Why I Love Sports - Opening Day

The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers last night in Houston as the baseball season officially got underway, but Monday is the day we've all been waiting for.

Red Sox - Yankees, Dodgers - Giants and Phillies - Braves are just a few of the games on tap for another amazing Opening Day.  Jon Lester will be facing C.C. Sabathia, two of the best left-handers in the game, in Yankee Stadium Monday afternoon.

I have been slowly getting more and more optimistic for this season of Red Sox baseball, and after seeing the lineup and hearing from some of the players, I'm pumped for things to get underway.  A few additions to the pitching staff and a few additions to the offense seemed like trivial things months ago, but when you put everything together and look at the lineup card for today, the Sox are looking good.

Sure, this blog might turn into your typical Boston blog if the team tanks, blasting pitchers for not trying or hitters for going into inexcusable slumps, but right now, its all systems go.  I'm excited to see how this pitching staff can perform, and if they can carry the success they had this spring.  I'm more excited to see how players like Will Middlebrooks and Jackie Bradley Jr. will play right out of the gate for this 113th Opening Day game for the Red Sox.

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If you call yourself a sports fan, then this past weekend, and including Monday, have been jam-packed with awesome sports moments.  Two Connecticut schools have made the Frozen Four in the NCAA men's hockey tournament (Yale and Quinnipiac) and Michigan and Louisville solidified their spots with Wichita State and Syracuse in the NCAA men's basketball Final Four -- Louisville doing so after losing their emotional leader Kevin Ware to an absolutely horrific leg injury.

In the world of NCAA women's basketball, Louisville made waves by knocking off Brittney Griner and the defending champions Baylor to reach the Elite Eight.

The Bruins got back on track, shutting out the Sabres 2-0 in Buffalo, and the Blackhawks exploded for a 7-1 victory in Detroit.  Andy Murray was forced into a tiebreaker by David Ferrer during a nearly three hour three-set match under the hot Miami sun, but came out victorious.  D.A. Points won the Shell Houston Open, his second career victory after failing to make the cut in seven of nine tournaments he started this year, and earned a spot in the field for The Masters.

Here's to another great day of sports, Happy Opening Day, everyone.

Caroline Wozniacki's Impression of Serena Williams Pegged as Racist and Sexist

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, during an exhibition match with Maria Sharapova in Sao Paolo, Brazil, was goofing around and imitated one of her good friends, Serena Williams.  Wozniacki stuffed her shirt and skirt with towels to imitate Williams' body, which apparently has been regarded as racist and sexist in some circles.

Wozniacki has made fun of Williams in the past, as have male tennis stars Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic have done as well.

Feministing.com has taken serious offense to the friendly imitation, and plans to incite a Twitter campaign to force Wozniacki to apologize.

"[Caroline] oh so cleverly inserted towels into her top and bottom, so it looked like she had bigger breasts and a bigger butt.  Making fun of somebody's body is inappropriate, sexist, offensive and problematic.  But given the history and current-day context of racialized standards of beauty, and the hypersexualization of people of color, when a white woman makes fun of a black woman's body, especially in a way that hypersexualizes her and draws on the stereotype of black women's big butts, its racist."

Never mind the fact that that last sentence is absolutely ridiculous, using the word "hypersexual" in two different forms, the claims that website makes are just absurd.  Wozniacki and Williams are close friends, and not one other person on the planet was upset about the joke.

“She oh so cleverly inserted towels into her top and bottom, so it looked like she had bigger breasts and a bigger butt. Making fun of somebody’s body is inappropriate, sexist, offensive and problematic. But given the history and current-day context of racialized standards of beauty, and the hypersexualization of people of color, when a white woman makes fun of a black women’s body, especially in a way that hypersexualizes her and draws on the stereotype of black women’s big butts, it’s racist.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2012/12/caroline-wozniackis-hilarious-impression-of-serena-williams-being-called-racist-video/

Andy Murray Wins US Open, Sean Connery Loves It

It took nearly five hours, but Andy Murray finally won his first Grand Slam event over Novak Djokovic Monday night. 

The match finished at 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, looking like someone just banged their head against the scoreboard several times.  But Murray really showed what he was made of in this match, outlasting one of the game's strongest players, especially on the hard court.  No one was happier to see Murray do well than fellow Scotsman Sean Connery, in attendance, donning a straw US Open hat among the crowd.

"He fights until the end in every single match," Murray said.  "I don’t know how I managed to come through in the end."

Murray became the first British player to win a Grand Slam event since 1936.  He had lost his previous four Grand Slam finals appearances, dating back to 2008.

Murray's US Open record is now pushed to 29-7 all-time, and with this victory, the 25-year-old has solidified himself as one of the game's best, alongside Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer Live on NBC

Even if you are not a tennis fan, you should be today.  Andy Murray, representing Team Great Britain is facing of live again Team Switzerland's Roger Federer.

Neither of the two have won any Olympic hardware to date, with the best finish from either of them coming from Federer, a semi-final appearance in the 2000 Sydney Games.

Since 2005, the two stack up pretty well head-to-head.  Each player has won eight matches a piece when facing each other, but Federer is 5-2 when it comes to championship matches - three of those five wins for Federer coming in Grand Slam events.

Crowd will be a huge factor today, as Murray, originally from Dunblane, Scotland will have the full support of the hometown crowd.  Either way, this match will be one of the best of the tournament, with both competitors coming off impressive matches.  Federer beat the Olympic number one seed, Juan Martin Del Potro in three games, the third being a marathon 19-17 finish for the world number one Federer.

Murray beat one of the best in the world, Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 7-5 to set up his chance to add a gold medal not just for himself, but for the entire home nation.

Tennis Player Kicks Advertisement, Gashes Line Judges Leg

ESPN.com -- Police are investigating an assault complaint filed against David Nalbandian after the Argentine tennis player kicked an advertising board and injured a line judge during the Queen's Club final.

London police declined to say who made the complaint against Nalbandian, who was defaulted from Sunday's match against Marin Cilic in the grass-court Wimbledon warm-up event.

Any member of the public who witnessed the event in person or on television could have made a complaint, as could the line judge himself.

Nalbandian won the first set 7-6 (3) but lost his temper after losing serve to fall behind 3-4 in the second. After missing a running forehand on game point, he kicked the board under the chair of line judge Andrew McDougall. A piece of the board cut the judge on the left shin, leaving him bloodied from an inch long gash.

Smooth, dude. I understand that was the closest thing to him, but how did he not see the guy right there. The board was practically made of plastic, you had to expect that it was going to snap. Take it out on the racket, or on the court, you nut job.