All Hail Rafael Nadal’s Glorious Pork Sword!
Tennis July 7th. 2008, 10:31am
Was it good for you? A reader reminded us what a tremendous year this has been for fantastic sports finishes: the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, Mario Chalmers’ shot for Kansas in the NCAA National Championship, Tiger Woods winning the US Open in an epic playoff … and what would you say if we thought yesterday’s Wimbledon final – especially the goose bump-inducing fifth set – may have trumped them all?
Two random thoughts: 1) This isn’t the end of Roger Federer, for he’s only 26, and should capture his fifth straight US Open title next month and 2) the PGA has one year to create/find a foil for Tiger Woods, because golf desperately needs a Rafael Nadal. Neat note: He’s the only man to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.
23 Responses to “All Hail Rafael Nadal’s Glorious Pork Sword!”
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July 7th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’m (obviously) a huge KU fan, but that Wimbledon final was equally tremendous, if not more so. They were both playing lights out, and there was so much on the line beyond just the championship itself. (6 straight for Roger; French/Wimbledon double for Rafa). The rain delays only increased the drama.
And wow, I had no idea that Federer will be going for his 5th straight US Open title.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:45 am
pork sword? Did I miss something?
July 7th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Took me 5 mins for this page to show up. I hate mondays
July 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
anthony kim will be tiger’s rival…he won this weekend at congressional, and combined with his win at the Wachovia at Quail Hollow, that’s twice he’s beaten top fields on ridiculously long and difficult courses.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Did non-midwesterners have shitty weather this weekend? That’s the only explanation for people being inside to watch the Wimbledon final.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am
A little old, but still awesome:
Federer As Religious Experience [NYT]
July 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Was thinking the same thing, SG. Weren’t you people out at the beach?
July 7th, 2008 at 11:01 am
The Big Lead walks into a bar … he stays sober, because he cannot find the fucking server
Seriously its time to dump WordPress, this shit is awful
July 7th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Great match, played at a high level. Now you see why Andy Roddick will never win another Grand Slam title.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Awful would be an upgrade.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The last thing I wanted to do today is respond to my whiny, annoying coworkers. Now that Billy Wagner has reared his ugly head, I’m going to be forced to work. F U, Billy. F U in your A.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:17 am
That was easily the best tennis I’ve ever seen. Federer will be back quickly now that they’re making the switch to hard-court surfaces. I don’t believe that Nadal has ever made the final of a hard court grand slam event… so he’s got a bit further to go before he can match Federer.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I still don’t get the Billy Wagner thing.
Great tennis match, and a fantastic and random TBL headline. I think the golf playoff was probably the most tense and impressive finish this year, just because it was so all or nothing, but this was great as well. As said, a great year for incredible finishes.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Also, awesome link Mike NYC.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Billy Wagner = nickname given to TBL’s server as it sucks as much as the pitcher.
Chalmers shot >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> golf playoff
July 7th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I was inside Sunday watching the final because this is my last week of summer classes and I had a bunch of backlogged work that needed finished.
I had a better experience watching the US Open final simply because it was at a bar with my boss and coworkers in the middle of a Monday workday. But I think the Wimbledon final was better from a sports drama perspective. I just did not have the same experience
July 7th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Holy shit Billy Wagner finally let me post!
July 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Oh. I don’t follow baseball, so I guess that’s why I don’t get it. Didn’t he make the All-Star team though? What the.
Assuming he does suck, holy crap does the TBL server suck lately.
July 7th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Incredible tennis match, was right up there with the US Open. The reason I say it may have been a bit better is that we did not find out about Tiger’s knee until after the Open, had we known about the knee and leg while that playoff was going on it would have made the playoff all the more compelling live. Watching Wimbledon yesterday you just knew this was one of those sports moment that would be talked about forever, 2 giants of their sport matching wits for hours.
July 7th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Nadal may be a great tennis player with a huge pork sword but he wears freakin’ capri pants on the court. For that reason alone, I cheer for his defeat.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
maybe i missed something, but Federer gave it away. his first serve % must have been crap and how many unforced errors did he have?
July 7th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
has anyone noted that weird bulges in nadals pants might be explained by the fact that he was serving and had tennis balls stuffed in his pockets?
July 8th, 2008 at 9:32 am
federer found something that worked against nadal this match. before he never had a go to shot like nadal had hitting heavy topspin to fed backhand. federer worked the inside out forehand to nadal’s forehand for a winner so many times. this is the first time i have seen him find a sloution to nadal’s game, hopefully nadal doesn’t tire out on the US hardcourts as he does every year and they play again in the us open final.