2009 Rogers Cup

I just finished purchasing my tickets for the 2009 Rogers Cup in Montreal. Since my main interest is getting a chance to see Roger Federer play while he’s still in semi-competitive form, I’m only attending thru the quarterfinals. It isn’t until August so hopefully he doesn’t lose his mind and retire before then!

The exchange rate with Canada is decent enough right now that ticket’s weren’t too expensive. I could have just gone to the Masters Series event held in Cincinatti, probably for a lot cheaper, but I’ve never been to Montreal so this is killing two birds with one stone.

 

“It’s been a long time coming…”

I really don’t think it could have been said much better than that. What this commentator has to say is right on the money…

 

Archimède – Vilaine canaille

I ran across this video while killing time the other day on YouTube. I don’t speak any French but I like the song and think it’s a great video. It reminds me of something Wes Anderson or Spike Jonze would come up with… 

 

What does Roger Federer have left?

So he lost yet another 5 set match to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, and lost for the 4th straight time to Andy Murray during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.  To start the season he is 0-3 against those two players and 13-0 against everyone else. Novak Djokovic hasn’t done much of anything yet and looks to get passed up in the rankings by Murray.

As close as Federer is to catching Pete Sampras in majors won, Nadal may be even closer to reaching a Career Grand Slam, if not a Calendar Year Grand Slam. Right now he certainly has the mental edge over everyone else, especially Federer.

Whatever the reason he dropped out of the Masters Event in Monte Carlo, for someone so accustomed to winning, how many more losses to Nadal can he stomach before he call’s it quits? With Andy Murray on the rise, how many more chances to play in Grand Slam finals will he have?

I hope he figures things out because I don’t want to see their rivalry end just yet.

 

Bonnaroo, weaker than normal

But this year I’d have to give Coachella a slightly better grade on their lineup. Nothing worth traveling to California for though, and since a few of the bands I want to see are playing both festivals, Bonnaroo it is. I just won’t be looking forward to it as much as I have the last few years.

Unfortunately with Phish playing 2 shows this year, it’ll be a bit more difficult to avoid them. The core of the festival looks good, and I’ll enjoy it, but I just feel like something’s missing from the lineup this time around. I would gladly trade in Paul Oakenfold and Nine Inch Nails for Fatboy Slim. Or just anyone who has done something of interest in the past decade. I can honestly say I didn’t know “trance” music still existed. Or Trent Reznor.

 

Federer vs. Nadal VII

So with Rafael Nadal’s epic 5 hour long victory over Fernando Verdasco last night, he’s set up a 7th grand slam final with Roger Federer.  The only time either has lost in a final, it has been to the other. Nadal is 4-2 against Federer in majors but never before have they met in the final of a major on a hardcourt surface. Federer is 8-0 in US Open and Australian Open finals, the only two with hardcourts.

After losing his #1 ranking to Nadal last year and with many believing his career was rapidly headed downhill, this is the first test of 2009.  Were people too quick to count Federer out? Has Nadal improved enough that he’s ready to win on a hardcourt or did he just face a weaker draw? Nobody doubts these are the two best players in tennis currently, but they are so far ahead of the rest it’s not impossible they could face off in the finals of all 4 majors this year.

This is a rivalry at it’s best.  Likely the greatest in tennis history.

 

Federer absolutely crushes Del Potro

Well when I checked the score of the Roddick vs Djokovic match I was shocked to see that Roddick beat him. What didn’t suprise me though was to see in the headline “Djokovic Quits.” I’m no Roddick fan but atleast he WANTS to be out there playing tennis, regardless of the heat.

And Roger Federer picking apart #6 in the world Del Potro I did not see coming. I thought there could be a possible upset looming or atleast a 4 or 5 set match. But a 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 hammering of Del Potro is not what I expected. Losing that badly Del Potro atleast stuck it out on court, unlike Djokovic. 

Nobody reads this so I’m not gonna do the research but I do believe Federer is something like 15-2 against Roddick. With that in mind, if Roger has already bumped his level of play up to the next level after coming back against Berdych, well then it might already be too late for Roddick.

But, that’s why they play the game.

 

Bonnaroo ’08

Bonnaroo '08

 

Thursday
MGMT
The Felice Brothers

Friday
Jose Gonzalez
Tegan & Sara
Les Claypool
The Raconteurs
M.I.A.
Metallica
My Morning Jacket

 

Saturday
B.B. King
Iron & Wine
Jack Johnson
Pearl Jam
Chromeo
Kanye West

"Better Man" - Pearl Jam

Since I had 524 miles to drive home by myself I skipped Sunday's
music. But I don't think it got much better than Pearl Jam
playing "Better Man" on Saturday night. Can't say I was too big
a fan of Kanye West starting 2.5 hours late at 4:30AM though.

 

Coachella ’07 (Bonnaroo vs Coachella)

“We are Rage Against The Machine and we’re from Los Angeles, California.” 

As soon as I heard that, and they started playing “Testify” – I knew my life was complete.

The bands I saw…

DAY 1
Tokyo Police Club
Of Montreal
Silversun Pickups
Artic Monkeys
Felix Da Housecat
Brazilian Girls
Sonic Youth

DAY 2
The New Pornographers
The Decemberists
The Arcade Fire
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Tiesto

DAY 3
Trent Cantrelle
The Roots
Kaiser Chiefs
Willie Nelson
Paul Van Dyk
Rage Against The Machine

Bonnaroo vs. Coachella
Since my digital camera never recovered from the Dominican Republic, I had to use a disposable camera. Haven’t gotten the pictures back. Anyways, compared to Bonaroo, I would say Bonaroo is a much more well run, less restrictive festival.

The Empire Polo Field is much nicer than that damn farm Bonnaroo is held on. The sun is brutal in Indio, CA – but it’s not humid like in Manchester, TN. Coachella has free showers. Bonnaroo does not.

You can’t take ANYTHING other than money into Coachella. No water, nothing. You can’t go back and forth between the festival area and the camping area like you can at Bonnaroo. And there’s not alcohol allowed into the camping area at Coachella. Stupid.

The music stops at MIDNIGHT. At Bonnaroo it goes on until 4AM or so. Due to the sun in Indio it’s impossible to sleep past 730AM so all there is to do is take a shower and sit around waiting until 1PM when the festival re-opens. It’s wayyy too hot to start drinking the $7 Amstel Lights during that time of boredom. Even though we did a few times, it wasn’t worth it.

Both festival’s have their ups and downs but overall I’ll go back to Bonnaroo 5 more times before I go back to Coachella.  Partly due to it being so far away, but Coachella ’07 was definitely great.