Sports shorts

There's a lot going on in June in sports (reminding me again that I still have to write that essay on why I hate ESPN), so here's some thoughts on the sporting world.

First of all, Federer at the French. Stunned and surprised that Nadal went out, this opened the door for Roger to take the title. And he looked stunned and surprised against Haas. And this was good. Rather than being the workmanlike and boringly dominant Federer that actually made me turn off Breakfast at Wimbledon -- Bud Collins, I think, called Bjorn Borg at his finest "The Angelic Assasin" -- what would you call Roger? for awhile the King was sticking -- in that match Roger showed vulnerability, heart, guts and incredible skill in a dramatic comeback. That's what makes tennis interesting, to me -- the tight matches where individuals struggle and triumph (and across the net, fail). I was a big fan of Andre Agassi at his best because he came back, both as a player and in matches; I felt sorry for Todd Martin when he lost to a patented Agassi comeback at the U.S. Open, in what I think was Martin's only final. But Agassi deserved it.

Federer has become more interesting to watch and to root for when he started losing (and not liking it) to Nadal, and their Wimbledon and Australian Open five-setters last season were truly dramatic. Right now I hope he's done with the drama and just steamrolls his way on the clay to the French Open title. Then I hope he gets upset at Wimbledon, to make things more interesting and so I'll watch Breakfast at Wimbledon again this year. Of course, if it ends up being Nadal-Federer in the final again, I'll have to watch, won't I?

Moving on -- if you check back on my posts in March, I picked Melissa Rycroft and Shawn Johnson to "go deep" into the Dancing with the Stars competition, though I wasn't sure about the staying power of Gilles Marini (who benefited tremendously from choreographed heat dancing with a motivated and skilled Cheryl Burke). I also picked Lil' Kim as having the skills to be a contender; her surprise loss to fan favorite Ty Murray prevented an otherwise extremely tight semifinal round. So I think I picked this one pretty good. The problem with DWTS is that every season, there will be a few obvious early exiters and a few obvious contenders from the get-go. That takes a lot of drama out of the early rounds (but Rycroft's cracked rib added some uncertainty). Hey, you know what? Same goes for tennis tournaments and the NBA playoffs.

Speaking of that, it was a surprise that Cleveland lost to Orlando; I think if Lebron had managed another miracle three-pointer to square it at 2-2 (which he came very close to doing), the outcome of the series would have been different. I don't see the outcome of the Finals being unexpected: Lakers in 6. (Did a little tubing on Rafer Alston of the Magic -- he's FUN!)

National Hockey League: crossing my fingers for a Pittsburgh win in game 4 (update after I composed this: Pittsburgh erupted and won!) That will make the series pretty interesting. If Detroit goes up 3-1 I think they will dispatch the Pens with ease. What I've really found interesting is the proficiency of Hossa and Zetterberg on the Red Wings. My favorite play so far is Zetterberg diving onto the ice in the goal mouth to block a Crosby shot. (Second favorite play, now, is Pittsburgh's fourth goal in game 4 with precision passing).

Did I say in the past I don't like big-time sports? Well, I still don't, in general: they get too much air time and publicity (and money) at the expense of other sports that deserve to be seen as well. That's part of the reason I hate ESPN; they haven't shown either the minor sports or the fringe stuff (like the lumberjack competitions) nearly as much as they used to, in favor of revenue sports or junk like poker! There is no "ABC's Wide World of Sports" any more to take up the slack. OK, now, I know that if I invested in digital cable or a satellite dish I could practically see anything I wish, globally, but that would still make interesting sports a niche sideline. I'm aware that ratings are all-important these days; I just wish they weren't. BUT STILL, finally ultimately: I like playoffs and championships, because despite the money overpaid to these athletes, winning is still historic and it still means something beyond just the paycheck.

Finally, swimming. I posted a couple of times on new world records in swimming; below is a really interesting take on that. I used to think that swimming was one of the purest sports around (despite the totally unfair doping by the East Germans and the Chinese) because there wasn't much you could do to enhance speed in the water beyond shaving and a swim cap. That was before the full-body racing suits made it as technologically sophisticated as bobsledding. So the fact that FINA will finally have guidelines -- and ban suits -- should make it more fair.

The swimsuit arms race

Reason #4 makes sense. Unlike the America's cup, it shouldn't be the best-financed and most innovative hull that wins the race in the water in swimming -- it should be the best athlete.