!Phpwmsxblpm **Sometimes, pets are better viewing partners than people. Certainly, Sam and Susie (I think Susie is the lighter colored one) are prime examples.
From Viv's sister:
In times of extreme tension during a match Susie gets worried about me and tries to crawl into my lap.... now, while I am no lightweight, Susie is a biggish dog with sharp claws so that is not an ideal situation especially given the face licking which follows a lap invasion. On the plus side she is quite happy to have her basket moved to a different room... for some reason guests don't like to be banished in this way... do bunnies make better tennis viewing companions?
This depends on the bunny. I fostered one who you could literally shoot a gun off next to and he wouldn't budge -- as long as you were petting him. The more antsy bunnies have to stay in the pen during tennis matches, because I never know at what critical point in the match they will decide to start chewing a cable or even scamper around fast enough to pull the TV plug out of the ancient socket when they knock into it.
Other tennis-viewing pet stories? Photos? Send them in! I don't think I have a photo lined up for next week.
No really special featurette this week (no book review) but one of my non-tennis friends who I told about this blog asked me about the origin of tennis bracelets. You long-time tennis fans probably know all this already, but the design has existed for a very long time. Previously called diamond line bracelets, the term ‘tennis bracelet’ started after Chris Evert lost hers in 1987 at the US Open and asked for the match to be stopped so she could find it. I can only imagine the hisses if anyone did that today. (Anybody here watch that match? How long did it take to find it?)
Actually, as I recall, in 2002 Serena Williams’ $29,000 platinum and diamond Harry Winston bracelet did fly off during a serve, so she went into the US Open with an extra-strong clasp -- and matching earrings. These days, the ladies seem to be all about the earrings. Small wonder; I tried to play in a tennis bracelet once and found it incredibly annoying. If it’s tight enough to stay put, it will bite into you or snap when your muscles tense, and if it’s not tight enough to stay put, it’ll slide into the base of your hand and bite into your palm. I’m surprised that Nike hasn’t yet bedazzled the ladies’ sweatbands instead. Or the men’s! I don’t want to be sexist. Does Vince Spadea still wear the caps with the sparkly S’s?
By the way, 2002 was also Serena’s catsuit year. And she won. It was a good Open for the bracelet. On the other hand, the first and only time I watched a full Spadea match was the 2006 US Open when he wanted to go on camera to guarantee a win over Roger Federer and CBS wouldn’t let him. It was not a good Open for sparkles. Oh wait, yes it was. Maria Sharapova wore that black cocktail dress with the sparkly round yoke. To mangle the Biblical proverb, the right banana at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.
-Heidi Kim