Wimbledon 2012, subtitle - Roger is a genius

Roger Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon singles title.
I'm reminded of the recent holiday in the U.S., the 4th of July.It tends to involve a considerable amount of fireworks.Most displays end with a glorious crescendo.All the fireworks before are fine, but now let us show you what we can really do.Light up the sky with a thousand colorful stars.
People look up and gasp, ohhh,ahhh.Beautiful.
That's what it felt like seeing Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon title.He let loose with a lovely barrage of brilliance.
It does make me think of  Sampras at his last U.S Open.Navratilova winning her ninth.I hope this isn't Roger's last major.He may well feel re energized,and confident,and win more.I very much hope so.But after the dry spell, it feels great to see him holding the trophy once again.

Andy Murray; all credit.That was a mature effort.I don't think he beat himself.The fact that he can bear the awful pressure as well as he can is an accomplishment in itself.Tennis players do have to win it the hard way.I hope he can some day.

Rafael Nadal losing to Lukas Rosol; well, that was a bad day at the office.Rosol was in the classic zone.Sad to be the high ranking player on the wrong end of another player's greatest day on court.
If Rafa was tired,it's understandable after Roland Garros.And his knees were probably bothering him.But give Rosol his credit.He closed the deal instead of choking.

Congrats to an Englishman( !! ) Jonathan Marray and Danish partner Frederik Nielsen for winning the Doubles.

A few notes;
I'm still not sure I like the roof being closed just for the lights.Wimbledon night matches? I can do without them.

Gilles Simon; STFU.Your ideological sexism is embarrassing the sport.

Rufus the Hawk; How much of an idiot do you have to be to think it's good idea to steal a hawk?
"Look, there's a hawk in a cage", "Let's take him!". Why? Are you going to take him home to play with the  kids? ( Look out kid, he'll tear your eyes out! )
Sell him on the hawk black market? ( Hey,want to buy a hot hawk ? ) Brag to your friends? ( Wow dude, you stole a hawk! You really are an idiot! )
Thank goodness, he was returned without harm.

Serena Williams.
If she makes it through the first week, she's favored to win the tournament.Up hill the first week ( nice try ladies ), rolling down the hill the second.
Stranger than fiction, Serena.
I didn't watch the final.I'm ok with that.Post threatening the lineswoman, I'm through.Seen more than enough.

Roger Federer is like Masterpiece Theater.Serena Williams is like a "reality" show.

Credit to Agnieszka Radwanska.Well done making it to the final.And with an upper respiratory problem too.

Disappointed that Petra Kvitova lost to Serena.Would have loved to have seen her in the final again.
Maybe next year.

Lisa Raymond.Still adding to the titles.Mixed Doubles Champion with Mike Bryan.Nice.

The coverage;
I think ESPN did a fine job in their first year of covering the full tournament.It's a significant relief to say goodbye to NBC's horrible tape delays, and time shifting.NBC,and their local affiliate, made an aggravating mess out of the second week for way to long.
Tennis Channel did a wonderful job with their expanded coverage.Loved seeing Mary Carillo added to the team.

Wimbledon is tiring,but the most amazing show in tennis.

Death to the Crawl line!

Or the ticker,or the info centipede,or whatever you want to call it.It's a bad idea.
I don't have any illusions that anybody actually reads my blog (heck,I don't even have any spam in my comments) but I'll have my little say.
I hate crawl lines.They are in fact a useless distraction.In the age of the Internet,and super phones,and ipads, there are other,better ways to give people information than to ugly up a TV screen.
When you try to watch a tennis match, it's like having a strand of string raked across your eyeball.There it goes constantly racing across the bottom,or middle,of the screen insisting on it's own importance."Look at me!!" "I'm value added!" "Wouldn't you rather read trivial information than watch a sporting event?"
No. No I would not.

Maybe dull witted people don't mind it.Goody for them.
It bothers me.It bothers plenty of people.But how loud would you have to complain to get it stopped? Probably hopeless.
I'm afraid the button pushing monkeys in the control rooms enjoy it to much."Ooh,ooh dump some more eye stabbing crap on the screen." "Because we can!"
Just because you can,doesn't mean you should.

ESPN has always done this.They should have classed up and dropped it some time ago.But now for some inexplicable reason,Tennis Channel has added a constant crawl line.Which is usually in the middle of the screen.To small to read,but enough to annoy.
What are you thinking?

If it does irritate you;there is a way to rid yourself of the pestering visual trash.Cover it up with duct tape.
No I don't mean to stick it to the screen,and damage the TV.

Get two long strips of duct tape,and stick them to each other.Sticky side to sticky side.
Wrap the strip around the bottom of the screen.Put a little tape on the ends to hold.
Visually neutral,and much better than a crawl line.