Notes from the Red Bird House

I guess I've become 'that' tennis fan. I'm watching a match played earlier today and I saw the score so I already know who wins. It's the third Rubber (yes, that's what it's really called) of the Fed Cup semi final match between Czech Republic and Italy. I like Italy for the overall win, just as I liked Great Britain over Argentina, Australia over Switzerland, and the U.S. over Sweden before the weekend began. I was up in the air about Russia vs. Slovakia. I am well aware that most American tennis fans barely cared about the US tie much less who might come out victorious between France and Kazakhstan (France killed them 4-1). Remember, I'm not 'that' tennis fan. I'm 'that' tennis fan. I give a lot of the credit this weekend to Tennis Channel, Twitter, and my very cool Fed Cup iPhone app. In my previous incarnation as a tennis fan, I was at the mercy of CBS, ESPN, and Tennis Magazine. Needless to say (though I'm apparently going...

The U.S. Open starts tomorrow and for the first time in more than a decade, I'm excited about it. I've checked the draw and I know who my favorites are playing, much like I used to do with Steffi and Gabriella back in the late '80s and early '90s. Thanks to a well-placed and largely self-promotional Facebook post, I also know that my favorite-favorite opens the tournament at 10:00am CDT on the Arthur Ashe stadium court. Yes, social media and the Internet are going to make this U.S. Open impossibly easy to follow. And if ESPN follows through with their promise of complete coverage, I'll watch as many matches live as I can around work, school, and my re-burgeoning tennis career. It's funny what you don't miss until you miss it. Years passed and I never gave tennis a thought. Players played and matches were won and lost. Rankings held, rankings fell. Grand Slams came and went. If I saw a score on ESPN I may have paid attention, but then again I probably igno...