Tennis Hooligans

I think nationalism is one of the things, if not the thing, that makes international competition so great. It's an appreciation and respect and love for your roots and your background and a badge to be worn proudly. In the tennis world, it is definitely prevelant, particularly down under in Melbourne. But tennis hooligans? I suppose the ingredients for this unprecedented flare up were there (Serb vs Croat, passionate fan base for each, Australia home to many Slavic immigrants), but tennis and it's fans have generally always been associated with well-mannered nobility (on-court antics of McEnroe, insane tirade by Jeff Tarango, and murderous tendancies by Gunther Partch or however you spell that insane German's name, aside). I'd call this a black eye for tennis, but it really seems as though tennis had nothing to do with it. Hopefully, this brawl can be categorized as nothing more than a stray bizarre incident. I don't expect repeat occurrences as there are in soccer because, by nature, a fan cannot join a following for one particular tennis player in a way that allows for sectarian groups of fans, mobilized for ulterior causes, the way a soccer team (or basketball or football, whatever) can. My point is that it's easier to slip into the collective and maintain anonymity (something essential to hooliganism) when hiding behind a team badge than it is to put yourself out there as the guys who run riot in the name of Ilia Bozoljac or Marin Cilic. At any rate, strange and unfortunate happenings down in Melbourne. Still looking forward to all the great tennis to come.

Some damn good football, this past weekend

Three good games and one impressive defensive showing from Indy. No one expected another Manning v Brady showdown in the playoffs and yet, strangely, it feels so right.

And the legacy of Marty Chokenheimer continues...

Actually, in all fairness, I'm not convinced that this loss to New England should really go against Marty outright. Yes, the Chargers were the favorite to win the Superbowl and sport two of the most dominant players in the game (the MVP and the cheating 'roid freak), but the Patriots weren't exactly a two-touchdown underdog. As a favorite, going up against Belichick and Brady in the playoffs quickly equalizes the playing field. The story of the game was turnovers. The Chargers were tops at retaining the football during the regular season, but Philip Rivers & co. had serious issues keeping possession yesterday. Give Brady an inch and he'll take a mile. I bet Reche Caldwell is feeling pretty damn good, this morning, after smoking his former team and knocking them out of the playoffs.

News Flash! Rex Grossman played a pretty solid game against Seattle! His lone interception wasn't even his fault. And yet in spite of that, the Bears have to feel incredibly lucky that they survived a mediocre Seahawks team, what with Shaun Alexander riding roughshot over them all game -- particularly in the 4th quarter. But in the end, it was Seattle's inability to take advantage of a handful of opportunities that could've won the game for them. Tommie Harris' absence was all too apparent and it looks like the Saints will be able to exploit Chicago's run defense at will.

Deuce McAllister, man. What a beast. Give the man his due, he was amazing on Saturday. The Eagles made it interesting and, still, no one knows why Andy Reid didn't decide to go for it on 4th and 15 when he just tried to go for it on 4th and 10. Look, if you're banking on your defense to get the ball back with barely a minute to play, why not bank on them from your own 39 after taking a crack at keeping possession, rather than punting the ball away only to see the clock run out on a series of kneels? Iggles fan be pissed, yo.

Colts v Ravens wasn't exactly exciting, but I have to say that Indy turned me around by way of their pimp-slapping dominance over Baltimore's offense. This one more so than Kansas City (whose gameplan was flawed from the first snap) caught my attention. I had the Ravens winning the Superbowl. Does this mean I need to go back to my preseason pick of New England? Maybe. But the Colts are rolling and, oh by the way, unbeaten at home this season. Should be a special game on Sunday.

Couple of non-NFL tidbit...

Absolutely gutting loss for the Wildcats last night. There was so much riding on this game and it really had to be considered a "must-win" because A) it was a conference game at home and B) Oregon is one of your two main threats for the Pac 10 title (Speaking of which, UCLA -- even without Josh Shipp -- was able to nick USC by one on Saturday. Yo!). Oregon was bolstered by the return of Malik Hairston and that squad at full strength is a scary proposition. This one hurts double due to the fact that Eugene is such a difficult place for road teams to pull a win out of -- something that must be done in the return game. Now 2-2 in their last four games, Arizona's metal will be put to the test this week when they're away to USC and UCLA. Pulling out even just one victory will keep them alive for the conference title. A sweep would put them back in pole position. Coming away with two defeats could be devastating and have us playing for 2nd or 3rd in the Pac 10.

The Australian Open is now underway. I should be able to watch a pretty fair amount of 2nd week action and am looking forward to seeing more of Federer. A possible rematch with Marco Baghdatis would be excellent, even if it's only half as good as last year's final. It'd be nice to see if Roddick can maintain his strong form from the US Open and is this finally the tournament where James Blake makes a statement? We shall see.

Finally, your David Beckham fix. Seems that Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is upset with Beckham's choice to leave the club and backs coach Fabio Capello's position of not playing Becks for the rest of the season. That decision to bench Beckham for the year, made a day after Beckham signed with the Galaxy, it driven purely by spite. Yes, Capello had never been a fan of Beckham's to begin with and has only played him sparingly this season, but Capello has been at the forefront, ever since taking over the team, pushing for Beckham's departure from Real. Not to sound like an apologist, but I'm sure if Becks knew he'd never see game action for the rest of his current (set to expire on June 30th), he probably wouldn't have chosen to honor it. But my gripe, here, is with Calderon. He who has cycled through managing directors and coaches at Real Madrid like they were toilet papers. I believe six men have been in charge of the side since Beckham joined in 2003. You're telling me that Calderon has a beef with Beckham's loyalty?!? He's having a laugh.