Anybody watch the Wimbedon Final between Federer and Roddick? What a great match. Roddick has done something I waited on for a long time. He finally matured. Picked his spots and played extremely well. Federer is...well...he is Roger Federer! Never panicked or lost his composure in the face of an opponent who payed a great tennis match. I loved it. But you know what? It's getting to the point now where you have to love your tennis like a Wimbledon ball girl...or boy...to sit down and watch it anymore. 

Why would I say that? Do you ever notice these kids running all over the place for errant tennis balls while a world of suspense and intrigue and the highest levels of competition go on around them? How do these kids get selected to work...say...the Wimbledon Final? Is it collective greatness throughout the tournament? You know...off the wall at just the right moment to keep the "out" serve from crashing back into the world class player...before it ever hits the wall! The perfectly timed leap from the net to track down an errant shot into the net...before it rolls another inch...thereby slowing the pace of a player who is in a hurry...like...say...Federer was on several occasions on Sunday. You know what I'm talking about if you tuned into the match. Roddick would walk up to the line, hold his hand up asking Roger to wait a second...and then...wham...Federer serves the ball anyway! Always having a dry towel and a smile on their face...or is it a dry towel and a grimmace of concentration! I'll say this much. They have to love the game to stand around there and put up with all the pressure...and nary a thank you...from the world class athetes competeing in front of their very eyes. These people point, hold out their hands in some form of quiet demand of the ball person just to have the new ball they gave them swatted back at them. Okay...they don't swat it hard but...you know! I still think these kids got to ove their tennis to put up with that. Well...maybe they get a nice tip after the match from the players...but they still got to love their tennis.

And as a spectator...at least on television...you got to love your tennis, too! Why? I know I can turn down the volume...and quite often do...when John McEnroe tries to make a point. This guy was...as a player...what you might consider a bit too competitive...even in a competitive world which is professional tennis. I always thought he was a bit...oh...I guess..high strung...might work! But he pushed it to a point where I think he was trying to be the clown he was acting like...on purpose. You know the old saying about it being better to be thought a fool rather than opening our mouth and removing all doubt? He played his career ignoring that little creed and he is doing it again as a commentator. I wonder if this little guy has ever been anywhere near a boxing match in his entire life. And yet he constsantly draws comparisons between a tennis match and a prize fight...or participants of each. I get so sick and tired of him making reference to a guy holding serve being like a guy who just took the opponents best punch to the solar plexis. What do you think a professional fighter thinks about whenever he hears that. Can you imagine Mike Tyson's response to that. "C'mon, McEnroe? Lemme hit you with a body shot under the kitneys and thee what you think!" Tholar plexis my ear chompin' ass!" Or how about when Roddick couldn't put Federer away in the tiebreak in the second set and McEnroe commenting on how Federer coming back was like a fighter getting off the canvas in a great comeback. I think John McEnroe missed out on his true calling life. I think he really wanted to be a little thug but instead he became a pretty fair tennis player who has carried that into a modest career as a tennis commentator. And whle I don't play the game on a competitive level...it sn't that hard a sport to follow. Just sayin'...!

I think we should have a match event. I think McEnroe should have to get in a boxing ring with...any fighter with any experience...in his weight class...and see how comparable the two are. And when it is over he can say that holding serve is definately NOT like taking a shot in the solar plexis. I understand comparisons in sports and trying to create the imagery of the event. But listening to McEnroe during that match did absolutely nothing to heighten the imagery of the event. It did...however...heighten the imagery of the little guy McEnroe taking one on the chin. I guess I should thank him for that.

Speaking of tennis! How is it that Serena Williams wasn't the number one player in the world in women's tennis prior to her winning Wimbledon? Apparently I'm not the only one wondering about that. When she was plaing with the press during her press conference after winning the tournament everybody was getting a big laugh from comments like, "I guess I'll just stay at number two with my major victories and she can stay at number 1 with...!" What has this Safin done to be ranked so high? I don't know how they rank them but it only seems to me...and the press covering Wimbledon...and Serena...that there is something amis in the world of women's tennis. Speaking of...check the seeding next year for the women's doubles and see if there aren't any questions about that, either.

And now...a blast from the past! As I came on here to post this I noticed a post from...Lisa Horne. Didn't read it yet but noticed it was there. She has surfaced in this sea of...whatever it is you want to call this Fox Sports revamp! But...she is alive and apparently well! That is good to see even if she irritates me sometimes and even if I irritate her. Hey folks, the bottom line to all of that with Lisa and I is this. We respect each others opinions even if we don't agree with each other all the time. And that...to me...is what this blogging thing is all about. The back and forth with differing opinions. Not having to read force fed Sportswriters with only one opinion who couldn't care less for communal banter in response to their posts. I'm seeing a whole lot more of those people around here in this changing atmosphere that is the Fox Sports Blog site. Personally...I'm now ecstatic that I see Lisa is here. Now if I could just figure out how to add friends (I feel like the boy next door who just moved into the neighborhood) and get to ther places in m profile. And that's the bottom line!

BOOMER SOONER!!!