Saturday, August 17, 2013
Tennis and Baseball on a Sunday
Afternoon.
Damn!
Within a matter of
thirty seconds, my Canadian pride was wounded on two separate occasions last
Sunday.
First of all, Milos Raonic from Thornhill, the best Canadian tennis
player ever to lace up a pair of
tennis shoes, lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. Nadal hails from Spain
Raonic defeated
another Canadian, Vasek Pospisil from Vancouver, in the semi-final, another
historic moment. That has never happened before.
Expectations are high
for these young Canadian players. Raonic has a remarkably strong serve, and at
one point it clocked 237 kph! Now you see it, now it’s my point! With a strong
net game, he will do well. There is a lot of wear and tear in tennis, and we
have yet to discover how well he will be able endure the tough grind on the pro
circuit.
They interviewed an
old Canadian, Bob Bedard, during the match. He was careful to point out that he
also played in the Canadian men’s final, but that the circumstances were
entirely different. None of the top pros at that time played in the Canadian
Open. It was an amateur event.
Nadal was most
respectful after the match. One interviewer intimated that the match was just a
warm up for the U. S. Open, starting in a couple of weeks. Nadal chastised him
for the remark. He said that the Canadian event was equally important to him,
that he loved playing in Montreal
Certainly experience
was a factor in the outcome. Nadal has likely hit a few more million balls than
Raonic. With experience comes the ability to anticipate well. Nadal often moved
to where Raonic was going to hit the ball, rather than chasing. And when he did
have to move quickly, he got to ball. Final result? 6-2, 6-2.
Less than twenty
seconds later, I watched Jose Reyes ground out to second base for the final out
in the ninth inning, as the Toronto Blue Jays fell to the Oakland Athletics.
The Jays had been given ample opportunity to bury the A’s, because the Oakland
You realize of course
that Pat Tabler and Buck Martinez were not happy about the Jays’ squandering
opportunities. They are both very experienced ball players, and have a wealth
of baseball knowledge to share with the viewers. What drives me crazy, and
leads me on occasion to mute the sound, is that they are constantly predicting
what is about to happen in the game. They often guess at pitches, predicting
types and locations. They manage the game from the broadcast booth, rather than
letting the game play out on its own. I don’t mind it when they criticize
stupidity. But it often comes down to simple judgement, and they are not always
correct.
There are many
reasons why the Jays are in the basement this year, and it requires a little
patience to remain faithful. But I know that fans in the Quinte area enjoy the
Jays, and travel by the busload to the Rogers
There will be a host
of prospects entering the fray come September, rekindling an interest in the
Blue Birds. In that group, there will be duds and studs. You make the call!
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
August 12, 2013.
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:07 AM 
