The US Open is the shit!

There's always next year Rod-Dick...

If you aren't watching the US Open tennis tournament, you are clearly missing out. This has been a ridiculously exciting tournament so far, with tons of upsets on the women's side, some surprises on the men's side, and an unbelievable crowd in Flushing Meadows.

Here are my thoughts so far:

On the women's draw, we've already seen the #1 player (Dinara Safina) eliminated in the 3rd round. In the 4th round, Venus Williams got bounced by Kim Clijsters who has been playing extremely well since taking 2 years off to semi-retire after having a daughter and also losing her father. Serena Williams looks as dominant as ever as she hasn't lost a set all tournament. But the biggest surprise yet is this 17 year old American chick by the name of Melanie Oudin. Considered an after thought at the beginning of the tournament, she went on to win her first round match easily, then took out #4 ranked Elena Dementieva of Russia in round 2 for the first major upset of the tournament. Still clearly an underdog, she then took out hottie Maria Sharapova in the 3rd round when no one thought she had a chance. Yesterday, she faced her third ranked Russian player in a row, Nadia Petrova, and beat her in 3 sets to move onto the quarterfinals.

Melanie Oudin, what a story so far...

Now listen, I'm not a huge fan of women's tennis, but this run is pretty damn captivating. Yeah, she might lose in the quarters but this run she is on is amazing. The fact that she's doing it during the US Open is what makes it so special because the crowd is really what is lifting her during every match. I've never seen such a homecourt advantage in tennis before, so if you aren't watching this chick, start watching tomorrow when she plays again.

On the men's side, most of the big guns are still alive except for mister Andy Roddick who lost to fellow American John Isner in the 3rd round. Wow, that was quite the upset. Roddick seemed to be gaining momentum, especially after taking Federer to the wire during the Wimbledon finals. Oh well, there's always next year. Isner promptly lost yesterday in the 4th round, meaning that no US men's player would reach the quarterfinals for the first time in tournament history. Nice job US men.

The top 4 seeds are still alive (Federer, Murray, Nadal, Djokovic) and it'd be shocking if all 4 didn't make the semifinals on Saturday since they've been so dominant in their matches so far. Did anyone see Djokovic's match last night? Well, he completely dominated Stepanek but the best part was after the match when he did John McEnroe impersonations and then challenged him to come down from the TV booth and play a few points with him. High comedy and it definitely won the crowd over.

Djokovic and McEnroe horsing around last night. Great moment.

One of the best matches of the tournament so far had to be when Taylor Dent from the US battled Ivan Navarro from Spain. The match went to a 5th set tiebreaker and Dent pulled it out 11-9 with the help of the crowd. This was another example of homecourt advantage as the US fans were going nuts the entire time, just giving Dent the will to win the match. What a great story it was because Dent had been sidelined for 2 years after undergoing multiple back surgeries and was genuinely just happy to be competing again. After he won his match, he took the chair umpires microphone and thanked the fans for helping him pull the match out. He then did a lap around the stadium slapping hands with everyone and signing autographs. It was a great moment.

Taylor Dent

Again, if you aren't watching this shit, you are missing out big time! And reminder: I'm going to Super Saturday (both men's semifinal matches) this weekend baby!

17 down, 16 more to go

Random hot chick

Sox finally got a win in the series behind a strong pitching effort by Jon Lester. We need both him and Beckett to be on point if we're going to make the playoffs and succeed if we, in fact, do get there. Today we have Beckett pitching, which typically makes me feel good, but considering his performance lately, I'd feel lucky if we were able to split this series. I'd have more of an analysis of yesterday's game, but I'm way too hungover from a whole weekend of drinking so I don't really want to think about anything other than the picture of this hot chick.

16 down, 17 more to go

Oh by the way, college football kicked off last night as well.

Well, we finally won a series down in Tampa Bay. That place has been hell for us the last few years. Clay Buchholz pitched well and the bullpen held down the fort as the Sox took the series with a 6-3 win. Bay, Youkilis and Victor Martinez continue to rake at the plate and hopefully our offense continues to produce runs nightly from here on out. Up next is another 4 game set versus the White Sox (this time it's in Chicago), and while we took 3 of 4 against the ChiSox last week at Fenway, I'd be happy if we go 2-2 against them in their ballpark.

Further proof that the National League is inferior

This is the only thing good about the National League.

Ex-Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny pitched 8 scoreless innings for the Giants last night in their win over the Phillies. I'm sure people are wondering "why the hell couldn't he do that shit for the Red Sox?" Well the simple answer is because the National League sucks. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. Why the hell do you think that National League pitchers are hesitant to move to the American League and why American League pitchers all salivate at the chance to pitch in the National League? It's not just that you get a free out in the National League (pitcher has to hit), but it's also because the teams are simply inferior to American League teams. Seriously, just do a search on Interleague play records and you'll see which league is better. Look at the results of the last 4367246327423 all star games and you'll see which league is better. The fact that John Smoltz and Brad Penny can combine for 14 shutout innings in their respective National League debuts this season just further proves it.

Did David Wright's head shrink?

David Wright keeping his HEAD in the game...

Look at the new helmet David Wright wore last night. That thing is gi-normous! Reports indicate that this helmet will withstand pitches of up to 100mph hitting it, but does it withstand the ridicule and shame from the rest of the league, media, and fans? The fact that I'm blogging about it answers that question.


I wouldn't wear that helmet if you paid me. It looks like its 5 sizes too big.

Images courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

15 down, 18 more to go

The Red Sox FINALLY won in Tampa Bay and it wasn't easy. Staked to a 7-2 lead in the 8th, Okajima promptly came in and allowed 5 consecutive batters to reach, giving up 2 runs and leaving the bases loaded with no outs and only a 7-4 lead. Papelbon came in and shut down the side without giving up another run, then set down the Rays 1-2-3 in the 9th for the save. To be clear, this would have been an EPIC loss if we blew this game. It would've been so bad that I would've stopped the countdown to 95 games and probably quit blogging. That's how annoyed I was getting. This was a very important game because of, not only the wild card race, but because of the fact that we haven't won shit in Tampa Bay the last few years. I brought out the big guns tonight and decided to post a picture of Megan Fox so everybody better fuckin enjoy this.

Still my favorite tennis player

17 years old when he won the French Open

The first round of the US Open began yesterday in Flushing Meadows, New York. For the next two weeks, these tennis players will be battling their asses off in an effort to become crowned champion. We all know who it will probably be. It most likely will be either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, or the man with the best name on tour: Andy Roddick (haha he said "rod" and "dick"). These are the top 5 ranked players in the world for a reason. It's because they're fuckin nasty. After that, there's a pretty big dropoff in talent.

So I'm sure some of you are wondering "who the fuck is that Chinese guy in the picture?" Well, that Chinese guy is Michael Chang, winner of the French Open in 1989 and also my favorite tennis player of all time. Note: he is not my favorite tennis player solely because he is Chinese, although that is a similarity that cannot be missed. He's my favorite tennis player because his game was very similar to the style I played in high school. In case you didn't know, I played tennis for one year at Stoneham High (senior year) and managed to land the #2 singles spot in the rotation. Just like Michael Chang, I was quick, not that powerful, focused, never gave up on a point no matter how badly the rally was going, and oh yeah, I was Chinese too.

From wikipedia.com regarding his famous 4th round match against Ivan Lendl:

Chang's most famous match took place at the 1989 French Open, which was Chang's only Grand Slam singles title. In the fourth round, he faced the World No. 1, reigning Australian Open champion, and three-time former French Open champion Ivan Lendl. Conventional wisdom made Lendl the heavy favorite to win the match against the 15th seeded and 17-year-old Chang.

Everything seemed to be going to form when Lendl comfortably took the first two sets 6–4, 6–4 and then broke Chang's serve in the opening game of the third set. But Chang broke back immediately and went on to claim the third set 6–3. Part way through the fourth set, Chang experienced a severe attack of leg cramps, and was on the verge of retiring from the match. Up 2-1 in the fifth set, Chang walked towards the chair umpire to concede the match, reaching the service line when he felt "an unbelievable conviction in my heart" to not give up, and subsequently made it his goal to finish the match win or lose. Fighting to stay in the match, Chang resorted to some novel tactics. For a period, he began taking all speed out of the match by playing "moon balls", and also began to go for more winners in order to shorten the points.

The success of these tactics caused Lendl, who was known to be one of the calmest players, to lose his rhythm. He began to swear at the umpire and the crowd, especially after losing a key point in the fifth set when Chang shocked him by delivering an under-arm serve. Chang later explained, "I was trying to break his concentration. I would do anything to stay out there." (That underhanded serve achieved cult status among amateurs and, at least in Chang's hometown area of Southern California, it was not unheard of to see juniors emulate the swing in desperation while trying to come back from behind in a match during the 1990s.)

Barely able to stand, and screaming with pain after many of his shots, Chang continued to battle on. Despite being on the verge of physical breakdown, he fought his way to a 5–3 lead in the fifth set with two match points on Lendl's serve. Aiming to break Lendl's concentration one more time, Chang stood well inside the baseline, almost at the T-line in the centre of the court while waiting to receive Lendl's serve (an almost suicidal position when facing an opponent's serve). The tactic worked as Lendl produced a double-fault to give Chang the victory, 4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3 in four hours and 37 minutes. Chang sank to his knees and broke down in tears at the conclusion of the match. Seven days later, he became the youngest male champion in Grand Slam history, a victory that inspired fellow American peers Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, and Andre Agassi to subsequently win Grand Slams.

Now I'm sure some of you are now wondering "well if he won the French Open, then why the hell are you posting a picture of him when the US Open just started?" Well, my friends, today is the 22nd anniversary of Michael Chang winning his first US Open match. Yup, this day 22 years ago, a 15 year old chink walked into Flushing Meadows and beat a guy by the name of Paul McNamee in 4 sets to become the youngest player ever to win a US Open match. I'm not sure if that record still stands, but regardless, it's still pretty damn impressive. Despite the odds, this guy managed to win a bunch of tennis matches based on heart and determination. That's the kind of guy we can all root for.

I can't wait to see this live.

So I guess my question is: who's going to win the US Open this year? Do you think it will be one of the top 5 players, someone else in the top 25, or a relative no name who will come out of nowhere to shock the world like Michael Chang? As always, poll on the right.

By the way: I'm going to Super Saturday baby! We're going to see both men's semifinal matches. I am pumped.