Player of the Year-WTA

Her career has been made of equal parts overwhelming success and controversy. She is either loved or hated, but in 2009, Serena did the damn thing. She won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the WTA Year End Championships. She earned more money than any other woman on tour this year. She was also fined more than anyone on either the WTA and ATP as well. She’s a mixed bag of genius and “teh crazy”, and she’s the Number 1 tennis player in the world.

Next year the tennis establishment and the haters will be welcoming back a couple of Belgans. The Powers That Be will be keeping a close eye on her because she’s on probation now-like she boosted some bras from Victoria’s Secret or something. Never mind all that. Serena puts butts in the seats. Serena brings ratings. Serena loves to win. This past year, she has done more to lift the profile of women’s tennis than anyone else. No one can deny that.

While others faded and faltered, Serena kept her focus on winning the big ones.  She the victim of bullshit calls and politics. She was the best and that’s all there is to it.

Condolences

To the family of little Shaniya Davis. God rest her soul and help us all.

righteous and real anger

We had been warned beforehand.  Representative Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota had hit the button on the siren and called the Tea Party Folks to descend upon Capitol Hill to confront her fellow Congressmen and women. They were to declare that they didn’t want their health care taken away. They didn’t want Nancy Pelosi and Co. to spend all of their hard earned taxes. They didn’t want any part of Socialism! Come they did, about 4,000 in number. Some were arrested but most were content to work themselves in a lather on the steps of the Capitol building, spurned on by Bachmann, Boehner, Cantor, Foxx, and a few other fools responsible for the spread of the blatant misinformation about health care reform.

They came with offensive signs, they screamed, and they yelled. They had John Voight drive another spike into their fear filled hearts (Angie, come get your Daddy, please). They were led in a bungled recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. They were given a mucked up civics lesson by John Boehner. One of these days he’ll actually read something, maybe like the Constitution, or the Republican health care bill. They rallied as if they were part of some kind of new revolution. A Republican red, 99% white, and blue collar revolution.

Well, wave a flag and shed a tear folks. As for me, I’m completely nonplussed at the situational patriotism that was displayed. Had it been the other side protesting, they would have been called traitors or even worse. Only middle American, Obama hating, native-born people can love this country. Yeah, I get it. Now get on your buses paid for by Insurance lobbyist funded Astroturf organizations and go on home. We’ve been through this righteous anger all summer. The shit is tired.

We were warned but we weren’t ready for a horrific display of real anger that was shown today. It didn’t happen in the rotunda in Washington, but on an army base in Texas. Shortly after 1:00, an Army major and two or possibly three accomplices shot and killed 12 people and wounded 30 more. While the bobbleheads on The Right were dealing in manufactured fear on the Hill, the residents of Ft. Hood were facing the real thing. Fellow soldiers who stood alongside them and took the oath to protect the country from enemies, turned their guns on them and cut them down ruthlessly. Details are sketchy right now. A name and picture was released and stories are floating out that one of the men was to be deployed to Iraq at the end of this month. Surely within in the next few days a clearer picture will be drawn of the men and the circumstances that caused so much terror and death. But like I said, we were warned. Our military men and women have been stretched to the breaking point with the weight of two wars and a lack of mental health services available. Soldiers who have seen the worst acts of human nature imaginable abroad are being sent on tour after tour with no time to decompress or heal. Suicide rates were skyrocketing. The divorce rate of military service people have shot through the roof. The break was coming. We were warned.

So let’s all direct our prayers to the victims and their friends and family at Ft. Hood. Let’s give our sympathy and attention to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice; not to those with an entitled sense of anger and only want to further spread hate.

polls and purges

It’s been awhile but I had to deal with some things in the real world.  They haven’t been completely dealt with but, here I am. Writing supposedly heals the soul. I’m about to do some healing right now. 

Well last night was election night.  A year and almost a day before, one of the most historic elections in our country’s history took place. Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President and the world rejoiced. This year after tirelessly campaigning against Obama, the opposition sought to wrest seats and the conscience of the electorate from him. After the results came in late last night, The Right were celebrating gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey. They were well within their rights to. Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell ran smart campaigns that focused on the issues of their respective states. Moderates and Independents flocked to the polls while the Democrats stayed away. The massive Obama ground game was non-existent and even an appearance by the man himself didn’t help. So, these wins were a referendum on Obama and the Democratic controlled Senate right?

Not so fast. State elections in an off-presidential year have had little effect historically. Meaning, gains in one election cycle don’t necessarily mean the same gains in the next one. Also, let’s be real. John Corzine and Craig Deeds weren’t the best candidates. Corzine’s popularity numbers were in the low 30’s. Deeds-Crikey! This dolt actually thought he could win being an anti-Obama Democrat. He was trounced and rightly so. That just goes to show that a campaign is only as good as the campaigner. You can’t make a rose out of a weed. These guys did not appeal to young voters, minorities, and left leaning Independents-the core coalitions of the Democratic Party. They did very little to inspire the base so no wonder why the stayed away in droves. If anything, Obama upped the bar significantly for modern politics. You have to be an outstanding candidate with command of the issues, you have to rally the base, you have to appeal to those outside your party, and you must have a top notch campaign staff. Neither Democratic had any of these things and as a result, the Republicans won.

But those races weren’t the most significant ones of the night. The race that everyone’s attention was focused on was a special election Congressional race in the 23rd District in New York State. Republican DeeDee Scozzafava was hand-picked by the GOP bigwigs in the district to run for the seat. Initially, they saw no problems. NY-23 was solidly Republican and Scozzafava was a fiscally conservative/socially moderate candidate who fight right in with the East Coast Republican establishment. That is until The Right of the right set their sights on the seat. Soon, the nationwide Republican Purge hit and Scozzafava was labeled a liberal and a radical and was displaced in favor of a handpicked Conservative by the name of Doug Hoffman. Armed with a cache of out of district money, the blessings of Dick Amrey, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Tea Party talking points, Hoffman positioned himself as the main contender to battle Democrat Bill Owens. Scozzafava saw the writing on the wall and bowed out of the race.

Funny how things just seem to right themselves (don’t pardon the pun, it was bad). Hoffman seemed to have everything in hand. He was the right wing’s blessed child running in a solid red district. Forget the fact that he didn’t actually LIVE in the district. Forget the fact that he was completely disinterested in local issues. Forget the fact that he pissed off the local press by skirting questions and bringing everyone’s favorite Astro-turfer Dick Armrey to a sit down interview. Forget the fact that Scozzafava had one more card up her sleeve. Two days before the election, she endorsed OWENS. She even made a round of robo calls stating that Owens would be the best choice. Hell hath no fury and all that. Fox News, Michael Steele, and the others who had endorsed Hoffman over her were left with egg all on their mugs. Credit to them for recovering quickly and predicting a Hoffman victory. Too bad they underestimated the voters of NY-23 like they underestimated Scozzafava.

They just never seem to get things right, those folks. By Wednesday morning,  Bill Owens was declared the winner of a house seat that hadn’t had a Democratic butt sit in it in about a century. The folks of NY-23 weren’t fooled by the fly by night Conservative. They weren’t swayed by Sarah Palin’s Facebook encouragement. They weren’t turned on by Rush’s invective. Good for them. Good for the rest of us. The purge didn’t work this time, and if they keep making the same mistakes, it will never work. This was the race that was supposed to be the real test of the resurgent Republican Party. It was supposed to be a statement against President Obama.

See how well that turned out….

Letting go..

Climbing up the those stone steps

with her behind me.

Listening to that familiar litany of how I’m not this

and I need to do that and

I’m just not good enough,

Mother wit is toxic waste.

Acid insults are shooting out and

burning painfully against my back.

Making the child in me feel like nothing

again.

Those slippery stone steps

covered with the last remnants of ice.

Impeding the progression to the hell

lying in wait inside.

She’s behind me and she’s feeble.

Her balance isn’t what it used to be.

I hear her struggling but I don’t turn around.

She’s losing her grip as she’s calling my name.

I turn to see her fingers slipping from the rail.

Everything’s has slowed down now.

I grab her hand before her fall.

She looks up at me; in gratitude I hope.

But a scowl meets my face instead.

“Help me” she shouts and she starts to curse me.

Degradations of the past start to

run through my mind.

My grip is not so sure now.

Ruined birthdays and miserable holidays.

All decorated with guilt, depression, and anger.

Screaming breakfasts and silent dinners.

My head is pounding now.

I take another look into that face.

Searching for something to love.

Hoping that’s there’s at least one thing

worth saving at least.

She’s teetering with my fingers

acting as a bridge between life and death.

Why am I wasting time?

My mind should be made up by now.

Besides, it’s really cold

and Mother is so old…

So I Let Go.

Shanghai-ed

Another big tournament in the endless ATP season is over and Nikolay Davydenko is the champion. He defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets, but that was only a small part of the story of this week’s tourney. Unfortunately, the nine retirements were. Nadal breezed into the final because 2 of his opponents retired during their matches. Unusual? coincidental? I don’t think so. Until the ATP gets serious about placing the health and well being of its players first, this is going to happen more and more often.

But back to the match for a sec. Give it up to Agassi-Lite, he played well all week by permanently setting up real estate on the baseline and by playing consistent, error free tennis. It works. It works well. Rafa to his credit, managed to keep the first set close, but once again couldn’t capitalize on the break point opportunities given to him. I’m positive that will all come in time. This was his second tournament back from yet another injury and a final appearance is pretty good. At least that’s what he said. I’ll take his word for it instead of the Doomy McGloomers infecting the media and internet. ”Rafa’s Slumping” and ”Nadal’s lost his moxie” are sure to appear in the headlines next week, but I’m going to ignore all of that. He’s still #2 in the world. He’s the Aussie Open champion, and he’s an all around awesome person. Whatever he needs to work on, he will. That’s all we can ask and that’s all we should expect.

Besides, it could have been a lot worse. He could have been sitting at home watching the tourney like Wawarinka, Monfils, Roddick, Haas, Ljubicic, Lopez, Del Potro, and Zverev. Knock on wood.

Rushed and Rammed

It seems that Big Rush Limbaugh isn’t satisfied with spreading his bile over the airwaves on a daily basis. Now he wants to become a NFL owner. It’s been reported that Limbaugh is interested in purchasing the woeful St. Louis Rams franchise and my goodness has the poo been flying. There are some that say he should be able to buy a team. I mean, it’s capitalism as it is at work; those that have money should buy what they want. There are others who say that Limbaugh has no business getting involved with professional sports, specifically a sport were 70% of the athletes are black based on his past statements.

I am on the side of those who are like, ” No way, no how”.  There’s something about Limbaugh being in a position to buy and trade black flesh that makes me sick to my stomach. He may see it as a purely money making venture, but I can’t help but think he could use his position to create some sick social experiment. Besides, I don’t know any African American player with even a smidgen of pride who would play for him, regardless of what Stephen A. Smith says.

And let’s talk about Mr. Smith for a minute. Oh, this dude is so making  HBCUs look bad right now. Mr. Smith is convinced that those black athletes who are vowing not to play under a Limbaugh regime are on some bullshit because he feels anyone with a lot of melanin and who plays pro football can be bought. Great, just what people need: A fresh dose of cynicism to muddle the debate over what’s truly right and what’s truly wrong. Hacks like Smith are the reason why I can barely tolerate sports journalism now. It’s nothing more than an exercise in projection. These so called commentators foolishly wax poetic about the glory days of the sport all the while barely disgusting their contempt for the athletes who play it. Their smugness and the obsession for getting the “controversy behind the story”, makes for interesting by lines and not much else.  So, Smith hoeing himself out to anyone who will listen because he’s guaranteed to say something controversial provides little insight into this issue.

This issue simply is this: Limbaugh is an asshole. There are NFL owners who are assholes. However, Limbaugh’s assholery isn’t limited to the world of sports. He’s has managed to offend nearly every living person representing nearly every group on this planet. The question is does the dominant sports franchise in the United States need Limbaugh in the mix? With all the problems within the NFL? Do they DESERVE Limbaugh? My answer is no. Didn’t we learn anything from Marge Schott?

The Laureates of WTF?

Harvard Law Graduate, best selling author, United States Senator, President, Nobel Laureate for Peace. Barack Obama has accomplished more in his 48 years than many. Why is it so damn hard for some folks to acknowledge those accomplishments? The amount of hate is sickening. He is the 3rd African American and the first American sitting President since Woodrow Wilson to win the Nobel Prize. Where’s the pride? Seriously.

The Republican’s response included trotting out Chairman Michael Steele who declared that Obama didn’t deserve the award. The Right’s reaction sank to even lower levels with various pundits and internet warriors stating that they agreed with the Taliban and that Obama should give the award back. The most egregious statement was that Obama’s win was the result of an affirmative action quota. This, from the people who claim to love America so much?

My God, what is wrong with these people? Once again, folks from other countries are showing more love towards our President than people living right here. Even those on The Left were sniping. I’m just so done. If it matters, I’m proud and happy. Even though I have disagreed with some of PBO’s policies, I think his winning the Nobel Prize is freakin’ awesome. I’m encouraged to follow the President’s call for action for peace. Lord knows we need it–especially right here in the good ol’ U.S.A.

uh serena…

When you finally earn the number #1 rank back, you’re supposed to WIN!

Do better in Doha girlfriend, the haters are already salivating.

Speaking of which ESPN’s Abigail Lorge can kick rocks. The U.S Open is old news, she needs to move the hell on. It’s disgusting to see how some in the media and the blogosphere want to see people suffer.

Ugh!

news around the court

• American standout Sam Querry is out for the season after a freak accident in Bangkok, Thailand. Querry was sitting on a glass table and suddenly fell through it, severely cutting his arm.
• Roger Federer is out of the Tokyo Open and the Shanghai Masters. Speculation is that he is having issues with his back, but Federer did not confirm anything in his official withdrawal statement. It’s not known at this time whether or not he will play in the season end championships in London.
• Rafael Nadal after pulling out of the Thailand Open, resumed training this week and hopes to compete in Shanghai. He’s stated that his stomach injury is almost completely healed but he has had to change his service motion in order not to re-aggravate the injury.
• Richard Gasquet received the best news possible. The defamation suit filed against him by “Pamela” has been dismissed and she has been ordered into rehab. Well, well, well.
• Seems like the controversy surrounding Serena Williams’ loss at the U.S. Open hasn’t hurt her as much as the chattering masses thought it would (ha!). She just signed a huge deal with Tampax and will be featured in a new campaign. Can’t say much about the source of the money, but I’m not mad at Miss Serena for getting that cheddar.
• Meanwhile, her sister Venus was one of many seeds to fall in Tokyo this week. A whole bunch of top players bowing out in a meaningless but mandatory tournament is no longer headline news. Really, it’s not.
• Some other Belgium player has announced her comeback . Yawn.
• Kimiko Date-Krumm, aged 38 just won a tournament last Sunday. Hooray for the 30 something chicks!