The long faces that he see coming from New York are from the NBC television network. Wimbledon is nearly finished and the lone ray of hope for big television ratings are on Englishman Andy Murray and highly ranked Novak Djokovic. Since Rafael Nadal was upset in the first round, and Roger Federer went out in the second round, these two are the biggest names remaining. Even worse is the ladies draw. Serena Williams followed Maria Sharapova in bowing out early against 23-rd seeded Sabine Lisicki. Ms. Lisicki will face Agnieszka Radwanska in one semi-final. Ms. Radwanska was the first Polish woman since 1939 to reach a Grand Slam final before she fell to Serena Williams last year and now will be two matches from winning one. On the other side, NBC is scowling because Marion Bartoli of France defeating the last American singles player, Sloane Stephens, and she will now face Kirsten Flipkens.
This is not to put the women down; I personally hope that the remaining tennis is of high quality, none of these women are household names here in the US. The ratings may be miniscule (but I’ll be watching it because Wimbledon finals are a tradition for me since I was a kid).

Chicago Cub fans don’t have reliever Carlos Marmol to kick around anymore. The team designated Marmol for assignment this week meaning they have 10 days to trade or release him. In a corresponding move, the Cubs also released third baseman Ian Stewart, who has been at Triple-A Iowa.
Then it was reported that former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood found the body of a dead man while paddle boarding in the city’s Belmont Harbor on Monday. Wood reportedly made the discovery at 11:10 a.m. while enjoying a day on the water. The 36-year-old Wood then notified police, who took over the investigation.
The victim is described as a 40-year-old man who had gone missing from a local nursing home in June. Police were able to identify him thanks to a tag from the nursing home on the victim’s arm.
So, what is “deader:” the poor guy in Lake Michigan or the careers of Ian Stewart and Carlos Marmol’s career?

Only in American can a body such as the Supreme Count make history twice in one week – once for rights and one against.
By now everyone knows that the Supremes ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, both of which prohibited gays and lesbians to marry. This has been long in coming and is about time.
One day earlier however, the Court gutted the Voting Rights Act which guaranteed minorities the right to vote. This means that the Federal Government cannot restrict states rules on voting. Since the GOP knows that it cannot defeat Democratic candidates in non-GOP districts, the next best thing is to make it harder/impossible for minorities to vote.
I’m sure that eventually new laws will be written to put the teeth back in voting rights, but in the short term, all of these conservative agenda items will be struck down as the country becomes more intertwined, economically, genetically, and geographically. All of the bluster that we are suffering through now is just the sound of the dinosaurs falling into the tar pits of history.

Finally, the police arrested Aaron Hernandez for first degree murder this week. He has been charged in the death of semi-pro football player Olin Lloyd and then trying to cover it up by having the security system in his house removed and other physical evidence destroyed. As Hernandez was being arrested, the New England Patriots were busy cutting the tight end from their team.
Now the police are investigating whether Hernandez may have had involvement in an unsolved murder.
What is it with this guy? We know that he had issues involving guns in the past, but what makes him think he can get away with murder, especially when you are a celebrity athlete?

Wimbledon this year is notable mostly for the early exits of some of the game’s top players. Rafael Nadal lost on the first day; Maria Sharapova was bounced in the second round, and Roger Federer was ousted in the second round – the first time he left that early in a major since 2003.
All of these players are getting older and perhaps in the case of Federer, his career is nearing its end. Federer hasn’t won a Grand Slam in a couple fo years now, the longest draught of his career since coming to prominence. Maybe Nadal’s injuries have made him back into a great clay court player instead of the all surface player that he once was.
Of course, on the women’s side, who is looking more like the champion? Thirty two year old Serena Williams; age hasn’t taken all of the stars yet.
Meanwhile, more and more the New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez are at war. A-Rod, who has been sidelined by injuries for several years and, in the eyes of many, never has lived up to the $250 million contracts and what he has accomplished has been tarnished by the taint of performance enhancing drugs.
This week, Rodriguez tweeted that his doctor had given him the green light to begin playing baseball again after hip surgery (admittedly starting a rehab assignment in the minors for starters). This apparent good news angered the Yankees: Manager Joe Girardi denied that Rodriguez had been cleared, but GM Brian Cashman went even further. He told an ESPN reporter “You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something (we will). Alex should just shut the f— up. That’s it. I’m going to call Alex now.”
I don’t know if Cashman made the call, and tempers appear to have cooled over time this week, but once again, it appears that the Yankees would love to have A-Rod proven to have taken PEDs again (he admitted doing so several years ago) so that his contract can be voided.

Two quick notes:

• The Boston Celtics are in full rebuilding mode having traded Coach Doc Rivers to the Clippers, then following up on draft day by trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn for a ton of players and picks. What have you guys done for us lately? (And Rajon Rondo is the last of Boston’s Big Three and he can’t be too happy.)
• And in hockey, if the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks knew they were unhappy with Coaches Alain Vigneault and John Tortorella who swapped jobs after being fired, couldn’t they have saved time and traded them? (By the way, there’s a one-year time limit on Tortorella before the team gets tired on his act. Like former Blackhawk and Ranger coach Mike Keenan, the tough guy, my way or the highway approach lasts for about 1 year, then the players get tired of the act.)

First there was the lockout, which threatened to eliminate the entire 2012-2013 NHL season. It ended with the first game being on my birthday. My Chicago Blackhawks didn’t do much to change the team from the team that lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs the year before, but GM Stan Bowman felt that the team wasn’t that far from being a Stanley Cup contender.
Boy was he right. While other teams tried to incorporate new players in with their existing cores, the Hawks’ team was virtually unchanged. This familiarity helped them run away and hide from the rest of the league, getting off to a record 24 straight games with at least one point. They only lost seven times all season, winning the President’s Cup for the team with most regular season points. Usually, this is the kiss of death, since President’s Cup winners only win the Stanley Cup Championship about 35% of the time. Another worry in the back of the minds of people like me, but the team went into the playoffs.
They steamrolled the Minnesota Wild then faced their nemesis, the Detroit Red Wings, the final year that the Original Six rivals will be in the same conference. Falling behind 3-games-to-1 it looked like the Blackhawks would be another President’s Cup also-ran, but the team came back to beat the Wings in seven games.
Then came the defending champions, the Los Angeles Kings. It was funny because the hockey writers from BOTH major newspapers picked the Kings in seven, which would have meant that the Kings were to win in the United Center. But the Hawks prevailed, and the Bruins were left.
The Hawks dug out a serious hole, going down 2-games-to-1 and many of my Boston area co-workers could feel the momentum. But the Hawks kept clawing back in games, winning the decisive game 5 at home then taking the series on the road for game 6. The first period was all Boston; the boys were lucky to be down only 1-0 after a feverish onslaught. The second period was more even as was the score after the captain, Jonathan Toews scored to tie the game.
A Boston goal with about 8 minutes left made everyone start thinking about Game 7, but the Hawks pulled Corey Crawford for an extra skater and with 1:27 left, Bryan Bickell scored to tie the game. As everyone started thinking about the fourth OT game of the series (including the Bruins, I think); play resumed but the Hawks jumped on the puck, and .17 after Bickell’s tying goal; Dave Bolland put in a rebound for the Stanley Cup winning goal.
To those not in this area, Chicago is going to be nuts all summer. I think this victor will be wilder than in 2010 – the fans were more into it, partly because of the way the Hawks led all season, and with the Bulls and Bears falling short and the Cubs and White Sox sucking, the Hawks were the biggest game in town.
Which leaves me smiling today; I’ve sent all of the e-mails to the East Coast, ordered all of my championship gear. Nothing to do now but have celebratory beverages all summer. The only thing I can say is that while Patrick Kane is worthy of Conn Smyth Trophy consideration, goaltender Corey Crawford deserves the award more than anyone. Without him, the Blackhawks wouldn’t even have made the third round.