The OTher Thread (OT)

Mornin' Tribe. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are warming up as I type, and as we all want to watch that throwdown, I'm going to make this brief. This will by your Off-Topic thread for today - use it for the match calls and commentary, as well as any other off-topic subject.

I also have a very important PSA to convey. I had a nice long talk with Haider Abbud this morning. If you don't know, he's the U.S. adviser to the Iraqi government whose heart-wrenching story I helped tell in the recent Tennis magazine feature, Tennis in the Green Zone.

Haider told me that the Iraqi tennis federation has a huge problem. They no longer have a racquet stringing machine. Sounds crazy but it's true. It's a pretty telling comment on the hardships that Iraqis are enduring, at every level, every day.

So TennisWorld is looking to find out if anyone is willing to donate a stringing machine that we can ship to Baghdad ASAP. There are only two conditions attached: the machine must weigh less than 70 lbs (that's the present weight limit on items going to American personnel stationed there), and it must be manual (that is, not electrically powered).

Of course, I will be checking next week with Tennis, to see if we have a stringing machine we can send over, but if any of you have one collecting dust in the basement and want to donate it to a good cause, email me or post the specifics in the Comments below. Nothing wrong with sending the Iraqi federation a few stringing machines to enhance their ability to compete in the next round of Davis Cup.

Thanks, and enjoy Murray vs. Djokovic, Part II.