The Shots archive
FEELING UNFULFILLED BY FEDERER/NADAL
Derek Schultz
Sunday morning I woke up early enough to watch the first two sets of the Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. I had wasted my time watching the straight-set French Open blowout between the two a couple weeks ago, and was expecting a more even match this time around. But, after Federer fumbled away a 4-2 lead in the 2nd set and trailed 4-6, 4-6 going into a rain delay, I shut the TV off and went about my day. The Wimbledon Final didn’t even cross my mind until hours later when I got a text message from my buddy Stollman from back home.
“What’s the score??”
It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and the Yankees/Sox weren’t on until 8, so there was only one “score” he could be talking about. I quickly hustled into my living room and spent the next hour glued to perhaps the greatest final that the All-England Club had seen in the 130 year history of Wimbledon. It was two giants of their sport going head to head in an epic battle for supremacy. Watching Nadal/Federer was like watching Muhammad Ali fight Joe Louis while both fighters were in their peak years. But when Nadal finally broke Federer, and their four hour and forty-six minute marathon came to an end, I was feeling bittersweet. Yes, I had just stumbled upon a historical sports event that will be talked about for years to come. However, I couldn’t help think about how much better the match would’ve been if it involved an American great.
Federer vs. Nadal was said to be the "best match ever" by John McEnroe
It’s not that I can’t (or don’t) root for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Watching Nadal play on clay these past few years is like putting a 16 year-old on the dodgeball court with kindergarteners. The same can be said for Federer on grass, unless he’s matched up against Nadal. I appreciate Federer’s place among the best ever, and that Nadal has the chance to put himself in that category as he is just entering his prime. But it would just be better for me, and better for the sport if there was a dominant American. Imagine if Tiger Woods was on the European Ryder Cup team? His dominance would still make the headlines, but would his overall impact be as large? I doubt it. Both Nadal and Federer have garnered praise from sports fans and media worldwide, but just think if it was Andy Roddick who was atop the tennis world – that would kick the hype machine into overdrive.
I’m not trying to sound like an ignorant American sports fan, one that swears by NASCAR but ignores the World Cup, and would rather watch the UFC than the Olympics. I'm not like that. But, I'd be lying to you if I said that I was just as excited watching the Nadal-Federer Final as I would be if an American was involved. There was no McEnroe on the court. No Connors. No Courier, Agassi, or Sampras. That’s not a knock on Federer or Nadal, but just a knock on American tennis in general. After the golden years of the late 80’s and 90’s, tennis has been vacant of an American superstar. Besides a blip on the radar with Roddick’s win at the U.S. Open in ’03, only three Grand Slam titles have been won by American men since the turn of the century (Sampras: ’02 U.S. Open, Agassi: ’01, ’03 Australian). American men have won just 2 of the last 8 U.S. Opens, 1 of the last 7 Australian Opens, are in an eight-year drought at Wimbledon, and have won at Roland Garros just once in the past 16 years.
Roddick has been the posterchild for America's Grand Slam failures
Not having a relevant American in men’s tennis doesn’t necessarily make tennis irrelevant, especially with two all-time greats going head-to-head. Tennis is certainly on a high from their headline-grabbing slugfest, but they’ll never reach the ultimate high without an American superstar. That’s the reality.
It will be fun to see this rivalry between Federer and Nadal continue over these next couple years. I’m sure there will be more heavyweight battles that will go the distance and captivate the sports world for many more Sunday afternoons. But, until the next American male proves he can be as dominant as Federer or Nadal, something will be missing.
I appreciated the epic performance at Wimbledon, really, I did.
But it just didn’t feel right.
SHOOTING THE REST OF THE SPORTS WORLD:
Swish: Joey Chestnut
In perhaps the most dramatic sporting event of 2008, Chestnut made sure the coveted Mustard Belt stayed in America with a thrilling five-dog overtime defeat of six-time Champ Takeru Kobayashi. Chestnut took an early lead but faltered late, and it looked like his 2007 win over Kobayashi would be brushed off as a fluke. But, thanks to grit and determination, Chestnut channeled his inner Paul Pierce and showed the heart of a champion to repeat as the world’s #1 competitive eater. Ok, in all seriousness, A) I did watch this, B) the commentary is absolutely hilarious, and C) it’s was way more entertaining than the Stanley Cup Finals. As a side note, I probably would choose Taco Bell soft tacos in an eating competition. I would’ve said a White Castle Crave Case, but I would probably need a bedpan right next to me during the event. That may have been the grossest mental picture in the history of The Shots. I apologize.
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In a performance reminiscent of Paul Pierce in the Finals, Chestnut defended his title
Brick: NBA Summer League Basketball
I’m such a big basketball fan that I could basically watch grade-school kids scrimmage each other for four quarters and still be mildly entertained. That being said, I think I’d rather watch the WNBA than watch NBA Summer League ball. 90% of the “team” isn’t going to make the actual team, the Draft picks hardly play (no Rush or Hibbert), they play in high school gyms, and all-time bust Nikoloz Tskitishviki actually led League in scoring one summer. The only reason to watch is for the comic relief of seeing players that don't have a snowball’s chance in hell of making an NBA team like the already-cut Pete Campbell (Butler), Marco Killingsworth (Indiana), Brad Buckman (Texas), and <insert laughter> Brian Randle (Illinois).
Air Ball: The American League players
Usually most of the criticism hurled at the All-Star teams comes in the direction of the fans electing non-deserving players because of their popularity (see: Ripken Jr., Cal). But, this year it’s the players that were to blame for perhaps the biggest All-Star gaffe in baseball history. Jason Varitek, who entered Tuesday batting a robust .215 with more strikeouts (71) than hits (53) was elected to the All-Star game by a vote from his AL peers, despite ranking 29th amongst catchers in batting this year (with at least 150 at-bats). Varitek’s inclusion left out several deserving candidates. If there was going to be a third catcher, A.J, Pierzynski (.286, 7 HR, 37 RBI) or Ivan Rodriguez (.290, 3 HR, 28 RBI) would’ve been worthy choices. Hell, Varitek’s backup Kevin Cash (.238, HR, 10 RBI) would’ve been a better option. Any one of the players on the “last one in” list are far more deserving. I just don’t buy that Varitek’s leadership and signal-calling are that valuable to this Boston team. He has been a rally-killer all season, is 2nd worst in the American League in throwing out base-stealers, has 15 hits in his last 116 at-bats, and he’s getting paid $10 million for it. Varitek may be the worst All-Star ever. But, to play Devil’s advocate, Terry Steinbach was elected to the All-Star game after batting .217 over the first half of 1988. He was the Game’s MVP after hitting a solo HR in a 2-1 American League victory.
Varitek's sucktitude in 2008 cannot be understated
Swish: Venus Williams
Just three months ago, Venus announced she was stepping away from the tour for a bit to deal with some “personal issues.” After a disappointing third round upset loss in the French Open, Venus bounced back, beating her sister to win her 2nd straight Wimbledon title without dropping a set. It was Venus’ fifth championship at the All-England Club, as she has won three of the last four Wimbledon titles. Venus’ latest win may have been the final nail for her sister’s career. Serena’s won only six of her 31 singles titles since 2005, and hasn’t come anywhere close to where she looked to be headed after winning 5 of 6 Grand Slam titles in 2002-2003. Despite taking advantage of multiple upsets and basically walking into the Finals at Wimbledon, Serena hadn’t gotten past the Quarterfinals in her last five Grand Slam tournaments. Venus had a dominant era of her own from 1999-2001, but has stretched out her success much more than her sister’s short two-year stint atop tennis, and has remained top-dog at Wimbledon.
Brick: Brett Favre
Here, I want to make it easy for you Brett – either come back, or don’t. I’ve always been a Favre fan, I’ve always liked the way he played, and I’ve always felt like he is an all-time great, but this back-and-forth retirement game is really wearing on me. Not only is Favre constantly being in the news really annoying for football fans, it’s also tarnishing his legacy. I know that he probably didn’t want to end his career with an interception in the NFC Championship game that cost his team a shot at the Super Bowl, but his numbers were outstanding last season, and in Green Bay he’ll always be on top. If he is able to finagle his way into getting released by Green Bay and hopping on with Detroit or another NFL team, it will destroy his public image. Not only would he be a traitor to Packers fans, he will be stabbing the entire franchise in the back for putting up with his retirement shenanigans. There are some things in sports that happen, but that never should’ve happened, like Emmitt Smith in Arizona and Hakeem Olajuwon in Toronto. Brett Favre in a Lions’ jersey would immediately rocket to the top of that list.
If Favre wants to look like these fools and join the crappy Lions, then so be it
Air Ball: Cleveland Indians
When Tom Crean was hired at Indiana, I had to scratch my 2008 MLB preview and instead write an article about that. Well, thank God I did. Outside of the embarrassment of picking the Tigers to win it all, I had Cleveland as my Wild Card winner, narrowly beating out the Yankees. Instead, a team that was just one win away from a sure World Series championship (the Indians would’ve trounced Colorado), is now one of the worst teams in baseball. Entering Tuesday, the Tribe had lost eight straight and 14 of their last 18 to fall 14 games back of the first-place White Sox. Finally, the C.C. Sabathia deal was the official white flag on what has been an awful season. Yes, injuries to Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez, Jake Westbrook and Travis Hafner have all hurt, but there’s too much talent on this team for them to play this poorly. It’s tough to fire a manger that was one win away from the World Series just a year later, but the Indians really need to take a hard look at Eric Wedge. His insistence on putting Joe Borowski in there to close out games (7.56 ERA, 1.92 WHIP!), an obviously injured Travis Hafner in the middle of the lineup (.217, 4 HR), and Jhonny "there's a typo in my first name" Peralta at short (19 errors in '07) have all been horrible decisions. Cleveland has a nice young core led by Grady Sizemore. If the Indians' ownership actually commits to winning - Step One: have a higher payroll than the Royals - then they can bounce back soon.
The season can't end soon enough for Eric Wedge and the Indians
The Shots Fantasy Update:
Robinson Cano & Co. II def. My Bat Speaks for Me, 7-2-1
This past week, Robinson Cano & Co. II put up numbers that would make Sammy Sosa blush during his steroid-fueled romp to the record books in the summer of ’98. 37 runs scored, 8 homers, 39 RBI, and 11 steals to go along with 5 wins and 5 saves. The offense was paced by Alex Rodriguez (8 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB), and Brandon Phillips (.481, 9 RBI), while Mike Mussina, John Danks, and Ted Lilly each won and had double-digit strikeout totals for my patchwork rotation. The win pulled me within 2 1/2 games of 2nd place, even though a 10-0 week pushed first place Boston Brawlers 9 games ahead. After a 10-20-3 start, Robinson Cano & Co. II is a sizzling 57-34-6.
Fantasy NASCAR, stuck forever in 7th place
This has to be the most frustrating season in Fantasy NASCAR history. Thank God for Dale Jr. (99 points) or else this would’ve been by far the worst week of the 2008 season. I’m having a lot of trouble finding a lineup that works. After last season’s collapse, I’ve been concentrating so hard on not using up starts for the premier drivers, that I’ve refused to start a red-hot Kyle Busch during his winning streak. Next week’s LifeLock 400 is at Chicagoland, which usually is a haven for the cream of the Sprint Cup crop. I’ll probably end up going with an All-Star lineup (Jimmie Johnson comes to mind) to try to make up some ground. As a side note, screw you Elliot Sadler. You are terrible.
Fantasy Golf, 578 points out of the basement
Ok, so it looks like I won’t finish in dead last. That being said, there’s almost no chance I will climb out of 2nd to last. Another decent but unspectacular week saw a fine performance from Jim Furyk (9-under), but a cut-missing stink job by Trevor Immelman (4-over). I wish someone had told me before the season that Tiger would have to sit out the year after the U.S. Open. I would’ve never signed up for this.
The Shots What to Watch this week:
Tampa Bay at NY Yankees – Tuesday, Wednesday
The Rays proved they were in it for real with their easy sweep of the Red Sox last week down at Fenway South (Tropicana Field). This short two-game set in the Bronx isn’t super important to them, but a sweep could be the final nail in the coffin for the Yankees, and could catapult the Rays to an insurmountable AL East lead. Tampa’s remaining schedule in July includes a trip to last-place Cleveland (4 games), home/home with last-place Toronto (6), a set in Kansas City (4), and a home series against Oakland (3). That’s 14 of 17 against teams below .500. Joe Madden must have pressed the “EASY” button.
The Rays' July schedule is a cakewalk
LA Angels at Oakland – Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Is it just me or are the A’s always a handful of games back at the All-Star break even when they are supposed to suck? That’s the case again this year, and once again they are chasing MLB’s answer to the 1990’s Utah Jazz – the Angels (hint: they’re really, really boring). Like always, Oakland is doing it with their pitching, as they have four starters among the American League’s top 15 in ERA (Duchscherer, Eveland, Harden, Smith). But, that lineup is still awful and they’ll need continued quality starts in order to get that team into the postseason.
Firestone Indy 200, Saturday
Racing under the lights is always awesome, even in IndyCar. 2008 has easily been the most exciting season in recent memory for the IRL. Lost in the shuffle of Nadal/Federer and Kobayashi/Chestnut were the fireworks at Watkins Glen, which included boneheaded moves by both Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick. Speaking of Dixon, he is the two-time defending champ at Nashville, and can increase his points lead over Helio Castroneves.
The Shots YouTube clips this week:
Sports related -
Anybody else as ready for the upcoming college football season as I am?
Non-sports related -
This is why YouTube + Fireworks = terrible idea. I've done some dumb things before (window shopping in Harlem), but never this dumb.
The Shots Chick Pick this week: Amanda Bynes
My God her movies suck. But, I guess she doesn't.
See you next week.
Listen to Derek as he hosts the Xtra Large Lunch, every weekday from noon to 1 PM on XL 950!
Shoot your own Shots in the mailbag derek@XL950.com.
