Why tennis is better than THE IOWA CAUCUSES

Posted by Dave: Here they are. The top 10 reasons that tennis is better than the Iowa caucuses:

10. Tennis players and fans are smart. They head Down Under in January, rather than here to frosty Iowa, where Bess and I both live.

9. Tennis opponents don’t run a zillion smear ads against one another on television. (Though, maybe they should. Could be entertaining.)

8. Color commentary is by folks like Chris Fowler and Mary Joe Fernandez, rather than the likes of Wolf Blitzer and Candy Crowley.

7. Politicians make many promises they can’t keep. Tennis players generally don’t. (Generally, I said.)

6. Role models like Billie Jean King and Andre Agassi fight for the greater good -- equality, education, AIDS research, etc. – without chasing political office.

5. Rising stars like Jack Sock and Melanie Oudin don’t stuff mailboxes, like politicians do, in an attempt to win respect. They simply play their best and let the results speak for themselves.

4. Tennis fans speculate about who has a shot at winning the Slams this year, rather than who might win in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. (Yawn.)

3. They don’t put six or seven tennis players on court at once, like they do in an early-season political debate, and expect the public to figure out who’s the best. Every step of the way in tennis is a true head-to-head competition.

2. Unlike politics, there are well-defined rules, boundaries and scoring practices in tennis.

1. Imagine if Iowans like Bess and I had sole power (and in early January, no less!) to determine who stays in the running for year-ending ATP or WTA points leader status. Not sure America – or the world – would be happy with our choices.

NOTE: This is a new feature on our blog. What do YOU think tennis is better than? Post your idea here or message us directly via Twitter (@mixdubs) with suggestions for future installments in this series.

Now THAT was some tennis! (even JT agrees)

Posted by DAVE: Holy cow! How about Djok taking out Fed in five sets?! Amazing! That was some seriously awesome tennis. Well done, gentlemen, well done.

Fed was in charge when I had to leave for an appointment. Just now saw the final set on DVR. So good! Must go back and watch the whole thing. Why can't I be a star like Justin and have a more leisurely life? Not fair.

Bess tells me Oudin and Wristband (i.e. Sock) won mixed last night, 10-8 in the second set tiebreak. Forgot to watch. Dang it. I'll blame it on an overdose of wine, gelato and chocolate (don't ask) with an old college friend. Anyway, can I say that it's *slightly* grating to me that Oudin and Sock are younger than most of my college students, yet they each made more for winning that title than I earn in an entire year?

I seriously need to get on this becoming-a-celebrity thing.

(c) Wenn / TMZ

Tidbits while we wait ... and wait and wait ...

Posted by DAVE: I refuse to blog about these rain delays. If you want commentary on that, just tune to ESPN2 or USA Network. You'll hear about them in painful, excruciating detail. And you might even catch Shriver doing a live weather report from what looks like a third-rate version of the intern training studio at The Weather Channel. Seriously, she was doing the weather earlier today.

Ridiculous.

On to other thoughts:

• Have you seen the video of Nadal cramping up in his post-match interview a few days ago? If not, they're re-running that on TV about every 20 minutes. If you can't stand listening to the commentators anymore, here's the clip. It's mildly entertaining.

• Evert really needs to be using this downtime to get trained as a commentator. Her latest? She said the female players suffer from "inconfidence" when it comes to playing Serena. Mind you, this sounded like "incontinence" when she said it. (That might not be far from the truth; I'd be peeing my pants, too, if I had to try to return Serena's serve.) But, Chrissie, it's "unconfidence" or "lack of confidence." Choose your words carefully and enunciate. Please try harder, or at least consider calling my good friends at Wixted Pope Nora Thompson.

• Capriati (and a few guys) have been nominated for the Hall of Fame. Woot!

• The young Americans, Oudin and Sock (aka Wristband), have made it to the semis in mixed doubles. Woot again! When will their next match be played? Heaven only knows.

Back to the waiting ...

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...

Maria, I know exactly how you feel

Posted by DAVE: Last night, I was down for the count with a massive headache. Tonight, it's Sharapova's turn. Knocked out, 4-6 in the third, by Pennetta. Such a disappointment, once again. But I will not give up hope! Maria will win at least one more Slam before she retires. You heard it here first. (Does that make me a tennis analyst, Roddick?! LOL)

So, yeah, I'm left with Stosur on the bottom half of the women's. (shrug) As for the men, the only head-to-head match-up left in my draw is Tsonga/Fish. I guess that's interesting. Sort of. Maybe?

One thing is for certain. I need my friend, Stace, to stop texting me results during the day. That's how I heard about Maria. And about Young taking out Wawrinka. Who needs DVR?! Actually, I would be happy with cable tonight. Mine's out, so I'm watching Roddick/Sock via live stream. It's like watching with a strobe light on. I might turn off the commentators (who needs analysts anyway, right, Roddick?!) and switch on some dance tracks from my iTunes library. Anything to make this Open more exciting.

(c) Joe Klamar / Getty Images

USA! USA! USA!

Posted by DAVE: Looking ahead in the men's draw, the only two matches that interest me are Ginepri v. Isner and Roddick vs. Sock. All four Americans. Woot!

Used to dig Ginepri and his game. Isner reminds me of early-career Davenport; tall and powerful, but sort of awkward and with questionable body language. Roddick is, well, Roddick; what's not to like? (Rhetorical question.) And Sock? Don't know a thing about him, other than he's 18 y/o, last year's junior U.S. Open champ and a Nebraska native, like Roddick. But what kind of player has the last name Sock? Why not Shoe? Or Racket? Or even Wristband? I'm intrigued.

Go USA!