Sunday, November 08, 2020
COVID Sports 2020
These are exciting times for tennis fans, especially Canadian tennis fans. For the first time in history, a Canadian male, Denis Shapovalov, has advanced to the Quarter Finals of the United States Open Tennis Tournament. You will recognize him: the tall blond kid who wears his baseball cap backward, the one who bounces the ball from behind his back, between his legs before he serves.
Last year, Bianca Andreescu won the tournament. She decided not to attend this year. Several other notable players have also passed on the opportunity to play: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, to name two of the very best men tennis players. For the most part, the withdrawls are due to COVID 19.
For many years, Federer and Nadal have topped the rankings in the tennis world, along with a lanky Serb, Novak Djokovic. Djokovic did show up in New York, and was playing quite well on Sunday when a series of events resulted in his disqualification from the tournament.
He was battling a Spaniard, in the first set, when he slightly lost his cool. He is impetuous, as are all of the other players on the tour. These players are the very best in the world, and are paid accordingly. Their incomes are augmented by sponsorships, commercial work, and endorsements. The top players can easly take home twenty million American dollars per year. Coin like that might induce many of us to become slightly high strung.
Djokovic whacked a ball against the side of the court in a slight burst of anger. He then took a bit of a nasty tumble, going after a shot in the backcourt. It appeared that he had injured his shoulder, after jamming his hand when he fell. He was administered some physio treatment at the side of the court, and continued to play. But again, he became frustrated, and whacked a ball towards the back wall of the court, where the ball kids and the judges hang out.
Much to his misfortune, the ball struck a female line judge on the neck. She went down in pain, and Djokovic rushed to her side. You could tell by his actions that he felt badly about what he had done. For the officials at the tournament, “Sorry” didn't really cut it, and Novak was disqualified for his stupidity. It likely cost him a couple of million bucks. As Forest Gump once said, “Stupid is as stupid does”.
The baseball world lost one of its greats this past weekend. Lou Brock, a first ballot Hall of Famer, died after a lengthy illness. In 1977, he broke Ty Cobb's record of 892 stolen bases, and finished his career with 932 steals. He had 3 023 hits, surpassing the magical milestone of three thousand. A gentleman on and off the field, his passing was lamented by other Cardinal greats, including Tim McCarver and Bob Gibson.
In this quirky, completely bizarre world of the COVID 19, there are still battles in the hockey and basketball worlds, at the summer's end. The Islanders outlasted the Flyers to earn the right to play the Lightning in the East. The Golden Knights from Vegas dashed the hopes of hockey fans to see a Canadian team advance when they cast aside the Canucks. They now face the Stars from Dallas, who drew first blood on Sunday night.
The Raptors got back on track on Saturday, climbing back from a two game deficit against the Celtics. But on Monday night, the Celtics thumped the Raptors, and they are in a position to move on with a win Wednesday night. The Bucks are in the same position with the Miami Heat.
The Blue Jays unleased their bats on Monday night, scoring ten runs in one inning! The New York Yankees were the victims, and have fallen in the standings. The Jays play half of their remaining games against the Yankees.
More tennis this week. Game, set, and match.
James Hurst
September 8, 2019.
