Mornin' , folks. This will be a good place to talk while Novak Djokovic is busy skiing in Dubai . I see that in today's action, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko slashed their way to the quarterfinals. I will have another report on Dubai from Doug Robson later today, but for now let's look at some upcoming events where some of us will get a chance to get together.
The Pete Sampras-Roger Federer exhibition will take place next Monday evening at Madison Square Garden, at 7 PM. Believe it or not, I had trouble finding out details (like the start time, and whether or not there's a warm-up act) until I went to the actual promoter's website. The Garden's own website is useless, but if you want a good laugh check out totally lame GOAT contest hosted there.
I take it that the "kickoff" for Fed-Sampras is at 7:30 - that's when live coverage will commence. It's a pity that there isn't an undercard - wouldn't it be great for tennis if, say, Donald Young played John Isner, or the Bryan brothers and anyone, played a no-ad, Supertiebreaker match to get the crowd pumped up?
We are going to gather after the match at Stout, the place suggested by Snoo Foo a few posts ago. This makes a lot of sense, because I presume that many of you will be driving into town, or taking public transport, and this way you won't have to drive (and park) or shell out ten or fifteen bucks on cabs, never mind deal with unfamiliar parts of town. Stout is very close to the Garden. And, as it's a Monday night, some of you may not be able to stay late. The up side is that there's a good chance that Stout won't be absolute mayhem, like it must be after a Ranger's game.
I spoke with a manager at Stout earlier,and she suggested that we just all meet at the bar. There is dining upstairs on the mezzanine, and the prices seem reasonable for those of you who'll want to eat. Post a comment below if you'd like us to know you'll be attending, even if you can't join us later.
