Monday, June 22, 2009

Dear DirecTV:

You? Suck, and are thisclose to losing my business. Why am I paying for you? If I wanted to watch Wimbledon on ESPN2, I'd just switch to Dish Network or cable! Once again, I'm forced to turn to online streams to watch the matches I want to watch.

I get that you want to finish showing the US Open golf tournament. But why advertise the Wimbledon mix if you're not going to actually do it? It's called false advertising, and you bet your sorry ass I'll be emailing and calling all sorts of people to complain today.

Like it would be really hard for you to free up a few stations for Wimbledon? Pathetic.

Your service is shitty in general, and the only reason I've got it is for better coverage of the slams. If you're not even offering me that, why am I paying?

I won't be for long.

No love,
Me

Friday, June 19, 2009

Wimbledon Draw

Good morning, (imaginary) lovelies. Long time, no post. I've been recovering from the emotionally draining French Open... okay, I've really been swamped beneath an avalanche of freelance projects that needed my attention. Because I like to do things like eat and, you know, pay my rent.

In any case, this morning--right now, in fact--Wimbledon's draw is happening. I'm eager to see this year's lineup.

And according to Wimbledon's twitter updates, Murray has landed on Nadal's half of the draw. That is assuming that Rafa doesn't pull out of the tournament before Monday.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Nadal: Might Not Play Wimbledon

Wow. Just saw that Uncle Toni is not optimistic about Rafa defending his Wimbledon title this year.

How huge is THAT? Who thinks Roger will be back to number one by year's end?

I sincerely hope Rafa figures out what's wrong with his knee(s) and takes whatever steps necessary to recover. Missing Wimbledon now is nothing if it will keep him on the court in the long run.

I do question why Toni chose to divulge this info today, though. Why air this out the night before the French Open Final? To imply that Rafa would be there if not for the knee? To rattle Roger's or Soderling's--take your pick which one--confidence?

I'm a sneaky, suspicious bitch, so I'm sure it's nothing so sinister. The timing just seems odd.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Federer's in the Finals!

What a match. Federer sails past Juan Martin Del Potro to the finals at Roland Garros in a five-set, roller coaster ride of a match.

My emotions were up and down and all over the map during that match. But Roger did it in the end, and I can't wait until Sunday.

Dear Juan Martin Del Potro:

You played your hardest--and you played some amazing tennis. It was almost hard to see you lose at the end, even though I was rooting for Roger. You're one of my favorite players, and I'm going to make a prediction right now:

In two or three years, you're going to be the number one player in the world. That's a huge prediction, I know, but I said the same thing about Nadal in 95 when he won the French Open. Sometimes you can just see it in a person's game.

Can't wait to see what you do at Wimbledon,
C

Dear Roger, part two:

I knew you could do it. What an amazing, hard-fought match.

Now you'd better beat Soderling in the final or I'm going to disown you. Do it for your fans. Do it for Rafa, and all of his disgruntled fans. Do it for Mirka and Fed Jr. Just DO IT!

Love and bonne chance!
C

Dear Roger:

You may be down two sets to one, but I still believe.

Lots of love,
C

Dear NBC:

*Primal scream of rage*

You imbeciles. You freaking moronic crap-sucking bastards. First you played Meet the Press instead of the the momentous Nadal upset. Now you're playing the TAPED Soderling vs. Gonzalez match instead of the LIVE FREAKING OCCURRING NOW AS I TYPE FEDERER vs DEL POTRO SEMI.

What the frak is wrong with you? NBC, you have the worst tennis coverage in the history of bad coverage. No wonder you're the last-ranked network. No wonder Telemundo has bested you for ratings a couple times this season.

You're idiots. I've never seen such horrible handling of a major sporting event. Would you DARE have this kind of coverage of an NBA playoff game? Of an NFL game?

Do you THINK we want to watch taped matches that--heads up here, fools--we already know the results for? Let me clue you in: this is 2009. There's a little thing called the internet now. The fans already know what happened in this match--why should they bother to watch it?

And if you can't give your customers what they want? We'll go to the internet to get it. I would love to support legitimate coverage of my favorite sport. But if you fuck things up this badly? I'm going to watch a stream of the CURRENT LIVE MATCH THAT YOU'RE NOT AIRING. The match that features ROGER FEDERER, arguably the most POPULAR TENNIS PLAYER IN THE WORLD.

Let's think about this for a second. Don't you think you might get better ratings if you give the people what they want? If you show the SEMI FINAL matches live? The matches with the most popular players live?

Forget you. I've got a high-def stream on the internet to get back to.

Also? You suck. I hope your entire network keeps going the way it's going--down the tubes.

No love,
C

Soderling...defeats Gonzalez

...Oy.

What happened, Gonzo? You had him down 4-1 in the fifth set. All you had to do was hold serve two freaking times, and you would have won. That's it. Instead, you got sloppy and let him dominate you.

What an ugly match. What a crappy French Open this has turned out to be.

Why yes, I'm bitter.

And now Federer HAS to beat Del Potro. The way Soderling is playing, I don't see Del Potro taking him. And if Soderling wins the freaking French Open, I'm going to swear off tennis. Right after puking.

What the frak, man. What the frak.

Soderling vs. Gonzalez

Well, the first set is gone and Soderling took it 6-3. Even I have to admit the man is playing some impeccable tennis. He's putting the ball where he wants it, hitting it cleanly, and keeping his opponent on the run.

I'm still not willing to give up on Gonzo, though. Once he shakes off those nerves and figures out Soderling's game, he can take him. It's just one set... Right?...

Right?

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Safina through to the French Open Finals!

Safina slides past Cibulkova to reach the finals at Roland Garros, 6-3,6-3. She looked a little sloppy at times, but there's no denying her game. Go, Dina, go!

Safina v Cibulkova, 1st Women's Semifinal

Oops. Overslept this morning. Had just enough time to flip on my TV and see Cibulkova breaks Safina's serve to open the match. No problem, though; we all know one lost serve means nothing when it comes to someone as tenacious as Dinara. Sure enough, she soon breaks back and races to a 5-2 lead. Unless Cibulkova steps it up a notch, Safina's going to slam through her as easily as she did her first few opponents.

So...for the final, it looks (to me) like we're looking at another Kuznetsova v. Safina blockbuster. Kuznetsova is playing some amazing tennis; Safina beat her the last time they played, but can she do it again?

I think so. I may be blinded by my Safina fangirlness, but it looks to me like she's going to get her first slam here, and shut all of her critics (*coughSerenacough*) up.