I learned this weekend that the basketball coach at my alma mater receives a salary of seven million dollars. At least now when the school comes asking for money I'm not going to feel guilty saying 'no.'
Every tennis fan knows the letdown, the feeling of meaninglessness, that comes the Monday after a major final. Though thanks to the executives at ESPN, who put many of the Australian Open matches on a channel most viewers don’t subscribe to, today it is a little milder.
Watching the Australian Open I've been wondering when Nadal will pull an Agassi. The Spaniard would probably look very good with a shaved head.
ESPN has been getting a lot of criticism for its coverage of the Australian Open, all of it deserved. I was thinking of adding ESPN+, as that’s where many of the matches are being shown, but according to people on social media that channel is also doing a miserable job. Apparently, the sports network got exclusive rights to cover live matches, but if they’re not going to show them on ESPN or ESPN2, where the vast majority of viewers can see them, then they should let the Tennis Channel take over. As is, the Tennis Channel is showing only replays. So waking up in the morning, instead of seeing the end of a late-night match on ESPN2, I get Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin.
This year’s Australian Open, which begins on Sunday, was always going to be a big one for it affords Novak Djokovic the chance to surpass Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the race for major titles. Now of course the tournament’s importance transcends sports. Anti-vaxxers, a group that includes over half the population of Serbia, will invariably view a Djokovic victory as a victory for themselves. In Melbourne it will be not just the field against Djokovic but science versus superstition, hearsay, and ignorance.