Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Bawwww!
Remember that time when Mourinho left Milan for the last time and hugged Materazzi and cried like a little boy? Yeah I loved that. Two years ago, man... Video here.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Alberto Contador wins La Vuelta 2012!
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| El pistolero! |
But then, in one of the most shocking overhauls I have seen in road cycling, Contador won the 18th stage and wore the Red Jersey, leaving Rodriguez behind by almost three minutes. It wasn't even a mountain stage! There were two climbs, yes, but both category 3. Contador was smart enough to acknowledge that since his usual tactics were failing, he needed to attack on the pace.
In road cycling, "pace" is slang for riding on plain or slightly hilly terrain. Here the speed is higher, so the trail effect is stronger (tailgating another rider makes you go faster with less effort), and so it is very difficult to ride away from the peloton. This is what makes cycling such a team sport after all, because all other things being equal, a group of 10 riders is faster than a group of 5, a group of 20 is faster than a group of 10, etc. This is why stage races are almost always won in the mountains or time trials, for that's where you can truly make an individual difference. To successfully attack on the plains you'd have to make your whole team pull you, and your main opponents are likely to do the same with theirs, and it will be a sterile stalemate: much fatigue with little or no advantage. (Of course, many pace attacks do succeed, but almost always from no-name riders who have no stake in the general classification and who the peloton literally "allows" to ride away without chasing).
Contador, then, won this stage due to a mixture of these three factors: 1) Rodriguez either did not see Contador's attack or, if he did, decided that Contador and his small-ish group of 10 weren't going anywhere, and he let them go. 2) Rodriguez was too tired to chase. 3) Rodriguez's group tried but failed to ride as fast as Contador's. Be that as it may, Contador's group went away, and then one by one Contador dropped them all and went on his merry way.
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| L-R: Valverde, Contador, & Rodriguez contested a great Vuelta. |
And this year at the Vuelta we saw another chapter of that friendship, as Tiralongo let Contador trail him for the better part of the final three kilometers, only stepping aside when he literally couldn't ride any more (here as in 2011, the two were riding for two different teams, again Astana and Saxo). Then it was up to Contador to win it, and he did, though that last kilometer after the red flag must have seemed to never end. So a stage that nobody would have indicated as being decisive turned out to be an instant classic, and it added another beautiful story of solidarity to the sport's lore.
Two days later, Contador resisted Rodriguez's final attack on the Bola del Mundo climb, taking but a 45-second hit. And today he wore Red into Madrid, winning his second Vuelta after 2007 and his first race since his return after the ban. Needless to say, this win is personally important for Contador far beyond the indubitable honor of winning a grand tour. He needed it badly and wanted it even more. Literally everything about him exuded the will to win this Vuelta, from his offense-minded climbing to his evening tweets.
Alberto wanted to let his opponents know that he was back and that the ban had been undeserved. More importantly, I think, he wanted to tell himself the same thing.
Below: Contador's triumphal arrival Thursday. More pictures here.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
US Open semifinals and finals today!
Serena destroyed Errani in under an hour; no surprise there. I missed most of the match and I’ve no intention of going back and watch it now, for I know what to expect: hard baseline hitting from Serena obscuring quality play on Errani’s part.
But Azarenka and Sharapova gave life to one of the best matches I’ve seen all year. MaSha started by hitting hard and finding incredible angles, which pushed Vika back for the better part of a half-hour. By the time Azarenka was in the match, Maria was already up a set. Virtually the opposite happened in the second set, with Vika taking the lead and Sharapova finding that her play was simply no longer good enough—and by the time MaSha adapted, it was one set all. This emotional and tactical teeter-totter is very common in tennis, of course.
The third set is what made this a truly great match, and especially the fourth game. Azarenka quickly broke serve and Sharapova immediately broke back. Azarenka held fairly easily… and then Sharapova’s service game lasted 15 minutes, with 6 deuces before Maria eventually held too. It was so clear that for the players, that was the crucial game, that to break or be broken a second time would have been a major psychological downfall, and so they fought for it. (Some of the best rallies of the match came from this game, too). Sure enough, when Azarenka eventually did break serve two games later, it was downhill for her and MaSha never recovered... though certainly not for lack of trying!
I was very pleased to watch a match between two of the world’s best players who consistently played the best tennis they could, for over two hours. That is a rare feat in any sport and it must be celebrated. Plus, they both look and sound great… ;-)
Today: men's semifinals (Murray-Berdych, Djokovic-Ferrer) and women's final (Azarenka-Williams). If there are no surprises, it will be Murray-Djokovic in Monday's final. As for the ladies... I really have no idea. It's no surprise that I despise the Williams sisters and the kind of tennis they stand for, but honestly, Serena has the upper hand on Vika and will probably win. But I hope she doesn't, and if I know Azarenka, she'd rather die than not fight till the very end!
TODAY: MEN'S SEMIFINALS
Murray-Berdych (11:00 a.m.)
Djokovic-Ferrer (following)
LATER TODAY: WOMEN'S FINAL
Azarenka-Williams (7:00 p.m.)
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| VICTORIA AZARENKA | SERENA WILLIAMS |
| THIS U.S. OPEN Sets W-L: 13-2 Games W-L: 80-35 Full stats here | THIS U.S. OPEN Sets W-L: 12-2 Games W-L: 72-34 Full stats here |
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 10
Azarenka wins: 1
Williams wins: 9
Hard court: 5-1 Williams
Latest: 6-1, 6-2 Williams (Olympics semi)
Friday, September 7, 2012
U.S. Open women's semifinals today!
It's no secret I love women's tennis more than men's, so the semifinals of a Major championship are pretty much as cool as it gets! These two match-ups are exceptional and promise a lot of spectacular tennis, the former more so than the latter. Here's a brief review of what to expect based on past history.
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VICTORIA AZARENKA
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MARIA SHARAPOVA
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| THIS U.S. OPEN Sets W-L: 10-2 Games W-L: 60-31 Full stats here |
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 9
Azarenka wins: 5
Sharapova wins: 4
Hard court: 4-2 Azarenka
Latest: 6-3, 6-0 Azarenka (Australian Open final)
All semifinals and above: 4-1 Azarenka
More stats here
More stats here
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SERENA WILLIAMS
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SARA ERRANI
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| THIS U.S. OPEN Sets W-L: 10-1 Games W-L: 61-28 Full stats here |
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 3
Williams wins: 3
Errani wins: 0
Hard court: 2-0 Williams
Latest: 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 Williams (Dubai 2009)
Never met at a Major
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Errani and Vinci: frenemies!
I love this adorable photo gallery celebrating Italian tennis stars Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. Together they make a formidable doubles team and won this year's French Open. Alone, they will face each other today in the singles' quarterfinal, the first time for either player to reach the quarters at the US Open. However that goes, an Italian player is guaranteed a spot in the semis, likely to face Serena Williams.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The mountainous return of Alberto Contador
The 2012 Vuelta a Espana has been a terrific race so far. The Vuelta is the third of the three grand tours that are run each summer. As it comes at the end of the season, well after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, it is usually snubbed by most riders and is widely considered the least important of the three tours.
Instead, it is often highly spectacular. The mountainous Spanish territory guarantees a climb-intensive route, and this year the organizers have outdone themselves by planning seven climb finishes, including three hors-categorie (climbs so steep that they are "beyond categorization," usually 18-20% steep on average, with peaks of 23-25%).
The 2012 Vuelta was especially attractive for the much-hyped return of Alberto Contador, the three-time Tour de France winner who recently finished his 10-month ban for missing an anti-doping test. (Let me reiterate that, unlike in the Armstrong case, there is as of yet no evidence of any sort against Contador). Alberto had already raced at the Eneco Tour in August, a brief 6-stage race in the Benelux, but his grand return was set for the roads of his native Spain.
Thankfully, Contador did not disappoint. He will not win this Vuelta, which will go to Joaquim "Purito" Rodriguez, but he has very positively impressed. The past two weeks have been evidence that "more of the same" can be great.
Rodriguez earned the red jersey of the general classification leader early on in the race, and on every single mountain stage Contador has attacked, trying to take it away from him. The key stage has been the time trial, where Contador is much stronger. He started that day 51 seconds back, but only edged out Rodriguez by 50.5 seconds, and so Purito stayed in red for a mere half-second! That has determined all the following stages, where Contador has been forced to attack instead of being able to control and defend. Rodriguez has not only responded to every single attack, but has managed to beat Contador in three occasions and win two more stages himself, thus bringing his advantage back up to 28 seconds. With only one mountain stage left, the Vuelta is now only Rodriguez's to lose.
Me, of course I rooted for Alberto and am disappointed in this outcome, but not for any demerits on his side. Rodriguez is in stellar condition and has proved to be a great climber, a skill he has developed recently and that will serve him well in 2013. And as this was Contador's first major event after the ban, I think Contador can be entirely satisfied of his own performance. Rodriguez says that he has counted over 30 separate attacks by Contador on the mountains. I didn't keep tabs, but that sounds about right. That is an amazing feat by itself, especially on these insane climbs.
Now I really hope that these two stay in shape through the Fall and Winter. If Froome, Nibali, and Schleck also train right, and perhaps skip some of the Spring classics, we could have FIVE main contenders for the Giro and Tour in the summer of 2013. If that's not epic cycling, I don't know what is.
Sexism and homophobia at a high school football game?
Last night, ESPN televised the game between two Alabama high schools, Daphne and Spanish Fort. The Spanish Fort students displayed two banners of pretty bad taste, picking on the name "Daphne."
I'm assuming the first part of the second sign reads "Daphne," but no matter. the part that counts is clearly visible.
Alright, it's Alabama; and alright, they're kids. But that doesn't shield them from well deserved criticism.
Screencaps taken from 30FPS (here and here) who first "reported" on this. Quite ironically, AL.com had just run a story on how much Daphne and Spanish Fort respect each other. That may well be the case, but if so, then they also agree in jointly disrespecting women and homosexuals.
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| "Daphne: isn't that a girls name?" |
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| "(Daphne?) Man, that's GAY." |
I'm assuming the first part of the second sign reads "Daphne," but no matter. the part that counts is clearly visible.
Alright, it's Alabama; and alright, they're kids. But that doesn't shield them from well deserved criticism.
Screencaps taken from 30FPS (here and here) who first "reported" on this. Quite ironically, AL.com had just run a story on how much Daphne and Spanish Fort respect each other. That may well be the case, but if so, then they also agree in jointly disrespecting women and homosexuals.
Monday, September 3, 2012
US Open women's round of 16 and quarterfinals
As usual, the women's table advances faster than the men's and we're already halfway through the round of 16. Table below; official draw here; printable draw here.
AZARENKA'S QUARTER
Azarenka (1) - Tatishvili 6-2, 6-2
Robson - Stosur (7) 4-6, 4-6
SHARAPOVA'S QUARTER
Sharapova (3) - Petrova (19) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Bartoli (11) - Kvitova (5) 1-6, 6-2, 6-0
WILLIAMS'S QUARTER
Pironkova - Ivanovic (12)
Hlavackova - Williams (4)
RADWANSKA'S QUARTER
Kerber (6) - Errani (10)
Vinci (20) - Radwanska (2)
Azarenka has never looked this good and it's time for her to win another Major after the Australian Open. I think she will, because the winner of Sharapova-Bartoli (who, I think, will be MaSha) doesn't stand a chance against the Belarusian if she keeps playing like this.
The lower half of the board is tougher to predict. I think Williams can sail to the semi, beating Hlavackova today and Ivanovic on Wednesday. Despite my inveterate hatred for the Williams primadonnas, I recognize that Serena is all but unbeatable on hard court when she plays at her best. The other quarter is even more up for grabs. I suppose it's too much to hope for an Errani-Vinci derby in the quarterfinals, and reasonably it will be Radwanska to advance. I haven't liked Kerber too much this year, so I think Errani has a chance.
Here as in the men's draw, the semis should include all four top seeds, except that unlike for the men, this is a very unusual circumstance for the women.
AZARENKA'S QUARTER
Azarenka (1) - Tatishvili 6-2, 6-2
Robson - Stosur (7) 4-6, 4-6
SHARAPOVA'S QUARTER
Sharapova (3) - Petrova (19) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Bartoli (11) - Kvitova (5) 1-6, 6-2, 6-0
WILLIAMS'S QUARTER
Pironkova - Ivanovic (12)
Hlavackova - Williams (4)
RADWANSKA'S QUARTER
Kerber (6) - Errani (10)
Vinci (20) - Radwanska (2)
Azarenka has never looked this good and it's time for her to win another Major after the Australian Open. I think she will, because the winner of Sharapova-Bartoli (who, I think, will be MaSha) doesn't stand a chance against the Belarusian if she keeps playing like this.
The lower half of the board is tougher to predict. I think Williams can sail to the semi, beating Hlavackova today and Ivanovic on Wednesday. Despite my inveterate hatred for the Williams primadonnas, I recognize that Serena is all but unbeatable on hard court when she plays at her best. The other quarter is even more up for grabs. I suppose it's too much to hope for an Errani-Vinci derby in the quarterfinals, and reasonably it will be Radwanska to advance. I haven't liked Kerber too much this year, so I think Errani has a chance.
Here as in the men's draw, the semis should include all four top seeds, except that unlike for the men, this is a very unusual circumstance for the women.
US Open men's round of 16
The men's eighth-finals (better known as round of 16 in American sports-speak) will be underway today at Flushing Meadows. We've had some shockers, including Phillip Kolschreiber's win yesterday in the wee hours of the morning following John Isner's semi-meltdown against a seemingly incompetent line judge... Serena 2009 anyone? Both Isner and Serena were dead wrong, by the way: just irascible.
MURRAY'S QUARTER
FERRER'S QUARTER
DJOKOVIC'S QUARTER
I think the players in green will advance, meaning that Roddick's fortuitous run at his last-ever tournament will end at the hand of the large Argentinian, who has been playing very well this year and especially well this past week. So, save for major surprises, we will once again see the top four seeds in the semis. Nadal isn't here but the story stays the same.
Below is the table. Official draws here and printable here.
FEDERER'S QUARTER
Federer (1) - Fish (23)
Almagro (11) - Berdych (6)
MURRAY'S QUARTER
Murray (3) - Raonic (15)
Cilic (12) - Klizan
FERRER'S QUARTER
Tipsarevic (8) - Kolschreiber (19)
Gasquet (13) - Ferrer (4)
DJOKOVIC'S QUARTER
Del Potro (7) - Roddick (20)
Wawrinka (18) - Djokovic (2)
I think the players in green will advance, meaning that Roddick's fortuitous run at his last-ever tournament will end at the hand of the large Argentinian, who has been playing very well this year and especially well this past week. So, save for major surprises, we will once again see the top four seeds in the semis. Nadal isn't here but the story stays the same.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Just found this gem...
Mets game in 2010. Aww! She's adorable.
(Yes, it's a celebrity crush).
(Leave me alone).
Someone says that USADA say they got proof?
There's not much yet, though something is surely moving. As I said last summer, I am 99% sure that Armstrong is guilty, just like the majority of riders also were back in the era of institutionalized doping... but so far there hasn't been a shred of positive evidence, so I am eagerly waiting for one so that this fraud can be stripped of all that he has stolen.
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My favorite sports and athletes
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| ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL |
If there is such a thing as a "favorite sport," for me it is association football. It is the one I was raised in, as every good Italian is, and the one I have followed the most. This is in no small part because football is a faithful mirror of human life and, in some respects, the perfect game altogether.
I estimate having watched over 5,000 matches in my life, and my recent standard is about 250-300 a year. I closely follow the four main European leagues and all international club competitions (primarily the Champions League and the Europa League) and national tournaments (Euro and World Cup). In general, there is very little football that I find uninteresting, and if I don't watch more it's only because there's not enough time in the day.
Serie A ROMA Inter, Parma Lazio, Milan, Juve
Premier League CHELSEA Man. City, Liverpool Man Utd., Arsenal
La Liga BARCELONA Valencia Real Madrid
Bundesliga BAYERN MUNICH Wolfsburg, B. Dortmund Leverkusen
National ITALY Spain, Argentina Brazil, France
Favorite players (current)........ Totti, Messi, Lampard, Iniesta, De Rossi, Pirlo
Favorite players (classic)......... Maradona, Van Basten, Conti, Maldini, Gullit, Falcao, Preud'homme
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| AMERICAN FOOTBALL |
My first four years in the United States I purposely avoided watching American football. The whole thing seemed silly to me, and up to that point my only contact with the sport had been a few Super Bowls here and there. Then I enrolled at Virginia Tech for my M.A. and was swept up with the football mania. In the last three years I've probably watched as much football as (what they here call) "soccer." The college game is by far my favorite, though of course I watch the NFL too, especially the playoffs. While I am still adverse to many elements of football culture (the sexism, the overall lack of sportsmanship... the bands! OH GOD, the fucking bands...), overall I've become quite engrossed in the game and it constitutes a substantial part of my viewing time. Good thing it's only on weekends!
Professional (no allegiance) Vikings, Saints, Packers, Patriots, Panthers Steelers, Giants
I don't know enough about the sport yet to rationally judge which players are best. I like Brady, Rodgers, Brees, and Newton, but I'm not really sure why. lol
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| ATHLETICS |
If association football is my first love, athletics has to be the second. My father's love for it quickly rubbed off on me, even if only every four years, when my family watched track & field at the Olympics with near-religious devotion. Thanks to my father, to the books he bought me, and to the expert TV commentators, I learned much about the sports early on, and it never left me. Like most people, I favor track events over field ones, but one of the best parts of athletics is the all-around experience. There is no other sport or game when you watch different skill tests back to back, or even at the same time. This is especially awesome when you attend a meet in person and your eyes dart from side to side and take it all in. Now, thankfully, the Olympics are only one showcase for athletics. During the outdoor season, I closely follow the Diamond League meets; and the Athletics World Championships are often the highlights of the summers of odd years.
Current favorites Usain Bolt, Liu Xiang, Jessica Ennis, Felix Sanchez, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser
Classic favorites Carl Lewis, Marie-Jose Perec, Stefka Kostadinova, Sergei Bubka, Ian Zelezny
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| SWIMMING & DIVING |
Aquatics and athletics always go together for me. For one, swimming does in the water what track does on land: both are the only simulations of natural human behavior. Also, their relative World Championships are always held in the same summers (odd years), about a month apart from each other, so it's natural to enjoy them together. And of course they are always the two most followed disciplines at every Olympic Games. My love for swimming is relatively recent, dating to the late 1990s when the Italian swimmers first rose to international fame. This isn't a provincial preference on my part, though: rather, it explains why before that time swimming was rarely broadcast in the country where I lived. Only once it was given relative TV prominence could I truly appreciate it, and now I can't do without it. Aquatics world championships also include diving and water polo, which I also love and for much the same reasons. Really the only aquatic discipline that I won't watch is synchronized swimming, which still looks and feels too ridiculous to me.
Athletes: Federica Pellegrini, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Filippo Magnini, Cesar Cielo, Lazslo Cseh, Michael Phelps, Chen Ruolin, Tania Cagnotto, Sun Yang, Ranomi Kromowidjojo
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| TENNIS |
I have a lengthy love-hate-love relationship with tennis. A problem I have with it that I don't have with most other sports is that I often can't watch an entire match, especially on the men's side. While I love both tennis' main technical skills and its tactical intricacies, matches are still just a bit too long for me. If all matches were played to the best of three sets, I would be a little happier; best of two with a super tiebreak, as in doubles, would be even better. The problem is that unlike in team sports, it makes little sense for the tennis skill to be tested over such a lengthy repetition of the same format; this is also my main problem with baseball, which I feel should be played over 3 or 5 innings.
With that said, whenever tennis is on I watch it eagerly none the less, even if more in the background and less attentively than I do other sports. It is also one of the few sports that I've played competitively as a kid, and I have very fond (if exhausting!) memories of it. I especially like the women's game, which is less physical and more likely to reward tactics and mental endurance than the ball-bursting (no pun meant) display of strength in the men's game. Of course, I watch all the four Majors (religiously, I might add) and most of the Masters' series, especially Paris, Rome, and Indian Wells.
Favorite men Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro
Favorite women Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki, Sara Errani, Flavia Pennetta, Li Na, Marion Bartoli
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| ROAD CYCLING |
Men's professional road cycling is my "new" favorite sport. To some extent I always followed it, and my father took me to watch several Giro d'Italia stage finishes when I was little, but it wasn't until the late 2000s that I really started getting into it. In the last few years, then, I developed an appreciation for the more technical and tactical aspects of the sport, thanks in no small part to the expertise of the very talented Italian TV commentators. And for me, the more you know about something, the more I enjoy it--ignorance isn't bliss! In cycling, I follow mostly the three-week summer Grand Tours: Giro d'Italia (June), Tour de France (July), and Vuelta a Espana (August). I relatively ignore the UCI World Tour events, save for the world championships, and only lately have I started watching the great spring classics, such as Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and the Paris-Roubaix. My love for this wonderful sport -- which is seemingly one for rugged individualists, but which is actually much more of a team effort -- grows more with every season and I am really glad that it does!
That's it! I watch a lot more sports than this, of course, most notably volleyball, basketball, Formula 1 racing, golf, and (in the winter) alpine skiing. But these were my favorites and those that I have the most to say about. :-)
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New season, new blog!
I live in the U.S. but spend summers in my native Italy. As I have belabored in my previous blog, The Summer of 2012, summer sports coverage is far superior on the Eastern side of the pond. Then, in the Fall, it becomes convenient to live States-side, where American sports get top honors and European favorites like association football still receive ample air time. Of course, I move back and forth depending on far more important factors (work, school, family, friends), but I am pleased that near-ideal sports coverage follows me wherever I go.
In the coming days I will release a semi-comprehensive calendar of the Fall 2012-Spring 2013 sports season. Despite this blog's catchy title, I do not in fact watch ALL the sports. Among the major ones, I am uninterested in baseball, hockey, and rugby. Baseball makes me sleep and relies on skills and mechanics that I find unimpressive. Hockey I don't understand and is too physical for my taste. Rugby I like, but have no patience to follow. So while the World Series and the Stanley Cup might grab my attention, that'll pretty much be it for those sports. (In the next post I will list and discuss my sports allegiances, favorites, etc).
This blog is likely to not be as organized as the summer one. I actually astonished myself with my own consistency this summer, blogging nearly every day for two months. I totally lost it at the end and provided virtually no coverage of my two most anticipated events, the Tour de France and the Olympic Games. Reality got in the way, as it were, and I was too busy keeping my life together to think about sports 24/7. Don't you just hate it when that happens? ;-)
So this Fall and Spring I entertain no delusions of being able to blog consistently. I am starting my Ph.D. program (philosophy) in a new town with few friends and many worries, financial and otherwise, so life is likely to get in the way even more frequently than before. But again, nobody reads this stuff, which serves primarily as my own electronic scrapbook and journal, so anything is good and much better than nothing!
In the coming days I will release a semi-comprehensive calendar of the Fall 2012-Spring 2013 sports season. Despite this blog's catchy title, I do not in fact watch ALL the sports. Among the major ones, I am uninterested in baseball, hockey, and rugby. Baseball makes me sleep and relies on skills and mechanics that I find unimpressive. Hockey I don't understand and is too physical for my taste. Rugby I like, but have no patience to follow. So while the World Series and the Stanley Cup might grab my attention, that'll pretty much be it for those sports. (In the next post I will list and discuss my sports allegiances, favorites, etc).
This blog is likely to not be as organized as the summer one. I actually astonished myself with my own consistency this summer, blogging nearly every day for two months. I totally lost it at the end and provided virtually no coverage of my two most anticipated events, the Tour de France and the Olympic Games. Reality got in the way, as it were, and I was too busy keeping my life together to think about sports 24/7. Don't you just hate it when that happens? ;-)
So this Fall and Spring I entertain no delusions of being able to blog consistently. I am starting my Ph.D. program (philosophy) in a new town with few friends and many worries, financial and otherwise, so life is likely to get in the way even more frequently than before. But again, nobody reads this stuff, which serves primarily as my own electronic scrapbook and journal, so anything is good and much better than nothing!
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