Aside from the Superbowl on Sunday, there was also another final you probably missed. Another great match between Nadal and Federer, this time it was their first meeting in the Australian Open. This is arguably the greatest rivalry right now in sports. There are too many teams in the NBA right now with no real enmity for each other, even the Pistons and the Cavs seem friendly. The NFL has too much parity to make any substantial rivalry out of the Superbowl. The NHL is not on national tv so I have no idea what is going on there ( though I have become a closet red wings fan despite my years of hatred for the nhl and over the last few years I have even started watching games by myself), and golf has no real rivalry other than Tiger Woods vs. the rest of the field.
So it is with tennis that we can find the greatest rivalry of this decade. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been battling for years now. It couldn't have come at a greater time. I grew up idolizing Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. To this day it is one of my all time favorite rivalries in sport. So when Federer came along, he took away a number 1 that belonged to my boy, Andy Roddick, and blew him and all the other competition out of the water. The problem was that he was so much better than everybody else, he cruised to his first 10 majors. The record is 14 held by Sampras and Fed is right behind him with 13. Then a couple years ago along comes Rafa and beats him not once, but now the last times they have met over the past few years. Nadal is the only thing keeping Federer from getting to 14 and I love him for it. So on Sunday when Nadal beat him Federer, normally never showing his emotion, broke down. He cried like a baby. He couldn't even speak.
At first I felt bad. I mean I don't hate the guy, I just don't want him to break Sampras' record. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was being a b*tch. Really? You're crying? How many times do you see people cry during sports? A lot actually, but think about how many times you see people cry after losing. I can't think of any. People can be dejected after a loss, but you never see people cry like that. People can get angry, upset, hostile, they can be poor sports, whiners, gripers and sore losers, but you never see them cry. The closest that I can think of is Antonio Mcdyess getting so mad and upset after losing in the finals in 05 that he couldn't find the strength to shower after the game and went straight to the bus in his Pistons uni. Andy Roddick, who is my favorite tennis player, gets pissed when he loses. He used to throw rackets and yell, but now in his maturity, has learned to be gracious and try harder. He was so upset at losing last year in the U.S. Open (actually the first major match I had ever seen in person) that he fired his old coach, hired a new one, lost 15 pounds and is playing the best tennis I've seen him play in years. He still lost, to Federer, again, but he didn't cry. He didn't bitch. I can promise you he's going to try harder and work harder. I don't dislike Fed more for crying, but I certainly don't think of him the same way I used to. He needs to be a man and work harder if he wants to win.
Anyways, 3 days in and I'm still on pace for a blog a day this month. Go big or go home...
-M, p, z & shredder
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