"Mega Monday" Just Doesn't Sound as Cool

Well, it's official. This week the USTA officially moved the 2013 US Open men's final to Monday from Sunday. Rain has forced this to happen in each of the 5 previous years, but this is the first time the USTA has announced it officially so far in advance of the tournament. The biggest impact this change has is the death of what tennis fans know as "Super Saturday." Super Saturday is the only time in any of the 4 grand slams in which the men's semifinals and women's final are played the same day, with the men's final the following day on Sunday. This will no longer be the case next year. The men will get a break on Sunday and play the final on Monday. The day of rest will follow the format used in the other 3 slams. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. The ATP has been calling for the US Open to give the men a rest in between the semis and final for the last few years. While I understand the benefits (more competitive, even match, etc) I can't help but feel disappointed. The schedule, in addition to the lack of a full 5th set has been part of what makes the US Open unique. Think about the US Open in golf. It is well known that they go out of the way to make that major the toughest of all on the PGA Tour. I like the idea of culminating the grand slam season with a test of wills and endurance in the back to back schedule. I also wonder if the feeling from the ATP would be different were the tournament not played on hard courts.

2. It's a shame to cancel the final Saturday night session and move the women's final out of prime time. Let's face it, tennis doesn't get the greatest exposure and it is rare to have any match air in prime time, let alone on a broadcast network like CBS. I can't see the benefits viewership wise by moving the women's final into the men's Sunday time slot.

3. Along with the previous point about TV, a Monday final being guaranteed just sucks in my book. The last several grand slam finals on the men's side have been compelling. It is awesome a bummer to know that it will air in the midst of a work day when nobody is home to watch it live. Even the ATP, while applauding the extra day of rest, disagreed with the decision to play another Monday final.

Someone remind me again why a roof at Arthur Ashe was not in the expansion plans? Sigh.........

"If you don't practice, you don't deserve to win."
                      -Andre Agassi

A Smart (and delicious?) Investment....

OK, I saw this article this morning and had to pass it on. Apparently Djokovic is putting his tournament winnings to use. I am curious to see if this is a wise investment in the long run.....at least until it runs out.

Djokovic buys entire world's supply of DONKEY CHEESE!

Enjoy!

In Case You Win the Lottery

With the nation firmly in the grip of lottery fever as the ridiculously high Powerball jackpot cruises past the $500 million mark, I thought I should appeal to any potential winners that I might know. After all, lottery directors estimate there is a 60% chance of someone winning tomorrow. If you win and end up with lots of money to burn right before Christmas, my requested Christmas gift will only set you back about $15,000 or so. That would be like buying a Happy Meal to the winner.

The present I am talking about is a tennis ball machine called the "Boomer". Here is where this one is different, you can play out points with it! I read an article today on Tennis.com about it and is crazy! It uses a camera system to judge the trajectory, speed and location of your shot (think HawkEye) and adjusts its reply accordingly. It can concede points on clean winners and will also trash talk you when it wins points! That's right folks, a trash talking tennis robot! I've lost to plenty of players that I would call "machines" but this would be the real deal. It plays anywhere from NTRP 2.0 all the way to 7.0 (pro caliber). Instead of listening to Federer's robotic press conference banter, I could be on court getting smack talked by a real robot! The only thing that would make this better is if the name was cooler. I'm thinking like "Tennis Terminator" or something along those lines. Here is the original article if you want to know more:

Boomer Machine

"I'll let the racquet do the talking."
          -John McEnroe