I get home from the Open, I see a huge article on the front of the SportsBusiness Journal saying that AmEx was giving out these little babies to cardholders:

You can look up all the stats and scores, and watch different matches. All for carrying an American Express. I saw somebody holding one near me but I thought it was just some high-tech fan trying to show off. . . and I could have been that high-tech show-off! Boo, American Express, for not letting me know that when I was there.

2. Nike is getting lazy. Apparently I'm not the only one who noticed. Had I been able to find my camera, I could have shown you the 5 matches being played simultaneously in which all 5 male players were wearing the exact same Nike outfit. This blogger did a good job of showing you at least three of the players. The only guys who get their own outfit are Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal. I know there are some perks to being #1 and #2 in the world, but dagnabit, if I make the Top 10 in the world, give me my own shirt!! They should just call it the "Also Ran" standard issues. I know we're dealing with guys, and so you all don't care about wearing the same outfit like we do. But it's bad enough that Federer and Nadal have won every major tournament for the past three years, why add insult to injury by making me wear the same outfit as my opponent? Nike makes too much money to give everyone the same distinctive shirt. It looks ridiculous. And it's ugly.

3. That kid pictured above is Donald Young, a talented young American who lost to this guy, Feliciano Lopez:


Also wearing the shirt. If not for that headband, I don't know how I would tell them apart. Although I watched Lopez take out young Donald, I really think this kid's going to be pretty good. He's only 18 so he has time . . . to let Federer retire before he decides to make tennis his main thing. But in all seriousness, keep an eye on Donald Young.

4. Speaking of tennis as his main thing, I watched two players in the men's draw who might be in the wrong profession. The first is the man pictured above, Feliciano Lopez. I thought he looked a little pretty, like a model, when he was on the court.


I guess I was right. If he's taking pictures like this, I'm guessing he knows he could model if tennis didn't work out for him. But why be a model when you can be the best looking in a field where everyone else is relatively less attractive than you? Because if you can't beat them on the court, beating them in the looks department has to count for something - and may make you even more rich famous than you would be if you actually won a tournament. (See this other obscure tennis player.) If I were his opponent, I'd make 50 copies of this pic and post them in the locker room at every tournament. I might even put this pic on my towel, just so I could have extra motivation to kick his butt during our match. If I lost, I'd remember that he took this picture, and I would feel better.

The second player who might want to consider a career change? John Isner. When I heard Federer was playing a guy who was 6'9", my first thought was the same thought every other person had: Is this guy wearing "the shirt"? Answer: Yes, he was.


My next question: What the heck is he doing on a tennis court? I don't care who you are, if you're 6'9" and above and don't play basketball - or at least do something athletic - people are going to look at you like you've failed in your life's purpose. They might even tell you as much. If you're 6'9" or above and you're reading this, don't worry about those people. They're just jealous. . . but come on! What a waste of height! Seriously.

As a way of background, Isner is an All-American from the University of Georgia who made it to the NCAA tennis finals at #1 singles this past year. He received a wild card entry into the Open and has apparently decided to forego his final year of NCAA eligibility to go pro. And while he lost eventually, Isner did take a set off Federer, which not too many people can say. (On a side note, the guy who won the NCAA tournament didn't even get an invite to the U.S. Open. And he has to go back to school. Ick.) According to my tennis insider, Isner had a late growth spurt, so he gets a pass for passing on basketball. His one weapon, as one might imagine, is his serve. But at 6'9", you may cover the whole court in a single step, but you aren't going to be able to move like the little guys.

If his arms look a lot longer than normal, it's because they are. I didn't stretch this picture. I know he's probably fully invested in this tennis thing, but he would make way more money playing basketball, and being in the NBA is a lot less work than traveling every week to different continents and groupies are much more accessible. I'd start working on that jumper if I were you, Johnny boy.

5. Tennis is unlike most sports because the fans are supposed to keep quiet and avoid distracting the players. As most people do keep quiet and obey the "rules," it's the perfect forum for the solo exhibitionist who wants to say something ("Roddick, I want to have your baby!!") that can be heard by everyone in attendance. Seriously, you can't even walk around at tennis matches. I watched two matches involving top players in which play was halted while a mother returned to her seat with her baby, and in both instances the umpire spoke directly to the mothers to ask them to find a seat. And we got to see these mothers on their big screen, TV close-ups. Talk about embarrassing.

But the U.S. Open is also a little different. It's undoubtedly the loudest of the four major tennis tournaments, partly because it's in New York, partly because they play matches at night and serve beer in head-size portions. Either way, it can get a little rowdy. Witness James Blake's "J-Block" who regularly attend his matches to harass his opponents and support their favorite player:


. . . But even after all this, I was still not prepared to hear the "summer anthem" "Ay Bay Bay" by Hurricane Chris playing during Serena Williams' match. Amazing that this song even made it to the radio, and now it's playing at the U.S. Open. Next thing you know, they'll be talking about Kanye West's album coming out tomorrow during Monday Night Football. Wait, that just happened. No, I'm not kidding.

6. And last but not least, as much as I enjoyed the U.S. Open, I need to gripe about one thing: the prices. Here is a run down of the ridiculous:

• The food. For $3.50, you could get two hands full of water. Just about enough to swallow an aspirin with. A small bottle of Gatorade? $4.50. Caesar salad on flat bread (really, three pieces of lettuce on stale bread)? $14. I saw a small seafood dish that cost $25. At a food stand. Without a waiter. Or napkins. Or even tartar sauce. The only way I'm paying $25 for one item from a stand is if I get to keep eating it forever, or at least a week. I refused to buy the water or the Gatorade, just on principle. I also refused because Evian tastes like toilet water. Not that I've tasted toilet water, but if I did, that's what I imagine it would taste like. And of course you can't bring in your own food and drink. But I heard that if you stuff drinks in sweatshirt sleeves in your bag, you can sneak them past the bottle mafia at the gate. I'm not saying I did that, I just heard that it works . . . if you try it next year and get caught, I will not be held liable for your attempt to cheat the system.
  

• The clothing. The same zip up cotton jacket you might see for $5 in a shop in NYC sold for $125 at the Open, all because of the gigantic Polo Ralph Lauren logo on the back. I never cease to be amazed that a company expects that I'm going to pay them to advertise for them. Since the logo's on the back, I can't even see it and enjoy the fruits of my hard-earned dollars. Now if they want to give me $125 to wear the jacket, then we can talk. So what if I'm not famous. Yet.
  

• The tickets. As it turns out, the U.S. Open is near to the top of the most profitable sporting events in the world, outpacing even the NCAA basketball tournament. . . and I see why. I can't really complain because I didn't technically pay for this year's tickets, but they are crazy expensive nonetheless. Even the "cheap" seats are $60, and it costs $50 just to be on the grounds. Besides the fact that sitting in the cheap seats increases the likelihood that you will experience nose bleeds, headaches, nausea and/or vomiting, you can barely see what's going on from way up there. Nike clearly was not taking the "cheap" seats into account when they gave every player the same shirt and shorts. The best you can hope for is that Federer is playing so you can tell who won!

Overall, if you haven't been to the U.S. Open, I would certainly recommend that you check it out. Even if you're not a huge tennis fan, there's always something worth seeing,


for all of us.

Shocking But True

(I was supposed to do my full U.S. Open post today but I can't find my camera, and I am not happy!! I will try a few more places, and if I can't locate it still, I'll just see what I can find on the Internet. Pray that I find it . . .)

Surprising and shocking to absolutely no one, and to the delight of Nike (because their other golden boy won today, too), Roger Federer captured his fourth consecutive U.S. Open title with his straight set win over Novak Djoko. Never mind. You don't care and it doesn't really matter anyway, although the kid he beat is not half bad and has actually beaten Federer earlier this year. But not today. Today, all that matters today is that I was right and that Federer is quickly becoming the best in any sport the world has ever seen. Take a look at Roger by the numbers. He got to take home an "extra million" today because he won the U.S. Open Series (the series of hard court tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open). So congrats, Roger. And watch your back.

Flushing Meadows, Here I Come!

I know I missed the first day of play at the U.S. Open and for that I should probably be a little ashamed. But the Mike Vick show was on, so I tuned into that instead. Luckily, the show will only be in re-runs until December 10th so I can get back to my regularly scheduled programs.

Which brings me back to tennis. This Friday, I will be heading to the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY. I will be leaving my tennis shirt, skirt, socks, tennis shoes, wristbands, tennis bags and tennis racquets at home because I don't need these to watch a tennis match, but apparently not everyone gets this memo (I think they include it with the tickets). I can see wearing one, or maybe even two of these, but I really wonder about the guy who, every year without fail, comes dressed in full gear, only to be told that he will be relegated to the status of "fan" and, no, Roger Federer will not be asking him to warm up before his match.

I haven't watched much tennis since the French Open, but I know I need to brush up on my Russian and Serbian. This is an annual Labor Day event for me, when I get to spend up to 18 hours at the National Tennis Center watching tennis. If this sounds boring to you, then you probably haven't partaken in the festivities. Chief among them for me, watching Marat Safin.


Man, he's a talented young fella. While he did manage to keep it together long enough to win two Grand Slam tournaments - the 2005 Australian Open and the 2000 U.S. Open - he's what I'd call a bit of a loose cannon.

Federer (aka "Cool Fed"), whom I and apparently others might call the most dominant athlete in any sport, tends to keep his emotions in check.



In contrast, my dear Safin wears his heart, valves and all, on his sleeve.


I just need him to last until I get to town.

As for the other johnny-not-gonna-make-it's competing for a chance to win the U.S. Open, I do believe Cool Fed has this one in the bag, so I'm just hoping to see him get a few good matches. While his domination of tennis is more than impressive, it kind of takes all the fun out of it when you know who's going to win. Just ask the ten people in America who have ever watched an entire Federer match.

On the women's side, I'm looking forward to seeing Maria Sharapova (get beaten) and to watching Venus and Serena Williams. I guess I'm not the only one. If you haven't seen them play in person, you have no idea how strong and powerful they really are. I lucked up on 2nd row seats to watch Serena play Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Open, and I have to say I was quite impressed - even though she eventually lost.

What I do not want to see is a Venus vs. Serena showdown. Try more like a "show is over." I can think of at least 100 things I'd rather do than watch the two of them play, and yes, watching paint dry (#98) and peel off (#99) is on that list. Their matches have to be among the most non-competitive outings I've ever seen. Their all-time head-to-head record is 7-7, probably because they take turns letting the other one win. At least we'll be spared a meeting in the final since they are on the same side of the women's draw (tennis speak for a bracket) this year. But when they aren't playing each other, I am a big fan of theirs, and they're popularity is certainly good for the game. You go, girls!

Lastly, I am embarrassed to admit that American Express does such a good job of promoting the U.S. Open that I was inspired to apply for a card just so I could get all the perks (including free pedicab rides across the "boardwalk" from the subway to the vicinity of the main entrance). And they gave me a lot of credit. And the card is pretty. But what they don't tell you is that about the only place where the American Express card is accepted is at the U.S. Open. D'oh!