Author: Christopher Glotfelty (Page 39 of 67)

      U.S. Open Update: Everything taking its course

      September 5, 2009 /

      The third round of the 2009 U.S. Open has nearly finished amidst the surprisingly welcoming weather at New York’s National Tennis Center. So far, there haven’t been many surprises. The top 16-ranked men all advanced rather seamlessly. Serena and Venus have had an easy time as well. Unfortunately, they are in the same draw and will likely meet in the semis. The other top female players are, as always, playing below their rank, as upsets and narrow victories are happening left and right.

      This has been a topsy-turvy U.S. Open for the women: No. 8 Victoria Azarenka’s 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 26 Francesca Schiavone on Friday came a day after No. 4 Elena Dementieva and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic were upset. All told, 11 of the 20 highest-seeded women are gone, and the third round is only halfway done.

      No. 1 Dinara Safina made it to Saturday’s third round, but barely. She needed more than 4 1/2 hours to get through two three-set victories.

      The best men have faced no such problems: No. 3 Rafael Nadal’s 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory Friday night in the last match of Day 5 means the men seeded 1-16 all reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in the 41-year Open era.

      Once again, the lovely Ana Ivanovic failed to perform well in a Grand Slam, losing to Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round. Maria Sharapova, however, has advanced to third round and is currently in the third set against American Melanie Oudin. It would be great to see the former No. 1-ranked star face Serena or Venus in the finals.

      Tennis

      Will Andy Roddick win the U.S. Open?

      August 30, 2009 /

      Roddick

      I hope so, but it’ll be tough to take down Roger Federer given his recent dominance and past success at Flushing Meadows. Either way, that’s not stopping some critics from predicting an upset.

      THINK! Tennis is a strategy as much as a physical thing. Don’t fall apart just because you’ve fallen behind.

      Roddick has heard these things for years, from one coach after another.

      It took this long to finally hit him that his career had peaked, and was only going to go one direction from here.

      What Wimbledon showed, what made for the converts, was that Roddick finally understood. He had started listening to the latest coach, Larry Stefanki.

      In defeat at Wimbledon, he was a guy not afraid in crunch time, a guy who had lost weight, learned a backhand, come to the net occasionally.

      He was a guy fighting to the death on the other guy’s, the king’s, favorite court, the sport’s most-hallowed ground. Roddick is going to win this Open. The draw opened up perfectly for him. Nadal, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro will have to fight it out on the other side of the draw.

      I’ll be rooting for Roddick the entire tournament — I just don’t think his chances of winning are very high. He and Federer are in the same draw, along with Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco, and Robin Soderling, who’s been impressive all year. The earliest Roddick could face Federer is in the semifinals and I still believe the Swiss would get the better of the rebounding American.

      Roddick has only one Grand Slam to his name while Federer holds the record with 15. Roddick’s victory came at the 2003 U.S. Open and ever since then he’s been stopped by Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now that Americans (and foreign tennis fans as well) have come around to Roddick, hopefully their support will give him that extra boost if he happens to meet Federer. I’m amazed at what Federer has accomplished in his career, but now it’s time to root for our own guys. Roddick’s win at the U.S. Open wouldn’t just matter for his career, but it is something American tennis desperately needs. We have the Williams sisters, but the competition is so thin on the WTA Tour it’s often grueling to watch. After Andre Agassi retired, Roddick was supposed to carry the torch as America’s dominant male tennis player and win Grand Slam after Grand Slam. While he is undoubtedly the best in the country, it would certainly help the sport in America if he could capture the U.S. Open championship this year.

      Three things that are obvious about Andy Roddick: 1) His wife, Brooklyn Decker, is a smokin’ babe; 2) He looks like Stifler from the “American Pie” movies; 3) Roger Federer always beats him in the important matches. This has been Federer’s year, but enough already! I’d like Roddick’s work ethic and drive to pay off where it counts. And what better place than in New York at the U.S. Open?

      The U.S. Open starts tomorrow and will conclude on September 13th. Early round coverage will air on ESPN2.

      Tennis

      Dodgers acquire Ronnie Belliard from Nationals

      August 30, 2009 /

      Belliard

      Teams are continuing to make transactions left and right as we head into the final 30 games of the MLB regular season. We’ve seen all the contending clubs trying to solidify their lineups, whether that means cutting busts or taking a chance. It’s been both successful (Matt Holiday and the Cardinals) and a let down (Alex Rios and the White Sox). Though not as huge a story as other recent pickups, earlier today the Dodgers acquired utility man Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals in exchange for prospect Luis Garcia and a player to be named.

      “He gives us some offense,” manager Joe Torre said. “He can play around the infield, probably all positions but shortstop. It gives me the ability to spell these guys. He gives us a little more depth with experience coming off the bench.”

      Belliard started at second base for St. Louis during its 2006 World Series championship, batting .240 with four RBIs during the playoffs. The Dodgers will have to make a roster move to open a spot for him on Monday.

      “It’s a compliment,” Belliard said, after the Cardinals beat the Nationals 2-1 in St. Louis to complete a three-game sweep. “Now I have a chance to win another one. I helped the Cardinals in 2006 witih my defense and some lucky hits that I got in the playoffs. Hopefully I can do that in LA. That’s why they traded for me.”

      Nice confidence there, Ronnie. I’m sure that’s exactly what Joe Torre wants to hear when he calls on you to pinch-hit during the NLCS. “Hopefully I’ll get a lucky hit.” Belliard has shown he can be a capable player, recently batting .290 with the Nationals in 2007. He’s been a starter for most of his career, which has included time with the Brewers, Rockies, Indians, Cardinals, and Nationals. However, the Dodgers will primarily use him to give Orlando Hudson and Casey Blake some rest.

      With Belliard’s acquisition, the Dodgers will need to send somebody down to make room on the roster. Unfortunately for Juan Castro, all signs point to him, despite his solid play.

      MLB

      Bud Light “Fan Can” taking some heat

      August 29, 2009 /

      tailgate

      Despite pissing off countless representatives from some of our nation’s top college, Anheuser-Busch InBev still plans on releasing their “Fan Can” for those campuses that are cool with it. The Bud Light packaging will use a particular college’s colors on the label, though the logo or mascot is absent. Nevertheless, the FTC quickly jumped on this issue.

      But the campaign drew criticism from Janet Evans, a senior attorney with the Federal Trade Commission who oversees alcohol advertising, and from certain colleges because the cans could encourage underage drinking on their campuses.

      “We’ve told them we don’t ever want to see a campaign like this again,” Evans said Wednesday. “We’re concerned about the promotion because it’s targeted to college campuses where there are a large number of binge drinkers and underage persons in the audience.”

      “This is a voluntary program made available to all wholesalers nationwide, and roughly half of our wholesalers are participating,” Carol Clark, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president for corporate social responsibility, said in a statement.

      Fan Can, she said, was “expressly timed to coincide with the beginning of the football season and baseball playoffs.”

      But some universities in the targeted regions, such as Boston College and the University of Colorado, argued that the colored cans infringe on their trademarks and incorrectly hinted that the colleges were endorsing the program, even though the colleges’ names and logos are not on the cans.

      Michigan, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Iowa State and Minnesota also objected, according to published reports.

      As a result, Anheuser-Busch has told those schools that complained that it would drop the program in their areas, Dunn said.

      You have to laugh a little reading this, sensing the angered tone of the college and FTC reps compared with the cool demeanor of those from Anheuser-Busch. I understand where the resentment is coming from, but to think that this type of promotion is geared towards underage drinkers is a bit off. I doubt I’m the only one who doesn’t think that a label’s colors entice a college student to drink more than they normally would. When I was in college, I wanted a beer because I was in college, not because of the look of the can. Thinking of the type of swill I drank back then, the labels often flaunted the color combination of a sports teams that I despised. Hey, I still like to have a Budweiser every now and then. What colors do they use on their can? Red and white. Well, I’m not too keen on the Red Sox, or the Cavaliers for that matter. Oh yeah, I like beer.

      If the colors on a label are an actual cause of the rampant drinking in college, then things are much worse than I thought.

      College Football

      Is Geovany Soto this season’s biggest disappointment?

      August 29, 2009 /

      Soto

      Answer: yes. After the best rookie season posted by a catcher since Mike Piazza hit 35 home runs in 1993, Geovany Soto has mutated into a bench player making a B line straight for the minors. This isn’t just a sophomore slump — this is Puff Daddy’s Forever, “Caddyshack II,” season 2 of “Heroes.” This is Daniel Baldwin.

      In 2009, Soto played in 141 games, hitting .285 and racking up 23 dingers, 86 RBIs, and 66 runs. He quickly established himself as the fourth offensive threat on the Cubs behind Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Alfonso Soriano. As of this writing, Soto is hitting .218 with nine long balls, 31 RBIs, and 21 runs. He’s also losing playing time to a guy named “Koyie,” who has a career batting average of .211 and had never played over 36 games in a season before 2009. Sweet Lou has even lost faith in young Geo, sitting him every other game.

      So what’s wrong? Is it a nagging oblique strain? Is it all that pot he was smoking? Even the fantasy experts are at a loss, citing that Soto is still hitting for contact and working better counts. Personally, I think it’s a confidence issue. Chicago is a tough place to play. Though Cubs fans are affectionate to those who earn it, they can be ruthless if you are currently the definition of “suck.” I specifically remember them booing Kosuke Fukudome in last year’s NLCS. (Yet, this year they love him, despite putting up mediocre numbers. Beats me.) Milton Bradley is another fine example. However, it seems like Cubs fans want Soto to succeed and are holding out hope that he can get it going down the stretch. After all, it’s damn hard to come by a consistent, young catcher who’s skilled both offensively and defensively. Look at how many teams employ a rotating duo of catchers based on their opponent that day. That irritates me and it’s a pain in the ass for fantasy owners. Even though Russell Martin is working through some struggles this year, the kid has the genuine talent that will carry him through. He, Joe Mauer, Jorge Posada, and Brian McCann are the definition of what a premier catcher should be in the MLB. I like Soto, and I want him to get back to this level.

      For the record, there’s a big difference between “disappointment” and “bust.” People had high expectations for Soto and he’s not meeting them. Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell are inconsistent, overpaid busts.

      I apologize to Daniel Baldwin. He was cool in “The Sopranos.”

      MLB

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