TMF

well... i apologize for not having posted in quite a while but i am currently sunning myself on the beaches of the greek island of naxos. so sports have meant very very little to me in the last week. however, i did make it a point to follow the wimbledon final (surprised? i thought not). i won't break the match down because i only saw a set and a half on television... but i will say a few things:

(1) roger is still the best. he may not be able to do it on clay against rafa, but he is still the best overall players.
(2) the fourth set roger clearly had no intentions of winning. after the call that he was not pleased with (about which i was surprised to see how visibly upset he got), it appeared to me that he decided to basically take the set off and just play like a man possessed in the fifth. now maybe you argue that you should never throw in the towel on a set (or any segment of a sporting event) but the strategy made sense to me. plus, when you're already in the hole 4-0, do you really have a chance? no, not really.
(3) the gap is closing and roger knows it. rafa played exceptionally well and he will win a wimbledon. i think roger still has one, maybe two, that he can get without much trouble, but the young spaniard is right there and his game is improving more and more every tournament he plays.
(4) could roger's outfit have been any more spectacular?

other sport things that intrigue me...
- vlad won the home run derby... remind me again why they still do this event?
- home field advantage will be decided this evening with the all-star game... remind me why that rule hasn't been changed yet?
- mark buehrle is off the market... so much for all that business that he was a lock to return to his hometown team (the cardinals)
- in good news, the notre dame recruiting class is shaping up quite nicely. the defensive side of the ball is coming together really well... all we need now it two top flight wide receivers and another linebacker or two and i'll be satisfied.

and last thing... choi, one of our readers has suggested that we make a bracket of "who's not now." recommended division names: the leaf bracket, the bias bracket, the ankiel bracket, the landis bracket, or the harding/gillooly bracket.

what do you think? maybe a project for the rest of our summer? i'll be back stateside on friday, so look for a major increase in my banter in a few days. until then, take care all.

-riley.