The Kids are Alright

Hey, have you heard the news? Kids are getting fat. That's right. It's not just the adults packing on the pounds anymore. It's little Jimmy and Susie, too. And First Lady Michelle Obama is doing something about it through her "Let's Move" campaign to beat childhood obesity. I'm glad the First Lady is trying to do something about this serious problem, but I'm even more glad to see her use tennis as the sport to introduce kids to physical activities. Here's the finished product of her shoot with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, made in partnership with the USTA and filmed at the tennis courts on Georgetown University's campus:

Mrs. Obama isn't the only mom out there promoting tennis for children. This weekend, Andy's mum, Judy Murray, was at a shopping center (er, centre) in Bolton, England, participating in some mini-court tennis. I love how someone put mannequins next to the court to remind spectators it's a shopping mall and not just a place to watch kids hit some balls around with racquets:

In case you were wondering if it's only mothers keen on the idea of tennis as a sport for children, here's Pete Sampras' response to a question about this subject during a press conference for Tennis Night in America. If you can't spare 49 seconds to watch the clip, he basically says it's a good idea, that having smaller racquets and courts will help, and that we should take baseballs and golf clubs away from children. OK, he didn't really say that last part. I was just trying to make his answer more fun. Now let's all get moving.

—Sarah Thurmond