Momentous Moments from Melbourne

Australian tennis fans would have loved nothing more than to see one of their own win their Grand Slam. It has been thirty-three years since the host nation saw a compatriot hoist the trophy in triumph, since Chris O’Neil concluded that last great era that introduced other greats such as Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court and Kerry Melville Reid on the tennis world. It has been even longer for the gentlemen, Mark Edmondson concluding the... Read More

Previewing the 2010 Australian Open: Doubles Edition

We’re mere hours from the start of the 2011 Australian Open. The preview is coming late, and this is the first time in four years that I’m not linked into cable television for the tournament. (For all my gripes about television, the main one is the cost — yet somehow it ended up that my wife and I were plugged at that moment in three different domiciles in three consecutive years.) I’m also without internet at the house still, over a month... Read More

2010 U.S. Open – Day 7-8 Musings…

Labor Day weekend arrived in Queens as the middle weekend of the 2010 U.S. Open continued to play through its various draws. The sun continued shining down on the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, causing some players to stand tall and others still to wilt in the heat. With the way in which the first Sunday and Labor Day Monday inextricably link one another and are the buffer between the chaos of the first week and the tightening... Read More

2010 U.S. Open – Day 4 Musings…

In the wake of that blundering performance by Andy Roddick on Wednesday night, the U.S. Open reawakened on Thursday with renewed purpose as those players still alive in the touranment got back to the business of playing tennis. I spoke my nickel’s worth earlier today in my weekly column about the aftermath of Roddick’s behavior and even offered a few links to other people’s writing on the subject there. So for those who didn’t... Read More

NTSF 102: Final majors of 2010 in cycling and tennis, soccer’s tournament cycle begins anew and more…

Wow… seems that the beer my wife bought me last night really did a number on me. As I sat in front of the computer on Wednesday, digesting the 22 ounces of Bourbon County Brand Stout by Goose Island Brewery (13.0% alcohol by volume) and trying to finish up stage recaps from the Vuelta and musings from the U.S. Open and yes, this column as well, I instead felt my eyelids falling, falling, falling… Read More  Read More

Next Page »