Wild at Wimbledon

Watching this Rafael Nadal match right now, I'm not sure he's got what it takes to win this thing.  And by this thing, I mean Wimbledon.  Lukas Rosol, the Czechoslovakian ranked #100 in the world, is giving Nadal all he can handle.  7-6 Nadal in the first set, 6-4 Rosol in the second set.

Nadal struggled in the first set in his first round straight set win over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, #80 in the world, but I think he turned it on after thinking he could coast through the match.

German Philipp Kohlschreiber, #27 in the world, waits for the winner of this Nadal-Rosol match, and he'll be rested after a straight set win today.

Not to say I am not a Nadal fan, but he needs to step it up.

Rosol leads 2-1 in the third set and Rosol is just slamming aces down his throat.  Three in a row in fact to take a 3-1 lead.

Rosol-mania!

3 Up, 3 Down

An interesting week in sports thus far and plenty more to come.  Here's my best and worst of the week that currently is.

3 Up

1. Wimbledon – Not sure why I’ve been so enthralled with a sport I have no past with, but I can’t stop watching.  In the men’s draw, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Tsonga, the top five seeds, are all still alive after straight set wins in Round 1.  As for the women’s draw, Venus Williams has bowed out, further accentuating her fall from grace.  Sharapova, Radwanska, Serena Williams, Kvitova, and Azarenka are all still alive as well.  My favorite part is watching the people along the surface on the back row dodge 100mph serves and returns.
2. New York Yankees – So far June has been a great time to wear pinstripes.  The Yankees are 18-5 this month and have no signs of slowing down.  They enter today percentage points ahead of the Rangers for best record in the MLB.
3. Yu Darvish – He wasn’t great last night against the Tigers, but he was good enough to earn his 10th win of the season on the heels of a 10 strikeout performance.  One of the most anticipated stories leading into the 2012 MLB season has had very few hiccups thus far.

3 Down

1. Aroldis Chapman’s Somersaults – Sure, the Reds fireballer had blown two saves in a row (a two-run go-ahead HR in the 9th by the Twins’ Josh Willingham and a walk-off two-run HR by Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians), but after fanning the side to earn a save last night, he proceeded to do two somersaults off the mound.  Act the part big fella, please.
2. Dwayne Wise’s “Catch” – On Derek Jeter’s 38th birthday, Dwayne Wise went into the stands to try to make a catch.  Problem was, he never made it, and umpire Mike DiMuro refused to ask to see the ball.  I think that’s protocol when a player winds up in the crowd.  Wise deserves an Oscar.
3. BCS < 4-Team Playoff – College football announced it is moving to a 4-team playoff format beginning in 2015.  Sounds like progress is being made, but they still have a lot of kinks to iron out, namely who is on the decision committee.  I like where their heads are at, but there will be some controversy moving forward.

Three Up, Three Down

Time to talk about three up and three down from the past weekend in sports.

3 UP

• Kyrie Irving - Former Duke star - for a year anyway - hit a layup with 2.6 ticks left as the Caveliers stunned the Celtics, 88-87, in Boston.  The layup capped a 12-0 run to close the game for the Cavs, who are tied with the Bucks for the 8th playoff spot. 
• Novak Djokovic - After winning the Australian Open in a mere six hours over Rafael Nadal, Djokovic has now won four majors in the past 12 months.  Pretty remarkable.  If he wins the French Open, he'll hold all four major championships simultaneously.  Pretty dominating.
• Towson Men's Basketball - There is finally reason to smile at Towson - they won.  The win, over UNC-Wilmington (8-13), snapped a 41-game losing streak for the Tigers.  It was their first win since December 29th, 2010 at LaSalle.

3 DOWN

• UConn Men's Basketball - After a pair of losses to Cincinnati and Tennessee, this game against Notre Dame at home was just what the doctor ordered.  Freshman phenom Ryan Boatright was back and they were at home.  None of that mattered as the fell at the hands of the Irish, 50-48.  The Huskies fell to 4-4 in Big East play, they dropped out of the Top 25, and their schedule doesn't get any easier - they travel to #14 Georgetown on Wednesday.
• NFL Pro Bowl - For starters, Hot Chelle Rae performed the pregame show.  Yeah, I know, who?  Second, the game started off with a rain of boos from the seats fans as the first series was......unispired, to say the least.  The AFC won, 59-41.  At one point, the center and a defensive lineman stood straight up on a play and didn't move.  No, really, they didn't move.  Terrible display from the NFL on this one.
• Knicks Basketball - The hype at the beginning of the season suddenly seems a distant memory with fans kicking themselves for believing this year would be different.  The Knicks got blasted by the Rockets on Saturday, dropping them to 7-13 on the season.  Maybe they need to share the ball a little more - they're averaging a paltry 18.5 assists per game.  If they weren't shooting nearly 80% from the free throw line, they might not have 5 wins.  Pretty pathetic considering MSG is the "mecca" of basketball.