Budget Cuts & Fare Hikes

It looks like a MetroCard fare increase is inevitable despite the budget cuts of last year and a previous fare hike less than 2 years ago. And it's all because the MTA can't manage its budget. Drivers still get their huge vacations and the guys at the top still make the big bucks... which we're all funding. Remember, a drivers gets 3 months off if a passenger spits on him. A benefit that appealing would sure motivate me to try to get spat on! One day of embarrasment for 3 months of paid vacation is a great deal. No other job in the city offers anything like that. A few days ago, a passenger splashed a driver in acid. I wonder if the drivers gets over 3 months, since he actually sustained injuries or if the MTA considers spit to be equivalent to acid.

No More Messing Around

After performing terribly against the Rays and the Sox... and losing the opener to the Jays, the Yankees finally clinched a playoff berth last night. A 6-1 win over the Jays in Game 2 guaranteed them the wildcard spot. Ghirardi moved CC up in the rotation to get this win over with and out of the way. The Yankees ace had a solid performance, giving up 1 run on 3 hits. Also, with his career high 21 wins, he likely secured the Cy Young award. The win count is the most important for voters, but CC also pitched the toughest, most meaningful games compared to other candidates.

The Yankees have 4 games left in their season. In order to get in as the division champs, they need to not only win their games, but the Rays need to lose at least two. I think the organization is certainly going to try for the wins, but won't be in a life and death situation where they burn a couple of starters + the bullpen to claw through for a victory.

Sword of Azrael: Reginald Williams

This is one of those no-brainer Death by Fiery Sword penalties. Reginald Williams repeatedly abused and eventually beat to death his girlfriend's 2-year old son. The mother, Theresa Foster is just as much to blame as she pretty much let it happen and may have had a hand in the beating as well. The boy died from blunt force injuries to the head and torso and internal bleeding. This is something no child should ever have to go through, let a alone a toddler. And on the other side of things, it's impossible to imagine who can do such a thing. I can't even imagine the worse criminal having it in them to do this to a child. Death is too good a punishment for Williams and Foster. We'll see how the system plays out.

Rivalry Weekend

The Yankees and Phillies tried to clinch playoff berths over the weekend against their respective rivals, the Red Sox and Mets, who played the spoiler roles.

Yankees
All the Yankees had to do was win 2 games against the Sox and they would be in as the wildcard, but they nearly got swept in their closing home series. The Red Sox aren't necessarily out of it yet either. There's a remote chance they can get the wildcard if they win all of their games and somehow the Yankees pull a last second Mets collapse. Pitching was terrible in both Games 1 & 2. Game 1 was sort of a fluke because it was probably Andy Pettitte's worst performance of the year, letting up 6 runs in 3.1 innings. Despite the blowout nature in the early innings, the Yankees nearly put together a comeback behind 4 combined homers by A-Rod and Tex. What was a 10-1 game ended up being 10-8, but a loss is a loss. Game 2 was a typical good start and collapse by Nova. Both games showed lack of resiliency by the bullpen. Game 3 was a little more exciting than it should have been. The Yankees had a 3-1 lead into the 9th and everything was looking good, even the bullpen. But the Sox ran on Rivera and got 4 SB's, both of which scored and tied the game. But somehow, even when we see a rare blunder by Rivera, Pappelbon manages to one up him. Rivera might have blown the save, but Pappelbon blew the game with terrible control. He ended up walking in the winning run... the worst way to lose. With 1 out of 3, at least the Yankees cut their magic number to 1 and guarantee a tie for the wildcard spot. They just need one measly win and their in.

Mets
The Mets are totally out of the playoff running as they're behind a good double digit deficit from the wildcard. They're merely playing for pride and to end the season strong. They still have a chance to shoot for 500, which is a good goal at this point. Though it's far to extreme to say that the Mets are Phillies spoilers, over their weekend series, they successfully delayed the celebration of their rivals by taking 2 games.

Expected Split

A 4-game series against the rival Tampa Bay Rays would've been an excellent opportunity to secure the Eastern Division. That's how everyone was writing it up. The Yankees were doing OK and the Rays were slumping of late. But somehow, I knew the 4-game set would end in a split. The 2 teams are both very good and nothing was going to be decided quite yet. It's going to come down to the last couple of days of the season.

Game 1 was a dogfight as the 2 teams tried to outgun each other. The Yankees were cruising behind rookie Ivan Nova through the 5th inning. They had comfortable 4-0 lead and the kid was pitching well. Everyone got a little nervous in the 5th inning because in his last outing, he gave everything back and more in a 6-0 lead. But he got past 5 this time... only to collapse in the 6th! He gave everything back again, but fortunately the Yankees also exploded in the bottom of the inning to secure the lead in an 8-6 victory.

Game 2 was a nice bounce back for Phil Hughes, who hasn't pitched well in a while. He was OK in this game, going 6 innings with 3 earned runs. Vasquez was ineffective in relief, but Joba was solid to bail out Vasquez and close it down. The Yankees knocked around Shields in the first inning for 5 runs and that was pretty much the story. The Rays threatened with men on base in the 8th, but a clutch performance by Joba prevented any damage. It's certainly good to know that Joba can solidify the end of the game along with Rivera and Wood.

Games 3 started out OK as Burnett was behind 0-1 through the 3rd inning, but a rain delay closed the curtains on this one. The Yankees could not send Burnett back to the mound after the lengthy stoppage. And they couldn't piece together a solid bullpen combination to win the game. They had no chance as Ring, Mosely, Gaudin and Albaladejo combined for 6 earned runs.

Game 4 was a tough loss because they lost a game with their ace, CC as he faced off with the Rays ace, Price. CC started out solid, but got knocked around in the 6th inning for 6 runs. Then Vasquez came in and hit 3 batters in a row to bury the game for good.

So after the long series between the 2 best teams, nothing changed in the standings... both teams walked out in the same position as when they started. The Yankees hang on to a 1/2 game lead because of the extra game in the win column. The significance of the series is the Rays own the tiebreak with the 10-8 season series lead. So if they're tied at the end of the season, the Rays will get the division and the Yankees the wildcard. As I type this, the Yankees trail the Red Sox on the 4th 3-1.

Autumnal Equinox?

Yesterday was the first day of Autumn. So how were we welcomed to the new season? We had a nice sunny 80 degree Summer day with a thunderstorm at night. It was in the high 70's to 80's today as well and will continue to be like that for at least a week. So the trend that's blurring the lines between seasons continues. It's just the beginning of Fall, so the hot weather can be normal, but I just think it's odd because it already started cooling down weeks ago... after we had that short 100 degree streak. I just hope we get a short Winter out of all this!

Subway Tales: Pick Your Poison

The train was crowded as usual for the evening commute. This guy who had a seat was taking up a little more room than he should have because he was spreading his legs. There was an empty seat next to him, but he clearly didn't want anyone to take it. One stop later, a thin woman attempted to sit. The man didn't give an inch. The woman would've fit, but opted to stand form comfort. On the next stop a large guy walked in, saw the spot and compressed his way in. All the seated guy had to do was give way to the thin woman on the stop before and his commute would've been a lot more comfortable. The large guy eventually got off, but was replaced by another guy about the same size. Lesson learned... pick your poison. If a thin person tries to squeeze in... let them. There's always someone larger coming in later!

Sword of Azrael: Caffeine Killer

Woody Will Smith of Kentucky gets the Death by Fiery sword penalty for killing his wife and blaming it on caffeine. His defense is going to be that he was on too much caffeine from coffee and sodas and it drove him insane. If an argument like that isn't immediately dismissed, I would lose even more faith in our justice system. Imagine if that was even considered. Most people here in the US have some kind of caffeine addiction. It would pretty much green light them to do whatever they wanted and actually have a usable defense. Caffeine, even in large amounts is not a mind altering chemical. What's next? Sugar addiction? High cholesterol?

The O's

The series against the Orioles was the one the Yankees had to win this weekend since it was the easiest team in the remainder of the season. So the Yankees did their job in that part, but they didn't get the sweep.

Game 1 on Friday was an exciting game with a lot of good signs. AJ Burnett wasn't great, but he was much better than his previous starts as he went 7 innings and only gave up 3 runs. He had 5 K's on 1 BB. Robertson successfully setup and Rivera closed. A-Rod knocked in all of the runs with 2 homers... 2nd and 9th innings. The 3-run 9th inning shot gave the Yankees the 4-3 win and is equivalent to a walkoff on the road.

Saturday's game was a game fans have been itching for as we waited patiently for that offensive outburst. The bats really need to prove that they can score runs in the Fall. CC wasn't dominant with his strikeouts, but he still got the job done with his other pitches and picked up his 1st 20-win season. He had a comfortable lead for most of the game as the Yankees gave him 11 runs on 13 hits.

Though the Yankees really needed a sweep in the close divisional race, there was one positive that came out of the 4-3 loss on Sunday. It was Andy Pettitte's return to the mound after 2 months of being on the DL with a strained groin. He was able to go 6 innings, looked great, gave up 1 run on 3 hits. It's pretty much the same type of game he was having before the injury, so he's 100% and the Yankees need that going into the postseason.

U35JC Correction

I previously wrote that the Asus U35JC could have a Core i5 processor, but it turns out I was as wrong as the stores that offered the pre-order option. They originally had that option up on their sites in anticipation that they could swap out the CPU. But when the units got released to the retailers, the original Core i3's were soldered onto the motherboard. So they could not be upgraded. However, this does not affect my review of the laptop. It still beats out the M11x and the Macbook Pro. Also, with the Core i5 option out of the picture, the price of this laptop drops to around $1300 instead of $1500.

Federer Deadshot

This video of a Federer photoshoot was floating around YouTube. It was a break from a Gilette commercial and Federer decides to hit a bottle off a guy's head with an overhead serve. The guy was so nervous, he dropped the bottle a couple of times!


Now that's deadly accuracy!

Tornado in NY

I've been saying for the past couple of years that we're probably due for a tornado. The weather has been getting stranger each year and the seasons are sometimes mixed up. This Summer, we had a really high average temperature, but if you look at the individual days, you'll see streaks of 60's and 100's. There was a tornado in Jersey a couple of years ago. Well, today it finally hit. I don't think it was officially classified as a tornado, but some witnesses are mentioning a funnel cloud and pitch black conditions as it ripped through Queens and Brooklyn. It swooped in swiftly and lasted less than 10 minutes, but cut down several trees and power lines. It wreaked havoc on the evening commute, disabling the 7, L and LIRR trains because of downed trees on the tracks. Up until now, it's causing traffic problems. Some commuters are still stuck. It's amazing how a normally sunny day can change in 10 minutes!

2nd Place

The Yankees dropped one of the most important series in the Fall by losing 2 out of 3 to the Rays. After Game 1, they had their first 4-game losing streak of the season. And after the series, they lost their spot in first place and best record in the majors.

Game 1 was another heartbreaker where the pitchers dueled for the entire game. CC and Price both went 8 strong innings. CC had 9 strikeouts, 2 walks and only gave up 2 hits. The Yankees offense couldn't figure out Price though. He only gave up 3 hits and struck out 4. Their bullpen is solid whereas the Yankees' has holes. For the most part, they were OK in this game except for Mitre's giving up of the walkoff homer in the 11th.

The Yankees took 1st place back in Game 2 with a 9th inning victory that was pretty much equivalent to a walkoff at home. Nova pitched this game and looked great in the first few innings. The Yankees had a nice, comfortable 6-0 lead, but he gave it all back and more in the 4th to give the Rays a 7-6 lead. In the 9th inning, Posada had a pinch hit homer that gave the Yankees a lead. In the bottom of the 9th, there was an inning ending double play featuring the strong throw by Greg Golson and nice tag by A-Rod. Golson caught the fly and then gunned out a runner headed to 3rd with an accurate laser throw.

The exciting win from the previous night didn't carry over to the rubber game though. It was yet another tough one run loss, whcih the Yankees seem to have more of than their lack of walkoffs this year. Hughes gave up all the runs and the Yankees just couldn't get their runners in, which has been a problem. There are several plays where the Yankees will strand most of their runners. In this game, they should've scored a lot more than 1 in the first inning.

The season's coming to an end and most of the series are tough. The easiest one is the Orioles up next. Then it's the Rays, Sox and Jays. They absolutely need to take 3 of 4 in the Rays series.

US Open: King Rafa

I thought I was going to miss the entire game if Nadal took this thing in straight sets with its 4pm start. If I ran and got all the trains on time, I'd be home by 6pm. A passing thunderstorm paused the game in the second set until after 8pm. So I only missed a little. Nadal quickly took the first despite Djokovic's exciting 1st game winner. He had a 4-1 lead in the 2nd before Nadal worked it to a tie. That was when the thunderstorm hit. There was no doubt Nadal would've come back to take the 2nd had there been no pause. He had all of the momentum.

After the break, Djokovic gave Nadal his first lost set of the tournament 7-5. In the rest of the match, Nadal continued what he did all tournament long... just win. He broke Djokovic early and despite some exciting plays, he never caught up. Djokovic made things exiting by delaying the match point, but Nadal was never in any real danger of losing.

Nadal came into the US Open well prepared and he had been looking forward to it for a long time. It all payed off as he completed the career Grand Slam, joining just 6 other players in tennis history. He nearly had the season Grand Slam, just missing the Australian at the beginning of the year.

Something I liked about the way this one ended was the sportsmanship. Djokovic wasn't up there crying and all disappointed. He had a great tournament and played as well as anyone could. He stood next to Rafa with a smile. He was genuinely happy as he gave his runner up speech. I'd like to see that more often. The runner up always has a lot to be proud of. Being #2 in a grueling tournament of the world's best is a very good thing.

Swept

It was not a good weekend for the Yankees and a bad start to their road trip as they got swept by the Texas Rangers. All games were heartbreakers. Friday's game was highlighted by a game tying homer in the 8th followed by a walkoff in the 13th. Saturday's game ended on a HBP with bases loaded in the 9th... given up by Rivera. That was an even more frustrating game because the Yankees were leading. A-Rod had given them the 1 run lead with a bases clearing double in the 9th. Yesterday's game was a pitcher's duel against Cliff Lee. He nearly worked a complete game and gave up his first hit in the 6th inning. Jeter knocked in what would have been the winning run, but the Yankees gace it right back.

The Yankees are still in 1st place somehow, but it's not a safe distance from the Rays. Their fates will be decided when they face each other and the Red Sox as well. As good as the Yankees played this year, they look like they're about to pull off a typical Mets collapse.

US Open: Rain Delay

It was just announced that the Men's Singles Final will be pushed off to tomorrow at 4pm because the rain isn't stopping as forecasted. I was hoping to blog as the match went on today, but now I'll just be lucky if I can catch the event since it's crossing over with work hours. The delay favors Djokovic who had that long 5-set match with Federer yesterday.

Evolution 21 Controversy

John Wayne Parr faced off with Bruce Macfie... again. It was a close match with the edge going to JWP, but something fishy was going on with the results. In the end... after a longer than usual delay, the win was awarded to Macfie on points. Here's a quote from JWP that gives us more details about what happened:

"Before I start, I would like to Thank Bruce for a great fight, he came more aggressive and tried to bring the fight to me which made it good to watch for the crowd. During the fight though I thought I controlled the ring well with teeps, left body kicks and head and body shots. Bruce let a few jumping knee's go that looked good but came no where near to landing. There was no knock downs and the fight was nice and clean.

After the fight the judges pick up the score cards and give them to the main judge, after about 5 minutes everyone is starting to panic and things are getting passed around to other judges and then passed back. After a very long break they finally call a decision and award the fight to Bruce. Bruce was on a cloud nine and well done to him but when you know you didn't lose a fight it's hard to just cop in on the chin.

After we go down the change room one of the judges comes down to the change room shaking his head 'I have no idea whats going on, I had you up 50-46.' I am thinking to myself that sounds about right what I thought as well. Another judge comes in the change room, this time saying 'mate I thought the fight was close, whoever won the 5th was going to win and I think you got it, so I gave you the fight by 1.' The last judge we bumped into up stairs on the way out, he told me it was so close he had no choice but to give it a draw.

Now call me old fashioned, but if two judges give it to red, and one a draw, isn't your answer right there a majority win? Hopefully when everything settles down Josh and Nugget and find the cards, I don't know who we talk to but we got to over turn this especially if the cards are black and white.

I don't blame Preacher as we are only doing what we do inside the ring while the judges do their job to award a winner. If the winner is red, why did they call blue?

You can jump down my throat for being a sore loser but would just love to get some straight answers. If I got beat fair enough, but I felt I didn't and the score cards said I didn't?"

So that was very strange with the judges results. Could there have been miscommunication somewhere or was one of the judges lying to JWP? Hopefully there's an update on this.

US Open: Finals (Part 1)

Last night, Kim Clijsters defeated Vera Zvonareva easily in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. It was pretty much expected from the beginning. With Serena Williams not in the tournament, there was really no one to match Clijsters. Only Stosur gave her a scare. I thought Zvonareva was going to put up a little fight because she had a good run and eliminated tough opponents in Wozniacki and Kanepi. I originally thought the Final would be between Clijsters and Wozniacki.

The Men's Final was scheduled for this afternoon, but is being delayed due to rain. So the US Open came in with hot Summer temperature, had Fall winds throughout, cool night temperatures and now it's ending on a wet Spring shower! The latest word is 5:30, but I don't know. It's still drizzling right now. I hope they can get this in tonight. I'd hate for it to get pushed to Monday.

US Open: Super Saturday

Nadal faced Youzhny in the first match. This time, there was no wind and no scorching temperatures.l Youzhny was having a great tournament and great year. He's the guy that eliminated Nadal a few years ago from the US Open. While Nadal had a big advantage record-wise, the numbers are a lot closer when just looking at the hard court stats. That's one thing that could make this look like a good match on paper. But Nadal has made significant improvements. Youzhny had no shot today. He broke Nadal once and that was about it. It was another breeze for the #1 seed... 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Match 2 between Federer and Djokovic was just the opposite. It went the full 5 sets and Federer did not play particilarly well in any of them. Djokovic lead early in the first, but Federer came back for the win. Djokovic won the 2nd easily. Federer then struggled, committed a lot of unforced errors and won a close 3rd. Djokovic came back again and took the 4th easily. Working from behind in the 5th, Federer was building up a comeback, but got broken on his final service game. Djokovic fought back from a match point and won his service at the end.... 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. As much as everyone wanted to see as Nadal/Federer US Open Final, Djokovic really deserves to be in. He played much better in the tournament and in this semi-final.

The women's final is on in about 30 minutes. To be continued.

US Open Days 10 & 11

On Wednesday, all of the usuals advanced. Federer defeated Soderling, erasing the previous and only loss to him in the French. It was an easy straight set victory, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. It was another windy day, but Federer stated that he enjoyed it. "It's what we do. You wake me up 2am in the morning and ask me to hit serves, I'll do it!" That was well put. Sports has always been about skills + the situation. If every tournament was indoors and away from the weather, then what would the point be in traveling around the world and having the challenge of different environments? Djokovic also defeated Monfils in straights... another easy match, without a threat. Wozniacki and Zvonareva advanced on the women's side.

The conditions are getting tougher and so are the opponents as the US Open winds down and the Fall weather rushes in, but nothing seems to be stopping Nadal. He breezed past the hard hitting Lopez, which was anticipated as a potential close match. Last night, he went through his second countryman in a row, Verdasco. Nadal took the opening game pretty quickly as Verdasco was visibly bothered by the high winds. Still, he recovered during his serve and even broke Nadal for the first time in the entire tournament. He held the lead until the end of the set when Nadal came back. After the first set, there was little sign of life in Verdasco as Nadal got the early leads in the next 2 sets. There were a number of Nadal highlight shots in the 3rd too, including a 360 volley to fend off a winner. As if Verdasco didn't already feel this slipping away games ago, a shot like that really takes your heart away. Nadal has been preparing for the US Open all year long. After Roland Garros, he never even had Wimbledon in his mind (even though he won that one too). The US Open has been his weakest tournament by far. He probably practiced a lot on hard courts and worked on adjustments to the strong winds of Arthur Ashe.

Subway Tales: Cast of Characters

The week of Labor Day is always a comfortable one on the subway. Many people have taken the whole week off to take advantage of the national holiday. Today is Friday and the trains are relatively empty. I sat down for the entire ride and noticed several open seats at each stop. No one was standing unless they were getting off in a few stops. There was still a good cast of characters though.

One guy standing in the middle of the train refused to hold onto any of the straps or bars, but he was struggling to keep balance and stumbled several times. This guy is extra clumsy because he wasn't even trying to multitask. He was fully concentrating on standing up. He looked really bad, but fortunately he didn't fall. The seated passenger below him was sleeping.

A woman across the door from me was seated with her legs crossed, taking up a bit more space than if she was seated normally. This wasn't the main problem though. She had her shoe off for the leg that was raised, airing it out at the expense of adjacent passengers!

Direct TV Iced Tea

This is my favorite commercial playing right now during games:


While it's a Direct TV commercial and it shows all the cool things you can do, some people can interpret it as "Direct TV users are assholes who deserve to drink ice tea squeezed from a dirty cleaning rag!"

US Open Day 9

Yesterday's matches featured the 2 best of this year's tournament so far. First, the Clijisters/Stosur match was easily better than Wozniacki/Sharapova. It went the full distance as the 2 traded shots. It was another windy day, so both players had to adjust accordingly. Both were athletic enough to do so. One of the unusual things about this one was the break points. There was a stretch where they were just breaking each other one after the other. The final score was 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in favor of defending champ, Clijisters. She will go on to face Venus Williams, who also won her match yesterday.

On the same day, we also saw the best men's match of the tournament... between Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer. The match was a 4 hour+ instant classic where Verdasco dropped the first 2 sets and then battled back to win the whole thing 5-7, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Even the last set went to a tiebreak to add to the drama. The match point came on a drop shot by Ferrer that was going to extend the tiebreak, but Verdasco rushed with all the energy he had left and returned it!

Immediately after that match, was the next all-Spanish faceoff between Nadal and Lopez @ 11pm, which featured probably the 2 most powerful servers of the tournament. Shots were blazing at over 130 mph in this one. Nadal was sharp from the start and Lopez had some trouble adjusting to the wind as he wasn't able to keep several of his shots in the court. Lopez played well, but Nadal moved onto another level this year. He still remains unbroken and cruised into victory 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal will face Verdasco in an all-Spanish quarters.

US Open Days 7 & 8

Nadal seems to be getting more comfortable deeper into the tournament and against tougher opponents. This is the best he's played on the hard court so far. On Sunday, he breezed through Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Like his previous matches, he had a strong serve and showed a great variety of moves. His win setup an all-Spanish 4th round in his draw. Nadal will face Lopez and Ferrer will face Verdasco.

Yesterday featured one of the best women's matches I've ever seen between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. Even though Wozniacki won 6-3, 6-4, it was a lot closer than the score looked. Maria was behind for most of the match, but just would not go away. There were also a lot of 20+ stroke rallies, which made it feel long and close. Wozniacki was more athletic, while Sharapova showed more finesse moves. It was a typical loss though as she double-faulted and had too many unforced errors. Sharapova had more winners.. I think twice as much. So she really defeated herself. She played the power game too long and by the time she started pulling out her volleys and net moves, she was already too far behind.

Other notes:
- Federer def Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3
- Djokovic def Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-1
- Soderling def Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
- Monfils def Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5

So hopes for the Federer-Nadal final is still alive. As usual, Djokovic is still in it. Soderling, who made his assault on the rankings starting 2 years ago continues to be consistent. Monfils is really coming of age in this tournament too. The later rounds are going to feature great matches all around.

US Open Day 6

We're getting the full variety of weather here at this US Open. Things opened up with hot 90 degree temperatures. Yesterday, the wind was so strong it was affecting the hits. I saw this first in the Jankovic/Kanepi match. Balls were curving everywhere. Jankovic fell behind early and lost the 1st 6-2. She made a good run in the 2nd and seemed to made good adjustments for the wind direction, but it was too late. She did force the tiebreak, but couldn't get it to a 3rd set.

Maria Sharapova seemed to have no trouble with the wind as she handed Beatrice Capra a double goose egg... 6-0, 6-0. Capra was making 2009 Oudin-like run as a wild card player. It was a great story, but Maria came prepared as I'm sure she didn't want a repeat of last year. It was a short match and she barely broke a sweat. This is the best I've seen Maria in a while.

Other notes:
- Monfils defeated Tipsarevic in 4
- Djokovic defeated Blake in straights

US Open Day 5

It looks like Ana Ivanovic is back! She defeated Razzano easily 7-5, 6-0 yesterday to setup a fourth round match with last year's champ, Kim Clijisters. Ivanovic looked healthy and moved well and this is the deepest she's been in a major since her injury streak.

Primetime featured another good show by Nadal. He came on strong in the first set and won 6-2. In the 2nd, he fell behind a little bit early in the set and was working from behind all the time. They got into a tiebreak where Nadal fell behind 5-1. Istomin had just hit an amazing winner, sliding towards the net and leaving a good 10ft skid mark that's still on the ground today! Nadal saluted his opponent on the great move and then really went to work, coming all the way back to take the tiebreak and set. The 3rd set was also close, but Nadal was the one with the early lead and never gave it up. His serve really looks good in the tournament... the best I've ever seen it. His game is also more complete as he changed speeds a lot to fool Istomin.

Other notes:
- Murray, Isner, Nalbandian & Ferrer in straights
- Isner in 4
- Venus, Clijisters & Dementieva in straights

Lucky 7

Continuing their dominance over the Oakland A's, the Yankees completed a 4-game sweep to take care of business and start making up for the bad August. This all started with Vasquez's heroic relief appearance in Game 1. The bats were on target for the whole series with Tex, Granderson and Thames on fire.

Game 2 was actually a sloppy performance by Phil Hughes, but the offense picked it up for him and he was able to pitch without taking too much damage. Posada had a rare, hustling RBI triple that got the crowd and dugout into it. Swisher, Granderson and Teixiera all homered.

We finally saw the good AJ Burnett after several bad starts. He was on target with 8 K's in 6 innings of work. It was closed out with 4 relief pitchers. So Burnett starts out September just like last year. Can he keep it up though? Although August was a bad overall month, the bullpen actually did pretty good. We lost games due to lack of offense.

In Game 3, CC earned his 19th win with a whole month left to get to the #20 that signifies greatness. It'll be a surprise, but if you look at CC's baseball card, you'll notice that he's never had 20 wins before. I thought he had it almost every season! It's more than likely he'll go higher than 20 this time and will be a strong candidate for the Cy Young. Last night's game was an 8 inning, 1 hit performance by the ace. Albaladejo closed out the 9th.

So the Yankees had a nice variety of wins from close games to blowouts and shutouts. They currently have a 7-game winning streak, but the Rays and Sox are still close. These are 3 great teams and one of them will not be going to the post season!

US Open Day 4

Maria Sharapova's 2nd round match went a lot better than her 3-set opener. She easily defeated fellow Russian, Benesova 6-1, 6-2. Although she double-faulted 4x, she was able to keep her head in the game. She looked good on all her returns and played well at the net. It's great to see Maria play a match like this.

Other notes:
- Federer, Djokovic & Soderling in straights as the top players continue to ease there way ahead
- James BLake is still alive with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory
- Wozniacki & Kuznetsova won in straights
- Jankovic is still in it with a 3-set win

iPod Updates

Apple updated their entire iPod line yesterday at a typical keynote. I'd have to say that this is one of the better updates of the year, with most changes going to the iPod nano again.

Nano
The Nano was completely redesigned and looks nothing like any of the previous generations. In fact, it's more like a baby iPad in look and feel. The physical controls were removed in favor of the trend towards touchscreens. So it's a square device only slightly larger than the Shuffle. It has a thick black border like the iPad for maximum contrast. The Nano also has the built-in Nike workout program.

Touch
As expected, this version of the touch was the "fixed" one from the last time. They got the camera in now, but also added an additional camera to the front so narcissists can shoot themselves more easily. The body got a little thinner, which was a surprise to me. I thought it would take on the iPhone 4 body for consistency, but the 2 devices are splitting paths now.

Shuffle
The Shuffle didn't really undergo a redesign. They reverted back to the 2nd generation... square with physical buttons. Many users complained about the previous no button/no screen Shuffle. While it's a change for the better, I think the redesign of the Nano defeats the purpose of a shuffle. They're almost the same size and the Nano has a lot more functionality. It's not a big difference if you have that strapped to your arm while jogging than the slightly smaller Shuffle.

US Open Day 3

It was Andy Roddick's turn in prime time, but ended up being frustrating match where officiating determined the outcome of the game. Roddick took the first set easily 6-3, but Tipsarevic made some adjustments and looked great for the rest of the match. Andy was also pretty good, but seemed to lose a bit after getting frustrated with a lineswoman's foot fault call. After he complained, he was called for 2 more... one of which wasn't even close to a violation. There was also another call in the 4th (and final set) where a ball that was clearly in was called out. Roddick had to use up a challenge and replay a point he was on his way to winning.

So both guys actually played very well. I would've liked to see cleaner officiating. Maybe this would've been a 5-set match.... maybe Roddick could've pulled off a nice classic win. Instead, Roddick has an early exit and Tipsarevic makes it to the 3rd round for the first time.

Other notes:
- Murray, Isner & Monfils in straights
- Venus, Clijisters, Dementieva & Ivanovic in straights
- Hantuchova in 3
- Oudin is out... lost in straights to Bondarenko

Maria First Round Press Conf.

Maria got past the first round at least, although 3 sets was a scare. Will it be the good Maria or bad in this tournament. If she can pull it together mentally, she has a good shot at this one. She plays well on hard courts and Serena isn't participating (which pretty much opens the door for any of the top players).

US Open Day 2

Last night's primetime featuring Nadal was the first actual match I got to watch. Nadal played well, but so did Gabashvili. Though it was a straight set victory, it must have felt like a 5-set marathon because of the 2 tiebreaks and hot temperatures. Nadal was working from behind for most of the first 2 sets. I actually thought Gabashvili looked better, but if it went the distance, Nadal's experience and heart would have the edge. Nadal came back to take both sets in the tiebreaks. In the 3rd, he pulled away towards the end as fatigue hit Gabashvili earlier. The US Open has been Nadal's worst major by far. It's the only one he's really vulnerable in, but his serve looked great and that was the weapon that saved him last night.

Other notes:
- Djokovic & Nalbandian in 5
- Ferrer, Fish & Blake in straights
- Wozniacki in straights to shorten an already late night after the Nadal/Gabashvili match
- Sharapova, Kuznetsova in 3

Sword of Azrael: Michael Enright

Michael Enright, the kid who attacked a cab driver because he was Muslim is getting the Death by Fiery Sword penalty. He didn't kill the cab driver, but intentions are good enough for me. I thin the only thing that saved the driver was the window between the front and back wasn't large enough for Enright to extend all the way over. Enright is being charged with a hate crime and will be arraigned on attempted murder, which are as good as the system can get. But here's the catch... he's being held at a psychiatric ward. That means he has a chance to get away with it if his lawyers can make him out to be mentally "ill."

From a different point of view. If you're a high position bad guy, Enright theoretical boss, you'd also be pissed. If the goal is to take out Muslims, why waste your life on a cab driver? So that's a double death by fiery sword from both sides of the fence!