mb palaver

MusicPalaver: Melbourne -- I Want To Go To There

It seems television coverage of every Grand Slam tennis tournament includes about five commercials, run about a thousand times each.  After watching untold hours of the Australian Open coverage, I could do without ever again watching men in meat ponchos trying to outrun hungry wolves while wearing Degree deodorant, and it bothers me that I find myself humming the Franklin Templeton Investments theme song.  But I loved the Melbourne tourism ad.  It showed people bundled up in a cold gray city, who look into a picture frame and see folks Down Under strolling on the beach and sipping cocktails in strapless dresses, while a woman softly sings "I wanna go, I wanna go where you go when you're gone."  It reminded me of a comment Dubliner posted on here about the Australian Open a few years ago:   "But perhaps what's most appealing to me is that I get a glimpse of sunshine and warm weather in the depths of winter here."

The song is "A Heart Divided" by Sydney native Holly Throsby.  You can watch Holly sing the song on youtube, and buy it on iTunes.

SportsPalaver: Australian Open Finals

Tonight in Melbourne (tomorrow morning our time), Belgian/New Jersey girl Kim Clijsters will take on China's Li Na for the Australian Open women's title.  I can't imagine rooting against Kim, but how can you not love Li Na, particularly after the grit she showed on Thursday, surviving match point at 5-4 in the second set to beat Caroline Wozniacki in three? 

I'm much less excited about the men's final, even though it will probably be a great match.  Yesterday Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in one semi, and today David Ferrer went down to Andy Murray.   Rafael Nadal, who seemed to be suffering a hamstring injury, lost in the quarters to Ferrer.  This will be the first men's grand slam final without Roger or Rafa in years.  It is sad.  And in a Murray/Djoko final I don't really care who wins.  That's no fun -- I like to be tortured when I watch.  By the way, they keep talking about how if Murray wins he'll be the first British man to win a grand slam tournament since Fred Perry in 1936.  How about a shout-out to Scotland?  I'm just saying. (In another first, Li Na is now the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam final.)

Coverage of both matches begins at 3:00 am ET on ESPN2 -- the women's final on Saturday, and the men's on Sunday.  For those who aren't night owls and don't have DVRs, ESPN2 will be replaying the matches later in the morning.

 

Photo from the official site of the Australian Open.

SportsPalaver: US Open 2010 -- Foot Faults and Upsets

 

Nothing like a tennis major to pull mbpalaver out of mothballs.  The US Open is well underway.  Today was a mixed bag for American men.  Eighteen year-old qualifier Ryan Harrison managed to upset 15th seed Ivan Ljubicic, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4.  Later, 9th seed Andy Roddick went down to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in four sets.  I don't recall seeing Tipsarevic play before, but he played amazingly well, and kept his cool during Roddick's extended tantrum over a foot fault call.  The above photo of Justin Bieber looking up in awe during Ryan's on-court interview with Pam Shriver was my favorite image of the night until I saw how tickled pink this guy was at capturing Roddick's foot fault hissy fit on his iPhone. 

 

Or maybe this one of iPhone guy and his seat mates all turning to look at a foot fault hissy fit joke made by Bobby Cannavale (or his lookalike), on the left.

 

With Roddick's latest display of boorish behavior, you have to wonder what he would have to do for the crowd not to cheer for him.  Pummel the line judge to within an inch of her life?

Edited to Add:  In a weird Internet twist reminiscent of the movie Vantage Point, mysterywriter found iPhone guy's video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gTmoUSqloI

 

 

SportsPalaver: What a Week It Was at Wimbledon

I've been wanting to post all week about Wimbledon, but I've been in too deep a news blackout to risk  going online.  As is traditional, there is no play today, the middle Sunday, so I am safe.  The week started out with Roger Federer coming close to losing in the first round.  If you heard the score of his match against Alejandro Falla (5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-0) after the fact, you might have thought gee, that was tough, but of course Roger pulled it out.  Yet it really looked like he was going to lose.  In fact, the announcers were referring to it as an upset before he turned things around in the third set.  There was no way I'd be able to avoid the news if he lost.  So I did what any self-respecting tennis fan with nothing urgent waiting in the office would do:  I took the morning off.

When on Wednesday I heard rumblings that something historic was going on at Wimbledon, I avoided email, news headlines, my car radio, and even skipped getting my mail in case there was someone in the lobby looking to ruin my day.  I didn't find out until after watching seven hours of tennis that American John Isner and French qualifier Nicolas Mahut had still not finished the match that had been called for darkness Tuesday night.  That meant I had to stay in a deep news blackout all day Thursday as well.  As you know unless you've been in a news blackout of your own, Isner finally won the match on Thursday, 70-68 in the fifth.  I was surprised:  Mahut looked fresh as a daisy in the longest match in history, while Isner seemed like he might need to be carried off the court.  Not surprisingly, Isner was too spent to put up a fight in the next round, losing to Thiemo De Bakker (6-0, 6-3, 6-2).  Will Wimbledon break with tradition and add a tie-breaker at some point in the 5th?  I sure hope so.   No one should have to play 183 games, as they did, in one match.

The best news of the tournament (for me) was that I've been watching it on MY BRAND NEW 46" HDTV.   I am deadline driven in all things, and Wimbledon was my deadline for getting a new TV.  I bought it Saturday, and a friend came over to set it up Sunday (thanks Ken!).  Now I can even watch two matches at once.  You can find American TV listings here, with no risk of spoilers.  In addition to ESPN2, this week NBC is also carrying matches for a few hours in the middle of the day.

 

SportsPalaver: Australian Open 2010

Baby, it's cold outside, but it's summery warm Down Under, and the Australian Open is nearing its finish.  Today Andy Murray, left (doing an impersonation of an emu), defeated Marin Cilic in four sets to reach one men's semi.  The other -- pitting Roger Federer against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -- will air live on Friday at 3:30 am EST on ESPN2.  The men's final will air Sunday at 3:30 am EST.

On the women's side, Serena Williams will play the newly un-retired Justine Henin for the championship Saturday at 3:30 am EST.  In her last two matches I thought Serena was on her way out.  I'm not a big fan of her behavior at times, but she is one remarkable competitor.

In addition to the live match times given above, the matches will be rerun on both ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel at various times.  You can find the full schedule (including doubles) at tennis.com.

Photo from www.australianopen.com.

 

SportsPalaver: Nadal and Gonzalez Resume Saturday (Weather Permitting)

Friday was a complete wash-out at the US Open.  CBS coverage of the rest of the Nadal/Gonzalez quarterfinal match will begin Saturday at noon.  Showers are expected tomorrow, so who knows when it'll really start.  Or end:  they've now scheduled the men's final for Monday at 4.

It looks like coverage over the weekend will be a combination of CBS and ESPN2.  You can find updated info here, though be cautious about going to usopen.org if you are watching on tape delay.  Belated kudos to Lynn for sticking it out until midnight Thursday night in the cold rain.  Look on the bright side: at least you saw some great tennis until the rain delay.  Today's ticket holders really must be bumming.

SportsPalaver: A Rainy Night in Flushing Meadows

This year's US Open has been so exciting -- huge upsets on the women's side; comebacks from back surgery (Taylor Dent), mono (John Isner), and motherhood/retirement (Kim Clijsters); and the meteoric rise of 17-year old American wunderkind, Melanie Oudin, who made it to the quarters.  (Speaking of which, to the right is yours truly playing in the girls' 18 and under finals of the Monongalia County Open in 1979.  I lost, but at least I got my picture in the paper.  I just wish the photographer had waited until I hit a second serve.)

After 10 days of mostly beautiful weather, though, the rains have hit.  The Nadal/Gonzalez quarterfinal match, which had an hour long rain delay earlier in the evening, has been halted again in the middle of the second set tiebreaker (Nadal won the first set in a tiebreaker). (By the way, when did "tiebreakers" become "tiebreaks"?  Are we really too busy for that extra schwa-r?)

It's now midnight, and it sounds as if they think they're still going to get this match in tonight.  Rafa's got what seems to be a brutal abdominal injury, so playing late into the night in the cold and wind can't be good for him.  Staying up to see what happens can't be good for me.

There's lots of rain in the NY forecast over the next two days, so the schedule might not hold, but here's the plan:  CBS will be airing the women's semis (starting with Kim Clijsters vs. Serena Williams) beginning at 12:30 tomorrow, followed by the men's doubles final; the men's semis Saturday at noon; women's final at 8 pm Saturday, and men's final Sunday at 4.  The women's doubles final will be carried by ESPN2 Sunday at 1.  You can find the schedule of play here.  Let's hope for unexpectedly nice weather.

This just in:  they've called it for the night.  (As McEnroe just said, you cannot be serious!)  No word yet on when they'll resume, but before the women's semis tomorrow afternoon is a good bet.  (Or maybe they'll play in the morning and ESPN2 will carry it, since they were carrying the match tonight.  Note to self:  check usopen.org in the a.m. and adjust DVR settings accordingly, thus averting catastrophe.)   Since the winner will have to play his semifinal on Saturday, I assume they won't want to keep them waiting too long.

SportsPalaver: US Open Series in Mason, Ohio

Raphael Nadal's world ranking has dropped to number 3, but he's seeded second at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio.  It's Roger Federer who has to get past Andy Murray, new world #2 and seeded third in the tournament, not to mention the new and improved Andy Roddick, seeded fifth, to get to the finals.  I suppose some day I'll get tired of rooting for Roger.  I'm not there yet.

TV coverage of the tournament starts tomorrow on the Tennis Channel and ESPN2.  The final will be on CBS Sunday at 12:30.

Last week the women played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.  On Sunday, Jelena Jankovic defeated Dinara Safina to take the title, with my parents cheering them on.  This is a particularly good time of year to live in southwestern Ohio (putting aside the beastly heat).

 

 

Photo of Gilles Simon by Tom Guenther

SportsPalaver: Australian Open 2009

Jelena Jankovic questions a line call:  Whaaaaaaaaattt????

Every 30 days or so a colleague comes into my office to drop off our monthly backlog report.  Times goes by so quickly these days that when I see her approaching with the report in hand I'm put in mind of movies showing the passage of time with an image of a calendar's pages fluttering away with increasing speed.  That's how I felt when I realized the Australian Open was starting:  didn't I just do a post on that?  Of course, it's been a year.  And a week -- I am delayed, though with the good excuse of having been distracted by Inaugural mania.  On the plus side, there's still time to jump in for some quarterfinals matches.

As always with the Australian Open, it's challenging to watch here in the U.S.  Matches start in the evening east coast time, so unless you have insomnia, work the swing shift, or have a newborn baby, you'll be watching most of it on tape delay.  You'll have to live in a news bubble, answer the phone with "don't tell me who won," and shun friends who just can't help themselves.  You'll also have to have a pay TV service:  only ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel are carrying it.  The women's final airs here on ESPN2 Saturday at 3:30 am, and the men's Sunday at 3:30 am.  The matches will also be repeated at various times for nonvampires.

You can find draws, live scores, and everything else you could possibly want to know at the tournament website -- just don't go there if you're watching -- or will be watching -- a taped match.  You can find the US television schedule at this link on Tennis magazine's website without risk of unintended disclosure.

SportsPalaver: Guess Who's Back . . . Roger's Back

 

You might be wondering why I haven't posted lately.  You might think I have nothing to say.  That is, those of you who've never met me might think that.  In reality, I blame Roger Federer, Serena Williams, the DNC, the RNC, and Dell, because the last two weeks I have been obsessively watching hours and hours of the US Open and the political conventions, leaving me little time to eat, wash, or figure out whom to vote for in tomorrow's DC primary, much less post some palaver.  And that's where Dell comes in. I only have 256 MB of RAM.  I've somehow managed with that for five years, but my computer is, it seems, dying.  And angry.  I will fix this situation.  In the meantime, I will contemplate Roger's tremendous run at the US Open.  And hope that I'll also make a comeback.