Maddux Sports Blog

News of note as we head into an uncharacteristically slow weekend of sporting action:

Minnesota Vikings’ fans are not going to be happy. The NFL has admitted today that the play in which Favre hurt his ankle in the third quarter was called incorrectly. Favre threw an interception on the play, though New Orleans didn’t score on the subsequent play. The league has now said that the play should have resulted in a penalty because Favre was hit from behind, and that the Vikings should have had a first down on the New Orleans 19. At the very least, then, they would have wound up with a field goal, and that would have made all the difference. Though I don’t disagree with what the league said, I really have to wonder why they bother saying anything now – unless they have interest in driving Minnesota fans insane.

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There is a whole lot going on out there today, so we’ll quickly touch on a bunch of them:

1. Roger Federer – Federer closed strong last night to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Win or lose, it is the 23rd consecutive Grand Slam he has made at least the semi’s in. Just think about how stunning that is for a second – there are only four Grand Slams a year, so for almost six years in a row Federer has finished at least in the top four of the hardest, deepest tournaments in the year. That’s on three different types of surfaces as well, and they are spread out over eight months. I dare you to name another current athlete that has been that consistently dominant for that long. There isn’t one.

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It was a pretty good day for a pair of friends today.

I had no doubt in my mind before today, but the argument has been made even more compelling – Roger Federer is unquestionably the greatest male tennis player of all time. If you didn’t see the match today then you really missed out. Andy Roddick, to his tremendous credit, played about as well as he could possibly have played. He was aggressive, accurate, and focused – three things that don’t always come in one package for the talented American. No matter what he did, though, Federer was there to match him. Roddick got close to a breakthrough a couple of times in the final marathon set, but whenever he pushed the Swiss star to the brink, Federer would fight his way out. Federer is so ridiculously creative – it’s almost as if he invents shots for particular situations, and as if he adapts his entire game to suit the needs of a particular situation. He wasn’t having an easy time handling Roddick’s blistering serve on Sunday, so he ratcheted his own serve up and, incredibly, almost doubled the number of aces Roddick had. It was a truly epic battle between two warriors, but you couldn’t shake the feeling from he very start that n matter what Roddick tried it wouldn’t quite be enough. Unbelievable.

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The Bucks didn’t stop their wheeling and dealing, and they made a move I am a big fan of. They sent Fabricio Oberto and his serviceable contract to Detroit for Amir Johnson. The Pistons had no room for Johnson, but he’s a player I really like. When he did find a few minutes to play he made the most of them. He’s a good shot blocker and surprisingly good at stealing the ball, and he can score and rebound as well. He’ll take some of the pressure off of CharlieVillanueva, and he gives the Bucks some flexibility if they can’t or don’t want to afford Villanueva next year. This move makes the Jefferson deal look even better in my eyes than it did yesterday.

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Andy Roddick lost at the French Open today. What a shock. Actually, he got crushed. He lost in three decisive sets to hometown hero Gael Monfils. This victory sets up one heck of a quarterfinal match. Monfils has only dropped one set, and he’s playing as well as he ever has. His next opponent – Roger Federer. Federer is building a nice unbeaten streak on clay, but he had to fight for his life to come back from 0-2 against Tommy Haas to win in five sets. Federer is obviously favored to win the match, but it won’t be easy for him. The winner of this match will be in very good shape to win it all, so this could be a classic. It should go down on Wednesday.

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It’s a bit late to be getting to this since the first round is almost in the books, but there has been other pressing stuff to cover so a look at the Aussie Open hasn’t happened yet. I was spurred to do it today by a comment on yesterday’s post. Without further ado:

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I was going to call this post Monday’s Insights, but this first weekend of the NFL has made it perfectly clear to me that insights are an endangered species. The Vikings were the latest problem. I have been high on this team for more than a year now. Tonight they rewarded my faith by looking very, very average. Tarvaris Jackson made it increasingly difficult to imagine he has a bright future with a lackluster performance that was short of compelling excuses. Adrian Peterson was Adrian Peterson, with 103 yards and a touchdown. I have one huge question for the Minny staff after watching the game – why in the world did Peterson only get 19 touches? He was effective. Not much else was. What were you waiting for? You only lost by five, so another 10 carries could have made the difference.

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Saturday was a very interesting day at Wimbledon. Venus Williams beat her sister, won her fifth Wimbledon title and second straight, and proved conclusively that she is without a doubt the best female grass player in the world despite her frustrating inconsistency. The sisters put their competitive differences aside a couple of hours later to cruise to an incredibly easy win in the doubles final. Finally, Canadian Daniel Nestor and new partner Nenad Zimonjic made their second straight grand slam final, but performed better this time around by winning in four sets.

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Wimbledon gets underway today and goes on for the next two weeks. For once, the mens’ side holds some intrigue. For the last five years Roger Federer has won the title, and he has done it with ease bordering in ridiculous. This year, though, things are a bit different. He hasn’t had the dominating year he has had recently, and people aren’t nearly as scared of him as they used to be. Bjorn Borg said perhaps the most ridiculous thing in history when he suggested that Federer was done and that if and when he lost at Wimbledon he would probably retire. Novak Djokovic is only the third best player in the world, and he hasn’t had any more success beating Federer than he Rafael Nadal, but even he called out Roger this week. Their is definitely the smell of change in the air.

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