Keeping Tabs returns today, and will be back on a daily basis during Wimbledon. I won’t be making the trip this year—my first missed major since Wimby 2010—so I’ll have to do my best with what’s available online. Hopefully the switch from newspaper to computer screen will save a tree or two.
This week’s pre-Slam edition provides a nice preview of what we’ll see during the fortnight: i.e., intense overreaction to all events related to tennis. The only issue going forward is, with the Olympics looming in London and England advancing in the Euro soccer championships, how much attention will Wimbledon get in the papers? We’re safe for now, though, thanks to David Nalbandian. The tabs are doing their best to turn him from villain to (police) victim.
I’m looking forward to a return to tab-land. Perusing the Sunday Sport, I've already spotted, just below a link to “Free Sport Babe Galleries,” what looks to be an intriguing read:
ARE CANADIANS THE MOST EVIL RACE ON EARTH?
Kick of Shame
The *Mail*, the self-proclaimed voice of common man reason, wants to see Daveed hang:
NOW POLICE PROBE NALBANDIAN OVER WILD KICK AT LINE JUDGE DURING QUEEN’S CLUB FINAL
“At” the line judge? This large, and inaccurate, headline is followed by a photo that makes it appear as if Nalbandian is doing just that, aiming his right foot between the linesman's legs and swinging it 100 miles an hour. As the paper reports, a police investigation has been launched into the assault claim made by the linesman, Andrew McDougall.
The police should ask Martina Navratilova what happened. As she said yesterday, Nalbandian didn’t assault a judge, he assaulted a box. Martina also said that she had felt like kicking those boxes, which protrude onto the court and are there for advertising purposes only, many times herself.
Niggling Question
As for the *Sun,* it does its share of Nalby bashing as well, speculating that he’ll “get a kicking” from the crowd when he shows his nasty mug at Wimbledon. But the paper also gets back to basics with some old-fashioned Andy Murray drama, after his recent upset loss:
QUEEN’S HORROR EXIT FOR MURRAY
Andy Murray gave his critics a stack of ammunition as he crashed out early
The paper also has a bit of old news, which I hadn’t heard. Doctors advised him not to play the doubles at Queen’s because of his persistent back “niggle.” Murray is scheduled to play two singles exhibitions at the Boodles this week.
Boodles: Sounds intense.
Tiger Tim Roars: "Don’t Worry, Andy"
The best Murray-loss headline, in my opinion, goes to the *Mirror*:
ROYALLY BEATEN: MURRAY CRASHES OUT TO WORLD NO. 65 AT QUEEN’S
He shouldn’t feel too bad, according to guest Mirror columnist Tim Henman, who believes that Muzz’s performance at Queen’s will have no bearing on what he does at Wimbledon. When you get to the Big W, all is forgotten, according to Brave Tim. Until the semifinals, apparently.
Morals of Moral
Over on my side of the water, the Wall St. Journal has a piece on Luis Garcia del Moral, the doctor who has been accused of helping Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service teammates run a covert doping program from 1999 to 2003.
Garcia del Moral, who works with a sports-medicine clinic in Valencia, Spain, denies any involvement, but former Armstrong teammates portray him as the chain-smoking mastermind behind their success. Nicknamed “The Black Cat,” he allegedly told one rider, “you’re not a real professional if you don’t take drugs.”
Besides denying these accusations, the doctor told the Journal that he hopes they won’t hurt the reputation of his other athlete clients, in particular Roland Garros runner-up Sara Errani. Garcia del Moral has been associated with the TenisVal Academy in Valencia, home at various times to Errani, Marat and Dinara Safina, and David Ferrer.
Errani’s brother, Davide, told the paper that she had never been treated by Garcia del Moral, aside from one routine cardiac examination. The story overshoots its mark by, as the doctor predicted, citing Errani’s recently improved results without citing any evidence, other than guilt by association, that she doped. Still, the connection warrants more questions from the ITF's anti-doping authorities.
Roof Job?
When the U.S. Open announced its future expansion plans, the big news was what they didn’t include: a roof. Arthur Ashe Stadium is too big, and the land beneath it too soft, to support one. I shook my head with the rest of the world and thought there’s no way anyone can now deny that Ashe had been a titanic mistake all along. The Open is stuck with it, and by 2017 this most TV-focused Slam is going to be the only one still forcing its broadcast partners to show re-runs during rain delays and postponing finals to Mondays.
At the same time, I thought there’s nothing that can be done at this point, and there’s no use trashing the organization for decisions made 20 years ago. Richard Evans, however, believes there is something that can be done. In a piece for Fox Sports, Evans puts forth a complicated but potentially plausible plan for putting a roof over the new, larger Louis Armstrong Stadium and making those the highest-priced tickets on the grounds (there’s more to it than that, but I can’t summarize it all here). I don’t know if the USTA considered something like this and rejected it or not, but it’s a stab at a solution, and it doesn’t sound as impossible as I had thought.
I’ll Just Watch Them When They Get There...
At ESPN.com, Kamakshi Tandon gives us a helpfully thorough rundown of the ever-expanding list of controversies over Olympic team selections. Every country seems to have one by now. Chances are you won’t remember the details of all of them even if you read the whole piece twice. I recommend printing it out and carrying it around with you, in case you get into a conversation about what the latest is with Kazakhstan’s team.
