US Open Thoughts

Good afternoon, my children. After watching a few matches from the opening day of the 2011 US Open, here's some musings on the tourney...

• Don't be shocked if Mardy Fish makes a deep run, here. He's currently the top ranked American at #8, playing the best tennis of his career at age 29, and is already the winner of the US Open Series (long story short, there's a point system, and he won it. He'll make double his prize money at this tournament for winning that series). Every couple of years, you have a Grand Slam tourney where the top 3-4 seeds fall earlier than the semis, and some journeyman sneaks through to win a one-and-only Slam (see: Thomas Johannson, Australian Open, 2002). It's been a long time since a Nadal or a Federer or a Djokovic or a Murray haven't been in a quarter or a semi at a Grand Slam tournament. Hence, it's been a long time since we've had one of those tournaments. Even if only 2 or 3 of them fall early, you've still got a chance at an outsider claiming a crown over a favored opponent in a semi or final (again, Thomas Johannson, Australian Open, 2002. Marat Safin had NO business losing that match). If these forces come together, and if the US crowd can get behind him, I think Mardy's got this kind of potential this year. I think his weight loss and his improved movement and serve make him a legitimate 2nd-tier threat. I'd also like to think that an American tennis player might actually win this thing ever again, as well. At least before I die.
  
• I watched Sharapova get tested in the first round of a Slam today. This isn't new, but the opponent today is someone to watch: Heather Watson. The 19-year old from Great Britain should give the U.K. some real buzz in the women's field for the first time since the 1970's and Virginia Wade. Much like a fairly decent women's player named Serena Williams, Heather goes for broke on every point. She's going to run down the ball until she just can't get to it anymore. She's smaller than Serena (granted, she might still have a late growth spurt in her future), so that'll dictate her ability to cover the court as her career progresses. All she seems to need is "the weapon," the one part of her game that could be considered deadly. Speed could be it, but with that as your main weapon, you have to be an incredible strategist to beat the likes of the Williams sisters, or any of the top 10 in today's game. Anyways, keep an eye on her, I know I will.
  
• Speaking of the women's game, can anyone tell me who's really number 1 right now? Seriously? Yes, Carolina Wozniacki is the computer #1, but let's face it, without a Slam victory to her credit, it's a hollow ranking at best. She plays almost every week and amasses points. It's no wonder that she's #1 if she's out there all the time. Problem is, by the time she gets to a two-week Slam, she tires out eventually. She needs to learn a bit of time-management. With Clijsters out with injury, and the rest of the top 10 being a who's-who of "who?" in recent years with turmoil preventing any traction for stability, is the 28th seeded 29-year old Serena Williams really the favorite to win this tournament? It would appear she is. She's the betting favorite, at the very least. 29-year old 28-seed is the betting favorite.
  
• That last point is somewhat remarkable if you think about the men's tour as recently as 3-4 years ago, when everyone was crying that there were 2 good players, and everyone else sucked. I was the only person who seemed to see the depth of the field (outside of the learned tournament commentators, of course), while everyone thought the women's field was the top draw. That's, supposedly, where the talent was. Well, Venus got old, Lindsay Davenport retired (again), Justine Henin retired (again), Amelie Mauresmo retired, Elena Dementieva retired, and suddenly we had the Williams sisters, Kim Clijsters, and a new generation of folks who don't want to seem to take the mantle. When Venus/Serena/Kim are gone, I wonder what the game will be like for a few years. Whereas on the men's side, even with Federer coming to the twilight of his years at 30, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray are still going to be around for several years, and the depth in the men's field is as strong, if not stronger than it's ever been.
• Back to the men... Your obvious favorite here is 2-time finalist Djokovic. A 2011 record of 59-2 coming into the tourney, with 5 consecutive wins against Nadal, and an Australian Open and Wimbledon Championship. You'd think I'd pick him. However, his shoulder's been suspect in recent weeks. While he had 8 days of rest, I've had shoulder issues that last up to 2 months. If his serve has less pop, and his forehand has less zip, he's not going to win a match against one of the other big boys. Yes, I said what I did about Fish earlier, and he's definitely a darkhorse pic for me; but like I said, he's got to have a lot go his way. But my real prediction would actually have to be Federer. Here's the deal: you've seen my comment on Djokovic. Nadal's not always fresh at this time of year, and being the defending champ, the urgency isn't as strong to win this to complete the Career Grand Slam. Federer's clock is tick-tocking. This is his first Slam as a 30-year old. And with the 2012 Olympics being at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (a little club in Wimbledon with which you may be familiar), I've got to think that FedEx knows that the time to bow out of the game is coming. Nadal and Djokovic have passed him and can beat him on any given occasion, he's 30, he's got 2 twin daughters, and millions and millions of dollars. Something tells me he plays through next season and calls it a day. That said, if he's ever going to win another Slam tournament, it needs to be soon. It probably needs to be now, actually. I've got a good feeling about him right now, too. Had a great French Open, a decent showing (not for his standards, though) at Wimbledon, and he's got a nice chance to win it. So, since it may be the final time I can ever legitimately pick Roger Federer to win a Grand Slam tournament, I'm going to do it.
• Off to watch the "Opening Ceremonies" to the tournament. I've always found that odd. The tournament started 6 hours earlier, several matches have been played, and THEN they have the Opening Ceremonies. Often they tribute one particular player and then get a big music name to do "God Bless America," and one other song with a local choir. Not sure who the "headliner" is, but then we get Venus Williams and Roger Federer in their first round matches. I'm a happy man this time of year. A happy man.
  

Enjoy the U.S. Open, folks. I'll be back to say more at some point before the end.

Randomly Random

Hi there, my internet minions. Been a week, let's get right to it.

• Jim Hendry, we hardly knew ye. The embattled Cubs GM was finally relieved of his duties last Friday. Now, here's the weird part. He was relieved of his duty this past Friday, August 19th, but he was actually fired on July 22. That's right, they fired him, then asked him to stay on with the team to get them past the deadline and then sign their new draft picks, all while staying completely quiet about having been fired. Hash-tag awkward, folks. But you know what? Jim Hendry's a classy guy, and he stayed until the day the announcement was finally made. It's actually a shame things didn't work out for him here. He started with a bang, and helped compile a masterful team in 2003 that SHOULD have won it all. After that, it was just bad contract after bad contract, 2 teams that should've won something that didn't, and a future that doesn't look too bright thanks to the massive contracts. But one signing Jim Hendry made will always stick in my mind...
  Ted Lilly was a .500 pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He'd once famously gotten into a fist-fight with his manager for having been taken out of a game. Jim Hendry was in a hospital bed recovering from a fairly major heart procedure, and he wasn't supposed to be working. He wasn't going to die, but he wasn't in great shape. However, from his hospital bed, he consummated a deal with Ted Lilly to bring him to the Cubs. Now, in the end, Lilly had a pretty nice career while he was here for a couple of years; however, what will stick with me is the fact that Jim Hendry thought that Ted Lilly was worth dying for. Think about that for a second. That's a dedicated man.
• The US Open Tennis Championships start a week from today. I'll tell you what, I'll leave that there, as something tells me there's going to be at least one dedicated entry to the Open. Suffice it to say I'm pretty stoked.
• Awwwww... I just saw that Nick Ashford of Ashford and Simpson passed away today. 69. Sad.
• Why is a brand new album with both Kanye West and Jay-Z one of the most boring albums I've heard all year? This is shocking to me. Like or dislike either of these artists, their albums are usually pretty exciting and energetic. Watch The Throne is anything but. Kind of disappointing.
• By the by, anyone can try, but it'll never fly. Nobody is going to release a better album this year than Adele's 21. Nobody. And with the Grammy nomination period coming to an end in about 5 weeks, I'd say she's all but got Album of the Year locked up. Book it. Trust me, I'm very good at handicapping the Grammys.
• Hopefully, by the time you read my next blog, the situation in Libya will have calmed down, and that Gadhafi will be taken from power. I don't want him to be strung up and killed, persay. I believe he needs to be tried for his crimes. The Libyan citizens need a chance to live their lives in peace, and choose the direction in which their country heads going forward. Even if WE don't agree with it, if it's their choice, it's better than what they have.
• I'd like to end with my commentary on the 2011 Chicago Bears after the first half of tonight's game: .......................................

Thanks for reading!!!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

There’s a certain amount of Cubs fans I know, or from whom I’ve seen online postings, that are slightly surprised about what happened with Carlos Zambrano. For those of you who haven’t been following along, it’s quite simple. Zambrano has a terrible night, gives up five home runs. Oddly, as good of a pitcher as he is, Atlanta has always had his number. Often, when some of the more “sensitive” players (read: hotheads) have nights like this, they create a situation I like to call “get me the hell out of here.” Pitch high and inside once? Nothing big, maybe a warning. Do it two pitches in a row? You’re gone. The pitcher wants to be ejected, and the umpire obliges since the batter’s safety is involved. Nothing new. But for Z to then walk into the clubhouse, clear out his locker, tell a teammate he was retiring, then just leave in the middle of the fifth inning is something else.

This is not the first time that Zambrano has danced at the “Hoe-down d’Crazy.” He’s assaulted a teammate in the dugout in the middle of a game while cameras are on them… TWICE! Dugout Gatorade dispensers are never safe in this man’s presence. Zambrano, putting it lightly, is bat-guano. Nobody disputes this. Honestly, not even Carlos Zambrano disputes this. But in any instance where he’s gone off the rails in the past, one line he didn’t cross was quitting on the team. If anything, the fights in the dugout showed how passionate he was and how much he wanted to win. Now he just wanted off the field, out of the clubhouse, and out of the Cubs’ organization forever? Apathy is something with which sports fans do not deal well. Unlike Sammy Sosa, who imfamously left Wrigley Field during the last ever game he played as a Cub in the third inning, Carlos did it on the road in Atlanta. So, it wasn’t even like he could just catch a cab and be home in a handful of minutes. Zambrano had to get to the airport, buy a ticket, clear security, etc. etc. etc. Honestly, I think that may be the one thing that Carlos regrets about the whole incident, the fact that he did it on the road.

He’s now claiming that he’s sorry, he didn’t mean the retirement threat, he was feeling very emotional. This was, however, after the Cubs put his job in a state of limbo by putting him on something called the “disqualified to play” list. Thirty days. No pay. <> Wait, wait, wait, I won’t get paid?!?! Sure, the player’s union is going to come and challenge this, and I’m sure the amount of pay that Zambrano loses will be reduced, but know this, he’s done with the Cubs. And I’m done with him.

It’s only his contract that guarantees he’ll ever play any baseball again if he wants to. If you or I pulled that stunt at work (say we threw a bunch of copier paper around, flipped the bird to everyone and screamed “I quit,”), we wouldn’t be able to go back to that job… ever. Period. Even if the employer took you or me back, how could we do it? How could we go back and face that ever again. Now think about 38,000+ “welcoming” you back to a place and a team that you walked out on after a terrible performance (all while being paid far too much money to do so). I can’t necessarily welcome him back, and I’m kind. If anything, the Cubs may need to ship him to an American League team just so he won’t come to Wrigley all that often.

Or, you trade him to the White Sox where he can play for his friend Ozzie Guillen where he can come back to haunt us twice a year. Your choice, Jim Hendry. Actually, if things play out the way I think they will, it won’t be Hendry’s choice. Unless he’s sleeping with one of the Ricketts, or has nude pictures of any of them, there’s just not a shot in hell that he has his job next year.

It’s sad, when it’s all said and done, because he had such promise to be one of the great pitchers of his era, and now he’s just entered the “what could’ve been” portion of his career. Wherever he ends up next season, I hope that he gets along well with the teammates and brass. And I also hope the Cubs don’t have to eat too much of his contract, but I know that they will.

More Random Hits

I had fun with last week's randomness, so let's go again...

• Professional Football players work their entire careers at being as masculine as they possibly can be. Some guys go well over the line, even. They bruise, they hurt, they conquer. Some men do this craft so well that they are enshrined into the Professional Football Hall of Fame after their career's candle has burned out. And how do we commemorate these big bruising men going into a Hall of Fame for something as violent as football? We put them in Century 21 blazers. Go look at some pics of this weekend's ceremony, you'll know what I mean.
  
• Yesterday, Adam Scott won the Bridgestone Classic golf tournament, the last tournament before the season's final major, the PGA Championship. However, in the weirdness that this world works, his caddy got more attention yesterday than he did. Sure, his caddy is Stevie Williams, he who was recently fired by Tiger Woods. The problem with the attention that I have is this. After the tourney, Williams was asked to assess things. He used "I," "me," or "my" 27 times. He mentioned Adam Scott once. Instead of deferring to Adam Scott like he should have, he had a bunch of cameras in his face and decided to mouth off about Woods (who, incidentally, had left hours earlier). When a caddy gets fired, it's never really news. Now it is. Williams had a chance to shut it up and put the focus on his current employer, but that's not what he did. I just don't find it to be classy in a sport known for how classy it is.
• I've been a big fan of the craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy NFL free agency period. Seems like the dust is finally settling, and I can tell you one thing with confidence: I doubt the Bears are getting back to the NFC Championship Game again. Not that they totally shot themselves in the foot, persay (still don't understand the Roy Williams signing), but other teams in the league helped themselves greatly. Oh, and the Packers will start the season completely healthy. Early Super Bowl pick, which is likely to change as the season goes on: Patriots vs. Eagles. I know, I know, going out on a real limb, there.
  
• Real Madrid just signed a 7-year old prospect to a contract. One of the reasons they did it is because another Spanish team had shown interest in signing... you know... a 7-year old. Futbol is now closed. Please bring all your final purchases to the registers located at the front and mall entrances to the store. Thank you.
• The US's Credit Rating got busted down one notch from AAA to AA+, and the Dow Jones responds by dumping off over 630 points, a huge one-day loss. Hate to say it, but this may make everything else I just talked about meaningless. If we can't afford to live our lives, how will we even be entertained by sports? (This, of course, presupposes that we lose our TV's... or at least our TV coverage). Point is, if we thought the last few years sucked, it's about to get even funkier. Don't plan on quitting your job anytime soon, if you can help it.
• Is anyone else as suspect about the new Michael Emerson series, Person of Interest? I may give it a go, 'cause I do like Michael Emerson, but I feel bad things. I hope I'm wrong.

Have a good day. :)