Every so often, there is a newcomer in tennis that electrifies the sport. Sometimes, the new person has a long illustrious career; sometimes, they never attain the greatness they exhibited in their first appearance on the national stage. And where else is a better stage than the U.S. Open in Flushing, Queens, especially for an American?
This year’s bright star is 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, who came into the Open ranked number 77 in the world. But she is the darling of the Big Apple after having defeated, among others, No. 4-seed Elena Dementieva and No. 29-seed Maria Sharapova, to reach tonight’s quarterfinal against the No. 9-seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
I watched the end of her last match but not closely enough to gain an opinion on whether she is really good, but it is good for the sport. An Oudin/Serena Williams match-up would be the hottest ticket in town; a ratings monster for television, and of course, great for the sport.

When President Obama announced that he would be speaking to school children, the hue and cry came up from the right wing who do nothing other than hue and cry these days. “Brainwashing the children,” they said. “He will be pushing health care reform to our kids,” they screeched.
Even with early copies of the speech sent to the media, the usual suspects (Beck, O’Reilly, Limbaugh) were firing up their constituents with charges and lies. Even a comment from former first lady Laura Bush who said that the speech was good for kids to hear, talking about things like self-responsibility for education, not talking back to teachers; not skipping class; the “disenfranchised” whites continued to whine.
Well, the speech came off yesterday, and to no one’s surprise that actually uses their mind, the president’s speech was a rousing success talking about all of the issues the early copies of the speech covered. There were (to my knowledge) no one running out buying Karl Marx books. There were no incidents of children walking around in a stupor spouting liberal ideas.
It just goes to show that their arguments at this point are so discredited that they jump on the least little thing to scare unthinking white people. It’s sad.

Here in Chicago, money talks and no one has more of it that Oprah Winfrey. My distaste for her and anything that smacks of her is well evidenced (see next article) but she is inconveniencing millions of Chicagoans by getting the city to block Michigan Avenue downtown for almost two full days. Yes, one of those days was the Labor Day holiday, but t those of us who work downtown, it’s a major pain in the ass.
Lines of her lemming-like followers began forming overnight last night, and crew members and private security started allowing people through checkpoints around 8:30 this morning according to the Chicago Tribune.
Fortunately, I’m not the only person complaining. Mayor Richard Daley, already embattled over the parking meter scandal and Olympic financial guarantees, again defended the decision to shut down Michigan Avenue for the Oprah kickoff while acknowledging the inconvenience for some residents. “When you think about all the publicity you can receive for Michigan Avenue and the city of Chicago, we don’t have enough money … to get that major publicity,” Daley said this morning.
Of course, Daley would and has sold everything including relatives and body parts, and with Oprah, the reigning diva, earning millions every year, there was no way for the rest of us mere mortals to fight City Hall and “Deepak Oprah.”

My close friends know that this was a post that was going to happen one day, because I have hated Ms. Winfrey long before she became a multi-billionaire, empathic figure extraordinaire, beneficent do-gooder, and reigning demi-goddess.
When I was working at Wrigley Field as an Andy Frain usher, I was supervisor during the 1984 National League Championship Series, and this was a very different time. The Cubs played only day games, and, at that time of the season, most of the regular ushers, kids mostly, were in school or away at college. This meant that most of the workers were people who weren’t used to working at the park; didn’t know the park or procedures. On top of that, many of them were friends of the Frain family that couldn’t get tickets, so they were there to watch the game.
Everyday, one of the supervisors (at that time, mostly me) would have what we called the briefing; we went over all of the seats, toilets, first aid location, and any important points of the day. This being the playoffs, and the fact that we had so many new people, meant that items that we would gloss over in July when all of the regulars were working had to be reviewed; in detail. If you have ever been involved in one of these types of events, time is allotted to every important step in the process, and we were allotted 40 minutes to cover everything. This sounds like a lot of time, but, believe me, with such an inexperienced crew, it wasn’t enough.
On the schedule before us that day, was the taping of a morning television show. It was called AM Chicago, before it had become The Oprah Winfrey Show, before syndication, before the billions started flowing like rain. Ms. Winfrey was taping her show from behind the Cubs on-deck circle between the dugout and home plate. Of course, they ran over when I started the briefing. I have a booming voice, and needed it with 300 people needing to understand all of the seats and toilets. I had begun, and then, one of the television lackeys came running up saying that we were interrupting the taping of Oprah and a couple of the players’ wives. I explained that they had overrun their time, and what I was doing was much more important to the operation of that day’s game than some television show. Of course, the lackey went running to the Cubs, and since she didn’t carry the clout she does now, the Cubs gave them 10 minutes to finish then I would be continuing my presentation.
Well, my presentation was interrupted because the cameraman who was taping from the top of the Cubs’ dugout fell off, hitting his head, forcing myself and one of the guards to see to the man. Ms. Winfrey, Queen of compassion, left without a word; never checking to see if the cameraman was alright, alive, whatever. The little troll scampered off to wherever it is she lurked at the time.
So, I’ve never liked Oprah, never watched her man-hating diatribes, weight loss and then weight gain programs. But I do give her credit for building her financial empire. But, being here in Chicago, I have heard of the cracks in her armor. A former coworker of mine left the finance world to go work for Harpo Productions, Oprah’s production company; but she didn’t last one year. She told me that Ms. Winfrey treated the staff horribly, which was a far cry from the stories of taking the entire staff and their families to Hawaii. There have been a number of lawsuits from former employees that get hushed up in most media, but do get ink here in Chicago because she is headquartered here.
And that is the overriding issue that I have with Oprah; hypocrisy to the highest level. Of course, the iron-clad, under-penalty-of-death anti-disclosure clause in her employment agreements keeps the lid tight on complaints as well. (Why would you need an anti-disclosure clause if you didn’t have something to hide?)
On the air, she is well coiffed, together woman, but I have seen her in person and I would compare her look to something from The Lord of the Rings. I have always said that whatever financial support she has given to longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham; he has earned it in spades for having to wake up next to that. As I’ve already noted, the hypocrisy of being this empathic person is a sham. A couple of years ago it was rumored that she would be “retiring” from her television show (to, I guess, head her own religion in which people worship her). I SO hoped she would be gone; but of course, like many of most furvent wishes, like winning the lottery, it came to nothing.
And now she arrogantly stops downtown traffic so that she can “celebrate” her show’s anniversary and premiere episode of the season. GAG!

Reality TV celebrity Jon Gosselin said that he despises his estranged wife Kate on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He went on Kate verbally abused him and beat him down during their marriage.
Yep. All you have to do is watch one of the shows and she just browbeat the man on national television. Just watching it, I hated the mean-spirited *itch myself.
Now, both of you need to do the best job possible of raising the kids and please, go away!!!

One has to ask if San Diego Chargers’ All Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman, suspended for 4 games last season for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs is still “juiced.” Merriman was arrested over the weekend for reportedly choking and restraining girlfriend/reality TV star Tila Tequila.
Ms. Tequila (real name Tila Nguyen), who first came to fame via MySpace and eventually starred in MTV’s “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” and its follow-up, “A Shot at Love 2 With Tila Tequila,” signed a citizen’s arrest at the scene and was transported to a local hospital, authorities said.
Merriman was taken into custody on suspicion of battery and false imprisonment, the sheriff’s department statement said. Merriman’s attorney told reporters that Nguyen was “extremely intoxicated and inebriated” at the time of the incident and that the player tried to make arrangements for her to leave the house.
Ms. Tequila eventually Tweeted “I am allergic to alcohol. It has been publicly known for years. That is how I got the name Tila ‘Tequila’ cuz the irony. I can’t drink.”
Here we have a talented athlete and a not-very-talented television personality in close quarters and I’m not surprised the egos clashed. But Merriman is in big trouble and San Diego fans are and should be worried about the status of their premiere playmaker.

The Washington Post (linked by The Huffington Post.com) reported that the Washington Redskins are taking an unusual step with season ticket holders who are in financial distress during this downturn: sue the bastards!
The article tells the story of real estate agent Pat Hill. The 72-year-old grandmother has had season tickets since the early 1960s, when her daughter danced in the halftime shows at the old D.C. Stadium. Now, Hill says, her beloved Redskins are forcing her into bankruptcy.
Last year, Hill’s real estate sales were hit hard by the housing market crash, and she told the team that she could no longer afford her $5,300-a-year contract for two loge seats behind the end zone. Hill said she asked the Redskins to waive her contract for a year or two.
The sales office declined. Last Oct. 8, the Redskins sued Hill in circuit court for backing out of a 10-year ticket-renewal agreement after the first year. The team sought payment for every season through 2017, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs. Ms. Hill couldn’t afford a lawyer and didn’t fight the lawsuit because, she said, she believes that the Bible says that it is morally wrong not to pay your debts. So, the team won a default judgment of $66,364.
Hill is one of 125 season ticket holders who asked to be released from multiyear contracts and were sued by the Redskins in the past five years. Most said that they were victims of the economic downturn, having lost a job or experiencing some other financial hardship.
In an unusually brave move, the team’s General Counsel David Donovan actually spoke to the newspaper. He said the lawsuits are a last resort that involve a small percentage of the team’s 20,000 annual premium seat contracts. He added that the team has accommodated people in hard-luck circumstances hundreds of times.
“The Washington Redskins routinely works out payment plans and alternate arrangements with hundreds of ticket holders every year,” Donovan said. “For every one we sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen.”
Donovan said the team has agreed to reduce the number of seats in a contract, waived contracts for a year, shortened contracts and terminated contracts early. Most of the lawsuits are filed after people “simply refuse to negotiate with us. They’ve been made an offer, but they just said no,” he said.
Many of the sued fans who were interviewed by The Post said that when they requested relief, they were offered settlements that required them to make hefty payments over time. Among those sued are mortgage brokers, real estate developers, government workers, plumbers, construction contractors, lobbyists, lawyers and several car salesmen.
Donovan said other teams sue their fans. “I don’t know of any pro football team that doesn’t,” he said. But spokesmen for the following National Football League teams said they do not sue their fans over season ticket contracts: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Jets, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. The New England Patriots have sued multiyear premium ticket holders. A Chicago Bears spokesman said, “In rare instances, we have sued.” Officials with the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts declined to comment on the query. Other teams did not respond.
I just thought that if you couldn’t afford the tickets, you lost them. After all, in Chicago, Boston, and Washington D.C. there are more than enough people willing to assume your season ticket packages. But it doesn’t surprise me at all that the Bears have sued – it would be hard to find a more classless, cheap, ownership group like the McCaskey family, but at least they only have the Bears, and they have plenty of talentless relatives sucking at the corporate teat.
But Daniel Snyder is supposed to be the financial whiz-kid. He has lots of money from his other businesses, and he has spent recklessly on coaches like Steve Spurrier and bought Joe Gibbs out of retirement, not to mention numerous free agents who haven’t panned out as the Redskins have languished in mediocrity.
As I’ve written here numerous times, while a sports team is a privately owned entity (except for the Green Bay Packers, of course), it is a tacit pact with the community in which it plays. The team’s side of the contract is to make the experience clean, safe and enjoyable (and some would say try to make it as affordable as it can, but that’s not an absolute to me). And the team should do all within its power to put a quality product on the field, court, ice, etc. In return, the fans buy the tickets, the concessions, the jerseys, etc. and “pledge” their allegence to their team.
If the team does their part, but fans still don’t come to games for whatever reason (like refusing civic blackmail): examples being the NHL Dallas Stars formerly the Minnesota North Stars; the Arizona (football) formerly St. Louis Cardinals; then the team has the right to move to another city that will support it better. And if the team fails in their contract with the city and fans, the fans have a right not to show up, like the Chicago Blackhawks in the late 1990s and earlier this decade.
Like so many contracts in modern sports, I think that the pack should be renegotiated. It should include that a sports team should not make your fans’ financial burden worse if they can’t buy your season tickets. Taking a page from the Mastercard commercials: buy food? $0 – Starve. Pay your mortgage? $0 – live in the streets. Paying for season tickets – Priceless.
Or else.