I cannot believe that Roland Garros starts in less than a week. I mean, I know the tennis players are already exhausted and whatnot, but seriously, I only get one week to recover from the Monte Carlo/Rome/Stuttgart/Madrid swing?
The 2009 Blogger Roadmap sucks! I call for a mutiny.*
But here's what I am looking forward to:
1. New Towels!
Men's and women's 2009 player towels. Why is the guys' one so blah? And is the subtle use of pink a shout out to Dinara? I'm going to pretend yes.
2. Shitloads of live tennis that I can watch at work (or Tivo, in case my bosses read this thing)
ESPN2 will be airing 56 hours of live tennis. TTC will also be carrying matches and of course NBC has the finals. ESPN 360 will also air matches from 3 other courts not covered by ESPN2. But since I can't get ESPN 360, I don't really care. Bring on the streams.
ESPN2 Schedule:
Sun., May 24 Noon – 6 p.m. Early Round Action Live & Same-day action
Tue., May 26 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Early Round Action Live & Same-day action
Wed., May 27 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Early Round Action Live & Same-day action
Thur., May 28 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Early Round Action Live & Same-day action
Fri., May 29 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Early Round Action Live & Same-day action
Mon, June 1 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Round of 16 Live & Same-day action
Tue., June 2 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Quarterfinals Live & Same-day action
Wed., June 3 Noon – 6:30 p.m. Men’s Quarterfinals Live & Same-day action
Thurs., June 4 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Women’s Semifinals Live
3. Ana and Rafa doing the draw.
If it's an excuse to get these two into a non-photoshopped picture together, I'm all for it. The draw will take place on Friday. Please, Ana, help a brother out and put Rafa and Nole in opposite halfs. In otherwords, just keep up with your trend of doing the opposite of what you did last year. That seems to be working out for you.
4. An absolute clusterfuck. In a good way.
No other tourney is prone to more surprises than RG. It keeps things interesting for the entire two weeks, as opposed to being able to just slot through the faves in the early rounds. I mean, 2008 RG finalist Dinara Safina? 2007 RG finalist Ana Ivanovic? 2008 RG semifinalist Gael Monfils? Shit happens on clay. I like it that way.
5. What will they think of next?
Karaoke? Check. Photomatons? Check. What will 09 bring?
6. Dinara's thoughts on Eurovision.
Always illustrative, insightful, and true. Can't wait to hear her thoughts on Team Norway's momentous victory.
Ok, putting together that post got me a little more excited. What non-tennis-analysis thing are you looking forward to?
* Speaking of mutiny, have you guys listened to this Fresh Air piece on Kathy Marks' book "Lost Paradise"? I found it fascinating.
