Tennis, anyone?

I have a confession to make. I'm a tennis fanatic. Junkie. Lunatic. A super, hard-core fan. If there's a major tournament on TV it's likely that I'm watching it. If I'm at work, I check online for match updates between tasks. Especially during January (Australian Open), late May/early June (French Open), late June/early July (Wimbledon) and late August/early September (US Open).

Some people look forward to September because it's the start of football season. Not me. While I do relish the thought of cooler temperatures and the start of Pansy Mania Days at the local garden center, I really enjoy Labor Day weekend and the first week or so of September for the fact that the US Open tennis tournament is in full swing in Flushing Meadows, NY. Don't misunderstand, I like the other majors. I attended Wimbledon four years ago and it's one of my favorite tournaments. Wimbledon is proper and the fans are polite. But the US Open is gritty, in-your-face tennis and with New Yorkers in the stands sometimes it's anything but polite.

Although I've never been to the Open physically, I'm there emotionally at this time every year. This year's matches have been some of the best I've ever watched. The five-set match Monday between American James Blake and German Tommy Haas was one of the best ever. Haas is one of my all-time favorite players (right up there with Andre Agassi) even though he's never won a major tournament. Usually I will cheer for the Americans when they're playing or whoever is the underdog. I do love Blake's game and he's come back from a neck injury and is playing some phenomenal tennis, so Monday I was a little schizophrenic during the match. But in my heart I was rooting for Haas. And he came up with the goods.

Tonight there's a match between American Andy Roddick and arguably the best ever Swiss player Roger Federer. Guess where I'll be? That's right, in my recliner. So don't call me unless you're sure it's a commercial.