When I began paying attention, Petra Cetkovska, No. 149 in the world, was leading Caroline Wozniacki, No. 5 in the world, 6-4, 4-1 at the U.S. Open. Wozniacki battled back to win a second set tiebreak, and then led 6-5 and 40-15 in the third set. It looked as if the gold standard would prevail.
But Cetkovska, 30 years old, battled back. She held off four match points to force a tiebreak, which she handily won 7-1. Last September the Czech was having hip surgery and she was bounced from both the French Open and Wimbledon in the opening round. How far she will advance in Flushing, who knows, but she just kicked out the No. 4 seed with the biggest win of her career.
2. Is There a Scrappy Wright?
Wright’s injury meant there was less ice for margaritas at Dirtbags
Last year’s Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Scooby Wright, incurred a boo boo on his left knee during Arizona’s opener versus UTSA in Tucson. The Wildcats still won, 42-32, and Wright is scheduled to have an MRI today. As the Mystery Machine rolls on….
Don’t those crazy kids believe in seat belts?
3. A Work in Progress
Harbaugh (khaki pants) and his players (white pants) take the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium
Michigan under Jim Harbaugh is going to be good. Very good. You should already be salivating for their 2017 home game versus Ohio State. It’s just that, well, it’s not going to happen overnight.
And certainly not last night. Wolverine QB Jake Rudock threw three picks, one of which was returned for a touchdown, in a 24-17 loss to a solid Utah squad in Salt Lake City. Tight end Jake Butt (8 catches, 1 TD) has All-American potential as does DB Jabril Peppers, and yes you are welcome to say, “Butt Peppers” as often as you please.
The Butt does not stop here….
My major complaint with last night’s Michigan team? The uniforms. You have arguably the best uniforms in college football. Don’t mess with it. Bring back the Maize trou.
4. All Is Not Lost
Sandra Tsiligeridu is apparently a model.. Which one is she, though?
Every crisis is accompanied by tragedy and also tales of salvation. Yesterday, there was the sad photo of the toddler who had drowned and washed up on the beach on the island of Kos. Today, a group of tourists on a boating excursion off Kos discovered this Syrian refugee bobbing in the waves, desperately hanging on to a life jacket. They saved him.
Of course, the CNN hed was “Model Rescues Man Lost at Sea.” For me, modeling should be like pro tennis or golf. If you’re not ranked in the Top 200, I don’t think you get to use that as your title, at least not in major news stories.
5. Oh, Wait. Actually, All IS Lost
Lonnie Robinson, a reporter at the The Daily Reporter(you probably already have it Bookmarked) in Goldwater, Michigan, predicts a September 24 end date for the planet. So I won’t be going to see Notre Dame at Clemson, after all. Bummer.
I’m not sure if that story has any more or less credence than this one from The Onion, which I also enjoyed.
Music 101
Why Should I Cry For You?
Is this the best post-Police song that Gordon Sumner gave the world? I think so. Your dissenting opinion is welcome.
Remote Patrol
Texas at Notre Dame
NBC 7:30 p.m.
Johnathan Gray. Notre Dame fans will know his name tomorrow night.
No, do NOT shake down the thunder from the skies. T-storms predicted for tomorrow night’s opener between the 2nd- and 3rd-winningest (in terms of total victories) programs in college football lore. The last time Notre Dame had a home opener versus a bovine opponent interrupted by a T-storm, they lost.
Avowed: In our next life we are all coming back as Tom Brady. Judge Richard Berman overturns Roger Goodell’s four-game suspension and Brady will start next Thursday night in the season opener versus Pittsburgh.
Tom denied everything from the start, figuring (correctly) that it was more valuable to play in the Super Bowl and win and let the punitive chips fall where they may than it was to potentially miss the Big Game. He gambled, he won, and then he still got off scot-free. Was there malfeasance and, minimal as it may have been, was he involved? I believe so. Did the NFL actually prove it? No.
The Pats still lose $1 million and two draft picks. As if they care.
2. Where There’s a Wool….*
This is shear madness
…there’s a weigh. This is Chris the sheep, who was found outside Canberra, Australia, and just lost 89 pounds of wool thanks to a kindly shearer by the name of Ian Elkins. If you’ve ever worn an Irish cable sweater on a 90-degree day, you have a tiny idea of what it felt like to be Chris. Released of his fleece, he feels relief.
“Coming up next on ‘Extreme Animal Makeover’….”
*The judges will also accept “Baa Baa, Fat Sheep” and “Ewe Won’t Believe How Large This Sheep Is” and “It Could Be Just About Anything In Sheep’s Clothing”
3. ISIS at Work
This is Aylan Kurdi, one of 12 Syrian refugees (five were children) who drowned when their boat sank before reaching the Greek island of Kos. ISIS is everyone’s problem. And sometimes it takes photos like this one, of a little three year-old boy, to remind people that there are monsters in the world and that they are currently occupying Aylan’s country.
Also, before you start blaming Hungary or Germany for being unsympathetic, ask yourself why hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees aren’t fleeing to Muslim nations that are closer to home — and don’t involve a sea voyage.
4. “Off With His Head!”
I go to SI.com, I see a headline of “Why Roger Goodell Has To Go.” Charlie Pierce said the same thing in Grantland. Steve Politi called for the head of Kyle Flood, the coach of Rutgers, today. When did everyone in sportswriting become young Jon Arryn (I throw that bone out for you Game of Thrones readers), “I want to see him FLY!”
“Off with his head!” is not a universal answer to the world’s problems. And my experience is that most scribes know — and understand — less about what’s going on inside a big operation than the people running it.
Fire someone for corruption? Sure. For a criminal act, or sexual harassment, etc? Sure. But if sportswriters held themselves to the same standard they are holding Roger Goodell, for example, there’d be even more of us unemployed.
5. County Antrim
The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
I saw a photo of this rope bridge on a travel site and thought, So that’s why Game of Thrones does so much of its filming in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Cool spot (I still have a softer spot in my heart for Scottish Highlands, but they’re both gorgeous).
Remote Patrol
Michigan at Utah
FS 1 8:30 p.m.
The David Puddy of coaching, Jim Harbaugh, returns to his old school
What are you still doing here?!? Go turn on the game!!!!
The search for intelligence on late-night television is finally over
1. Wake Me Up When September Begins
September 3: First FBS college football game of the season, as the Khaki and Blue of Michigan visit Utah.
September 5: Texas (881) at Notre Dame (882)
September 7: Scott Van Pelt launches new Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil SportsCenter.
September 8: Stephen Colbert makes his debut as host of The Late Show. Excellent profile of the South Carolina native last month in GQ, in which he talks about loss and faith and says, “I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.” If only the show has the sizzling magic of Only in Monroe…
–Also on Sept. 8, Colin Cowherd’s Fox Sports 1 show makes its debut. Now that was a quickie divorce, wasn’t it? You can tell he’s divorced, by the way, from the dye job in his hair.
2. Josh RosenRosen
Rosen(rosen). Are you sure he’s Jewish (Heyyyy, what’s that supposed to mean?)
So, the UCLA quarterback. A true freshman from the shangri-la-esque community of Manhattan Beach, Calif. A Jewish lad who played at a Catholic high school (though, as he has said, “I’m kinda an atheist”).
Mom attended Princeton (was a classmate of both David Duchovny and Michael Lewis). A descendant of Joseph Wharton, as in Penn’s Wharton School. Dad attended Penn and is now a renowned spinal surgeon (THE Dr. RosenRosen!) and was on a short list a few years ago to be POTUS’ Surgeon General. The parents were national ice dancing champions before they wed.
Dr. Rosenrosen. Can you tell him where the records room is?
Interesting kid, interesting family. Can you imagine a UCLA football parents’ gathering if Cordell Broadus had stayed? P. Diddy, Snoop and Dr. RosenRosen?
3.Nick at Night
It isn’t that it’s past Nick Kyrgios’ bed time. It’s just that he’s a little bored by five-set matches, too.
Aussie tennis player — and infamous on-court gossip — Nick Kyrgios says, “No, mate, you keep that Five-Hour Energy drink for yourself” as he power naps during a changeover at the U.S. Open (not to be confused with a Chang-over, for when a certain Asian-American tennis player competed in Flushing). Kyrgios, 20, lost to Andy Murray in four sets and then went back to sleep
4. Railroaded*
And the script for Hostel 3 writes itself just like that
*The judges will also accept “You DO Have To Live Like a Refugee”
A couple of thousand migrants/refugees are being detained outside of Budapest’s Keleti station and are being prevented from boarding trains bound to other parts of Europe. Most of them are Syrians, but local officials are trying to figure out how to handle this influx of humans from ISIS-ravaged areas of the Middle East.
In related news, Donald Trump is leading in the polls to become Hungary’s next president.
5. Wipeout
Was this the heaviest wipeout in surf history? Aussie surf mag Liquify thinks so
I honestly don’t understand surfers. And I mean that in an awestruck way, not in a condescending way (for once). That’s Niccolo Porcella, who on July 22nd in Tahiti caught this wave — and then it caught him. Here’s the video.
Not only did Porcella survive this wipeout, but he got right back on his board and sought out the next set. I really need to watch Point Break again and soon.
Music 101
Life In a Northern Town
No one gets more One-Hit Wonder-ish in the 1980s than The Dream Academy, but what a fantastic and unusual and visual song this “dream pop” trio gave us. The band, two men and one woman — touring must have been interesting — formed in London and their debut album was produced, in part, by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. This song rose to No. 7 on the Billboard chart in 1985.
Remote Patrol
U.S. Open
1 p.m. —> ?
Serena is vying to become the first calendar Grand Slam gal since Steffi Graf in 1988. We dare you to get in her way.
No. 1 seeds Serena Williams (3:30 p.m.) and Novak Djokovic (9 p.m.) all take the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium today. I’l be watching with Nick Kyrgios.
Beano Cook was born 84 years ago today. As game week is here, it feels right to remember him….
Starting Five
Remembering you left your phone charger back at the hotel. Damn!
1. The Daily Harrumph: League of Denali*
*The judges will also accept “Fit of Peak”
So, are POTUS’ opponents making a mountain out of a molehill (that, as you can see above, is clearly not a mole hill), or is he simply trolling FOX News to new, um, heights by renaming America’s tallest mountain Denali (it does happen to sit in Denali National Park) and relieving it of its former name, Mount McKinley?
And, oh God, what does Sarah Palin think of all this?
McKinley: “Well, it IS good go to be in the news again, but I’m the second guy over 50 to have his photo in MH today and we aren’t even to the 2nd item yet. What gives?”
Well, here’s all that I know: this week POTUS will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Arctic in hopes of showing those of us overly concerned with our Fantasy drafts and whom Taylor Swift will next invite on stage that climate change is very real. As a nod toward that, he’s formally changing the name of the 20,230-foot peak to Denali, the indigenous Athabascan name that most Alaskans have long called it, and away from the name of the third U.S. president to be assassinated.
I’m sure all the usual people will find a reason to decry this move (Obama hates white people), and all the other usual people will find a reason to substantiate it (this is the name Alaskans have long called it). There’s nothing like hearing a bunch of folks who’ve never been somewhere and have no intention of ever going argue about what that place’s name should be.
2. Van-tastic*
Precious Time may be slipping away, but (Cara) Van knows how to enjoy it….
*The judges will also accept anything better you can throw at them
To celebrate his 70th birthday, Van Morrison came home. To Belfast. He played two shows on Cyprus Avenue, the street he immortalized in song on his 1968 classic album, Astral Weeks. See, that’s the big difference between Morrison and his Irish counterpart, Bono. His streets DO have names.
Bono signaling how many billion he would like to be worth….
Speaking of Bono, it was announced that he is now a billionaire and the world’s richest pop star (What about Dr. Dre? Or is he not “pop”?). Six years ago Bono’s investment group — yes, you read that correctly —Elevation Partners, purchased a 2.3% share of Facebook for $86 million. Its current valuation is $1.5 billion (he is more than Dublin down on that bet),
Facebook has made Bono more scratch in the past six years than all of U2’s album sales and touring have in 35-plus years. If he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for, it’s only because he’s searching in all the wrong places.
3. Reaper Concussions*
Wait a second… Is THIS the film we’re talking about?
*The judges will not accept League of Denial or League of Denali
The movie Concussion will be released on Christmas day. Sports Illustrated had EXCLUSIVE footage of the trailer for at least three hours yesterday (a moratorium that I’m not sure other websites even honored but, hey, ask forgiveness not permission, right?).
I don’t think that this is a scene from the movie, either. I could be wrong. I often am.
The NFL reminds me a lot of Lucky Strike in 1960. It knows its brand is wildly popular even though it also brings about an earlier grave for far too many who play it. Roger Goodell needs to just walk into that pitch meeting with Sterling Cooper and hear someone tell them to stop denying it or apologizing for it. “The NFL: It’s Toasted!”
People still smoke. And people will continue to play football (just like people continue to sit in the upper deck of Turner Field, even though that can also be dangerous).
4. Zibby
I’ve attended many games at Notre Dame Stadium. It was never louder there than at this moment, Zibby’s punt return. The play that showed Notre Dame could compete with USC’s naut of jugger.
A tremendous read on former Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski by Mike Vorel of the South Bend Tribune. A couple of personal memories: on my first trip to Notre Dame as an employee of NBC Sports, during the summer of 2006, I was asked to bring along a younger colleague (a good guy, he’d worked with me at SI on Campus).
So, we have somewhat unfettered access to ND players as we are NBC, and this is also Brian Hardin’s first summer as the football SID. And so I am off interviewing Darius Walker and the younger guy is talking to Zibby. And his first few questions are all about what bars Zibby visits during the summer in South Bend. And suddenly there’s a commotion and I think if it weren’t a media member, boxer Zibby would have KO’d him.
Instead, Hardin intervened, I tried to play diplomat, and it was all very awkward for awhile. Thinking back, my colleague had probed a point that even he didn’t know how sensitive Zibby was about it.
Zibby was perhaps not the most gifted player of the Charlie Weis era (Kyle Rudolph? Michael Floyd?), but he’s probably the favorite. Plays such as this helped. And I like what Jason McIntyre added here.
Another friend, Tim Ring, did some research this week and came up with this stat. Tom Zbikowski, 7 career touchdowns in college (two each at least by fumble, INT, and punt return). Charles Woodson, 1997 Heisman winner, 4 career TDS.
Zibby, by the way, should have had 8. His best TD came on an interception return-double lateral right before halftime versus Stanford in 2007 (when both programs were crap), but I believe Trevor Laws was penalized for a personal foul trailing the play. The Pac-12 refs that day, man were they crap.
5. Grange Award!!!
Grange, a former Illini, on Tim Beckman: “What an a-hole.”
Finally, we know you’ve been waiting….here’s our Red Grange Award Watch List. Are you ready? Are you seated? Our Watch List is….EVERYBODY. You should watch every college football player, or at least consider all of them potential winners at this stage. But here are five of my favorites:
1. Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
2. Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State (yes, I realize he is not playing at Va. Tech).
3. Trevon Boykin, QB, TCU (honestly, I don’t think he’ll win, but everyone else does, and I’m weak and a follower, as you all know)
For this year’s Grange Award, I’m Chubb-thumping…
4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State (but will he still be as good having to wear a full jersey?)
5. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford (America loves a great white hope RB and Heisman voters love a guy who shines in a season finale versus Notre Dame).
Why not begin the greatest month of the year with a little Neil Diamond schmaltz? The 1979 mont peaked at No. 17 and became the Brooklyn native’s 30th Top 40 hit. Neil OWNED the 1970s.
Remote Patrol
Hollywood Game Night
NBC 10 p.m.
You only have so many precious minutes on this earth. Go ahead and spend 60 of them watching this heaping, flaming pile of crap (or almost anything else the networks currently air in prime time). I am beginning to think that a while ago the heads of programming at ABC, CBS and NBC made a bet amongst each other as to just how bored (and boring) Americans are and who could air the most inane, useless piece of garbage and still persuade people to watch.
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