In my novel “Water Music” – the first in my series “The Games Men Play” – the tennis-playing protagonists fall in love before a US Open final that they assume will be rained out.
That is no longer a plot option.
On Tuesday, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. unveiled the new retractable roof for its Arthur Ashe Stadium. And while not everything went off without a hitch, more than 200 invited sponsors, staffers and members of the press seemed most impressed with what is nothing short of an engineering Grand Slam.
“Oh, oh, did I feel rain?” Katrina Adams, chairman of the board and president of the White Plains-based United States Tennis Association, teased under sunny skies. “Well, guess what? It doesn’t matter now. A plan more than 10 years in the making literally comes to a close today before our eyes.” ...
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Read MoreWith all the viciousness in American politics right now, it’s a pleasure to take a break from it to focus on the Olympics, which begins Friday, and consider the searing questions of the moment, like why has swimmer Ryan Lochte dyed his hair ice-blue? So he’ll look like a merman? Except it makes him look old and flies in the face of his pronouncement that he’s matured. (Do mature people dye their hair blue?) Ryan, Ryan: We still love you.
Lochte and his great rival, Michael Phelps, will be taking one more plunge into the Olympics. Novak Djokovic – who just won his fourth Rogers Cup and 30th Masters title – will be there as well, having bounced back from his Wimbledon upset by Sam Querrey. Andy Murray – who’s shaping up to be his big rival once again, having taken Wimbledon – will also be there, while Rafael Nadal and his tender wrist are questionable.
One big name who won’t be there is Roger Federer, who’s taking the rest of the year off to heal various injuries. ...
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Read MoreThis has been a fabulous season for hair.
Let me clarify – not actual hair, which summer wreaks havoc on, turning fine locks limp and coarse tresses frizzy. No, despite its Donner Party-quality snowstorms, winter remains hair’s best season – low humidity, don’t you know.
But this is proving to be the summer of metaphoric hair. First, we have one of the great hair performers in history – Donald Trump, who accepted the nomination for president of the United States Thursday at a Republican National Convention that was by turns angry, hate-filled, surreal and meh. Then The New York Times – which often covers the city as if it were a foreign country – expressed surprise at some men here spending $800 on a haircut. The article was accompanied by a photograph of Roger Federer, whose stylists include Tim Rogers of Sally Hershberger’s downtown studio. ...
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Read MoreOnce upon a time, Gov. Krispy Kreme was my CPB – Chief Pretend Boyfriend. I imagined myself under the boardwalk down by the sea-ee-eeee yeah, on a blanket with my baby, swooning in passion as the waves crashed upon our bodies to the beat of The Boss blaring from my Hello Kitty boom box. We were like Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity” – if Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster were two beached whales, that is.
But what with Bridgegate and the capitulation to The Donald, it’s become harder to sustain the fantasy of being with my tubby little Luv Guv. So I banished Gov. Krispy Kreme from my heart, and instead promoted my WPB (Weekend Pretend Boyfriend), Rafael Nadal, to CPB status. ...
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Read MoreNovak Djokovic has lost to Sam Querrey, who’s having a helluva Wimbledon. So no Grand Slam, and I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed even though I’m not entirely surprised. Nole had won 30 Slam matches in a row. Though there’s no Law of Averages, the longer you win the closer you are to losing.
No one wins forever, but the good news is that no one loses forever. “Anyone can be beaten on any given day,” former New York Football Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin said after his “mediocre” Giants beat the “perfect” New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. “It’s not important to be the best, it’s only important to beat the best,” John McEnroe said in his pursuit of Björn Borg. Querrey must’ve been repeating these as mantras – or words to these effects. Whatever he did, he’s come through on a big stage, so congrats to him. ...
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Read More“It’s a great race, it’s a great race, it’s a great race” I kept screaming at the TV as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte went 1-2 in the 200 IM finals in the Olympic Trials in Omaha.
“Win or lose, we have a good friendship and that’s why it’s a great rivalry,” Lochte said afterward.
Frankly, I thought Lochte, swimming with a groin injury, had Phelps in the final leg, the free, but hand it to Phelps – he has the longer reach and the champion’s ability to close. That takes nothing away from Lochte, who has never been intimidated, never backed down. That’s what makes it a great rivalry. ...
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Read MoreA few days ago, the most pressing question in the United Kingdom may have been would Andy Murray – recently reunited with coach Ivan Lendl – mount a successful campaign at Wimbledon next week to stop Novak Djokovic’s bid for the calendar Grand Slam.
“It’s the eye of the tiger. It’s the thrill of the fight, risin’ up to the challenge of our rival,” you know.
That was, as I said, a few days ago. And then came Brexit – the British exit from the European Union. ...
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