July 2008 Archives
BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania - Kinda sticky here. I like it sticky. The Eagles hold their camp at Lehigh University, a cool campus smack in the heart of Bethlehem, PA. I couldn't get that lyric from Billy Joel's "Allentown" out of my head..."out in Bethlehem they're killing tiiiime, filling out forms, standing in line..." It took me a bit to find the practice fields having come in from the wrong side.
As Eagles beat writer Bob Brookover of the Philly Inquirer told me, "T.O. got lost trying to get here too. He had no trouble finding his way out, though."
1. Spent some time gabbing with Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan who's coming back from a tailbone injury suffered last season. "It's tied with the lisfranc injury I had in college (for the worst pain he's had)," said Runyan. "It's still not 100 percent. It's gonna be one of them things it'll take years for it to get right."
2. Eagles lineman Todd Herremans made an interesting move, The Eagles left guard is on philly.com's "Sexy Singles" page. Really, that's just asking for it when you go to work every day with 79 guys who descend on stuff like this like rats on cheese. "Whatever," said Runyan when showed the page. Herremans ducked out on the media after practice.
College Football vs Professional Football. Which one is better? In Lake Tahoe, I asked a couple of guys who've played both what they thought.
And then... what rules would they make for their team if they were head coach?
1. So last night, I decided enough was enough. I'm out here digging ditches with all these training camps and all anyone cares about is what's up with Brett Favre. Or at least that's all anyone talks about. Usually, the person talking is noting that they're sick of hearing about Favre which is ironic since they're talking about it and forcing ME to hear it. Anywhooooo, while driving to Eagles camp, I decided to pull the ripcord on going to this weekend's Hall of Fame Game in Canton and go to Green Bay instead.
2. I was set to go to Green Bay on Thursday night when my boss, a tall, debonair cat name of Brian W. Gilmore, calls and says, "Are we sure we want to go to Green Bay? What if he doesn't come in, then we're up there for nothing." Devil's advocate stuff. And I saw his point. But the reality is, if Favre's reinstated he's a Packer again. And then he's either at camp or being "locked out" of camp. Either way, it's a story. And if they trade him, it's really a story there and wherever he goes.
3. So I could either go to Green Bay and find a fresh angle (yeah, right) on the Favre Saga on Friday and Saturday or stay in Canton and cover the Hall of Fame game knowing all the while that something could happen in Green Bay that would trump anything else going on.
4. It just occurred to me. How pissed off are this year's Hall of Famers going to be if Favre steals their thunder this weekend. And if they aren't because they're over the moon with joy, what about the Hall of Fame folks, the NFL and the rest of the Hall of Famers?
5. Clinching my decision to go to Green Bay (which I am going to do) was a conversation with Jason Wilde, the Packers beat writer for the Wisconsin State Journal and one of the best in the beat-writin' business. His take? He said that the Packers are petrified Favre will defy the team's request he stay away from camp, that he'll come into town on Friday or Saturday and then want to play in the family night game at Lambeau Field on Sunday night. "Then 60,000 people will get to voice their opinion and they don't want that," said Wilde.
I gots to gets to Green Bay.
I believe that I spotted the North Pole yesterday.
I cannot be sure. After all, there's not an actual pole on top of it. At least I don't think (if only real life were more like Looney Tures). Nor did I see a home with a one-sleigh garage.
But as our 13-hour flight from Dulles to Beijing took "over the top" to its most global interpretation, I'm pretty sure that we flew directly over the Pole. Have you ever had the chance to take such a flight? Totally surreal, everything from flying over the taiga woods ("You da' Man-itoba!") in northern Canada to the bizarre, Memento-like sensation of never seeing the sun change its position in the sky over the course of 13 hours. When we took off, it was nearly 1 p.m. and when we landed it was nearly 2 p.m. To paraphrase Eugene O'Neill, "A long day's journey into day..."
ALBANY, N.Y. - One practice today (Tuesday) for the Jints from 2:30 to 4:30. Once that ends, I'm diving into the Ford Edge rental and heading south for Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. to check in on the Eagles.
Before I go, genius cameraman John Moody and I will be working on our video piece from Giants camp. The angle? Only one NFL fanbase gets to come into July feeling over-the-moon good about last season. This year, it's the Giants. So while the team tries to move on, have the fans?
1. I hope Aaron Rodgers throws for 3,734 yards with 29 touchdowns and 2 picks this season. As for Brett Favre saying to Ted Thompson, "We both know how it will turn out," if he competes with Rodgers for the starting job, all I know is the two men played extended periods in the same game once last season. And Rodgers spent most of the game pulling the Packers out of the hole that Favre dug for them when they met on a Thursday night in Dallas. I wonder how much that game contributed to the Packers' comfort level with Rodgers.
2. Honestly, if I had to pick a quarterback to manage my semi-decent team and get it to play beyond its talent-level, I'd pick Jeff Garcia over Favre 10 times out of 10.
3. Giants defensive end Justin Tuck has the tools to be an All Pro both on the field and in front of the microphones. I really like him.
4. I've been gathering some quotes from players for an feature story one of our writers will be putting together on athletes dealing with media encroachment on their personal lives. Giants wideout Steve Smith, who played with Matt Leinart at USC, has some interesting takes.
5. Anyone know of a batting cage/driving range place in Bethlehem, Pa.? I gots the itch to hit ....
Who wheeled into Giants camp this morning with intentions on blogging? Me. OK? Me.
After several moments of caluculations I was able to determine that I've had six blog entries since the NFL Draft. Some might think that a bit lax. Perhaps those some wouldn't understand or appreciate the concept of pacing oneself, then.
Now then, we're working on a story about the Giants mental mindset for defending that we'll be sending in soon. We also have some very interesting comments from Antonio Pierce, Justin Tuck and Grey Ruegamer on the Brett Favre Saga.
But before we get to those, here are 5 things ...
1. There will be coach-to-player communication for the defense this year. Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce was asked how excited he is about this new responsibility ... he ain't.
"I do too much yelling and talking. I already hear people half the time that aren't there, now I literally will. Probably later on this week we'll use it but I'm not looking forward to it. I don't know what it's like. Quarterbacks like Eli (Manning) it's different for them. That's all they know. They got the coach telling them their play. I'm not used to a guy telling me that. I guess it's a comfort level."
2. The tempo of the practices here at SUNY Albany is excellent. Very crisp, very determined, no grabassin' as they say. How do you measure that? The downtime between drills and reps. At other camps I've been to, there's a lot of wandering out of huddles and walking back after downfield plays and guys grabbing drinks. Didn't see any of that.
3. Tom Coughlin said the ankle injury that's kept Plaxico Burress out of the first few days of camp A) is not the same as the one he suffered last season, B) should be healed enough to allow him to play by "midweek" C) can be managed if Burress wears "his orthotics" said Coughlin, and D) sounds like a structural foot condition more than an injury.
4. Rookie receiver Mario Manningham was yanked from practice with tightness in his quad. Veteran quarterback David Carr should get his first practice action tonight.
5. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is spending noticeable 1-on-1 time with rookie safety Kenny Phillips to get the U of M kid up to speed. Matthias Kiwanuka looks great ("That's five good practices in a row," said Coughlin. "You saw him knock that pass away 35 yards downfield with his 27-foot arms?").
The Lombardi Trophy will be on display this evening at practice.
Greetings from Newark Airport, from which I'm about to embark on the second leg of my Fly Hard excursion: Vancouver to New York City to Washington, D.C., to Beijing in 48 hours. This is a tour that falls somewhere between jet lag and Jet Li. The only other American I know dumb/ambitious enough to embark on such a pilgrimage this month has already secured the Democratic Party nomination.
Anyway, the reason for the craziness was some poor planning on my behalf. My friend Scott and I headed up to Whistler, B.C. last week for the first annual Pemberton Festival. Then I remembered that the city of Beijing was planning to host its own rather large festival this summer. And, well, things sort of overlapped. So here I am. Wherever here is.
Pemberton's lineup and the lure of an unbeatable backdrop, Mount Currie, is what drew me and 60,000 others last weekend. Just a few of the bands: Nine Inch Nails, My Morning Jacket, The Flaming Lips, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, Jay-Z and Coldplay. Plus, it's always fun to see my friend Scott "Scooter" Dvorak: picture Sting if he were in his late 30s, stood 6'1" and had the build of a dude who competed in the Olympic Trials in the 5,000 meters, which Scooter did in 1996. In other words, it was a weekend of my playing the "His friend seems nice" role.
Big game for first place, and the Phillies are ... boozing ... in the dugout?
Decide for yourself.
Bored on a Friday? Try and transcribe what Darren McFadden is saying at the beginning of this video and post in the comments below:
Terrific story in today’s National Post (it’s a Canadia newspaper; I’m in Whistler, B.C., this week) about last weekend’s TypeCon 2008 international summit in Buffalo last weekend. It was literally a character-building process, as the world’s foremost experts on type fonts convened to discuss matters such as Arial vs. Helvetica, etc.
The story, written by Vanessa Farquharson, told of lectures with titles such as “Verdana is Good, Mine is Better” and “Will the Real Times Roman Please Stand Up?”
Personally, I think she could have taken the piece a bit further. I wanted to know about the characters she encountered. Also, what was the flirting scene like at this conference?
He: “What do you think of my boldface?”
Her: “Sorry, you’re just not my type.”
Two years ago, the Mets blew the NLCS against the Cardinals. Most people remember Yadier Molina's homer or Adam Wainwright's hellacious curve that froze Carlos Beltran with the tying and winning runs on base in Game 7. What's sometimes forgotten was how badly the Mets botched Game 2 - blowing two big leads, not scoring after loading the bases in the 8th...
And So Effing Taguchi. That little runt somehow turned on a Billy Wagner heater and put it in the leftfield bullpen, evening the series for the Cards. It's one thing if you get beat by the other team's star. But by So Taguchi? It stings. Badly.
Well, you know what stings even more? When that same little turd crushes you AGAIN, this time with a tying double in last night's brutal meltdown against the Phillies at Shea. Granted, once Jose Reyes goofed on that ground ball a batter earlier, it was inevitable the Phils would eventually tie the game. But did it really have to be So Taguchi - SO TAGUCHI! - in the middle of the agony again?
It seemed all too symbolic not to be truth.
I mean, if there's one day out of the entire year where the Yankees should annihilate the Red Sox, that date would be the 4th of July, no?
Instead, on July 4, Boston beat New York -- at Yankee Stadium -- 6-4, the Yanks' third loss in four games. The Yankees, after 87 games of the 2008 season, were just 45-42. Adding injury to insult, their most dynamic player this season, Johnny Damon, went on the DL following a freak play that you're just never going to see again for years. Damon chased down a deep drive by Kevin Youklis, one of those Red Sox players who seems to elevate his game against the Pinstripes (e.g., Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and, at one time, Damon himself), caught the ball momentarily, and then crashed into the left field fence.
Down went Damon. Up went the ball, where it landed perfectly atop the fence. It sat there for a moment or two, as if trying to determine the fate of the remainder of the Yanks' season. Then it fell back onto the playing field. Youklis had a triple and Damon went on the DL ... joining New York's other left-fielder, Hideki Matsui.
It's been a topsy-turvy (what is "turvy" by the way?) season in the Bronx, which is to say typical. Jason Giambi apparently is auditioning to appear in a sequel to "Boogie Nights", while A-Rod has apparently been cuckolded by the world's most famous woman who does not also have her own daytime talk show. And according to Monday's papers, the A.L. MVP has graduated from two-timing to three-waying.
Two All-Stars (Damon and Matsui) are on the DL as is the supposed present staff ace (Chien-Ming Wang) and future staff ace (Phil Hughes). Of those four, only Damon should really be counted on to return and offer any help this season.
It's as good as you've heard, possibly better. I'm not one to hype things beyond any reasonable expectation, I hate when I hear over and over how amazing something is and then show up only to be dissapointed and it drives me nuts when people say something is cool just because it makes them sound cool. So with that on the table, the movie is seriously that good.
I'm in Cleveland, OH for the second stop of AST Dew Tour. My co-host Kenan Harkin and our co-worker Chad Perry and I went to the midnight show last night. Years ago when the first Batman movie with Christian Bale came out, the same group went to see that film in Denver. Keeping with tradition, we decided to see Dark Knight together except this time Kenan insisted we arrive early... as in 90 minutes early. Obsessive? A little. (At least we had awesome seats.)
Heath Ledger, who left behind one of his finest performances in the most unfortunate and sad way, steals the show. It's so hard to play a villan that in some twisted way manages to have the audience sitting in the palm of his hand but he does. As complex as the Joker is, he makes you laugh, keeps you on your toes and charms you. The show started at 12:01 and finished shortly before 3 am. Sure enough, it's been the discussion of the TV compound throughout the day.
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Tonight we had the BMX Dirt Finals which will air in less then an hour from now on USA Network. The course was a bit of a challenge for the guys due to the short jumps and curved first two hits. Luke Parslow threw a double backflip and Ryan Guettler threw a 1080 both on the third set. What?! Cameron White FINALLY got a win tonight with an incredible showing. I say finally because he has been so close several times and yet this is only his second win on the Tour.
Congrats to Steven McCann who is the first guy in the history of the Dew Tour to make it into all three BMX Finals. He placed 4th tonight in Dirt and will compete in BMX Vert tomorrow night and BMX Park on Sunday.
My heart goes out to James Foster. He crashed in BMX Park Prelims (he advanced to Finals) and gashed his eyebrow right above his right eye. Then while taking a practice run during Dirt Finals, he crashed again and this time slammed on the left side of his face. He was unable to finish the contest.
Ryan Guettler- back in the game! Kid looks focused, hungry and ready to live up to the high expectations that were placed on him back in '06 after he dominated in '05. He took second place.
Finally, congrats to daddies-to-be Ryan Nyquist and Alistair Whitton. Nyquist and his wife are expecting a little boy and the Whittons will find out in the Fall!
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Tomorrow if you're by a computer you can catch the live stream competition of SKB Park and RYAN SHECKLER go for his second win this year on NBCSPORTS.COM at 1. Then at 4 pm ET on NBC it is SKB Vert. In Baltimore, Bucky Lasek edged out PLG but the key factor was there was no Shaun White in the mix. White will be competing tomorrow.
And so when someone told me that Josh Hamilton starred in the Home Run Derby, my first response was, "The dude from Las Vegas?"
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It was nice to see New York Magazine editor-at-large Will Leitch and arch-nemesis Buzz "You're full of (feces)" Bissinger in the "Costas Now" audience last night. As a New York Mag reader, I'd categorize the stunt as "Lowbrow Brilliant". But the show lacked the fervor of the first town hall-style "CN". An inspired move would have been to fashion a segment in which Stuart "Let Me Know" Scott and A.J. "Eavesdropper" Daulerio confront one another. Or better yet, meet in The Octagon.
By the way, this month's "GQ" has a "Q & A" (a "GQ & A") with Stu in which he acknowledges the infamous incident and reports that the former Denver Broncos cheerleader in question was just a friend and that he and some buddies were being invited over to her hotel to have a beer.
Oh. Okay.
Just for old time's sake: "Braylon, do you blog?"
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Critics and bitter ex-players-turned-dreadful-announcers love to bash the MLB All-Star game, lamenting how it's not as great as it used to be. Fine, although I'll take what Josh Hamilton did last night every day of the week and twice on Sunday, even if it wasn't technically the game. But rather than worry about useless arguments that accomplish nothing, let’s debate something far more relevant and timeless: who makes the starting lineup for the Baseball Movie All-Stars.
A couple of ground rules before we start.
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No real-life characters, so anyone from Eight Men Out is off the list, even though Cusack was money as Buck Weaver.
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No one who plays himself is eligible, so no Griffey from Little Big League, although that egregious baserunning error on the hidden-ball trick might have kept him off the team anyway.
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Former players who play fictional characters are allowed.
Here’s the squad, organized by batting order…
CF: Willie Mays Hayes, Major League
Credentials: Hit like Mays and ran like Hayes…Cut the rug outside the stadium after he made the team…Beat two guys in a 100-yard dash wearing his pajamas after they had a 20-yard head start…Led off the season by knocking the crap out of a 78-foot dribbler…Had the movie equivalent of the Dave Roberts Stolen Base…Scored from second on a bunt (a poor bunt at that).
Says it all: “I bought 100 of these. One for every base I’m gonna steal. Excuse me while I take my first step towards the Hall of Fame.”
Also considered: Mae Mordabito, A League Of Their Own; Ahmad Abdul Rahim, Bad News Bears
2B: Marla Hooch, A League Of Their Own
Credentials: Had an eeeyyyyyye like DiMaggio…Not afraid to booze it up and sing on stage at a local roadhouse...Might have had the shortest engagement of all-time before marrying that dude like three weeks (and one montage) later.
Says it all: “And there’s Marla Hooch…what a hitter!”
Also considered: Mickey Scales, Little Big League (But before his big homer in the one-game playoff, he asked the manager if he wanted him to hit. No one does that.)
In between being captivated by Josh Hamilton turning Yankee Stadium into his own personal launching pad and being mystified yet impressed that Greta Van Susteren's stiff upper lip hasn't held her back in her career, I came to this conclusion about Brett Favre's attempt at backing out of retirement.
He looks like a fraud and is doing a tremendous job sullying his "legacy."
Watching his Fox News interview with Van Sustern the upshot I gained was that Favre's basically trying to shoot his way out of Green Bay by putting the Packers in an impossible position then asking the fans to keep on lovin' Brett no matter what uniform he wears.
"I am guilty of retiring early and there is a reason for that," said Favre. "(I don't want people to think) He asked for his release because he doesn't want to play in Green Bay. Them moving on does not bother me. It doesn't. I totally understand that. If I’m gonna play it's gonna be 100 percent commitment and that's in March. '(The Packers should say) We've moved on and we'll work with Brett.' Don't make stuff up or give half of the truth. It's ridiculous, it really is."
What's ridiculous is that Favre has three years remaining on his contract. He's not a free agent but wants to be treated like one. He wants to play by different rules than everyone else. He wants Packers fans to love him still and, to do that, he's mounting a passive aggressive crusade against McCarthy and Thompson. Never mind that McCarthy's the one who forced him to rein in his careless quarterbacking and made him PART of a winner again and stopped letting everything be all about Brett. Forget that Thompson has built a very good team around him.
To borrow a phrase from Favre, it's ridiculous, Brett. It really is.
God Hates The Orioles: The Red Sox beat the Orioles 2-1 in Boston, the 14th straight Sunday loss for the O's. Perhaps the Big Man Upstairs is making my roommate (big O's fan) pay for his sins. Or maybe it was too much Dice-K, who is mastering the art of walking batters but stranding them on base. Personal highlight: in the bottom of the 4th with two out and two on, Manny hit a grounder up the middle that was fielded by Brian Roberts. But Manny had already bellied out on his way to first, possibly expecting the ball to get through the infield. It didn't.
Rays Skeptics Ready To Say 'Told You So': Seven straight L's for Tampa Bay, who've lost the lead in the A.L. East, which, by the by, is probably not as big of a psychological factor as a lot of people will argue. Don't really have a problem with Scott Kazmir calling the team out for lack of focus, but it looks a little silly if you go out the next day and get knocked around by the 12-games-under Indians.
You'd Think It Happened To Him More Often: It's not that Andy Pettitte pitched badly (6 IP, 4 ER, 6K) in a 4-1 loss to Toronto. It's just gotta be frustrating to have Marco Scutaro (1 HR every 56.6 AB for his career) take you deep and watch him start the home run trot as soon as the ball leaves his bat.
This just in ... Brett Favre has asked Wrangler to release him from its deal so that he can sign with Guess!
The Packers, meanwhile, signed the dude who catches Favre's pass in the ad. Packer GM Ted Thompson: "He got good separation on the play."
Speaking of touch football games, am I the only one who felt slightly uncomfortable during the scene in
St. Elmo's Fire where Rob Lowe and the dude who just tackled him lingered on the ground for an excruciatingly long time afterward to discuss life and the angst of being 23? (You're 23! You can drink excessively, still be functional the next day, and not have to worry about what your hair looks like ... what are you whining about!!!???)
I'm just wondering, in a sausage-crazed state liked Wisconsin, if anyone there has accused Favre of behaving like a spoiled brat.
Yesterday we set up shop in the back of the club house and piggybacked off of the guys doing satellite interviews. At times it was a bit of a battle to grab someone in between random affiliates and ESPN but we made it work.
So check out the video section for...
I sat down with Tony Romo, Carson Palmer and John Elway and got their thoughts on the situation with Brett Favre and Greenbay.
One of the greatest things up right now is the clip of John Elway imitating Charles Barkley's golf swing. Of every person I asked to do it, he was the only one who claimed to be capable of mimicking it. It's great.
Jason Kidd spoke to me about Brandon Jennings and the possibility of him skipping over the mandatory one year in college to instead play a year over in Europe. It was interesting to get Kidd's take because he knows Jennings.
I semi a bit made fun of Ben Roethlisberger for wearing sandals and his golf socks. He fired back asking what was wrong with them. After going back and forth, we called it even when we realized we had a mutual love for Florida State. The very first jersey he ever bought was Warrick Dunn.
Given all the hoopla that surrounded Jason Giambi's fantastic mustache-fueled All-Star campaign, we wonder: what the hell did people get excited about and make fun of back in the 70's and 80's when the stache was commonplace? We can only hope that Giambi inspires some copycats, because more athletes playing with staches would make watching sports all the more enjoyable.
In honor of Sirloin (my nickname for big Jay - tell me you can't picture him wolfing down a porterhouse, eyes bulging, au gratins getting caught in the stache), we celebrate the best mustaches in sports right now.
If there are any egregious omissions or anyone you'd like to recommend, let us know or post in the comments below.
It'll be a shame if Jason Giambi leaves the Yanks after this season, if only because he's been such an enjoyable character to follow. The gold thong. The tongue hanging out as he runs the bases, looking as if he's got his mind on a bowl of creamed spinach. The studder-step home run trot around third base. The toss of the bat after a bomb. The bizarre apology for nothing even though everyone knew he was talking about steroids. This picture. Thom Brenneman once saying Giambi was going to "drop anchor in the Yankees clubhouse." And now the mustache. So if this is the end, thank you Jay. It's been a thrill.
Notes from a week spent navigating roundabouts while out and about in England:
Let's begin with last Sunday at the All England. It was a privilege, one of the very best experiences I've ever had, watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal while also having the headset on as our producer, John McGuinness, masterfully provided direction to both Ted Robinson and John McEnroe.
-- This was one of those rare moments in sport where both winner and loser were heroic. This was the essence of why we hold a passion for sports. I think of the Duke-Kentucky East Regional final in 1992, the Ali-Frazier bouts in the early '70s, Miami-Notre Dame '88, Red Sox-Yankees Game 4 &5 of the 2004 ALCS, the Texas-Southern Cal Rose Bowl of 2006, and the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma (the last two of which I was fortunate enough to have been right there at the end, mere yards away from where the winning points were scored). These were classics in which each side performed out of their minds, but someone just had to lose.
-- The shot that I will never forget, as long as I live, was the shot that NBC captured of Nadal striding out of the doorway of Centre Court Stadium to greet the throngs of people waiting to embrace him, physically and spiritually. It was a coronation moment, a glorious image of all that sport should aspire to. There were other unforgettable moments as well, such as when Roger and Rafa circled the court to thank the fans, each going in opposite directions, so that they crossed one another at midcourt, and they both acknowledged one another with a quick tap on the shoulder. I believe even at that moment that both realized that their careers, rich as they already were, will be defined by this match.
But that shot of Rafa: Emerging into the night, to an explosion of cheers and flash bulbs and red auto-focus lasers, was goosebumpy. It reminded me of the final scene of another wonderful gift from Spain this decade, Pan's Labyrinth.
This is BRILLIANT!
Phenomenonal. Magnificent.
The longest men's final in Wimbledon history.
The first men's final to go later than 9 p.m.
The final Wimbledon final to be played without a roof, and notice how both the rain and the the rotation of the earth are playing a role in deciding when this match will be decided.
At stake: Will Roger Federer become the first man since William Renshaw in 1886 to win six consecutive Wimbledon finals (and the first to surpass Bjorn Borg, seated in the front row of the Royal Box, who won five in a row)? Or will Rafael Nadal become the first since Borg in 1980 to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year?
Match over...watching both Federer and Nadal give the on-court interviews. And listening to them both, understanding why they call it the Gentlemen's Finals. Class acts. American athletes could learn a lot from this match.
Are you watching this???
Big props to our audio dude, Buddha, for playing you out to Pearl Jam's "I'm Still Alive" after Federer won the 12th game of the 4th set to force a tiebreak.
You're watching an all-time classic, and I'm not just saying that because of my affiliation. Federer stared down two championship points in the 4th set, and survived. Great backhand winner by Federer to force deuce when it was 8-7, Nadal.
Remember, if Roger wins today he becomes the first man since William Renshaw (1881-86) to win six Wimbledons in a row. And if he loses. Well, at 26 years old, Roger's never going to have that chance again.
So now we're going to a fifth set. And how close is this match? At 15-0 in the 1st game of the five set, both men have won just as many points all match.
KIDS! (as Mary Carillo loves to say)
If you are even just a casual tennis acolyte (or a casual Johntourager), well, this is the one day of the year that you really need to care about tennis. Not just because it's Wimbledon, which is to tennis what Augusta is to golf, what the Rose Bowl is to college football, what Cameron Indoor Stadium is to college basketball, what the Ziegfeld is to New York City movie houses, and what Burning Man is to Sixties nostalgia.
Quickly, then, because we are all a little spent from the fortnight by now.
Serena Williams has beaten her big sis the last five times they've played in a Grand Slam final, but I still like Venus today in a three-setter. Both have yet to really be tested this Wimbledon. Neither has dropped a set and neither has lost more than eight games in a match yet. Serena has faced a set point once, against Jie Zhieng in the semis.
Curiously enough, should Venus win this afternoon, the prize money each sister earns will put them both above the $20 million mark in career earnings. Right now Serena leads, having won about $19.3 million to Venus's $18.6 million. The winner this afternoon receives $1.5 million, the second-place finisher $750,000. Before today women's tennis had four members in its Career $20 Mil Prize Money club: Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis. That total could increase by 50% by the end of the day.
I mean, seriously, y'all could have guessed that one, right?
What a time it was for Swedes back in the late 70s, back in my formative years. Dashing native son Bjorn Borg, with his blonde beard and headband, ruled Wimbledon, raising the trophy here five consecutive years from 1976-80 with his customary elan (because I don't know what the Swedish word for style is). Borg is here today, by the way, sitting in the Royal Box.
Meanwhile, ABBA, the most successful coed band in history (and undoubtedly the most successful palindromic pop foursome ever) owned pop music. How do you listen to the first three tunes on ABBA Gold without just wanting to wear a one-piece white jumpsuit and beg your barber for a bowl haircut?
Those tunes would be, in order... "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and (my personal favorite) "Take a Chance on Me".
("If you change your mind,
I'm the first in line
Honey I'm still free
Take a chance on me")
How cool would it be if Venus and Serena walked on court for their Ladies Doubles semi today outfitted as Agnetha and Frida?
NBC loves ourselves the Dementieva. She's in the midst of a match with Vanessa Williams that is now in a second-set tiebreak. I'm not saying that the Muscovite is going to win, but if she can just stay on camera long enough for NBC Entertainment guru Jeff Zucker to pass in front of the screen, I think they'll develop a fall series for her.
She's a Valkyrie.
Must-See TV meets Musco-TV.
"To Russian, With Love-40"?
Mary Carillo just said, "It's not over 'til the blonde lady screams."
But the blonde lady's been screaming the entire second set. And she has a fantastic set of lungs. Jamie Lee Curtis would be jealous.
Venus just won. Venus held a commanding edge in 1st serve %, while Dementieva had a big advantage in "% of camera isos" during the match.
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Earlier today I dropped down to the cafeteria for lunch and ordered the McEnroeni. Maybe I've been here too long.
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I just saw a former Wimbledon singles champion in the men's room. We were both using the urinal. He didn't wash after. Now, I wasn't paying too close attention--I observe the stare-straight-ahead rule-- but I think it's not as egregious an offense because he may have been Bluetoothing it (hands-free device).
Also, as Jimmy Roberts argued, "Maybe he's a Purel guy."
Jimmy went on to astutely point out that the sinks here at Wimbledon have separate faucets for hot (scalding, actually... you can brew tea in there) and cold that are too far apart to put a hand under both simultaneously. "How can you have that in a civilized nation?" he asks.
BALLS AND STRIKES
Today's non-tennis sports injury of the day belongs to Arizona Diamondback catcher Chris Snyder. That makes "fatigued groin syndrome" sound likes child's play. As my editor, Brian G., wondered aloud, "They have bones in those things?"
HAD IT BEEN SANDRA, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE ARGUED SO LONG
My buddy Eric (Johntourage handle, EW) sends this link about a trapped bullock here in England (I love that Eric is in Scottsdale sending me links to British news items). The irony is that the issue was referred to a steering committee.
"Three days? That's bollocks!" said the bullock.
...would be Serena Williams, of course.
(The second-most famous Serena, at least in my world, would be the ethereally unattainable Serena Slocum of Whit Stillman's nearly perfect 1990 film, Metropolitan. Serena Slocum: SO not welcome around the Sally Fowler Rat Pack).
Back to tennis: Nothing has impressed me, and most of my colleagues, more this past fortnight (outside of the utter mass-production-line efficiency of Wimby's ball boys and ball girls) than the conduct, comportment and professionalism of Serena and Venus Williams. What we are witnessing here, friends, are the two best American-born-and-bred female tennis players since Chris Evert Lloyd Mill Norman Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, playing the best tennis of their careers.
But more than that, they have fully embraced their magnificence, their identities -- and identity collectively -- and their roles in American life. Simply put, neither of the two sisters have made nary an unforced error, on or off the court, since they arrived. And as much as folks want to slam the maniacal martinet that is their dad, Richard, he must have done something right (along with their mom, Oracene Price) to have produced such people.
Wow. What a shock. If you see any presses around, you might want to stop them.
Brett Favre - the man who set the NFL mark for hasty decisions he'd soon regret with 288 interceptions - has the "itch" to return to the NFL, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Mort also reports that Favre's family has been "tugging" on him to play.
"Itching"? "Tugging"? Favre's got everything going there but swelling and painful burning.
Whether this is a story or not depends on what kind of "itch" it is. Is it an"itch" similar to the one I get when I want to up and fly to Vegas for seven days of non-stop golfin', gamblin', cussin', dippin' and fightin'?
If so, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers have nothing to worry about. It'll pass.
But if it's an itch similar to the one I get when I want to mow the lawn (and I do like to mow the lawn), well then that's a horse of a different zip code.
Before the fortnight even began here at the All England, one word was ingrained in my head:
SCONEHENGE: A replica, perhaps not life-sized, of that masterpiece of Druid architecture, constructed entirely with scones. How could this not reflect the timeless grace and understated refinement that is Wimbledon? A henge of scone. Just imagine...
I bided my time. Mary Carillo knows me well, and Mary loves wacky ... nutty ... OK, sometimes just plain cheesy. But there are a lot of people here at Wimbledon who, I don't know, seem to have this reverent awe for tennis, like it's special or something.
Yesterday I hatched the plan. While Mary was sitting in make-up, and thus unable to scurry (she SO big-times everyone with that domineering attitude of hers) , I flashed her a photo of Stonehenge. And then a photo of a scone.
She looked at me as if I were crazy.
Then I simply mouthed, "Sconehenge."
If you Google it, you'll read under the second link down: "Founded in 1975, CAA is one of Hollywood's top talent agencies...".
Back in Phoenix, AZ at the Super Bowl, CAA hosted a private party in Scottsdale at some swanky hotel. Apparently a few people knew about it because we pulled up and the line of cars waiting for valet wrapped around the block. I'd just wrapped up shooting at the Playboy Party and had the night to go out and meet up with friends. After handing off the keys to a kid barely older then 17, I was standing under a massive white tent lit by glaring bright lights and not far from a distant rumble of music. To the right a shall-not-be-named-QB was macking on some girl and to the left was the entrance to the party. Passed the bouncers, across the courtyard and once inside, it was a candy store with every major player (not necessarily just athletes but them plus all the big names in the 480 area code) letting their guard down to have a good time.
No media. No cameras. No questions.
Perfect.
At this point I've interviewed a "little black book" list of famous athletes. Not to down play my job, but it gets to the point where I know I'm there to ask questions and not fawn over having met so-and-so. I leave that duty to all of my friends. For the most part that way of thinking works (To quote the classic Anchorman- "60% of the time it works every time"). Except that night in Scottsdale when I looked across the room and saw him.
No bigger then 5' 9" according to his stats, he barely covered me in height (gotta love those damn high heels.) But he carried an aura that represented what I grew up loving about football; a guy I've rooted for his entire professional career in the NFL. I'd never interviewed this one. I'd never met this one. The following minutes of what happened next played out so storybook typical of fan finally meeting star.
In my replay it goes-
Just after midday here in Studio 4 on what would qualify as a beach day even in Laguna. Or Altoona. Nothing but sunshine and blue skies. Just outside our studio is Court 18 where the greatest player of all time, Martina Navratilova, is playing doubles in the Ladies Invitation draw. Pretty cool! Martina Navatilova.
Martina. Has any sports star, not just tennis player, ever redefined herself or himself more dramatically in mid-career? I mean, for the better? Martina was a top player in the late '70s whose head was her own worst enemy. No one ever got more down on themselves, in such an outward manner, during a match.
Then she became an American citizen in 1981, discovered fitness, hair coloring and contact lenses and rattled off the most impressive string of singles titles in either men's or women's history. Before 1981, when she was already 25? Three Grand Slam singles titles, two of them here.
After 1981? Fifteen Grand Slam singles titles.
Very impressive. In fact, no one in tennis has ever been more impressive. So impressive that some of us in Studio 4 are discussing what would be the ideal title for a drink named after her:
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