Category Archives: Tennis

Beating those Sportin’ Summertime Blues

Sometimes I wonder what I’m a gonna do/ But there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.

Actually the whole point of this late July sports catch up — just to let you know that Seedy K hasn’t retired — is that there are cures for sports fans in the heat of summer.

Buuuuut, I love me some Eddie Cochran (And The Who’s “Live at Leeds” version of the tune if that’s your reference point), so I had to throw in some rock & roll, don’t ya know.

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Anyway, as I accelerate ever more swiftly into my dotage with the attendant cognitive life changes attendant, it’s nice to report that I’ve discovered a situation where my memory loss is actually an advantage.

Though I loved Wimbledon, cherish the coverage of the Tour, must admit to having caught a moment or two watching the Coming of Lonzo in Vegas, and have the final round of what I am required by the specter of Old Tom Morris as well as Royal & Ancient British Golf Authority to call The Open (Not British Open), I remain first and foremost a college sports fan. Gimme a pigskin Saturday, or Friday or Thursday or Tuesday; or a hardwood Sunday afternoon from the Carrier Dome or Cameron Indoor, and I’m a happy camper.

Not to mention that such status places me firmly in the majority of sports fans in my neck of the woods, who love the college games.

So, I lingered longer than I should last night as The World Wide Leader replayed one battle on its list of last season’s Top 25 college football tussles. Continue reading Beating those Sportin’ Summertime Blues

Sports Shots 7/08: Hoops? Of course it’s Mostly Hoops

b-ballYeah, I’m back. Miss me?

You think I’m really going to try and talk European soccer with you, France vs. Portugal for the title, or Tour de France,  or Wimbledon?

Of course not. Though I’ll reiterate, NBC bike race announcers Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen remain my favorite announcing duo in any sport.

What you care about is who’s hot at the Peach Jam? You know, basketball recruiting. Well, I’m not going to talk about that either.

Golden State with Kevin Durant. Of course, the buzz is, how many titles are the Dubs going to win with their New Death Lineup?

And all I’m thinking is, how come you guys never listen? Have you not learned yet that the best conglomeration of players does not necessarily the best team make.

Let me remind you once again, as if I haven’t already ad nauseum every time talk of a super team comes up.

Lesson #1. Los Angeles Lakers, three seasons from 1968-71.

Three players on that team were among the very best in the NBA at the time. In fact, those three players remain among the Top Ten guys who balled in the 20th C.

Wilt Chamberlain.

Jerry West.

Elgin Baylor.

They never won a title. Continue reading Sports Shots 7/08: Hoops? Of course it’s Mostly Hoops

Hump Day Harkles: Hoops, Pigskin, Tennis, Etc.

cardsU of L released its men’s basketball schedule today.

As expected, the non-conference home slate is overrun with schleppers. Samford, Hartford, North Florida . . . oh, it’s too painful to give you the full list.

Western Ky’s Hilltoppers come to town on December 19. In a runaway, it’s the zestiest of the Yum! tilts.

Here’s how The Rick prevaricated, “We realize that with almost a new team that we have our work cut out for us, but that’s the excitement of this type of schedule.”

Really? Continue reading Hump Day Harkles: Hoops, Pigskin, Tennis, Etc.

Hump Day Harkles: Sports Scene with a Gangsta Lean

sportsnewsGearing up for the fall/ winter sports seasons, and comin’ at ya straight outta Clifton.

Opening Tease. Coming soon, like in the next few days, within a week at the latest, the info you’ve been salivating for as college football kickoff approaches: Seedy K’s Peerless Pigskin Prognostications Preseason Preview.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about. It’ll be pithy, pitch perfect, pleasant to read. And devoid of any silly alliterative prose, since I just bled it all from my system.

QB Race, Part Uno. Louisville Cardinal coach Bobby P is resolutely coy about whom his starting signal caller will be. But we know one thing for sure.

The Tyler Ferguson Era at U of L, such as it was, is over. So we bid adieu to the Penn State transfer, who is now taking his talents to the third institution of higher learning in his career.

My sense — and that of most other observers — is that Reggie Bonnafon will take the field first against Auburn.

What I also hear is that Petrino is smitten with freshman Lamar Jackson, a raw talent. Don’t be surprised if he’s brought in for some special sets in special situations before the other wannabe QBs, Gardner and Bolin.

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Continue reading Hump Day Harkles: Sports Scene with a Gangsta Lean

Hump Day Eve Harangues: Spieth Slips, Serena’s Soaring & Terry Rozier’s Sandwich

sportsnewsI’m a sandwich kind of guy.

It’s tough when I’m dieting (which is most all the time given my propensity for corpulence) since I don’t eat bread then.

But I did slip over the other day to the recently opened Epic Sammich Co. in a little storefront on Highland between Cherokee Road and Baxter.

Now those dudes know how to make a sandwich, even if they need work on their spelling.

Tasty. Unique. And bountiful. Rarely am I, a husko gordo of the highest order, felled by only a half a sandwich. But, I actually took half of my Cuban home to finish later in the day.

They’re also savvy enough over there to serve “Dirty” Chips, which are, one guy’s opinion, the best.

Which sandwich eating interlude I thought of, when I viewed Terry Rozier’s appearance on some folly of an NBA Network TV show, during which he made his favorite sandwich.

Two slices of white bread, crust removed. Spaghetti with tomato sauce. Upon which is added table sugar and mixed. That combo is places on one slice of bread. Then is doused with a generous portion of ranch dressing. Top with other slice of crustless white bread.

Enjoy.

Or, demur. Continue reading Hump Day Eve Harangues: Spieth Slips, Serena’s Soaring & Terry Rozier’s Sandwich

Monday’s Sports Missive: Serena, Novak, Jordan, Roger & Wayne

sportsnewsNo Louisville Cardinal fan rooted harder for Wayne Blackshear to succeed, and become a major Double Arches AA-quality collegian, than I did.

Some have even used the word apologist.

Truth is he never met fans, coaches, or his expectations. It happens.

I happened upon a couple of his summer league games during the last week or so.

In the first, contested in Utah, he played about half the minutes, but contributed little. In the second, after the Spurs had moved on to the Vegas competition, it was all pine time. He never took off his warmup.

So, it is somewhat sad, how he’s expressed his views of his years on the Belknap Campus.

I agree with him. For most of his career, he did sublimate his game to the offensive sets run by The Rick. But . . . a lot of that had to do with the fact that he never displayed the eye of the tiger, the will to take charge, that it was believed he had in him. He never really showed he deserved to have sets run for him. Continue reading Monday’s Sports Missive: Serena, Novak, Jordan, Roger & Wayne

Thursday SportsFlash: Elevation, Deflation, Exasperation

allsportsSo, I awoke in my favorite recliner in repose in front of the telly from my usual mid-evening nap, just as OKC’s Thunder and and Washington’s Wiz started OT.

And a splendid five minutes of extra time it proved to be. Back and forth, until Russell Westbrook zipped through an opening in the defense wide enough to allow the Bud Clydesdales passage . . . with room to spare . . . for the winning layup.

But I’m here to consider Kevin Durant, whom the D.C. crowd kept imploring to pull a LeBron/E.T.and come home. He’s listed as 6-9, but he knows that you know that I know that Adam Silver knows that’s a considerable misundermeasurization.

Lithe and silky smooth, the guy handles the ball like a PG, slithers to his spots like a SF and his shot reminds me of Pete Rose in his heyday. Which is to say that, so wicked was his way with a Louisville Slugger, when Ramblin’ Gamblin’ man didn’t get a hit, you had to wonder what happened? Continue reading Thursday SportsFlash: Elevation, Deflation, Exasperation

Sunday’s Short Shots: Fútbol, Cycling, Tennis, Announcing, Baseball and, of course, Hoops

animated_sportsLost in all the current sports hoopla, America’s new love affair with fútbol, the culmination of Wimbledon, Joey Chestnut’s less than stellar W, Tiger’s return to the links, Kentuckianians, including Nerlens Noel,  competing in the NBA summer league and Fourth of July cornhole smackdowns is this red, white and blue reality.

In the national pastime, that would still be baseball, kids, LA Dodger Clayton Kershaw has pitched 38 consecutive scoreless innings.

Which is, like, four consecutive games worth of shutout hurling. Plus a couple frames.

Which is awfully impressive. Yet, still 21 innings short of the MLB record, held by another guy who took the mound at Chavez Ravine, Orel Hershiser.

By the by, Tiger Rick Porcello, who hurls tonight for Detroit against the A’s, has pitched two complete game shutouts in a row.

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As I write, Roger Federer has just won a back and forth first set tiebreak against Novak Djokovic.

This Gentleman’s Final looks like it could be, might be a classic. Continue reading Sunday’s Short Shots: Fútbol, Cycling, Tennis, Announcing, Baseball and, of course, Hoops

Thursday’s Sporting This & That

reporterI’ll be honest about it.

I’ve never really paid attention to the academic standing of “student athletes.” The vast majority of college jocks are simply mercenaries, enrolled in one institution of higher learning or another for the sole purpose of continuing to participate competitively in the sports they love.

If they take advantage of the academic opportunity, good for them. If they coast, usually with the complicity of athletic departments and the presence of an easily maneuvered curriculum, so be it.

Big time college sports haven’t a thing to do education in the normal sense, nor are they your classic extracurricular activity.

That said, I pass along the news that, in the fall semester, the U of L men’s basketball team posted an average GPR of 3.47, the highest in the school’s history.

Which, all my indifference aside, is pretty damn cool. Continue reading Thursday’s Sporting This & That

Welcome to America’s Pithiest Sports Commentary

reporterAfter years of writing about sports elsewhere, I dare to venture where many have gone before.

Welcome to my own site, Seedy K Sports, where I’ll continue to cover the scene with a gangster lean. Lots more opinionating on the athletic endeavors and competitions we love. Plus, it is my intention to, on occasion, actually pepper the page and opinion with arguable facts and documentation.

My first loves are University of Louisville athletics, college basketball and football in general and their professional counterparts. But I’ll also be posting essays on the personality and personalities of sport, the announcers we love and loathe, recruiting, officiating, along with peeks at the worlds of baseball, cycling, golf, hockey, soccer, tennis, the Olympics and, every once in a great while, Australian Rules Football which I love but rarely get to see.

As the former gossip monger behind a column called “Rumor & Innuendo,” I won’t be shy about sharing juicy gossip, at least that which has at least a scintilla of possibility.

Every once in awhile I’ll be serious, as when discussing issues such as head injuries in football. Sometimes, I’ll be faux serious, as when contemplating when Brett Favre will again take the field. Most of the time, I’ll write as the sports fan I am, with an opinion and my own website on which to publish it.

Thanks for taking a look see. Come back often. Bookmark this site, if so inclined. If you’re on Facebook, Like my Culture Maven c d kaplan page, where links to all my posts from here and my other website appear.

Remember, the door is always open.

— Seedy K