AMAZING-- 15!!!!!!

15th major! I should have posted this yesterday, but I was out of town for the 4th and I didn't feel like mobile blogging. It was a holiday, understandable right?

Anyways, I'll come out and say it. Andy Roddick deserved to win. He played amazingly. He turned around an otherwise fading career and appears to be moving up in the world. He beat everyone including Andy Murray, a favorite from the beginning, to at least play in the finals. Then, when he was playing Federer, he continued to put up a fight. He didn't come into the match expecting to lose. Well, maybe he did and maybe he didn't. I'm guessing everyone else thought it would be 3 sets, maybe 4?

The outcome was unpredictable! One of the announcers stupidly called it a "biblical match." Not that it wasn't epic or grand, but biblical? I don't know, it just rubbed me the wrong way, but he did have to come up with clever commentary for more than 4 hours so I won't be too hard on him. Unlike Roddick, who was very hard on Federer. It was no easy major to attain. That is certain. The most games ever played! Although it wasn't the longest match, which is an oddity. Last years final between Nadal and Federer was 7 and a half hours, incredible.

This was still a great match though! I don't think we could've asked for better. It was great to see an American face in the finals. Roddick has really tightened his game, dropped 15 pounds, gained a ton of athleticism. He plays smarter and harder than ever before. I particularly liked his resentfulness at the end of the match as Federer was speaking. Granted, Federer was trying to make him feel better, but it would've been better if he hadn't said it. Essentially, he told Roddick he knew how he felt after his loss to Nadal the previous year. Knew how he felt? Roddick, who has held the silver runner up plate 3-times? Federer, who had 5 Wimbledon titles before his loss knew how Roddick must've felt? And that, is exactly what Roddick said, through tears mind you.

There's something else to analyze, Roddick was crying afterwords. It is slightly debateable. His eyes were red, lip trembling, and an announcer mentioned it, but debateable. He din't have tears streaming by any means. I for one will not demean him for his emotion. He played hard, endured set after set over the past weeks to get to this point and it came down to the 5th set and he couldn't pull through.

I say let him be. Roddick will be back and I think we will see him at the top of tennis for some time. His transformation is astounding. I actually wanted Federer to win so I was happy with the outcome, but you can't help but feel for Roddick. It seemed like his time. His tournament.

ESPN 360--- NOT FREE

I'm at work trying to watch the Wimbledon, but it's no dice. ESPN 360 is free in some cases but not all. Mainly, your ISP has to be an ESPN affiliate or you have to purchase a subscription. It's also free on college campuses which would be great if I was on campus. Sadly the remote desktop option wouldn't work either as it allows access to the files, not the internet.

Here are the rules that pop up if I click on a match or anything I'd like to watch:


How to Get Access to ESPN360.com
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Not Equal

So, as a feeble gesture to the equality of men's and women's sports I suppose I should mention the unsurprising headline that the Williams sisters are facing off. That's the gist of the women's finals. They win everything, exciting. Oh, and I'll attach a photo so I can fail quantitative and qualitative approaches simultaneously.

Ugh

It's not "Andymonium," an Andy day, an Andy affair, Andy and Andy, or any other stultification of the dual Andy's you clever writers can devise. It's not creative. It sucks, plain and simple. So, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray are going to the Semis. That's a headline. Murray and Roddick face off. That's the story. Don't change it to some sort of contest to create the best pun. It's the 3rd seed and the 6th seed and should be an awesome match. Don't play up the names. It's not necessary. These two are interesting enough without it.

3 hours and 50 minutes

Roddick and Hewitt played all 5 sets, but Roddick prevailed. He had an astounding 43 Aces and won the last set 6-4. I believe the 43 aces, if the announcer Patrick Mcenroe is correct, is a career high. And even if it's not it's an amazing feat nonetheless.

Andy Roddick

The American 6th seed is something else. Watching him brings an amalgamation of frustration and awe as 140 mph serves couple with no hustle. Right now he's playing Hewitt who represents Great Britain's prison state of Australia. Well, guess it's a full fledged country now. Hewitt was the Wimbledon champ before Federer and still has some of his old fire. The score, which is in progress, favors Roddick. He is up 2 sets and they are playing the 4th. They've had 2 tie breakers and each player came away with one.

Anyways, back to frustration. Here I am, rooting for Roddick. Not because he's cool or particularly amazing for anything but his serve, but because he's the last American in the "Gentlemen's" singles. That is, men's singles. The Wimbledon site pompously labels everything. Perhaps it's for some sustenance of class, but I don't know, it's just so damn irritating.

Alright, well it looks like a 5th set might be coming up, but I can only speculate as coverage has digressed, technologically speaking. First the sound, now the picture. So, I'll relive a particular interesting part of the match while I wait.

Roddick was down 40-Love. It looked as though Hewitt was about to snatch an easy point in the otherwise tight match. I, with all of my quiet dignity, yelled profanely and vented my feelings on Roddick's flat-footed approach to a few shots that were mere feet away. Granted they were going close to 100 mph and he had split seconds to react, I know, it's hard. But he's a professional. He should be faster. So, Roddick serves again and we see his signature ace change the score to 15-40. Not a huge difference, but it looks better than 0, right? Well, I yelled "damn right, Roddick, now just do 3 more and get it over with." 4 aces in a row? Possible, yes. Probable? Obviously not. Well, to my amazement he did. So sports fans, when in doubt, yell. I think that's the moral anyways....

Picture Courteous of www.InstaBlogImages.com

Whoah

Serbian Novak Djokovic, 4th seed, is losing to Tommy Haas. Haas is the 24th seed playing for Germany. He's 31. So far Haas is winning by 2 sets and the 3rd is underway. The second set went down to a tie break and the score could not ahve been closer. Haas took it with a risky back hand right up on the net. Djokovic, family, and coach all look, well sad. He's not playing his best and it might cost him. Unfortuantely I have to go to class and miss the rest. Oh, and an update said Federer was losing. Oddly, it showed no score and didn't flash to the match... Very helpful ESPN2.