I’ll be heading to Pennsylvania this week, along with thousands of men sporting bright orange caps and toting guns. Gotta watch out for those guys when you’re driving; I’ve seen a crowd of them chase a turkey across a busy road on more than one occasion (was that you Bodo?). As a product of Central PA, I’ll never be able to pronounce the “g” at the end of “hunting.” This is huntin’ season, pure and simple.
In the spirit of the holiday, thank you to everyone for the commentary here, including those of you who think I revealed myself as an anti-Croat in the last post. I’m not, really, I’m not. I know Goran is a funny guy, but there was a time when he seemed to be threatening to make tennis into nothing more than a serving contest (things have changed for the better on that front), so I generally rooted against him. As far as Ivan Ljubicic goes, I have the utmost respect for the man and even like his game, but he’s just too outwardly, what’s the word, phlegmatic to get excited about watching, IMO.
Anyway, my first ESPN.com post is up. For a while there, they had my name next to Bodo’s picture, which made me laugh. Also on our site, Chris Chung (formerly of Tennis World) has put up a video of an outrageous shot that was perpetrated by Roger Federer on Andy Roddick in Basel in 2002. Roddick really must have nightmares about that guy. Elsewhere on TENNIS.com, check out two of Kamakshi Tandon’s excellent recent contributions: Her regularly updated news Ticker, and her weekly “10 Questions” feature, which usually appears on Wednesdays (I’m not sure if she’s doing one tomorrow). It’s a gently snarky look back at the week that was. Kamakshi and I will also be back in December for round three of the book club. This time we’ll be going deep into the brain of [Mike Agassi.](http://www.amazon.com/Agassi-Story-Dominic-Cobello/dp/1550226568/sr=1-1/qid=1164144166/ref=pdbbs1/104-6812861-6385514?ie=UTF8&s=books
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Any of you people heard of this whole "you tube" thing? Since the world seems to be shut out of seeing classic matches on tape, this is our place to get glimpses of tennis history. I’ll leave you with three: (1) A highlight reel from the one and only meeting between Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, at Wimbledon in 2001. I’m struck by how similar and evenly matched they were. Each had all the shots and there wasn't a single wasted motion between them—Roger was a little smoother, Pete hit a slightly heavier ball, and each could crack a backhand pass when necessary. (2) Yannick Noah winning the French, something I’ll never forget seeing as a kid, and (3) Yes, Goran winning Wimbledon, also in 2001. An emotional moment, sure, but more impressive to me is Pat Rafter’s class reaction in defeat. Now there’s a tennis player I miss.
Oh, and here's a fourth link while I'm at it, to the Rolling Stones. Nothing to do with tennis, but it rocks.
Have a good weekend and I’ll be back to talk Davis Cup next week.