Gordon Dunk

So the Ben Gordon issue is still unresolved, but it looks like he's going to have to take the 1 year contract and become an unrestricted free agent next year. I think the Bulls just put too much faith into their unproven rookie, Derrick Rose. Gordon's work ethic is rare and the Bull's front office should just forget about luxury tax and build a good team. There are no Jordans and Pippens out there. They're going to have to spend money to get a good team.


Ben Gordon showing up to practice with no contract already says something about his character. Do you think Marbury (who's in a similar situation) of the Knicks would do the same?

Closing Day

It was a near perfect day in baseball yesterday. The Yankees were rained out on Saturday, so they had a double header yesterday to close out their season. The Mets had their last game in Shea Stadium... a game that also determined if they would make the post-season or not.

Marlins vs. Mets
The Mets had a 3-game lead at the beginning of the month... a one-year anniversary of their 7-game lead from last year and the greatest collapse in the history of baseball. They repeated this year, although in less colossal fashion. It was a slower death because the Phillies had a stronger surge last year. This time around, the Mets were battling the Brewers for the wild card spot. If both won or lost their games, there would've be a one-game playoff to decide who moves on. The Brewers beat the Cubs and the Mets lost a heartbreaker against the Marlins. It must be embarrassing to lose the stadium closer and lose the playoff spot all in one shot.

Yankees vs. Red Sox Game 1
This game actually had more meaning than the season closer because Mike Mussina was finally able to break his curse of being stuck with 19 wins. So Moose has now reached 2,000 Ks, 200 wins and 20 wins in a season while with the Yankees. All of the starters (except Jeter because he was injured) played this game because they wanted to get the win for him. There's talk of Mussina retiring, but I hope he comes back in pinstripes next year. When a pitcher wins 20 games, I would look past the age. He could also become the last pitcher in MLB history to record 300 wins if he plays 2 more seasons.

Yankees vs. Red Sox Game 2
This one didn't end the way I wanted it to, but at least the Yankees won the 3-game series and fought 'til the end. I have to blame this one on a bone-headed play by Melky Cabrera. He dove for a fly ball that he clearly couldn't get to and gave up a triple because of that. He makes great plays in the outfield, but he also gives up a lot of triples and in-the-parkers. I don't think he'll be back next year unless he's just a bench guy.

I'm disappointed that the Yankees won't be playing in October, but happy with how they closed out the final month. Now all my support goes to the Dodgers. It's a long shot, but Torre got them in, so you never know.

Tech Deals of the Week (9/28-10/4)

Flash Sales
Remember when the 4 GB used to be cheap @ $34.99 & the 8GB @ $69.99?
- 4 GB Kingston @ Circuit City for $16.99
- 8 GB Sony @ Circuit City for $27.99
- 4 GB Geek Squad @ Best Buy for $19.99
- 8 GB Geek Squad @ Best Buy for $29.99
- 4 G Transcend @ CompUSA.com for $16.98 [click here]
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Radio Shack for $24.99
- 4 GB PNY @ Staples for $17.99
- 8 GB PNY @ Staples for $29.99

Swiss Gear Laptop Sleeve @ Best Buy for $19.99
This 15.4" case is pretty well padded for a sleeve. As with all Swiss Gear products, it looks great.

Logitech V450 Nano @ Circuit City for $19.99
This is a god alternative to the VX Nano if you don't want to spend $40-50 on a mouse. It has the same small dongle and is about the same size/shape. This deal involves 2 $15 rebates.

Battery Charger w/ 2 AA @ Radio Shack for $9.99
This is the Rayovac brand and not the usual Radio Shack one.

Stargate Atlantis 510 (First Contact)

Last night's Stargate Atlantis episode had a lot going on and it was easy to tell that it was going to be a 2-parter. One storyline took place on Atlantis where Dr. McKay & Dr. Jackson (guest starring Michael Shanks) worked together to find a secret lab. Moments after the discovery, a new type of alien appeared and thwarted their studies. These new aliens were heavily armoured, almost resembling Anubis' super soldiers, but with fancier designs.

The second storyline picked up from episode 508, The Queen and dealt with the possibility that Wraith "hunger" could be treated. "Todd," the good Wraith and a couple of volunteers were aboard the Daedalus and were going to help Dr. Keller with the treatment. An important thought Todd brought up was... without the hunger and eventually the need for war... what would they do? Who would they be? Before the experiment could complete though, Todd suspected betrayal and took over the ship.

This isn't even a season finale and we have a double cliffhanger already!

Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen

Check out this really cool fan-made fake trailer for Transformers 2:


It uses clips from various sci-fi movies with robots that resemble some Transformers. And it's cleverly cut.

Farewell Yankee Stadium

Sunday's festivities gave a well-deserved send-off to Yankee Stadium. It was great to see the presentation involving so many of the Yankees stars from the past & present. The ovation for the 90's players who gave NY 4 championships was unbelievable. Andy Pettitte got the win and Mariano Rivera closed it out... fitting that 2 of the champions were involved. Jeter didn't have a good offensive game, but made a couple of his signature plays in the field and also ended the night with a touching on-the-fly speech to the fans.

I have mixed feelings about moving stadiums. On one hand, it couldn't have been impossible to put effort into renovating the current stadium. There's so much history behind it that I think it should last forever like the Colosseum. On the other hand, building from the ground up with today's technology would result in a much stronger, state-of-the-art stadium. At least the new stadium is based on the design of the old Yankee Stadium (before renovation). So it'll have the same classical motif. Another thing I don't like is the less seats/higher prices. The Mets are going to do the same thing with their new park. I think it's important for ball games to stay affordable if baseball is going to remain a large part of American culture. It shouldn't be taken away from the common people.

Whether we like it or not, the new stadium will be upon us next season. Hopefully it will be the start of something new and improved... a new dynasty... and not an 86 year curse! Of course that's up to the front office... and another story!

Return of the Contenders Results

I really having trouble finding downloads to the last 2 Contender Asia events. It doesn't seem like they actually aired at all. Anyway, here are the results of Return of the Contenders in Singapore:

Zach vs. Takeshi ended in a draw. I really wanted Zach to get a belt out of this one, but at least he didn't get injured this time! Soren went the distance against Naruepol, but the decision was unanimous. It was still good for Soren though. He usually doesn't do well against hard punchers, but he survived this one without getting KOed. Yodsaenklai vs. Madsua was the most exciting fight from what I've read. Yod was feeling out his opponent in the 1st round like he usually does. Then he went for the kill later on, eventually winning on a 3rd round KO. He's been invincible ever since Contender Asia. Someone should really setup a Yodasenklai vs. Buakaw match. They're truly the 2 best fighters in the world.

Tech Deals of the Week (9/21-9/27)

Flash Sales
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Circuit City for $24.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Radio Shack for $24.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Staples for $29.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Staples for $19.99
- 4 GB Kingston @ Circuit City for $16.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Best Buys for $29.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Best Buys for $19.99

Digital Concepts 51-in-1 Card Reader @ Radio Shack for $12.99
This is a very compact card reader that should be able to accept all formats. I never knew there were even 51 types! I can't get close to counting that many even if I include the "bs" ones... the various memory stick formats, SD types, etc.

Memorex Upconverting DVD Player @ Radio Shack for $44.99
This is the lowest price I've seen for an upconverting player... and to 1080p too!

Stargate Atlantis 509 (Tracker)

2 weeks ago, we got to see an episode that featured and built-on Sheppard & Beckett. In this week's episode, they concentrated on McKay, Keller & Ronon. The 3 members were sent to a routine medical follow-up, when Keller was kidnapped by a runner. One of the best parts of Tracker was the runners (Ronon & Gerrick) tracking and evading each other. Even though they were on the same side, it was obvious that they had to beat each other around a little at some point. In previous episode this season, there was evidence of romantic feelings for Keller by both McKay & Ronon. This was confirmed, so future episodes should get more interesting. McKay & Ronon are polar opposites on the team, so who will Dr. Keller go for?

Repeated Survey ?'s for 2008-09-18

A repeat of 2008-07-29, but with new answers...

1. When was the last time you took a nap? Tuesday on the train
2. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Some @$$hole recruiter... Fall is hiring time
3. To text you? Jean
4. What are you doing tonight? Yankees... the season might be down the toilet, but I wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't go down with them.
5. What are you listening to? Ong Bak soundtrack
6. What did you do over the weekend? Search for Evolution 14 videos... failed
7. What did you have for breakfast? French toast & berries
8. Last book you read? Mastering XML
9. Last thing you bought? iced coffee
10. Last movie you saw: My Cousin Vinny

Thai Market

Location: 960 Amsterdam Ave. (btw 107th & 108th)
Cuisine: Thai
Phone: (212) 280-4575
Website: www.thaimarketnyc.com
Prices: About $25 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 7
Service: 7
Value: 5
Environment: 6

Visits: 1

Mark and I felt like trying something new tonight, so he ended up looking up this Thai restaurant in the UWS. That was definitely original. What was a Thai restaurant doing way up there? Well... here goes my review...

Calamari Appetizer
Thai calamari is a bit different than other cuisines. While the squid itself is the same (fried, crispy), the Thais use a spicy plum sauce instead of marinara. Still, this is a safe appetizer dish in any restaurant. No complaints on this one.

Beef with Massaman Curry
I went with another safe dish for my entree. When trying out a new restaurant, my rule is to get the beef and not the chicken. I tend to like dark meat better and you never know which chicken parts a restaurant is using for their dishes... so beef is safer. Massaman (potatoes, onion, peanut, coconut milk curry) is sort of my litmus tester for Thai restaurants anyway. Thai Market's was just OK... not bad, but not great either.

Grilled Salmon
Mark enjoyed his salmon. He chose that as his entree because he had never eaten salmon with peppercorn curry sauce. It wasn't spicy enough though... which is pretty common in the states.

The service was pretty good. The environment was OK. It was clean and had nice decor with each row of tables labeled after a Thai street name. The interior was a bit loud and crowded though. There's literally no space between tables and we had to compete with neighbors just to hear each other talk.

Overall, I thought the portions in this place were a bit small. The food was good, but not enough for me to hike all the way up there again unless I had other business in the area. Usually when we go for Thai, Mark & I both are there for a duck dish, but this one had a lack of duck options. In fact, there was only one... Siam Duck (1/2 duck in bok choi, honey plum ginger sauce, mushroom rice). That one didn't sound as appealing as a curry duck, so we both passed on it. Just about any Thai restaurant in Midtown West is better than this one.

1270

If there's one sliver of light in this disappointing season, it has to be Captain Derek Jeter. He's at the point in his career where he's going to start breaking a lot of records. He made history tonight, passing the legend, Lou Gehrig with his 1,270th hit in Yankee Stadium. At the beginning of last weekend, he needed 9 more hits to tie and he quickly collected all 9 in the 3-game series against the White Sox. He probably got a little nervous yesterday and got none, but then quickly got the record breaker in the first inning of tonight's game. When the Bombers move into the new stadium next year, all records will be wiped clean. So this one for old Yankee Stadium is written in stone and is Jeter's forever. Jeter going through milestones like this reminds me of Jordan breaking records left and right as his career was peaking... and eventually putting things out of reach.

Congrats Jeter!

PS- This is my 600th blog post!

Farewell Yankees

I actually wrote off the Yankees weeks ago, but didn't get a chance to post this since I was busy covering the US Open. The Yankees of the recent years is not the team fans are used to... especially this year. Once a team got an early lead on them, it was over. There isn't one middle reliever on the card who could save the day. Teams just needed to beat them in the first 3 innings, knock out the starter and they'd be all set. If we turn back the clock about 5-8 years, we had a team that would often come from behind. Back then the Yankees could've been down 5 runs in the 9th inning I was confident they'd win. Here's what they need to do for next year:

Pitching
They need pitchers. This is where the Red Sox front office is better than ours. They did a great job of recruiting strong pitchers. My biggest knock at the beginning of the Summer was not dealing our kids away for Johan Santana. That was a no-brainer. I'm sure Santana would be happier in the Bronx... no Wagner to blow his leads. Even with the Mets bullpen screwing up his master pieces, he was still better than Hughs & Kennedy combined. The biggest blow to the Yanks wasn't missing out on Santana though... it was Wang's injury. That automatically subtracted about 10 wins from their record. He needs to come back healthy next year. They need 1-2 more solid starters and have to rework their middle relief.

Consistent Offense
Again, the front office tried to build a power team, forgetting that it was small ball that made the winning Yankees successful. This season was really plagued by injuries. Matsui was gone for most of it. Posada missed most of the season. They tried to buy power in Sexson, Pudge and Nady. Only Nady produced. Pudge ended up being worse than Molina (who was really stepping up in Jorge's absence. Another thing we can look at is A-Rod. The Yankees were just as bad last year, but A-Rod's career season carried them through many wins and an amazing 2nd half run. Not the case this year. The average was still there, but much less power and almost no clutch. Posada & Matsui need to be at full health next year and A-Rod needs to play to the level of his ridiculously pricey contract. Jeter, Damon & Abreu need to keep doing what they're doing. They need to add some speed... 1 or 2 bunters/stealers.

Management
If there's anything I'm happy about this year, it's that Joe Torre and Don Mattingly are doing a great job with the LA Dodgers. They're in first place and can really rub it into the Yankee's faces at the end of the season. Joe Ghirardi is a good manager, but Joe Torre is the best. He's irreplacable and the front office probably realizes that now. This is something they need to address next year, but it's impossible to get Torre back.

Hopefully the new stadium gives the team a fresh new start next year.

Tech Deals of the Week (9/14-9/20)

Flash Sales
- 4 GB PNY @ Circuit City for $17.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Circuit City for $27.99
- 8 GB PNY @ Best Buy for $29.99
- 8 GB Centon @ CompUSA.com for $31.98 [click here]

Targus 25-in-1 Card Reader for $9.99 @ Radio Shack
This is a little more expensive than last time, but is still a good price for it's size and functions.

Stargate Atlantis 508 (The Queen)

The Queen was somewhat similar to the episode of Stargate SG-1 where Daniel went undercover as Lord Yu's familiar to a System Lord meeting. In last night's episode of Stargate Atlantis, Teyla went undercover as a Wraith queen to meet with the highest queen on the society. One thing different about this version of the story was Teyla actually underwent gene therapy to convert herself into a Wraith. The Atlantis team was working with a Wraith ally named "Todd," who up to this point has been a reliable friend. An important fact to take from this episode was Teyla's transformation didn't affect her personality. And so far Todd has acted as a "good" Wraith. It's important for Sci-Fi series to stay away from a 100% evil race because alignment should not be connected to genetics.

Maria & Dolce (Behind the Scenes)

Since Maria Sharapova didn't play in this year's US Open, I thought I'd throw in another video to make up for her normal screen time:


This one was a behind-the-scenes video narrated by Dolce.

Evolution 14 Results

I didn't want to post this one right away, but the results are all over the Internet now anyway. So here it goes...

Eli "Maddog" KOed Zidov in the 2nd round with a hard body shot. This makes me question what kind of fighter Zidov really is. Since I started covering kickboxing on this blog, he's lost every match (except for the fluke against Zach). He hasn't done any real damage to any of his opponents and doesn't look as conditioned as the other fighters in his class.

Sean Wright vs. the Preacher was a good one and didn't disappoint the crowd. It was a war Sean won on points. Bruce Macfie has also lost every match since I started this blog, but I don't feel he's out of his league because he at least put up good fights against tough opponents. He's also taken hits without breaking.

In the main event must've been crazy as the Australian hero John Wayne Parr fought against friend and fellow Contender, Dzhabar Askerov. After a long absence, JWP was anything but rusty as he won a convincing match on points. Based on what I've read, this one wasn't as close as The Contender Asia semifinal.

More details will come in future posts after I watch a replay. It should take a while as this event has not aired yet.

US Open Day 15

Federer vs. Murray

Even though Andy Murray has a winning record against Federer, I expected Federer to have a dominating match. This one started at 5pm, so I had to rush home right after work to catch it. I missed the first set, which Federer won easily 6-2. He was still looking good in the 2nd set, which I was able to catch the middle of. It went much longer, but Federer won 7-5. The 3rd set was just about Federer fulfilling destiny and reestablishing his invincibility. Federer won 5 straight games before Murray avoided the bagel. Murray won his serve and got a break immediately after. The final game was an exciting one with both players going full force for each ball before Federer went for the kill 6-2.

I joked last year about Federer driving an outfit-matching car each day. In addition to the prize money & trophy with tonight's victory, Federer also picked up a red Lexus IS that matches his 2008 US Open outfit.

US Open Day 14

Nadal vs. Murray
There was a moment of hope when Nadal took the 3rd set 6-4, but unfortunately things continued where they left off during the 4th set. Nadal was taking too long to win his games, fighting off many break points. And Murray was winning his easily, blowing several aces by. It seems like Nadal always has problems with the US Open's hard court. Just as the Americans should spend some time practicing on clay, maybe Nadal should hang out in NY to practice on this surface.

Williams vs. Jankovic
Serena got off to a quick start, winning the first set 6-4. It felt like she was going to continue that steak into the next set, but Jankovic fought back to 5-3 in the 2nd set. It sure looked like there was going to be a marathon. Serena kept fighting back and losing deuces. She finally won 7-5 and it was no walk in the park despite the straight set victory. She came a long way to hone her skills over the past few years and reclaim the title she held 5 years ago... and the #1 seed!

Tech Deals of the Week (9/7-9/13)

Flash Sales
- 8 GB PNY @ Circuit City for $27.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Best Buy for $19.99
- 8 GB SanDisk @ Best Buy for $29.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ Office Depot for $59.99
- 4 GB SanDisk @ Radio Shack for $19.99
- 8 GB Centon @ CompUSA.com for $31.98 [click here]

Logitech X-240 @ Circuit City for $29.99
The X-240 is a black 2.1 speaker system with an iPod dock. It's already a good price without the dock, so that's a nice bonus feature on a good basic speaker system.

Omnitech Keyboard @ Staples for $9.98
This is one of those silicone, spill-proof keyboards. For portability, you can roll it up and take it with you.

Stargate Atlantis 507 (Whispers)

Whispers was a pretty original storyline. I can't think of an SG-1 episode that had anything like this. It was a monster/zombie story integrated into the Atlantis world. The creatures that the team fought were the result of an experiment by the wraith, Michael. The SG team that discovered the lab was also an original idea... an all-women SG team. It was made up of 1) the leader, Major Teldy; 2) the hardass, Sgt. Mehra; 3) Cpt. Vega and 4) the scientist, Porter. Dr. Beckett was also back in this episode and had some hints of romance with Porter. And that added a little bit of comedy to the episode because Sgt. Mehra had to watch over them. Her reactions to the 2 geeks were hilarious!

"I'm going to check the perimeter. I'll be back in 20... unless there's a sock on the door..."
- Sgt. Dusty Mehra

I enjoyed Whispers a lot. It was a departure from the norm in format, but the writers kept it in line with the whole "Michael" saga. The rest of the regular Atlantis team had this episode off.

US Open Day 13

Super Saturday at the US Open was supposed to consist of the 2 men's semis & the women's final. The only match that completed was Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic. I was very happy that these 2 finally met after Djokovic called out Federer earlier in the year... even happier that Federer dispatched the prick 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. It was a relatively short match for a 4 setter because there were no tiebreaks. Federer had a total of 20 aces in that match. I think he's looking good right now and will have the edge in the final. He should be able to defeat Andy Murray easily. Although Nadal is having a great year, Federer has been much better in the US Open. In fact, Nadal has never made it this far.

Nadal & Murray were rained out in the 3rd set, with Murray leading by 2 sets. So Nadal is in a bit of trouble. Hopefully he can regroup and comeback fresh tomorrow. He wasn't playing poorly, but he can't beat Murray if he doesn't start racking up break points. They'll resume tomorrow afternoon. The women's final will be tomorrow night and the men's final will be late afternoon on Monday.

Maria & Dolce 2

By Canon
Starring Maria Sharapova & Dolce

Last year, everyone saw the Canon commercial where Maria was taking pictures of a Pomeranian doing tricks. Now they came out with one where the dog, Dolce was stealing the spotlight from the tennis star.


Maria Sharapova really has a Pomeranian named Dolce, but that's not the actual dog on camera. The actor is named Beowulf. The real Dolce doesn't like to travel!

US Open Days 11-12

Who's Djoking?
Andy Roddick played a pretty good match last night against Novak Djokovic, but didn't really get comfortable fast enough as he lost 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5). He dug himself a hole early be dropping the first 2 sets. The main story unfortunately had nothing to do with the gameplay. Apparently, Djokovic took offense to Andy's comment the previous night... "I’ve got to feel good. He’s got about 16 injuries right now." First of all, everyone knows Andy Roddick is a comedian. Also, I read that as "Djokovic is a great player, so if he's injured, then it's good for me." He did mention that Djokovic was one of the elite players. At the end of last night's match, Djokovic also showed bitterness that most of the fans were for Roddick. He was heavily booed and rightfully so. Here's something else... it's not OK for Roddick to crack a joke, but it's OK to video tape oneself imitating all of the top tennis players?

Women's Semis
Both matches happened during the day, so I didn't get to see them. Serena Williams ended up defeating Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2. The score itself surprised me because I imagined a much closer match, especially the way Safina has been playing. Jelena Jankovic defeated Elena Dementieva in a closer match, 6-4, 6-4. I think Jankovic is in 100% health for this tournament or she wouldn't have made it this far. It should be a great final between Williams & Jankovic. The only thing that can spoil it is the upcoming storm!

US Open Day 10

Williams vs. Williams
The Williams sisters met again. This matchup never gets old and they didn't disappoint last night. There are some people that think these matches are predetermined by the Williams family behind the scenes. I say "NO WAY," when I see these two hustle on those long rallies, diving and slipping. I see 100% effort on both sides. It was Serena's night this time thought. She won in straight sets, but very, very close... 7-6, 7-6. Serena came back in both tiebreaks while Venus failed to convert 10 set points.

Nadal vs. Fish
In the main event, it was the best player of the year so far, Rafael Nadal against Mardy Fish, who was playing his best tennis ever in this tournament. When Fish took the first set 6-3, I thought we were in for another 5 setter... but had to be at least 4 for Nadal to win after the first set. He pulled it off convincingly going 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 for the rest of the match. I can't believe I actually stayed up for this one and didn't feel tired at work today.

The Contender: Asia (Canada)

North American Qualifier
September 20, 2008


The only competitor from last season announced so far is Trevor "TNT" Smandych. It'll be good to see him in action because he was eliminated last year in the first episode where he faced one of the best fighters in Naruepol.

US Open Day 9

I got home a little later than usual and didn't expect to catch any of the day games, but it turned out that Igor Andreev went the distance with Roger Federer. It was a close match. I really only missed a long first set that Andreev won 7-6 and part of the second where Federer returned the favor with the same score. Andreev then won the third and Roger the fourth. Federer didn't really look sharp until the fifth set where he really got the crowd into it with his plays at the net.

The first primetime game was Jankovic vs. Bammer and that was very one-sided in the first set. I just flipped to the Yankees game for most of that match. Jankovic ended up winning 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the semis. She'll face Elena Dementieva.

In the main event, Andy Roddick played one of his best games this tournament so far, making short work of Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. He fittingly ended the match with a perfect ace. I really thought this one was going to be a marathon. It seemed like his opening game against Gulbis was a wakeup call because he's been sharp ever since.

Mini Laptops (updated)

I just updated my Mini Laptops spreadsheet. Click here to view it on Google Docs. I removed some of the lesser known models because they dropped off of the news sites. Prices have changed for many of the big players. Eee PC shopping has become more confusion because Asus keeps releasing new models! At the moment I like the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 just because it's backed by IBM's reliability and it actually had a competitive tag on it. No SSD though.

Return of the Contenders (Singapore)

September 17, 2008 @ 18:00


Yodsaenklai has looked invincible all year long. This is just another fight to prove it. I don't think Madsua has a chance. Buakaw might be the only guy out there that can give Yod some competition. I'm not sure how Soren will fight in Evolution 14 and then a week later take on Naruepol Fairtex. I'm guessing that he'll skip the Australia event. Zach will have another tough match against the Japanese champ, Takeshi. Hopefully his shoulder holds up.

US Open Day 7 and 8

Yesterday, Federer beat Stepanek easily to advance (6-3, 6-3, 6-2). Roddick defeated Seppi 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Jankovic won a tough one against the young Wozniacki 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. In primetime, Dementieva easily defeated Li. Both of those players were doing great in the last few tournaments, so everyone was expecting a close match. I guess it just wasn't Li's night. Following that match, Djokovic & Cilic had a nice 4-hour battle to cap off the night. Eventually, Djokovic won 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (0).

Earlier today, Mardy Fish won against the athletic Gael Monfils, making the most of his win against Blake and going on a serious run to the next level. Sam Querry played a great game against Nadal. He took the first set and even made the 2nd one close. If you look at the highlight reel, you might think Querry was winning most of the time. He had many more aces and just hit fancier winners. Nadal played with great fundamentals and did a good job at the net. There was nothing fancy, but it was all effective. Getting into the quarter finals ties his position from 2 years ago. He'll face Mardy Fish. Both Williams sisters also won today, which sets up a quarter final all-Williams match.

Evolution 14 (Australia)

The Contenders
September 6, 2008 @ 19:00


In the main event, John Wayne Parr will take on Dzhabar Askerov in a rematch of last year's Contender Asia semifinal. I hope JWP is sharp for this one because he really hasn't fought since the finals against Yodsaenklai. Bruce "Preacher" McFie vs. Sean Wright should make a good fight. From last season, I thought those 2 guys looked evenly match. Soren spent most of his time in Thailand since the end of last season, so it'll be intersting to see improvements to his game. We'll also get to see Zidov fight someone other than Zach. He has yet to prove himself with a decisive win.

Sword of Azrael: 200808

Death by Fire: This goes to the guy that killed Todd Bachman, US Volleyball coach, Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law. The Olympics are supposed to be a time of peace where all countries put their differences aside and play games with good sportsmanship. It's a shame the murderer committed suicide... escaping Azrael's fiery sword.

Slave Pit: This one is borderline for me. An elderly woman was choked and robbed in an elevator. The assailant should be locked up forever, though I would consider him for the sword since it was violent.

Excommunication: I have a tie for August and both penalties go to the NYPD. In the first incident, a Battery Park patrol officer shutdown a lemonade stand run by little kids because they failed to show him a permit. The second incident was the handcuffing of an Australian tourist because she participated in a friendly, but "unauthorized" water fight in Union Sq. Why can't the NYPD concentrate on real criminals instead of people trying to have fun during the Summer? Chicken?