Serena Is SI Athlete Of The Decade

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Honoree/tennis player Serena Williams speaks onstage at the The 2009 Women of the Year hosted by Glamour Magazine at Carnegie Hall on November 9, 2009 in New York City.

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An embarrassment of riches, really. This one from Sports Illustrated:

Some might argue that Williams, 28, is the best story in sports (notwithstanding her temper tantrum at the 2009 U.S. Open). Consider her accomplishments this decade: She won nine of her 10 Grand Slam singles titles and two Olympic gold medals in doubles (with her sister Venus), and she recently reclaimed the No. 1 ranking. She boasts the most powerful game in modern tennis, and she is best when the stakes are highest. Throw in the nearly $29 million in prize money -- most of it earned in the aughts -- and it's an improbable haul for a woman who was schooled in the game along with Venus by their father, the self-taught Richard, on pockmarked public courts in Compton, Calif.

(Thanks, Pamela)

Sportsman Of The Year?

Jon nominates Rafael Nadal for Sports Illustrated's prestigious honor.

For 2008 Sportsman of the Year, I hereby put forth the candidacy of Spanish swashbuckler, Rafael Nadal. First the cold, rational facts: In 2008 Nadal became the first man since Björn Borg to win on both the clay of the French Open and the grass of Wimbledon, an extraordinary feat of versatility. Nadal beat his rival Federer each of the four times they played this year -- including their positively spellbinding Wimbledon final -- wresting away the No. 1 ranking in the process. He won titles on every surface and clinched Spain's spot in this weekend's Davis Cup final by beating Andy Roddick of the defending champion U.S. squad in September. To date he has won 82 matches this year against just 11 defeats, a Federerian winning percentage of .822.

What's that you say? In 2008 a prerequisite for the Sportsman of the Year consideration ought to be an Olympic gold medal? We almost forgot: Nadal won one of those too, taking the men's tennis event in Beijing.

Now the subjective: Nadal, 22, singlehandedly shatters the tired perception of the tennis player as a pampered, elitist pinhead. With a body that belongs in an NFL backfield (if not a UFC Octagon) he is all muscle, both bulk and fast-twitch, and, accordingly, his game is a devastating mix of power and speed. He doesn't stroke the ball so much as he pummels it, unfurling a lefty game that simply has no precedent. Yet his real strength is the mental variety. Nadal is that rare athlete whose game moves in lockstep to the stakes. In the fifth set of that episodic Wimbledon final, as darkness enveloped the court, it was Nadal who hit the biggest shots. ¿Como se dice: refuse to lose?

It's a valid argument. And a tennis player hasn't received the award since 1992 when Arthur Ashe won for dying. Nadal would be the first non-native American to win in 10 years when Sam Sosa shared the award with Mark McGwire.

Rafa will be tennis' easy pick for Player of the Year, but something tells me Michael Phelps has no competition for the Sports Illustrated cover.

Phelps Wins 8th Gold, Breaks Tie With Spitz

BEIJING (AP) — Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal Sunday at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay team, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz for most golds in a single games.

Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.

The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.

Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.

Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.

Greatest Olympian in HIstory

BEIJING (AP) — Michael Phelps has become the winningest Olympic athlete ever, earning his fourth gold medal of the Beijing Games with a world record in the 200-meter butterfly. The American touched in 1 minute, 52.03 seconds, breaking his old mark of 1:52.09 set at last year's world championships in Australia.

It was Phelps' 10th career gold medal, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and two others for most golds. He is 4-for-4 so far, setting world records in each of his events.

Cullen Jones Makes History, U.S. Wins 400 Free

I missed this historic event last night, but when I read the article this morning, I immediately broke out into tears.

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BEIJING - When Cullen Jones powered through the water Sunday night, chasing history, the charismatic kid who learned to swim in Newark could hear the roar from a half a world away. Amid the deafening cheers from the thousands squeezed into the National Aquatics Center, Jones felt the support from the scores of people that he touched along an incredible and unlikely path that began in inner city pools and led him here to the world's biggest stage. An ambassador for African-American swimmers, Jones wanted to shatter stereotypes one lap at a time, eager to spread his message that, yeah, black kids can swim, too.

He also wanted to help out a buddy on his own personal mission.

Jones accomplished both by helping the 4X100 freestyle relay team win the gold medal in a comeback for the ages. In a race soaked with drama and subplots, the Americans shattered the world record they had set just hours earlier in the prelims, blistering through the water in 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds.





Trailing after three legs, anchor Jason Lezak erased a huge gap to overtake and out-touch French world record holder Alain Bernard to set off a wild celebration. A few days after Bernard declared his team would "smash" the Americans in the finals, the U.S. team authored a stunning chapter in these Olympics.

"We beat a team in most people's mind was not beatable," said U.S. coach Eddie Reese. "It was amazing. (Lezak's leg) had to be the best ever and it was the best ever. That's the kind of anchor you dream of."

Jones became the second African-American swimmer to win a gold medal as the team kept Michael Phelps' quest for an unprecedented eight golds alive. But it was Lezak's fastest split in history at 46.06 seconds and mad dash in the final frenzied moments when he hunted down Bernard after being behind by more than eight-tenths of a second that had everyone buzzing.

Read the rest...

Phelps Smashes World Record in First Race

BEIJING (AP) — Michael Phelps set a world record Sunday to win his first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, beating rival Ryan Lochte in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds.

Phelps, trying to break Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals, crushed his old mark of 4:05.25 in the 400 IM, set in June at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary rallied to take the silver medal in 4:06.16, while Lochte faded to the bronze in 4:08.09.

Photo of the Day

Albert Costa, Feliciano Lopez, and Rafael Nadal celebrating Spain's Euro 2008 win. Yes there was no champagne!

I Wanted to be Jesse Owens

The discussion in Helen W's Roland Garros Postmorten remains on my mind. That's how good it is. She asked what brings a person to a player, pointing out Mad Professah's assertion that those of us who play tennis competitively probably sympathize more with Raja, while those of us who don't probably identify more with Rafa.

I respect them both, though I don't count myself as a fan of either.

I don't play tennis very well. I certainly don't play it competitively. Many folks who have seen me hit a tennis ball would say I don't play tennis at all. I wouldn't disagree.

But for 12 years, starting at age 7, I ran track. Was pretty good, too. Held a national record in the 220 yard dash for a season. I also excelled in the long jump and triple jump.

I was an extremely competitive athlete. I played softball, football, basketball, even swam on my high-school team. But my heart belonged to athletics.

I wanted to be Jesse Owens.

But when I grew too fast one summer, when the extreme pain of the Osgood-Slaughters disease that made my knees feel as though they had separated in their joint, I lost much of my speed and had to settle for hurdles to remain competitive as a sprinter.

I did all of this on a deformed right foot that caused me to feel as though I had sprained my ankle after every practice, after every meet. I would limp home in severe pain. The pediatrician told my parents there was no remedy for my ankle pain short of surgery. But since the deformity was the result of the fusion of the navicular and cuboid bones, even that probably wouldn't help. All I could do was ice it down, tape it up, and get back on the track for the next practice, the next meet.

Or, quit sports altogether.

That wasn't an option.

I enjoy watching any athlete in any sport at the top of his/her game. That includes Roger Federer, whom I simply do not like.

My love for Serena Williams (a narcissist who is growing up) and Andy Roddick (a brat who is growing up) has mostly to do with the fact that these were the two players who brought me back to tennis after not following the sport closely for years.

It certainly helped that I like the way they play tennis. The way they serve. Bludgeon their forehands. How they don't take their gifts for granted but continue to work to improve their weaknesses. The way they have responded to career setbacks, including injury and tragedy, in Serena's case, and the emergence of a player at the height of his career who has (so far) kept him from achieving one of his biggest dreams, in Andy's case. The way they fight to the finish line, win or lose. How they keep coming back, despite what their naysayers say.

They ice down their ankles, tape them up, and get back on the court to face the next challenge.

2007 Year In Pictures

Photo: David Callow/SI

Sports Illustrated has posted its 2007 Year in Pictures, which is a great look-see for any sports fan. My girl is the second shot in the 43-image gallery. Venus Williams, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer also make appearances. My favorite, though, is image 37. That one might make its way onto my desktop background.