ajzepp

Thanks for the recap...I wasn't able to see the match, but I'm glad we apparently played well. I think you're right about Mexico, and they are likely going to give us a good whoopin' if we don't bring our A game. I don't remember his name (Hernandez?), but they have a young kid who is like a phenom. I think he plays for Man.U or Barca, cause I'm pretty sure I remember them talking about him during the champs final the other day. Should be a great match if and when it goes down.

If we're ONLY talking the QB position, I honestly don't know how anyone who has watched these two over the last ten years can say that Brady is the better QB. Clearly Manning has the better skill set and can do everything Brady can do either as well or better. Clearly the difference in the number of championships won has to do with the teams they've played on.

Congrats!

I was supposed to go to that game with a buddy of mine once we found out it was goign to be blacked out in Rochester, but we didn't make it. It was even more special, though, because it was one of my favorite memories with my grandmother. She and I were in the kitchen of my family house listening to the call on the radio. I still remember the looks on her face every time they scored another TD...it was really something. She rooted for the Cowboys mainly, because Mark Stepnoski's grandmother and her were close friends so she felt sort of obligated lol. But when the Bills were playing anyone else, she got excited just like I did...good times

"Two twelve inch'ers? No problem..."

It's funny, cause at first I didn't see Federer as an arrogant player...until something didn't go his way. When he's winning, he's all humble and cordial, but when he loses he starts to whine a bit. I dunno, something about him just rubs me the wrong way. I totally agere about Rafa...the guy leaves it all on the court every time he plays and he seems very down to earth. He was on the court after the French open final signing autographs for kids for like an hour, even taking pictures with whoever asked. He seems like a really good kid. Very easy to root for.

I agree...Wimbledon has been special to me since I was a kid. I used to love going back to Erie, PA to visit my extended family and watching the matches together. My aunt and uncle really liked Ivan Lendl, and it was so frustrating watching him fail year after year. It just started to get frustraing, cause whereas you have great matches with guys like Agassi and Nadal, it seems like it's always Wimbledon when these Lurch-like service boomers come out and contend for the title. Guys like Goran Ivanicevic (sp?), Mark Phillipousis, Leyton Hewitt, and Andy Roddick. Federer has a very strong serve, but his overall game is also very refined. The same can't really be said about some of these other guys. They just ace you into oblivion. I think Roddick is hugely overrated, but you're right about that last final between he and Federer. I don't remember how many times they played, but I know the one you're talking about (2009?) was pretty good.

That's great news! I've always enjoyed Marv's call...there are times when I've watched an NBA game longer than I would have otherwise just cause the guy was calling it.

Riveting is a perfect word for it...there were a few points during the match on Sunday that reminded me of that Wimbledon match...I don't know if they'll be in the same half of the draw, but I'd love to see a Rafa v. Djokovich final this year, either at Wimbledon or the US Open. I'm kind of tired of Federer.

Wow, I bet Jeff slept like a baby after writing that lol. He clearly got a lot off his chest, and he did it in a very respectful, intelligent, fair manner. One of the lessons that most of us learn in life is that you just can't please everyone. It's not within the realm of possibility. If Oprah can give away NEW CARS to her entire studio audience, and people still find a way to complain (that they had to pay the taxes/insurance), it's pretty clear that you just can't win sometimes. You also have people who ALWAYS criticize. They literally look for opportunities to be negative and critical, and they are rarely, if at all, positive. There are people like that on this site, too. Obviously Probst is doing a hell of a lot of work to keep Survivor relevant and he's doing a great job of it. There are things I don't really like about how the show works too, but it's pretty clear to me that Probst and CBS are doing the best they can and I respect that

I agree, but the Rafa v Nadal final from a couple years ago was one of the most epic matches I've ever seen. Rafa makes tennis watchable

This show is available on netflix streaming. Is the first season worth watching?

http://www.slingbox.com/

That's sort of why Wimbledon has lost a bit of it's luster for me with the advent of these oversized, super duper power racquets. Grass is the fastest surface to play on, and whereas back in the day you had a very balanced serve and volley type of match, nowadays you can take a guy with a huge serve and he can make it all the way to the finals. The points are much faster and rallies are a rarity. That's sort of why I really enjoy watching them play on clay. I'm a natural baseliner myself, but on clay you can still have a serve and volley game, but it's much more difficult to win if you don't have mad skill with the ground strokes from behind the baseline. But back before technology helped these guys get their serves into the 135+ mph range, you had some epic matches on grass. I still remember watching some of those Becker/Edberg matches in the 80s at Wimbledon...WOW, that was really something. Thankfully Nadal has brought some of that back because the guy can get to nearly ANY ball. He's quick with amazing vision and he's one of the best returners in tennis. He's less prone to being crushed by someone with a huge serve and nothing more. Federer has a solid game from behind the baseline, but he's more of a serve and volley guy. A guy like Nadal can do literally EVERYTHING well, and that's another reason why I feel he's the best player today. He's like Agassi was, except Agassi had more of a learning curve in terms of getting his serve and volley game up to speed. Once he did that, he became one of the few who have won a career grand slam.

It really is too bad for American tennis. Those of us who were born in the 70s really have had a great run up until recently. We got to see Connors and Johnny Mac in their prime, and then on the heels of that we had two greats to replace them in Sampras and Agassi. Even our less stellar talent made some waves at times such as Michael Chang and James Blake. We're pretty much got nobody on the scene right now who can threaten. Roddick has been able to serve his way into the quarters and semis at Wimbledon and the US Open, but that's about it.

Yep, I have no doubt that Nadal is, and always will be, the better all around player than Federer. Federer is a class act, so I don't mean to take anything away from his accomplishments, but they are only 4 years apart in age and I don't know how anyone can say Federer is the stronger player. Also, Nadal has beaten Federer on Federer's best surface, yet you can't say the same in reverse. Federer has never beaten Nadal at the French on clay. Nadal>Picard>Federer

True, especially in terms of American challengers. Andre and Pete were in the twilight of their careers, and Roddick never amounted to anything more than a big serve. You have Djokovich on the horizon, from Serbia, but after watching him in the semifinals on Friday, he's not ready for prime time...the guy had several advantages over Federer, but kept hitting unforced errors toward the end of the match. I think he may one day earn the nickname "choke-ovich" if he's not careful. But yeah, no Boris...no Edberg...no Johnny Mac or Jimmy Connors...no Lendl...no Agassi....no Pete...etc, etc, etc. Federer has had a pretty smooth road.

Their passing was truly amazing, and although it's easy to say, "I wish the USNMT would watch them and study them", it's just not something that can be easily duplicated. I was truly in awe of how nearly every single pass had purpose and every member of that team worked together to create that ONE opportunity to score. It was like watching sports art, lol. Yeah, the Bradley thing has bothered me for a while now. With Bradley, the expectations are to put a cohesive, competitive team on the pitch and make some noise when it counts. You bring someone with a legit international resume in here and IMMEDIATELY those expectations rise. You set the bar higher, challenge these young players to grow and learn, and in four years we have a legit contender. It just seems like we're content with the status quo and that's just not acceptable. The climate for US soccer is more ripe than it's been since the 70s, and they need to capitalize on it. The sport has more visibility than ever in this country and they are crazy for not taking advantage of that, IMO.

Congrats to Rafa Nadal on his sixth French Open championship in seven years. The only other to win this many French Opens by age 25 was the great Bjorn Borg, BUT, Rafa would have most certainly had seven had he not gone down to injury in 2009. Federer can thank his lucky stars for that injury too, cause otherwise Federer would not have been able to add the career grand slam to his resume. Anyway, I have played tennis since age 4, and it's a sport I have loved all my life. Clay is the ultimate surface for baseliners, and this match today was an amazing display by the most dominant clay player of all time. It's not common at all to see players dominate on BOTH grass and clay, but Rafa already has two Wimbledon titles to go with his six French Open trophies. It's really very impressive, and in my opinion he's easily the greatest player alive right now. I know there are at least a few tennis fans on here...Ramius, Lana, etc...hope you guys at least catch the highlights, cause some of these points were AMAZING.

Gringo, were you able to catch the Champs League final that you were cool enough to remind us about last week? The first half of that match was one of the best I've seen in a while...once Barca put it away by the middle of the second half, the intensity was all but gone on the side of Man.U, but wow, what a great first half. Looking forward to seeing how the mens team fares, although I'm still not happy that they stuck with Bradley...oh well, what can ya do?

In Erie?

TY TY!

Very sorry to hear the news, Mead...you and yours are in my thoughts and prayers