And its end was the beginning of another one of sports’ annual holidays. We all know that people love to take the Monday after the Super Bowl off from work. The start of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is also synonymous with low productivity.

But, of all the days in the year, today is the day in which everyone should do absolutely nothing. It’s almost required. Why? Because in the sports world, today is the day of nothing. It’s the day after the baseball All-Star game, aka THE MOST BORING DAY IN SPORTS!

What’s going on today? You’ve got day 135 of the Brett Favre drama and two minor league all-star games. That’s it. The kids over at SportsCenter must be thrilled that last night’s game turned into the baseball edition of War and Peace because at least they’ll have something to talk about.

But, you shouldn’t worry about that. You need to honor this day for the abyss that it is. Mundane to the max!

Count the pixels on your TV screen.

Organize the nickels in your house by year.

See how long you can go without blinking and then try to break that record.

I’m probably already in violation because this post is probably too stimulating for a day like this.

Barbecues and trips to the beach are strictly prohibited. Just stay in bed, facing straight up. Try not to turn. Just lie there, speechless, for the next 24 hours. Only then will you match the true spirit of this sports holiday. We’ll wake you up on Thursday, when you actually have something to pay attention to.

(Don’t) Have fun!

It’s April 23, 1999. I am a freshman in high school and it’s a Friday night, so obviously, I am at home watching baseball with my family. Screw you, social life!

Growing up in Southern California, I was truly fortunate to have Vin Scully as the narrator to my favorite sport. On this night, the Dodgers were playing the Cardinals, and a big inning was brewing for the Red Birds.

Chan Ho Park had allowed two singles and hit a batter to open the third inning of a scoreless game. Fernando Tatis stepped into the box next and crushed a 2-0 fastball 450 feet down the left-field line, into the Dodgers bullpen. Now, I have always hated the Dodgers, so that grand slam was pretty cool, but not nearly as cool what happened later in the same inning.

Park continued to struggle and here came Tatis again. With the bases loaded again! And he homered again!! The second grand slam came on a full-count pitch as Park lobbed up a beer-league quality slider and Tatis drove it into the left-field pavilion.

TWO GRAND SLAMS IN ONE INNING! Now, my dad and me are just cracking up. And for such a record to be set by a St. Louis Cardinal in the late ’90s, it was a shock that it wasn’t andro spokesman Mark McGwire or can’t-miss prospect J.D. Drew. It was accomplished by some dude. Tatis’ lack of notoriety is what made that moment kind of beautiful.

It is also an event that I don’t think will ever be matched for a couple of reasons. One, to have the confluence of pitcher, batter, inning and results all end so correct seems unfathomable. There are just too many variables.

And secondly, no baseball coach outside of Dusty Baker and Grady Little will ever show so much stupidity in handling their starting pitcher. You couldn’t blame it all on Dodgers manager Davey Johnson. He did the smart thing and got ejected in the middle of the inning. But, as Tatis stepped to the plate for the second time in the third, this is what someone had to be thinking in the L.A. dugout:

“OK, well, Chan Ho is not looking real good out there. He’s allowed seven runs, five hits, two walks and hit a batter in this inning already. Uh-oh, here comes Tatis again. Now, 20 minutes ago, he homered with the bases loaded. OH, LOOK! The bases are loaded! Should I make a move or risk my pitcher becoming an infamous fact for baseball eternity?

“Uh …. oh, what the hell, there are two outs! GO GET’EM, CHAN!”

Tatis had a tremendous all-around season in 1999. He finished with a line of 104-34-107-21 and a batting average of .298. But, as we entered the new millennium and Park went on to become one of the worst free-agent signing in the history of game (and really, who outside of Arlington didn’t see that coming???), Tatis’ game dropped off. In 2000, He hit around .250 and saw his home run production cut nearly in half.

Injuries started getting the best of Tatis. Over the next three seasons, he played in just 208 games with the Montreal Expos, hitting 19 home runs.

So, Tatis moved on to … nothing. He dropped completely out of baseball after the 2003 season. Many probably thought that would be the last we see of Fernando Tatis. I know I did. There are plenty of times in which a player has one or two seasons that stand out, and then due to either injuries, lack of sustainable talent, lost passion for the game or competition catching up with you, those players just fade away and everyone moves on with their lives.

But, in 2006, Tatis was invited to Orioles spring training and actually made the team. Tatis was back in the game, and from out of nowhere. Apparently, that’s how he likes it.

Tatis played in 28 games with the Orioles, but didn’t put up many significant stats. In 2007, he bounced from the Orioles to the Dodgers’ spring training roster and finally to the Mets. On March 23, 2007, he signed a minor-league deal with the Metropolitans.

Ironically, while playing that year for the Mets’ Triple-A club, the New Orleans Zephyrs, he was teammates with his baseball soul mate, Chan Ho Park. Assuming Park understands the words “grand slam” and “I own you”, that had to be a solid conversation.

Tatis made his Mets debut on May 13, singling in his first at bat. And now that he’s back up at the highest level, he looks like he’s never going to leave. He provided game-winning, walk-off hits for the Mets on May 28, May 31 and July 6. He also hit a go-ahead home run against the Giants on July 10. Through Saturday, Tatis is hitting .414 with three home runs and nine RBIs in the month of July.

Fernando Tatis will never be a star and yes, he was rumored to have used performance-enhancing drugs (that may explain that 1999 season a bit better). But, America has shown it can forgive those kind of faults as long as the player doesn’t deny involvement in the face of mounting evidence. And in the case of Tatis, there are no blood-soaked cotton swabs or stored needles.

But what makes his story so cool is the way he came from completely out of the game to being a valuable contributor at the MLB level in the span of just three years. It differs from the stories of Hamilton and Ankiel because we always knew those players were very talented; they just needed to get themselves straight. There’s nothing special about Fernando Tatis. His career probably should have ended after that second grand slam, and it almost did. But, he’s back and if nothing else, he’ll always be the answer to a great trivia question.

Not convinced yet? Already convinced? Doesn’t matter, here’s another reason why you should jump on the Sonny for Cy 2008 Campaign (yes, I understand we have zero influence over the vote as non-BBWAA members, just play along).

4. The Comfort Factor

Last season, more than half of Sonny’s 2100 pitches were four-seam fastballs. Not surprisingly, he was hit hard, to the tune of a .291 batting average against and more than 10 percent of his fly balls leaving the ballpark. Three of his last four starts were horrendous, and he gave up home runs in all of them after giving up just three in a 10-start stretch from July 19 to Sept. 5. He was tired, he depended way too much on one pitch, and he paid the price.

That’s exactly why I paid no regard (HAHAHA hahaha ha ha ha…yeah) to the pre-season previews that labeled him as a middle/back end of the rotation guy who wouldn’t last long in Tampa’s rotation with the number of stud prospects waiting in the minors.

This was a guy who had never, ever, ever been hit like this at any level of real competition, from his first days at Kent State all the way through the minors. In addition, he pitched more innings in 2007 than he ever had. It wasn’t exactly the best of circumstances to pass judgment; why ignore the hundreds of innings that say he’s going to be a good starter simply because he had handful of bad starts in his rookie season?

This season, Sonny is much more comfortable with his cutter, which he has thrown nearly 29 percent of the time according to Fan Graphs. That has come at the expense of the four-seamer, which he has thrown 34.5 percent of the time, a huge drop from last season. The cutter is his go-to pitch when he’s behind in the count according to Pitch f/x, and with good reason. Opponents are OPS’ing under 650 on 2-1 counts (23 AB…small sample size, I know); the OPS on full counts (36 AB) is a paltry 573.

But the cutter and the four-seamer sit at 84-87 MPH consistently, so a lack of variation hurts. However, his slider, which he has relied on 20 percent of the time this season and is a popular pitch when he is ahead in the count, sits 8-11 MPH slower, so it plays off well.

The point of this exercise was to prove that the naysayers who labeled Sonny as a junk baller prior to the season were off base, I guess, depending on what your definition of “junk baller” is. I take it as a derogatory term meaning a pitcher who gets by on luck and mediocre stuff. Sonny is not that. He has good variation to his stuff and he’s more and more comfortable with it after every major league start. His stuff is plenty good to provide quality starts this year and beyond.

Right now

AL MVP
Milton Bradley
Josh Hamilton
Carlos Quentin

AL Cy Young
Justin Duchscherer
Cliff Lee
Shaun Marcum

NL MVP
Lance Berkman
Chipper Jones
Albert Pujols

NL Cy Young
Edinson Volquez
Tom Lincecum
Dan Haren

AL Manager of the year
Joe Maddon
Ozzie Guillen
Mike Scioscia

NL Manager of the Year
Lou Piniella
Charlie Manuel
Fredi Gonzalez

AL Playoff Teams:

AL East:
Rays: I gotta think that they can keep it up. They aren’t too far off their pythagorean win-loss, and they are killing their division.

AL Central:
White Sox: They rake and they pitch. Probably will win the World Series

AL West:
A’s: I think the Angels are a joke, K-Rod aside. They will come back down to Earth and the A’s will keep rolling.

AL Wild Card:
Red Sox: Normally I feel like a douche when I exclude the Yanks from the playoffs, but I think I’m justified here.

NL East:
Phillies: I like the Marlins’ offense more, but the Fish just don’t have “consistent” pitching. Howard has been down slightly, but I expect to rebound.

NL Central:
Cubs: Seven of nine regulars with OPS+ of more than 118? Pretty sick. Easy division winners.

NL West:
Diamondbacks: I like the D’backs. That is all.

NL Wildcard:
Cardinals: It’s either them or Milwaukee, and I hate spelling Milwaukee.

AL Playoffs:
Rays v. A’s: Tampa Bay in 4. Kazmir, Shields, Garza? Tampa doesn’t lose this series.
White Sox v. Red Sox: Chicago in 5. Because Dice-K has to throw in the playoffs, and walking the first 17 batters never goes well. Equally good on the road and at home, the White Sox have a team ERA+ of 125, and they rarely walk anyone.

White Sox v. Rays: Chicago in 6. Because fuck it, I can’t pick the Rays to go to the World Series in just their first winning season. It’s a terrible reason.

NL Playoffs:

Cubs v. D’backs: Chicago in 3.
Phillies v. Cardinals: Philadelphia in 5. A tough series to call. I want Ankiel to move on, but I don’t see it happening.

Cubs v. Phillies: Chicago in 5. The Cubs score all the time and can pitch. I don’t see anything getting in their way too much on the way to the WS.

World Series:
White Sox v. Cubs: Chicago (AL) in 6. Because I think the White Sox are the best team in baseball. I hate A.J. Pierzynski.

No, this is not a joke. Any Photoshop wizards care to create a campaign logo? My undying gratitude to anyone who steps up.

OK, so this past weekend I predicted Andy Sonnanstine would finish third in the AL Cy Young voting. He promptly went out and threw seven shutout innings. I took that as a sign.

Yesterday, I started the first of what I hope is a week-long series on why Andy Sonnanstine is a real darkhorse candidate for the 2008 Cy Young. You can read the first part of it here.

Here’s reason three.

3. A Professional Career of Domination

I want you to find any of the top young starters (26 and under) in the game and take a look at their minor league numbers. Use Baseball Cube or First Inning, whatever, I don’t care, just check.

Now use that same service to look at Andy Sonnanstine’s minor league numbers.

Bet you’re surprised. Or maybe lazy and you just decided not to look. Too bad, I’m breaking down the numbers anyway.

84 games
74 games started
40 Wins-18 Losses
2.58 ERA
495 Innings Pitched
463 K
75 BB
38 HR

8.42 K/9
1.36 BB/9
1.00 WHIP
.69 HR/9
7.67 H/9

These are the numbers of a top prospect, a guy who would profile as a top-end starter. A decent comparison for age and minor league innings is Manny Parra, who is having a very good year in Milwaukee and was the 42nd ranked prospect by Baseball Prospectus this season.

105 games
102 games started
38 Wins-18 Losses
3.05 ERA
545 Innings Pitched
528 K
147 BB
27 HR

8.72 K/9
2.43 BB/9
1.25 WHIP
.45 HR/9
8.87 H/9

I haven’t heard anybody remotely care about Andy Sonnanstine’s performance this season, but a common counter-argument against guys who get off to hot starts early in their major league career is that there is nothing in their minor league profile to substantiate that good performance. Sonny’s statistical profile is as good as any, and while I know he had the benefit of college ball, the numbers in the minors are still undeniable. In fact, if anything, he should become a little more dominant as he adds major league innings. I’d say his lack of strikeouts to this point would be because he’s focused more on perfecting his control, probably his top skill, as well as mastering his best two pitches (something we’ll touch on later in the week) before adding another layer to his game.

Bottom line: Even if Sonnanstine can’t get his ERA low enough or win enough games to contend for the Cy Young this season, he will be a contender soon.

Check back tomorrow for another reason to get on the Andy Sonnanstine for AL Cy Young 2008 Bandwagon.

There have been books written about the history of French betrayals, how the country has betrayed democracy and tried to undermine U.S. efforts in the Iraq War. This past weekend, America struck back. Not with its government or military. No, we got something better: The Atlanta Braves. Or at least, that’s how outfielder Jeff Francoeur sees it.

Francoeur, who’s nickname is “Frenchy”, rejoined the club yesterday, three days after he was sent down to the team’s Double-A affiliate. He was mired in the worst slump of his career (1-for-23). He was being booed at by his traditionally sedate home crowd at Turner Field. As a native of Georgia, many thought that Jeff was hearing different solutions from all throughout his nearby family and putting too much pressure on himself to snap the slump. So, the Braves’ brass thought he could use a break.

“We look at it as stepping back for a few days and decompressing and getting his game going again,” Braves General Manager Frank Wren said to the Associated Press on Friday.. “It gives him the ability to do that.”

OK, cool. Take a couple of days, get away from home, go down to the Mississippi Braves, try to refine your swing and we’ll see you back up here soon. Sounds sane enough.

But not to Frenchy, according to his quote in Monday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“After three years, after playing hurt, playing every day, going in every day whether I got a hit and never complaining, I just played because [Braves manager Bobby Cox] kept putting me in the lineup. But I just felt like a little three-minute thing — ‘Hey, you’re going down’ — I feel like after three years, I was owed a little more of an explanation.

“My question is, what if I had hit a home run or had two hits [Thursday night]? Does it delay it one day, until I was 0-for-4? I was left standing outside in the dark on that. You almost felt like they had made [their minds] up before the game. That’s where I felt frustrated, where I felt a little betrayed.”

When I first saw this quote, I felt like a fat kid in a candy store: I didn’t know where to start. So, let me start at the beginning with this …

THREE YEARS?!?! I guess Jeff has created his own addition to the MLB rulebook. Much like a player can control his trade status under the 10-5 rule, Francoeur has seemingly founded a 3-3 rule, which can keep you from being demoted after three years of service. That’s super.

Anyway … three years? Somewhere, Cal Ripken, Jr., is laughing. Hell, even Miguel Tejada is giving Francoeur a raised eyebrow.

True, Francoeur has played in every game in each of the past two seasons, and that’s quite an accomplishment for any player. It shows good physical conditioning and a love for the game. But, it came to a point where Francoeur was actually hurting the Braves by being in the lineup every day.

During the little six-game stretch June 27-July 3 that became the focus of this demotion, the Braves went 1-5 and didn’t score more than five runs in any game. Plus, it wasn’t exactly like Francoeur and the Braves were facing some of the game’s all-time greats. John Parrish? Kyle Kendrick? Adam Eaton? Yeah, that’s some real quality right there.

Francoeur said he wanted a little more explanation. Well, Jeff, just think about it. All you needed to do was look beyond the past week, all the way back to the end of April. The season started out well for Francoeur, as he was showing the patience that he hadn’t shown before. But since April 30th, he is hitting .210 with five home runs and 22 RBIs. For a guy who is looked upon to hit in the middle of the Atlanta order, something is wrong. Analysts have been saying that Francoeur is so messed up at the plate right now that it looks like he is changing his stance in every plate appearance. Now, he’s gone back to his bad habits of swinging at balls 10 feet in front of the plate and refusing to take a walk. Francoeur struck out just seven times in April, and then followed that up with 50 Ks over the next two months.

Seeing as how long this string of bad at bats has continued for Francoeur, one good day on July 3 wouldn’t have saved him.

Francoeur’s attacking style at the plate was one of the reasons he was an immediate fan favorite in Atlanta. But, everyone knew that would catch up to him. Francoeur swings so much, he makes Glenn Miller blush from beyond the grave.

And it caught up with him starting in 2006, when Francoeur never hit higher than .270 and posted a 6-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. In the middle of that season, there were whispers that he was on the verge of being sent down to the minors. Everything seemed to be corrected when Francoeur put up career numbers last season and winning a gold glove, but obviously, nothing has carried over.

Wren, Cox and the other Atlanta higher-ups certainly had made up their mind. But, they also knew that this demotion for Jeff would be abbreviated to say the least. But, Francoeur still took offense to it. People have said that this is being blown out of proportion because Jeff didn’t exactly say that he felt betrayed toward the Braves. Puh-leeze. He gave you a pretty big hint. I am sure he was cursing their name in private.

Jeff Francoeur is a great guy. He’s a gamer, a two-sport star during his high school years in Georgia and saw his amazing story come to a culmination when he was drafted by, zoomed through the minor-league system of, and has gotten to play for his hometown team for the past few seasons. But when you play as bad as Francoeur has this season, some measures need to be taken. That’s what the Braves did and Francoeur took it absolutely the wrong way and expressed his thoughts poorly.

Francoeur was very successful in what was basically a rehab trip, going 7-for-13. But if I was a betting man, I would also say that we will hear the words Francoeur and demotion sooner rather than later unless he drastically changes his approach and his mindset at the plate.

Plus, if he wanted to be impactful, he shouldn’t have said he felt betrayed. Given his reputation, he should have said the Braves broke his fair heart. Loosely translated into French, that spells Francoeur. See, you just have to think about some of these things.

(Courtesy Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

No, this is not a joke. Any Photoshop wizards care to create a campaign logo? My undying gratitude to anyone who steps up.

OK, so this past weekend I predicted Andy Sonnanstine would finish third in the AL Cy Young voting. He promptly went out and threw seven shutout innings. I took that as a sign.

Rather than link to that post, I’ll use some of the points I made there as a rehash to build the blocks for my Sonny for Cy 2008 campaign. I’ll give you one good reason every day this week. Since I’m starting today, I’ll give you two reasons, starting with the best reason this could happen.

1. The BBWAA’s Cy Young voters are STUPID.

Well, almost all of their award voters (and thus, their membership) are, but if there’s one thing that has held true over the past few controversial Cy Young votes, it’s the wins and pitching for a contender are the trump card in seemingly close races.

Just three pitchers – Joe Saunders (12), Mike Mussina and Cliff Lee (11 each) – have more wins than Sonnantine. But none of them pitch for the best team in baseball. In fact, Mussina and Lee are longshots to make the playoffs at this point, and Mussina’s statistics aren’t much better than Sonny’s. Joe Saunders has a fielding-independent ERA of 4.30, more than a run and a quarter higher than his current ERA of 3.04. Why? He’s allowed 13 HR in 112 innings, his strikeout to walk ratio is under 2 to 1, and, most telling, his batting average on balls in play is under .250. All unsustainable rates for a guy who looks like a Cy Young contender right now. Who knows, maybe Saunders stays lucky all year, but I’m going to bet that Sonnanstine’s 8 HRs allowed in 109 innings, strikeout to walk ratio of 3.5 to 1 and highly unlikely BABIP of .334 are all more telling of a strong second half and subsequent run at the Cy Young.

So that leaves Cliff Lee, who, by all peripheral statistics, is the best candidate to win the award at this point. He hasn’t been overly lucky, his fielding-independent ERA is right in line with his current ERA (2.36 to 2.43), and up until his last five starts he was winning despite average run support (he has benefitted from one big game, where the Tribe scored 15, but his other high run support starts came in quality efforts). I’ll just hope he regresses to his 2007 form, because there’s nothing concrete to say he’s falling off.

2. He has plenty of chances to win.

Sonnanstine has 10 wins, tied with Vicente Padilla (ha ha ha ha…yeah), Roy Halladay (very real candidate, bad team) and Gavin Floyd (good candidate, above average team). But let’s pretend that he controls his own destiny…

@ Cleveland – 9th in AL in runs
VS Oakland – 10th in AL
@ KC – 13th in AL
VS Detroit – 7th in AL
VS Cleveland – 9th in AL
@ Oakland – 10th in AL
@ Texas- 1st in AL
@ Chicago – 4th in AL
VS Baltimore – 8th in AL
VS New York – 6th in AL
@ Boston – 2nd in AL
VS Boston – 2nd in AL
VS Minnesota – 3rd in AL
@ Baltimore – 8th in AL

Those are his projected starts the rest of the way, assuming he slots after Kazmir, Shields and Garza after the ASB. Five against top-end offenses, four against mid-level offenses, five against low-end offenses. Pretty even, right?

So let’s breakdown prior performance. Sonny has struggled this year against the Yankees and A’s but has pitched extremely well against Texas and Chicago. He has also dominated Baltimore and Kansas City. He has three starts against the former two teams and four against the latter four. Even, if not in Sonny’s favor.

His home and road statistics are remarkably similar, except for the ERA, which, again, can be pointed to uncontrollable factors like BABIP.

Sonny’s record is going to depend on whether he can get through six innings and how many runs the Rays give him. Save for his six-stretch run last month where he went 5+ every time (going 2-1 with 3 NDs), he went 6+ innings in 10 of 11 starts. I’ll bank on that being his true form and the six-start stretch being his long rough patch for the season. FYI, he’s 8-2 in starts where he goes 6 or more.

Obviously a lot depends on the matchup that night for the Rays bats, but the only ones on there where I really see him struggling are at Texas and at Boston. That gives him 12 more realistic chances to win.

I know, this all seems really far fetched, but it’s fun to root for the underdog and there are plenty of other factors that make Sonnanstine a realistic longshot to emerge over the next couple of months as a sleeper Cy Young candidate. Check back throughout the week for detailed explanations of those factors.

So I want to keep things as short as possible while still providing my opinion on the final conference standings, bowl matchups and ultimately the BCS title game next January in Miami.

The result: Haikus for every team, every conference, every bowl matchup Division I-A has to offer this year. First up was the “best” conference in the land, the SEC, which you can read here. After that was my favorite conference, the Big XII, which you can read here. Next up is the Pacific 10.

Warning: These haikus will probably suck.

1. USC Trojans

Wrong year to play Bucks
Would win if in November
That will be lone loss

2. Arizona State Sun Devils

Skill position stars
Break logjam with Ducks and Bears
Must improve run game

3. California Golden Bears

Riley should lead O
Front seven will carry the load
Beat Ducks to place third

4. Oregon Ducks

Talented as any
Too many tough games to start
Must stick to one arm

5. Arizona Wildcats

Must win for Mike Stoops
Best offense he has had here
Will play in bowl game

6. UCLA Bruins

First games build toughness
Will be tough come October
Life and death for bowl

7. Oregon State Beavers

Riley a great coach
Lost too many starters on D
Bruin game defines year

8. Stanford Cardinal

Building off last year
Best program has been in years
Ready for bowl soon

9. Washington Huskies

Locker must improve
Not enough experience
No excuses Ty

10. Washington State Cougars

Will not win a game
Except for Portland State game
Decent defense though

and

Come on in.

8:43 AM EST: I’m going to go ahead and pick Roger to win this one in five. Here are the numbers:

6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4

9:10 AM EST: We’re in a rain delay. Should be starting within the next half hour.

9:30 AM EST: Here we go.

9:36 AM EST: McEnroe says Nadal’s knees are wrapped so tight that the blood flow will be restricted. I know he’s joking but it was still too funny to not mention. Strong first point goes to Rafa.

9:40 AM EST: Roger’s power game comes through after dropping the first point rally. He cleans up with an ace to take the first game.

9:43 AM EST: Fantastic cross-court backhand on defense gives Federer a point to even the second game at 15 all. Very nice job by Roger. Rafa comes back with a good second serve and Roger boots it straight into the net. 30-15. Rafa double faults at 40-15. 40-30 now.

9:44 AM EST: But…Nadal holds. And NBC says the key to the game for both men is “First Serve.” Wow.

9:46 AM EST: Roger attacks the net and puts away a great volley to go up 15-0. Nadal rips one down the line and Federer can’t get across the baseline quick enough. 15 all. Roger forehands one long immediately on the next point and is down 15-30, despite a 128 MPH first serve. Good second serve and Nadal hits it low in to the net on his backhand. Even at 30.

9:47 AM EST: Rafa is at break point now on Federer, and he gets it when Roger completely whiffs on a backhand. Uh oh. That’s going to be huge.

9:56 AM EST: Another great first point, Roger too defensive to get back up and Rafa finishes him to take it. 15-0. Nothing on a backhand return and Rafa rips his forehand cross court to go up 30-0. 40-0 now. Nadal looks good. Really good. Now at 40-15, Rafa runs across the baseline three seperate times but Roger attacks the net and finishes finally on a lob down the line. 40-30. Wow! Roger attacks the net again, and sends it to deuce off the strength of two nice backhands. More amazing defense from Federer, who is now holding the advantage after Rafa hits it long. Despite a bad second serve, Nadal gets back to deuce after Federer goes long.

9:58 AM EST: Advantage Rafa now. But Roger recovers ripping a forehand to Nadal’s left-hand corner, evening it up again. Back to advantage for Rafa, but he puts the ensuing first serve out. Second serve is weak, but Federer backhands it right into the net. 3-1 Nadal.

10:00 AM EST: It takes Federer approximately 4.3 seconds to hold at love. 3-2.

10:05 AM EST: Roger can’t finish as he drives a backhand chance into the net at 15 all. Now 30-15 Rafa. Again deciding to attack the net, which he’s done will so far, but Nadal drives one by him to the left corner, and it’s academic from there, as Roger misses going down the line. 4-2 Nadal.

10:08 AM EST: Nadal is much more decisive than Federer when he has a chance at a strong backhand return. 30-15 though for Federer here. And a fantastic volley at the net allows Roger to serve with two game points. Nadal saves one, putting a forehand at Roger’s feet to force a weak return and finishing with a cross-court forehand. No matter, though, as Federer holds. 4-3 Rafa.

10:12 AM EST: Roger struggling at the net now, lobs now right in to go down 30-0. 40 now. And Nadal goes with the between the legs shot on the return of some nice work by Federer, but its long. With triple game point, why no? And indeed, Rafa holds. 5-3.

10:14 AM EST: It takes Federer approximately 5.2 seconds to hold at love again. Rafa will serve for the set at 5-4.

10:19 AM EST: We’re at 15 all in a possible deciding game, and Roger’s returns are on point to get him up at 15-30. Here we are now at set point, one chance for Rafa to keep it from deuce. He can’t take advantage though, and Roger bounces back after a weak return of serve to even it. Deuce.

10:22 AM EST: And here Roger stands again at break point after attacking the net successfully. But on the next point, Roger can’t handle Rafa’s top spin and sends a volley long. Ace for Nadal, he now has another set point. First ace of the game for Rafa.

And…of course, I have to leave in the middle of the first set to attend to something. Hopefully I’ll be back by the third set, but I’m DVR’ing. Sorry, but enjoy the rest of this, it’s going to be classic.

12:30 PM EST: Hey, I’m back and caught up! And…we’re in a rain delay. Looks like I just caught up at the perfect time though, because they are saying the match should be on again soon.

1:08 PM EST: Match re-starts in five.

1:17 PM EST: And we’re back with Rafa serving down 5-4 in the third, up two sets. And man, not to break it down too much, but this has been such an interesting and well played match. You can feel Federer taking in the pressure, because he’s an uncharacteristically bad 1/12 on break points, while Nadal is 3/7, to include a missed chance at 0-40. Easy point to start the game for Rafa. And he follows with an ace. Pretty much the same thing next point as Federer hits the return into the net. Two quick points in a row for Federer, pretty bad plays by Rafa as he goes long on both. And, again, wow, a double fault by Nadal. I mean, this match has had some crazy circumstances. Here comes Roger’s chance to take the set. But a great forehand is too much for Roger to reach down the line and he taps it long on the return. And then gets 15 seconds to set up a wicked forehand to bring it back to deuce. Whew…

1:18 PM EST: Nadal back on advantage, and he finishes. 5 all.

1:21 PM EST: Federer up 15-0 on serve, but drives another backhand into the net. Too much time, probably, as McEnroe said. Just a very awkward shot. After taking advantage of a successful challenge on a serve called long for double fault, Roger takes two points quickly and finishes with an ace. Break or we’re looking at a tiebreak.

1:26 PM EST: Rafa is cleaning up on serve and is up 40-0. Ace to finish. Tiebreak time. 126 MPH is Nadal’s hardest of the day.

1:28 PM EST: Federer destroys the first serve in the tiebreak, up 1-0 on the ace. Federer, again with plenty of time and an easy win on his racket, drives a backhand long. He’s trying to hard to place hard-to-hit shots on Nadal’s end, but that’s almost impossible with Rafa. 2-1 Nadal. Federer goes long on his return, challenges, is right again. That’s a shame, he had that point. But he answers with an ace. 2-2. And another ace. 3-2.

1:32 PM EST: So Rafa is back with the serve, down 3-2. Federer crushes a second serve and Rafa has to go low. He hits it in to the net. 4-2 Federer. And on the next shot, Federer goes cross court, brings himself to the forefront and crushes one to take a 5-2 lead. Very nice rally called wide on a Federer finish, he challenges and loses. Nadal comes up big, 5-3 now. But another ace makes it three set points for Roger. Rafa serving, easy volley is punched to the corner to make it 6-4. And a fantastic serve is one-handed into the net by Roger, who will have to do it on his own here up 6-5 with two set points saved. Let’s see. Ace. Ha ha, just brillant stuff. We are in for a finish, folks. Buckle up. 2-1 in sets for Rafa.

1:43 PM EST: Nadal wins his first serve, so does Federer. Not much resistance on either. 1-1 in the 4th. Nadal plays strong defense as Federer attacks the net to start the third game, finishing cross court to go up 15-0. And the same exact thing happens on the other end, great shot by Roger. 15 all. More amazing defense now by Roger, who frustrates Nadal on a long rally; Rafa hits his forehand into the net. 15-30. Two straight Nadal points make it 40-30, and he faults on the first serve. Doesn’t matter though, Federer is long on a second serve return. 2-1 Rafa.

1:43 PM EST: Not much action to start this set. Both guys have held strongly, and Roger looks somewhat confident again. Prediction: Winner of this set wins the match. I know, it’s obvious for Nadal, so basically if he loses this set I don’t see him winning the fifth. 2-2 in the 4th.

2:31 PM EST: Best match of the year, one of the five best of the decade. What drama in the fourth set tiebreak, and Roger Federer will NOT lose this match. I don’t feel like I can do this match justic.

http://www.fansedge.com/Mike-Richter-New-York-Rangers-NHL-Alumni-T-Shirt_1311885017_PD.html

That’s not Photoshopped or anything. A Mike Richter shirt, with a Quebec Nordiques logo. Now I know Richter was so bad in the 1995 first round playoff series for the Rangers against Quebec that one could have argued he was throwing games to help the Nords, but other than that, I don’t see how this error could have been made. Oh well. For you NHL fans, I do suggest checking out the NHL Alumni T-Shirts for sale at FansEdge. Other than the Richter one, there are some really cool shirts out there.