Babyfaced assassains

Posted by BESS: Apologies for neglecting the blog. I have, indeed, been watching tennis. But I've also had a lot of cooking, subsequent cleaning and socializing to do. That done, I'll now return to thrilling you with my US Open recaps. (I'll just assume our one reader is thrilled.)

My good friend Jeff Winker is at the Open this weekend. This is particularly heartbreaking for me because the one and only time I attended the Open was with Jeff and his beautiful wife Heather. We had a fantastic time, and they got to meet--and stay with--my grandparents and great-aunts. All of whom are now deceased. In fact, Jeff's first email to me from the 2011 Open included this comment: "Alas, no Roma." (My grandmother.) Alas, indeed.

But I'm glad Jeff's having some fun, and I appreciate the opportunity to live vicariously through him over the weekend. Here's some of what he's been observing:

• First, here's the view from his baseline seats for Isner-Ginepri. His takeaway from this match was "Isner -- even taller in person. But slow."

• Jeff was then watching the Murray-Haase match. Jeff's a fan of Murray (I know, inexplicable), so I emailed him when it appeared Murray was down for the count. I asked what was up with his boy tanking and Jeff's response was, "He looks terrible. Like he just got off the plane, walked into the stadium and it was already the second set. Maybe he stopped at Carnegie Deli on his way in." Murray would go on to win the match, however.
  
  Jeff did comment that Haase looked "legit," though. I remarked that Haase's 'fro was more legit than Andy's, as well as his tennis. Jeff's response? "It's very powerful hair." That's the best hair-related phrase since my co-worker Derek brilliantly used the phrase, "Her hair looks like Las Vegas" to describe the hair of someone important at work. Who shall remain nameless.

• Jeff then moved to the nosebleed seats in Arthur Ashe stadium to cheer for Kansas City's own Jack Sock. A few notes, here. Jeff now lives in KC. And despite all the talk about Sock being from Nebraska (which he is) he actually plays in KC now. So evidently there are a few areas claiming him as their own.
  
  Jeff then shared this observation: "Arthur Ashe stadium may be the worst place to see live sports I've ever been to." As far as the nosebleed seats go, I'd have to agree. It's like climbing a ladder to get up there! But Jeff, Heather and I also had great seats in Ashe for a day session (when I got to see Andre play!) And from those seats I thought the action was great fun to watch. And the atmosphere is, indeed, electric. So the key is to pay up the wazoo for good tickets if you're going to be in Ashe. Otherwise you might as well be on one of the smaller courts with closer seats for less money. #tip

• The next day, Jeff got to see the match Berdych pulled out of. As well as Federer's match. And "awesome" mixed doubles (SQUEE! the name of our blog!) with Jack Sock/Melanie Oudin taking on Bob Bryan/Liezel Huber. Sock/Oudin pulled it out in a tiebreak, prompting Jeff's friend Barry to nickname them the "babyfaced assassains," which I love! Do you agree the nickname is apt?
  
  Here's Oudin:

And here's Sock:

• Today Jeff is in Ashe and got to watch Rafa play. He promised to alert me when the shirt came off. And he did. Good job, old friend. This is the same guy who made me give back his sports goggles many years ago when he discovered that I was just using them to check out Brooke Shields' hair... not to watch the match. Glad he's come to understand what's really important to me. :-)

I hope you're all having as fun a weekend as Jeff is at the Open. And that you're not as bored as Dave claims to be. Despite this post from just mere days ago...