lewser getting ballsy

it’s been a struggle to like the hamster on a personal level; he’s not unlike roger federer for me.  you can see the obvious talent, the silky execution, the suave air in the press conferences but none of these do anything.  i’m not excited, nor titillated, nor compelled to scream for him.  lewis hamilton may be one of the brightest young stars in british sports (alongside andy murray and theo walcott, who give the brits something over which to feel proud).in the wake of his “no balls” statement about kimi raikkonen’s driving at the controversial chicane at spa-francorchamps last weekend that saw the stewards demoting hamilton to third place with a 25-second penalty after podium awarding ceremonies had taken place, i’m back in the same place i was last year, exactly at this time of the season, too.  nothing, nothing would thrill me more than to see the lew-ser NOT win the driver’s championship for the second year in a row.   

sebastian vettel of toro rossi holds up a triumphant finger after securing pole position at the italian grand prix qualifying session earlier in monza 

and as if the rain gods had heard me and most of the folks in this F1 forum, hamilton struggled to qualify and ended up a dismal 15th in Q2, just one place behind world champion kimi in 14th, the man hamilton had bragged had no balls as he.  robert kubica of bmw was eased out by massa to 11th, the brazilian struggling to hold onto his P10. in Q3, sebastian vettel of toro rossi buoyed team spirits by taking pole position for the first time this season, teammate sebastien bourdais following with an impressive P4.  massa was able to clinch P6, pushing fernando alonso down two places to P8.  other impressive showings in the wet conditions were mark webber of red bull, heikki kovalainen of mclaren, nick heidfeld of bmw, nico rosberg of williams, and jarno trulli of toyota.  i’m looking forward to an exciting monza race tomorrow at 14.00. rain is in the forecast so anything can happen.  as for lewster, good on ya for stinking up the joint in Q2!  that should teach you to bite your foot real hard whenever you feel the urge to proclaim yourself the best driver on the grid.  ahhh, the vicissitudes of life. 

*photo courtesy of itv-f1.com

ladies and gentlemen, the winners of the USO

multiple slam winners did it again over this hurricaned weekend.  congratulations to serena williams (now with 9 titles) and roger federer (with 13)!

roger and serena at the player’s party before the start of the USO two weekends ago

ladies and gents, the winners of the USO

multiple slam winners serena williams (with 9) and roger federer (with 13).

roger and serena at the player’s party before the start of the USO two weekends ago

congratulations, roger and serena!

if not nole, not rafa either

nole bows out to roger in their four-set semi-final clash yesterday afternoon in new york 

and the muzzah is in his first grand slam final!  i am soooo happy for andy murray.  which is surprising considering he just kicked my beloved rafael nadal out of the USO in an exciting four-set match that spanned two days and a lot of rain.i caught myself crying when nole beat roddick, and then again last night when he lost to roger federer, and then again when i woke up this morning.  but the brave-hearted scotsman with the wild hair rescued my USO for me.

 

andy murray in his first grand slam final 

in tomorrow’s final, men who have not won a slam title in 2008.  andy sailed into his first grand slam semifinal with an emotional win over fellow junior, the tall argentine juan martin del potro and finally notched his first victory over rafa, making their head-to-head 1-5, murray-rafa.in the ladies’ final which is scheduled to start in 2 1/2 hours, first time slam finalist jelena jankovic of serbia takes on 8-time grand slam winner and 2-time USO champion serena williams of the united states.  jelena’s slam count? zero.  

 

signature rafa celebration — although it may just be my imagination but is the boy fatigued? time to go home to mallorca now, my sweet. what a great year you’ve had so far! 

roger’s slam count? 12.  andy’s? zero.i’m rooting for the players who have never won a slam tomorrow!  they may fail at the last hurdle but they must be hungry, really really hungry.

 

jelena jankovic in her first grand slam final after she defeated elena dementieva 6-4 6-4 in friday’s semi-final 

ajde jelena!  go andy! 

(all photos courtesy of the los angeles times)

damned if i do, damned if i don’t

there he was, being interviewed on court by barcan.  and then suddenly the crowd started booing.  what had novak djokovic said in a post-match interview on centre court at flushing meadows?  he had just beaten american andy roddick in four sets.  there was a very cold handshake at the net and then a lot of fiery, intense heart jabbing and head thrown back with matching yell to the night sky.

roddick had said in an interview two days before that he thought nole had 16 injuries or so.  as a fan of nole, i found this remark funny but i also knew that it could spur nole into an abyss of anger and resentment.

when nole came on court tonight, his eyes were dark, shooting daggers across the net.  he calmly and coldly flattened roddick in the first two sets before the american found his bearings and managed to steal the third set.  when nole grabbed the match by the throat in a tense fourth set tiebreak, little did anyone expect the dark, bitter molasses of his heart to spill out.

it doesn’t matter whether this crowd loves me or not, nole told the blubbering announcer darkly, they always think i’m faking it anyway.

barcan sputtered, wait, this crowd didn’t say this, only andy did and it was a joke.

nole would have none of it.  it’s not a nice thing to say, nevertheless, he shot back.  and i am absolutely thrilled to have beaten the homeboy in his home tournament and oh, his favourite too, right?

i will admit that i did not see it myself but read about it through impassioned roger fans for the most part.  but when i read a transcription of what happened, my maverick balls just kicked in (after i dried the tears that had washed off my moisturiser).

you go, nole.  you must be sick and tired of pleasing a crowd that is only critical of everything you do.  the public is fickle but the people who matter aren’t.  so know who they are.  as for your parents, man, i wish you could get away from them for a while!  but they’re the ones who love you unquestioningly.  so it’s hard. who am i to judge?

just know i’m firmly in your camp, nole.  firmly there.

ok, after seeing the youtube clip of the post-match interview, i’m grinning broadly and just LOVING nole.  ajde!!! enjoy it with me.  go, johnny mac!  woohoooo!

*photo credit: corned beef hash

the english tyrants are out to stifle golf

why don’t you just say it outright, lorena?  your LPGA tour prioritises business and snagging (and snogging) sponsors over the quality of the game.  how else can you explain their shitty rule to impose an english speaking requirement on its players beginning in 2009?  what does the LPGA CEO say?  so that the players can coordinate better with their sponsors.

or maybe this is a way to slowly ease out the largest group of winningest players from korea who speak mostly through interpreters.  this is a dangerous precedent and smacks of outright arrogance and discrimination.  i hate it when money talk overpowers sport talk.

one big BOO to the LPGA.