Serena Still the Queen

Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka just finished an epic 3-match final for the U.S. Open Womens's Title.   This match pitted the best Women's player in the world (Serena) against the No.1 ranked women's tennis player.  And it was a dusy!!  They traded the first two matches 2-6 and 6-2.
The third match started out with the two champions exchanging breaks leaving them tied at 2-2.  Azarenka broke back and went up 5-3 and things looked bleak for Serena.  And suddenly Serena came to life!  She held her serve and broke Azarenka to tie it up 5-5 with a 15-40 point.

By this time Serena had that determined look on her face that we have all come to know.  In one of the best points of the match, Serena hit a huge forehand that Azarenka  barely got her racket on.
Vintage Serena; three points down and back in the match at 5-6 Serena.  It was Azarenka's serve to tie up the match and send the match to a tiebreaker.

The final point was tied 30-30 with a forehand that Azarenka couldn't get to.  And suddenly it was match point.  They traded volleys and Azarenko hit a volley long.  And suddenly it was match point, Serena Williams!  Championship Point! Azarenko hits long!  Serena is once again Queen of New York!

Serena became a 4-time U.S. Open champion first time beating Martina Hingis in 1999.   Congratulations to Serena Williams for being a great champion and a grand ambassador for the United States and Congratulations to Victoria Azarenko for being a worthy opponent.  

UCLA Basketball Program In Trouble?

 

 Say it isn't so.  After so many disappointing years and the Wooden era seemingly a mirage, the UCLA basketball program hoped to reverse the trend with a blue-chip recruiting class.

UCLA went out and recruited four of the best high school players in the world which included   Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson.  Make no mistake, their is tremendous pressure to put UCLA back on the sports map after years of mediocrity.  Ben Howland's job may depend on it.
Practice is scheduled to begin in early October and the prize recruits are still awaiting official clearance.

The ongoing investigation into their eligibility has added fuel to Internet speculation that UCLA must have cheated to attract such talented athletes.

"I'm sorry people feel that way," Coach Ben Howland said. "It's unfortunate and unfair to our players … these are all really good kids."

UCLA issued a statement last week, saying it was working "closely with the [NCAA] to establish the facts and circumstances for a fair and thorough review."

 Muhammad has faced the greatest scrutiny. Investigators want to know about money he allegedly received from Benjamin Lincoln, who is associated with his high school, to help pay for unofficial visits to Duke and North Carolina.

Officials are also looking at Ken Kavanagh, a New York financial planner who partially funded the summer team Muhammad played for in his hometown of Las Vegas.

Muhammad's family has said both men were long-time friends, and thus permitted under NCAA rules to give financial aid. Muhammad has said he expects to be cleared.

The Anderson investigation involves a reported relationship with Thad Foucher, an agent who works with Arn Tellem at the Wasserman Media Group. That company is headed by well-known UCLA alumnus and benefactor Casey Wasserman.

Anderson and Foucher could not be reached for comment and Wasserman declined comment. The NCAA does not discuss ongoing investigations.

As a precaution, UCLA did not take Muhammad on a recent trip to play exhibition games in China. The team did take Anderson, who recorded double-doubles in two of the three games.

Anderson's eligibility is expected to be confirmed soon, according to a person close to the situation who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the university or the player.

While university officials have remained largely quiet on the subject, their recent statement decried "misleading and inaccurate public reports".

"UCLA will not, and cannot, endanger the privacy of our student-athletes or the confidentiality of the process by providing a more specific response at this time to these reports," the statement said.

The Bruins were coming off a 19-14 season in which they failed to reach the NCAA tournament. Howland had suffered the additional embarrassment of a Sports Illustrated article that chronicled player misbehavior and questioned whether he had lost control of the team.

Can Cowboys' New Offensive Line Protect Tony Romo vs. Giants?

from The Associated Press / Dallas Morning News 
Mackenzy Bernadeau and Nate Livings, the veteran guards added by the Dallas Cowboys, played in only one preseason game together. That wasn't with starting center Phil Costa.

And the starting tackles, Tyron Smith and Doug Free, have switched sides since last season.

So after the Cowboys revamped their offensive line during the offseason, including new position coach Bill Callahan, the first time the group will play together protecting Tony Romo will be in the NFL's kickoff game Wednesday night.

And that will be against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants and their standout defensive front of Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora.
"They're very disruptive, and they just have a lot of guys they can throw at you with the great bursts, great energy," Romo said. "They do some different things with their technique that really allow them to disrupt offenses. And without getting into detail, I think that can provide you with some difficult situations, and so we just have to do some different things to help that."

On top of their line changes, the Cowboys were still uncertain of the status of tight end Jason Witten (lacerated spleen). The seven-time Pro Bowler again had limited participation in practice Monday, three weeks after he got hurt in the preseason opener and a day before a CT scan that will determine if his spleen has healed enough to be cleared to play.

Livings, who came from Cincinnati, said the linemen haven't focused on the time they missed because of various injuries, but rather on the time they've had together. And he described that as awesome.

"Whether it's five, 10 minutes, 15 hours, the time we have together is the time we have together. You can't look on the time we are not together," Livings said. "It's just about getting out there, focusing on what we got and getting the job done."

One of the offseason goals for the Cowboys was to add some experienced bulk in the middle of the line. They gave multiyear contracts to free agents Livings and Bernadeau, both listed at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds and going into their fifth NFL season.

But Bernadeau missed the entire offseason and the start of training camp after hip and knee surgeries. Then Livings suffered a hamstring injury in camp.

"We signed these guys for a reason," coach Jason Garrett said. "When they've been healthy, they've done a real nice job for us. It's our good fortune, they've been healthy the last couple of weeks. ... We're excited to see them play together against a really, really formidable defensive line the Giants have."

As for the tackles, Smith moved to the left as Romo's blind-side protector after starting all 16 games as a 20-year-old rookie on the right side, where Doug Free returned.
While Costa is the only line starter in the same spot as last season, the Cowboys went into camp with every intention of giving the 16-game starter competition for the job. But Bill Nagy and Kevin Kowalski both sustained ankle injuries, ensuring Costa kept the job even after being sidelined himself.

Costa was the only expected starter on the entire roster to play in the preseason finale Wednesday against St. Louis. He got 12 snaps after missing the first three preseason games and time in camp because of back stiffness.

"We are just happy to have Phil back and to have everybody getting the reps now with one another. ... We are at least taking advantage of all the reps we are now getting," said Bernadeau, who came to the Cowboys from Carolina. "We are just focused now on protecting Romo, improving our running game. It all just comes with reps. Communication is the key. Phil does a great job of leading the line. We are getting better every day."

But there were only a few days for them to be together on the field for practice.
The next time they put the pads on will be for that unprecedented midweek opener, a game preceded by the Giants marking their second Super Bowl championship in five years. It will be the Cowboys' first game since their season-ending 31-14 loss at MetLife Stadium on New Year's Day that clinched the NFC East title and league's last playoff spot for the Giants.

"We got a lot of stuff going on trying to figure out what kind of looks we're going to get," said Tuck, one of the Giants' ends. "Some of the guys we know very well. Some of the guys we don't know at all. For the most part it's going to come down to playing our keys throughout the game, make sure we play everything straight up and trying to get a feel for them early in the football game."

THE TROJANS ARE FOR REAL

Saturday was just a perfect day for a football game.  And the Trojans made sure the day remained perfect with a resounding 49-10 victory over the visitors from the University of Hawaii.  On their first play from scrimmage of the season, Marqise Lee took a short pass from Matt Barkley, juked and faked several defenders out of the their cleats and turned it into a 75-yard touchdown.  Lee also had a 100-yard kickoff return.  USC's victory over Hawaii on Saturday was the first step in what the Trojans hope will end with a shot to play for a national championship.

You would think that nothing could spoil such a perfect day.  Think again.  Hours before the Trojans took the field Saturday, the L.A. Times reported that former Los Angeles County Assessor's employee Scott Schenter has admitted giving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo to former Trojans running back Joe McKnight during the 2009 season.  The outcome of this game was never in doubt but the season is in doubt because of these latest allegations.  Will these new revelations prevent USC from playing in the championship game.  Considering the snail's pace that the NCAA moves at, it is not inconceivable these allegations could affect the championship game.

The good news for the Trojans is that the NCAA might consider it unseemly to level another stiff penalty on a program  for something that happened before it was punished, torn down and rebuilt by the new A.D., Pat Haden.  Remember, the Trojans are coming off of stiff penalties as a result of infractions that occurred when Reggie Bush was a Trojan.

"Just one move,' said Lee, humbly after what seemed like a dozen moves to complete his 75-yard touchdown reception for the first score.  The first hit of the 2012 season?  The first unleashing of two years of Trojans frustration?  Redshirt freshman SomaVainuku knocked the hell out the Hawaii kick returner causing a fumble that Hawaii recovered.

This was the 2012 debut of Matt Barkley in his quest for the Heisman Trophy, and he didn't disappoint, with 372 yards passing, four touchdowns and no interceptions.  But lots of folks were mesmerized by Lee, who thrilled the crowd by returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, giving him 297 total yards.

When the polls come out Monday,  USC should remain No. 1.  Stay tuned for next Saturday when USC continues its quest for a national championship with a visit to Syracruse in the East.

WHERE IS YOUR MAN?

Now that the football season has officially kicked-off you ladies out there shouldn't have to ask that question.   Your man should be sitting in front of that flat screen TV watching the game.  College football had a couple games on tonight, a few more Friday night, and a full slate beginning Saturday September 1st at 9 in the morning until 9 at night.  Pro football kicks off this Wednesday September 5th with a season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and last season's NFL champs, the New York Giants. (Check back in for my preview of that game in a few days).

By my calculations you should be able to watch a football game every day of the week except Tuesday and Wednesday.  And it will be like that until Super Bowl in February.

What does this mean to the average household?  It means you ladies might as well throw that 'honey do' list out the window.   That flower garden that needs weeding won't get weeded.  The trash won't get taken out until the last minute.  The garage sale won't happen. The car won't get washed until it turns into a dust bowl.

As dad sits in front of the television for countless hours, only moving robot-like to the refrigerator to get a drink or more dip for the giant bag of potato chips sitting on the coffee table,  the kids will complain that dad has a 'football headache'  and maybe he needs to go to the hospital!

So there is something you can do.  You can accept the fact that your man won't be available for a few months and you can get interested in football and vegetate with him.  And while you are vegetating,  keep those rollers in your hair and that old robe on.  Maybe that will get some action out of him.   Maybe he will get up and do something!

HE WAS THE GREATEST

It was the fall of 1963 and I was a senior at Central High School in Detroit Michigan.  Football practice was just about over and I was happy for that.  There were more important things in life right now:  Like catching a glimpse of the Greatest of All Time: Muhammad Ali.

The school was abuzz with the rumor that Ali was paying a visit to the Muslim Temple No. 1 which was located directly across the street from Central on Linwood Avenue.  Everybody knew who Ali was; he had fought hometown favorite Sonny Banks in 1962 and was knocked down for the first  by Sonny.  Ali came back and was awarded a TKO over Sonny in the fourth round.  But that is not what made Ali the greatest.

Ali was outrageous.  He recited poetry, he predicted the round he was going to knock out his opponent.  He floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.  But most importantly,  the message he sent to Black People was that it as okay to speak about what was on your mind.  It was okay to be different.  It was okay to be a man and speak about what was right and what was wrong.  He told us it was okay to be yourself.

But that's not why I wanted to see Ali.  Ali needed to know there was a challenger right in our midst.  My football coach,  Corky Foster said he could best Ali in arm wrestling.  Corky was a short powerful man with large forearms.  Could he beat Ali??  Suddenly there was an entourage of cars traveling down Linwood stopping in front of the Temple.   A crowd had gathered and all of a sudden there he was!  Being the showman that he was when hearing of the challenge Ali asked,  "Where is he?  I'll Kill him!!"  Ali struggled  briefly with his body guards, winked at the crowd and went into the Temple.  There would no arm wrestling today.

That's how I will always remember Ali:  that brash young man that played to the crowd who always spoke his mind.

KAREEM IS RETURNING TO STAPLES

I remember when the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul Jabbar in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.  The morning after the trade I was awakened by a radio announcer with "Wake up everybody and put some Kareem in your coffee!"  They then got Magic Johnson in the 1979 draft and a dynasty was born.  The first game of the season was against the San Diego Clippers and was on tape delay.  In other words the game was broadcast after the news and other programming had played out.  These were the days before basketball had multi-million dollar network contracts.  The game was a tight one and was won by Kareem with a sky-hook in the final seconds.

Magic leaped into Kareem's arms as if they had won the world championship.   Kareem looked at Magic as if he wanted to say, "Long season rookie; relax!"

Kareem is getting his statue at Staples Center this season.  I don't think it's overdue but just in time. After all,  I don't believe anybody doesn't believe that Jerry West, the mastermind of the 80's dynasty, and Magic Johnson, the general of Showtime, shouldn't have statues at the Staples Center.  I am sure that the Lakers had every intention of statuing Kareem.  Nobody doubts that Kareem is the greatest center of all-time, especially the Lakers.  No slight was intended.  Sometimes Kareem can come off as aloof or distant and some may interpret that to not caring.  I think the big fella is a little shy and maybe passive aggressive.

Kareem will always be part of the Laker family.  I think it is up to him to let the Lakers know what role he would like to play.  After all, he was the greatest....................