JMR's List of the 5 Longest Sporting Events Ever

They probably didn't think that they would have to play each other three days in a row.  But here we are.  John Isner, a 19th seeded! American has battled qualifier Nicolas Mahut to a virtual draw.  It even made the cover of ESPN, something men's tennis has failed to do in years (except when talking about Andre Agassi's drug habits or the rampant betting that occurs in Men's Tennis).  Incidentally, this match has been suspended not once, but twice, because of darkness.

Even though the match winner still has not been determined, almost every record in the history of tennis match play has been broken - number of games, length of match, number of points, longest set, most aces.  In fact, I saw a table of longest matches, and the Isner-Mahut match is longer by 50 PERCENT than the second longest match.  It got me to thinking about what the longest games have been in the five major sports in the U.S.  At first, I looked here for the answers, but decided that that was a little over the top.

1. Baseball.  It wouldn't be baseball unless there were actually TWO records.  One record for most innings and one record for longest game in hours.  In fact the game that holds the record for most innings (26) actually ended as a tie game (Dodgers 1 Braves 1, May 1, 1920).  There is no doubt that Bud Selig used this game as his litmus test when he called a tie in the All Star game 5 years ago.  The longest game in time occured back in 1984 when the White Sox defeated the Brewers 7-6 in a game that lasted 8 hours and 6 minutes.  The fans I'm sure were excited to sit through that game knowing that beer and food were sold out at hour 2 of that game.

2.  Football.  Christmas Day, 1971.  An NFL Playoff Game between the Dolphins and the Chiefs.  The Dolphins eventualy won this game with 7 minutes and 40 seconds gone in the Second Overtime.  The funny thing about this actually was my research.  So many people were condemned for asking such a "stupid" question.  They were scolded that games end up in a tie after the 15 minute overtime.  Followed shortly by the answer given above.   At least three research sites had this string of questions, snarky answers and salty responses.

3.  Basketball.  In a 6 overtime thriller, the Indianapolis Olympians defeated the Rochester Royals 75-73 on January 6, 1951.  A real yawner of a game, if you ask me.  I understand that in the 30 minutes of overtime play, only 23 shots were taken.  23 SHOTS?  How is this entertaining?  By the way, how did the team from Indiana get the name, the "Olympians?"

4.  Hockey.  March 24, 1936.  This is the time of the original 6.  Mud Brunteau scored the game winner for the Red Wings as Detroit defeated the Montreal (soon to be) the Canadiens in the sixth overtime of a semifinal playoff game.

5.  Soccer. (European Football).  Who cares?

So tomorrow, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will face each other for a third consecutive day.  Neither of these guys will win their second round match regardless, and maybe they don't care.  They just want this to end.  I don't blame them.  As John Isner said at the end of Day 2, "Nothing like this will ever happen again.  Ever."  I hope not, for their sake.

photo courtesy of cnnsi.com

Why I am up Watching the Australian Open

Work needs to get done.  Insomnia.  Doppelganger freaking me out.  The wife is snoring.  The kids and visiting dog are crying.  A shooting pain down the back makes it impossible to sleep.  Why is one up at 3 in the morning?  Those are my usual reasons.  Normally, this is harbinger of bad luck - being up this early.  Except for a brief period of time in January and February when, even at the most ridiculous hours, live sports may be found.

I admit that I like tennis.  I really don't get a chance (or should I say that I am not permitted) to watch sports live or on TV very often, so I usually keep it to the big three - Baseball, Football and Basketball.  It's much easier to pretend that a game in one of those sports is important.  Either for standings or for betting.

It's tougher to justify with tennis.  No one in their right mind bets on professional tennis (golf I can somewhat understand, but professional tennis? Please seek help if you bet on tennis, I'm sure Nikolay Davydenko did.)  And I am usually called onto the carpet if I pretend that a match is important.  But the important tennis tournaments offer a unique opportunity.  The French Open and Wimbledon are usually played early in the morning on the East Coast.  The U.S. Open plays late matches under the Flushing lights.  And in January, when I can't sleep?  It's just me and the Hitachi watching tennis from Down Under.  I'm not sure how many hours ahead Australia is, all I know is that when it is dark here, it's light there.  I also think that if some someone is coming home from the bars down there and drunk dials, they will be calling right after the dialing respondent gets back from lunch.  Nevertheless, this is a perfect way to kill some time.

3am.  Home.  I'm not sure why they are playing the first match.  Roger Federer vs. some guy named "Hanescu" in the Second Round.  I don't bother trying to find out anything about this guy, including his first name.  I wonder to myself how many games Federer is going to give up here.  6? 7?  He might be distracted trying to cover up his own tracks as his (former) Gillette buddy is spending time in "rehab" in Mississippi.  You know they went out to the clubs when Tiger was in Europe.  Maybe 10 games? 12?  Perhaps we should ask Prince William what he thinks since it appears that he is sitting in one of the front rows.  How do I know?  They KEEP showing him!  It's happening so often after points that I'm beginning to think he's one of the player's boyfriends.

In the end, Federer won 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.  Shortly after the match, while being interviewed, former American tennis great Jim Courier points in the direction of Prince William and favorably (I guess) compares Federer with Prince William as both cover their faces in horror and embarrassment (those asshole Americans, they both must be thinking).

5am.  Home.  We are then treated to 5 minutes of Taylor Dent getting his American butt whipped in straight sets.  Well done!  But wait.  Things are happening fast and furious now as ESPN immediately cuts to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also winning in straight sets.  Two hours of tennis, three blowouts.

5:15am.  Home.  Bummer.  Live tennis has taken a back seat so ESPN can replay Venus Williams against an opponent named Bammer.  I'm not kidding about the name.  I go onto the Internet to see that Williams destroyed Bammer in straight sets also.  Yawn.  Then another replay, this time of Lleyton Hewitt against an American named Donald Young.  No need to tell you what happened there, either.  Checking the scores, I see that live tennis is being played, yet they are showing replays of yesterday's matches.  No one is watching anyway ESPN just put the live sports on!  Please?

6:00am  Home.  No dice on live tennis.  I see that the next match after Venus Williams plays features her sister Serena Williams.  Since ESPN just groups their stories as "Williams Sisters Do This" and "Williams Sisters Do That..." I already know what happened in with Serena Williams.  Maybe I'm just not motivated to discover, when I'm watching sports from overseas late at night, that they are simply replaying the previous days' matches.  I could be watching golf or life coaching infomercials right now. 

6:30am.  Home.  Visions of tennis balls and hardcourts start dancing through my head.  I guess it's time to head back to bed.  That's okay, the Federer match will probably be on again when I wake up.

Is a Williams' Sister Going to Win Again Review?

I started reading Rick Reilly's column about the underreported Williams' Sisters http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=4423192 and was genuinely confused, since SportsCenter usually goes nuts when they are playing in the slams. No one really cares about Tennis other than the slams, so it seemed to me that they were simply "reported" not "underreported." It didn't take me very long to get his point, though. It's not that they are underreported, it's that they could dominate the sport without really caring, and the 2009 US Open was no exception. They both took time off. Fashionistas they are! "Celebrity" boyfriends. It doesn't matter. With Venus playing against some Russian "ova," I decided to take a look at Venus' intensity and drive and watch tennis for the first time in years without my Streak for Cash on the line.

7:30pm. What the hell is David Robinson and Doug Flutie doing on Center Court? After I get over how diminutive Flutie really is, I am struck by a montage of feel good pictures of some school called the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. I'm not sure my kids would get into college if they were learning from Andre Agassi. A disastrous rendition of America the Beautiful by Rob Thomas and an unnamed guitarist followed Andre's Stay in School speech. My wife was getting peeved that I was watching this in the first place, and after an hour it hadn't even started yet. Closer to the matchtime, Pam Shriver interviews the Russian. I can't really understand a word she says, but it really doesn't matter, does it? After a brief interview with Venus, where she uttered one word answers to a couple of inane questions, Mary Carillo chides Shriver that she "cracks the Williams like walnuts." Oh my.

The first game of the first set starts just as everyone expected - Venus overpowers the young Russian (Her name is Dushevina) for the first couple of points. The older folks are starting to get a little sleepy, but then pow - a couple of double faults and a couple of mishits - and the Dush breaks serve! I am interested to see how Williams responds.

I was getting a little bored though waiting for some sort of response, I admit, so I turned the station with the young Russian leading the match. When I returned, I saw the trainer working on Venus' knee. Of course! If I were a heavy favorite and I were losing, I would be accentuating my balky knee myself - either that or leg cramps. I do hear Rob Thomas and Santana in the background, just to rub salt into Rob Thomas' wounds of a music career. Rob probably didn't get good enough seats to hear the background music?

I come back several minutes later to the Dush serving for the set, but I also see Venus moving around even better than before with the miracle knee wrap. I lose interest again for a little while, look up, and see that the first set has been stolen by the young Russian. Venus' knee has got to be hurting now more than ever.

And as the second set begins, we learn that the knee has been bothering Venus for 6 weeks. Why didn't someone tell Reilly? Back and forth the crippled Williams and the Dush go - point/counterpoint. Finally, serving for the set, Williams unleashes three tremendous serves. The young Russian looks rattled heading into set 3.

After Williams smoked the first 4 games, the young Russian appeared to finally get the concept of moving the hobbled Williams around the court and won the next three games. It's too late though and Williams ultimately won in the third set. Despite the announcers treating Williams like her leg was shot, it appeared to me that Williams' knee will be just fine. She alarmingly lacked any fire, though, even when the match was on the line in the second set. A couple of glares at the Dush was all she could muster at the end of the match. Based on this match, my review is that she loses in the second or third round. I hope that goes underreported.

P.S. Roddick must be excited to start his match at 11pm.