Well, surprise surprise. The Federer-Nadal rivalry is on the front page of the sunday sports section of the New York Times. You would think the writer had been reading TW.

Yeah, Annie ... their rivalry has transcended Tennis and even Sport, in general. Regardless of which one is your fave, that's quite an admirable feat. ;)

I think it's unfortunate that the tournament director has decided to put Laura Robson on CC right after Roger. It's like throwing her to the wolves. CC will be packed and all that attention is a little too much too soon in her career. Furthermore I think she's going to get slaughtered by Jankovic.

@wilson75, do not be too sure about that. Robson is very feisty and Jankovic is not known for keeping her composure especially when the crowd is not rooting for her. See US Open 2008 against Serena. When her back was against the wall and the crowd was pulling for Serena she started complaining about Serena taking too much time between points etc. If the English crowd start pulling for Robson and she takes confidence from that who knows what will happen.

What concerns me about Jankovic is that she decided to skip a grass tune up to practice on indoor hard for grass season. I guess the fact that the Sisters practice on hard courts in preparation for Wimbledon, everyone else will be trying to find an edge.

JK: I'm not sure, I admit I have never seen Robson play but I'm wary of the British press hype that follows her. These are the same people who tout Murray as the best player in the world and future GS winner. I'm yet to see that. As Jankovic, I think she will come out wanting to quiet the crowd and blow Robson off the court.

I can't find anything on the Sod, so I'm hoping it was just a comment and nothing comes of it.

cupcake lurker: well that's encouraging about Robin. Please keep us posted. thanks.

Good Morning, everyone! Super excited for tomorrow and the weather is going to be wonderful in London all week, warm and sunny which will mean the courts will be playing faster!! Good news for the Andy R bus occupants! :)

wilson75, I saw Robson play a first round match last year against Hantuchova. She took her to 3 sets and the crowd was really rallying behind her so much so that it kind of threw Daniela off her game.

Robson has a nice game. I would not call her a world beater. What struck me at the time was how she carried herself on the court. She had this really stoic thing going on. I thought it was quite admirable. She has lost a little bit of momentum since that time but that is to be expected as she is making the transition from juniors to the senior tour. One hopes that the British media will stop all the hype and allow these young players to develop their games at their own pace.

Heather Watson is the player that I am most looking forward to see play. I have never seen her play but I have heard positive things about her from others who have seen her. So there is that. Heather seems to be more under the radar than Laura so that may help. She seems to be living in the shadow of Robson in terms of media coverage.

JK: The British media hype tends to put me off players and I didn't like what Robson had to say about other female players. I'll give her that she's young and still have alot to learn and probably got a little carried away because she was given a pictoral in British Vogue.

I suspect that Watson may be a better player than Robson but she's not as well known because she lives at Bolleterri's and also is from Guernsey not London. I think may help her, give her some breathing space to grow as a player.

oh, well Roger sometimes files commercial and Nadal sometimes flies by private jet.

Wanna make something of that?

That's gotta just be a rumor, re: Sod. The men's game has suffered, and is still suffering (hey Juanma! hiya Ernie!), enough from injury-related depletion over the last year, thankyouverymuch.

I hear Federer's looking to invest in a teleporter after hearing about Ernie's spaceship, btw. Or maybe he'll go old-school & build a luxury Zeppelin. How awesome would that be?! Gottfried von Cramm would have nothing on Fed.

'Morning everyone.

Some great reading from last afternoon/night. Thanks TWibe! ;)

Syd, um, I think we pretty much covered it at length last night.

oh, okay, Annie. :)

cheers.

Hey, everyone. :)

wilson75: Robson did later apologise for that remark. I guess you could say the damage was done and it's easy to say sorry afterwards - but she's still only 16, she is going to make mistakes like that, IMO.

Oooh in all the Fedal discussion, I missed that Randy is playing Rajeev Ram first up. Should be a fun match. Ram plays S&V IIRC. Robson vs JJ! Nice!

Interview with the Fudd. He's gotten all nice these days...boring:

"""
"I'm happy he's back," the top seed said. "I want him to play every tournament. I felt like what I saw was the old classic Rafa on clay hardly losing sets and matches. That's what we got from him. That's why it's going to be incredibly hard to beat him here at Wimbledon."

Federer also puts Great Britain's Andy Murray up there as a title contender despite the world No.4's recent patchy form. "I think regardless of what happened between here and the Australian Open, Andy is one of the big favourites for this tournament. You have to maybe ignore a little bit what happened in between [Australia and now] and remember the last time you played a best‑of‑five-set match. This is when he was very tough. I think that's why maybe it favours the big guys. Andy's obviously one of them."
"""

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2010-06-20/201006201277037821470.html

Very interesting comments from Rafa. Presser on Wimby page:

"""
Q. When you switch from clay court to grass court, what is the most important thing to concentrate on? Is it technically or mentally?

RAFAEL NADAL: Technique for me. Mentally I think I know how I have to play to play well on grass. But is difficult to do it for me, no?

Q. Technical adjustments you have to do?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, the movements are very important, how to move. The way that you are touching the ball is very important because you have to -- you know, on clay you have more time to think.

Here, if you are not touching the ball perfect most of the times, is very difficult to have the control of the point.

So the important thing is adjust your game, adapt your game to play well on this surface. So you have to put the ball more inside the court. You can't defend on this surface because when you run to one place, is very difficult to come back, especially after the first week. After the second week is more like clay. But especially the first days is very difficult, so is very important.
"""

The last two lines should make NP and imjimmy very happy :-).

Jewell: I know Robson apologised, I'm just sorry she said it in the first place but as you say she's very young.

In this summer's sporting highlights out of Great Britain, Jorge Lorenzo won the MotoGP, held at Silverstone. Spaniards took first and second in the 125cc race and a Spaniard made the podium in the Moto2 race.

Spanish authorities will hold an inquiry regarding why Spaniards only took four of the nine podium spots at Silverstone.

Whereas Spain's World Cup team has, so far this year, continued its tradition of being the biggest underachievers and chokers in World Cup; the Spanish team, as usual, cannot surpass the French in bringing drama and flair to sucking at futbol. In just the first ten days of this year's competition; the French booted one of their better players off the team after his profanity-laced tirade against the team's coach, the French team boycotted one practice, and the French team director quit the team.

Briefly directing my attention to tennis, I sadly note that neither James Blake's J-Block nor Sam Querrey's Samurai will be attending Wimbledon this year. However, Laura Robson has assembled a group of some of her more cheeky young supporters, unofficially known as "Laura's Sluts," who will be fervently agitating on Robson's behalf at SW19 this year.

Good news about Robin, altho' if he beats Rafa and eventually (sigh!) RAndy, it will be a Sod story.

Pspace!!!
Hear you are moving to Norcal !
so - looking forward to maybe seeing you at IW - good luck in your new job
but in answer to what does a guy do with $180 K except pay rent ?
In California , it's called taxes - lots of them
because , see , you are almost rich - you have to reach $250 K to be really rich here , but you are getting close
And that means you get to foot the bill for everybody else - or at least a large part of it
So you won't see all of your $180K - in fact you will only see about 55% of it - and that does limit how much you can spend on rent - if you want to eat

Still - welcome to the sunshine state - it is a beautiful place to live

LOL, beth. Trust me my salary is much less than $180K....I was just saying it seemed like a decent amount. So taxes amount to 45%? Wow...that's robbery. I figured it would only be around 35%. Jajaja...I'll prolly be poor for a while then.

and - I want a ride on the Roddick bus
I love Rafa and if he wins I will be thrilled - but just this one event , just this year , I want Andy Roddick to hold the Wimbledon trophy

sad about Gulbis ' withdrawing - the men's event is laden with players who had to withdraw when things were looking good for them
Gulbis, Gasquet , and Nalbandian - all have shown good form on grass and some weapons in the past
Gulbis with his serve , Nalbandian a former finalist , Gasquet was on form in Queen's when he tore the intracostal muscles in his rib cage - just rotten luck for them - and us - who want to see the best play at the biggest events

oh
and Happy Father's Day ! too all you dads - enjoy your day

hmmm Pspace - yes , we have pretty high taxes
by the time you put in the donation to the IRS , the 11% state income tax , the 10 % sales tax, the property tax at 1.3% ( or something like that - if you own property ) , and all the excise taxes tucked in by the local counties to support their pet projects - it is pretty exhorbitant . Almost rivaling some countries in Europe - but not quite
still there are some great places to be and live , and if you don't mind a drive - you can find reasonable housing in good areas - and plenty to do for entertainment
beautiful scenery and parks - the beaches - the best in entertainment- all that is available here

not to mention great sports
tennis is most definitely year round - and in my area , at least
we have clubs for sure , But public parks and local schools - all with courts that can be accessed easily by residents of the area.

beth, ""the 10 % sales tax, the property tax at 1.3%"" ah ok...at least I get to see the money before it evaporates in sales tax :-), and I prolly won't own property for a while. But, yeah, I'm not going to live in San Francisco city....was looking @ rent, and there seem to be reasonable places near Menlo Park (where work is).

that is true , Pspace - and you can choose to buy - or not to
and of course , if you are lucky - and have a clever accountant - there are deductions and refunds to be had
( or at least to apply to next year's quarterlies :))

San Fran itself is extremely expensive - so wise to live in other areas , nearer to work

The general rule - the closer to the ocean , the higher the rent ( or purchase price )
as they say - location , location , location

just a question - do you ski or enjoy winter sports ? You will be close to Mammoth , which is a great resort for winter activities - an easy drive from the Bay Area -
They also host a huge tennis tournament up there in the late summer - and use the ski runs as mountain biking trails in the summer
It is really lovely - and a pleasant change from the big city atmosphere

well - better run
get started on a Father's Day breakfast
I hear my husband returning from his morning of surfin
talk later and see you all at the tennis matches

Wimbledon starts tomorrow !!!

Good evening,
I'm the proud mother of a tennis champion. My daughter won the tournament today! :)
On to look up the latest fashion on jet planes :)

Beth,
You are so right. I pay 55% taxes on my income. In the past in The Netherlands the tax money was put to good use i.e. free help at home for old people, free education and books for children up to 16 years, free health and dentist care, free Dutch and integration lessons for the immigrants, etc. All this is gone now and we are still paying 55%. Goodbye to the welfare state!

Federer is very up to date about football. Concentrate, Roger. And don't jinx Englad. They are doing it by themselves. It's Wimbledon time!

"Q. Who is your favorite in the World Cup?

ROGER FEDERER: I think so far it's been hard to really go just purely with one team. First up, honestly I thought England had a very good chance. Now you never know what's going to happen there. It all comes down to the last match. Argentina, seems like they're solid. Holland are the first that's qualified I think right now.

No, I think Switzerland has the best chance, you know. That's how it looks like for the moment (smiling).

Q. Switzerland playing at 3:00 tomorrow and on Monday, how will that affect your preparations?

ROGER FEDERER: You think I'll just like leave the court at 3:00? That's not going to happen quite yet. Maybe I can install a little screen on Centre Court on the change of ends (smiling).

It's happened in the past that I've had to play matches during important things in my life. You know, kind of went on court last year many times thinking that Mirka was going to give birth to my children. That was a bit more, you know, crazy than Switzerland playing at 3 p.m. I still have a chance to maybe go see a little bit."

I can't wait for Nadal to mercilessly and repeatedly smash Soderling's VIKING FACE into the foilage.

Ethan I think you mean foliage?

Don't count on it - Sod'lll be hungry for payback.

As long as someone other than Nadal and Fed win I'll be happy. Roddick-Murray-Sod-Djokovic in that order.

If anyone is interested and has the Big Ten network, College tennis is on. Off to watch

Congrats Zenggi on your daughter's win today. Next stop, Wimbledon champion :)

Pspace - cool about your SF future. I have relatives there and they love it. Also not rich, but they manage ok.

Afternoon, all.

Fathers Day lunch with Cathleen, who has just demolished a big hunk of garlic bread.

I gather Mr Nadal has been avoiding Mr Federer at the practice courts, so as to avoid discussing a certain soccer match earlier this week....

Terrific article on the WTA in the Guardian yesterday. I hope there's a match as good as the RG final this year.

Just saw news that Dustin Brown may be playing for Great Britain. Apparently he has British connections through his grandmother. He is refusing to play Davis Cup as he does not feel that Tennis Jamaica has aided in his development and have done nothing to assist him. They are only interested when Davis Cup rolls around. Wow. Cannot believe little old Jamaica having problems with tennis players. LOL

JK: Wasn't Dustin Brown born in Germany and lived half his life and currently lives there? The most logical thing is try and get his ranking up and try to play for Germany. He can't be angry at Tennis Jamaica because they don't have the funding to support him.

They showed a brief clip of Fed at his pre-match presser on espn today. He looked about as handsome as I've ever seen him. Gorgeous in fact. The hair!!!! And a really great white jacket. Did anybody else see it?

I need a soccer/football 101 lesson: When the goalie gets his hands on the ball...either when he makes a stop or when sometimes his own team kicks it back to him, does he ALWAYS have the right to kick the ball downfield? And how far out of his crease can him come to get the ball? What is that little half circle in front of the goal rectangle?

Thanks in advance.

Oh, garlic bread! I love it...alas, it loves me less well. I am beginning to become more fond of slow roasted garlic...loses a bit of its bite, but gets nice and soft and spreadable...with cream cheese on dark rye! yum!

Happy Father's Day to Andrew and all other Twibe Father's.

Wait -are those WATER bottles lined up on the sidelines? does Rafa know about this? Because I'm not sure they meet his rigid standards of precision placement. ;-)

annie- I have seen pictures. He did look good. A bit of a dust up at the Mothership among the long hair/short hair camps. Someone posted that one year he actually cut his hair in the middle of a tournament. Egad. What boldness from the man! ;-) Pretty non superstitious - most guys won't even shave during a tournament. Fed of course has to because of his Gillette contract, but I think he is pretty relaxed about his 'routine'

BTW, there is a rumour that Fed will wear pink post Wimby. We shall see. If he does it is not doubt an homage to his girls. I for one will not be a happy camper. Am of the opinion that pretty generally speaking, the only people who look 'pretty in pink' are under the age of 6.

wilson75, who knows with Dustin. He has only just come to my attention since this season and already there seems to be controversy surrounding him and Tennis Jamaica. He has stated that in order for him to play Davis Cup they will have to fire the current coach. LOL Of course the federation said no.

Many Jamaicans have some form of connection to Britain (we were after all a crown colony) so it perhaps makes sense for him to play for Great Britain, but yes I agree Germany would seem to be the logical choice for him.

@CL, try slow roasted garlic with extra virgin olive in mashed potatoes - yummmm

Back from the celebratory dinner. Happy Father's Day!

CL,
The goalie can touch the ball with his hands ONLY in the 16 m. zone. That is the square in front of the goal post.

Andrew: Happy father's day!!! Did you have to do the cooking? And happy father's day to all the twibe dads.

hey andrew, I think I called Cathleen "Danielle" by mistake the other day. Sorry about that.

beth, thanks for the info on Mammoth. Haven't tried any winter sports except ice skating...I learned to skate really late in life...so I assume I won't be good at skiing either. Anyway, I do like a good hike/run, which should be possible during the summer months. But, yeah, it certainly looks like the bay area is tennis heaven...I've been fantasizing about getting my level up to 5.0. Please tennis g_o_d_s?

CL, good to know.

For those interested in Robin Soderling. From twitter posted last Friday:

"Played an exhibition match against Ferrer today. Grass court form is pretty good so far."

Wertheim's last mailbag if anyone's interested. First question tackles Fed's slowing down. Better yet, second one leads to his tips on what do as a spectator at Wimbledon. I might not ever be lucky enough to visit, but I gotta bang out of his strawberry and cream advice.

http://tinyurl.com/2freb78

AF: I've posted that link on two other threads! AND he gives a shoutout to CNote on her Rafa "Committed" aritcle. It's chock full of good stuff this week.

zenggi - thanks - what is the half moon shaped thingy on front of the 16m zone? And the goalie can use his hands OR feet to get it out of the zone?

AnnieVamos -- cool. Yeah, it's a few days old now, so I wondered if someone might've posted already. Ah well, redundancy is inevitable and not uncommon on these threads.

Pspace--
You don't have to be good at skiing to have a great time; the views alone are worth it. It does help to be good enough to feed your delusions, of course.

Action Flunky - thanks...that mailbag caused an even bigger dust up on the Mothership than the hair length debate. Not because of what El Jon said, but because the 'fan' who wrote in used the word 'disgusted' re Fed's play. Dude better check under his seat cushion for whoppee cushions and worse. One does NOT use the word 'disgusted' with the name Roger Federer in ANY context for some...many ...at the Mothership. They make the 'mama lions' looks like a bunch of puddy tats who have had their claws removed. ;-)

AF, no it's a good thing in case people missed it :) L.Jon really took it to that Fed fan who was "disgusted" with his play since AO. He was not amused.

zenggi - EEKK!! Now I am even more confused. there are TWO rectangles in front of the goalie. Big one and a little one inside. Difference?

Brazil seem very good at this...lol...somewhere Guga is happy. Ooops...that was bad for the Brazilian player - can his name really be KaKa? Yes, I guess it can.

CL:Kaka is his nickname, real name is ricardo

Booo. Ivory Coast playing dirty now. No need to challenge with studs up.

CL -- did you get my apology regarding the Kiwis? It was you who asked the NZ (and Canada) question last week, correct? I simply overlooked them. Damn.

That's funny about the mothership. Yeah, rare that I get over there. Think the last time was to read about Fed's trip to Africa (and check the accompanying pics). And I honestly don't know if I've ever looked at the comments section, but I can imagine.

This is getting ridiculous. Between the flops and the chippy play, good grief. That last guy acted like he got shot. :)

FIGHT! FIGHT!!!

"This is getting ridiculous. Between the flops and the chippy play, good grief. That last guy acted like he got shot. :)"

Sounds like an NBA game.

Red card for Kaka! Can't play against Portugal now. CR9's prayers have been answered.

Jeepers, the Ivory player acted like Kaka punched him in the face, while the replay shows his head wasn't touched. :)

AF - yeah...no worries... someone else came along and said NZ were playing..I have yet to see them play, but I did see an interview with their coach...didn't understand a word...lol...but he seemed very happy!

Comments section at the Mothership can be a wild ride...lots of major, often over the top, KAD-ing, but some real insightful tennis stuff as well.

Sherlock - really, these guys could give lessons to the Lakers. In the acting department. ;-)

CL: heehee, we both commented on the "disgusted" remark. :) Even L.Jon got his claws out! oh, and I love being a puddy tat - When these dustups at the Mothership happen, are they arguments between different fed fans ie those who like long hair vs. those who prefer short OR are the fed fans united in their wrath against the writer or entity that slighted TMF?

OMG OMG did you guys just see what happened in the Brazil Ivory Coast game??? KaKa just got thrown out because an IC player fell to the ground feigning being smacked in the face!!! Oh that player is going to go down-little does he know that the camera was RIGHT on him when he pulled his theatrics!!! this is like WWF!

AF - hee...great minds, etc.

So that Brazilian guy who got the 2 yellow cards can't play in the next game? THAT sucks. Especially since his only crime seemed to be a lack of acting skill.

Between Brazil's beautiful play, Drogba's late goal, the recent chippyness, and the red card, this game has been far more entertaining than I expected.

Indeed, CL. Maybe even some of the Lakers' fans, like Jack. :)

My son just said this kind of thing happens all the time. I didn't know this.

CL - It does suck for him. It won't hurt Brazil much, but it's surprising to see Kaka sent off. He's usually a well behaved player, and he didn't deserve the second yellow.

Obviously I disagree with most here and I'm a Brazilian Fan!!
Kaka deserved to be sent out. Regardless of whether the CIV player was over-acting, Kaka keeps doing foolish things and getting involved in situations which do not have anything to do with him! As far as I'm concerned, the referee did the right thing
Pardon me for the OT and the vent :)

CL.
Are you also watching Brasil-Cameroon now?. Kaka is a headcase!. Why does he do such an stupid thing?

I forgot to add that the 16,5 m. rectangle is the biggest of the two marked areas.
That half moon thingy is for the goal keeper to use to take off with the kick as an airplane. He may not use his hands there.

Congratulations to Brasil, I guess. I don't understand why they have to use all sort of histrionics to win.

It was Brazil vs Ivory Coast -not Cameroon

Sorry, CL, I was watching the match.

Some info for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_area
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Football_pitch_metric.png

Lurking, I stand corrected. Thanks.

Annie - all of the above at the Mothership. Short hair vs. long hair but a majority who don't care if he goes with a crew cut as long as he plays well. Though I think if he went back to the ratty pony tail there would be serious fan revolt. And united in their disgust with 'disgust.'

I don't even understand the CLOCK in soccer. It seems to run randomly backwards and forwards, like something by Dali by way of Alice In Wonderland. No wonder this game hasn't fully caught on in the U.S. We are simple people.

Sherlock - maybe Jack gives little acting 'clinics' to the Lakers!?!

What poor referring. Don't they know the whole world was watching? Perhaps Dunga should've thought ahead and removed Kaka in advance. U gotta protect ure best player!

Meanwhile what a shocker by the Azzuri. A draw with NZ ..WTF?

The game was fun. Good to see Drogba score...poor dude is aplying with a broken hand. He is captain of the Ivory Coast and prolly the best attacking player on the field.

Hands are very important in this game...you use them to balance while you manipulate with your feet. This is the opposite of normal for humans - we usually balance with our feet and manipulate with our hands. This makes this sport truly special. Basketball, tennis, cricket...all the other ask the player to use the body in the everyday way. Not football/soccer - it inverts the human motion. Fabulous sport!

Lucio is a monster for Brazil, defensive leadership.

Kaka sending off was a laugh really. That IC guy was really acting it up.There will be complaining about that. However remember that football reflects life...mistakes happen. Also recall that the refereeing is more continous than we think. Kaka earlier had walked up and raised his knee against an IC player. He remained on the field. However, one more event in his general area and he was going to be sent off. Things pile up over the game.

USA also got a tough decision. But Clint Dempsey had been mixing it up all game. Eventually there was a fall involving him and the ref got tough. Unfortunate but refeering not completely incidental.

zenggi - thanks and thanks... Now I envision the goal keeper as an airplane flapping his arms as he runs around his various sized enclosures. ;-)

zenggi and lurking...what exactly DID KaKa do? They kept showing the IC player doing the worlds' worst acting job, but not what KaKa did. (It is very odd to keep typing that name.)

"I don't understand why they have to use all sort of histrionics to win"

I second this wholeheartedly!!!

Fabiano had a handball just before his second goal. Play should have been stopped.

Brazil looks good. Hexa!!!!!

France's team is having a nervous breakdown :)

thebidapple make that tow, both time hi use the hand, I get that the refs don't see one, but tow come on!

I agree, the referees have been doing a poor job.
That said, Kaka deserved to be sent out -he had been warned! and intentionally elbowed an opponent away from the ball. How badly or not the other player was hurt, has nothing to do with it.
The player who didn't deserve to be sent out was the Australian player who got a red card without a warning and the way I saw it, Italy shouldn't have been given that penalty!!

*two

Good Morning Everyone,

Wow to New Zealand beating Italy??

I see still discussion with Roger and Rafa fans?

Well we all know who is Supreme dont we lol!

Roger and Rafa have great respect for another both on and off the court.

Oh Sherlock I am still hanging out for those Cherries

"I don't even understand the CLOCK in soccer. It seems to run randomly backwards and forwards"

CL- What????

Happy Fathers Day to all!

In Australia we celebrate Fathers Day in September

Yes, Italy did not really deserve that penalty due to the shirt pull and dramatic tumble. However if you recall - a shirt tug by Braziluan two world's cup ago got a penalty against them...some-one help me recall with whom? So Italy can say by strict rules, it is OK.

The problem is that does 'strict' rules on penalties are not enforced. I've seen so much worse in this WC that has not been called. The way I see it and this was about favoring the favorite! I highly doubt had the score been reversed that NZ would have been given a penalty on a minor shirt pull!

Cupcake, yes. The ball hit his hand twice. Once below the elbow..deliberately...looked like a handball foul to me. The second one hit him above the elbow, perhaps the ref saw it as the shoulder.

We should also be careful on: (i) Ball to hand vs (ii) Hand to ball. If the ball hits the hand and the player was moving his body away from the ball then it is ball to hand. The player was try to avoid contact/was just hit by an unruly dumb ball. Happens sometimes and not really a foul. If the player was deliberately moving their body to the ball and using the hand in the play - that is definetly a foul. The first contact by Fabiano seemed to be handball!

oops
does = those

Anyway, enough football talk from me.
Bring on Wimbledon and haweye already!!!!!!!! :))))

Cupcake - yeah...sometimes they add time?... I thought that was something only the Supreme Being or Sir Ralph Richardson could do? And I look up and it says like 70 minutes and 5 minutes later the comms are talking about the game being almost over. ( I don't think it was edited, but maybe I missed that.)

lurking...well if KaKa had been kaka earlier that's a little different I guess, but really, in the clip i saw several times, he didn't elbow the guy..he just raised his arm a bit. Mostly he seemed puzzled by the fact that the IC player had deliberately sort of 'snuffled' in his hair and then fell down as if, as Sherlock said, he had been shot. Maybe KaKa uses EXTREME hair products. ;-)

Obviously lots of catch up for me in this game of soccer/football.

the big apple There was a handball incident in the Aussie game with Kewell being sent off.He said he didnt do it on purpose it was a relex thing?

BTW - TC is showing a 1995 DC match between Sampras and Kavelnikov. And as it turns out, there is precedence for Rafa's pajama shorts. Pete has on what really truly looks like cut off pj bottoms. with a hem.

What CL?

The whole world has been using backward running clocks since June 12.

Did you not adjust your clocks? Get with it!

CL lol! extreme hair products? gee I thought Verdasco only reign sumpreme with that.

CL,
He did elbow the opponent. It wasn't a tap like the commetators kept saying. My coverage had replays from different angles and he DID elbow the guy. There is no way we can know if it was painful or not but this was another dumb move by him because there was no need, it was so uncalled for... but if you watch Kaka over time you realize that's Kaka for you.