I stayed up late Saturday night to watch as much of the Australian Open live as I possibly could. I made it until about 4:45 AM, when I realized that my body was shaking from being so tired. I slept for seven hours, got out of bed and rolled into the living room to watch the remainder of the match.
The end of the match--an anti-climactic moment marred by a yelling fan, in my opinion--left me feeling down, and I turned off the TV, so I missed the Federer-crying bit. I finally got up the courage to watch tonight. (It's here, if you want to see for yourself.)
Naturally, seeing my tennis idols all sappy-sad-happy at the same time made me very emotional, and I went on a Google Quest to find out more of their relationship. I don't have anything insightful to offer, but I DID find this incredibly hilarious video which perked me right back up. Pairing a love ballad from Disney's Pocahontas with a slideshow of pictures of two male tennis players playing tennis?? BRILLIANT! I absolutely, positively encourage your viewing of it. If you aren't into the whole 4 minutes, please skip to 3:20 and watch from there.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
If I Never Kneeew Youuuuuu
Monday, July 7, 2008
Greatest Ever Played
One thing that those of us in the US didn’t get to catch was a commercial the BBC had filmed in case of a rain delay. (Good thing there were two.) The network had each player read passages from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If,” from which two lines are engraved over the entrance to Centre Court: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two impostors just the same.
It’s incredible that these two players did just that—meet triumph and disaster—with such grace and respect for one another. It only makes it more difficult for me to choose who I’ll root for at the US Open.
The video, although a little maudlin with the music, is touching, particularly given the tension during the time it aired. Check it (and the poem) out below.
If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man my son!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Happy birthday, Rafa!
Despite the fact that Federer (who I love for reasons I cannot explain here, but let’s just say that I got more than teary-eyed when he and Nadal played their final point at Wimbledon last year) lost his match against Djokovic in the finals at Monte Carlo, I love this video from that game where Federer loses his normally unshakeable cool at the Djokovic family. I hope he doesn’t have to do so again—as long as Nadal gives Djoko and his family the spanking they deserve tomorrow.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Gods of Tennis War Tonight
Tonight, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer square off at, well, Madison Square Garden in the ultimate match of tennis gods and Adonises known to man. I cannot adequately describe my love for these two players because it is completely visceral. My stomach just flips at the thought of a Sampras overhead or the cool, collected Federer gaze before a perfectly calculated shot. I once even almost caught a sweaty shirt of Sampras's in Cincinnati. See? Just then--stomach flipping.
But here's my problem: I don't have any tennis-obsessive friends to convince to pay $20 to go to the Landmark Century with me to watch a live feed , I don't get the Tennis Channel, and I don't know of any bars that will be playing this match.
If you can help me, please contact me immediately. I will owe you big time.
