The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Federer ended debate with 8th Wimbledon win
The Register’s Joe Morelli says the debate regarding the world’s greatest tennis player ceased last Sunday after Roger Federer won his record eighth Wimbledon title at age 35.
So our family of three took a vacation to lovely Hershey, Pennsylvania earlier this month. My 2-year-old loved Hershey’s Chocolate Tour — we took it five times over two days — along with all of the kiddies’ rides at the area’s parks.
The wife allowed me to play one round of golf and no trips to the local casino. And she said I should be happy I got that much.
Dads, it does get better and not worse, right? Not sure I want to hear the answer.
• There probably will be no shortage of rounds of golf for one O.J. Simpson once he gets paroled in the fall. It will be interesting to see how he readapts to society at 70 and if he will be even more of a pariah now than he was after being acquitted of the Nicole SimpsonRonald Goldman murders back in 1995.
Hopefully he stays in “retirement” and out of the limelight he still seems to covet. In the age of social media, that won’t be easy.
• The debate regarding the world’s greatest tennis player ceased last Sunday — if there was still even a debate. For Roger Federer to win his record eighth Wimbledon — at age 35 — without dropping a set, is an incredible accomplishment.
Add that to the Australian Open title he won in January and that gives Federer 19 majors in 29 appearances in Grand Slam finals. I know the arguments against: Rafael Nadal has a better record (23-14) and Federer didn’t face any of the other Big Three — Nadal, Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic — at Wimbledon. But did anyone think Federer would win another major when he took six months off after last year’s Wimbledon to fully recuperate from a knee injury?
He won’t be taking too much time off before the season’s final major, the U.S. Open, commences near the end of August. Regardless of how he fares, he’s already the player of the year on tour and should be Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. The debate for the GOAT is over.
• Speaking of Wimbledon, Sam Querrey’s upset of No. 1 seed Andy Murray in the quarterfinals was the best result for an American tennis player since Andre Agassi advanced to the finals of the 2005 U.S. Open. Agassi has been retired for almost 11 years.
That doesn’t say much for the success of American tennis. The last major an American won was the 2003 Open by Andy Roddick.
• Outside of the Houston Astros, the American League is as average — or bad, depending on your perspective — as it has been in quite a while. The New York Yankees have been abysmal for almost two months, yet would still be a wild-card team if the season ended today.
• Nearly 1.8 million people viewed the NBA Awards Show on June 26, a decent number more than two months after the regular season ended and two weeks after the Golden State Warriors were crowned champions. So I guess it was worth the wait to find out Russell Westbrook was the MVP.
• Not sure where Kyrie Irving will end up before next season, but if the Cleveland Cavaliers do trade him, I guarantee he will have as many NBA championships as he does today — one. Leave LeBron at your own risk.
• Count me out for being willing to pony up $100 for Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor next month. I paid for one Fight of the Century — Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquaio — over two years ago. Mayweather, who is coming out of retirement and a little rusty, will easily outpoint McGregor, who will never lay a glove on the Money Man — and the non-fight will gross millions at the box office.
• The Champion Golfer for 2017 will be Jordan Spieth, leaving him a PGA Championship short of the career Grand Slam, already. At 23.
• Not sure the reasoning why and not pointing the blame at any one party in particular here, but there is plenty of blame to go around for the state’s best two boys basketball teams the past few seasons not to schedule a game this season.
Hillhouse and Sacred Heart did have multiple conversations about scheduling a game. But it didn’t go much beyond that. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made for the good of the game to have the game the fans would probably drive hours to see.
Now the only way these two titans play one another is if the new CIAC boys basketball proposal is passed and both teams are placed in Division I. By the way, no decision on this is expected until at least September, but my spies tell me this proposal is likely to pass.
• We are less than seven weeks from the opening night of Friday night football. Highlighting the first week on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.: St. Joseph at New Canaan, Shelton at Cheshire, Fairfield Prep at Notre DameWest Haven and Bunnell at Masuk.
It will be here before you know it.
• Lastly, the Saratoga Racing Meet in Saratoga Springs, New York, began Friday and runs through Labor Day. It’s more than just horse racing. If you’ve never been, it’s well worth a day trip.