glory hunting in sports

i shouldn't really have clicked on discussion pages featuring who's the greatest tennis player ever. it's going to be federer before his career is done. that coming from a sampras fan is a huge acquiescence. the french open final on sunday highlighted the weaknesses of the serve and volley technique in beating one rafael nadal on the red clay of roland garros. against davydenko, federer was so poised and composed, relying on his usual intimidating groundstrokes. two days later, those masterful tennis motions were incapacitated by splendid baseline dynamics. under the intense heat of a paris summer, nadal was stronger in the rallies.

unlike the slickness of grass, claycourt tennis is not for the feeble and timid. that was why sampras capitulated. he couldn't survive the dirt in the heat even against super unknowns. plus he was used to serve and volleying in all the other surfaces that he forgot to adapt his game to clay. barring fatigue or injury or a rejuvenated marat safin or an awakened eastern european from the balkan state (ancic, karlovic, djokovic et al), the swiss champion would have an easier time at the fabled SW19 (si.com photo).

would it be considered glory hunting if one tend to cheer on lewis hamilton in F1 racing? he's a 22 year old rookie who leads his teammate by eight points. he comes from a working class family, a departure from Jenson Button who more or less can brag of better connections in the racing circuit. he's more likable than either Alonzo or Raikkonen. likable, though, is a subjective term.

submitting meekly in the darts in the other channel and in the same time slot as the tennis, was phil taylor to raymund van barneveld, 11-4. rivalries, rivalries. i didn't check the results of the world table tennis championships before watching the match. through the wonders of tv recording, i creeped through the men's match more than a week later, wang liqin was down and out before ripping forehands on the table and shocked the perpetually animated ma lin in the men's event. there's a new champion in the women's side, still chinese and only 18, guo yue. zhang yining, who lost in the semis, is still number one.

although i haven't seen a single nba match this year, i would have to skip game 3 of the series and try to record game 4 or wake up in the wee hours to watch the game live. only four years since his draft and all the hype, lebron james is in the final. it took MJ seven but after that he didn't look back (nba.com photo).