The World of Joel

I have to say that growing up I have always loved watching the Championships at Wimbledon, and it has never disappointed. However each year watching the tournament it is a struggle with the rain which always plays a big role in the tournament. When I was in London last year I went down to Wimbledon to check it out a week after the championships completed and the weather for the most part was without rain. Maybe its just bad luck? I don’t know. What I do know is that from what I have watched this year the tournament has not disappointed. It is just to bad that the tournament couldn’t get those covered courts sooner, that way we could get even more great tennis action.

Last year I was fortunate enough to go to England and although I didn’t get to tour the entire grounds of Wimbledon I did get to see a lot of it, and it was just as magnificent as it looks on TV. Every year since I can remember the English have backed there man Tim Henman through the tournament hoping to have a Brit win the tournament. Unfortunately he has always wound up short and now is ending the near of his career. I don’t think anyone expected Tim Henman to do anything this tournament, especially with the dominance of Federer and Nadal but the fact that he won his opening match in five sets and in such a fashion as he did shows that he still at least has something left in the tank.

Very rarley in sports do the top two seeds make it to the championship match, and in the case of the French Open the last two years the two top players in the tennis world have made it to the French Open final. Last year it was decided in a pretty good match that ended in the favor of Nadal. As some of you have read on an earlier post, Nadal is not my favorite, and I really hope Fed. can take him out especially because then that sets up for the chance of the ever glorified “Grand Slam” which Federer would be half way to completing having already won the Australian Open this year. Hopefully this Sunday we see the match of the ages, or at least one with Federer hosting the trophy.

I may be a bit biased on this topic, or maybe the fact that I watch the sport of tennis tells me that Roger Federer is the most underrated and unknown superstar of our time. This is a man who has won almost every single major, in fact he has won the last ten out of fifteen grand slams. That is just unheard of. Currently he is going for the French Open where he has never won, and if all holds together he will face Rafael Nadal in the finals one of the only tennis player out on the tour who has a winning record against Federer. Being a fan of the sport I have to say watching Federer is really a remarkable experience, he is probably the best at making things look easy. Unlike Tiger Woods who gets really pumped and riled up when he does well which makes for great TV, Federer just goes about his business never breaking a sweat. I never was a fan of Federer until I continued to watch him and the fact that this man can just annihilate some of the best pro’s on the tour is reason enough to enjoy watching him. Lets go win the French Roger!

So yesterday both on my drive into school and on the way home every station I turned to was talking about Kobe Bryant and his desire to get out of LA. I get the feeling that a lot of this has to do with me living in Southern CA is probably part of the cause of the added exposure but the entire story is ridiculous. Kobe Bryant is one of the highest paid athletes, he is part of arguably the most notable sports teams in the country and yet all he seems to do is complain. We all know that he was the reason for Shaq’s departure a few years ago, and the whole Colorado situation a few years back doesn’t help his case. And yet it seems like everyone is feeling bad for Kobe Bryant. My feelings are that Kobe will not leave LA, they will make a pickup, and there will be some sense of harmony in the Lakers franchise.

I am not a big basketball fan but listening to these athletes who are paid multi-million dollars for just picking up a basketball and they all seem to complain. It should be interesting to see what happens with the Lakers in the coming weeks.

I am not a big basketball viewer, I will occasionally turn a game on and watch, and usually during the playoffs I stay informed. I do know right now that the Cleavland Cavaliers are down two games to the Detroit Pistons after two blown game winning opportunities by the man they call “The King”, Lebron James. I write this post because part of me really feels for the guy, we are relatively the same age and the amount of pressure this game has faced since high school is unbelievable. At the end of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron had the ball in his hands and had the chance to win the game but chose instead to pass up the ball and they ended up losing. The sports media blew up on the guy for not taking a double teamed shot and so he passed it to a wide open player. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals the same situation with Lebron having the ball in his hands with the chance to win, this time Lebron takes the shot in triple coverage and mises, Cavs lose again. The guy has been compared to Jordan and Magic names that I truly believe are thrown around to loosely in the sports arena. Jordon, Magic, Bird, these guys were there own unique players and Lebron is his own people. I wish the media would get off this back, because without him the Cavs could have been one of the top draft picks in this year’s draft.

I actually took sometime away from my studies to watch some baseball (Dodgers vs. Padres) this was the game that one of the ball boys got smacked with a line drive in the head, pretty scary stuff. Throughout the game it was this constant reminder of the 60 year anniversary to when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. I am no scholar on the subject but I get the feeling that when the MLB wants to promote something they go overboard. Every player was where his number (42) and at every turn the commentators would turn to another Jackie Robinson clip. I have so much respect for the man and his ability to face adversity, but come on we want to watch some baseball here. Heck when the ball boy was just brutalized by a linedrive we got a commentary from Peter Gammons on the impact on Jackie Robinson. The kid was hit with a line drive, I think that is a bit more pressing of an issue.

Don’t take this like I am trying to take away from the amazing legacy and accomplishments of Jackie Robinson but when I wanted to sit down and watch a game of baseball, watching a documentary of Jackie Robinson on every turn was not what I signed up for. I would love an hour to hear about his life and contribution but not during a game!

Did you have today marked on your calendar? With the NBA Playoffs right around the corner and the NHL Playoffs just getting underway, do you know what was the biggest story today outside of the Imus controversy, the release of the NFL Schedule. I am a big football fan as many of you may or may not know, but the fact that we are spending a good portion of Sportscenter breaking down the NFL Season which is around five-six months away is crazy. I am looking forward for football to get going again to but the fact that we need analyst to sit there and break down the big games in November and December of this year seems like overkill.

With that being said one game did strike me as intriguing. It was last year we saw a pre-season game played down in Mexico City which was neat it brought a unique flavor to the game. Well this year is the first international NFL game and this is taking place in London with the NY Giants and the Miami Dolphins. How great it would be to fly out to London to go check out that game. First off London is a great city and I think expanding the NFL around the world could become a bigger part of the sport. The way soccer has become such a “world” event, the same could be said about the NFL given the right structure. Obviously right now soccer reigns supreme in most countries outside of the US, but it doesn’t have to say that way. Can you see the Super Bowl in 2015 in Tokyo? London? Australia? Sounds good to me!

Well I really thought I picked a good bracket this year. For the first round or two I was in the top of the rankings, but after that it just fell apart. Thanks a lot Texas for just totally letting me down, I can’t believe I laid my faith in you. But as part of the agreement for going into the tournament we have to give a link back to the winner of the tournament who was Bryan Le.

Congrats Bryan you did pick a good tournament, I would have never guessed Florida was going to repeat, but hey they were the best team! I am a big fantasy guy, and really enjoyed doing this, got to love college basketball.

You know each of the last few years I have always wanted to get into the NCAA March Madness craze, in fact this year I got in David Lithman’s Blogging Bracket Challenge. However each of the past few years that I have wanted to get into the great college basketball event I really have been unable to sit down and watch it. In fact the last three years it just so happens that finals time for college is right now and that means it is nearly impossible for me to sit down and watch it. However from what I have seen this year it has been mainly a predictable tournament with very few big upsets. Luckily after this Thursday I am going to be done for a week and that should give me sometime to get some of my college basketball fix on. Enjoy March, it’s a great month for Sports!