16 posts categorized "Off Topic"
We have a special Sunday Brunch guest who's going to share his Fed Cup experience with you in a Crisis Center post that will go live shortly, but for now, knowing how many of you will be watching the Super Bowl later today, I'm posting this as a place to talk about The Game and do your match - er, play-calling.
You might assume I'm a New York Giants fan -after all, I've lived in or near New York City for most of my life. And even as a little shaver, I recall begging my dad to tank up at the local Shell station, because they were giving away handsome, promotional pen-and-ink drawings/posters of Del Shofner, YA Tittle (yes, I'm that old!) and - of course! - the great Sam Huff. All those great Giants from the early, glory days of the NFL.
That was back when the Giants played at Yankee Stadium. But the team lost me when it moved to the Meadowlands, and then living on the farm in game-rich Andes for 10 years during the Marv Levy years turned me into a Buffalo Bills fan (it's a heartbreak most of us will never get over, and the Giants played the major role in it, eh Asad?) . That was the Phil Simms-Lawrence Taylor Giants. Simms seems like great guy but, sheesh, Jim Kelly was our Brett Favre - a guy who was crazy and didn't care about nothin' (except his teammates). He also let the ball fly, freely and often.
Simms was an all-pro QB and (I think) MVP one year - seemingly without ever tossing a pass that landed more than two yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The great Giants teams were grinders; I always liked the more potent offensive teams, like the Bills. You couldn't help but admire LT, but you loved Bruce Smith.
The New England Patriots seem like football's equivalent of Roger Federer, and I'm surprised by how much antagonism there is toward them. I guess a lot of that is because of Bill Belichick, that stupid hoodie, and that nasty play-stealing stunt earlier this year. Yet how can you not bow to Tom Brady, and the rest of the crew that takes its marching orders from Belichick and actually plays the game? Brady doesn't even look like he's working out there, I'm not sure I've ever seen him run, except to get on and off the field for a change of units. For someone to play a basically fast, chaotic, violent game with such preternatural aplomb and imperturbability is, to me, an act of sheer How does he do that? genius.
It's funny how major sports mirror each other, and I think the Super Bowl match-up today mirrors the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry in tennis. Anybody else see that connection, or have something else to add? And where are y'all watching the game? We're going to my friend Liz Nevin's apartment for the Super Bowl. Cowboy Luke has been talking about it all week, mainly because he thinks there will be cake there because it's a "party." Liz being Liz, made a rich chocolate cake, just to keep the little cowpuncher happy.
I have only one request on Super Bowl Sunday, wherever I am: I want potato chips with sour-cream-and-onion dip, preferably the kind made from sour cream and a packet of French onion soup. It's my all-time, hands-down favorite snack. Or should I say "meal", because that's inevitably what it becomes. . .
Enjoy the game, everyone!
 Evening. After the last thread, feelings of sporting triumphalism are again permissible on this one, which can be used for tennis talk, or to drift off-topic. It would be much appreciated if the Gloom Room thread below could remain on-topically gloomy. The current thread is provided for those who cannot contain their joy in past sporting victories any longer, or who would like to step outside the Gloom Room for a few moments, in a fleeting moment of optimism.
In recent weeks, I've posted some iconic or simply memorable tennis images, many of which were sought out at the suggestion of various members of the Tribe.
A picture that seems particularly topical, in light of the series of exhibition matches recently played between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, is this one one taken of Federer in 2001, after he defeated Sampras, the defending champion, at Wimbledon in the fourth round. Sampras had won the past four Wimbledon titles, from 1997 to 2000 and, prior to that, had also won three in a row, from 1993 through to 1995 - his total of seven victories only interrupted by Richard Krajicek's win in 1996 (that year, Krajicek defeated Sampras in the quarterfinal, 7-5, 7-6 (3)), 6-4).
The Federer-Sampras score in 2001 was 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5. It's the only time that these two met in competition during their professional careers.
In the quarterfinal round that followed, Tim Henman defeated Federer in four sets, 7-5, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-6 (6). This occurred before Federer's TMF days, so wasn't surprising at the time. Henman himself (thrice before defeated by Sampras at Wimbledon, twice in a semifinal) went on to be beaten over five sets in the rain-interrupted semis, by that year's eventual winner, Goran Ivanisevic - the Croat's only, but most significant, win over Henman in five career meetings. He himself had overcome Marat Safin in four sets to reach that memorable semifinal, and had lost to Sampras three times at Wimbledon, in a semifinal and two finals (the only time Ivanisevic beat Sampras in SW19 was on his way to the 1992 final, won by Andre Agassi). The now-retired Henman somehow retains a 6-7 career record against Federer, and won three of the following four encounters between the two, before losing all of the next six...
Now, please feel free to talk about whatever you wish to.
-- Rosangel
Mornin', and welcome to TennisWorld's new daily (more-or-less) feature, The Watecooler. I thought about introducing it yesterday, but I like the idea of kicking off the week with LIttle Ed McGrogan's Monday Net Post. Ed has to be a good 6-2, but the emails I've gotten from his dad, who identified himself as "Big" Ed, leave me no option.
Grab yourself one of those tiny paper cups (you know, the ones that look like an inverted dunce cap) and join your friends here to talk about the events of the day in tennis. The Watercooler posts are like Crisis Center posts, except they'll run instead of CC posts during weeks when the attention of TW is not focused on a single, towering event - a Grand Slam, Masters Cup, or high-level Tier 1 WTA event. Most of you will be interested in match calling or commenting on the news of the day, but you can drift off topic if things are slow on the news or tournament front.
Mostly, though, Off-Topic chit-chat should be kept at the most recent Deuce Club post. If either I or a guest contributor has anything to say as a conversation starter, I'll post it right below this paragraph like I'm going to do now.
We had a great weekend at the farm in game-rich Andes and at my friend James Prosek's opening at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Ct. I hit some kind of a personal high point when, after we returned home, Luke declared, "Daddy, I have an idea.Llet's go back to the farm in Andes tomorrow and have juice-box icys (I make homemade popsicles out out of the boxed juice; saves a bundle) and deer meat! Is that a good idea"
You bet, poke. You're catching on!
Andrew Friedman had a similar "proud daddy moment" with his son, Declan, the other day. Maybe he'll see fit to share it in the Comments.
Since water is a main theme here, I'm adding a picture of the pond, right after the digging was complete and before it started to fill with water. Right now, though, it's about one-third full, with about five feet of standing water in the bottom. Over the weekend, I seeded down the berm and exposed soil with a high-quality conservation mix that will give the deer plenty of good, nutritious feed for years to come. 
'll be taking a look at the upcoming Davis Cup World Group ties later this week, and long-time Tribe member Viv yesterday sent me her Battlefield Report. - in this case a report not on a tournament she played in, but on on her Spectator Grand Slam, which she completed at the US Open. She narrowly missed putting up a doubles SGS, because her sister, Jean, did not make the trip Down Under (instead, Viv's mom stepped up at what many say is the toughest leg of the Spectator Slam, Australia.) But Viv bagged all four majors. I'll be posting her report in the coming days, along with a tip about an awesome new website that is going to make many of you deliriously happy. I also am still sitting on Miguel Seabra's report on his pleasant meeting and interview with Bjorn Borg. And in the coming weeks, we'll have some on-the-scene reports from London and perhaps even Madrid. Stick around. Talk. Enjoy.
Evenin', everyone. I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, although I know most of you were far from the maddening crowds on the beaches and boardwalks. I'm leaving the USTABJKNTC shortly - haven't seen the family for a few days and Cowboy Luke has his first day of kindergarten tomorrow (I will be able to take him, because it's just a one hour orientation session starting at 9 AM). But I'll post some thoughts on the match that proved conclusively the value of the Hawkeye electronic line-calling system: Tommy Haas's five-set thriller over James Blake. And I'll have one eye trained on the evening matches on Arthur Ashe.
Presently, you don't have an OT thread, so this will be it for the next few days. We had a large number of Tribe members at the US Open this weekend, and I'd be interested in hearing what any of you in that august company have to say about your trip and experience here, from any perspective. Perhaps that will be a decent conversation starter. For a few different conversations. But you can also weigh-in on the pressing tennis issues of the day, if that's your preference.
I have a few surprise posts in store for the next few days; I've researched a post on one last relative "unknown" on the WTA side, and I found a guy (fairly well-known, in fact, to you old-schoolers) who hit more aces in an ATP match than did Sam Querrey (who had 10 a few weeks ago). I also want to take a closer look at this Ernests Gulbis - nobody, but I mean nobody, seems to know anything about him, but the dude hasn't lost a set through three rounds of play.
Also, I haven't told you yet, but one of my only two nieces is getting married in Connecticut on Saturday (yep - Super Saturday). What's worse (but in a good way) is that I have to speak at the reception (anybody have any good ideas for my speech? Somehow, reading a post from the US Open won't quite cut it). We will have you covered, though. Steve Tignor will be covering for me here at TennisWorld, and I will definitely be back to cover the men's final.
Hi everyone. Don't want to take you too far from your ruminations on the draw, but here are two equally important announcements regarding TennisWorld tribal gatherings at the US Open:
Tomorrow, a number of us (I'm driving out with Ray Stonada and Rolo Tomassi - and his three-year old son) are going to screw around at the qualifying tournament with a bunch of TW folks, including GVgirl. Remember, admission is free. It ought to be a loaded schedule, as it was raining out there for a good part of the day today. You can check the schedule here.
In terms of recognizing your fellow TW readers. I never did get it together to order official TW gear that anyone can buy (or win) here, but that will be coming in the fall. I think the best plan is to swing by the Heineken Red Star Cafe, no. 18 on this map. If you see someone just standing around looking like he or she is waiting for someone, ask. Or you can write TW on your baseball cap or t-shirt. Anyway the Red Star cafe is across the way from the entrance to the media center. There are benches and outdoor tables tucked around the side of the cafe, plenty of places to sit and get out of the rain (or heat).
I will try to be there myself at 1, 3 and 5 PM. Think I'll wear my blaze-orange Winchester cap (a new one), make me easy to find wherever I am. I will leave the "Winchester: Reach Out and Touch Somebody" t-shirt at home. Why don't y'all look at the schedule for tomorrow, tonight or in the morning, and post in the Comments what matches you intend to watch? You can use the Comments here to make plans to meet, even if they're different from the ones I've suggested.
On another note: Heidi will tell you more about this tomorrow or Friday in her weekly Deuce Club post, but TW will have a New York gathering on the evening of Friday, August 31st, in Manhattan. It will be to celebrate TW contributor Andrew Friedman (Rolo Tomassi) and the book he co-authored with James Blake. Andrew will be happy to sign your copy. James says he has other plans that night. At any rate, if you are local, or in town for the tournament, or want to fly in for the event, please RSVP to Heidi, and include your email address. Space may be limited and we need to get a pretty good sense of how many people are interested, so please RSVP! The event will not cost anything, so don't fret about that.
 Howdy,everyone. We had a fine family vacation on Cape Cod and at a cottage in Westport, Ma., an off-the-radar town up in the corner where Rhode Island and Massachusetts meet. We were actually on a tidal "river", as Westport is on a peninsula with water on either side, and fine ocean beaches down at the tip. We had access to this nice little Elephant Rock Beach Club, as well as the fine, public Horseneck Beach. Cowboy Luke loved it, except when he got all upset when I swam out to Elephant Rock and climbed to the top of the 75-foot boulder. Luke thinks he can swim, which is a dangerous position to take for someone who can't, although he does a pretty good job of finding almost-drowning depth and hrusting his head up out of the water and kind of hopping along on tiptoes.
Luke hates wearing his Tweety Bird life jacket (And water wings? Forget it!), and here's something interesting: at Horseneck Beach one day, there was an official warning about rip currents. There were still plenty of people in the water, so I figured it was okay to go in with the little 'poke, but I insisted that Luke wear his life jacket (You know how you lay down the law on that: No Life Jacket, no Starburst after dinner - and I mean it!
A few minutes later, a lifeguard came down and told me that it was against beach regulations for children to wear flotation devices under rip current conditions. I was amazed. He explained the reasoning: it's easier for the current to catch kids up and sweep them away, presumably, like little corks. It still doesn't make sense to me; if the current is that strong, what chance does a four-year old who can't swim have if he gets into the grip of a strong current? At least in a life jacket he survives until someone can pluck him out.
Luke has become a nut for "Saving Nemo." He watched it every morning or before bed. Finally, something has broken the spell of Thomas the Tank Engine! We got back to the farm in game-rich Andes just in time to catch the last day of the Delaware County Fair, which is the highlight of the summer up in our neck of the woods. We missed the "pony pull" and that was a bummer.
Luke really enjoyed the 4-H barns,where he got to pet pigs and goats and giant bunny rabbits.He also won a stuffed Nemo Clownfish in a fishing game at the amusements (with a little help from pop) and he hasn't let it out of his sight. Each night he stuffed it in this nice cedar cigar box I have at the house; it was where Nemo slept. I was thrilled when Lewis Pardee pulled up with his heavy machinery on Friday morning; the new pond is now officially being dug. I was so excited I almost drove to town to shoot out the lights. But I settled for smoking a cigar and drinking half-a-bottle of tequila on the deck.
Although I got a fair amount of work done Pete Sampras's autobiography, I finally also had time to read a book: Larry McMurtry's Leaving Cheyenne (you may recognize the title from a song I've quoted here in the past). It's kind of a cross between Willa Cather and Richard Russo, if you can get your mind around that.
I expected more of a cowboy book (especially in light of that familiar title) but this was pleasant surprise - a touching, wise and lovingly (and humorously) told tale of a lifelong triangle between two hayseed cowpokes and one of those women who these days is described as "passionate, honest and ahead of her time" (never trust that "ahead of her time" bit; independent, strong women were never kept from existing by their times, nor have these theoretically enlightened times created more of them - if anything, they've cheapened and diluted the idea by using it as an urban matra. End of rant).
McMurty is a terrific writer, perhaps too good, in that he's been prolific and so consistently good that he is taken for granted. While the glitterati of New York are wondering if and when the latest artsy-fartsy Jonathan Whoever-from-Brooklyn, armed with his seven-figure advance, is going to deliver his next (meaning second) novel, secretly praying that it is, in fact, readable, a lot of people who ought to know better can be caught at cocktail parties muttering, Hmm, yes, that McMurty - didn't he write the screenplay for The Last Picture show?
I have an ulterior motive for bringing this up. Earlier today, I posted my latest ESPN entry, What a Grind for Federer. I basically argued that Federer is the guy who best fits the description, "Grinder." For if you had to describe the noun in question, you would surely say that a grinder is a player with an enormous capacity for work, a tremendous amount of will, and a solid game with no conspicuous holes in it.
Oh, you could add that a grinder has an uninteresting style, or plays a game that is boring to watch, but that's a bit beside the point, and getting into secondary and tertiary definitions, as well as subjective taste. Whether a player is "boring" or not has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he is a good tennis player, and one of the glorious things about tennis is that whether someone is "good" or "lousy" is a matter not open to debate (as much as some presumptuous critics want to make it so). The truth is there, as surely as in mathematics, in the won-lost column.
Maybe it's that I've been away on vacation, but when I got on the Internet Sunday night and checked the news, I had to crack a smile. The Mighty Fed, laid low in the Montreal final, hopped on his jet and showed up in Cincinnati seeing red and looking to kick some booty. Isn't that what grinding is all about?
The guy is on track to be the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), he's got the U.S. Open coming up, yet he actually has a point to make in Ohio. Meanwhile, his main rival (Rafael Nadal) is TKO'd (due to a sore arm) and his new rival - and all-around boy wonder - Novak Djokovic apparently is so intoxicated by his win in Montreal that veteran Carlos Moya spanks him in The Djoker's first match in Cincy. I love the sympathy and compassion Moya expressed after he beat Djokovic. He said: I knew I was going to have a good chance to beat him, given the conditions.(Djoker was) coming from winning in Montreal, 7-6 in the third beating Federer. He's just twenty years old, and I've been in his situation so I know what you think. I know how you feel. I was coming from beating Nalbandian (in a first-round match; unlike Djokovic, Moya did not have a bye) so I'm more in the rhythm of the competition here in Cincinnati. Everything is different for him.
Impolite translation: I knew Djokovic was not going to be ready to grind in Cincinnati.
This is no criticism of Djokovic, really. He's still young, and he had a lot to celebrate. You can't blame him for taking his eye off the ball, but at the same time I think that if he wants to be the player he says, he is going to have to learn to grind like Federer. Here's a relevant quote from TMF: "I used to have tough times in Grand Slams and Masters Series, believe it or not, in the beginning of my career. So to come through and win that many Masters Series and Grand Slams, that's a great surprise, and I hope to keep it up from now on."
Impolite translation: I used to be just a gifted, moody, artistic player, now I'm a grinder.
If you get to the ESPN site real quick, you'll see that Pete Sampras is all over it. There's a little symmetry there, because Sampras was a grinder, too. IN fact, on the Grind-o-Meter, I put Federer's win in Cincinnati after his loss in Montreal up there with Sampras's match against Alex Corrteja at the U.S. Open of 1996.
TMF's achievement lacked a comparable level of drama and an equivalent sense of occasion, and it took place over two weeks, rather than in one epic Warrior Moment. But Sampras had no more reason to stick it out in New York that time against Corretja than Federer "needed" to win Cincy. They both did it for the eff of it. Why lose when you can win? That's the grinder's code.
It seems illogical to argue that a great player can be anything, first and foremost, other than a grinder: somebody who does the same thing, over and over again, with striking consistency and, usually, determination. In the big picture, it doesn't mean jack that this one hits a drop volley to faint over, or has a butt-ugly forehand. But notice that the true grinders (Federer is currently the fifth youngest player to win 50 titles; the four players ahead of him on the list are (youngest first): Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. It isn't that none of these players had an ugly shot (think Connors' serve), it's just that pointing it out is a little like saying that William Shakespeare had poor handwriting. Who the hail cares?
Federer, McMurtry, Connors, William Faulkner, Sampras, Billy Wilder, Borg, Mozart (starting at age 4 - that's younger than Jet Boy!), Lendl, Graham Greene, McEnroe. . .all grinders first, artists (or not) second.
Feel free to comment on that, but this also is your off-topic post for the next few days. Speaking of which - we are trying to figure out a good time for a TW gathering during the Open; opening night (Monday) has been suggested, but I've been thinking more like the end of Week 1. When are most of you apt to be there and interested in get-together in Manhattan?
We will also have an official TW meeting place at the Open; Heidi will announce the location in her post on Thursday. And I'll post a New Haven Crisis Center in the morning.
It's good to be home. BTW, does anybody have an opinion on whether it's more (or less) acceptable to go Commando on vacation, or is it one of those deals where it's either acceptable or not, depending on how you view the practice?
Mornin' folks. . .I realize I neglected to give you a proper OT post on Wednesday, although you currently
have The Deuce Club open. I'd prefer you to keep the Comments there more or less targeted to the contents of that entry, or Tribe social matters. This will be your off-off-topic post, where anything goes (and probably will).
My main news is that I will be heading out later today for a family vacation with my wife, Lisa, and Cowboy Luke. That means no serious blogging until I return on August 20th. We're going to Cape Cod first, to spend the weekend with friends, and then we have a small house rented for a few days on a little-known but beautiful stretch of beach near the Rhode Island border.
After that, we'll be at the farm in game-rich Andes for the final three days, until I'm back on the job on the 20th. I'm all fired up about Andes, where I'm hoping to finalize some details having to do with the new pond I'm having dug. I'm a pond freak. I love those eco-systems, and I love swimming in freshwater ponds. This one will be a little larger than our present pond, perhaps half-an-acre.
Anyone else going away for the week, and into digging a pond? Gardening?
Of course, this being my life, I'll spend half of my time holed up, writing (got to pay for that pond somehow, right?). I'm making pretty good progress with Pete Sampras on the official autobiography. It's been a real pleasure working with him - many, many laughs along the way.
You know what's funny? As big a deal as it was breaking the Grand Slam record, it wasn't that big a deal for Pete when it happened. Think about it. Winning Wimbledon is awesome. Winning Wimbledon and the US Open as well is off-the-charts. But at some point, winning your sixth or ninth or eleventh Grand Slam is, well, not that different from the fourt or seventh or 10th - at least not in terms of the basic emotions you feel, and the meaning it has. In a way, breaking a record is anti-climactic; the exciting stuff is what comes before. Funny to think if it that way, isn't it?
I'm going to miss you all, although I'll try to drop by now and then. While I'm gone, Rosangel is going to be providing Crisis Center posts on a daily basis, and Heidi will also be in touch on Tribe matters. I have quite a bit of housekeeping to run through here, so please read carefully:
1 - IF you were a winner in the TAT Suicide Pool or Andrew's Picks Game contest, please remind me. We are sending out the modest prizes now and want to make sure we don't miss anyone.
2 - Todd and in Charge is in Tennis magazine this month, with a nice piece of writing about his encounter with Chris Evert at a tournament in Florida. I think I mentioned the other day how Chris reamed out my buddy here at Tennis, Jon Levey, for not having read Todd's piece! BTW, I love Todd's blog (just click on the link above) and feel really guilty about not having steered y'all toward it before. Seriously, check it out. Also, Todd links to another blog on his short list, Three Quarks Daily. One of the frequent content contributors to 3 Quarks is also a personage here at TW, but as he goes by a different name I won't blow his cover.
3 - I had two really nice lunch dates with TW chicas recently - our social director, Heidi, and Dwiz. Heidi's dad is a western movie aficionado, and I've asked him to compile for me a list of his Top 10 westerns. I'll share the list with any of you who are interested. Heidi said his top choice was The Searchers. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never seen it. To me, the top spot is still held by Unforgiven. Dwiz was all over the Legg Mason tournament, with her goddaughter Caroline and niece Adeline. Marat Safin broke Dwiz's heart again, but did she care? Not that much. That's our Dwiz, she knows how to have fun and she doesn't let a lot of the white noise get to her.
4 - Stay tuned for news about US Open gatherings, which Heidi will be handling. We definitely will have a regular TW meeting place at the BJKNTC, as well as a gathering or two in town. And we will try to figure out some way for you all the be able to get in touch with each other, exchange cell phone numbers, etc. etc.
5 - Tribe Profiles: We will be creating a database for them soon; perhaps something as simple as a Category (see right side of page) into which we'll just post alphabetical blog items that can be updated with new information. To that end, please submit the things you'd like to know about your TW comrades The original suggestions, via Tangerine Popsicle (Tangi) and Jenn were fairly straightforward: nation/city of residence, favorite/least favorite player, player or watcher?, all-time favorite match, all-time favorite player, frequency with which you play, languages spoken, tournaments you.ve attended .. .
My ideal list would also include: gender and marital status, beverage (GE) of choice, pets and/or hobbies, favorite book(s), preferred footwear, condiments you put on a cheeseburger, prettiest place you know, favorite gun or rifle (caliber/make). . .
You get the idea, right? Take it away! I'll see you all in on the 20th, have a great time in the interim.
Hi folks. I think it's about time had a new Off-Off-Topic post. But before we get into that, I have a few interesting announcements:
First, professor Daniele Paserman has written me to say that he enjoyed seeing the The Miserable Art post, and especially enjoyed reading the Comments. He would like to write a follow-up for us, addressing some of the issues you raised. He said it may take him a day or two to get to it, but he will email me and I will post his thoughts. And yes, he is a man.
Long-time Tribe member Aaress Lawless (is that a cool name or what? - sounds like a real country singer, and just on instinct I'm backing her in a hair-pulling contest with Shania Twain). Anyway, Aaress is involved with the website On the Baseline, and she wants the Tribe to know that OtB is giving away two tickets to the final of next week's East West Bank Classic in Carson, Ca. The deadline for entering is Friday, so Dunlop, Beth, Veruca - all you other Angelenos - take your best shot.
Now, let's get serious. Every once in a while, someone introduces a product that simply takes your breath away. You look at it and say, Oh my garsh, how come nobody ever thought of this before?????? You know the kind of product I mean: the plastic cable tie; the hand-held hair dryer; the micro-wave oven; Velcro; the pooper-scooper; duct tape. . . Well, there's yet another entry in the How on earth did we survive for all these years without this? sweeps. Get ready to fool all those dour US Open bag checkers and security guards with this ingenious product.
Hey, is this a great nation or what? 
Okay, so let's talk beer (if you are of age). In my dotage, I have discovered the sublime joys of a really light, crisp Pilsner - say, a Budweiser, or a Labatt's Bleu (I'm partial to this Canadian beer because it's common around salmon fishing camps on Quebec's Gaspe peninsula, a beautiful, almost entire unknown and rarely visited region). Anyway, I guess I'm sick of "micro-brews" and any other beer that is described in the same terms as wine ("it has a distinctly nutty flavor but a reliable character with just a soupcon of arrogance beneath that fruity exterior"). In fact, I'm happy never to have to belly to a bar again to say, "I think I'll have another Incontinent Black Dog, or Upside-Down Canoe.
Just make it a Miller Lite.
Mornin', folks. I've got an ESPN chat coming up in about 20 minutes, and will be back with a post after that. Meanwhile, when I opened up the email from the ATP Tour this morning to see the results from Indianapolis, I finally felt like the US Open Series is truly starting. There they were, Andy Roddick and James Blake, winning matches on hard courts. Mardy Fish too, although he had to dispatch two match points and god knows how many awful rhymes to subdue rap-monsta Vinnie Spadea.
For some reason, the hard court season starts - for me - with Indy and comes to a head in Canada and at Cincinnati. So next week, we'll be looking at some tournament and players in earnest. But first, here's a blogging update - I'm leaving for Newfoundland and three days of salmon fishing on Thursday (tomorrow), around 11 AM. I will be out of commission until Sunday night, but am trying to get something set up so that y'all can have some place to play and mingle. I also have a family vacation of one week planned for the week of August 12 (I think).
A few housekeeping notes: Some of you are still posting long URLs to link to material at other sites, and when those URLs are too long, they throw the entire layout of the TennisWorld pages out of whack. Ptenisnet and others kindly sent me this link, to Tiny URL.com, where you can shorten all those extra long links. Please use it.
I'm happy to announce that I finally have the prizes for those of you who won Andrew's Picks Game and and the Suicide Pool (TW division) hosted by TAT. Feel free to shoot me a reminder with your name and address, just in case it didn't make it into my file (although it probably did). Your prize is the official, not-for-sale 2007 ATP/WTA media guide, which is the Bible for we press pariahs. It does contain tons of information. I will try to get those guides out to you by the end of next week, certainly in time for you to consult them during the US Open, should you very quickly want to look up, say, the quarterfinal results from the Australian Open of 1972, or check how often Elena Dementieva made it past the third round at a major.
Reading Comments the other day,I noticed that someone (Jenn, Celia? [ed. note - I have since been informed it was our one and only Tangi! -PB] suggested that we do TW profiles, which, if I read the comment correctly, would be kind like those Dewar's scotch-drinker profiles that have been such a staple of magazine print advertising for - what? - four decades now. I think this is a wonderful idea. We could come up with a standard, one-size-fits all template that the subject would just fill out via email. So why don't you all think of the kinds of things you most would like to know about your fellow posters (best Christmas present, ever; least favorite tennis player; If TW gave you a million dollars tomorrow, you would. . .; place where you experienced your first kiss; preferred caliber for moose hunting. . . whatever). Maybe we could come up with something interesting to amuse each other with during some US Open rain delay . . .
Another thing: Ed McGrogan will be incorporating TV listings into upcoming Monday Netposts. I think he may also have an important announcement to make re. US Open media coverage, but I think Heidi and Ed will share that with you in an upcoming Deuce Club post.
Remember, if you have any news, announcements, or questions, email us at this address. That's especially true if you plan to attend any of the upcoming tournaments (I know many of you are going to drop by the Cincinnati Masters Series), and would like to hook up with fellow Tribe members. You can also post your travel/tournament plans in the Comments at the weekly Deuce Club entry.
If any of you are attending US Open Series events over the next few weeks and would like to file dispatches a la Beth, or Rosangel (most recently), email me. I think everyone enjoys those first-person tournament reports, right?
Now I'm going to go and write you a post with a little red meat in it. . .
BTW, anybody care to name the player at the top of this post?
Really, since the Clash released that London Calling album/song, it has been ambrosia for every hack headline writer from LIverpool to Kuala Lampur. Enough already! It isn't even a great song (and yes, I did attend the legendary Clash shows at Bond's). My favorite Clash number is Safe European Home, followed closely by that evocative masterpiece This Is England. But the lads did some great work when they weren't posing and preening. May Joe Strummer rest-in-piece; his teeth ought to be in the Cadbury's Hall of Fame.
Anyway, that's my thought for today, and this is your Locker Room Off-Top post for the weekend. Usually, the Locker Room is for Off-Off-Topic, but it would be perverse, on the eve of Wimbledon, to try to keep discussion of The Championships off the boards. So feel free to use it to discuss all things Wimbledon, weigh-in on the Clash if you like. . .anything goes, and probably will. I'll be back shortly with a few more posts, including another, different sort of evocation of England.
The London Calling (Not!) posts over the next few days will be the place to discuss the run-up to Wimbledon, and I have some exciting news about the Wimbledon Crisis Center posts. Rosangel, who is on the ground at London and will be attending Wimbledon, will be posting them daily, starting Monday. The WCC posts will be the place to do your match-calling. I will be in Los Angeles for a few days next week, but posting some and staying in touch before I leave for London on July 1.
Back later. . .
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