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Roger Federer = Best Ever
June 7th, 2009
Wow, what a week. What a weekend! Of course the big news (for me) came from the tennis front. On Saturday we witnessed Dinara Safina crumble under the pressure and lose to Kuznetsova in stunning fashion. I really thought it would be Dinara’s breakthrough but it wasn’t to be. In fact, she lost so badly that Kuznetsova barely celebrated when Dinara double-faulted to lose the French Open. On Sunday the long-awaited moment finally came to Roger Federer. Roger was able to dispatch Soderling in straight sets to complete not only a Career Grand Slam (only the third man in Open Era to do that) he also tied Pete Sampras’ record for most Grand Slam titles ever with 14. With news that Nadal may not be at Wimbeldon due to a knee issue, this leaves the door wide open for Federer to break the record. Really, this is what makes Federer so great. He has won and has consistently. He has won his 14 Grand Slams in only a 6-year span, and has made it to the semi-finals or further 20 straight times. It is just amazing he has been able to do that. The only person that has shown he can beat Federer is Nadal, and even that was put in doubt when Federer beat Nadal in Madrid. I had a feeling Roger was going to win no matter what and the fact that Nadal went down way too early in the Open made #14 all but a certainty. To me, Roger is best player ever. He has won consistently and on all surfaces. Is there any doubt he’s not the best?
Well, I couldn’t watch every second of the final match because today was also the graduation of the high school I teach at. It was a short ceremony and overall it was enjoyable. This week was the final full week of school and it was pretty hectic. I didn’t even get a chance to post the January 26th, 1991 Superstars review I had finished from WWE Legacy (which is now called WWE Classics On Demand). Well, it’s there now. I also have TWO DVD reviews to post here today, another wrestling review and another animated comic book review. It seems like that’s all I review! First up is WWE: Legends of Wrestling, a three-disc collection that features an episode from WWE 24/7 with extra matches thrown in as a bonus. I also have the Wonder Woman DVD review up for your reading pleasure, too. I am getting through these reviews slowly but surely. Both were finished in mid-March, so you know that these are pretty recent for me to be placing forward. It looks like there’re only 10 reviews left to post, including 5 done in April, 4 in May and one in June.
That’s all for this weekend, look for the newest edition of TPL on Tuesday, some sort of NHL comments somewhere along the line (and can you believe the Wings beat the Pens 5-0?), and the newest Superstars review. Only three days of teaching left!
WWE Superstars 02/02/91
June 10th, 2009
Hey all, I just finished reviewing the episode of WWE Superstars from February 2nd, 1991. It is a pretty good episode, too, so definitely check out the review. I don't really have too much to add other than that. Today was the last day of classes for me where I work so that is one big load of my shoulders. That freed me up a lot today to do the Superstars review, as well as work on the X-Men Vol. 2 DVD review and finish a Marvel Masterworks review (all of which will be posted in the coming weeks). I am really happy to see the Stanley Cup Finals are heading to a Game 7 and I can only hope that Game 7 is as close as Game 6 was. I am hoping for an Overtime game but we'll see. I was reading today that the last time a road team won a championship on the road in any sport was back in 1979 when the Pirates beat the Orioles. Since then the home team is 18-0. Can Detroit keep that up? I think they will but in a Game 7 anything can happen. There's just so many interesting things about this series, from the same teams battling for the Cup (the first time since 83 and 84 when the Oilers and Islanders exchanged titles) and even things like Marion Hossa losing on the Penguins last year to join the Red Wings. Imagine he loses this year, too? I don't know if that has ever happened before that a guy lost in the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row while playing for the same two opposite teams. Incredible. That's all for now. I hope to have a graphic novel review posted this Saturday and a DVD review this Sunday. I will be upstate that weekend to run a 5K near my parents house so if I am a little late please understand!
Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions
June 14th, 2009
Well, I'm certainly not shocked that the Penguins upset the Red Wings in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals. They had all the tools, including incredible goaltending from Fleury (especially that last save, hol-ee crap) and offensive power from Malkin and Crosby. Although Crosby wasn't a factor in the seventh game his presence was felt all throughout the playoffs. I don't like the way Sidney plays, but I do respect his talent and this Cup was well-deserved for him and for the whole town of Pittsburgh. This was the first time an away team won a championship in a game 7 since the Pirates did it against the Orioles in the 1979 World Series.
I do feel kind of sorry for one guy in all of this Finals hub-bub and that's Marion Hossa. He was on the Penguins last year when they fell to Detroit in 6 games and he decided, if you can't beat them, join them. And he did. He joined the Wings this year only to lose to the team he left at the beginning of the season. I doubt that has ever happened before, a guy leaving one Stanley Cup losing team to join the team that beat him, only to lose to the team he left the following year. That's just insane. What's this mean for Hossa? I guess we can safely blame him somehow for both teams' defeats!
In other sporting news, the Yankees won a shocker on Friday night, with Castillo dropping a fly ball out off the bat of A-Rod to enable the Yanks to score twice in the bottom of the ninth to win. Had Castillo caught the ball the game would've been over but it was not to be. Oh well. Anyway, the Yanks lost the next game then won a laugher to end the series 15-0, giving Yankees fans bragging rights until they play at Citi. One thing I hate about this series is that it brings out the worst in Mets and Yankees fans. They bicker back and forth about "their" team and how much better they are. It's really sickening. It's even worse when I see people write, "We had a good win." What is this we bullshit? You're not on the team in any way shape or form and honestly, their winning or losing has absolutely no effect on your life. If the Yankees got swept, I'd still be going to work on Monday. If they Yankees won all three, guess what? I'm still going to work! It's insane how much people put into sports emotionally. I mean, I love sports, but I really like it better when I am involved. I just ran my second 5K this morning (I improved on my time by three minutes!) and after actually partaking in something like that, I didn't really even care about watching the Yanks/Mets game. Just my two-cents.
Anyway, the whole reason for these Sunday postings are DVD reviews and I have two to share with you. The first is the final Futurama fim called: Into the Wild Green Yonder. Of course, news just hit that there will be new episodes of the series that will be on Comedy Central so I will eagerly await that, though I wonder if the has run its course and if it should just be laid out to pasture already.
The second DVD I have is a WWE offering entitled: Starrcade - The Essential Collection. It is just an awesome DVD. I do have some more WWE stuff to post in the coming weeks and months as well as the Online Classics episodes I watch. Just a note on that, I think someone made a serious mistake as new content was added last night and that's usually reserved for Mondays. Maybe it wasn't an accident. I guess I'll find out on Monday.
I will end with a forecast of what's ahead this week. I have another edition of TPL to post on Tuesday and it's looking to be a stacked edition. I will have the newly posted WWE Superstars up by Thursday and it features a Tugboat/Earthquake match. You'll get another trade reviewed on Saturday and finally two more DVD reviews on Sunday.
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