RealClearSports: Call Them the New Jersey Nyets

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Does this mean the Cold War is over? You only wish Mikhail Gorbachev still were around. He was the Soviet president who, in a misinterpreted warning to the West -- the U.S. and allies, not the division always won by the Lakers -- said, "We will bury you.''

Instead, the Russians are buying us out.

The guy considered the richest man in Russia, a label that once might have been a comedian's punch line, Mikhail D. Prokhorov is going to become the principal owner of the New Jersey Nyets, um, Nets.

Times indeed have changed. The Twitter Generation may not be aware, but the Russians, actually the U.S.S.R., of which Russia was the major part, used to be the bad guys. Now they're the wealthy guys.

A strange week over here in the United States. Jerry Jones opens this billion-dollar stadium, for which he is proverbially slapped for indulgence, and then a few days later people are enthusiastic because Prokhorov is going spend millions to take control of an NBA team.

Prokhorov's offer is being called a "rescue package'' for current Nets owner Bruce Ratner, who bought the Nets six years ago with the idea of hauling them to Brooklyn, where apropos of nothing a great many Russian émigrés have settled over the decades.

Six years ago, another Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, purchased the English Premier League soccer team Chelsea, which was immediately nicknamed "Chelski'' by a lot of skeptical journalists. When it comes to games with round balls and nets, money seemingly is no object to the Russians.

Nor is it a problem for Jerry Jones, a man who, despite coming across as pretentious and arrogant, still should be allowed to do what he wants with his.

Nobody stood around and took shots at Louis XIV when he was having Versailles expanded to 700 rooms. Of course, if they had, it would have been the guillotine. Why can't we be magnanimous toward Jones and his Cowboys palace?

The reaction to Prokhorov investing $200 million generally has been favorable, although there is that skeleton in the closet ... a 6-foot-9 one: Prokhorov was once a basketball forward. In January 2007 Prokhorov was arrested while on vacation at a French ski resort for supplying prostitutes to friends. He was released after several days, charges were dropped and Prokhorov said he will not do business again in France until there's an apology.

Prokhorov started out selling jeans in Moscow in the 1980s and, lo and behold, suddenly had a large stake in Norilsk Nickel, the largest producer of nickel and palladium on the globe.

In April, according to the New York Times, he was pressured by the Russian government into selling his stake just before the world financial crisis hit the Russian stock market.

He thus had something like $14.9 billion, and even after hosting his usual number of fancy parties still had a large reserve of cash and securities.

Already owner of a share of the Russian hoops team CSKA Moscow, Prokhorov said one reason for his investing in the Nets is to provide Russian basketball a financial revitalization by allowing coaches and players to attend NBA training programs.

The league already has played official games in China and Europe. Commissioner David Stern has suggested, if not predicted, the NBA will create a new conference or division of teams from cities such as Madrid and Paris. For a Russian to control a team is only another step in the process.

Consider some of the owners in big-time sports, Dan Snyder of the Redskins, Mark Cuban of the Mavericks, even Al Davis of the Raiders, individuals making waves, making enemies, making money.

To borrow from Doris Kearns Goodwin, they are a team of rivals.

What's one Russian billionaire more or less added to the blend?

It's simply that not very long ago, until the late 1980s, when Russians and Americans were involved the relationship was "them'' and "us.'' We boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. They boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

To think a quarter-century later a Russian would be involved with a franchise playing the one game invented in the United States would have been inconceivable.

Japanese have invested in the Seattle Mariners. Conversely, Americans run Manchester United and Liverpool, two of most famous soccer teams on the globe. The Brits thought owners from the U.S. would muck up their sport. It hasn't happened.

On Prokhorov's intent, Cuban of the Mavericks, a maverick in his own right, if a very intelligent once, said, "I love the idea. It will bring a whole new perspective, and with the dollar struggling, an entrée to new financial markets.''

Money talks, no matter the language.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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© RealClearSports 2009

RealClearSports: Kiffin and Meyer: One "Flu" Over the Cuckoo's Nest

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Meanwhile, in the "Who said college football was all respect and sportsmanship?'' sweepstakes, the University of Florida held six players out of practice, not so much to prove Lane Kiffin misguided but because the athletes had flu-like symptoms.

Gators coach Urban Meyer expressed concern swine flu could ravage his team. Kiffin, the Tennessee coach, reportedly asked for medical verification, while gleefully hoping the entire Florida squad will be quarantined until 2010, along with Al Davis.

About a year ago, Sept. 30, 2008, Davis dismissed Kiffin from his briefly held position of Oakland Raiders coach, setting off a chain reaction that found Tom Cable taking over at Oakland and Kiffin, after joining Tennessee, taking a lot of shots at Florida and Meyer.

The two schools finally played last Saturday, the Gators, the national champions, winning 23-13, but that was only a three-and-a-half-hour interim in the verbal game.

Meyer followed up by saying his game plan was conservative because he didn't think the Volunteers appeared to be playing for a win, and also that several Florida players already were ailing from the flu.

Never one to let an opportunity slip by without adding his ill-chosen remarks, Kiffin, when asked 48 hours later if he were worried the Gators were contagious and could have given the flu to some Tennessee players, responded, "I don't know. I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick.''

There were no official reports on how all this was being viewed from the second floor of Raiders Central in Alameda, Calif., where Davis spends his working hours -- meaning all day, every day -- but it is presumed the mood is joyful and more than once somebody muttered, "What did you expect?''

Al, who turned 80 in July, doesn't offer public statements frequently, but he knows who's who and what's what. And you can be certain as Kiffin continues to speak out when it would be wiser to remain silent, Davis is feeling more than a touch of reassurance.

Davis fired Kiffin "for cause,'' citing everything from conflicts over personnel moves to lies to the media. "I don't think it was one thing,'' Davis said at the time. "It was a cumulative thing. I think the pattern disturbed me.''

What is happening of late to Kiffin doesn't disturb Al one tiny bit. A vindictive sort, Davis doesn't easily forgive and he never forgets. After UCLA upset Tennessee in Knoxville a couple of weekends back, stopping the Vols inside the 5-yard line, Davis was asked for a comment.

"I didn't care one way or other,'' Davis insisted, even though everyone in the free world knew he did care. "I know (UCLA coach Rick) Neuheisel. I know the other fella who's coaching the other team. I did see the similarities, though, when you get near the goal line.''

The "other fella.'' Davis wouldn't even permit himself to use Kiffin's name. Lane, however, was a trifle more magnanimous. When Tennessee was in the tunnel waiting to go onto the field at Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a photo held up by a hometown fan caught Lane's eye.

"The picture of Al Davis,'' Kiffin said, "made me laugh.''

Not much else has the last 51 weeks. Kiffin watched the press conference of his removal as Raiders coach on television. He subsequently announced he would sue Davis and Oakland to gain the money Davis is withholding under the argument that Kiffin did not fulfill the obligations of his contract.

Signed by Tennessee, Kiffin went after Florida the way Tennessee only wishes it could do on the field, insisting the Gators violated recruiting rules in trying to get a commitment from wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson.

Then came the obligatory apology, with that wonderfully disingenuous embellishment, "My comments were not intended to offend anyone at the University of Florida.''

Which they did and which Kiffin knew they would. "I'm going to turn Florida in right here in front of you,'' boasted Kiffin to a room full of Tennessee partisans, who cheered the fact Richardson chose their school.

"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him,'' was Kiffin's valedictory statement.

Surely Meyer loved the fact that after the rhetoric, Florida beat Tennessee, providing Meyer a forum for more rhetoric.

"When I saw them handing the ball off,'' the Florida coach said the day after, "I didn't feel like they were going after the win.''

The feeling among others is that Urban Meyer was going after Lane Kiffin, if in a different way than Al Davis went after him. Everybody please shake hands and come out snarling.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/22/kiffin_and_meyer_one_flu_over_the_cuckoos_nest_96489.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Reunion reminds fans of Niners’ glory days

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The talk was about what used to be.

“Those were the days,” ex-mayor Willie Brown affirmed.

The talk was about what might be again.

Eddie DeBartolo had come back to his adopted home, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame that bears the name of his father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.

He had come back to reminisce, to laugh and, even for a brief emotional moment, to cry.

He had come back for a reconciliation which could only mean good things for the 49ers, the team which won five Super Bowls when they were owned by Eddie, the team which talks about winning Super Bowls now that they are run by Eddie’s nephew, Jed York.

Let’s address the issue. The 49ers were champions because of Bill Walsh, a visionary who coached and managed them out of the darkness. And it was terrific to see Bill’s widow, Geri, among the many at the Sheraton Palace for the DeBartolo presentation.

But without Eddie, there’s no Walsh. Without Eddie, there are no resources. DeBartolo, Walsh and John McVay all had a hand in the success, along with Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and so many others.

“We weren’t supposed to lose,” Steve Young said. “Eddie would say, ‘You tell me what you need to be great,’  but in return you’d better be great.”

Young, Lott and Jerry Rice offered an unintentional comedy routine during their time on stage. Rice made everyone aware of Young’s expanding bald spot. Young responded, “You wouldn’t say five words, but ever since ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ you won’t stop talking.”

Yes, John York was there. In the same room with Eddie. The new owner and his brother-in-law the old owner, two people we were told who didn’t get along, two people who had different ideas on how to run a pro football team.

But now John’s son, Jed, is in charge. And he was thanking his uncle, Eddie, for providing advice, apparently last year on when to get rid of Mike Nolan as head coach and bring in Mike Singletary. The family is together once more.

“We were always together,” said Denise DeBartolo York, John’s wife and Eddie’s sister.

She was distressed by what a certain columnist through the years had written to the contrary.

The idea, expressed more than once, by everyone from Willie Brown to Rice, is to get Eddie D into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That may not be terribly easy, even if DeBartolo is deserving. Some voters will be hesitant because he was stripped of the Niners after illegally trying to obtain a casino license in Louisiana.

But this is a start. Just as the Yorks and DeBartolos showing unity is a start of a process to regain the Niners’ old glory.

“Eddie changed the world of sports for the better,” said Brown.

At least as far as Northern California is concerned.

Paul Anka, the singer and composer, the man who wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra, was a guest, bringing revised lyrics for DeBartolo, a long-time pal.

“Your football star,” sang Anka to Eddie, “you raised the bar, and did it your way.”

A way the Niners, very much in the family, would love to find once more.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Reunion-reminds-fans-of-Niners-glory-days-60502582.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

(ArtSpander.com Exclusive) The 49ers are making noise

SAN FRANCISCO -- The noise is there. It’s in the roaring of a crowd beginning to believe. In the ringing of a phone in a coach’s apartment at 2 a.m. In the footsteps of a running back as he darts 79 yards for one touchdown and sprints 80 yards for another.

The noise is there, 49er noise, reverberating through Candlestick Park, making people think, making people wonder, not ending any secrets but, still in a football season too young to fully understand, not eliminating all the doubts.

“Now everybody knows we’re for real.’’ Frank Gore said it. After he ran for 207 yards, including those two breakaways. “That was a great one, man.’’

Frank Gore was a great one. A great man. He sped through the Seattle Seahawks just often enough that, with an effective defense, the San Francisco 49ers could win Sunday, 23-10.

Could prove in a game that's supposed to be an early yardstick, against the team picked to win the NFC West, that the Niners indeed are for real.

They honored the past on Sunday at the 'Stick. Brought back former owner Eddie DeBartolo to celebrate his induction into the Niner Hall of Fame, named for his late father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Mixed in with nostalgia was hope.

The Niners are 2-0, duplicating their start two years ago when head coach Mike Singletary was an assistant. And while Singletary insisted "the Niners must do a better job than we did today,'' one senses a different feeling about the 2009 team than the 2007 team.

Not a Super Bowl feeling, not yet, as in the Eddie D years, but a feeling of possibility, a feeling of anticipation. This is a better team than last year, than the year before, maybe than any year since 2002 when, under Steve Mariucci, the 49ers last qualified for the playoffs.

Gore is healthy again. Gore is in shape. Gore is the offense. “They can put an eight-man front,’’ said Jimmy Raye, the Niners’ offensive coordinator. “We’re not going to shy away. What we do is run.’’

Or if you’re Frank Gore, ring up Raye from a dead sleep a week ago Sunday night in the wee small hours. The Niners had beaten Arizona in the opener, but Gore had gained only 30 yards in 22 carries.

“He was bothered by the numbers,’’ said Raye, “the times he got hit in the backfield. He was feeling bad, wanted to know if he was missing some holes. He just wanted somebody to hug, rub and lie to him.’’

Gore wanted reassurance that he hadn’t lost the skills. Other excellent backs Raye had coached -- Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Curtis Martin -- also had their bad days and restless nights and needed a kind word, a reminder that even the best stumble and are not perfect.

“You have to remember (Frank) didn’t play much this summer,’’ said Raye of the exhibition games. “So he expected to jump out last week like he did this week, and when it didn’t happen, he basically just needed someone to talk to.

“I knew last Sunday night his week of preparation would be different this past week. This was more than I expected, but you can’t factor in two 80-yard plays.’’

The first, the 79-yarder, came late in the first quarter and gave San Francisco a 10-0 lead. The other was on the opening series of the second half. The Niners led 13-10 at intermission. Eleven seconds into the third quarter, they led 20-10.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before,’’ said Niners quarterback Shaun Hill. His job primarily is to hand off to Gore or Glen Coffee and occasionally throw passes. Short, don’t-take-a-chance-on-an-interception passes.

Hill was 19 of 26, but only for 144 yards. Nostalgia? Sorry, not with 256 yards rushing and 144 yards passing, not with the franchise of Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice. But you utilize what’s available, and what the Niners have is one of the NFL’s leading running backs. And late-night conversationalists like Raye.

“He’s got great vision, great patience and is a great pass blocker,’’ Hill said of Gore. “The offensive line was opening big holes. It was fun to see from the back end, seeing the same thing that Frank was seeing.’’

A week earlier, Frank was seeing red. “I told (Raye) I was kind of frustrated,’’ said Gore. “I was upset that we just couldn’t get anything going, but I was happy about the win, though.

“I had been training so hard. Things just weren’t clicking for me. I got injured the end of (last) season. I told myself I would dedicate myself. Go back to training at the University of Miami. I told myself I want to be one of the top guys in this league. I ran the dunes. I did a lot of work.’’

If the work didn’t prove rewarding in the first game, it definitely did in the second. So did the commiseration with Jimmy Raye long past midnight. Call him anytime, Frank.

RealClearSports.com: Rodney Harrison Won't Shut Up about Favre

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com 

In a three-month period starting in late June, Rodney Harrison, the newly retired safety, described Brett Favre, the recently unretired quarterback, in terms ranging from selfish to destructive, leading us to believe Rodney may have something against Favre.

Harrison left the New England Patriots after last season and joined NBC's "Football Night in America," a program one can determine from the title is as impressed with itself as Harrison contends Favre is with himself. And we learn Harrison is with himself.

Not that egotism is a rare commodity among either athletes or entertainers.

Favre, with his departures and returns definitely has irritated people associated with the NFL, if only those in a peripheral capacity, such as journalists, fans or analysts on "Football Night in America."

But for all his faults, real or imagined, Favre was not suspended for violation of the league's drug policy, as happened two seasons ago to Harrison.

One is always suspicious when former jocks get into television or radio and start popping off. Stepping away from fields and courts, they often join the ranks of the anonymous, a difficult transition after years of fame or infamy. So they start telling it, not so much like it is but how it can be to get them a maximum of recognition.

No one is debating Harrison's skills or determination. In 15 seasons, the first nine with San Diego, he became the only player in history to total at least 30 sacks and 30 interceptions, and twice was named All-Pro. But once the career ends, what does he do to get noticed? Tear in to Brett Favre.

On June 24 he went on "The Dan Patrick Show" to say Favre was "pretty selfish.'' Now there's a revelation. Then Aug. 19, Harrison, on another talk show, "Mully & Hanley,'' implied Favre's vacillation over signing with the Vikings had tarnished Brett's legacy.

Oh yes, Harrison also explained that day, "I'm a guy that tries to avoid the spotlight and not put a lot of attention on myself.'' So then why doesn't he just stop babbling?

In the beginning of September, after Favre indeed had joined Minnesota, Harrison, on Sirius/XM, offered, "I don't think personally Brett is the answer. I think that move kind of sabotaged that locker room . . . He doesn't even come in and earn the position. He just comes in and takes over.''

Duh. That's why Minnesota, which had done more than whisper in Brett's ear, persuaded him to join the team, so he could take over. He's thrown for a zillion yards. He's been in two Super Bowls.

You think Kobe Bryant has to earn his way? Albert Pujols? David Letterman? Oprah Winfrey? Those people don't need tryouts. Neither does Brett Favre.

But a couple of days ago, Favre, and for this he should be held responsible, said the last few weeks of 2008, with the New York Jets, he played with a bicep injury the Jets concealed, never making disclosure on the weekly injury report.

The Jets' general manger Mike Tannenbaum and former coach Eric Mangini were fined a total of $125,000 for withholding details, so Patrick, who knew where to go, had another bout with Harrison, who knew what to say.

"Why bring all this stuff up now?'' wondered Harrison, which would be a legitimate question if Favre hadn't been persuaded to discuss an injury, which despite rest and treatment is still an issue.

Had it last year. Has it this year. But with two different teams.

"Everywhere he goes he craps on everybody,'' Harrison told Patrick, about Favre. "He goes to Green Bay, and he leaves them with a bunch of noise.''

This from a man who is making enough noise to blot out the sound of a 747 taking off. A bunch of noise? A few interceptions would be more accurate, but without Favre two years ago the Packers don't have the best record in the NFL and go into overtime in the NFC championship game before losing to the New York Giants.

"He goes to the Jets,'' Harrison said of Favre in 2008, "they give him a bunch of money . . . he plays bad, and he craps on them.'' Another misstated generalization. At one time the Jets had the best record in the league before slipping to 9-7. But the year before, without Favre, the Jets were 4-12.

Harrison is angry Favre was named Vikings captain after missing training camp, assuming head coach Brad Childress, the man who wanted Favre, made the call instead of having the players vote.

Enough already. Those who can, play; those who can't say a lot of stupid things about those who can. Seems like jealousy from a guy who wishes he still were in uniform.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/18/rodney_harrison_wont_shut_up_about_favre_96487.html
© RealClearSports 2009

Giants were 90 feet away

By Art Spander

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ninety feet. Red Smith called the 90 feet between bases the closest man has come to perfection. But Wednesday night the Giants were not quite perfect. They were gutsy. They were exciting. But they couldn’t get the tying run home from 90 feet.

They lost to the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. They lost a game in the wild card standings to the Rockies. They could have been 1½ games behind, but now they are back 3 games. Now the playoffs are even more remote. Not impossible, but remote.

There was Eugenio Velez on third. Two outs, bottom of the ninth. A game that meant everything. The crowd chanting like a college football crowd. “Let’s go Giants.’’ Clap, clap. “Let’s go Giants.’’ AT&T rocking. For eight innings the Giants had done little -- done nothing, if you want to refer to runs.

For eight innings they had been shut out by the Rockies' Jorge De La Rosa, who owns the Giants. He had pitched six times previously against San Francisco, and the Rockies had won all six, five of those victories going to De La Rosa. And now it was the bottom of the ninth, and the Giants trailed by four runs.

But De La Rosa had been taken out for pinch hitter in the top of the inning, and Franklin Morales was pitching now for Colorado. And Freddy Sanchez singled. And Pablo Sandoval singled. And Bengie Molina singled. Then Juan Uribe came up. The 38,696 fans were standing, and one side of the park would shout “Oooh,’’ and the other “Ree-bay.’’ Again and again.

Uribe grounded to short, but Troy Tulowitzki threw the ball to right. And now it was 4-2 and Velez was put in to run for Uribe. He stole second. A runner on third, a runner on second and still nobody out.

Edgar Renteria is a clutch hitter. “He’s the guy we wanted up there,’’ said Matt Cain, who would be the losing pitcher. “But sometimes it doesn’t work out.’’ Renteria popped to second. The runners held. But when pinch hitter Randy Winn grounded to first, Eli Whiteside, running for Molina, came home and Velez moved to third. Now it was 4-3 and Nate Schierholtz was coming to bat.

“You always want to be up there in the bottom of the ninth with the winning or tying run on base,’’ said Schierholtz. Which he was. But on a 3-2 pitch from Rafael Betancourt, Schierholtz struck out. The collective groan carried out to the bay.

“I swung at a bad pitch,’’ confided Schierholtz. “I couldn’t get it done.’’

Maybe it shouldn’t have come to that. Maybe the Giants should have been in front or no less than tied by the eighth. Andres Torres opened the fourth with a double, but after Sanchez struck out, Torres was caught in a bizarre double play. Sandoval grounded to Tulowitzki. Torres was trapped off second. Not on a line drive, on a grounder. Tulowitzki tagged him then threw out Sandoval at first.

“I had a big lead,’’ said Torres. “I tried to come back. I took too much.’’

The Giants took nothing in the sixth. Schierholtz walked, and reliable Rich Aurilia dropped a pinch-hit single into center. Two on, no one out, the top of the lineup, Torres, Sanchez and Sandoval coming to bat. De La Rosa struck out each, swinging.

“We had a real opportunity,’’ said Bruce Bochy, the Giants manager. “We just missed.’’

So the Giants head to Los Angeles. As players dressed, bats nosily were being shoved into canvas bags. Suitcases and travel bags lined the entrance to the clubhouse. San Francisco hits the road, to where no one can be certain.

“We’re in a situation where we need to win ball games,’’ said Bochy. “This was a tough one.’’

A tough one but also an uplifting one. Four runs behind and then one run behind, with a man on third base, 90 feet away. “We couldn’t get a timely hit or earlier a productive out. But we fought back.’’

The crowd loved it. For eight innings, the situation seemed hopeless. Suddenly the Giants were alive and the fans were alive. When Tulowitzki tossed away that possible double play, the belief was nearly palpable. Somehow, the Giants would do it. Somehow, the baseball gods would smile on them.

They did not. The Giants got close, got 90 feet from the tie. But it might as well have been 900.

RealClearSports.com: Patriots Restored Stability to a Shaky Sporting World

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

That Patriots win over the Bills on Monday night was reassuring, no matter what your rooting interests. We needed a favorite to do something, just to prove there's a reason to call them a favorite.

It had been a bad few weeks for the big guys, Tiger Woods going head-to-head the final round of a major, the PGA, with Y.E. Yang, the great nobody who became somebody, and finishing second.

Not too long after, Roger Federer, supposedly unbeatable, lost the U.S. Open final to Juan Martin del Potro, who fell flat on his back after the final point. There was some symbolism, tennis having been flipped upside down.

Upsets are supposed to be the lifeblood of sports, and society. They give us hope that anything can happen, keep us from getting bored, complacent or giving up. As kids we're preached the legend ofThe Little Engine That Could.

Hey, if a guy who by all rights should be playing basketball, the 6-foot-6, del Potro of Argentina, can drop the first set to the best tennis player in history and come back to beat him, anything's possible. Right?

Wrong. But it has the ring of authenticity.

Del Potro called his win a dream. We'll accept the proposal, but the reality is that even before his upcoming 21st birthday, he was already rated one of tennis' very best.

One of these days, the experts predicted, he was going to win a Grand Slam tournament. The day came Sunday. He wasn't dreaming.

It wasn't as if Walter Mitty, the fictional character of secret life who resided in reverie, stepped out of a cloud onto the court and stunned Mr. Federer. Del Potro had battled Roger to a fifth set in the French Open. The kid can play.

Still, as in the case of Yang v. Woods, the del Potro result was unexpected. Not impossible. Unexpected.

That's why they play the game, we've been told, because we don't know who's going to win, even though most of the time we do know.

As the late author Paul Gallico wrote, "The battle isn't always to the strong or the race to the swift, but that's the way to bet.''

A stunner is permitted now and then to keep us off-balance, but mainly sports demand a large dose of stability. We can't continually have Central Michigan upsetting Michigan State, although that was a spectacular onside kick. Or have Y.E. Yang overtaking Tiger Woods. It's too confusing.

How are judgments to be made? No less significantly, how are commercials to be made? Gillette is selling celebrity even more than it is close shaves, which is why Tiger, Federer and Derek Jeter are the chosen ones connected with the Fusion razor ads.

Sponsors want winners. Sponsors want recognition. They don't people who drop fly balls or lose five-set matches.

The New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Steelers provide a yardstick for excellence and fame, as compared at the moment to the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Pirates, although the Jets have this quarterback from Hollywood, or nearby, Mark Sanchez, who's already getting Namath-type attention.

Love the Yankees, hate the Yankees. There's not much difference as far as advertisers or television networks are concerned. The only trouble is if we ignore the Yankees, which virtually is impossible.

Because the Yankees won't allow themselves to be ignored.

Neither will the Dallas Cowboys. Or the Patriots. Or USC or Notre Dame. Or Tiger Woods or Roger Federer.

Sure we get excited about a Melanie Oudin or Kendry Morales, new faces, but it's familiar faces and familiar teams that hold our interest.

It isn't going to happen, not on our watch, but if, say, the Yankees and Red Sox, Tiger and Phil Mickelson, Serena Williams and Roger Federer all slipped into mediocrity the whole sporting scene would be a mess. We'd be clueless.

You sensed our bewilderment just when first Tiger, who never had lost a lead in a major, tumbled. And then a month later, Federer allows his streak of five straight Opens to be snatched away.

Oudin, the kid from Georgia, had "Believe'' on her shoes. But after Woods and Federer both fell on their faces, as opposed to del Potro who was on his back in celebration, we were wondering what to believe.

The Patriots provided the answer. They showed the way. They were favored, and they won, Not by much, a field goal, but they won. As they were supposed to win. Heartwarming.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/15/patriots_restored_stability_to_a_shaky_sporting_world_96485.html© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Future looks bright for Bay Area sports teams

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The Niners’ offensive line is in trouble. The Giants are not going to catch the Rockies. The Raiders are still the Raiders, unable to beat the Chargers. Now, that’s out of the way.

It’s the nature of our business to complain, usually for good reason. But it isn’t that bad, people. The Niners are undefeated, and who cares if it’s one game and they’ll probably lose to Seattle. They’re undefeated.

The Giants remain in the pennant race. Surely after those constant water-torture defeats on the last road trip and then the bashing by the Dodgers — wasn’t San Francisco’s strength pitching? — they don’t have a legitimate chance. But they remain in the pennant race, and it’s the middle of September.

Who knows how to approach the Raiders, who again feel they were mishandled by the unofficial Conspiracy Committee the NFL created specifically to taunt them. Oakland is better than it was, if incrementally. So accept that and, as Serena Williams says, “Move on.”

There’s always something out there to grasp, something to make us believe anything is possible. Didn’t Y.E. Yang beat Tiger Woods? Didn’t Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer? Didn’t Cal beat Western Washington Central State, or whatever that poor little institution is called?

We’ve been informed the Niners are going to play ugly football this season. So be it. That billboard with Mike Singletary says, “I want winners,” not, “I want guys who are pleasing aesthetically.”

The Niners’ rhetoric is borrowed from our pal Al Davis. You know the line, “Just win, baby.” Not, “Just be artistic.” In Oakland, the problem the past six years — as in San Francisco — was not how the performance looked, but how the scoreboard looked. The Raiders are the guys who came up with the Immaculate Deception, a play that was as unattractive and effective as any ever subsequently banned by the league.

Things are turning. The Niners probably will get to .500 for the first time since 2002. That also was the last year the Raiders had a winning record, and while they’re probably not going reach that small pinnacle, they should be improved, which unquestionably the Giants are. Once again we reach back to March. It looked like a reheated version of recent seasons past, if more experienced. In spring training, the idea the Giants would be alive two weeks from the end of the season would have been cause for disbelief. Also for great rejoicing.

The great baseball axiom of what might have been will vex Giants fans through the winter if, as it appears now, the team will not make the postseason. Why not dwell on what was? And what may be?

In theory, the Giants were next year’s team. Suddenly, two months into the season they got a jump on the time schedule. They’re not as good as the Dodgers, not quite as good as the Rockies. But they’re better than most everyone predicted they would be.

What will the Niners and Raiders be? The forecasts are for mediocrity or worse. But the first weekend was encouraging. And if you need a reason to dream the impossible dream, there’s always that tennis player Juan Martin del Potro.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Future-looks-bright-for-Bay-Area-sports-teams-59416577.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company 

CBSSports.com: Start smiling, Argentina, your son has done the improbable

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com    

NEW YORK -- It was the night disbelief took over center court, the night fantasy overcame logic, the night Roger Federer lost control, the night a dynasty tumbled.

There's a new champion in the U.S. Open, Juan Martin Del Potro, who's still a few days from his 21st birthday but already has come of age in tennis.

Del Potro, the 6-foot-6 guy those homeboys from a meatpacking town in Argentina have nicknamed the Tower of Tandil, indeed towers over all the improbability of sport.

In an upset that must rank among the great ones ever, the Jets beating the Colts in Super Bowl III, Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson, Del Potro defeated Federer, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, to take America's tennis title.

When Federer, the reputed finest player in history, winner of the last five U.S. Opens in succession, hit the final shot wide on Monday night, Del Potro flopped on his back as much in bewilderment as elation. He had done what nobody believed could be done.

"My dream done, it's over," Del Potro said. "When I lay on the floor, many things come to my mind. First, my family and my friends and everything. I don't know how I can explain, because it's my dream."

No explanation is needed. We learned what we needed from the longest men's final in 21 years -- 4 hours, 6 minutes -- a brilliant display of forehands and courage, embellished by the chants, "Oh-lay, oh-lay, oh-lay, ohhhhh-lay," and the cheers of 24,821 who packed Arthur Ashe Court.

Federer, winner of a record 15 Grand Slams, was supposed to make it 16, was supposed to tie Bill Tilden's 85-year-old mark of six straight U.S. titles. It was a cinch, the 28-year-old Federer against a kid who until Monday had never been in the final of a Slam.

But something went wrong. Or went right. Del Potro, a bundle of nerves, barely could get a ball over the net in the first set. This was going to be painful. And it turned out to be. For Federer.

"I thought I had him under control the first two sets," Federer said. Already this year the one they call the Swiss Master had won the French Open -- finally breaking through -- and Wimbledon. He was going to be the first in 40 years, since Rod Laver, to win three Slam tournaments in succession. Except he didn't.

"I should never have lost so many chances," he said. "It was just a pity. I think if I win the second set, I'm in a great position to come through. Unfortunately I don't win that, and that was it."

Del Potro won that, on a tiebreak. Federer sounded like most of the men who have faced him through the last five or six years, implying what might have been, talking about the should haves and could haves. That's not the language of a champion.

"It's one of those finals maybe I look back and have some regrets about," said Federer, "but you can't have them all, can't always play your best. He hung in there. In the end he was just too tough."

Federer's failing was what normally is his strength, the serve. He was successful on only 50 percent of his first serves, compared to 65 percent for Del Potro. And while Federer had 13 aces, he also had 11 double faults.

And so for the first time, someone other than Rafael Nadal, whom Del Potro knocked out in Sunday's semifinals, beat Federer in a Grand Slam final. And now, another Argentinean has won a Slam. Guillermo Vilas won four major titles in the 1970s, including the 1977 U.S. Open.

Don't cry for them, Argentina. Stand up and cheer. The soccer team may not make the World Cup, but Del Potro is atop the world of tennis.

"I thought Juan Martin played great," said a gracious Federer. "He hung in there and gave himself chances and in the end was a better man."

In the beginning, however, you wondered if he would win a set. Not until the middle of the second set did Del Potro even have a break point, and when he got the break, Federer, as usual, broke right back.

But Del Potro fought Federer and also fought himself, winning both battles.

"When I won the second set," Del Potro said, "I think if I continue playing the same way, maybe I have chance to win. But after I lost the third set, after going a break up, I start to think bad things, you know. It was so difficult to keep trying. But the crowd helped me a lot to fight until the last point. I have to say thank you to everyone for that."

Federer didn't want to thank the people who developed the electronic line decider known as Hawk-Eye. He's never liked it. And when a Del Potro shot Federer thought was out was shown on the big screen to be in, Del Potro prevented Federer was taking a two-sets-to-none lead.

Later, in another incident, when Del Potro was going to ask for another ruling -- each player has three challenges -- he delayed and then didn't request electronic verification. Federer came over to the umpire and grumbled, "The guy has two seconds [for a decision] and he takes 10."

When chair umpire Jake Garner told Federer to be quiet, Federer, out of character, yelled back, "Don't tell me to be quiet. I'm going to talk. I don't give a spit what you say." Federer didn't say spit.

Federer had won 40 straight matches in the Open since he was beaten in 2003 by David Nalbandian. He's from, yes, Argentina. They're doing something right down there.

For the last year-and-a-half, Del Potro, who entered the Open ranked No. 6 in the world, has been doing a lot right. The question was when he could win a big one. We have the answer.

"At the beginning of the match, I was so nervous," said Del Potro, who added that he couldn't sleep the previous night and couldn't eat breakfast Monday morning.

He can dine now. He took the winner's trophy and $1.85 million in prize money and bonus money. He also took the glory, at least temporarily, from Roger Federer. If it wasn't unbelievable, it certainly was remarkable.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12207912
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Mommy dearest: Clijsters caps amazing two-week run at U.S. Open

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Mamma mia, can that young lady play tennis.

In a summer of marvelous sports stories, from Tom Watson's great run at the British Open to Derek Jeter overtaking Lou Gehrig as the Yankees' all-time hit leader to the ascent of Melanie Oudin, maybe nothing compares to that of Kim Clijsters.

Out of competition for two years to marry and give birth, Clijsters stepped from the past, an accidental tourist with an effective forehand, and won the U.S. Open.

In a match no one would have foreseen two weeks ago when this tournament began, Clijsters on Sunday night defeated teenager Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5, 6-3, then fell to the court in tearful bliss.

A tournament that's been battered by a literal storm, rain delaying the women's final 24 hours, and a figurative one, the expletive-filled tirade by Serena Williams in losing her semifinal to Clijsters, came to a poignant conclusion before 23,351 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Among those fans, in the loosest definition of the word, was Clijsters' 18-month-old daughter, Jada Elly, happily chomping on a pacifier in a nanny's lap while her mother overcame Wozniacki's offsetting moon balls.

In a sense, this also was a title defense for the 26-year-old Clijsters, the Belgian who won the championship in 2005, was unable to defend in 2006 and then retired from tennis in 2007. Or so she thought.

But after playing in a requested exhibition last spring with Tim Henman against husband and wife Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff to inaugurate the new roof at Wimbledon, Clijsters remembered the joy of the game, hustled to get into shape and returned to the women's tour -- with child and husband Brian Lynch along for the ride.

This U.S. Open was only her third tournament after the comeback -- she was able to enter on a wild card given because of her reputation by the U.S. Tennis Association. Then she wins. It's a script too unbelievable but very acceptable.

"I don't have words for this," said Clijsters, who then joked, "I'm just glad I got to come back to defend my title of 2005.

"This is so exciting for me. This was not really in our plan. I just wanted to get back into the rhythm of playing tennis. I have to thank the USTA for giving me the wild card to come back here."

Wozniacki, the first Danish woman to get to a Grand Slam final, was the No. 9 seed. She's a fashion-model blonde who enjoys the attention and plays a counter-punching game that threw off Clijsters for a while. The 19-year-old Wozniacki won four straight games in the first set.

But she was in uncharted territory. And even if Wozniacki had played and won more matches on tour in the last year while Clijsters only a few months ago was playing housewife, not tennis, Kim's experience showed. Winners never lose the skill or the drive that made them winners.

Four other mothers had previously won Grand Slams: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Margaret Court and, in 1980, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

"I didn't think it could happen again," said Mary Carillo, the astute TV commentator. "But it did. Amazing."

Because of the weather problems, both women's semis were held simultaneously late Saturday night. And while Clijsters was beating Serena on Ashe, Wozniacki was whipping Yanina Wickmayer next door at Louis Armstrong Stadium -- before only 500 fans.

So, before a very full house at Ashe, she thanked the crowd, in English, Danish and Polish -- her parents immigrated from Poland before she was born. Then, maybe feeling sympathetic to Wozniacki or maybe just a bit confused, USTA president Lucy Garvin introduced Wozniacki as the champion, drawing chuckles from both Wozniacki and Clijsters.

Clijsters earned $1.6 million for the victory and said, understandably, it's been a great two weeks in New York but she couldn't wait to return to the domestic life.

"It's the greatest feeling, being a mother," said Clijsters. "I just can't wait to spend the next few weeks with [Jada]. We tried to plan her nap a little later today.

"When I played my first round here two weeks ago, it meant so much to me. How warm the people were. It embarrassed me. But it helped me keep my focus. I had to keep fighting, especially the last few matches."

On the way, Clijsters, unseeded, defeated both the Williams sisters, Venus in a strange fourth-round match with a 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 score, and then Serena in an even stranger match, Serena losing because of a code violation for cursing a line judge. That was enough drama for a while.

Before she won the 2005 Open, Clijsters was known as someone who collapsed under pressure. And Sunday night she admitted to a bit of nerves during the final game.

She overcame those nerves and the two-year layoff. She's the once and current champ and arguably the mother of the year.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12201999
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports.com: Serena Should Have Said She Was Sorry

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- What's the problem with saying you're sorry, with admitting you were wrong? To err is human, we've been told. So you make your mistake and tell everyone it was a mistake. Unless you're an athlete.

You've seen those phony statements, concocted by agents, where the individual deftly steps around the issue, never point-blank says, "I screwed up, and I'd like to say I'm sorry.''

Which is what Serena Williams should have said.

She's one of two or three best tennis female players in the world, arguably the best. But Serena embarrassed herself, embarrassed her sport during a U.S. Open semifinal.

Lost control. Lost the match. Was mad at herself and, in a expletive-filled tirade, took it out on a lineswoman who even Serena later conceded only was doing what she is paid to do.

A foot fault is a rare call in tennis. It occurs when a server touches the baseline with either foot. Despite denials that she never foot-faults, and seemingly is only guilty in New York, Serena has been called many times in her career.

When she was called in the U.S. Open semi was a problem, down a set to Kim Clijsters, losing 5-4 in the second set and 15-30 in the game. Foot fault. Suddenly it was 15-40, suddenly it was match point.

Suddenly Serena Williams, defending champion, 11-time Grand Slam winner, turned into an immature, foul-mouthed tennis brat.

She held a ball in her left hand, a racquet in her right and extending the left arm told the lineswoman, "I'm going to stuff this (bleeping) ball down your (bleeping) throat.''

In the NFL or the NBA or baseball, that threat would result in instant ejection. What it got Serena was a code warning, which, added to the warning she received for bashing her racket to the court in the first set, cost her a point. And at 15-40, that point meant game, set and match to Clijsters.

Whether a foot fault should be called at that juncture is a legitimate question, the same as whether a foul should be called in basketball in a tie game and a man driving to the basket and a second on the clock. But whether Serena disgraced herself is not a question. She did.

What she didn't do was apologize. In the post-match interview, a rather insincere Serena Williams, insisted, "I didn't threaten. I didn't say . . . I don't remember anymore. I was in the moment . . . I don't think it's necessary for me to speak about it. I've let it go. I'm trying to move on.''

So someone wondered if the lineswoman deserved an apology, and Serena, in her haughtiest voice, answered, "An apology for? From me? How many people yell at linespeople? . . .Players, athletes get frustrated. I don't know how many times I've seen that happen.''

That's no justification. Serena confided she has a temper, which is not an indictable offense. Serena confided one of her heroes was John McEnroe, notorious for his language when berating officials.

But Serena is almost 28 years old, supposedly a role model, as well as a fashion model. She's always placing a bottle of Gatorade next to the microphone during interviews to promote one of her endorsements. You think the company likes one of its stars swearing like a street punk?

Tennis is personality-driven. It is Serena Williams and Roger Federer who bring the attention. This isn't exactly inmates-running-the-asylum material, but the players have control. Even when they're out of control.
They are the lifeblood of their sport. They can get away with virtually anything.

Serena was fined $10,000, but she wasn't suspended. Having her beaten before the final of the Open was bad enough. She was the last American standing in American's championship. Not that she would have been standing even if she didn't go into her diatribe.

Clijsters, three months out of retirement, was outplaying Serena. Serena knew it. Serena was angry at herself. She took out it out on the lineswoman, of whom later Williams said, "If she called a foot fault, she must have seen a foot fault. I'm not going to knock her for doing her job.''

She didn't knock her, she trashed her. It was shameful. Then Serena had second thoughts. Then Serena was contrite. But she wouldn't apologize.

"It was a tough day,'' Williams justified. "I didn't play my best.''

Asked if she regretted losing her head, if briefly, Serena said, "I haven't really thought about it to have any regrets. I try not to live my life saying, ‘I wish, I wish.' I was out there and fought and I tried and I did my best.''

Her best was not very good. What we wish is a woman of Serena Williams' talent and reputation could say simply, "I apologize.'' We'd let it go at that.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/13/serena_should_have_said_she_was_sorry_96481.html
© RealClearSports 2009

CBSSports.com: Serena's shocking outburst continues bizarre Open

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- The ending was bizarre. The result was stunning. Serena Williams was bounced from the U.S. Open, as earlier she had bounced her racquet in disgust, on a code violation for cursing a lineswoman.

It was a sorry ending to what had been a competitive match, with Kim Clijsters basically outplaying Serena and then standing in disbelief as Williams was told the point she was penalized was the point that gave Clijsters the semifinal victory, 6-4, 7-5.

Williams, the defending champion, was serving at 15-30 in the 12th game of the second set Saturday night when she was called by lineswoman for a foot fault, meaning Williams' foot was judged to be over the baseline.

Serena screamed at the woman, "I'm going to shove this [deleted] ball down your [deleted] throat."

The lineswoman reported Williams' comments to chair umpire Louis Engzell, who then called a second code violation, which -- added to the one assessed to Williams when she bashed her racquet in the first set -- resulted in a loss of a point.

That point gave Clijsters the game and thus the match.

"I don't remember what I said," was Serena's comment when asked how she addressed the lineswoman. "You didn't hear? I said something; I guess they gave me a point penalty. Unfortunately, it was on match point.

"I've never been foot-faulted, and then suddenly in this tournament they keep calling foot faults. I don't know why [the lineswoman] said she felt threatened. I've never been in a fight in my life. I didn't think I would get a point penalty."

And nobody thought Clijsters would become the first unseeded player in the women's final since Serena's older sister, Venus, in 1997. Clijsters, back from a two-year retirement in which she married and had a daughter, will face Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday night's final. Wozniacki beat Yanina Wickmayer, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

The way things had been going during this Open, anything was possible. Play had been rained out completely Friday, and then more rain Saturday forced postponement or rescheduling of numerous matches, including the two women's semis.

Normally held on Friday afternoon on the main court, Ashe Stadium, the women's semis were pushed back and back and back. Finally, the Wozniacki-Wickmayer match was shifted to the smaller Armstrong Court, and, after a lot of drying with hot air blowers, the two matches began simultaneously around 9:20 p.m. ET.

Serena, the No. 2 seed, never seemed in the match. She was broken three times. Then she lost her temper.

"That was a tough day," Williams said. "I didn't play my best."

But she also gave credit to the 26-year-old Clijsters, whose speed and strength were the equal of Serena, if not superior.

"Kim played well," Williams said. "I wasn't surprised. I saw her play in Cincinnati, and she played incredible. I thought, 'Wow, this is someone to watch out for.' I think it's really good to have her back on tour."

Clijsters, from Belgium, was champion in 2005. She was unable to defend in 2006 because of an injury, then in '07 dropped out to get married and start a family. But when asked earlier this year to play an exhibition with England's Tin Henman against Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Clijsters got into shape in earnest. Now, in her third women's tour event after the return, she has surprised everyone.

Including herself.

"I'm in shock, really," was Clijsters' response when asked about reaching the final.

For Williams, a few days from her 28th birthday, the word is shocking. One moment she walks up to serve, the next she's being informed she's no longer playing.

"After she was called for the foot fault," tournament referee Brian Earley said, "she said something to the line umpire, who reported to the chair umpire. That resulted in a point penalty. It just so happens, that was match point."

Clijsters was as bewildered as Serena. Then again, while play went on, she was bewildering Serena.

"I came out of the blocks really well," Clijsters said. "I kept her on her back foot a little bit."

It was the front foot, when Serena was serving from the ad court, that did her in.

"If she called a foot fault," a contrite Williams said later, "she must have seen a foot fault. I mean, she was doing her job. I'm not going to knock her for doing her job."

When asked if she should apologize to the lineswoman, Serena said rhetorically, "An apology? For what? How many people yell at linespeople? "Players, athletes get frustrated. I'm sorry, but a lot of people have said a lot worse."

But not on this evening, in a semifinal of the U.S. Open.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12196880
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Federer's already the best, and he keeps getting better

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Roger Federer's usual edge is his own game. Now he has another, time. The weather has been a curse for this final weekend of the U.S. Open, but as always, Federer ends up not cursed at all.

He and semifinal opponent Novak Djokovic were quarterfinal winners on Wednesday, long before the rains came, and now with the suspensions and rescheduling, they won't play again until Sunday. Three days of rest for Novak. More significantly, three days of rest for Roger.

Who doesn't need it. Who doesn't need anything. He has it all.

"I don't think," Djokovic allowed, "you can ever get your game to perfection. Only if you're Federer."

Only if you're Federer, so graceful, so uncanny, so remarkable, winner of a record 15 Grand Slams, trying for a sixth straight U.S. Open. And now as confident and, because of the extra days off, as prepared as possible.

A strange thing happened to Federer in May 2004. He was beaten in the third round of the French Open. He hasn't been thwarted in a Grand Slam tournament before the semis since then.

Twenty-two in succession playing in a semi. That's Joe DiMaggio stuff, 56-game hitting streak stuff. That's consistency.

Federer is the best ever. Or so everyone says. At age 28, the only thing missing is the actual Grand Slam, wins in all four majors in a calendar year. And yet, with all the obstacles, the possibility of injury, the class of opponents, the streak is perhaps more impressive.

Five years, and Federer is a guaranteed semifinalist. And this time for his semi, three days rest.

"It's a wonderful record," affirmed Federer of all those semis in a row. "Not important, but nice to have. It's something I never aimed for, that's clear, but it's probably one of the greatest records I've created in my own personal career."

A year ago, showing up for the 2008 Open, which also had a Monday finish, which also had a Federer victory, there were questions about Federer.

He had been beaten at Wimbledon by Rafael Nadal, had been crushed by Nadal at the French. The skeptics were saying Federer's time had past.

Federer's outward calm belies a determination. His smooth play and the cliche definition of Swiss as unemotional and businesslike is misleading. The doubters had him on the defensive. Wait, he said in so many words, before you say I'm done.

Roger has a temper, and only as he matured did he learn to control the temper, learn to use the anger and fire to focus his play instead of merely bouncing a racquet.

Every once in a while, during a post-match interview, Federer, the new father of twins, permits access to the pride and intensity that are mostly hidden.

He enjoys praise, likes being called the greatest. There is no false humility. He knows how good he is. So does everyone else.

"What he's done in separating himself from the game," said the now retired Andre Agassi of Federer, "should be recognized."

Agassi is one of the few to win all four Slams at least once. When Federer finally took the French Open this year, he joined Agassi and others such as Rod Laver and Don Budge.

In this rain-tossed Open, Federer is attempting to join the late Bill Tilden, who did it in the early 1920s, with six straight wins in America's championship, an event that didn't become an Open until 1968.

The comparison with Tilden, who died 28 years before Federer was born in 1981, Roger calls "fantastic." But then, as all champion athletes, he turned the conversation to the here and now and away from the future.

"I think," said Federer of the various records, "this stuff you can talk about when my career is over. This is when you analyze."

Federer's beauty is that, as other winners in all sports, he gets himself out of problems when, indeed, he somehow is in trouble. He's Kobe when the Lakers need a basket, Mariano Rivera when the Yankees need a third out. Just when you think Federer's going down, when an opponent has a golden chance for a service break, Federer snaps back up.

In the quarters on Wednesday night against Robin Soderling, Federer easily won the first two sets but lost the third in a tiebreak and seemed ready to lose the fourth the same way. Sorry. A couple of aces, a beautiful cross-court forehand, and there was Federer into the semis, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

"I don't know what happened," said Federer, who in truth always knows what happens. "But it's one of those days where everything goes right for you."

Since then, he's had three more days to contemplate and rest. The better you are, the luckier you get.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12192344
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Get a roof: Time to protect U.S. Open from rain

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com 

NEW YORK -- It's the city that never sleeps. But it's not the city where it never rains. At least during a U.S. Open. Either of them.

In June, at Bethpage Black farther out on Long Island, the golfing version was flooded and had to be extended an extra day until Monday. Now the same thing might happen for the tennis Open.

They would have played through the night Thursday -- and Friday in the wee hours -- except it's impossible to hold a racquet in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

And also because when they get wet, the painted lines that mark the boundaries of a court get as slippery as ice.

At Wimbledon, where the bad weather is infamous, a $140 million roof was erected before the start of this summer's tournament. It basically was unneeded -- it was closed a couple of times more for show than out of necessity.

The show Thursday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was a soggy and unfinished one.

The quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalezreached only the second set. Not long after that, many spectators decided it was time to reach for their metro passes and head for the No. 7 train.

Nadal won the first set, 7-6, and then rain began to fall. After a 1-hour, 16-minute suspension, play resumed at 9:43 p.m. ET. But the rain also resumed, and a second suspension came at 10:19 with Nadel ahead in another tiebreak, 3 points to 2.

Several times, blowers and squeegees were brought out to dry the courts, but as quickly as the water was removed the rain began again. Finally, at 12:01 a.m., the announcement was made that play had been postponed. Midnight Madness.

Nadal's star power is the thing that gets him into the night matches, the U.S. Tennis Association needing someone the television audience will watch. The lesser players -- in attraction, not necessarily skill -- had the daytime start. That proved advantageous.

So, while there still was a bit of sunshine and plenty of daylight, Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia in the other men's quarter, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. His opponent will be the winner of the Nadal-Gonzalez match.

When that will end, nobody will guess. A storm is forecast for the region today, when the women's semifinals also are scheduled.

The tournament appears headed for who knows what. Last year the men's final had to be played on Monday. A repeat is very possible.

They're seriously going to think about a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, as large as it is, with a capacity of 24,000. The tournament is too big, drawing more than 700,000 spectators during the two weeks, and too important to have it be affected by weather.

Originally, when Ashe was built a dozen years ago, a roof was considered, but because of the stadium size -- the largest in tennis -- the cost proved prohibitive. However, rainouts create chaos.

Nadal and Gonzalez were on and off the court and the fans were in and out of their seats until they started heading for the exits -- the fans, not the athletes. If and when play resumes, the winner, should he beat Del Potro and go to the final, will have to play all or part of three matches over three days.

Tiebreaks have helped Nadal, who after the first set and before the rain fell called for the trainer, who checked Rafael for a recurrence of the stomach muscle problem that bothered him earlier in the Open.

Nadal, of course, missed a chance to defend his Wimbledon championship this year because of tendinitis in both knees. He was out a month and a half, returning for two events before this Open.

Assuming he gets past Gonzalez, the muscular guy from Chile against whom Nadal has a 6-3 record, and then the aggressive Del Potro, it would seem a Nadal-Roger Federer final is ahead. Except assuming anything about Rafa in the U.S. Open, where he's never gotten beyond the semis, is dangerous.

Equally dangerous is thinking the U.S. Open will go merrily along on cue. A couple of years ago, after a heavy rain, an army of young people were brought on to the court and on their hands and knees mopped up as might a swabbie in the Navy.

Very inelegant and not terribly effective. Get a roof.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12187468
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports.com: Oudin Learns the Downside of Fame

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- Stephen Sondheim wrote it. Melanie Oudin is living it. "I was taught,'' Sondheim's lyrics go, "when the prince and dragon fought, the dragon was always caught. Now I don't even wince when he eats the prince.''

Chomp. Chomp. He just took a hunk out of Melanie Oudin.

Pumpkins into coaches, little Miss Nobodies into celebrities, stuff we can only wish for. But fame can bite you when you're not looking.

Which is what happened to Melanie. The result of her last match at the U.S. Open isn't the reason.

But after that final match, the quarterfinal loss to the more accomplished Caroline Wozniacki, Oudin was asked about changes in what she contends was the life of a basic teenager.

"I've gone from being just a normal tennis player,'' said Melanie, "to almost everyone in the United States knowing who I am now.''

Knowing she's a 17-year-old with a lot of heart and talent.

Knowing her parents are in the middle of a divorce, about which "everyone in the United States'' would have been unsuspecting. Until Melanie became the lady of them all.

There was the dragon gnawing away. There was Sports Illustrated digging away.

That apparently Melanie's mom and Melanie's tennis coach, who, ironically she referred to as a second father, have played a bit of doubles after dark, was the content posted on the SI.com web site. Just about the time Oudin was walking off the court against Wozniacki.

It's old news, seemingly. John Oudin, Melanie's father, filed for divorce from Leslie Oudin on July 24, 2008, citing adultery as grounds, and Leslie Oudin a few weeks later, Aug. 12, 2008, denied the charges.

But it was an issue only for friends and family until Melanie took over the Open and New York tabloids.

Leslie Oudin, who had been sharing a hotel room with her daughter, not John, realized whatever happened at the Oudins', down in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Cobb County, no longer stayed at the Oudins'. Leslie, however, was just a little bit late.

Sensing the divorce records might go public, Leslie Oudin filed a motion with the Cobb County Superior Court a couple of days ago asking all documents be sealed from public view, citing "embarrassment.'' Sports Illustrated already had viewed them.

Somebody had talked. Whether it's at the White House or the house around the corner, somebody always talks.

In a sworn statement made last month, Aug. 10, John Oudin specifically alleged that his wife had been unfaithful with Melanie's coach of the past eight years, Brian de Villiers. He also stated that Melanie suspected the alleged affair.

"Both (Melanie and fraternal twin sister Katherine) asked me point blank,'' John Oudin said in a sworn statement, "if I thought mom was having an affair with Brian . . . Melanie told of one occasion she woke up at 1 a.m. and Leslie was not there. She called Brian's cell phone and connected with her.''

A Hollywood ending. That's what this is, if not the type where people live happily ever after. Doesn't everyone in Hollywood split?

Melanie Oudin, wise beyond her years, has dealt with the divorce as capably as possible. She played well at Wimbledon this summer. She played better at the U.S. Open this summer. Yet, if it's all true, if her mom and coach indeed were having an affair, what eventually will happen to the relationship between coach and player?

The shame is that the story had to surface when it did. These surely have been the best 10 days in Melanie's blossoming career, if not her life, and now they are diminished. What was a relative secret is being shouted across the country.

Attention is at once both wonderful and awful. Melanie has gained new endorsements, one a data mining firm BackOffice Associates for a six-figure sum according to Sports Business Daily. Melanie, as the report of the divorce proves so painfully, has lost her privacy.

Melanie Oudin doesn't deserve this, having her parents' woes detract from an enchanting few days of success. Tennis doesn't deserve this. The 2009 U.S. Open, because of Oudin and Serena Williams and the great Roger Federer reaching a 22nd straight semifinal in a Grand Slam, had been wonderfully upbeat.

Oudin's experience in the tournament, going through four rounds to the quarters, will prepare her for a future that might carry her to high rankings and championships. Her experience away from the courts, dealing with the discomfort, the hassle, will be no less beneficial.

"I don't think of myself as a celebrity,'' said Melanie Oudin. "I don't see myself as being that kind of, like, star.''

She is that kind of, like, star. The joy and the pain of stardom has arrived.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/10/oudin_learns_the_downside_of_fame.html
© RealClearSports 2009

CBSSports.com: Despite loss, Oudin captures hearts of American tennis fans

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Skill triumphed over dreams, experience over enthusiasm. Melanie Oudin's magic simply couldn't compare to Caroline Wozniacki's game.

It was great while it lasted, a Munchkin of an athlete, coming back from deficits again and again in her national tennis tournament, winning when she was expected to lose, thrilling a country that loves an underdog, especially an American underdog.

But Wozniacki, the great Dane, ruined the fairytale, defeating Oudin 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday night in their U.S. Open quarterfinal, and other than advancing to the semis seemed to feel as bad as the majority of the 23,000 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I'm sorry I won against Melanie," said Wozniacki, who well understood how New York in particular and the United States in general had taken to the 5-6 teenager.

"I know you guys wanted her to win," Wozniacki, a teenager herself who at 19 is two years older than Oudin, told the crowd. "Hopefully I won your guys' hearts."

Oudin, in her four previous matches, definitely did win those hearts. That's because she also won the matches, all of which were over Russians, including in the second round against the No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva.

Each of Melanie's opponents got rattled by the way the kid from the Atlanta suburbs kept ripping shots at them.

Wozniacki, the first Scandinavian woman to get to the quarters -- and now to the semifinals -- of a Grand Slam tournament, did not.

She is the daughter of a father who was a soccer star in Poland, then Denmark, and a mother who was an excellent volleyball player. Caroline has an athlete's mentality, not to mention wonderful hand-eye coordination. She is the only Western European among the top 20 in the women's rankings.

And she never gave Oudin a chance.

"Caroline played a really good match," Oudin said. "I started off slow. I wasn't able to come back. She's such a strong player. She doesn't give you anything for free."

Wozniacki forced Oudin to play as Oudin had forced Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova to play, getting the ball back until the person across the net could not.

"She plays incredible defense," Oudin said of Wozniacki. "Makes me hit a thousand balls. I don't know what else I could have done. I could have been more consistent and been more patient, but she really made me think out there and made me have to hit a winner to win the point."

But Oudin didn't hit winners. She whacked balls into the net. Or wide. Or long. Suddenly, broken in the second game of the first set, Oudin was down 3-0. And the first of the plaintive cries from fans still settling into their seats, "Come on, Melanie," pierced the haunting silence.

Because Melanie couldn't get going, the fans, who had made her their darling, America's sweetheart, couldn't get cheering. They gasped. And murmured. But not until Oudin had a chance to break in the third game of the second set, a chance she squandered, was there an explosion of the noise that had been her companion.

Oudin's performance to get as far as she did was headline stuff in the tabloids, where she was sharing the back pages with Derek Jeter as he chased Lou Gehrig's Yankees hits record. But the result of the match against Wozniacki temporarily dimmed the amazing march for someone 55th in the world.

"I'm a perfectionist," Oudin said. "So losing today was a disappointment. I mean, I wanted to win. Losing isn't good enough for me."

Her defeat left only one American, man or woman, in America's 129-year-old tennis championships: Serena Williams is to meet Kim Clijsters in a women's semifinal. Wozniacki will play surprising Yanina Wickmayer, who like Clijsters is from Belgium, in the other semi.

Oudin showed up at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center each round with "Believe" imprinted on her pink-and-purple sneakers and a remarkable ability to track down shots at the far corners of a court. Until the quarterfinal.

"I've always been strong mentally," Oudin said. "Today I was a little bit fragile. But Caroline made me like that. She made me frustrated [so] that I had to hit a winner on her. I got some free points from the other girls because they went [at the ball] more. Caroline was extremely consistent."

Wozniacki, a 5-9 beauty who has taken as much advantage of her looks as her shots, models for Stella McCartney's line of tennis clothes from adidas. Her play has been spectacular the last few months -- she has won three tournaments.

Yet she knew how Oudin had captured the hearts and minds.

"Normally I don't like to think about the match, the person I'm playing," Wozniacki said, "but every time I turned on the TV today, there she was, Melanie. I was a little nervous."

But only a little. "I went into my own bubble," Wozniacki said.

For Oudin the bubble burst.

"These past two weeks have been a lot different for me," Oudin said. "I've gone from being just a normal tennis player to everyone in the United States knowing who I am."

Someone who, despite being outplayed by Caroline Wozniacki, they won't forget.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12181192
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

SF Examiner: Niners attempting to return to greatness

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — They were the originals, the first major sports team in Northern California, created here, staying here, at times bumbling, at other times triumphant but at all times special.

The 49ers, who open another season Sunday, their 64th, are as much a regional treasure as a football team, as finally John York and son Jed figured out.

It never really mattered who owned them — the Morabitos, the DeBartolos, the Yorks. In effect, the 49ers belonged to the town, to the area, to the people.

The Giants came later. The Raiders came later. The Warriors came later. The A’s came later. The Sharks came much later. The Bay Area is chock-a-block with big-time pro franchises these days.

But from 1946 until the Giants arrived in 1958, there was just one franchise: the Niners.

Just one major pro team crossing the country in propeller planes.

Just one pro team playing the Cleveland Browns or Los Angeles Dons, and when the old All-America Football Conference merged into the NFL in 1950, the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants.

Major League Baseball was a weekly television show. We sent Bill Russell and K.C. Jones to the NBA, but we didn’t see them in person for another five years. The 49ers were our link to the rest of America.

The sports world is different than it was 50 years ago. Now it’s all about sales and commercialization, about getting out a message, about persuading people to show up at the stadium or to watch telecasts.

So the Niners, the marketing department in particular, have leased that billboard along the Bayshore Freeway, at the entrance road to Candlestick, with huge photo of Mike Singletary with the words “I want winners.” As if that’s a unique concept.

Frankie Albert wanted winners. Jack Christiansen wanted winners. Dick Nolan wanted winners. But not until Bill Walsh became coach was the wish fulfilled and did the frustration end.

You had to be here on that Sunday in January 1982 when the Niners, the losers, at last became winners. When the silence was over. When The City blew its top.

By then the Raiders had won two championships, the A’s three championships, the Warriors an NBA title. And yet there was nothing like the day the Niners escaped their penance.

The group that labeled itself “The Faithful,” the fans who never believed it could happen, were as much dumbfounded as ecstatic. Finally, out of the wilderness.

Singletary is a football man. He’s also a Chicago man. He’s a three yards and a cloud of Walter Payton man. That’s never been San Francisco football.

The Niners, from Frankie Albert back in ’46, have thrown the ball. They did have Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry, both of whom could run like mad. Yet the team’s fame, or infamy, was on the arms of Y.A. Tittle, John Brodie and eventually Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Get the ball to R.C. Owens, to Gene Washington, to Dwight Clark, to Jerry Rice.

Now the Niners, after six straight losing seasons, more than anything need to get wins, no matter who gets the ball.

History. It’s great, but a new generation of fans would trade it all for a place in the playoffs.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Niners-attempting-to-return-to-greatness-57952527.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company 

RealClearSports.com: Captain and the Queen Capture NY

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

NEW YORK -- There are 18 million people here, 18 million different stories. But only two matter. Two people, Melanie Oudin and Derek Jeter. Two stories, how one does on a tennis court, how the other does in the batter's box.

Front page, back page. It's Jeter, the Yankees' captain, and Oudin, the U.S. Open's queen. He's chasing the immortal Lou Gehrig. She's trying to go farther into a Grand Slam tournament than anybody could have imagined.

"SWEEP & SOUR'' was the headline in the Post. The Yanks had taken two from Tampa Bay, but Jeter had taken the collar, gone hitless. And above that was "'OU' GO GIRL! Magical Melanie reaches quarters."

A 17-year-old from Georgia. A 35-year-old from the Bronx Bombers. Tale after tale in the Big Town, and if you can make it here, we've been told, you can make it anywhere.

After 15 years and more than 2,700 hits, Jeter has made it. After 10 days and four straight wins over Russians, three of whom were heavily favored, Melanie has made it.

It's been steady progress for Jeter. That's the way career records work in baseball. Derek went hitless his first game in a Yankee uniform, in 1995, but after this Labor Day, even after going 0-for-8 in the doubleheader, he had 2,718 hits. That was four less than Gehrig's Yankee mark.

"It's not like I'm trying to do anything different," said Jeter. He's being watched, being scrutinized. There's not much else of interest in New York at the moment.

The Yanks are safely in front of the American League East. The Mets are dreadful. The football Giants and Jets don't begin until Sunday. Nothing else.

Except Melanie, the 5-foot-6 blend of hustle and heart.

"I just try to focus on what I do that day and not look back," said Jeter. His philosophy, if not his words, is exactly that of Melanie Oudin.

Even as pro for only two years, even ranked 70th in the world, she has figured out what all great athletes understand. You live in the moment.

For Jeter, that's the next pitch. For Oudin, that's the next ball over the net. His last at bat is irrelevant. Her last set is the same. He won't be thinking of 0-for-8. She said she wasn't thinking of losing the first set to Nadia Petrova, 6-1, on Monday. Melanie won the next two sets, 7-6, 6-3.

Jeter's been through this before, if not specifically in the quest for a record held by a man as famous and revered as Gehrig. Jeter has played in World Series, All-Star Games. He's dealt with the New York media more than a third of his life. The attention, the questions, they are part of the job, especially in a city with four dailies, three of them tabloids.

It's new for Oudin. In a way, it's frightening for Oudin. On Sunday, an off day, she went to Times Square for a photo shoot. The girl who used to gawk at celebrities, who found idols in Justine Henin (who's an inch shorter) or Serena or Venus Williams (who are the best in America), was now herself a celebrity. Photos and fans pushed closer, resulting in a free-for-all.

"Melanie is not used to that,'' said John Oudin, her father. "She said to me, ‘This is going to take some getting used to.' She's not used to being recognized all over."

Jeter is. It comes with the territory. The Daily News gave Jeter five inside pages, including page two, and also the back cover on Tuesday. Then again, it gave Melanie two pages. "COMEBACK KID DOES IT AGAIN'' was a headline spread across those pages.

Oudin made it to the quarterfinals. In the second round, she lost the first set to No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva but won the match. In the third round, she lost the first set to 2007 champion Maria Sharapova but won the match. In the third round, she lost the first set to Petrova but won the match.

"I don't actually mean to lose the first set," said Oudin. Her innocence is part of the charm. "Maybe I'm a little nervous and all this stuff."

But when the pressure is on, there are no nerves, just nerve.

"She gets pretty much in her own zone," said John Oudin. "Nothing breaks her focus. I don't know where she gets it from."

Wherever, mental toughness is perhaps an athlete's most important asset. Hang in there, coaches tell players. Don't quit. It's obvious Oudin never quits.

"It's just mentally, I'm staying in there with them the whole time and not giving up at all," Oudin said. "So they're going to have to beat me, because I'm not going anywhere."

Except to join Derek Jeter as one of the two brightest stars in New York City.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/08/captain_and_the_queen_capture_ny_96476.html
© RealClearSports 2009

CBSSports.com: American men nowhere to be found deep in 2009 U.S. Open

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK -- Maybe John McEnroe can save the U.S. Open. Sure, he's 50 years old. But he still has a forehand. And a name. And he's American, a triple that at this point in the last Grand Slam tennis event of the year makes him the one and only man in all three categories.

John's a broadcaster now, as you're aware. He no longer shouts at chair umpires. He comments into a microphone, telling the way it is and, especially when somebody misplays a shot, the way it should be.

In a way, this is his tournament. He grew up in Queens, not far from the tennis center, and after spending a year irritating people at Stanford, returned. He won the Open three times. He was emotional, occasionally irrational and supremely talented.

If he's not the most famous male on the grounds -- let's give the honor to Roger Federer -- Mac the Mouth sure is well known and respected. And cooperative. He'll do anything to help his sport.

Novak Djokovic, the No. 4 men's seed, waved Mac out of the booth Monday evening after Djokovic blitzed Radek Stepanek in straight sets. The night was young. Midnight still was 13 minutes away. Let's get it on.

First, McEnroe had to get it off, meaning his coat and tie. Then he slipped into his tennis shoes and rallied briefly. The fans loved it, of course.

They haven't loved a great deal else the way the men's draw has gone, from a parochial view. Six Americans made it to the third round, and one of them, James Blake, overly optimistic, contended, "All these guys are hungry. We're all getting better, feeding off each other."

But of those six, only one, John Isner, went to the fourth round. And when he was eliminated, for the first time in the 129 years of the event, whether the U.S. National Championships or starting in 1968 the U.S. Open, no American male reached the quarterfinals.

McEnroe's younger brother Patrick, who also played for Stanford, who also announces and who happens to be the U.S. Davis Cup captain, conceded, "The reality is the reality. The world has caught up at the same time I believe we can do a better job."

Great Britain didn't do a very good job, either. Andy Murray, the Scot, is No. 2 in the world and was a finalist here last year. But Tuesday he was ripped by a 20-year-old Croatian, Marin Cilic, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

Cilic's next opponent is five days older and 10 seeds higher, No. 6 Juan Martin Del Potro, who Tuesday was a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 winner over Juan Carlos Ferrero. Del Potro is American -- South American, having grown up in the cattle town of Tandil, Argentina.

He's the sort of kid -- Del Potro will be 21 on Sept. 23 -- the United States only wished it had. He beat Andy Roddick in a final in August at Washington, D.C., and seven days later lost to Murray in the final at Montreal.

"I have the confidence," Del Potro said. "I beat many good players in Washington and Montreal, and now I beat good players on this surface." Meaning cement, very unlike the clay courts upon which he learned the game in Argentina.

"I have everything to do a good tournament," said Del Potro, not as adept in English as other players on Tour. "But I would like to be in the semis or my first final.

"It's a big difference past the quarters to the semis. I was so close in French Open to get to the final."

Close? Never mind close. If John McEnroe were 30 years younger, the U.S. would be close to having a man who could play tennis like people from the rest of the world.

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12176032
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.

CBSSports.com: Believe it: Oudin dispatches another Russian to extend surprising run

By Art Spander
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

NEW YORK --- This is Hollywood stuff. A young woman with "Believe" on her sneakers and fearlessness in her constitution shows up at the biggest tennis tournament in America and proves irresistible and at this point unbeatable.

Melanie Oudin is a human backboard, a dyed-blonde Energizer Bunny.

She's a teen queen who acts as if she doesn't take herself seriously but talks as if she someday is going to take over her whole sport, which is not beyond the realm of possibility.

What she lacks on serve -- she's only 5-6 -- she makes up in nerve, never giving up in a match when falling behind, as she invariably seems to do, or on a point, even on balls seemingly hit beyond her limited reach.

Oudin knocked out yet another Russian on Monday in this U.S. Open, the fourth in four matches, outhustling, outracing and eventually outplaying befuddled Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 and at age 17 becoming the youngest quarterfinalist since Serena Williams in 1999.

It was great theater at Arthur Ashe Court for a sellout crowd of 24,000, which provincially, and not undeservedly, proved loudly biased for Oudin.

At match point, fans stood and hollered the way they do in the top of the ninth when Yankees need only one more out and Mariano Rivera needs only one more strike.

What Oudin, the kid from Marietta, Ga., in the Atlanta suburbs, needs is nothing. She's got it all -- enthusiasm, dyed blonde hair and just enough naivete to endear her to anyone -- except her opponents.

Oudin lost the first set to No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva in the second round, lost the first set to former champion Maria Sharapova in the third round and then lost the first set to Petrova, the No. 13 seed.

"I actually don't mean to lose the first set," she told a group of media, drawing a large laugh. But such innocence is perfectly acceptable, especially with U.S tennis in great need for some heroines beyond Serena and Venus Williams.

Asked to describe what she has done, Oudin, who came to the tournament No. 70 in the rankings, said, "It's kind of hard. Like today there are no tears because I believed I could do it. And it's now like I belong here."

She belongs, all right. You don't drop the first set in 31 minutes, fall behind 4-3 in the second and then flail and rip your way to a victory if you don't belong.

"It was tough," Oudin said. "She was all over me. But I kept fighting."

That's a virtue long prized, the never-say-die spirit, the against-all-odds victory. You keep thinking Oudin has no chance against those taller, harder-serving women. It's they who have no chance, and they continue to offer repetitive explanations that make it appear Oudin is doing it with smoke, mirrors and crowd noise.

"She's done very well," Petrova conceded. "I mean, she won quite a few very good matches, and it's a lot of pressure and a big stadium. The first time you feel so excited and everything is so new and kind of like you have absolutely nothing to lose and you go and do it."

She's done it. Petrova implied she allowed Oudin to do it.

"I have a feeling I didn't finish the job," Petrova said. "At 4-3, having 40-15 in the game, I went for my shot down the line. That didn't go in. Then the next point was a long rally, and she came up with an unbelievable winner down the line.

"Winning that game kind of gave her a second breath. She realized, 'OK, I'm back in the game.' And probably after winning previous matches, she thought, 'I can do it again.'"

She always thinks that way.

"She gets pretty much in her own zone," said her father, John Oudin. "Nothing breaks her focus. I don't know where she gets it from."

Wherever, mental toughness is perhaps an athlete's most important asset. Hang in there, coaches tell players. Don't quit. It's obvious Oudin never quits.

"Mentally, I'm staying in there with them the whole time and not giving up at all," Oudin said. "So they're going to have to beat me, because I'm not going anywhere."

Literally, she did go someplace, to Times Square on her day off, Sunday, for a photo shoot. It turned into a near free-for-all, photogs and fans battling each other for a picture or an autograph.

"Melanie is not used to that," John Oudin said. "She said to me, 'This is going to take some getting used to.' She's not used to being recognized all over."

Nor is she used to becoming a quarterfinalist in a Grand Slam, but she likes the feeling.

"This is my dream forever," Melanie said. "I've worked so hard for this, and it's finally happening. It's amazing."

It's Hollywood. Except it's real. As Oudin has on the sides of her shoes, "Believe."

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http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/12171877
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.