I'm going to make this short because this weekend has kinda tired me out already.
Venus Wins Fifth Wimbledon Title
Awesome final this morning between the Williams sisters, although Venus won in straight sets. The two were evenly matched and predictably, it came down to who would blink first, or in this case, make more unforced errors.
The two sisters also just won the doubles title about an hour ago. Tomorrow, a classic rivalry continues as Federer and Nadal will fight again for a grand slam title. I'll just say this: This is Nadal's best chance so far to defeat Federer at his home turf.
For more on today's final, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/sports/tennis/06tennis.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Make sure to leave some strawberries and cream for tomorrows final.
Fourth of July Baseball Roundup
Yanks-Red Sox was certainly quite interesting yesterday. I'd say the turning point was after this play:
The Yanks ended up losing 6-3, their second straight loss. But got to credit Damon though and one of my favorite sports columnists does just that:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/sports/baseball/06vecsey.html?ref=sports
Olympic Trials Update
Michael Phelps broke the world record in the 200 meter Individual Medley yesterday and beat Ryan Lochte, who seems to be in the runners-up spot quite often during these trials. At least he gets to go to Beijing.
And joining Phelps and Lochte in Beijing will be a surprise swimmer. Dana Torres, 41 years old, made her fifth Olympic team by winning the final of the women's 100m freestyle, narrowly defeating Natalie Coughlin, one of the best female swimmers out there. But according to this Yahoo! Sports article, she may face scrutiny:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=cr-torres070408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
I don't really care how old she is, obviously she deserves to go to the Olympic Games this summer and I'm glad she is. Definitely a great story to see develop in Beijing.
And some late news coming from the track and field trials in Oregon. Apparently Tyson Gay has been injured following the 200m quarterfinal heats. The injury puts him out of the competition in the 200m in Beijing, meaning that he won't be able to go for the elusive 100m and 200m double at the Olympics. Here's the news article: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-ath-tracktrials&prov=ap&type=lgns
That's all the news for now, sorry I didn't add anything original...see you again tomorrow.
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I think the system of qualifying for the Olympics in track is fine the way it is. Anyone who follows the sport avidly could have predicted 99% of the qualifiers. Track isn't like tennis; barring injury or illness, an athlete will run/jump/throw to the best of his or her ability consistently. Federer didn't play to the best of his ability--in my opinion--against Nadal. He had a bad day. So did Tyson Gay. Track isn't a technical sport in the same way as tennis, for the most part; at the elite level of track and field, bad days are quite rare.
I also think that if the usatf were to select the Olympic team, there would be accusations of favoritism left and right. Not only that, but an athlete like Alan Webb--who last year set an American record in the mile--would have been selected, despite the fact that he's looked terrible this year. It would be based too much on reputation and not enough on current fitness. The professional season arguably hasn't gone on long enough by the time the team must be selected for the usatf to judge whose in shape, who isn't, and who is not running fast at the moment but will peak and run fast later.
Track is a very objective sport. Numbers don't lie and truly consistent and dominant athletes will, for the most part, make the team. I would be very hesitant to allow a bunch of guys in a back room to select the team, especially since they all seem to be in the pocket of Nike right now.
Just my thoughts. The blog's good. Keep it up.
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