DO WE SUCK AT TENNIS?????

*Kudos to the French Open. I’m not a big tennis guy...but I do know that the French Open is to tennis what Coors Field is to major league pitchers. A complete albatross that is tough to conquer. Pete Sampras won 14 Grand Slam events...but never even got to a French Open Final. The tournament is nearly a week old and the Americans have crapped out at Roland Garros. Venus Williams was just shown the door [sis Serenas sat out the tourny with a bum ankle]. Only Lindsay Davenport and Marissa Irvin are still alive in the tournament singles [Davenport has barely advanced to Round 4. Irvin is still in the 3rd]. No American men even made the third round...matching last year’s failure. So do we suck at tennis?? No. We just suck on the red stuff. Tres desagreable!!!

*Mark Prior took a line shot off his elbow....which became fractured. Another Cubbie pitcher down. Kerry Wood has been out with a shoulder injury. Mike Remlinger was just placed on the DL with a finger injury. Scott Williamson has yet to pitch this year after elbow surgery. Carlos Zambrano has "tennis elbow". In three years, it will be the 100th anniversary of the Cubs last World Series championship. Now there is a curse!

*Bill Romanowski will pay Marcus Williams $415,000 for making his face look like a Picasso. I still say Romo got off easy. That is a small price to pay for basically ended a guy’s career by going into Roid Rage [allegedly].

*There is an arrest warrant out for Plaxico Burress. Seems the new Giant didn’t pay his local taxes...and then failed to show up for his delinquent tax hearing yesterday. Hey Jamie....did ya know that SBL guest Drew Rosenhaus was his agent? Maybe we can run him down again [since he doesn’t like talking about holdouts] and ask about why his guys can’t obey laws??

                                          

*The NFL season isn’t for another few months...but who’s on the NFL’s hot seat? My top choice has to be New Orleans Jim Haslett. He does have a winning record [a rarity in Saints Land] but his teams tend to forget to do the little things. They have the parts....but just don’t seem to have the will. Mike Tice is on the list, along with Mike Martz and Norv Turner.

*I said it before and I’ll say it again. Tampa Bay is 3-18 away from Tropicana Field. Houston is 3-22 away from Minute Maid Park. That is a combined 6-40 when they get off "the juice".

*Playoff update. As of now, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles are AL division winners with Minnesota as the wildcard. In the NL, Florida, St. Louis and San Diego are the division winners with Atlanta as the wildcard. Ah...a postseason without Yankees or Red Sox....and possibly one without Braves. Of course, there are 4 more months where those franchises will find a way to get back to the postseason.

*The Yankees have won 16 of 18. Are they back yet??

*Nascar Basketball Association??? The NBA is considering letting ads show up on player’s uniforms. This from a league that doesn’t even like to show the manufacturers logo on the unis. Yet, you could see Shaq run down the court with a "Chico’s Bail Bonds" logo on the front of his jersey. In recent years, ads have plastered the walls that border our sports sidelines, plastered atop the arenas that house our sports, plastered the TV screen as we view the sports and are even digitally presented on magic screens during broadcasts [the worst are those ads that appear in the free throw lane]. This could pose a very interesting dilemma. You could have Dr Pepper’s logo on a jersey of a player that has an endorsement from Sprite....but is playing inside the Pepsi Center in Denver....where the logo atop the scoreboard is of Budweiser.

*The New Orleans Hornets FREAKING SUCK!!!!! First, they have the worst franchise owner in sports. Second, their horrible attendance in their new home of N’Awlins kicked in a deal that forces the state of Louisiana to throw cheese at the Hornets’ owners. And now comes word that employees were forced to work overtime but not paid for the extra hours. There has been a lawsuit filed in federal court.

                                

*The logo rights to the Grambling "G" that adorns the famed football program helmets has lapsed. This enables vendors to use the logo for whatever and owe the school nothing. So, the university is scrapping the "G" [which is a discolored version of U of Georgia and Green Bay’s logo] and looking for a new logo. Most likely, the "G" will remain but with a modification that could have a tiger lurking thru it.