Pro Tennis's Pro Tennis friend's fan blogs

As long as everyone else is throwing in their two cents about disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick's next career move, I thought I should chime in because the answer is just common sense.

Mike -- can I call you Mike? -- this is what you should do: Forget about a return to pro football for 2009 and contact dog whisperer Cesar Millan about becoming his sidekick.

Seriously.

It's evident by the latest unconfirmed internet reports that Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback went to a Virginia Beach (Va.) strip club just hours after he completed a 23-month sentence for operating a dogfighting ring, that he's still too much of a hot button for any NFL franchise to touch.

Leaving the morality issue out of attending a gentlemen's club, even if Vick did attend such an establishment, who cares? He's not Pac Man Jones. Vick's never been accused of making it rain with either money or bullets at a strip club. Billions of men frequent such places without incident.

Continue reading "Two Words of Advice for Vick: Reality Series"

LeBron James' alleged confiscation of a tape in which Xavier sophomore basketball player Jordan Crawford executed a two-hand dunk on him took on a larger life of its own than it would have had the tape been made public.

The story of James getting dunked on during a pickup game at the LeBron James Skills Academy by now has made the rounds several times over -- not to mention piqued the interest of basketball fans of what that scene might've looked liked.

Hmm. ... My first thought that comes to mind is Michael Jordan reversing course baseline against Patrick Ewing and throwing down in a classic Bulls-Knicks confrontation. My second thought is of Nate Robinson using Dwight Howard as a prop and jumping over him in the NBA Slam Dunk competition in February.

In any case, I began to wonder what the cameramen recording the event must have thought of The Chosen Brat after he reportedly dispatched a Nike official to take possession of the tapes.

Continue reading "Your Worst Face-to-Face Experience With a Sports Celebrity?"

Tiger Woods is the biggest icon in the sports world today.

No athlete has transcended his sport the way the man with the most famous fist pump ever has transcended the game of golf. Countless fans tune in to golf tournaments only to check Tiger's progress. His popularity has made several other golfers rich because of his appeal as a marketing instrument.

Sure, soccer start Cristiano Ronaldo can attract a crowd of 80,000 to Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu for his introduction as a member of Real Madrid, but no casual soccer fans (is there such a thing?) tune in just to watch Ronaldo or any other soccer player.

Kobe Bryant?  LeBron James? Though Kobe apparently is doing quite well as Yao Ming's replacement in China, he's about five more consecutive titles away from erasing his tarnished 2004.

Continue reading "With All Due Respect, Tiger, Federer Is Da Proverbial 'Man'"

Roger Federer collected his record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title today in a spectacular Wimbledon final that will not be easily forgotten by any of us who saw it. Major congratulations to the man who most pundits feel comfortable calling the Greatest Tennis Player of All Time.

On the downside, Sunday's four and a half hour final will be hard for Andy Roddick to forget also. Roddick, a major underdog who had lost to Federer 18 times in 20 meetings, looked poised to pull off the huge upset. He took the first set. He had four set points in the second that he failed to convert. He took the fourth set which launched a thrilling fifth set that would contain 30 games. Throughout, Roddick had been rock solid on his serve, never allowing Federer to break him...until the very last game of the match. It was a heartbreaker for a man who had worked so hard to get to that point.

Continue reading "What's next for Andy Roddick?"

Sunday, the many lives of A-Rod increased by one.

While the more famous -- or infamous -- A-Rod, a.k.a. Alex Rodriguez, was enjoying a day off while his New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-8 for their 10th win in 11 outings, his moniker received a huge boost in a different sport played on grass overseas.

A rejuvenated Andy Roddick nearly pulled off the unthinkable -- preventing Roger Federer from claiming an unprecedented 15th Grand Slam title. At Wimbledon, of all places.

Alas, Federer was too much Federer in the end of an epic 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 victory in the Wimbledon final. So a tell-all book on this A-Rod will have to wait.

Federer, the Swiss Army of One, endured the longest fifth set in Wimbledon finals history en route to his sixth trophy in England, one short of Pete Sampras and William Renshaw.

Continue reading "A-Rod: Disgracing Baseball or Saving American Tennis?"

With the top 4 teams in the league last year making ALL the big moves so far this off-season(Boston excluded so far because they haven't signed sheed yet, but they will be getting a healthy Garnett back so it's like they made a big move),  is it too much to ask to skip the next regular season and just have a 4 team playoff for the championship?!  Seriously....      and I don't want to hear anything about the Spurs or the Nuggets.  Jefferson is a mediocre pick-up at best and the nuggets were just a flash in the pan, "Oh my gosh Billups is from here!!!!", team last year.  The team that will have an honorable mention next year will actually be the Blazers, but that's it.  I know no one wants to suffer through the Cavs, Magic, Lakers

Continue reading "NBA Champions"

If I had bet on every sporting event in which I just knew in my gut what the outcome was going to be, I would be even more broke than I am now.  We all know that Roddick is 2-15 against Federer lifetime and that Roger is playing some tennis right now that could be better than I have ever seen him play.  That is why sports are so entertaining!  Especially those decided by one game or match as opposed to a "best of" series.  On any day, at any time, there is an opportunity for an upset.  That's why the Confederation Cup final was even slightly exciting to me.  I knew Brazil had a much better team, but on any given day.....              I knew that the Patriots were going to clobber the Giants and finish a historic season 19-0.  I knew that Tyson was going to knock out Buster Douglas and continue his tear through anyone who got in his way.  And without a doubt, I KNEW that my Florida Gators were going to destroy a Michigan team that had lost to a division II school earlier in the year.   And Sunday...  I will be watching a cheering for the American Andy Roddick, even though I KNOW that Federer is going to win.............................. 

Continue reading "Federer vs Roddick in the finals is at least intriguing right?"

As we Laker fans begin to ponder Los Angeles' acquisition of Ron Artest at the expense of Trevor Ariza, a sense of dread came over me.

Not that the roster shakeup is necessary a bad one, but that now I'm a full-fledged fan of the NBA Villain.

The Lakers now are the Evil Empire. They're Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, Dr. Evil and Rush Limbaugh rolled into one purple basketball mass -- the team the NBA will love to hate.

Most people outside L.A. and Laker fandom have a considerable dislike for Kobe Bryant. Even with his renaissance this season as a world champion.

The rape allegations. The feud with Shaquille O'Neal, with many people believing an arrogant and selfish Bryant drove O'Neal out of town and coach Phil Jackson into retirement in 2004.

Continue reading "In Taking an A for an A, Lakers Become NBA's Super Villains"

I used to like Bob Costas.

When he first broke into broadcasting, he was one of the best in the business. His knowledge of any sport he covered and style of delivery had eloquence without pomposity.

As he became more well-known and famous, his opinions started to matter. I didn't always agree with them, but they were thought out and well-expressed, so I gave him a pass. He was still Bob Costas, one of the best broadcasters in sports.

Then came the movie appearances and the moving away from sporting events to host talk shows. Costas, while still eloquent, wasn't always as funny as he thought. But that was OK, because he was Bob Costas.

But his latest salvo at an entire community during Los Angeles Dodger Manny Ramirez's minor-league assignment as he prepares for his return tonight from a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance shows that Costas now has become pompous and overbearing and self-righteous.

Continue reading "Memo to Costas: I'd Rather Watch Manny Than Listen to You"

Those awaiting a statement from Manny Ramirez about his alleged performance-enhancing drug use when he returns to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night after serving a 50-game suspension probably should be tested themselves.

Manny was the artful dodger when questions of his suspension arose during his "rehab" stints at Triple-A Albuquerque and Class A Inland Empire. Heck, the Dodgers also sent a plethora of organizational personnel on his little league tour, ensuring his protection from the big, bad media.

That comes as no surprise, seeing how the Dodgers also saw fit to protect Manny from the wet grass at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque and the sunlight over Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernadino.

Ramirez skipped his final scheduled appearance for the Isotopes because rain earlier in the day left the outfield grass wet, and the Dodgers didn't want him to ... get a grass stain? Perhaps they feared that Major League Baseball officials would mistake the stain for another type of grass and slap him with a 100-game suspension for a second offense.

Continue reading "Don't Blame Manny; The Grass Was Wet"