TOPIC: US Open - Day 6: Sharapova is OUT!
That's right! The returning ladies champion and all too self-confident Maria Sharapova is now just a spectator at the US Open. A relatively unknown 18 year old Polish cutie named Agnieszka Radwanska retired the shreak-queen, Sharapova, just a few minutes ago -- 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
Radwanska, who is actually ranked #30, was thought to be a walk-over for glamor girl Maria. However, the quiet Pole played tough, shaking Sharapova into giving up at least eight double faults.
As you may be able to discern, I'm not a Sharapova fan, but I do respect her talent. That makes the defeat even more of a surprise for many. While I've never even heard of Radwanska before today, I won't forget her name now. She has put the world's number 2 women's tennis player on the bench -- with such style that she may work her way into my personal top 5 favorites.
Looking forward, the bottom half of the ladies draw is now wide open. Actually, I'm hoping Agnieszka Radwanska will make it to the quarterfinals. If she continues to play like she did today, she has a very good chance. Go Aggie!

More to come later today... Indian hottie Sania Mirza is playing... Roddick is leading Johansson 5-3 in the first set... Federer and my new fav on the men's side, John Isner, play later.

TOPIC: US Open - Day 4: Commercials, I'm Already Sick of Them!
There is plenty of sports and player related coverage of the US Open. I won't try to duplicate or surpass the excellence of those articles or blogs here. However, the US Open is one of my two favorite tennis tournaments each year. Therefore, the family TV is tuned to USA Network or CBS for most of the two weeks that encompass the US Open.
To that end, my comments today concern the commercials shown during the tourney. Even though it's only Day Four, I'm already sick of the repetitive nature of the television ads. If the US Open is going to have only 4-6 major sponsors, those companies should be required to have a variety of ads available for airing.
So far, I have seen American Express rep John McEnroe hug Claus Ullott more times than Barney the dinosaur ever hugged the kids in his entourage. And, the worst commercial of all, Andy Roddick chasing a tennis ball in a silver Lexus, has been shown so often that the stupid tunage is now stuck in my head. ARGH! Almost as overdone are the two IBM Bladecenter commercials -- heat and cables. The funny thing about those two ads are that 95% of the people watching them have NO CLUE why heat and cables are a bain to I.T.'s existence. So, who exactly is IBM selling to? -- not normal tennis fans, not the sports jock, not the average housewife who's sitting at home during the middle of the day. DUMB!
Then, there's the Aviva commercials -- that have no real message except, "Trust us." Billy May is more convincing. Lastly, Serena Williams' overdone it's all-about-me fest for HP. As if her ego isn't big enough, we have to endure repeated ads showing her celebrate herself -- including that huge booty she thinks is all that. OY-VAY!