Back Porch FanHouse

Anna Kournikova Beats Jimmy Fallon in Beer Pong on Late Night

Will Brinson — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Buzkashi, International Tennis, Sports of an Extreme Nature, Table Tennis, TV and Movies, Tennis, Current Events

Anna Kournikova isn't great at tennis. She was very good at being very attractive and thus very good at garnering attention from the media and endorsers, but never very good at tennis. Unfortunately for Jimmy Fallon, she's pretty decent at beer pong, as he found out last night. Or at least better than Fallon anyway. If it were anyone else, I would bite on "sandbagging," but not with Fallon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my 400-count sheets (pantsless, natch) waiting for Conan to come back.

Anna Kournikova Beats Jimmy Fallon in Beer Pong on Late Night originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After 19 Straight, Del Potro Eyes the Open

Eric McErlain — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis, Tennis, Breaking News

In a world dominated by always on broadband Internet connections, it's hard for any athlete to sneak up on sports fans anymore. But over the past few weeks, with the sports world focusing relentlessly on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a 19-year old Argentine may very well have put himself in the best position to win the Men's Singles Title at this year's U.S. Open.

The young man I'm talking about is 19th-ranked Juan-Martin Del Potro, and the reason to get excited about his prospects is that he hasn't lost a tennis match since he exited the second round of Wimbledon back on June 25. Toss in the fact that he's got the sort of looks that could win him a second career as a male model, and you can see why plenty of folks think he's ready to break out in a big way.

After an early exit from Wimbledon, Del Potro won a pair of clay court tournaments in Europe -- his first wins on the ATP Tour -- before decamping to the USA for the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles where he beat Andy Roddick in the final in two sets. Here all week in Washington at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, it's been nothing but more of the same, as Del Potro ripped through his side of the bracket as the tournament's second seed, running his consecutive win streak to 18 matches. Meanwhile on the other side of the ladder, #1 seed Roddick was upended in the quarterfinals on Friday night by the unheralded Serbian Viktor Troicki, Del Potro's opposition in today's final.

The Serbian proved to be little more than a speed bump as Del Potro cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory, stretching his consecutive match streak to 19 and his tournament win streak to four. It's an astounding feat, as no other player has ever even won a second straight tournament after winning of the first of their career on the ATP tour, and now Del Potro has strung together four straight.

Now there are some, with more than a little bit of reason, who would say that we shouldn't get too excited about what Del Potro has accomplished. After all, as ESPN's Cliff Drysdale noted in the aftermath of Del Potro's semifinal victory yesterday over Germany's Tommy Haas, much of the world's tennis talent has eschewed the hardcourt U.S. Open Series in favor of a shot at Olympic gold in Beijing -- a fact of life that has denuded the talent pool playing stateside over the past few weeks.

Still, 19 wins in a row and four straight tournament victories is an impressive achievement no matter the level of the opposition. And while Del Potro may very well have passed up the chance to win an Olympic medal for Argentina, there's more than something to be said about putting yourself in the proper position to win your first grand slam.

So while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are celebrating gold medals in Beijing, they've still got to fly half way around the world to get to Flushing Meadows in time, while Del Potro could walk from Washington and still get to the Open ahead of most of the world's top players. Something tells me he'll find a way to use all that extra time to his advantage.

After 19 Straight, Del Potro Eyes the Open originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anna Pouts in Justin's Presence

Eric McErlain — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:20:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis, Tennis

Over the past few weeks, I've been spending more than a few evenings in downtown Washington to take in a couple of matches of Washington's entry into World Team Tennis, the Washington Kastles. As I wrote a few weeks back, it's a fun experience, and now that the regular season has come to an end, I have to say I'm going to miss it.

That's why I made sure to budget some time last night to take in the last match of the regular season against the St. Louis Aces. Taking time to see the Aces meant having a chance to watch Anna Kournikova, something I didn't want to miss. Better yet, this would be the one opportunity to see Kournikova on the same court as Justin Gimelstob, the member of the Kastles who ran off the rails a couple of weeks back while attacking Kournikova while trying to drum up some publicity for the league.

So what happened? While everyone was watching, not much. But once the match was delayed by a violent Washington thunderstorm and the festivities were moved elsewhere after most of the crowd opted to go home, then the real fireworks began.

Earlier in the day at a lightly attended press conference, Kournikova twice refused to answer any questions about Gimelstob. Later, the media people who work for the Kastles assured us that Gimelstob and Kournikova wouldn't be facing off in the mixed doubles portion of the evening.

The closest the two ever came to even looking the other's way was during player introductions. With Kournikova and her St. Louis teammates already on the court, Gimelstob was the last member of the Kastles to be introduced. If Kournikova had any reaction, I didn't see it.

Things were clicking along at a nice pace when the skies opened up and we were hit with a typically violent Summer thunderstorm. After about a 45 minute delay while we all huddled under a massive tent, the match was moved to Hains Point, where an indoor tennis bubble had been set up in case of this eventuality.

Which is when most of the folks, thinking Anna and Justin weren't going to play anyway, decided to go home. But in the heat of the moment, the folks at WTT decided to add a little drama, and with Washington trailing 0-1 in the mixed doubles portion of the evening, the Kastles removed Scott Oudesma in favor of Gimelstob.

Here's what one observer told my friend Tim Lemke at the Washington Times:

"We were seated just a few feet from her -- she used the expression 'f word' and 'horse's rear' a number of times, served to him underhand, and didn't even try to play the match - a shame for her partner who probably would have liked the win in his column."

So, how accurate could that report be? Probably 100 percent spot on, considering that the bubble at Hains Point is not exactly a giant venue. While the rain was coming down and we were all still in the tents, Kastles owner Mark Ein urged us all to come to Hains in part because the temporary stands were so close to the players that you were virtually on top of them.

It would have been fun to see. It's too bad -- for both the fans and the league -- that more people didn't. As to why the WTT didn't think to pull their switch early on with the clear threat of rain in the forecast, I guess we'll never know.

Anna Pouts in Justin's Presence originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An Evening With World Team Tennis

Eric McErlain — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:40:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis, Tennis

As many of my fellow FanHousers understand all too intimately, sports blogging can often morph into part-time, but year-round obsession. As somebody who has covered the NHL as a blogger for seven seasons, I've come to appreciate just how difficult the life of a typical NHL beat writer can be.

Just when you think the season is over and you might get a little bit of a break, you discover that you're dead wrong. In the NHL, that means understanding that just as you get finished covering the Stanley Cup Finals, the NHL Awards Show is only a couple of days away. After that, the NHL Entry Draft arrives like a freight train, followed pretty quickly by the start of the free agent signing period, now better known as "Xmas in July".

Don't get me wrong, there's no sport in the world that I love more than hockey, and it's been that way since I first stepped on the ice with a stick in my hand as a six-year old kid. It's just that sometimes I'd like to leaven my sports diet with something different from time to time.

That's why I was more than happy to put the NHL aside for one evening, and take a seat inside Kastles Stadium, one of the simplest, yet most attractive venues I've ever visited, for an evening with Serena Williams, the Washington Kastles, Boston Lobsters and World Team Tennis.

Yes, I know that Williams isn't the only member of the Washington Kastles, the new and local entry on the WTT circuit, but you couldn't tell that to the sold out crowd that filled the temporary tennis stadium. Those folks were there to see Serena, and Serena only, just a few days after her crushing loss to her sister Venus in the Ladies Final at Wimbledon.

The evening started right at 5:30, as Williams, clearly jet-lagged from a plane ride that originated in Paris earlier in the day, was forced to answer the same sort of dopey questions the press always throws at her at pre-tournament dog and pony shows. When one reporter noted that she seemed depressed last Saturday after dropping the Wimbledon Final, Serena replied: "Really?" managing to mix just enough charm with a heaping helping of sarcasm that had us all laughing.

Up next was a short walk to Kastles Stadium, a venue that proves that sometimes, great things can come in small packages. As you can see from the above photo, it's situated right in the middle of downtown Washington, just a few blocks West of Verizon Center, home of the Wizards, Caps and Mystics. With high rises surrounding the court on three sides, it was easy for hotel guests across the street or even some folks working late to catch parts of the match for free. Mix in a cool Summer breeze and we had a perfect evening for tennis.

When I first contacted the Kastles about credentials earlier in the year, I was a tad surprised to find that they had yet to secure a venue. Now, after spending an evening watching tennis inside this temporary venue, I'm having a hard time imagining a better choice.

As for the tennis, let's just say WTT strives to keep things simple. The teams play five sets:

One each of men's and women's singles;

One each of men's and women's doubles; and

One set of mixed doubles.

The traditional tennis scoring system is junked as too. Teams play to four points a game (counting 1-4 instead of 15-30-40-Game) with no ads, and a "let" -- when a serve is in but strikes the net cord -- is considered to be in play. Five games wins a set, but every game counts toward a team's total. If the team that wins the fifth and final set is leading, the match is over. However, if the trailing team wins the set, the match goes into Overtime.

In OT, if the leading team manages to win just one game, the match ends. But if the trailing team can keep winning games and tie the score, the match goes to a supertiebreaker, with the two players remaining on the court playing to seven points to decided the match.

As you might imagine, the effect is rather relaxed, though it's clear the rules for the final set and overtime are designed to serve as a showcase for the best player on the court. This night, that meant Washington saved Williams for the last set of women's singles, with the unheralded Marie-Eve Pelletier serving as cannon fodder.

Not that it should have gotten to the point where Washington needed Serena to save the team's bacon. As I'm sure many of you might recall, the top male player on the team is the recently retired player turned broadcaster, Justin Gimelstob. He managed to play men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles, and couldn't suck enough. His highlight of the night came when he managed to win a point on two-straight lets, something that allowed him to play a little bit to a crowd he had otherwise taken completely out of the match with his horrid play.

As my friend Allen Clark put it later:

Justin Gimelstob played bad, there is no way to sugar coat this. Both the serve and service return hurt Gimelstob in the doubles match and then he blew a 4-1 lead in his singles match with Jan-Michael Gambill, eventually losing in a tiebreaker.

Of course, Gimelstob's play -- which led one fan to cry out, "Make believe you're Venus!" -- couldn't have been more ironic given all the dust he kicked up before the WTT ever got onto the court this season, thanks to a volley of insults he lobbed at Anna Kournikova a few weeks back. Though it was all a bit silly, Gimelstob apologized, though it appears he'll be paying the price for some time to come.

With Gimelstob playing like a dog, it was more or less up to a fatigued Williams to pick up the slack. And pick up the slack she did, winning the final set 5-2 to force OT. She quickly won two more games, closing the gap to 21-19, while delivering Pelletier a tennis lesson she won't soon forget. But with Williams threatening to win a third straight game in OT, Pelletier somehow managed to put her away to end the match.

So should you give the WTT a chance? As long as you're not looking for the sort of serious tennis you'd find at a regular stop on the men's or women's tour, the WTT is definitely worth the price of admission, at least in Washington where the venue is top notch. It's a fun, but long evening.

But beware, the big stars in the WTT normally only make one appearance at home per season -- Williams's appearance on Tuesday was her first and only time in Washington this season -- so don't expect to see all the big names every time you come out. Be sure to check the schedule ahead of time to see who's on tap that night, as more than a few big names are set to visit every city over the course of the season.

So, will I be back? Sure, and more than once. John McEnroe is scheduled to come to town on July 15, and you can bet I don't want to miss the match on July 23 when Kournikova and St. Louis come to town. I'm sure that Billy Jean King (that's her signing an autograph at the left), the legend behind the WTT, will be expecting Gimelstob to make some kind of public apology to Kournikova. I wouldn't want to miss that.

An Evening With World Team Tennis originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soderling/Nadal Get Tiffy With It at Wimbledon

Orson Swindle — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:20:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis

Rafael Nadal has a habit we should talk about: namely, that like your girfriend, he picks his shorts out of his ass every two minutes or so on court. It's a mild, obsessive compulsive thing he's got, one most competitors in tennis grin and bear during matches with Nadal.

Unless you're bizarro Swede Robin Soderling, though, who "took the mickey" with Nadal during their 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5 epic match that stretched over five days due to rain delays. Watch for the mock ass-pick and subsequent diva delays between the two.

The catfight between the two continued after the match, when Soderling looked away at the handshake and then complained that he waited for Nadal "more than 200 times." Nadal reponded by saying that no one had anything good to say about Soderling in the locker room, and that his ass was more famous than Soderling's any day. And with all the attention he draws to it with the constant undie maintenance...well, it should be.

Soderling/Nadal Get Tiffy With It at Wimbledon originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Federer vs. Borg: Federer's Behind in Two Departments

Orson Swindle — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:27:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis

It's time for breakfast at Wimbledon...meaning it's time to listen to Bud Collins froth all over 22 year old men for hours at a time, have NBC tell you delicious strawberries and cream are for breakfast, and occasionally fit in half-cocked historical comparisons between tennis players.

(Bud Collins, by the way, falls in the Jim McKay/Mel Kiper genre of "broadcasters dethawed for single events. He spends the rest of his year safely ensconced in a freezer in Landover, Maryland, sandwiched between Dick Button and a nice rack of lamb.)

The comparison we have in mind is between Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer, one the British press seems bound and determined to make stick in the minds of the public. Federer's already got 12 Grand Slam titles at the age of 25, one ahead of Borg's total of 11 at the age of 26. Federer's behind in two departments, though.

First: cheese-alicious endorsements:

And second, amazing adventures with wet t-shirt contest winners: (link goes to Nerve.com, which you may not want your employer to see. Proceed with caution.)

His first marriage, to the tennis player Mariana Simionescu, failed when he met a seventeen year old while judging a wet-T-shirt competition and fathered her child.

Well, when they ask you if you're ready for the responsibilities of being a wet t-shirt contest judge, you better mean it when you say yes. Bjorn certainly did.

Federer vs. Borg: Federer's Behind in Two Departments originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bow To Your New Glow-in-the-Dark Speedminton Overlords

Orson Swindle — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:57:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis, Sports of an Extreme Nature

The future of sports is here, and thanks to Foul Balls, we have seen it: Speedminton, a variant of Badminton using a modified shuttlecock that instead of fluttering around the court speeds bullet-like from racquet to racquet. It should allow you to retain your dignity, unlike that embarrassing Nordic Walking fad we tried to start in the neighborhood a few years back. (Bike shorts, trekking poles, and skin-tight workout shirt in urban area=not good reception from local "characters." Note: characters=prosititutes and their management.)

If the promotional video is to be believed...

...the sport may be played on a number of surfaces, including but not limited to:

Beaches
Across rooftops ten stories up in urban areas (no diving!)
On pieces of granite floating in a lake of fire
On a glacier, presumably while you're waiting for rescue or the sweet release of frosty death to greet you.
In the dark, but only while wearing a bikini and day-glo paint in tribal patterns.

You may order the specially constructed, space-age Speeder shuttlecocks from Speedminton's website, which boasts of the Speeders attaining "Speeds of up to 175 mph," ideal for those who've ever wanted to fire a shuttlecock directly through an opponents chest. But who cares what we think--Speedminton has an endorsement from the elegant and beautiful Maria Sharapova, which you do not and for which you are very, very sad.

Bow To Your New Glow-in-the-Dark Speedminton Overlords originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Serena Departs French Open, Taking Viewing Public With Her.

Orson Swindle — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:55:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis

NOOOOOOO!!!! Do not want! Serena Williams met her fate today in the French Open, taking the most charismatic presence in all of international sport with her after a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Justin Henin-Ardennes-D'Arcachon-Renault-Deneuve whatever her name is now we don't care. All we know is that Serena's out, Venus is gone, and all that's left for American viewers in the French are the inevitable crushing defeat of whoever's facing Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova grunting loudly. Admittedly, both of these will be quite impressive in their own right.

Serena summed up her loss in tantalizing language:

"All she had to do was show up," Williams said. "I just pretty much stood back and let her take advantage of me."

(Spits coffee, pauses, comes to senses.) Well, at least she had fun while she was there. (Warning: we're told there's language in the song. We can't hear it, but then again, we're from Atlanta. Hip-hop profanity doesn't even register on our radar.)

Does she look at least a little, dare we say ... adorably dorky there? And why does that make her even more attractive now? Toss in a World of Warcraft habit, and we're talking an anthrax-bad crush here.

Serena Departs French Open, Taking Viewing Public With Her. originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Venus Williams Breaks Own Serve Record: 206 KPH

Orson Swindle — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:49:00 EST

Filed under: International Tennis

Venus Williams warms up in style at the French Open this week, breaking her own serve speed record by crushing a 206 KPH serve against poor, hapless Ashley Harkleroad. If you're very observant, you'll notice that the earth spins backwards a bit due to the speed of the ball, much like Superman rotating the earth backwards to go back in time.

Both Venus and Serena Williams advanced to the third round, ensuring that we will be watching tennis for at least another day or two, because like most men we watch women's tennis for the right reasons: grunting, athletic women wearing short skirts doing a lot of deep knee bends on low camera angles.

Venus Williams Breaks Own Serve Record: 206 KPH originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 31 May 2007 15:49:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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