September 6, 2008 at 8:15 pm
· Filed under Saga, Sports ·Tagged tennis
Between the rains and men’s semis, I got to play with Pumpkin briefly today. It’s very humid and uncomfortable. Pumpkin said there is an upper class girl on the team who loves to give advice to others. Most looked at it as annoying but Pumpkin said she actually enjoys it. Finding a mentor at the right time isn’t always easy is how I look at it. Seize it when you can.
One day we went to shopping and ran into her English teacher, the previous year’s. The young teacher was very pleansant and lively, they almost hugged each other. .. She said the current one is trying to fail everyone .. tough love baby .. look at it from another angle.
September 5, 2008 at 10:05 pm
· Filed under Saga, Sports ·Tagged tennis
I came home after some games and took a chance, asking if Pumpkin would like to play some tennis with me, halfheartedly. It’s 8:30pm. To my surprise, she said yes. She made the JV team and has practice every day for the past two weeks. And enjoying it.
Thank god one of the four cluster of courts at school had been renovated. They look very nice and inviting. Tennis any one? Tomorrow looks very rainy .. Serena will play Jelena Jankovic who .. lord .. wears make up while playing. Oh well .. a Williams in the final at least. It should have been an All Williams Final ..
And run too. First half 2 minutes warning, Giants led Red Skin 16:0. They are unstoppable. Then Red Skin scored a touch down. So it’s 16:7 game into the second half.
I heard people started to tail gate 7am. This morning for a 7pm opener. 12 hours. Where is my ticket? Michael Strahan decided not to take the offer, in street cloth on the sideline. Doesn’t he look bit like Mike Tyson?
You go SAM .. Sam Querrey. The stadium is rocking and he is doing fine. Won the second set 7:5, and just broke Nadal back at 4:4 and just held serve, leading 5:4 the third set.
The American sport commentators are fair and most of them are worldly. I just couldn’t forget one tourney that held in Europe one year. Pete Sampras was playing someone, a human obviously. He had won US Open and with few injuries he didn’t conquer the tennis world as I thought he would. But, Pete was Pete, he was a great player and was dominating that match. I was in Frankfurt and watched it in frustration: the European male commentator would be silent if the American made a marvelous shot and talked his head off when Pete’s opponent won, a, point. The victory was landslide.
People, let’s cheer for Sam. You dude, make my dream come true so that at least a pair all American quater final.
Nadal wears a flaming red Capri and still does his G-string thing.
Mardy Fish of USA is playing Gael Monfils of France. I like Monfils: loose, casual and acrobatic, can probably scale the Mount Marcy or Algonquin Peak Summit like a monkey. Fish serves and volleys .. so I’m for the American while Pumpkin is for the Acrobat. Mardy is leading two sets to love.
French male tennis players have been the odd lot type, flamboyant but never last long to make an impact. Flash in the pants, did I get this idiom right? Noah, then Guy Forget (who’s rather gentlemanly looking, classic is quite fitting here), Cedric Pioline who played Pete Sampras in the 1993 US Open final when he said (he finished his semi prior to Pete’s) “I want Sampras” but predicable he lost to Pete 6:4, 6:4 and 6:3; Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and now Gael Monfils .. they are all bride maids.
Did anyone get the Geico commercial where the caveman was on the beach with a blond?
The summer 2003. One weekend Yishi summoned group of her Qinghua friends, we marched to the countryside, eight families in six cars. As we were driving, my children saw more high-rise buildings. ChangPing used to be a remote area to us, the city slickers, now a part of Beijing landscape. There were skeletons of street vendors selling peaches.
“I bet they bought the peach from the city to sell here.” Wang commentedThere were some farmlands, but patchy. I forgot the resort name. The hotel was adequate. The amenities included an indoor tennis court (carpet), small swimming pool – I only remembered those two, since that’s all I cared and used. The tennis court looked clubby, dark and felt seldom used. The court fee was astronomical, US$32 per hour. With that, you get two lazy ball girls who dressed to the tee but didn’t nothing. The manager didn’t like my Ked sneakers, insisted that would damage their court surface, made me rent a pair of sneaker for 5 RMB.
The swimming pool was ok, although small, was about US$8 per day.
That night, we had dinner at the village, obviously. The shack was ok, looked the part, one story with outer and inner courtyard. Looked like a formed living quarter, without a main dinner hall, all small rooms, perhaps the bedrooms. The savvy lady who served us was pretty sleek. No makeup, non-nonsense with a short haircut. Just like any working girl you’d found on the streets of Manhattan. Her black jacket looked like from Ann Taylor (it was July), simple and profession. A ball pen was hanging on her neck. We decided to have the hot pot of games, plus few suggestions she made. I couldn’t pin down her accent. Her exchange with us was short and terse. Was she hiding something, or running away from someone/thing? Bad teeth.
Kids had a field day. We seemed the only diners there. So kids had run of the place. From the courtyard, to the dinning rooms – they dined in another room since each room was so small ..
The food .. .. the hotpot tasted great, but the games were over cooked, chewy. ..
That night, we played baifen.
Sorry it’s been six years since, but Irene still remembered this incident:
Six of us played with two decks of cards. Two wives with four husbands. Irene was kind of slow and put down an extra card in the base. Now, as a good sportsman, I would or any of my girlfriends who play with me often, would inform me regardless of being my partner or opponents because we all want a good game that being played fairly.
When the hand was depleted to the last round did Irene realize she was one card short.
One of the husbands who I found very cocky laughed with triumphal,
“I saw you put that extra card down.” He said, taking pleasure in my misfortune.
“Really? Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Why should I tell you?” He retorted.
He did have a point.
During one of his seven wins in France, Lance Armstrong waited for his closest competitor who falls off the bike to get back on before racing again.
Ok, I wasn’t dealing with world class. But was it my fault for always hoping for?
希望仍在人间 .
A sensible article by Tony Blair on WSJ’s Opinion page. He sees the rising of the East isn’t a threat but an enormous opportunity, resonating with Michael Bloomberg‘s. Interestingly, Blair compares China to USA and mentioned USA few times. A worldly man. I have always admire him more than any Brit PMs in the recent history. And his unwaving pro US stance has certainly gained my approval when as tradition, the most European heads of state are on the other side of the spectrum. Bashing Washington might get you elected (short term) but it won’t fix your problem (long term). Bashing China would yield the same result. The East is the timely opportunity, seize it before too late. Don’t be left behind.
I had somewhat expected him to sell London’s 2012 summer game. He mentioned it too, at the end.
McCain and Obama are too busy throwing dirt at each other. They should spend more time/money on their policy, how to change this country and how to deal with the rising East to benefit this country. One comment posted that “Blair was a more lucid spokesman for American interests than was our own president.” I agree. China matters.
August 28, 2008 at 8:35 pm
· Filed under Sports ·Tagged tennis
It’s half time, New York Giants is leading New England Patriots 13 to nothing. The demo convention got a few seconds during the half time. Isn’t this cool or what, the presidential race got a few seconds out of half time, when half time was just few commentators, well commenting. As if frying some cold old rice from last season. Not like having Janet Jackson’s showing other pretty breast or something special. Manning isn’t playing. No wonder, the president makes far less than a footballer, of any position. It’s America. US Open is openly being covered live – Ana Ivanovic is out; Nadal is playing an American, DeHeart. The benefit two weeks of US Open equals to a single Superbowl. Go figure.
