The problem with the Australian Open is that most of the matches take place while you’re asleep. The beauty of the tournament is that you can wake up to exciting late-night tennis. Or, more accurately, early-morning tennis. At the moment, the American teenager Learned Tien is in the fourth set against Daniil Medvedev. It’s 1:29 in the morning in Melbourne. Medvedev looks to win the set, which will send the match into a fifth set that will surely not end before 2 am. I feel sorry for the players, but happy for Tien’s friends waking up in California. Especially if the teenager's legs can hold out.
Yesterday evening I sat down to watch Jeopardy! and was disappointed to find that ABC was showing Monday Night Football instead. OK, I said, I’ll watch the Australian Open; earlier in the day, the Tennis Channel had informed viewers that coverage on ESPN would start at 7.
ESPN, sadly, was showing Monday Night Football. Must be on ESPN2, I thought, and, changing the channel, found Monday Night Football again. Then I remembered that ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open – one of the year’s four majors – has been beginning in the evening on ESPN+, which we don’t have a subscription for. It is one of many things that annoy me about the networks.
And I have nothing against football – I watched a bit of it over the weekend – but do we need three channels to cover the same game?
I went to the wrong game. Last night, in addition to stealing two bases, Shohei Ohtani hit his 49th and 50th home runs of the season - becoming the first player in major league history to steal 50 bases and hit 50 home runs in one season - and then, for good measure, hit his 51st home run. He went 6 for 6 and drove in 10 runs in the Dodgers 20-4 win over the Marlins.
I should have known Ohtani would set the record here. For it was in loanDepot Park that, last year, he struck out Mike Trout to win the World Baseball Classic for Japan. Oh yes, for those of you not into baseball, the amazing hitter is also an incredible pitcher.
My first 2024 visit to see the Marlins was prompted by the visiting Dodgers, their superstar Shohei Ohtani, and the prospect of witnessing baseball history. Ohtani came into last night's game with 48 home runs and the same number of stolen bases, on the verge of becoming the first player ever to get 50 of each.
He led off the game with a single, promptly stole second (#49), and sprinted to third on the errant throw. This I learned later, as my friend Mark and I were stuck in traffic. Never underestimate the desire of people to witness history.
In his next four at-bats, Ohtani failed to reach base, striking out twice, once while looking. This was a huge disappointment to the fans, many of whom wore Dodgers caps. But even Marlins fans, I suspect, were looking for something to celebrate in a very dismal season.
My solace came at the end of the sixth inning when, on my way to buy my beloved arepa, I spotted a new stand selling Asian food. I passed on the bao buns holding miniature hot dogs – though they looked very cute – and got bao buns stuffed with pork. They were excellent.
The NFL season has begun. It’s been hard for me to take football seriously after realizing a few years ago that the players are wearing shorts. Take a look: Their pants end above their knees. In the old days, pants came down to above the calf, so that pads could protect the knees. I have no idea when or why that changed.
I was in Chicago on Sunday and the place I ate lunch had numerous TVs tuned to the Bears game. I looked up and saw a man in shorts tackle another man in shorts very close to the line of scrimmage. The man who made the tackle jumped up and, with puffed out chest, ran a few yards into the other team’s backfield, celebrating his accomplishment. And I thought: You just made a tackle, the thing that you are paid to do; why are you demonstrably gloating about it? I don’t get up and run a victory lap around my office every time I write a sentence.
Shelby Rogers played her last U.S. Open match last night, losing to Jessica Pegula 4-6, 3-6. She became one of my favorite players a few years ago at the Open when she beat then #1 Ash Barty and in the post-match interview was asked how she had done it. She said something about taking it point by point and then apologized, saying “That’s such a cliché.”
About a year later I was sitting in the lobby of the Warsaw Marriott, waiting to meet someone, and I noticed a blond woman with a tennis bag over her shoulder checking in. As she headed to the elevator, I noticed it was Shelby Rogers. I followed her and introduced myself, and then told her how impressed I had been by her sensitivity to language. I explained that I was writer. I asked her what she was doing in Warsaw, and she said she was on her way to a tournament in Latvia, and that her coach was Polish. I told her my wife was Polish (so we sort of had something in common). Then I let her get on her elevator.