Rya'c, son of Teal'c from Stargate SG-1 has joined the Clockwork Apple party at about 2 stops from when I get on. He seems to be assimilating well for a Jaffa warrior going to high school on Earth. Rya'c is playing a kid that follows the trends. He's considered cool, but also keeps to himself and gets his homework done.
One of the things I enjoyed about the Stargate SG-1 series is that it's consistent in its cast members, even when they're not main characters. Rya'c only appears in a handful of episodes, but over the 10+ seasons, they've used the same actor to play the part. So we got to see him as a bratty kid in the first season and as a young adult warrior in the later ones.
2011-07-29
2011-07-27
Subway Tales: Tweedle Dee and Dum
There were a couple of entertaining passengers on today's commute… not Clockwork Apple characters… just one-off weirdos.
Wet Seat Gone!
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the Wet Seat. Well, we had one of those today due to some leaking from the AC unit in the ceiling. The train was about to leave, but the doors opened one more time. A woman with a draggable suitcase crashed through the closing doors and pulled her luggage in. Without even looking, she sat down on the wet seat at the corner. She was wearing short shorts too, so it must have really soaked in. In typical NY fashion, she acted like nothing happened!
Flashing Cash
On the same train, a few stops later, a guy walks in. He finds an empty seat and starts counting cash and reorganizing his wallet. He's flipping through at least 10 $20 bills. Unlike the wet seat lady, he must not have been from NY!
Wet Seat Gone!
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the Wet Seat. Well, we had one of those today due to some leaking from the AC unit in the ceiling. The train was about to leave, but the doors opened one more time. A woman with a draggable suitcase crashed through the closing doors and pulled her luggage in. Without even looking, she sat down on the wet seat at the corner. She was wearing short shorts too, so it must have really soaked in. In typical NY fashion, she acted like nothing happened!
Flashing Cash
On the same train, a few stops later, a guy walks in. He finds an empty seat and starts counting cash and reorganizing his wallet. He's flipping through at least 10 $20 bills. Unlike the wet seat lady, he must not have been from NY!
2011-07-26
Happy & Healthy
After a long phase where McDonald's concentrated on big burgers and more beef offerings, they will actually take a step towards healthy food. They're going to test fruit options in their Happy Meals. It's something they've done before, but it failed in the past because they replaced the fries with fruit. In this case, they're reducing the serving of fries. The fries are probably the number 1 reason people go to McDonald's even though it's not the main course. The smell gets everyone. I think we go for the fries even if we think we don't! So it's a good idea. Kids will get their fruit (apples, oranges, pineapples or raisins) and the reward of fries still. This will be a slow rollout with nationwide offerings by April 2012. Maybe it will carryover to the extra value meals if it does really well with the kids.
2011-07-25
Heat Wave: The End
After a tough weekend of extreme temperatures, it was nice to have the overnight rain and have it continue into the morning commute. It really cooled things down, dropping temperatures into the 70's. It may have even been high 70's but it actually felt cool. The air even had a fresh scent to it. It was the best of both worlds in today's commute because the buses and trains were still less crowded than normal. It was cool and comfortable without body odor!
Heat Wave: The Game
The heat wave continued through the weekend. Though thunderstorms were predicted throughout Sunday afternoon, all we had was a 5 minute downpour. It wasn't even enough to interrupt the rubber game of the Yankees/A's series. I bet the players actually enjoyed the refreshing wash after playing 3 days in 90-100° weather. Hot temperatures affect the game. There's no doubt about it. Michael Kay showed us the stats at the beginning of Friday's game. It was statistics collected from a decade of baseball showing that 90-100° temperatures result in about 10 runs scored. So bats get hot and pitchers get exhausted. It must also have something to do with the way the ball carries through the air.
Sure enough, Friday's game was a 17-7 Yankees win. When Oakland scored first, it felt like it was going to be another long night with the Yankees working from behind the whole game. Oakland scored another in the second. Then the heat came into play as the Yankees exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd… and a whopping 9 in the 3rd. Game over? Not quite yet. Oakland scored 3 in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th, knocking Phil Hughes out of the game. That would be it though. The Yankees tacked on another 3 insurance runs to win the blowout. They had 17 hits total. All starters but Granderson had at least one. He did have 2 walks and 2 RBIs though.
The next game was a low scoring Yankees loss 4-3 on Saturday. The heat wave effect was still on though as the Yankees had 10 hits and the A's 9. Both teams just stranded more guys than Friday. Of note, Jeter had 2 hits on Friday and another 3 in this game, really padding his average. Remember, I said he'd get up to 300 by the end of the year and I still believe that.
On Sunday's game, the A's outhit the Yankees 15-9, but the Yankees did better in the RISP stat and got the 7-5 win. Colon was solid, only giving up 2 runs. Mariano Rivera got his 25th save, bailing a rare blunder by Robertson for a 4-out save. That gave Rivera 15 straight seasons with 25 or more saves as he continues to put the best closer in MLB history out of reach of any mortal for eternity!
It was a great weekend series with the Yankees finally breaking out of the 500 2nd half mark. It was nice to see Hideki Matsui too. He got a great round of applause during his first at bat. The fans recognized his milestone 500th homer last week and will never forget that he won the 2009 World Series along with Andy Pettitte.
Sure enough, Friday's game was a 17-7 Yankees win. When Oakland scored first, it felt like it was going to be another long night with the Yankees working from behind the whole game. Oakland scored another in the second. Then the heat came into play as the Yankees exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd… and a whopping 9 in the 3rd. Game over? Not quite yet. Oakland scored 3 in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th, knocking Phil Hughes out of the game. That would be it though. The Yankees tacked on another 3 insurance runs to win the blowout. They had 17 hits total. All starters but Granderson had at least one. He did have 2 walks and 2 RBIs though.
The next game was a low scoring Yankees loss 4-3 on Saturday. The heat wave effect was still on though as the Yankees had 10 hits and the A's 9. Both teams just stranded more guys than Friday. Of note, Jeter had 2 hits on Friday and another 3 in this game, really padding his average. Remember, I said he'd get up to 300 by the end of the year and I still believe that.
On Sunday's game, the A's outhit the Yankees 15-9, but the Yankees did better in the RISP stat and got the 7-5 win. Colon was solid, only giving up 2 runs. Mariano Rivera got his 25th save, bailing a rare blunder by Robertson for a 4-out save. That gave Rivera 15 straight seasons with 25 or more saves as he continues to put the best closer in MLB history out of reach of any mortal for eternity!
It was a great weekend series with the Yankees finally breaking out of the 500 2nd half mark. It was nice to see Hideki Matsui too. He got a great round of applause during his first at bat. The fans recognized his milestone 500th homer last week and will never forget that he won the 2009 World Series along with Andy Pettitte.
2011-07-22
Heat Wave: The Commute
Something I noticed this week as I went to and from work... buses and trains had considerably less passengers. I got a seat on nearly every bus ride and trains were' packed like a sardine can during the rush. There's no holiday and no long weekend for people to chain vacation days to. So I think many took personal days to avoid the heat and bad traveling conditions. As a result, it made traveling conditions better! I also heard that its one of the top weeks for people to go on vacation... not sure why though. If you take it before or after Independence Day weekend, you get and extra day or two. You use up more personal time by taking this week off.
2011-07-21
AC Settings for Savings
It's 90° today and we might break the century mark tomorrow. It's tempting for people to turn their air conditioners extremely high as it gets hotter. I've seen some people blast it to 60°. If you think about it, many people start getting cold in Fall and Winter when it's 60°. Wearing shorts and a t-shirt with the AC at 60° is overkill. You'll be wasting a lot of electricity and have a good chance of catching cold, especially if you move in and out of the cold room a lot. The best thing to do is set it around 76°-78°. It doesn't sound like much, but you'll be comfortable. That's the range you usually feel comfortable in wearing shorts. I try to avoid the AC as much as possible, but absolutely need it when I sleep. So I'm able to get my electric bill under $100 in Manhattan by following this method.
2011-07-20
Yao Ming
We already knew it was coming, but it was official today that Yao Ming has retired from the NBA. It's really sad that things didn't work out because he was just beginning to dominate as he started getting injured. He was clearly the best center in the league from his 3rd year in. His numbers are roughly 19 pts and 9 rebs... just shy of Hall of Fame numbers. If he had another 7 years left in his career, he surely would have raised those as he was doing 25 pts and 11 rebs just before the injuries.
This is also a big blow to Chinese basketball, because he's done so much for the sport and inspired many. Hopefully others can carry on what he started. Yi Jianlian has potential, but he needs to get on one of the big market teams for exposure.
Apple Releases
LionOS X 10.7... Lion was the expected release today. This is a significant release because it's the first step at meshing OS X with iOS. You'll really only experience this if you have one of the laptops or the standalone touchpad. The strange thing about this version is there's no DVD media. You can only get it by downloading from the App Store. If you're already using Snow Leopard, it'll cost you the standard $29. Anything else and you'll get ripped off because you have to buy Snow Leopard first and then Lion... $58.
Air
Apple never releases one product at a time, so if you're following the release cycles, you know that the Macbook, Macbook air and Mac mini are overdue. They decided to get rid of the regular Macbook since the Air was getting powered up with a Core i5 this round... no need to have a laptop and then another similar, but heavier version. The i5 was long overdue and the best part is the prices stayed the same.
Mini
The Mac mini also got a long overdue i5/i7 upgrade. It also got the useless Thunderbolt and lost its optical drive. It's still a great machine and the most affordable Mac, but if the point of this line was supposed to lure PC users over, it lost several steps in the ease of doing so. Because it's HDMI and Thunderbolt only, you have to buy a $29 adapter if you want to use a 3rd party monitor. There's no DVD drive, so you have to buy and expensive external (be careful... not all are fully compatible with OS X). It's a powerful system that's good enough for gaming, but be aware of the potential extra costs as you shop and compare.
Dodging Storms
We haven't had a nice big rain storm for well over a week now and the rest of the week looks hot and dry. There have been at least 3 forecast thunderstorms. On Monday night, the forecast for Tuesday was chance of storm all throughout the day. Somehow, we managed to dodge all of them. On some days, we did get darkened skies, but nothing happened. The most we got was small shower that pretty much dried minutes after hitting the ground. This could the the hottest stretch of the Summer as we're about halfway into it.
2011-07-19
US Soccer
The US women made it to the finals, a lot deeper than most people would have expected. While they have elevated the sport for a while in the US, I think it will only be for a fleeting moment. Soccer seems to fall out of people's interests after high school. As I watched the World Cup Finals last weekend, I was thinking about what would need to change to get the US audience into it.
Field Size
The field is simply too large... equivalent to several American football fields. So sot of the game is spent battling back and forth in the middle of the field. You often have to kick in the wrong direction to avoid opponents. And it's fairly safe to do so because the field is huge and you're usually not in danger even if you turn the ball over. So this can go on for hours without scoring. The solution is to shrink the field. It would force more face-offs and scoring plays. It wouldn't sacrifice any skills, but would make the game a lot more exciting. Players would be moving around all the time and get tired faster. Notice how all the scoring is towards the end of the game when the defense is fatigued. Also, for the TV audience, the camera shots would look a lot better.
Time
The game is just too damn long... 2 45 min halves. If there's a tie, it's 2 more 30 min halves. That's too long for anyone's attention span, especially when combined with the oversized field. Maybe shorten it to 4 15 minute quarters... slightly longer than a basketball game. The OT is unnecessarily long too... almost the length of the game. It should be sudden death to speed things up and keep players sharp for the duration.
Bonuses
There's only one scoring move in this game... kick a goal and get 1 point. How about a 2 point shot from a certain distance? The field is large and plain. Long shots are considerably harder.
So I basically turned soccer into basketball using your feet. But there's a reason why basketball is a more popular sport and why there's a whole culture around it.
Field Size
The field is simply too large... equivalent to several American football fields. So sot of the game is spent battling back and forth in the middle of the field. You often have to kick in the wrong direction to avoid opponents. And it's fairly safe to do so because the field is huge and you're usually not in danger even if you turn the ball over. So this can go on for hours without scoring. The solution is to shrink the field. It would force more face-offs and scoring plays. It wouldn't sacrifice any skills, but would make the game a lot more exciting. Players would be moving around all the time and get tired faster. Notice how all the scoring is towards the end of the game when the defense is fatigued. Also, for the TV audience, the camera shots would look a lot better.
Time
The game is just too damn long... 2 45 min halves. If there's a tie, it's 2 more 30 min halves. That's too long for anyone's attention span, especially when combined with the oversized field. Maybe shorten it to 4 15 minute quarters... slightly longer than a basketball game. The OT is unnecessarily long too... almost the length of the game. It should be sudden death to speed things up and keep players sharp for the duration.
Bonuses
There's only one scoring move in this game... kick a goal and get 1 point. How about a 2 point shot from a certain distance? The field is large and plain. Long shots are considerably harder.
So I basically turned soccer into basketball using your feet. But there's a reason why basketball is a more popular sport and why there's a whole culture around it.
2011-07-18
Weekend Sports Wrapup
Yankees
In their series against the Blue Jays, the Yankees started the 2nd half of the season slowly as they dropped the first 2 games. On Thursday, it was a 7-16 blowout. Colon got knocked out of the 1st inning as he fell into a 8-0 hole. The worst part of this is that it wasn't all earned runs. In fact, only 3 were as there were also 3 errors in the inning. The game wasn't out of reach yet, but then the bullpen made their contributions. Noesi, Logan and Mitre combined for another 5 runs. That night, everyone was bad! Friday's 1-7 loss was more of the same… errors, failure to hit with RISP and a bad start. This time, it was Garcia giving up 6 runs in the first. So the Yankees lost 2 games in a row all in the first inning. On Saturday, they sent out CC Sabathia when they needed him most. He's the new Yankees stopper now that Andy Pettitte is retired. CC did his job with an impressive 4-1 victory. Fortunately, this was a 4-game series, which gave the Yankees an opportunity to tie things up 2-2. Phil Hughes pitched his best game of the season, going 6 inning with 4 hits and the only 2 runs of the game for Toronto. Wade, Robertson and Logan closed things out and gave Rivera the day off. In this series, Gardner was the most notable player as he's on a hot hitting and stealing streak. He beat out so many infield hits that would be outs for any other player. It's like if he touches the ball and it falls fair, it's going to be a hit. And then he's been stealing 2nd and 3rd too.
World Cup
This was probably the first soccer game I ever watched. I figured that since the Yankees game ended early, and people would be talking about this all day Monday, I should watch. The US had their chances early in the game as they had a lot more shot attempts than Japan, but all of them were either a little off or were deflected by Japan's goalie. Late in the 2nd half, the US finally scored the first goal of the game. I seriously thought that would be the final score, but Japan returned the favor a few minutes later. The US scored first in overtime as well, but Japan tied it up again. So it came down to penalty kicks where Japan won 3-1. So in the end, the physical strength and size of the US team was no match for skill and defense of the Japanese. Of course I wanted the US to win, but I'm also in favor of skill over power. And it was also a great storybook ending for a country that endured the huge earthquakes recently.
In their series against the Blue Jays, the Yankees started the 2nd half of the season slowly as they dropped the first 2 games. On Thursday, it was a 7-16 blowout. Colon got knocked out of the 1st inning as he fell into a 8-0 hole. The worst part of this is that it wasn't all earned runs. In fact, only 3 were as there were also 3 errors in the inning. The game wasn't out of reach yet, but then the bullpen made their contributions. Noesi, Logan and Mitre combined for another 5 runs. That night, everyone was bad! Friday's 1-7 loss was more of the same… errors, failure to hit with RISP and a bad start. This time, it was Garcia giving up 6 runs in the first. So the Yankees lost 2 games in a row all in the first inning. On Saturday, they sent out CC Sabathia when they needed him most. He's the new Yankees stopper now that Andy Pettitte is retired. CC did his job with an impressive 4-1 victory. Fortunately, this was a 4-game series, which gave the Yankees an opportunity to tie things up 2-2. Phil Hughes pitched his best game of the season, going 6 inning with 4 hits and the only 2 runs of the game for Toronto. Wade, Robertson and Logan closed things out and gave Rivera the day off. In this series, Gardner was the most notable player as he's on a hot hitting and stealing streak. He beat out so many infield hits that would be outs for any other player. It's like if he touches the ball and it falls fair, it's going to be a hit. And then he's been stealing 2nd and 3rd too.
World Cup
This was probably the first soccer game I ever watched. I figured that since the Yankees game ended early, and people would be talking about this all day Monday, I should watch. The US had their chances early in the game as they had a lot more shot attempts than Japan, but all of them were either a little off or were deflected by Japan's goalie. Late in the 2nd half, the US finally scored the first goal of the game. I seriously thought that would be the final score, but Japan returned the favor a few minutes later. The US scored first in overtime as well, but Japan tied it up again. So it came down to penalty kicks where Japan won 3-1. So in the end, the physical strength and size of the US team was no match for skill and defense of the Japanese. Of course I wanted the US to win, but I'm also in favor of skill over power. And it was also a great storybook ending for a country that endured the huge earthquakes recently.
2011-07-14
Sword of Azrael: Levi Aron
Levi Aron only deserves one thing... death by the same means he applied to 8-year old Leiby Kletzky. The boy was supposed to meet with his mother after camp, but got lost. He ran into Aron, who kidnapped him and later killed him when he heard about the police effort for the missing child. He then cut up the body and placed parts in the freezer. The whole thing is extremely odd because it appears the two did not know each other, the motive for the kidnapping is unknown, the murder is extreme and the dismemberment even more so. The strangeness of this crime, which supersedes any Law and Order: SVU episode on TV may allow Aron to get away with insanity, again showing the problem of our court system. He should have been cut up alive the moment he was caught.
2011-07-12
Cano's Day
Early in the day yesterday, I filled out some survey about who I thought would win the All-Star HR Derby this year. I was thinking that the current HR leader Bautista or Fielder had the edge, but voted for Cano because I thought he had deceptive power that many non-Yankee fans might not know about. It turned out that last night was Robinson Cano's turn in the spotlight after Jeter's 3000th hit. It was another scripted ending for Yankees legend. In the first round, Cano jumped ahead in distance, smacking the 5 longest homers. In the finals, the stage was setup against none other than the rival Red Sox... the 2 greatest franchises and 2 unlikely candidates. For the Sox, it was 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a player known for his average rather than long ball. The 3rd and final round of the derby is known for fatigue and no player has even gone into double figures before. Gonzalez launched 11 out of the park with ease, breaking the record and seemingly icing the championship. But Cano calmly stepped up to the plate and hit 12 out of the park with a whole 4 outs to spare. Pitching to him all night was former Houston Astro and father, Jose Cano. So it was a father-son moment and a battle of rivals on what was supposed to be a boring exhibition... great for baseball!
2011-07-10
2011-07-09
3000+
Today's game had the same feel as one of Michael Jordan's fairy tale performances... so perfect that it could have only existed as a movie script. It was all real though when Jeter hit #3000. There was nothing quiet about it as he sent one over left center field and out of the ball park. Just his 3rd homer of the year and he made it his 3000th hit. The milestone puts him in an elite club of just 28 players in MLB history and the only Yankee. He's just one of 11 to get all hits in the same uniform. Only Wade Boggs reached 3000 on a homer. History wasn't the only aspect of this amazing day. It was a close game and Jeter went 5 for 5, including the game winning RBI in the 8th inning. He raised his batting average up to .270 in one day and fell 1 triple short of the cycle. He also had 2 runs and a steal.Many question Jeter's place in history because all of the glory goes to the long ball in this league, but let me list some of the accomplishments:
- most hits in Yankees history
- most steals in Yankees history
- 7th highest avg in Yankees history
- 10th most HRs in Yankees history
- 8th most RBIs in Yankees history
- 3rd most Runs in Yankees history
- 2nd most Doubles in Yankees history
- 6th most X-base hits in Yankees history
- 2nd most games in Yankees history
- most ABs in Yankees history
- 6th most Walks in Yankees history
- 12x All-Star
- 5x Gold Glove
- 4x Silver Slugger
- 5 World Series Rings
- World Series MVP
- All-Star MVP
- Rookie of the Year
He's in the top ten in all offensive categories except triples. His 5 gold gloves and fielding percentage speak for his defense. I think when you look at all of this and all aspects of the game, I'm very comfortable saying that he's the greatest player in franchise history. No one has been more consistent and clutch for so long. If we want to talk about homers... 10th in Yankees history isn't bad at all for a guy that's not a homerun hitter!
2011-07-07
AL Wakeup Call
The Yankees finally lost a series 2-1 to Cleveland... their first since the Red Sox in the beginning of June. Since then, they've been playing 700 ball, dropping one NL after another. The Indians series is an AL wakeup call though. It was last night's game, which decided the series that could have gone their way though. Phil Hughes returned to the mound finally (Nova got dropped back to AAA). He had a very shaky 1st inning, giving up 2 runs, but that would be it for his 6-inning outing as he settled in. His velocity was back but control needed some work. It was the bullpen that lost the game though as Logan and Mitre gave up 3 runs in the 7th. The Yankees rallied for 3 runs in the 9th that would have won the game. Jeter had a hard hit double to pull within 3 of 3000.
One has to wonder how Sergio Mitre keeps getting into the Yankees pen. He wasn't successful in his last NY stint. Then they brought him back this year? In his last game, he tainted CC's gem shutout start with a couple of runs and he lost last night's game. How many more chances are the Yankees going to give him?
One has to wonder how Sergio Mitre keeps getting into the Yankees pen. He wasn't successful in his last NY stint. Then they brought him back this year? In his last game, he tainted CC's gem shutout start with a couple of runs and he lost last night's game. How many more chances are the Yankees going to give him?
Subway Tales: Technology
I was riding one of the newer trains today, when I heard the automated announcement. I normally block it out, but it stood out to me today because it was wrong. It was going through the lineup for the opposite direction. One of the passengers who had just gotten on was a little confused and stood by the door, not sure where the train was headed. Then the conductor came through then doors, opened up the panel and overrode the system. He then announced the correct stop and destination. He turned to the unsure passenger and said, "all this fancy technology, but it doesn't work!"
By now, you know what I think! Computers don't make mistakes themselves. The cause is always human. Something either the conductor, driver or previous conductor did made the announcements reversed. It's not something that would happen all by itself!
By now, you know what I think! Computers don't make mistakes themselves. The cause is always human. Something either the conductor, driver or previous conductor did made the announcements reversed. It's not something that would happen all by itself!
2011-07-06
Return of the Captain
Jeter came back to the Yankees 2 games ago and although the team has done well, he was definitely missed. He was hitless in his first game, but defensive plays really showed he was 100% healthy. Nunez was great on the offensive side, but terrible on defense. He probably made more errors than Jeter in an entire year! In last night's game, Jeter got his offense back with a single and double to pull within 4 hits of 3000.
I wonder if the minor league rehab was even necessary. The numbers Jeter has against the Mets... or the NL for that matter, it probably would have been the same level of difficulty. He'd likely be at 3000 also... and in NY.
I wonder if the minor league rehab was even necessary. The numbers Jeter has against the Mets... or the NL for that matter, it probably would have been the same level of difficulty. He'd likely be at 3000 also... and in NY.
2011-07-04
Weekend Sports Wrapup
Subway Series
The Yankees took the Citi Field half of the this year's Subway Series as well, 2 out of 3, making it 4 out of 6 for the season series. Games 1 & 2 were typical Yankees wins, while the 3rd was an improbable Mets victory in the 10th inning. In the end, the Yankees won series during their Interleague stint. And the Red Sox unexpectedly lost more games than they should have, giving the Yankees a nice 2 game lead in 1st place.
NBA Lockout
The owners and players couldn't come to an agreement last week, so we're now in an NBA lockout. It really feels like the league just disappeared overnight as NBA.com was updated to exclude all players' names and profiles. They tried to remove any mention off them as if they never existed. It's certainly a different feeling than the 1998 lockout when the Internet wasn't as big. This is really going to hurt the league if a significant part of the season is missed. Hopefully the players will keep in shape during the off time as they are not allowed to practice in their official training centers or train with their coaches. I read that Rose and Korver were inviting other players to work out with them... true Bulls spirit.
The Yankees took the Citi Field half of the this year's Subway Series as well, 2 out of 3, making it 4 out of 6 for the season series. Games 1 & 2 were typical Yankees wins, while the 3rd was an improbable Mets victory in the 10th inning. In the end, the Yankees won series during their Interleague stint. And the Red Sox unexpectedly lost more games than they should have, giving the Yankees a nice 2 game lead in 1st place.
NBA Lockout
The owners and players couldn't come to an agreement last week, so we're now in an NBA lockout. It really feels like the league just disappeared overnight as NBA.com was updated to exclude all players' names and profiles. They tried to remove any mention off them as if they never existed. It's certainly a different feeling than the 1998 lockout when the Internet wasn't as big. This is really going to hurt the league if a significant part of the season is missed. Hopefully the players will keep in shape during the off time as they are not allowed to practice in their official training centers or train with their coaches. I read that Rose and Korver were inviting other players to work out with them... true Bulls spirit.
2011-07-03
Nadal vs. Djokovic (Part 2)
The 4th set started out close, just like the 1st, but Nadal didn't seem to have it today. He was just pounding the ball and not using his usualy variety of inside and outside games. He double-faulted in this set. One wonders if Nadal was injured in the quarters against del Potro when he needed that medical timeout. He won't admit the injury even if it exists though. But he just wasn't moving with his usual speed. Final score... 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic is the 2011 Wimbledon Champion and #1 in the rankings.
Nadal vs. Djokovic (Part 1)
With Federer eliminated early, it would normally be Nadal's championship for the taking, except for the streak Djokovic is putting together this year. He already beat Nadal 4 times, though never in a best of 5. The first set started out close, but Djokovic pulled away as he played the net well and Nadal was a step slower than normal. The second set was more of the same... all Djokovic. Nadal showed signs of life in Set #3 with his first break and a 3-0 lead. His shots were falling just inside the line this time. It seems like he woke up finally, but hopefully not too late to win this one. And Djokovic even double-faulted! So the momentum might have shifted.
2011-07-02
Sharapova vs. Kvitova (Part 2)
Kvitova got off to the early lead, carrying over her game play from the first set. This one went back and forth a bit up to 3-3, then Kvitova started to pull away. While Maria had an oddly dominant tournament, her luck ran out in the final as she lost her only 2 sets... but the ones that counted. Kvitova won 6-3, 6-4. At 21, she's the youngest player to win Wimbledon since Maria at 17.
Sharapova vs. Kvitova (Part 1)
Maria Sharapova came into this match on one of her best majors runs, although a little unconventional. She has not dropped a set yet even though her game has been riddle with her usual double-faults. Her defense has been phenomenal though, breaking over 60% of the time. If you break 60%, you'll likely win matches! At the start of the first set, Maria won the coin toss and opted to receive instead of serve and it played into her favor in the first game. Kvitova broke Maria back right away and then took the lead in her next serve. Maria got into trouble with her double-faults and Kvitova was able to finish the long rallies.
Maria last won this tournament when she was a teenager and defeated Serena Williams in 2006. Now the role might have been reversed if Kvitova can complete the upset. Let's see if Maria can get it together!
Maria last won this tournament when she was a teenager and defeated Serena Williams in 2006. Now the role might have been reversed if Kvitova can complete the upset. Let's see if Maria can get it together!
2011-07-01
Wimbledon Catchup
This time I'm not posting a Maria video because she got eliminated. She's in the Finals! Her match yesterday sure looked like a typical loss as she double-faulted 13 times. But in a non-typical way, she fought through it and defeated Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3. She will face Petra Kvitova on Saturday as she makes her return to the Wimbledon Finals.
The men's side ended up interesting when one of the top 4 seeded players got eliminated in the quarters... Roger Federer lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal, Djokovic and Murray all survived their quarters. Tsonga will play Djokovic and Nadal will face Murray.
The men's side ended up interesting when one of the top 4 seeded players got eliminated in the quarters... Roger Federer lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal, Djokovic and Murray all survived their quarters. Tsonga will play Djokovic and Nadal will face Murray.
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