1) Aside from some spectacular finals in recent years, the Wimbledon Championships of 2010 have been the most memorable in eons. Roger Federer taken to five sets by a little-known Colombian ranked 65 in the world... in the first round?! Federer losing a set to an ever lesser-known Serb ranked 153 in round 2?! Newly-crowned number 1, Rafael Nadal, needing five sets to shake off pesky challengers in rounds 2 and 3?! John Isner and Nicolas Mahut requiring three days and over 11 hours of court time to decide a winner?! 70-68 in fifth???!!! (More on that match a little later.)
2) Sadly, it is now quite clear that Andy Roddick will, in all likelihood, finish his career with exactly one Grand Slam title. Over the years, Roddick has lost too many stunners and heartbreakers to mention. His effort can never be called into question. He has a big heart and a great motor. But he is a tactical underachiever. Countless times, on the big stage, he's needed to find a solution to a problem presented by an opponent and has been unable to do so. Last year, his inability to figure out a way to break Roger Federer's serve ultimately lost him the Wimbledon title. And today, against Yen-Tsun Lu, the 82nd ranked player in the world from Chinese Taipei, Roddick was again at a loss for solutions. He stubbornly stayed back on Lu's serve and was pushed well behind the baseline during rallies. For the past year and a half, Coach Larry Stefanki has worked with Roddick on his return game, namely stepping up and taking the ball earlier. But the tactic eluded Roddick against Lu and he paid the price with an early exit.
3) Whether it's a matter of fitness, maturity, match toughness, or a sense of urgency, Kim Clijsters returned to the women's game ready to win a major, Justin Henin did not.
4) With Federer and Nadal looking vulnerable, the door seems to be open for Andy Murray to claim the crown for Great Britain. The path through that door is still a rocky one -- Murray will have to defeat Jo-Willy Tsonga in the quarters, the Nadal-Soderling winner in the semis, and probably Federer in the final. Murray is still under the microscope of the English press, but it's not quite as high-powered as usual, with the World Cup and the Marathon Match stealing headlines. It just feels like the elements might actually be conspiring in his favor.
5) I have been completely overwhelmed by sports for the past few weeks. Sports usually occupy a solid percentage of my time, but with the confluence of Wimbledon, the World Cup, and a renewed interest in baseball, I'm finding it hard to live a normal life. My TiVo is logging some serious overtime and bitching about the job. By the time I wake up here on the West Coast, my faithful DVR has already recorded 6 hours of tennis and a complete World Cup match. Obviously, it's impossible to watch every second of every match, and I do fast forward through my share, but the hours I've spent in front of my 61-inch Samsung are staggering. Though my trusty TiVo is complaining, I am not.
6) While I'm on the subject of the World Cup, I must mention the effort of the United States soccer team. While John Isner was on court showing America in its best light, Team USA was giving its all on the pitch in Pretoria. For 90-plus minutes the frustration and tension mounted, as the US squandered chance after chance against Algeria. With England scoring a goal in their game, the Americans needed to win theirs to advance to the knockout round. Another apparent goal was waved off in a questionable manner in the first half, and it just didn't seem to be our day. When the game went into extra time and a draw seemed to be the most likely outcome, the disappointment was palpable. But Team USA kept fighting and kept believing, and Landon Donovan kept hustling... and finally scored the golden goal! It was electric. In the blink of an eye, they went from out of the tournament to winners of the group. One of the most dramatic moments in the history of United States soccer. In the Round of 16, the team reverted to a very bad habit of giving up early goals. Ghana scored within the first five minutes of the game, and put the US team under pressure. Yet again, the diehard Americans found a way, getting the equalizer when Clint Dempsey earned a foul in the box and Landon Donovan buried the ball in the back of the net. They had the momentum. It seemed like they could win this game and advance to the quarterfinals against Uruguay. For a moment, the possibility existed that the United States could reach the semifinals of the World Cup without having to face one of soccer's superpowers. The game went into extra time. And then it happened again. Within minutes, Ghana took advantage of a defensive lapse and scored. Only this time, Team USA had expended too much energy and left themselves too little time to pull off another miracle comeback. It was over. Ghana moves on as Africa's lone representative in the quarterfinals, and the United States is eliminated from the tournament. A sad moment, for sure. But also a harsh dose of reality. The United States is one the best 16 soccer nations in the world, but not Elite 8. The early goals revealed a suspect defense and the team got exactly zero goals from its strikers. A solid midfield, a great goalkeeper, and a big heart just aren't enough to compete with the likes of Brazil, Germany, Argentina, and Spain. Hopefully, after seeing the effort and excitement of this USA team, more of our young athletes will chose to play soccer and we can continue to build momentum for the program. With a small taste of soccer glory, it's hard not to dream of the day when we can drink from the World Cup as champions.
7) The monotonous buzzing of the vuvuzelas is not only annoying, but has superseded much of the charm that makes soccer such a phenomenal spectator sport. The droning hum of those awful plastic horns drowns out the chanting, drumming, dancing, and singing that the fans of each nation bring to the stadiums to let us taste the indigenous flavors of their cultures.
8) I would be tempted to mute the broadcasts entirely if it wasn't for the stellar commentary provided by a host of superb announcers. My favorite is the deeply knowledgeable and delightfully dry Martin Tyler. If you play video games, you might recognize him as the voice of the FIFA soccer game. When I listen to him describe the action, I feel like an uncivilized dolt getting an education in class as well as soccer. He had me laughing out loud in a match during the group stage between Brazil and North Korea. One of the North Korean players was injured and appeared to be headed off. While a substitute warmed up on the sidelines, Martin Tyler expressed his fear that the sub might enter the game and make his job more difficult. The substitute had the same difficult name as one of the North Korean players already on the field. When the injured North Korean recovered and stayed in the game, Tyler joked about his sense of relief at not having to distinguish between the two of them. In today's match between Brazil and Chile, Martin Tyler deadpanned that the English ref, "still works a shift one day a week as a police officer in Yorkshire... So, essentially, he's a full-time referee."
9) Watching Brazil play The Beautiful Game is like watching Christina Hendricks saunter and sashay across the office on "Mad Men."
10) What with my tremendous ability to operate a TiVo remote and all, I rarely watch commercials. However, this Gatorade ad is verging on art.
11) "Entourage" has become a poorly-crafted, dull, and nearly humorless television show.
12) I was lucky enough to catch two out of the three Yankees-Dodgers games this weekend in lovely Los Angeles. C.C. Sabathia out-dueled Vincente Padilla on Friday night, with the Yankees taking it 2-1 on an eventual game-winning solo shot by A-Rod. Then I caught an amazing Yankee comeback last night, with the Bronx Bombers tying the game with 4 in the 9th off Jonathan Broxton. Robby Cano hit a two-run shot in the top of the 10th, and Mo pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Tons of Yankee fans at the games, and the "Let's Go Yankees" chant could be heard loud and often, which prompted angry Dodger fans to respond with "Yankees Suck!" It's sad, really, that they put more energy into rooting against the Yankees than they do in root, root, rooting for the home team.
13) Stephen Strasburg is the real deal. By no stretch of the imagination did he have his best stuff tonight, yet shut the Braves out for 6 innings. Using mainly his fastball, he battled and clawed through some tough innings, then got hot and struck out 5 in a row. He got himself into trouble by starting the 7th with a four-pitch walk to Chipper Jones. But if Ian Desmond doesn't boot a sure double-play ball in the 7th, Super Stras probably gets out of that jam, too. Desmond's major league-leading 19th error led to a horrendous inning for the sloppy-fielding Nationals, which chased a frustrated Strasburg from the game. However, after disappearing into the clubhouse to let off some steam, the Phenom returned to the dugout with a forgiving pat on the back for Desmond, a few words of advice for relief pitcher Drew Storen, and a thank you to Pudge Rodriguez for an outstanding job behind the plate. Strasburg is not only a titanic talent, so far he's also a class act. It'd be nice if the Nationals occasionally scored a couple of runs for him.
14) I'm back into baseball in a major way. In addition to the two games I attended in person this weekend, I watched Saturday's Yanks/Dodgers game on TV, and caught Strasburg's outing this evening. That makes it four days in a row I've watched a baseball game from start to finish. And that's while Wimbledon and the World Cup are going on! Not coincidentally, my brother and I recently revived our childhood love of collecting baseball cards. Last night, sitting in my generously-gifted loge seat while waiting for the LA/NY game to start, I used the eBay app on my iPhone to win an auction for a partial set of 1974 Topps and two mid-70s Thurman Munson cards. Oh, and I also watch "Baseball Tonight" on a daily basis now.
15) Getting back to tennis... Even though he won an uneventful straight set match today over Paul-Henri Mathieu, seeing Rafael Nadal struggling with a variety of injuries in his five-set win over Phillip Petzschner scared me. After limiting his schedule during clay court season, he was fresh enough to take back his rightful seat on the French Open throne. But maybe that was still too much tennis for the tendinitis in his knees. I'm hoping and praying he has enough strength to dispatch the ornery Robin Soderling, who has become a serious force to be reckoned with.
16) The Marathon Match between Isner and Mahut was one of the greatest events in the history of sports. It spoke to everything that is good about competition. The quality of the sportsmanship matched the quality of the two players' serves. Throughout the ordeal, Isner displayed outward signs of fatigue, but neither player ever seemed to tire mentally. There was a surreal feeling to the match, an absurdity that began fairly early in the fifth set and continued overnight until the merciful conclusion. Nobody -- including the fans in attendance, the television commentators, viewers at home like myself -- could believe what they were seeing. Yet, there it was, happening right before our eyes, and continuing to happen over and over and over again. There were so few break points that it rarely felt like either player had an advantage. Isner had a handful of match points scattered throughout the seemingly infinite set, but it was never surprising when Mahut fought them off. The spirit in which the match was played commanded respect, for the participants, for the history they were creating, and for the game of tennis itself. The pride they showed brought honor to the forefront. Rarely does a sporting contest achieve all that. As spectators, we watch sports with the hope that we'll see something great, something memorable, something we've never seen before. The Marathon Match certainly delivered on all those levels, but it went well beyond that, much deeper. It served as living proof that each one of us is capable not only of reaching our full potential, but of accomplishing things we never even dreamed were humanly possible. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut earned our respect in that epic first round match and permanently etched themselves into the record books, but they also gave us a gift. I, for one, am eternally grateful.
