Weekend In Review

During the sets I was able to watch (1, 2, and 5) of the Wimbledon men’s final—which the media instantly dubbed a classic—I kept thinking about how sportswriters were going to handle something so big, so heart stopping, so beyond the ordinary. Federer and Nadal were already rivals when they stepped on the court. But their rivalry seemed to break down depending on court surface. If it was clay, expect Nadal to thump Federer. If it was grass or hardcourt, expect Federer to triumph. Granted, last year’s Wimbledon final was a fiver-setter. But this was…different. There were the three rain delays, the impossibility of Federer actually coming back from two sets down. And as John McEnroe said on the air during the fifth set, both players did not appear tired. This was an….instant classic.

So can I be disappointed by Liz Clarke’s lead in her Post story? After all that drama–the longest match in the history of racket sports, sports with balls, and sports played on grass–Clarke opts to jumpstart her story with the relief. Nadal kissing some royals and taking his trophy out for a stroll to sign autographs. Beatlemania reference in the second graph. Yuck.

FYI, Nadal has a blog.

Here’s my nominee for best gas-prices-are-so-insane story of all time: CP alum Elissa Silverman’s Post piece on thieves siphoning fuel from area cars and stealing gas from area stations. One Virgina man has been charged with stealing $50,000 worth of gas: “Police said that Phillip Harris, 23, had an electronic device that enabled him to turn on the pumps at the Woodbridge gas station after hours and that he sold the fuel to friends for half-price.” Wow.

Thank you Prince of Petworth for capturing on video what your neighborhood does better than any other: celebrating July 4th by setting off assloads of illegal fire works. Myself and some pals took a driving tour of your visuals after the dull festivities on the Mall ended. And, man, Petworth residents came through big time. The police seemed more concerned with traffic flow or just weren’t around. Men, boys, families were setting off major works on just about every street off Georgia Ave, on various school grounds, at street corners, etc. Some were more organized then others, lighting off their fireworks with lit flares, using a push broom to clean up their burnt works. We also saw several old-time residents sitting lawn chairs to watch the illegal stuff. It was awesome and scary awesome.

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