If you don't get the joke, watch this. Yes, it was staged, just like the Eminem/Bruno incident at the MTV Movie Awards earlier this year was also staged. These awards shows are so bad that they've become desperate for ratings. It's no wonder I haven't watched them in years.
btw, Federer and Nadal were joked about on "90210" last night:
"Aren't you supposed to be like Federer or something?"
"Nah more like Nadal."
Haha. It's nice to see tennis mentioned in popular culture.
Andy's appearance on David Letterman last night was great. Andy was relaxed and funny and best of all, no holes in his jeans! Although wearing black socks with brown shoes is a no-no. C'mon Brooklyn, help fix your man's wardrobe. :)
The US Open Facebook page has lots of photos of Andy making the rounds yesterday. Check them out. But those pics of Andy wearing a Yankees baseball cap? Ow, my eyes, my eyes...
Today is a busy day for Andy Roddick, and for his fans whose DVR's will be busy.
For the first time ever, the US Open draw was announced live on ESPNews early this afternoon. Andy is in Roger Federer's half of the draw, and in Novak Djokovic's quarter. Nadal, Murray, and Del Potro are all on the other side. Andy's first-round opponent will be Germany's Bjorn Phau.
At 1:00pm today, Andy threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Yankees-Rangers baseball game.
NEW YORK - AUGUST 27: Tennis player Andy Roddick throws out the first pitch of the game between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers on August 27, 2009 at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Getty Images)
This afternoon, Andy will tape his guest appearance on The David Letterman Show, which will air tonight (Thurs., August 27) at 11:35pm EST. This is Andy's first appearance on Letterman in six years.
Later on this evening, Andy will attend the 10th annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis. Also attending will be Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas, Billie Jean King and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who will cook-up culinary aces alongside TV personality and celebrity chef Bethenny Frankel, Carla Hall and Ariane Duarte from Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and Gotham Bar and Grill’s Alfred Portale.
On Saturday, Andy will attend 2009 Arthur Ashe Kids' Day which will air on Sunday, Aug. 30 (Andy's 27th birthday!) on CBS from 12:00pm - 1:30pm EST. I will also be attending AAKD, yippee! Click here for more info if you want to go to AAKD. Other players who are planning to attend: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, James Blake, and Rafael Nadal. A superstar roster, for sure.
Also on Sunday, ESPN Classic will re-air the classic Roddick-Nalbandian 2003 USO semifinal at 7:00pm EST. If you have ESPN Classic and never saw this match I highly recommend it. As one Twitter fan put it, "This was the match that made me a Roddick fan." He wasn't the only one.
And I'm still over the moon about it, nor can I quite put into words what I'm feeling. What a legendary performance from Andy Roddick. No doubt this ranks as one of his best wins in his career.
As it happened: Andy Murray vs Andy Roddick, Wimbledon 2009 [The Guardian]
Nobody gave Andy a snowball's chance in hell of beating Murray. Not any "expert" or pundit, not the bettors sites, not his own fans and defenders (not even me), and certainly not the British media who have been drunk on Murraymania all week long and had looked past Roddick in anticipation of their "dream final" of Murray vs Federer.
Larry Stefanki and Team Roddick did not get that memo. They had a master plan worked out and Roddick executed it beautifully. The world ate a massive piece of humble pie when the forgotten and dismissed champion, Andy Roddick, sent the Scottish hero home to bed without any supper. Eat up, everyone. Om nom nom.
Here's a video of Andy's interview with Mary Carillo and John McEnroe after his semifinal win over Andy Murray. You can see just how much the win meant to him and how humbled he is by making another Wimbledon final, something he thought he'd never do again.
"I feel like the guy who shot Bambi." — Andy Roddick, on beating Murray
And here is Andy's after-match oncourt interview with the BBC. If you saw this live tell me you did not tear up watching this. I don't cry often over sports but seeing Andy collapse on the stairs while the Wimbledon club members applauded him really got me choked up. Mary Carillo said Andy did not know that the cameraman was right behind him. What a moment.
Video: Roddick beats Murray then collapses
"Our Andy beat your Andy!" — gleeful headline from ESPN's Sportscenter
The USTA has begun rolling out its new US Open series commercials, "It Must Be Love", featuring several tennis players talking about how great it is to play the summer North American hardcourts. Here's Andy's video. You can view other players including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Serena and Venus Williamshere.
ESPN Video: Andy Roddick on Advancing to the Semifinals
Related news items: • "Roddick kept career on track" [SF Gate, Bruce Jenkins]
A lesser man would have retreated by now. Perhaps not an outright retirement, but a slow fade into irrelevance. Credit Andy Roddick - "the best bad tennis player of all time," as he jokingly calls himself - for offering a remarkable study in perseverance.
• "Roddick has gotten crafty in his advanced age" [WSJ]
When he arrived on the tour in 2000, Andy Roddick had a thunderous 140 mph serve and little regard for finesse, not unlike a young Nolan Ryan or Randy Johnson. These days, Mr. Roddick, 26, still unloads on the ball, but it’s his Greg Maddux-like craftiness that allows him to remain the best server in tennis.
• "Hewitt writes off Roddick's chances against Murray" [AFP]
"I think it's going to be a tough one for Roddick to win. When I've seen Andy Murray at his best, I think he matches up extremely well against Roddick," said Hewitt. "A couple years ago I saw them play here because they were in my section, and Murray took care of him convincingly. Murray's a lot better player now than he was then. Roddick's going to have to play a helluva match to beat him."
• "At Wimbledon, Andy Roddick flies solo as America's ace" [NY Daily News, Filip Bondy]
Maybe it's time we stop picking on Andy Roddick.
This is no easy resolution, because Roddick is the only men's tennis player we get to kick around in America. He is, by default, the sole target for our frustration, rage and impatience. If we must rant about our limitations with a racket, about our six years without a single Grand Slam title, then Roddick is the guy.
• "Roddick wants to do more than show up" [NY Times, Christopher Clarey]
After succeeding in working his way back into the conversation at the top of men’s tennis, now comes the harder part for Andy Roddick: winning the argument.
• "Don't count out Andy Roddick at Wimbledon" [NY Daily News, Mike Lupica]
It's like 2002 all over again with the "New Balls" (now Old Balls, as Andy said in his presser) Andy, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Tommy Haas all in the quarterfinals. I'd add Federer to the list but he's been there all along; with these four it's more like a class reunion.
Reporter: It's a bit of a revival of the 'New Balls Please' campaign right now in the quarter-finals, yes?
Andy Roddick: Now we're just Old Balls. (entire room dies laughing)
ESPN Video: Roddick Outlasts Hewitt To Reach Semis
So it's Andy vs Andy in the semis. The 'real' Andy versus the 'other' Andy (depending on where you live). That will be a crazy match. Keep it going, Andy. As Michael Jackson would say, Don't stop 'til you get enough.
I hate to say it but I'm having a hard time getting into Wimbledon this year, partly due to Rafael Nadal having to withdraw. Whether you're a fan of his or not for a slam to not have its defending champion play at all is a big loss. I've been watching some of the matches with one eye open but I've mostly been distracted by the Iranian election protests, and then on Thursday two 80s icons, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, died. Talk about a punch to the stomach. When the news of Jackson's death hit the internet I was feeling rather discombobulated about it all. I was surprised how much his death had affected me.
I'm not surprised that Jackson's death affected the tennis players, many of whom were born around the time Jackson ruled the airwaves (and MTV back when they used to play music videos):
Andy Roddickvia Twitter: oh my lord..... michael jackson died........ RIP sad and surreal
regardless of what u think of him he was completely revolutionary and will be missed
@mrbobbybones yeah absolutely this is a worldwide thing ... goes without saying. its continuin coverage on all major newsfeeds here 2:16 AM Jun 26th from web
Q. Where were you and what were your immediate thoughts when you heard the news that Michael Jackson had died?
ROGER FEDERER: I was at the house late last night. Obviously, you know, I love his music. It wasn't clear, you know, what had happened, you know. So I waited for sort of to see what's gonna happen and the confirmation.
Sure, a very sad moment I think in the music world. You know, he touched many people. Same for me. But I'll obviously still listen to his music for many more years to come.
Q. What do you consider the aspect that you appreciate the most of his performances?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, I remember, I don't know, back maybe in '88 or '89, he came to Basel. I was outside of the stadium, because there was such excitement that he would come. I was still very young. I think I went there with my sister, and we just listened from the outside, you know.
Yeah, always listened to his music. And, yeah, it's sad. You know, it really is.
Q. What did Michael Jackson mean to you personally? Would you think about dedicating today's victory perhaps?
SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, he was a great guy, a complete icon. Words can't express my shock and horror, you know, just thoughts and prayers that go out to him and his family and just everything. It's just terrible, terrible, terrible thing.
I'm surprised nobody has elicited a response from Novak Djokovic about Jackson's death because Novak did a great dance routine of "Thriller" at the Monte Carlo party this year:
As for Farrah, my sister and I used to watch "Charlie's Angels" all the time. We had the dolls, the hideaway house, the Farrah bust where you could style her famous hair and put on her makeup. We could never get the hair to look like the real-life Farrah's. Many people hated that show but to little girls like us, Charlie's Angles' were the original Girl Power supergroup. RIP to both Ms. Fawcett and Mr. Jackson.
Getting back to the tennis, with regards to this blog post's title, ESPN aired a nice profile of Andy's trials and tribulations of living in the Federer-Nadal era. Watch it here. And good luck to Andy today, I hope he can beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets.
Andy Roddick did a radio interview with Jonathan Ross today. It'll be available for six days. The intro for Andy begins around 2:09:55. Andy himself finally shows up somewhere around 2:40:30.
You can also download the .mp3 file here, thanks to Freedom Fly for the file!
Jonathan Ross LOL: "I don't have time to watch tennis it's on for bloody hours."
