The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The good thing about the Australian Open is the amount of coverage on ESPN2--I saw a surprisingly high number of matches. I think the reason is the timing. Football is almost over and Australia is 19 hours ahead, so the prime time of matches are in the middle of the night for us. That is also the bad news--in order to watch the games live, I have to stay up overnight. The first night I stayed up through the opening set to see how it was going--wow, wow, wow was that Federer/Djokovic match fantastic, but my eyes kept closing on me. I ended up going to sleep and trying to finish it in the morning, but the UGLY was that the dvr cut off with the scheduled end time and of course it wasn't over. So the good is that ESPN2 replayed it again later in the day, so I taped the shows that followed it as well. The bad is that one half hour show got missed so I missed several games in the middle of the third set--oh well, I got to see the end-OH MY, OH MY, OH MY. Djokovic might have to become my new favorite player (as long as Nadal is out anyway--that was UGLY, when Nadal lost to Ferrer--Ugly, Ugly, Ugly).

Anyway, the next night I only stayed awake for the opening games--Ferrer was giving Murray as good as he got. They stayed pretty much even which really meant that Ferrer was playing great and Murray was having a bit of an off match. Murray really has superior skills, but Ferrer was much, much more focused. This morning, I went to watch the tape and it was all there--success.

Tonight is the women's final. Oh, the match between Li Na and Wozniaci was so amazing. Li Na was down a set and down in the second 4-1. And let me tell you Caroline is a fighter in the extreme--she doesn't GIVE anyone anything. There are some players who beat themselves (Sharapova), but not Wozniaci. Li Na had to take that match away from her and she did it in spectacular form. So now we get Li Na (first Chinese Women to reach the finals in any grand slam event) against Kim Clijsters. Li Na has a great game, but I still like Kim to win it all. And Justine Henin retired again. The commentators were all nice to her and about her, but all I could think of, was she didn't place well enough, so she didn't want to play anymore. They said something about an injury, but I'm prejudiced because I have just never liked her.

So in the middle of the night tonight, Li Na will take on Kim Clijsters. I want to stay up all night and watch it so I will be good and tired tomorrow and take a nap, so that I can stay up all night on Saturday to watch Djokovic v. Murray. After the Djokovic/Federer match, I'm pretty sure that I will be strongly rooting for Djokovic, but the commentators are all pretty excited about how good Murray is when he is totally engaged. I haven't seen it, but hopefully Djokovic will bring out his best.

All in all, I'm disappointed that Nadal is out and that he is injured--that is ugly. There is a tournament in Indian Wells in March and I'm guessing he will not attend. I just hope that he is 100% for the French--he owns that one.

The Good (Djokovic--Wow, just Wow), the Bad (I better figure out the taping just in case I fall asleep) and the Ugly--I will have to stay up until 2 or 3:30 or even 4 in the morning--I'm no spring chicken--this will get ugly--I see toothpicks holding my eyes open in my future.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Those fans are very vocal. Well we have the round of 16. Isner did not go 70 games and he did not win. He's like a very large teddy bear--you like him a lot--he's a teddy bear, but he's just too big. He only has one real weapon, a killer serve. All the rest is almost painful to watch. In the latter part of the games, he looks like every step is a chore. He is sometimes playful, but mostly looks like he doesn't want to be there. Kind of sad for us Americans, but we're amatuers. Sam Stosur lost--lions and tigers and bears. I haven't watched the game yet, but it was on my twitter (I really need to unfollow the tennis channel). She was the only hope for Australia to win their own open. I mean, America is pretty lucky, we have the Williams sisters and we even have Roddick--sure he hasn't won in a while, but he's still a top ten for the past seven or eight years. Australia had only Hewitt for the longest time. I love Hewitt, but the guy doesn't even come close to beating a Roger or Nadal. Sam at least had a game that could beat a Kim or Caroline or Maria and certainly a Zvonoreva. It really wasn't outside the realm of possibility with the Williams sisters out that she would win the whole thing. Oh well.

The good news is that Kuznetsova took care of Henin--I do not like Justine and Kuznetsova is pretty good--she's been much higher ranked than her current 23, so it is nice to see her advance. I was very sorry to see Petrova go out--I like Petrova a lot--very dynamic player, but for Kim Clijster's sake--her portion of the draw just got a lot easier. Maria struggled against Goerges, but her serve is her bigger enemy. Darn shoulder injuries are career killers, so I'm very glad that she's made it this far--if she can just keep it going, I would love to see her play Caroline Wozniacki in the semi. On the other side, I really think that Kim can wipe the floor with all of them, but every once in a while, Kim just doesn't show up, so I hope that she continues to play well.

On the men's side, Nadal has not dropped a set. Of course, he lucked out a bit when the youngster Tomic beat Chardy and Lopez, but still--he's playing really well. Next up Cilic--what a tournament he is having. First he takes out the young American Donald Young without much trouble, then a four setter against Giraldo and then yesterday (really today) a five setter against Isner. Only four breaks of serve in the entire match--two tie breakers, split and then 9 to 7 in the final set. The last five setter for Isner was 70-68, so Cilic must have been thanking his lucky stars that they have lights to play into the night at the Australian. With Isner's serve, if he hadn't been exhausted it could go a long, long time.

I'm glad to see that Roddick is still in it, but that Wawrinka is no cake walk and Fed is the prize, so I don't see him past the quarters. I'm also glad to see Verdasco into the round of 16--I really hope that I get to see his match with Berdych--great players, but tv doesn't always show their matches. I don't think that Almagro will give Djokovic any trouble and I expect that we will see a semi with Roger and Djok, but it is really not a foregone conclusion that Roger will win. Djokovic has had a pretty easy tournament so far, while Roger has had a bit more work to do.

On the other side, everyone says to watch out for the newcomer Milos Raonic from Canada. It's been a good long time since we've had a Canadian to root for. Nester only plays doubles (although I saw him at UCLA--pretty good player). He plays Ferrer who is seasoned so that might be it for Raonic. If not, then we get to see the new kid play Nadal--that could be fun. Soderling is making his way through and I don't count him out at all against Murray, and either one against Nadal should make a pretty good match. Of course, I want Nadal all the way, so we shall see.

So my pick is Nadal and Kim Clijsters--so sad that Stosur is out. I would have loved to root for her to go all the way--especially if Petrova had made it to the round of 16 to really challenge Kim. Petrova v. Stosur--what a match that would have been. And if Maria had somehow survived Asarenka and Wozniacki (doable, but unlikely), Maria Sharapova against Sam Stosur--oh my! Oh well, we still have Clijsters v. Zvonareva--just not the same and then maybe Kim v. Maria--again, just not the same. Good for Kimmie, but sad for me.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie--I really like this tournament, even if it is a little loud.

It is Tennis Time

People ask me, Why Tennis? I've never played. I don't go to see local "matches". I was surprised to learn the local high school has a tennis team and when I got a match pass to see an entire tournament at UCLA a few years ago, I saw the only other person I knew who was a tennis fan (in a very large stadium--the odds were outrageous). When I tell Adam that Nadal won, he is condescendingly fake excited for me.

Well the origin of my being a fan goes way back to when my Aunt Mary was a big fan and she gave me her tournament tickets one year. I went to see every women's match at the Virginia Slims open in Manhattan Beach. These were the days of Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova--very exciting for Women's Tennis. Of course, I loved John McEnroe and loved to hate Jimmy Connors, but as life got busy and full, I lost touch with tennis...until Nadal.

I fell in love with that guy. He is amazing. Life is sufficiently boring so that it didn't take too much effort to get right back in the thick of being a big time fan. Let me clarify, I've never played tennis. I don't know the first thing about how to play. I know the rules from watching and listening to the commentators (although a lot of the time I turn the sound off--you can only listen to how great Roger is for so long and then you get sick to your stomach). So to be fair, I don't love tennis--I love watching exciting tennis. Like the Spaniards last year--those matches were so spectacular. And Venus or Serena (Serena is out of the Australian Open--so sad).

Aunt Mary loved tennis and got the tennis channel. I spent many a Sunday afternoon watching tennis with her. Mom loved tennis too and her time share in Florida to which I was invited a few years coincided with Wimbledon, so watching the finals with Mom was fun. Dad only likes Maria Sharapova, but he does have a really cool feature on Direct tv that shows several matches at once all that you can pick and choose from--jealous, I am. Me, I have borrowed cable with a dvr. I will try to tape it and watch all I can, but I am probably going to watch less and less. There are babies to play with and five year olds really don't like tennis--they like Little Bear and Elmo. Does anyone want to know what Little Bear is up to these days--that Bear never gets any older, but I have noticed that Mother Bear and Father Bear are more playful and involved then most cartoon parents I've ever known. Really puts real life parents to shame--Mother Bear had to take the budget away from Father Bear and send him out to play with Little Bear. She got it done in no time and was able to join them. Little Bear wanted to make sure that hot chocolate and snow ball fights were in the budget and Mother Bear assured him they were. I might have to put in ear plugs--maybe tennis matches are on the radio...

Plans

Did you ever have so much to do that you didn't know what to do first. Happens to me all the time, but here's the twist this year--I've had a horrendous cold, so I couldn't do anything. I've put off things for clients, I've put off making phone calls, I've put off just about everything. I'm still a little fuzzy, but I'm back to work and now I have to figure out what to do first (and second, etc.). I tried to make a list, but it was soooo long. So I'm just sitting here doing nothing. To be fair, I'm still fuzzy, but how long can I rely on that excuse.

I hear about snow storms and floods and wonder how people get their work done and then I have this cold that stops me in my tracks and it makes more sense.

I only have one meeting tomorrow and then three on Friday. I think I'm going to just prepare for those meetings and then the one on Monday and hope that everything else falls into place.

Everyone (well two people particularly put out by my absence) wanted to know if I'd had a flu shot. No, but I promised them, next year for sure. Also, I advised my nephew to eat regular meals and get enough sleep at night and then I though--gee, good advice for me too.

The good thing about having a terrible cold (and not wanting to eat much because it threatens to come back out) is that I haven't had any junk food this year. No potato chips. Zip. I did eat a little donut (and it came right back out at me) and today I ate a cupcake. It was really good, but I view it as a minor step backwards. When I was on my famous (in my mind anyway) diet, I didn't have any terrible colds, so it sounds like a good plan to avoid colds in the future. And I joined weight watchers (again). They have this new thing that fruits and vegetibles (except for potatoes and avacados) are free--no points--eat as much as you like. Not that I like any of them, but it sounds like a good plan. Monday I ate grapes instead of a snack. Ok, they were really sour and I didn't like them much, but I didn't eat chips, so it's a win. I also have some bananas at home waiting for a sweets craving (the cupcake caught me in the car, so ...). We'll see.

Every year my standard resolution is to get organized. Clear out the junk, clean, get organized. So in my head, that's still a good plan, but the reality is that I have to catch up to normal before I go getting lofty extraordinary plans like that. One meeting tomorrow and three on Friday. The rest will just have to fall into place, at least until I stop being so fuzzy.