Trash Talk: Raffa v. Fed
The event of the season is upon us! Yep, the men’s final at the French Open. This is just a quick post for the heck of it because, well, I have been a life long tennis fan (and even played some competitively as a junior); and, out of the blue, Ms. Wheeler is suddenly into the gig. So a tennis post was in order!
Now Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal have a rich history and storied rivalry together. That part is well known, what is not as well known is that they are also friends who work together to support charity playing bookend matches in each others home country; Zurich Switzerland for Fed and Madrid Spain for Raffa. Good stuff from a pair of good guys.
The men’s final at Roland Garros is somewhat unexpected as the conventional wisdom was that Fed could not make it past the blazing hot, and so far this year nearly invincible Novak Djokovic. But Fed was the Roger of old and took it to Novak in the semis in what was a simply outstanding and exciting match even though it only went four sets. That set up the unexpected surprise of yet another Nadal-Federer final in the French.
Nadal has had an uncharacteristically off clay court season so far:
This has not been an easy clay court season for Rafael Nadal who has to beat Roger Federer in Sunday’s French Open final at Roland Garros if he is to maintain his No. 1 ranking. A loss to Federer would mean that Novak Djokovic, beaten by Federer in that fantastic semifinal on Friday, would take over.
Nadal could have no complaints if that happened because Djokovic has beaten him in four ATP Masters Series finals this year with two — Madrid and Rome — being played on clay, the surface on which Nadal has reigned supreme. We still do not know the full effect these losses have had on the Spaniard but if his demeanor in the press conference he gave just before the women’s final began is anything to go by, his recent struggles are taking their toll.
I am pulling for the old man, Fed, to pull off a win for the geezers. I have a sneaking suspicion Marcy has her eyes on Nadal. So who you got?
Live coverage of the French Open Men’s Final is on NBC at 6 am EST and 9 am PST.
9am est, 6am pst.
Rats. I’m running a swim meet.
That’s what DVRs are for!
Fed, the “old man”, is 29. Raffa is 25. Hardly a generational gap. Both are classy guys (cf McEnroe). Bmaz, have you given up on F1 now that Vettel seems to have wrapped up the championship. Too bad – his last two drives have been masterclasses (cf Hamilton).
Heh, that was pretty much a joke about Fed being a geezer; although since Agassi left the scene there just have not been many in the mens draw that stay competitive much past 30. As to F1, heck no. I actually meant to put up a post for Monaco, but got tied up Friday night and Saturday and just never got it done. Despite Vettel pretty much running the table, it has still been a pretty interesting season under the new rules. Even Catalunya was watchable for once; it is usually pretty much a processional there. I’ll be back with F1 as we plow through the season.
So you wanna talk about old men…how about this Henry Kissinger: The man who thinks he’s God
And now the mad bomber wants to fuck up soccer
FWIW, he just turned 88, so he’ll have to work fast if he wants to really fuck it up.
Then again, Geithner is one of his proteges, sooooooo….
Tennis???? Tennis????
Jeez, how the joint has changed. Next thing you know, they’ll be turning it into a fern bar populated by the likes of Muffy, Buffy, Scruffy, Skip, Chip and Dip. Folks like that are why I don’t go to reunions.
I think I’ll go shoot some trap. Busting targets is very satisfying – more than watching to kids hit a tennis ball.
My pick is on Roger.
My wife is in love with him.
He is one classy guy.
“I’m not dead yet” — Roger circa June ’11
Fucking NHL, the Burrows the biter should have been in the can.
Am I a poor loser?
Bmaz, can you live blog Clemens post Independence Day?
I have lost track, is the druggy going to jail?
The trial with Judge Walton is slated for July 5th
No, you’re a bad loser.
Then again, the only way to be good at anything is to do a lot of it. That applies to losing as well.
I thought the match of the day was ASU’s phenom freshman, Dallas Escobedo, against Whitney Cannion, who threw a 13 inning 2-hitter last night.
Then again, I had to tell bmaz as Escobedo was taking on Jim White’s Gator homerun squad Friday night, so maybe bmaz has lost track.
As to this match? I’m agnostic. I have a huge crush on Rafa, but I’d be pretty happy to see Fed win too. Thus far it looks like Fed has every intention of winning this match, though.
Best quote of the weekend:
“Palin has the gravitas of a hummingbird” Globule
By the way, back to our bread and butter here, Plaxico gets released from the clink tomorrow. Smart money seems to currently be on the Iggles picking him up, but I think the Giants actually may need him more although they seem to not be interested.
Federer was looking very good, but if Nadal rallies to win the first set, this match is done.
Roger is a gamer…
And age takes another victim as the old geezer turns to dust on the red clay. Actually, Nadal is just too good on this surface, Fed played pretty well. Federer seems renewed compared to last year though, which should set up a great Wimbledon in the men’s draw.
Yeah, here’s to hoping these two meet up again in the Wimbledon final. I know Djokovic is amazingly good. But I enjoy watching these two far more.
Meanwhile, the Gators are lighting up the Tide–they’ve already pulled their ace senior pitcher after hitting a batter for one run in, and walking another in.
When is ASU game?
3:30 ET.
Unless something crazy happens here, ‘Bama and FL will play a second game today. Cause right now (11-1 in the 2nd), ‘Bama is struggling to avoid getting mercy ruled.
So ASU will play a team that played 13 innings yesterday, and may face a team that plays two games today if they win (though there’s no telling what will happen with the way that Baylor pitcher is pitching.
Yes.
I miss trash talk – baseball?
Papelbon was thrown out of the game after throwing a strike?
Weird ending.. Tek and Pap ejected… ump was boiling over…
The Tide is rolling to a comeback – have closed to within 14 runs with score now at 16-2 in the 4th. Gators look pretty scary today.
Mercy.
mercy.
Scott Joplin, by way of piano roll, performing the finale to his opera Treemonisha:
(That’s an African-American pavane.)
It’s the event of the season alright–in Oklahoma City tonight for the first game of the best of three as the Gators take on bmaz’s ASU for the WCWS title. Look for the Gators to continue their dominance they showed over Alabama yesterday. The loss to ASU on Friday will very soon be just a distant memory. As long we don’t have a return of the home plate umpire from Friday, who blatantly squeezed the strike zone from the bottom when UF pitched and widened it dramatically when ASU was in the circle, the Gators will be fine.
And, the real event of the season will be in another week. Gator baseball is what it’s really all about. They dismantled Miami yesterday in the final of their regional and now face Mississippi State in the super regional because the morons who drew up the regional brackets chose to let Georgia Tech host a regional, which MSU won as a three seed.
I already have my airline ticket and hotel reservation for Omaha, where the Gators look to be in very good shape, especially if their two slightly injured players (Johnson and Maddox) are 100% by then. Some team in the desert also has a shot at getting to Omaha, but don’t look for them to accomplish much there.
Hey, has the Sweatervest moved to the SEC yet? He would fit right in there!