My Mom

This first pic looks like it was probably taken around the same time that my Dad went to war. They grew up together in Detroit, went to Denby High School together, dated and then broke up. My Dad lost her to another guy for a while...she married and had my oldest siblings - but her husband died very young. My Dad swooped in. I'm not kidding. LOL.

The second pic of my Mom is one of the few glamour shots of her. She was not a glamour girl. Beautiful, but much more into sports than makeup!

My Dad. My WWII hero.

This isn't the best pic of my Dad, but I like it because it looks like it was taken outside his parents' home in Detroit. The second two are scans of a postcard my Dad sent home in 1944. I know he shipped off from San Diego, so I wonder if this is his first postcard from the war to home.

He did it!!!! Congratulations, Roger!

Wow. Just an amazing match. My head is still spinning over it. 5 sets. 16 games to 14 in the last set. Epic. Rollercoaster match, with momentum switching back and forth until the fifth set, when game after game, both men stared down a "sudden death" by valiantly holding their serves until the 30th game. Yes - the 30th game in one set! Roger broke Andy to win the Championships. I screamed. Both men deserved such high praise for this effort that I was sad to see someone lose. Warriors. Both of them.

I truly hope Andy gets the next one. He so deserves one after this effort.

Oh, boy. The record for most grand slam singles titles ever (15) was claimed by Roger today edging Pete Sampras, who flew there just this morning to be there for the momentous occasion (how classy was that?), and...Roger is now the world's number one ranked player once again! He had relinquished the number one ranking to Rafael Nadal last year shortly after losing his prized Wimbledon champion status to the same. How sweet it is for this fan that he was able to reclaim it.

Sports dreams don't get much bigger than this for me.

Oh, Andys!!!!

American Andy Roddick took on Great Britain's (Scottish) Andy Murray today in the semi finals of Wimbledon. Roddick was the big underdog here, and Murray was not only the favorite, but saddled with the enormous hopes hung on his young shoulders by his nation, desperate for a British champion since Fred Perry won in 1936, beating - I just realized - the lovely Baron Gottfried von Cramm (!), whose handsome face is my Twitter background.

I like both of these players very much, so I had a tough time figuring out who to root for. My emotions swung wildly during the match.

So my take on this match is that Murray went into it tight under the weight of expectations. Roddick won in four, needing tiebreaks for two of the three sets won. I don't think Murray played like he could, but Roddick played such superb, mature, focused tennis that I hate to take anything away from this win. It's huge. Roddick now into his third Wimbledon final, but not since 2005. I don't think many serious tennis analysts thought he'd get there again.

I'm so proud of Andy Roddick! Well done to him. Unfortunately, I can't root against Roger, who also won his semi final match today making it to his 7th straight Wimbledon final.

Go Roger!

Elena Lost!!!

8 games to 6 in the third set. I'm so...disappointed! So close. I think I'd rather she got blown off the court.

*sigh*

I predict a Williams sisters final, which I'll skip. I used to watch these, but they have become boring, and I couldn't care less who wins. I know that's not really supporting the game, but enough is enough. It is times like these that I understand the apathy toward Federer.

So...Dinara Safina vs. Venus Williams now for the final spot in the finals. Just pencil Venus in, there.

Do I seem crabby? Yeah, I am. LOL.

Elena D is still in the tourney!

You guys are missing out. Elena Dementieva of Russia will be playing a semi-final match vs. Serena Williams on Thursday at Wimbledon. She's a terrific player and has been one of my favorites for quite a while, mostly because she seems very sweet and genuine. Wish her luck!

In other news...Roger faces Ivo "Dr. Ivo" Karlovic of Croatia tomorrow in the quarterfinals. This guy is nearly seven feet tall and serves out of...well, a tree. I'm worried.

Tommy, Tommy Haaaaas!

Went for the glamour shot. Heh. How could I not?

This is Tommy Haas of Germany. He's a veteran tennis player at 31 years old. I've always loved watching him play, but have only sporadically rooted for him. I don't know, something about his attitude (and pretty boy looks, maybe?) turned me off. But now, at the end of his career, I find myself rooting for him mostly for sentimental reasons. It does help that he has a beautiful one-handed backhand, which for me has always been a big attraction as far as tennis goes.

Tommy was hailed early on as the next Boris Becker in Germany, along with Nicolas Kiefer. Neither lived up to the hype, and honestly, after reading some of the German pressers I have felt for both of them. The German press has been brutal on both them as far as expectations and disappointment goes. Tommy did reach a ranking of number two in the world, but has never won a Slam title. In addition to this media pressure, Tommy's parents were involved in a horrific motorcycle crash at the height of his career. They were apparently very lucky to be alive, in fact his dad was in a coma, and the recovery for both was a long process. This had to have a devastating effect on his concentration. (As a side note, by the way, his parents are friends of Arnold Schwarzeneggar's, and Tommy received a call from him following the accident.)

Haas has also suffered a shoulder injury which led to surgery on his rotator cuff. This kind of surgery is usually career ending in tennis, but Tommy worked extremely hard to come back to the tour and is still in the top 30. A couple of years ago, he was warming up for a match at Wimbledon and stepped on a tennis ball that had rolled in front of him as he was practicing serves. He sprained his ankle and had to pull out of the tournament. Ouch. Some very tough luck for the German over the years.

In the last major, the French, Tommy was up 2 sets to love against Roger Federer and was close to breaking Roger's serve in the third. Roger somehow pulled that match out, partly due to some drop in Tommy's level of play, and it had to be a heartbreaking defeat for the German. Not many 5 set matches are lost after winning the first two, and the term "choker" is often applied after such losses. Rather unfairly, I think.

Tommy unfortunately had to re-live this same scenario at Wimbledon yesterday. He led Croatia's Marin Cilic two sets to love and then lost the next two. They were 6-6 in the fifth when the match was suspended due to darkness. Most hard core tennis fans were glued to this match today as they resumed play, trust me. My heart was beating fast as I watched Tommy serving for the match at 9-8 and then face a break point! He saved that and went on to win, 10-8.

What am I doing rooting for this guy, by the way? He's in Roger's half of the draw! He also won a pretty prestigious grass court title coming into this year's Wimbledon. I guess, like Scarlett, I'll choose to think about that tomorrow.

(By the way, the "Tommy, Tommy Haaaaas!" comes from some silly cartoon my kid used to watch where the fighting characters would yell something like "Kamekameha!" I never figured out what they were saying, but I would yell my little reply and drive my kid nuts. Hee.)