without a token Roger Federer post. I don't know if you watched his five setter over this past weekend, but it was unreal. He played, horribly. And by horribly, I mean he was a disaster.
The first two and even three sets, he looked like a girl who takes tennis class in college just to get a tan and exercise going up against the retired high school tennis player dude, who's frosted tips and tremendous ego got him playing about 4th singles on his team, but he was all state once he stepped foot on the college intramural hard court.
Federer was just flat struggling. He couldn't connect on his forehand to save his life. But the biggest thing with Federer is when he let's his opponent dictate the match. Federer spent so much time dominating, winning with intimidation alone, that when someone actually mans up to him, it throws him off. Players, like Nadal, have realized that the only way to compete with Federer is to take whatever he gives you and throw it back in his face. Make Federer prepare for you, play your own game, and do what you do best, not try to get in the way of Federer's strength. At this point, you might be able to sneak by him before he wakes up.
Unfortunately, for Tomas Berdych, he didn't get lucky. After dominating Federer for two and a half sets, that whole, "Hey, I'm Roger Federer. What the hell am I doing thing..." happened and though it took a few games, after Federer won the third, anyone who thought that Berdych had a chance was smoking fine Australian grass. Though Federer struggled a little to hold serve in the fourth, it was over. You knew he would hold enough with the amount of breaks he was getting.
So Federer after a long, grueling five setter moves on to play the eighth seeded Juan Martin Del Porto and you'd think that a young player could capitalize on the five sets needed to dismiss Berdych? An hour and twenty minutes later, Federer was walking off the court with the scoreboard reading 6-3,6-0,6-0 and already thinking about his upcoming match with Andy Roddick (who's actually playing quite well from what I've seen).
Usually I root for America but Roddick acts like he's more French than anything. But if he can be aggressive with Federer, because he's going to win enough points off his serve, he might be successful. But don't get your hopes up.
Hopefully, Federer has realized his need to dictate play again and it's importance to his success. At this point, his 19 straight major semi-finals record is pretty indicative of his dominance, but to seal the deal, he needs to continue to take his play to his opponents, at all costs. I hope he can.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Nashville, The Sports Town
While I was getting married, the 13-3 and top seeded Tennessee Titans were choking away their divisional round playoff game to the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously, I didn't see the game, but from what I have gathered, it was a game the Titans could have and should have won.
As one can imagine, the talk radio shows were all about these Titan fans calling in, blaming coaches, players, and fans for the loss. Since then, the national scene has started to get a hold of Nashville's ranking as a sports town, much of which has taken fans here off guard and made them, well, very upset.
But I sit there in my car and listen to these people banter, and it really makes me think...is Nashville a good sports town?
The answer is simple. No. No it's not. It's not even close. It's very average at best.
So why would I say this, especially coming from someone who lives here? Well, as you know I don't really have any true allegiance to the teams here, so I can kind of play a bi-partisan role in the judging, but using other past experiences will in fact be helpful in proving my point.
Let's get this out of the way first. People in the south, in general, don't get hockey. Hockey is a great sport, but unfortunately, kids don't want to play it like they want to play basketball and football. Therefore, without the need to get their kids in the seats because they won't shut up otherwise, parents, in general, aren't going to the games. It's hard to sell hockey in Nashville, and it's not going well. Sorry, but it's the truth.
But let's get to football, the sport that defines this town as a sports town and how it does that. The Titans moved here from Houston. They have no history. The majority of Titans fans are first generation Titans fans. Now, this is by default of course, other than the folks here that were once in Houston and transferred here for various reasons and love talking about Earl Campbell, Billy White Shoes Johnson, and Haywood Jefferies. But in general there isn't much of a blood line. There isn't the bond that I have with my uncle who taught me to be a Packer fan, the memories we have shared from my childhood, his childhood, and talking about almost 90 years of Packer football.
Sure, Nashville can't help that...but maybe that means they don't qualify as a great sports town, and they can't do anything about it. Have you seen the movie "Invincible?" There aren't fans in Nashville like Marky-Mark's fans at the bar in Philly. There just aren't. There aren't people who give their lives, everything they have to get to the football games. I mean, I'm sure there are but not in the same way. And it goes back to the tradition, and family tradition, that I talked about earlier. The Titans are a team, they aren't a way of life like the Cubs, or Vikings, or the Jets, or the Red Sox. They are a team that has a lot of good fans and sells out their stadium every week. They also are a team that exists in a great destination city for travellers which in turn brings a large following of the opposite colors each weekend. This is also fine. Mind you, there are people with Titans tickets ready and willing to sell...
But, what is the underlying factor of all this? I've talked about it before...and that's this simple fact. By and by, the Nashville sports teams aren't most Nashville sports fans' priorities. Nashville, sits 3 hours from Knoxville, 5 hours from Tuscaloosa and Auburn, 6-7 or so from Oxford, 3 from Louisville, and 4 from Lexington. People's passion, especially in the south, is at their college of choice, not in the NFL. Mostly I'm sure because the tradition goes back a lot further with the college team where family ties are stronger and more meaningful. And let's face it Nashville, Vanderbilt doesn't matter.
There are lots of great fans here in Nashville, that's for certain. I hang out with a lot of them. But there's a lot more to a sports town than great fans. There's tradition and passion that simply can't exist here. So don't take it personally Titan fan, you just don't have what other places have. You don't have the tradition, the stories, the legends. The ring of honor at LP Field has names like McNair, George, and Wycheck. Go to Green Bay and you'll see names like Starr, Lombardi and Canadeo, and in Chicago names like, Halas, Payton and Sayres. Don't take it personally there aren't many great sports towns and Nashville could be one someday. But it's at least two generations of stories and history removed.
As one can imagine, the talk radio shows were all about these Titan fans calling in, blaming coaches, players, and fans for the loss. Since then, the national scene has started to get a hold of Nashville's ranking as a sports town, much of which has taken fans here off guard and made them, well, very upset.
But I sit there in my car and listen to these people banter, and it really makes me think...is Nashville a good sports town?
The answer is simple. No. No it's not. It's not even close. It's very average at best.
So why would I say this, especially coming from someone who lives here? Well, as you know I don't really have any true allegiance to the teams here, so I can kind of play a bi-partisan role in the judging, but using other past experiences will in fact be helpful in proving my point.
Let's get this out of the way first. People in the south, in general, don't get hockey. Hockey is a great sport, but unfortunately, kids don't want to play it like they want to play basketball and football. Therefore, without the need to get their kids in the seats because they won't shut up otherwise, parents, in general, aren't going to the games. It's hard to sell hockey in Nashville, and it's not going well. Sorry, but it's the truth.
But let's get to football, the sport that defines this town as a sports town and how it does that. The Titans moved here from Houston. They have no history. The majority of Titans fans are first generation Titans fans. Now, this is by default of course, other than the folks here that were once in Houston and transferred here for various reasons and love talking about Earl Campbell, Billy White Shoes Johnson, and Haywood Jefferies. But in general there isn't much of a blood line. There isn't the bond that I have with my uncle who taught me to be a Packer fan, the memories we have shared from my childhood, his childhood, and talking about almost 90 years of Packer football.
Sure, Nashville can't help that...but maybe that means they don't qualify as a great sports town, and they can't do anything about it. Have you seen the movie "Invincible?" There aren't fans in Nashville like Marky-Mark's fans at the bar in Philly. There just aren't. There aren't people who give their lives, everything they have to get to the football games. I mean, I'm sure there are but not in the same way. And it goes back to the tradition, and family tradition, that I talked about earlier. The Titans are a team, they aren't a way of life like the Cubs, or Vikings, or the Jets, or the Red Sox. They are a team that has a lot of good fans and sells out their stadium every week. They also are a team that exists in a great destination city for travellers which in turn brings a large following of the opposite colors each weekend. This is also fine. Mind you, there are people with Titans tickets ready and willing to sell...
But, what is the underlying factor of all this? I've talked about it before...and that's this simple fact. By and by, the Nashville sports teams aren't most Nashville sports fans' priorities. Nashville, sits 3 hours from Knoxville, 5 hours from Tuscaloosa and Auburn, 6-7 or so from Oxford, 3 from Louisville, and 4 from Lexington. People's passion, especially in the south, is at their college of choice, not in the NFL. Mostly I'm sure because the tradition goes back a lot further with the college team where family ties are stronger and more meaningful. And let's face it Nashville, Vanderbilt doesn't matter.
There are lots of great fans here in Nashville, that's for certain. I hang out with a lot of them. But there's a lot more to a sports town than great fans. There's tradition and passion that simply can't exist here. So don't take it personally Titan fan, you just don't have what other places have. You don't have the tradition, the stories, the legends. The ring of honor at LP Field has names like McNair, George, and Wycheck. Go to Green Bay and you'll see names like Starr, Lombardi and Canadeo, and in Chicago names like, Halas, Payton and Sayres. Don't take it personally there aren't many great sports towns and Nashville could be one someday. But it's at least two generations of stories and history removed.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Congratulations, Ohio State (Big Ten) Fan
I can simply say, that last night I watched a really good and entertaining football game. The Fiesta Bowl, in my eyes, was going to look like an atomic bomb. Texas was going to show up, mad that OU got the nod, and just break every bone in every Buckeye frame.
I was surprised however. Ohio State played the best they could have, utilizing all of their facilities to take a lead into the last two minutes of the game. Texas certainly didn't play their best game, but when they wanted to be you could tell they were the superior team. Two bonehead plays by Colt McCoy made the game close, stopping Texas drives in the red zone. And Ohio State, like any good team should do, took everything that Texas gave them.
But...let's jump back to reality for a moment. For the third straight year, Ohio State has gone to a BCS game and lost. Not quite as badly this year (probably because they didn't play an SEC team) but none the less the Big Ten goes another year without a BCS win. Way to go.
We are seeing the future of Ohio State football with Terrelle Pryor. He's the man. But can he throw the ball to himself next year without Todd Boeckman running around? Not to mention, Malcolm Jenkins, where are you and why did you win the Thorpe award?
So, another season of Big Ten football is over. And their biggest name and the 11th team both lost in their BCS games. Way to go guys. The Mountain West has more BCS victories in the past two years than you do.
I was surprised however. Ohio State played the best they could have, utilizing all of their facilities to take a lead into the last two minutes of the game. Texas certainly didn't play their best game, but when they wanted to be you could tell they were the superior team. Two bonehead plays by Colt McCoy made the game close, stopping Texas drives in the red zone. And Ohio State, like any good team should do, took everything that Texas gave them.
But...let's jump back to reality for a moment. For the third straight year, Ohio State has gone to a BCS game and lost. Not quite as badly this year (probably because they didn't play an SEC team) but none the less the Big Ten goes another year without a BCS win. Way to go.
We are seeing the future of Ohio State football with Terrelle Pryor. He's the man. But can he throw the ball to himself next year without Todd Boeckman running around? Not to mention, Malcolm Jenkins, where are you and why did you win the Thorpe award?
So, another season of Big Ten football is over. And their biggest name and the 11th team both lost in their BCS games. Way to go guys. The Mountain West has more BCS victories in the past two years than you do.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Where is Terrell Davis?
At the beginning of last week, amidst the obvious firings of NFL coaches after the regular season's conclusion, many were shocked to hear that Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan would be joining the group of dismissed coaches.
Shanahan, who falls under the Bill Walsh coaching tree, won back to back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998 and kept the Broncos fairly relevant for an extended period of time including four playoff appearances...three of which ended in the Wild Card Round.
But this Shanahan situation is something very similar to what we've seen already in the past few months. Shanahan has created a level of expectancy in Denver and throughout the state of Colorado. The Broncos are revered as one of the most competitive teams in the NFL. He has a really nice young quarterback, or so it seems and his years of putting anyone in the backfield and them running for 1,000 yards seems like a time period that's gone.
So there are plenty of folks who are confused and upset about this firing. But for it's explanation, look no further than 180 miles due east of where I'm sitting right now. Shanahan's firing is exactly like that of Phil Fulmer's firing at Tennessee. It comes down to what are you doing for me lately. It comes down to building a program/franchise to a level where mediocrity is simply unacceptable. It comes down to the fact that championships can only buy you so much time.
I'm not going to put it up here, but understand that the Vols and the Broncos have had a lot in common. A lot of, not living up to expectations. So, like in any other job, you have to identify the issue and fix it. In this case, I believe that the records are not in Shanahan's favor, just as they weren't in the favor of Fulmer. Not to mention, this year Denver completely flopped.
You can only build these things up for so long before nothing can be done to save yourself. And exactly what happened to Fulmer is what's happened to Shanahan. Maybe he'll go back to the 49ers as the OC. That would be nice.
Shanahan, who falls under the Bill Walsh coaching tree, won back to back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998 and kept the Broncos fairly relevant for an extended period of time including four playoff appearances...three of which ended in the Wild Card Round.
But this Shanahan situation is something very similar to what we've seen already in the past few months. Shanahan has created a level of expectancy in Denver and throughout the state of Colorado. The Broncos are revered as one of the most competitive teams in the NFL. He has a really nice young quarterback, or so it seems and his years of putting anyone in the backfield and them running for 1,000 yards seems like a time period that's gone.
So there are plenty of folks who are confused and upset about this firing. But for it's explanation, look no further than 180 miles due east of where I'm sitting right now. Shanahan's firing is exactly like that of Phil Fulmer's firing at Tennessee. It comes down to what are you doing for me lately. It comes down to building a program/franchise to a level where mediocrity is simply unacceptable. It comes down to the fact that championships can only buy you so much time.
I'm not going to put it up here, but understand that the Vols and the Broncos have had a lot in common. A lot of, not living up to expectations. So, like in any other job, you have to identify the issue and fix it. In this case, I believe that the records are not in Shanahan's favor, just as they weren't in the favor of Fulmer. Not to mention, this year Denver completely flopped.
You can only build these things up for so long before nothing can be done to save yourself. And exactly what happened to Fulmer is what's happened to Shanahan. Maybe he'll go back to the 49ers as the OC. That would be nice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)