Many Things to Cover

There's so many things I wanted to cover with today's post. I could have chosen four topics at least. How about all four? You got it!

A long time ago...

First, and most notably, is that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett wants to attempt a comeback...in the UFL. Reportedly, the Omaha Nighthawks are interested in Clarett. There's one potential snag. If you remember, Clarett was to serve 3.5 years for that whole carrying an assault rifle and guzzling Grey Goose charge. He's out, but still has a bit of tape to deal with. For Clarett to tryout for the Omaha club, he would have to be granted permission from the courts to pursue a possibly illustrious UFL career.

People get second chances. I have no problem there. But what kind of shape is this guy in? Can't be what he was when he was helping the Buckeyes to a National Championship. I label his chances as slim.

Serena during her Wimbledon win.

Next is more of a question. Will you really watch much of the U.S. Open? The defending men's champ, Juan Martin Del Potro won't be there. The women's #1 player, Serena Williams won't be playing either. Two of tennis' biggest names for what is arguably the sports biggest tournament will not be participating due to injuries.

Sure, we might have another Rafa-Fed final. They're the top 2 men's seeds and on separate sides of the draw. The women's draw seems to open for Venus Williams now doesn't it? Not really. The top 2 women's seeds are Caroline Wozniacki and defending champ Kim Clijsters. Wozniacki has played decent in Grand Slams this year, reaching the round of 16 twice (Autralian Open, Wimbledon) and the quarters in Paris.

Will she be a favorite? Wozniacki has won three tournaments this year including last week's Rogers Cup. She is one to watch, but don't overlook Clijsters or Venus Williams.

Under the radar: Men - Gael Monfils. He likes the big stage and where better than in New York. Women - Svetlana Kuznetsova. How can she be under the radar having won it before? Easy. She's not played well for the most part in 2010.

Dark horses: Men - Mardy Fish. He played excellent last week in Cincinnati pushing champ Roger Federer in the final. Women - Flavia Pennetta. Her last three losses have been against Wozniacki, Kuznetsova and Clijsters. She has played well getting into those natches, too.

Young bests Leinart. Familiar?

Was it me or have the Arizona Cardinals emerged as not having a QB again? The troublesome thing, Kurt Warner isn't coming back either. Matt Leinart was handed (again) the opportunity to be the starter. He's not failed, but he hasn't impressed. Derek Anderson was decent last night, but he has been inconsistent.

Leinart's preseason (I know it's only preseason) numbers aren't great. No TD, but 0 INT. A passer rating just above 90. Not bad, but the Cards offense did not show up last evening against the Tennessee Titans. Anderson's are worse, but he's at least had a TD toss. It could be a long season in Glendale.

In case you haven't already had it drilled in your head, Tiger's divorce is final.

Brad Keselowski said Kyle Busch is an ass.

And how can we forget that Albert Haynesworth guy and the newest game of "he said, we didn't know"? I wish I could...

2009's stories in tennis

2009 was a compelling year in tennis. We saw a record broken, a young American light up England and New York, and an outburst in New York. Hard to fathom that one of the top stories of the year doesn't include a former Grnad Slam winner. That's only because of what else happened.

5. The return of Kim Clijsters

Clijsters walked away from tennis and was ready to settle down to be a mother and wife. But something was drawing her back. And the tennis world was blessed to see her performance in New York. It even inspired former #1 Justine Henin to return. What makes Clijsters run to the U.S. Open title extremely impressive is who she defeated. #3 Venus Williams, #18 Na Li, #2 Serena Williams, #9 Caroline Wozniacki. Four straight seeds faced, four straight seeds defeated.

4. Richard Gasquet dodges suspension.

On July 15, it was announced that Gasquet would not face any type of suspension as the result of a positive test in March. What was in Gasqet's urine sample? Cocaine. The most surprising part of this story is how Gasquet told the International Tennis Federation the cocaine got in his system. Gasquet told the ITF's panel that he kissed a woman in a nightclub. That was his defense...and the ITF bought it. Well, it was also presented that Gasquet barely had any cocaine in his system at the time of the test, but he did have it in his system.

3. Serena's U.S. Open

It was the semi-finals when it happened. The world's #2 player, Serena Williams, was playing the eventual winner, unseeded Kim Clijsteres. Williams was called for a foot fault by a line judge. She could not believe that such a call was made. Williams strode in the direction of the judge and began to tirade her for what Williams viewed as a bad call. After Serena was done, the judge went to the referee and before we all knew it, Clijsters was awarded a point due to an earlier outburst from Serena. That meant the match was also over and Clijsters was the victor and advancing to the finals. Williams was fined over $80 grand for this outburst.

2. Melanie Oudin

No American drew more attention this past summer than Oudin. It began at Wimbledon when Oudin ousted  #6 seed Jelena Jankovic in three sets. to advance to the second week. Her stay wouldn't last much longer. Oudin had a chance to advance further and she pushed #11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska for two difficult sets, but Oudin dropped the match. That magic would travel with Oudin to New York. Oudin would drop a quarterfinal match to eventual runner-up #9 seed Catherine Wozniacki, but Melanie would leave a trail of impressive three set wins in her wake (#13 Nadia Petrova, #29 Maria Sharapova and #4 Elena Dementieva). Did I mention that she's only 18?

1. Roger Federer

Three things about Fed's year. He finally won in Paris. That meant he finally got his career slam. Federer also broke Pete Sampras' record for lifetime Grand Slam wins. Federer broke the record at Wimbledon against Andy Roddick in what could only be termed as the match of the year. Breaking Sampras' record wasn't enough as Pete himself attended the affair and witness the passing of the torch to Roger. All of this and Federer became a father. Could anyone ask for more from a year?

Next for us? we'll take a look at 2009 from college football.