That’s the news not out of Romania today, and I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty tough to get all fired up about this after Agassi vs. Federer on Arthur Ashe stadium.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Florent Serra . . .
I had a chance to catch up with “real life” this week, after two-plus weeks of tennis mayhem. I’ve noticed that something strange happens to some people on the final day of a tournament; they get depressed, or, in some cases, they undergo an emotional breakdown–you know, begin sobbing or even bawling on the media bus, or in the press bar.
Big-time tennis is like the circus. When it’s in town, everyone becomes a child, absorbed, and all other things are set aside. Then, when the circus leaves town, everything seems banal–especially when seen through over-tired eyes.
Was it really all an illusion? It had to be important, but if it’s important, how can it just go away? Whatever am I going to do now?
Well, I’ve attended enough events, major and otherwise, to know that everyone is susceptible to ELMS (Everyday Life Is Meaningless Syndrome). And once you know what it is, it's pretty easy to fight or neutralize it.
I had hoped to get up to the farm in game-rich Delaware County this week, but as it turned out my wife Lisa had to travel to Houston on business. So I had to be a good daddy and take care of our 3-year-old, Luke, who just started preschool last week. The second day I showed up with him, he dropped a load in his diaper. I didn’t have a spare, and Luke’s teacher wasn’t about to let me off the hook. So I had to run out, drive to a CVS, and buy diapers.
When I returned, Luke very understandably thought I was coming back to take him home (little kids seem to be like dogs, in that they live in the constant present). So when I changed his diaper and left, he went ballistic. He ran out in the hall (a no-no), wailing, looking for “Daddy-a, Daddy-a” (for some reason, he always adds that extra “a”). It was pretty grim, but we got through it and then I took him for an ice cream sundae.
Anyway, Lisa gets home tonight so we head up to the farm early on Friday. I’m back in the saddle, blogging, as of Monday. I’ve been sifting through various U.S. Open-related stories I never got to cover properly or at all (the law suit over doubles, the pathetic performance of Mark Philippoussis– mean in the press room, not the tournament, although he stunk up the joint out there, too–some truly absurd comments/questions, the real winners and losers as another Grand Slam season closed in New York).
Have a great weekend, all–feel free to e-mail me any questions or thoughts you have on the heels of the U.S. Open, or just click on “comments” below and have your say . . .