So this is off topic but after this weekend I am a little bothered by the BCS and Oklahoma being picked to play in the Big 12 Championships. I am a Texas fan, have been since I was in middle school. This year they did well. They ended the season 11-1. Their one loss came to Texas Tech. Texas beat Oklahoma. Oklahoma beat Texas Tech. So there was a three way tie since all three teams ended the season 11-1. It was left up to who was ranked higher in the BCS. Texas was ranked higher last week but after the weekend Oklahoma leap froged them. I think that it should have been decided head to head between the two top ranked teams and since Texas beat Oklahoma then they would be the Big 12 South Champion. Texas beat OU by 20 points on a neutral field. They lost to Texas Tech in the last seconds of the game. That was the last game on a 4 week straight top 25 teams schedule for Texas. I honestly think at that point they were tired and that factored into their loss. I have a hard time finding respect for OU. They are known for running up the score. I think that it is class-less and not a good way to show sportsmanship when you are running up the score. In OU’s game on Saturday there was a point half-way through the fourth quarter that it was obivous they were going to win. I think the classy move would to remove your starting quarterback.I commend Mack Brown for taking Colt McCoy out of the game in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M. I think a problem stems from the voters rewarding teams for huge scores. I think it is also interesting that in the computer averages Alabama is ranked 3rd behind OU and Texas. I think it would be interesting if the National Championship was a rematch of OU vs Texas. I sure wouldn’t complain.
Nadal withdraws from the Tennis Masters Cup Tuesday, Nov 4 2008
Uncategorized Davydenko, del Potro, Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal, Roddick, Simon, tennis, Tennis Masters Cup, Tsonga 4:35 pm
The world’s number one, Rafael Nadal, has withdrawed from the Tennis Masters Cup due to a knee injury on Monday. This is a big deal. The Tennis Master’s Cup is a year end tournament for the top 8 tennis players in the world. The 8 players are split up into two groups and then they participate in round robin play. This way those in each group play each other and then the best of each group play to be the winner. I would believe that this has to be a hard decision for him to make since getting into the Master’s Cup is what you are working towards the whole year. Though I do believe that it is very important to take care of one”s health. You wouldn’t want to have a minor injury that could turn into a major one because you decided to participate any way. The eight that will be participating are:
- Roger Federer
- Novak Djokovic
- Andy Murray
- Nikolay Davydenko
- Andy Roddick
- Jo- Wilfried Tsonga
- Juan Martin del Potro
- Giles Simon
The tournament starts on Sunday.
Season too long? Saturday, Oct 25 2008
Uncategorized season, tennis 5:18 pm
It has been debated that the tennis season is too long. The tennis season starts in January and ends in November. This is the longest season of any sports. A lot of injuries could be because of the lack of an off season. The top players have to play a lot of tournaments to keep their ranking up since they have to defend points. Those that are not top ranked have to play a lot of tournaments in hopes of getting to move up the rankings. I would say that the season should end after the US Open which ends in the beginning of September. Then they could start in January and they would get some much needed rest. Tennis is not like any sport. The tournaments are all over the world. You could play a tournament in the States, then head to Europe and then come back to the States for another one. I really think that they need to change the tennis season for the health of the players.
Breaking Back Tuesday, Oct 21 2008
Uncategorized book, James Blake, tennis 2:27 pm
If you are a tennis fan or just a fan of a good book I recommend “Breaking Back” by James Blake. A little background information is that in 2004 James Blake fractured his neck, then he lost his father to stomach cancer, and then he got Zosters-which paralyzed half of his face. This book tells the story of that year and how he came back from it all to have an incredible year. It is a very inspirational story. I loved the book, I read it in one day. I already had a lot of respect for James Blake but after reading this I gained even more respect. He didn’t give up- and that is very inspiring.
“It’s one of those wonderful correlations between tennis and life: the
only way to succeed where you’ve failed before is not to dwell on the
past, but to keep your mind on the task before you.”-James Blake
Money Monday, Oct 20 2008
Uncategorized money, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer 6:20 am
Roger Federer is now on the top of the career money list for the ATP. He has made $43.3 million. He has surpassed Pete Sampras. Sampras’ total was $43.2 million. It must be nice to have made that much money so far and that is not even counting the money Federer makes in endorsements.
Surgery Thursday, Oct 16 2008
Uncategorized knee, surgery 5:21 pm
This is going to be off topic. I found out yesterday that I am going to be having knee surgery in December, most likely the week after I graduate. I have been in so much pain since May and it just seems to get worse instead of better despite having a cortisone injection and wearing a brace and doing exercises. I am not too worried about the surgery. The doctor said he has had good success with the surgery and that the good news is it can’t make my knee worse. He will be doing a scope to check things out and then a lateral release which is cutting the liagments so my knee cap will move and then he is going to remove my plica. I am ready to get it over with so I can start getting better.
Miracle in Murfreesboro Sunday, Oct 5 2008
Uncategorized ESPN, FAU, football, MTSU 4:30 pm
This is off topic.
For those who know much about Middle Tennessee State University football the phrase Miracle in Murfreesboro has a bitter memory. This is what Troy calls the game in 2006 in which they scored two touchdowns in two minutes to come from behind and win the game and take the New Orleans Bowl away from the Raiders. Now we got our Miracle in Murfreesboro on a night that we had the first nationally broadcasted home game from Floyd Stadium on ESPN 2. The game was probably one of the worst games I have ever watched but the last 5:22 of the game was worth it. We were down 10-0 and with 5:22 left in the game we scored a touchdown to bring the score to 10-7. Then FAU was only able to get a field goal in, which brought the score to 13-7 with 1:15 left in the game. Most people would just say that the game was over…but anyone that has been to most MTSU games would know that the game is never over till the time has run out. They made a good play to gain some more yards and then they had a couple of bad plays. It was 9 seconds and Craddock threw a hail mary to the endzone. Malcolm Beyah jumped up into the air and caught the ball and scored the game tying touchdown. I wasn’t exactly sure he caught it, I had to wait to see it from the officals because from up in the press box, where I was, all I had saw during the catch was a lot of white jerseys. When the officals gave the signal, I was so excited. But then as FAU kept calling timeouts and trying to freeze our freshman kicker Alan Gendreau out, I began to get a little nervous. I really didn’t want to go to overtime. Finally Gendreau was able to kick the extra point and we won the game. I was so excited. After we got all our work done in the press box some of us stayed to watch Sports Center and got to see the clip. The next day I saw the clip on ESPN and ESPN 2 atleast 5 times. I think the best part was that they never talked about how horrible we had played that game. For once we were getting some positive media coverage. And it was nice to have them point out, that we were the only team to have beat Maryland at that point. Future tip to anyone going to be at a MTSU game never leave till it’s over.
China Open Thursday, Oct 2 2008
Uncategorized Andy Roddick, charity, tennis 9:55 am
Andy Roddick won Sunday at the China Open, which brings his ATP titles total for the year at 3. He won 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 against the Dudi Sela from Israel, who is ranked 92nd. Andy is donating $25,000 of his winnings from the tournament to help bring relief to those who were affected by the earthquake in the Sichuan Province back in May. I think that it is great that he is donating money to help out those in need. I am not surprised that he would do this. He has his own charity and he seems to be the type of person who helps those who are less fortunate then him.
Davis Cup Update Friday, Sep 19 2008
Uncategorized 2:16 am
Davis Cup is starting Friday. This week there was a change to the United States Team. Mardy Fish has replaced Bob Bryan and will be playing doubles with Mike Bryan. Bob Bryan had to pull out because he has an injuried left shoulder. I am a little biased (Mardy Fish is my favorite tennis player) but I think Mardy will do a good job. He has been playing good tennis this year. He even beat Roger Federer back in the spring. The United States team does have their work cut out for them since they will be playing against Spain on clay which is not a good service for American tennis players.
The picture above is from the Davis Cup Website and was taken by Paul Zimmer.
Davis Cup Wednesday, Sep 10 2008
Uncategorized 4:02 pm
The United States Davis Cup team was announced on Tuesday. Andy Roddick, Bob and Mike Bryan will be returning but there is a new addition to the team: Sam Querrey. He is taking the spot that once belonged to James Blake. Team will be taking on Spain in Madrid, September 19-21. They will be playing on an outdoor clay service which isn’t good for the Americans who struggle on clay. Spain’s team consists of Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, and Feliciano Lopez. These best of 5 series match is one of the two semi-finals taking place on the weekend of September 19-21. The other semi-final is taking place between Argentina and Russia. There are playoffs also happening which are between: Chile-Australia, Great Britain- Austria, Switzerland-Belgium, Croatia-Brazil, Israel-Peru, Netherlands-Korea, Romania-India, and Slovak Republic-Serbia.
For those who do not know Davis Cup is a team competition between countries. The format consists of best of 5 matches-4 singles matches and one doubles- takes play over a weekend in one of the countries. The host country has the benefit of picking the event location and the surface which it will be played on- which is key since there are surfaces that certain countries struggle playing on, such as the United States with clay. On Friday the two singles matches are held. Saturday is the doubles match. Then on Sunday the singles matches are reversed. If one of the countries has already won by Sunday, they usually do not use their top singles players to play the two singles matches on Sunday. Davis Cup started in 1900. It is considered an honor to be asked to be apart of the Davis Cup team since you are representing your country.
