Back to Random

Well, the US Open is just about over, and all my predictions went up in smoke. So, back to some random thoughts... possibly a short entry this week, we'll see.

• I was very surprised to enjoy the latest Lenny Kravitz album, Black and White America. At first, I thought to myself "you know, we've heard this from Lenny before." Then, after a second and third listen (because I'm thorough), I started to realize that I'd heard it before, but not from him. Long story short, Lenny Kravitz released a really nice Jamiroquai record. Sure, some tracks are very "Lenny," but some are very Jamiroquai, too. 3 out of 5 stars. Recommended.
• How 'bout that Republican Presidential Debate last week, huh? ((note, I don't even have to say another word or make a joke. You've already formulated one in your mind. That's good comedy)
• Obama's Jobs speech: a lot of nice rhetoric. Some interesting ideas. I'm still waiting to hear how it will all be funded, but if it's something that works, let's do it. We're well beyond the point of "let's take a few months, form some committees, and see where we end up."
• Wait... did the Bears win yesterday? Really? Wow. This just in: they didn't win as much as Atlanta lost. Towards the end, the defense really took over, but an early lead was built by Atlanta just not doing a great job on both sides of the ball. We'll see how this season continues. A year ago, I thought they had no shot, and they hosted the NFC Championship Game. That said, I still think they have no shot.
• Somebody please let me know when the Cubs are done playing. I wanted to turn on SportsCenter last night, and it was delayed because they were broadcasting a meaningless game between them and the Mets. I wanted a Cubs game to end so I could watch SportsCenter. Sad state of affairs.
• Oh, if you're a Morrissey fan and like/love the album Bona Drag, be sure to get the 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition that was released last year. Didn't know about it until about a week ago, and it's been making me smile ever since. Thanks, Kirk.
• Ah, to be this time of year all year. For the last week, the temperatures have been perfect. Today's a little warm, but given what's coming ahead in a couple of months, I'm okay with it. I wish we could cut/paste this stuff and just have it all year. I do suppose that means Chicago would be far more expensive if that were the case, but that's okay. I'd just be a hooker.

Have a great week, y'all.

US Open Thoughts II: Electric Boogaloo (sorry, I had to)

Alrighty, as Monday is Labor Day, and I'm thinking about these things now, let's get into it...

• Tennis players get approximately 4 weeks of an off-season every year. Some of the lower-tier players might get more like 6-7 weeks, but the top players are always trying to qualify for the year-end championships. There's 4 Grand Slam tournaments to consider, with one being 2 weeks after the new season begins. Masters Series events? Jeez, it feels like there's about a hundred of them. Now, a player can take a tournament off, but if they played that tournament last year, those ranking points disappear completely instead of having a chance to defend them. And these days, too many of the players play far too many tournaments because they want to protect their ranking (think of this: Caroline Wozniacki plays EVERYTHING, and got her ranking to #1 because of it, but when she gets to a Slam event, she wilts. She's still never won one). Then we get to the fact that we're 90-minutes into day 6 of the US Open, and we've already seen 17 retirements or walkovers... and we wonder why this is happening? Top players have been crying for a readjustment of the season for many years, and I think it's finally time to start listening to their pleas...
• Sometimes I'm a Venus Williams fan, sometimes I'm not. When either Williams sister shoots off at the mouth, it puts me off a bit. However, I will say that Venus has usually been the quieter, more humbler member of her family in the last decade. And hey, she designs her own tournament outfits, so you've got to give her points for that. The thing is, you've got to feel pretty badly for her right now. She's had to pull out of a Slam event because of some disease (Sjogren's Syndrome) that sometimes takes 5-6 years to diagnose. This means she's been dealing with discomfort and fatigue for several years on the court, and never even realized why it was happening. It also means that, at 31, we may be seeing the end of Venus Williams. Yes, she says she's going to be back and all that, but if this thing's been keeping her from being at her best since 2008 (her last Slam win), she's not getting any younger. I'd really hate for this to be the way she exits the game, after blazing such trails with her sister. Here's hoping we see more.
• Speaking of her sister, Serena's the 28-seed. She's still the outright favorite to win this tournament (and still my pick). Any questions as to whether the women's field is in turmoil? Didn't think so.
• Novak Djokovic goes up 6-0, 6-0, 2-0 in his second round match against Belocq of Argentina. Belocq breaks to get on the board for the first time. He raises his hands as if he'd just won the match, the crowd gets into it. The best part? The camera cut to Djokovic who's giggling, too. That's why I love tennis. So friendly most of the time. MOST of the time. I'm still aware of the near-riots that have occurred in Australia, but we won't discuss that here.
• James Blake: would you just hang it up, please? Please?
  
• Mardy Fish is doing precisely what I wanted him to do this first week: decimating the competition, playing on the big courts, and enjoying the moment. He's still my darkhorse pick behind Federer.
• Federer: soooooooooooooooooooo quietly moving through the draw. You don't want the likes of him lurking. You just don't. He can beat anyone at anytime, and if the pressure isn't on, it just makes it that much easier. Again, he's got another Slam in him, and this one may just be his best ever shot.
• Wozniacki: I'm sorry, I just don't get it. You're amusing, but you play all too often, spend way too much energy winning the "Greater Shell Oil Open" type tournaments, and then like I mentioned earlier, you fall apart in a 2-week Slam. Sloooooooooooow down, win something big.
• The American surge at this year's Open is quite encouraging, but don't call this the official comeback. We'll need to see how this plays out. Several younger females have had great first weeks at the Open, and we're finally seeing Donald Young show the potential we've been waiting for for about 4 years. HUGE 5-set victory over Warwrinka (14) yesterday. He grew up on the court.
• Speaking of Americans growing up on the court, 18-year old Jack Sock got to play one of his idols last night, Andy Roddick. It was very reminiscent of Roddick playing Pete Sampras back around 2000. Just like that night, the elder whipped the young'n. However, Sock's got a big game, and once he has some more big matches under his belt, he's going to be a force in this game. Or, he's going to end up OD'ing on crystal meth in a Super 8 parking lot, we'll see. I think it's the former, though. Very much so.
  
• PS, Andy Roddick was right the other night. He went off on tennis commentators who say "he's doing everything right" when someone's winning, and say "he's got to change things up" when he's losing. It's so true, at times. I mean, he was a bit pissy about the whole thing, but other than adding a little "might be time to change the pace/might be time to try to slice/he might want to slow down between points" thing, it's usually just follow the score and comment from there kind of stuff. However, I love hearing the McEnroe brothers together, and Cliff Drysdale really knows his stuff. Surprisingly, so does Chris Fowler.
  
• I'm sitting chatting with my friend Justin about the whole retirement/walkover thing, and we came up with a great idea. Right now, you get the money you get for making it to/losing in that round if you retire or pull out before the match (walkover). What if, and this is just a what if, there were a financial penalty for pulling out? Let's say you retire in the first round of the US Open. Just getting to the first round and losing gets you $15,000. What if that were cut by 25-50%? I think some of the folks who merely have a boo-boo and want to go home an incentive to keep playing. Now, mind you, if someone is truly injured or has a legitimate reason to pull out of a tournament (see: Venus), they get unfairly penalized to an extent, but Justin was saying, and I agree, that the game and the paying fans really are the ones who get penalized when a match doesn't get completed or played at all. So, let's recap: shorten the season, penalize retirements/walkovers. Hey, Tennis, I'm available to be your commissioner!