Inside the Mind of Suz

A few days ago, I wrote about my hopes for American tennis player Donald Young as he opens competition at the French Open.

I really wanted him to advance to the 2nd round because his game and career needed that boost, desperately. Well, I regre to inform that he did not win his opening round match against fellow American Robby Ginepri. He did manage to win a set and force a tiebreak in another, but it wasn’t enough. Robby won 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

I can’t be too terribly hard on him because as a country, the US tennis contingent pretty much sucks on clay. And we’ve made progress from last year when no American men made it to the second round. This year, there are at least 3 because Wayne Odesnik also made it through the 1st round!

I look forward to Donald’s performance at Wimbledon and accompanying warm-up tourneys.
I hope he gets a couple of wins under his belt to get his confidence up.

Alas, there’s always next time, Donald! Keep on, keepin’ on!

I guess this was as close to the University of Oregon as he was going to get, huh?

I kid, I kid. Kind of…

Terrelle Pryor is the talk of C-Bus and Ohio State fans nationwide. If you haven’t heard of him I urge you to crawl out from underneath that rock you’ve been living under. Once you’re out, google him. He was the #1 overall football recruit in the country for the 2008 class and he’s all Buckeye, baby! The countdown is on as he will report to Columbus in 3 weeks.

Anyway, over the weekend there was this fancy schmancy Quarterback workshop in Santa Barbara called the “Steve Clarkson Super Seven QB Retreat”. (Read more) It brought out the top QBs in the nation for a weekend of workouts and classes. Joining him were other high profile recruits such as Dayne Crist, Matt Barkley, and Russell Shepard.

Snoop D-O-double-G was there with his son, Corde, who is going to play QB at Long Beach Poly this fall. Hopefully we’ll get to see this on Snoop’s reality tv show. And it better have been renewed, damnit!

Also present were UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel and NFL great Joe Montana. Sounds like a great weekend! I’m sure Buckeye Nation extends its thanks for making TP better than he already is.

Is it June 16th yet?

Video beneath the jump
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I’m so glad that another Grand Slam is upon us! The break between the Australian Open and the French Open is entirely too long! But now that it’s back, I’m in heaven!

My girl Serena Williams took care of business today. I hate when Americans have to play each other in the 1st round. It’s like “hey, let’s try to diminish the already low American competitors!” So she beat Ashley Harkleroad soundly (6-2, 6-1). Serena’s been looking GREAT this year. She’s looking more fit and playing with an increased aggression. If you’ve ever seen Serena play, you wouldn’t say that she lacks aggression, so for me to say that she’s turned it up means she’s making strides! Provided she doesn’t get injured — she had to withdraw from the Italian Open with a back injury a couple of weeks ago — I’m expecting Serena to make a run for the title. Serena’s achilles heel in grand slam events has been Justine Henin. Serena won’t have to worry about her this time around as Henin retired a couple of weeks ago. But before she did, Serena beat her at the Sony Ericsson Open. Ahhh, redemption!

So I’m looking for a strong showing from Serena. Americans don’t usually do well on clay, so I won’t be too terribly shocked if she doesn’t win, although she does have a French Open title (2002). And another thing; why aren’t there more clay courts in the US for our stars to practice on? It’s downright embarassing that they have to go overseas in order to get quality competition in on the surface! Anyway, I digress…

Maria Sharapova is the newly crowned #1 player thanks to the Henin retirement. She’s been playing well, so she should do well too. I’m also looking for Ana Ivanovic to make a splash.

Onto the men’s draw! I really, really, really, really want Novak Djokovic to win the French Open. I freakin’ love that guy! He’s such a great player and personality for the sport. I am constantly amazed by his drive and wonderful sense of humor.

But, at the same time, watching Roger Federer is nothing short of a treat. He always puts on a show. He’s that good! This is the slam that he hasn’t won and I’d really like to see him add a trophy from Roland Garros to his case. As much as it wasn’t as exciting watching Roger dominate tournament after tournament over the past few years, the same can be said about Rafael Nadals’ pwnage of the French Open. He has not lost a single match there! So I’m ready for someone not named Rafa to take the title! We shall see!

On the American side, just 1 win was needed to do better than that pathetic 2007 showing where they went 0-9. James Blake came through with a win today, so we’re already ahead! But I must say watching him sometimes frustrates me. Like today, he was up 2 sets, easily, and couldn’t put away his opponent despite being up 5-1 in the 3rd set. In addition, Donald Young is going to face Robby Ginepri, so another American is guaranteed a pass to the 2nd round. I like both Robby and Donald, but Donald needs the win desperately! He had so much hype moving up from the Junior circuit to the pros, but it hasn’t panned out. He brings a youthful energy to the game that the American men need. It’s not like anyone can count on Andy Roddick; who withdrew from the tournament citing a right shoulder injury. So yes, I’d really like to see Donald make some steps forward. In the next day or so, we will know if he’s made that step.

Guga is already out, as is Moya. My mother and I love watching them play, so we will miss the two of them this year.

Keep an eye on www.rolandgarros.com for all the latest!

Paul Hamm’s Olympic comeback bid came to a screeching halt this week as the 2004 All-Around Olympic Gold Medalist has a broken bone in his hand; an injury that occured during this weekend’s VISA National Championships

I always like Paul Hamm, aside from his freakishly high-pitched voice. Being that he attended OSU and still trains here, I hear about him a lot. To top it off, my brother used to see him around the Columbus bars a few years ago. Said he seemed like a nice guy.

In the events he has competed in since his return, he has done really well. If I’m not mistaken, he’s won all of them and solidified his spot as a front-runner to make the Olympic team. So this is a big deal. It’s now being reported that Paul will petition the US selection committee to place him on the team anyway. Speculation is that he will be 100% by the time competition gets underway in Beijing. I guess if I had to, I would compare this to the Michelle Kwan situation ahead of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. She did not compete at the Trials for figure skating, but was still placed on the team.

I hope that Paul’s surgery goes well, he recovers his strength, and is able to show the committee that he still can compete with the best of the world in Beijing. I’d really like to see him represent the USA again.

So, good luck and speedy recovery to you, Paul!

In other men’s gymnastics news, my alltime fave gymnast, Blaine Wilson has officially called it quits. This means he will not contest the Trials meet next month and will retire from the sport. Now he’s said it before, but I think it’s for real this time. He’s had a great career and represented his school, state, and country very well!

Blaine is a local guy. He went to my cousin’s high school DeSales here in Columbus. He’s also pretty darn cute! I’d say he was hot, but I cannot bring myself to say that about someone who is shorter than me. You must be taller than me in order to be considered “hot”, much like the “you must be this tall to ride this ride” rule. Nawmean?

I enjoyed watching Candace Parker dominate at the collegiate level. Even when injured, like she was during the NCAA tournament, she still brought the heat. You simply cannot contain her.

When she was drafted by my favorite WNBA team – yes, I have a favorite WNBA team – I was ecstatic! Lisa Leslie has been one of my favorite female athletes, from any sport, for a long time. I think she is a wonderful role model. Not just because she’s great at what she does, but she also transcends her sport. People who don’t follow women’s basketball know who she is. She models, she acts, she has a book out. Get that paper, girl!

I wish for Candace a similar career where she can create a successful brand around her name and image. She’s already highly sought after since she is the epitomy of a marketer’s dream.

CP3 made her official WNBA debut today and I made sure to tune in. Thank you, ABC! While many struggled to contain her at the college level, I was interested to see how she fared against professionals. I didn’t expect to see her dominate there too, especially not against the reigning WNBA champions. But she did!

Prior to today, the highest points ever scored by a WNBA rookie in their debut was 25 back in 2007; not counting pre-season exhibition games. Candace absolutely destroyed that with an impressive 34 pt. showing.

And if that wasn’t enough, she also came with 2 assists of a triple-double. Not only have there not been many tripe-doubles in the WNBA, but for her to come so close in her debut is amazing!

Oh, and the LA Sparks won the game 99-94. Click here for the boxscore and video highlights.

Maybe it’s just that I haven’t paid as close attention to the NBA playoffs in past years as I have this year, but I find it extremely odd that in each of the conference semifinals (Western and Eastern) the home team takes a 2-0 advantage then drops the next game when it moves to the visiting team’s home court.

The Hornets went up 2-0 on the defending champion Spurs, then once the series shifted to San Antonio, the Spurs won their 1st game. The same happened with the Pistons/Magic series and the Lakers/Jazz.

For the other Eastern Conference Semifinal match-up, pitting the Cavs against the Celtics, we’ll have to wait one more day to see if this trend holds true. The Cavs looked flat as all get-out in the first 2 games in Boston. Here’s to hoping a hearty dose of hometown enthusiam is enough to pull King James out of his funk. If he’s off, the team stands no chance.

But back to the reason for this post. Does this usually happen? I feel like it’s really weird. The league is probably thrilled, though. Mo’ games, mo’ money.

Although I love me some LBJ — I met him before he went pro and he was a great and humble kid — I want a Celtics/Lakers final. That is a recipe for ratings gold!

What a week! It’s still not football season, but I am managing to cling to any news that I can!

I’m still on a high from the NFL draft. Seeing who got drafted where was exciting. I’m very happy for Mike Hart, who got drafted by the Colts. He’ll fit in well there and is onnly 2.5 hours away. I know I shouldn’t like him being a Buckeye fan, but I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for swagger and his cannot be denied. I love it! So much love and luck to him as he starts the next stage of his football career.

I’m glad the Cavs got their shit together and close out the 1st round of the playoffs. They let the Bullets Wizards stick around entirely too long. I’m also glad the Lakers are handling their business. Unlike others, I’m just not that impressed with the Jazz, so this should be another relatively short series for LA; provided they don’t take days off. We’ll have to see how the Jazz defend their home court. If they played like they did in round 1, I expect a quit exit, stage left.

I hate baseball, hockey, NASCAR, and golf. Don’t expect me to talk much about that around here unless I’m talking about how much I dislike those sports.

I just found out that David Beckham is going to be here in October with his MLS team. Methinks I may have to take in my first Columbus Crew game.

Where have I been? I’ve never even heard of this?

Anyway, the St. Louis Aces drafted Anna Kournikova to play. This oughtta be good. She was never known for being that good a tennis player. Her forte was being attractive and drawing more male viewers into the sport. So, no one can say she wasn’t successful!

More: www.wtt.com

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Methinks a set of Pac-10 officials may have a little bit of explainin’ to do. The reason being that UCLA has won 2 very controversial games in the past couple of days on what I’ve labeled as botched calls that allowed UCLA to wrap-up the Pac-10 regular season championship.

When it happens once, it could just be a bad or missed call. The first incident being the UCLA vs. Stanford game.

When it occurs a second time (UCLA vs. Cal), and in a matter of days, it cannot be a coincidence. I smell fish.

The Big 10 had some “ref issues” late last year after a couple of poorly called games (Purdue/Penn St. & OSU/Illinois). A Yahoo! investigation revealed that the head ref had a background littered with gambling, chlid abuse, and sexual harrassment. In the aftermath of this nightmare, the conference pledged to conduct annual background checks on all officials.

I’m not sayin’ that the Pac-10 refs are dirty and have gambling problems. I’m just sayin’.