Austin 3.5 Men's Singles Tennis Champion...sorta...

I've put off writing this post, because I know you guys will make fun of me...as well you should. There's no real way to dress it up it, so I better just tell you the story and you can believe it or don't.

You may remember that a couple of months ago I posted a report from my participation in a new tennis league here in Austin called LeagueTennis.com. It is headquartered in Atlanta, and has been up and running here locally for a couple of years. The deal is that tennis players register with the league by skill level, 2.0 to 5.0 with the higher the number the higher the skill level. I self-ranked at 3.5, not because I knew what the heck I was doing, but because I went onto the USTA (United States Tennis Association) site, studied their descriptions of the different levels...and then guessed. Also, the league insists that you do not under-rank yourself (we called that sandbagging where I grew up) and therefore dominate lesser competition. I had never played in an official league before, so I had no clue how to rank my ability. As it turned out, I was fairly competitive in 3.5, but not nearly the class of the league. As the season wound down I found myself somewhere near the middle of the standings and even got a forfeit or two from better players who had injuries or had conflicts...I had fun...enjoyed the competition with guys half my age, but after my last match put the racket bag away until next spring.

About 3 weeks ago I got a call from the league office saying that the first place qualifier was not available to compete in the city championships, and that the league runner-up had missed a lot of matches, so they were removing him from consideration. Then she said that they had studied the league results and determined that Eddie (the guy I wrote about earlier that I had both beaten and lost to during the season) and I seemed to be the most committed participants in the league, and would we be willing to play for the city championships? I almost swallowed the phone! I asked if she knew that we were probably the worst players in the league, and she laughed and asked if we wanted to play anyway. Of course I said yes. As they say Louisiana..."My momma didn't raise no fool...but she sure missed a good chance!"

Two weeks ago tonight, on the final night of the ACL Festival weekend, Eddie and I agreed to face off for the championship. When the lady from the league office called, I asked sarcastically if we would get live ESPN coverage of this match with John McEnroe making the calls...She laughed and said, "no, but I see if I can get the winner a date with Maria Sharapova." Eddie thought that was a great idea, I said I was thinking more along the lines of Chris Evert. He had no idea who she was. I showed up at the courts a little early to get in a few practice serves...it takes a little longer than it used to to get the old joints limbered up. Eddie showed up a few minutes late, but it wasn't like there was a crowd waiting expectantly for the coin toss...actually there was no crowd...just Eddie and I, and we hit for a few minutes to get loose. I asked Eddie how he was doing and he said, "Man I'm tired!" I asked if he had to work all weekend and he said that he hadn't, he'd just been partying pretty hard all weekend with friends for ACL. I asked how he enjoyed the festival, and he said he hadn't attended the festival, he was just celebrating with friends during the weekend. I confess that the thought briefly crossed my mind to generously ask if he wanted to postpone the match until he was 100%, but I thought, "Hey, I'm old...he's hung over...sounds fair to me!" We both held serve the first four games and it was 2-2 to start the match. I proceeded to win the next four straight to win the first set 6-2. I then won the first four of the next set to go up 4-0. Eddie remarked that it was going to be really embarrassing if I bageled (shut him out) him and won the next game. I then closed out the next two games to win the second set 6-1 and the championship. So there you have it sports fan...who says that the old underdog can't sneak a win away from the younger stronger hungover opponent every now and then? It's beautiful isn't it ...kinda like "Rudy" with short pants.

So....I know that I'm not actually the best 3.5 men's tennis player in Austin...but I do have a t-shirt and a luggage tag that says I am...so if you are looking for me in the next few days, I'm probably icing my old knees, humming Queen's "We Are The Champions..." and waiting on that call from Chris Evert,

Pling...Pling...

dg

It's Time To Break Up The Rockies...

Has anybody got the guts to tell the Colorado Rockies that they are not the 1927 NY Yankees? Certainly not me...Sunday night they put the Arizona Diamondbacks in an 0 and 3 hole and are one game away from making their first ever trip to the World Series. They have won a mind-boggling 20 out of their last 21 games on an unprecedented, at least in my lifetime, run to barely squeak into the playoffs, and then proceed to mow down everything in their path on there way to a spot in the Fall Classic. Their fuzzy-chinned youth and complete lack of playoff experience aside, they seem to have no weaknesses...who would have ever thought you would have uttered that previous sentence when you were talking about the COLORADO ROCKIES! Next you are going to tell me that the Baylor Bears are the lock to win the college football national championship, that the St.Louis Rams are the class of the NFL, Jessica Simpson was cast on her last movie for her superb acting chops, and that professional wrestling is a steroid free, legitimate competitive sport. Except..in this case, the Rockies seem to be the real deal...and I for one am pulling for them, unless they end up facing my own unlikely underdog story, the Cleveland Indians, who danced away from disaster and heading back home in a 0 and 2 hole against the powerful Red Sox with a Houdini-like escape act hanging on for dear life until they could walk away with the second game of the series with an 11-inning win on Saturday to head back home tied. This is why baseball is so cool... I know that it does happen in other sports...last year's Boise State performance, as well as this years upstart South Florida Bulls in college football are doing the same thing...A group of young athletes figure out a way to defy the odds, not only compete with the big boys, but manage to hold their own, and in some very rare cases even prevail...it is fun to watch...unless you are Goliath taking a skipping rock between the eyes. The Rockies and the Indians...keep that slingshot swinging...and then we have to decide which underdog has become the next Philistine giant.

Pling...Pling...

dg

I Hate To Say I Told You So, But...

So... all three of the underdog teams I bragged about last week advanced leaving that trio of pups and the scary Boston Red Sox (who also, not coincidentally, have their share of young talent mixed in with grizzled veterans) as the combatants in Major League's version of The Final Four. Well, even though I am relatively intuitive, fairly knowledgeable in the mystery of baseball, and devastatingly handsome (hey, two out of three ain't bad...Thank You, Meatloaf!), what prognosticators out there picked a National League championship game between two teams that get longer pregame warmups because nobody on the team shaves yet, however, also have to quit earlier so that their mommies can read them a bedtime story and tuck them in at night before the evening news? I'm just saying...Colorado vs. Arizona playing for the NL pennant...boy if you had placed a bet in Vegas on that matchup back in March, you would be a bookie disaster right now. And my Cleveland Indians, the only one of the four remaining teams to lose a game in the division series, will face the powerful Boston Red Sox. I can only suspect that the Fox Network (along with my diehard BoSox friends Christy and Milton) is pulling for the Red Sox facing off up against anybody, because a Cleveland pairing against either of the other two is probably a ratings nightmare for all of those small-market reasons we talked about, as well as the absence of nationally recognized stars.

So my druthers after the infield dust clears on this next week's series is a Rockies/Indians World Series. I wouldn't place any bets on that happening, because the smart money would be on the Diamondbacks and Sox who both have World Series rings in the last six years, unlike the Indians who don't have one since 1948 and the Rockies who have never been to the World Series...ever. But then the smart money would be swirling around the bottom of the toilet and heading south right now if you had banked on traditional wisdom. Hang on underdog fans...get those rally caps ready...it's gonna be fun!

dg

The year of the underdog...Go TRIBE!

Underdog is back! No I don't mean the ill-advised movie about the cartoon wonderpup of the 60's...let's face it...no Wally Cox...no Underdog. Nope the BASEBALL underdog...

Those of you who know me understood that it was just a matter of time before I posted concerning my beloved Cleveland Indians winning the AL Central division pennant and heading to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Those of you who are not baseball fans (cover your ears, Mildred...they don't really mean it!) don't get why we horsehide enthusiasts live for this time of the year...and I guess on some levels I get it too...While I watch the Grammys (until the Daylights and Dave Madden are nominated...then that changes) and the Oscars, I don't get fired up over them like a lot of people do. I'll watch a few World Cup matches, or NBA and NFL games...but October is the time of the year I live for, whether the Indians are involved or not. The Cleveland Indians are considered a "small market team", which essentially translates to...you ain't got New York, Boston or LA money so there's no way you can compete with the big boys. We have had a few exceptions to that rule in recent years, but this year it is an incredible, almost eerie phenomenon, because while the Angels, Red Sox and Yankees are back in the playoffs to no one's surprise, the rest of the lineup are a batch of small market, young roster upstarts... including the afore-mentioned Cleveland Indians. The Tigers and the WhiteSox, the last two American league champions were supposed to dominate the Central, but it was the young feisty Indians that came out on top. In the National League the sad sack Phillies who haven't been in the playoffs in 14 years, played flawless ball down the stretch to catch the collapsing Mets and win the division on the last day of the season. The Arizona Diamondbacks, another very young ballclub who folks kept expecting to fade in the final days hung in there to win the National League West and the perennial losers, the Chicago Cubbies, outlasted another young club, the Milwaukee Brewers to take the NL Central. Perhaps the best story of the season is the babyfaced Colorado Rockies with only one post season appearance in their history came from nowhere (they only lost one game in the last two weeks of the season) to tie the San Diego Padres for the wildcard spot on the last day of the season and will play a one-game face-off for the right to enter the playoffs.

Underdogs...we love them...maybe because we all consider ourselves small-market underdogs on some level. Maybe because we all like to see the big boys take it on the chin every now and then. Maybe long odds and great courage define for us what is good and noble in the human spirit...I'm not sure, but I do know every successful sports movie in the last 50 years has this element at its core...someone, some team, some city, some coach does the unthinkable with the unlikeliest of resources and we cheer...whether it is Rocky Balboa hanging in there for 15 rounds against Apollo Creed or the '84 US Olympic Hockey Team stunning the invincible Russians, or Benny "The Jet" Rodriguiz besting The Beast in "The Sandlot", we all know the storyline and yet we are compelled to watch and hope and rejoice when the unlikely victory comes.

In any other year I would love to see the Cubs shake off their century long frustration and win another World Series...The DBacks already have a World Championship and the Angels, BoSox (sorry Milton and Christy) and Pinstripers (sorry Calla and Ariele) are the evil empire so I can't pull for them... I might even pull for the Phillies (Charlie Manuel used to manage the Tribe several years ago) and it would be very tempting to cheer on those spunky young Rockies should they win their way in...but I can't do it. I have to be loyal to my Indians. I have been a Cleveland Indians fan since the late 1950's (yup...I really am that old) when all of us kids on our own sandlot picked our favorite team...and I picked the Tribe. They were not very good back then...actually they were one of the worst teams in baseball up until the late nineties when they managed to make it to the World Series twice ...losing both times. But...through thick and thin...lots and lots of thin...I have been a real fan...I've only been to the city of Cleveland twice in my life...both times to see Cleveland Indians games. It is true they are young, but my hope runs high and my loyalty eternal... They play the Yankees in the first round...and they were 0-fer for the season...no wins, 6 losses against the Yankees this season...but the playoffs are a new season and we'll see if it is the Tribe who dons the cape and flys off howling into the sunset with its first World Series crown since 1948...even Wally Cox would speak up for that underdog...GO TRIBE!

Pling...Pling...

dg