Michael N

Isn't it odd to these two players with such similar last names playing each other? I guess it could have happened before, with Ferrero vs. Ferrer perhaps? Can you think of any other players with names almost identical?

U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, don't you think we would have won the gold instead of the silver behind the Romanians? I know Memmel was injured, but she was the main reason why we won the gold at the 2003 World Championships (along with Carly Patterson of course), literally being flown in at the last minute when others got injured. And Sacramone, who didn't even qualify for the 2004 trials because of a bad performance at nationals, ended the year at the 2004 World Cup Finals by winning the gold on vault, defeating the Olympic gold medalist Monica Rosu of Romania. I know it's 4 years past, but considering who we did send to the Athens games, and how they did there (namely Courtney McCool, who had a horrible Olympic competition), I think we would have won.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AnWpFqVFXxHk...

Can you believe this? She is planning to announce her retirement on Wednesday, according to a Belgian newspaper. I knew she's been having a bad run lately, but throwing in the towel on her whole career over a few bad losses? Your thoughts?

What is going on in Monte Carlo with Sam Querrey? First, he beats Carlos Moya, one of the best clay court players on the tour (and a former French Open Champion), and today he beat Richard Gasquet, who grew up playing on clay in his native France. Querrey, who is from Southern California and is NOT a clay court player at all, has really been a surprise this week. What do you think about this?

Starting next year, the ATP will start awarding points in Davis Cup matches. I think this is a great move on their part to try to get the top players more involved in Davis Cup. What do you think?

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AmRrfc3DCqoa...

Gael Monfils is a very talented rising star, unfortunately beset by injuries recently, but is healthy again. Roger Federer has shown that he is not as invincible as he once was, especially of late. Does anybody want to make a prediciton here?

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/photo;_ylt=Aki9gkanYct...

Venus: "I hope one of these b*tches agrees to wear my new clothing line."

Serena: "I don't care what Larry Scott says, I ain't NEVER gonna play Indian Wells again!"

Svetlana: "Damn, Daniela has one fine booty!"

Daniela: "Oh no she did NOT just grab my a**!"

Anna: "Please don't shoot me!! Oh sorry, I just had a flashback!"

Jelena: "Hurry up and take the damn picture!"

Ana: "I wonder if these shoes are squeaky enough."

Justine: "What? Maria withdrew? Oh thank God! Allez!!"

...have to play the qualies for Miami, when Rainer Schuettler (#89) was allowed direct entry into the main draw? That seems a bit unfair to me. I thought they use the rankings from two weeks ago (which is what I listed in parentheses) to determine who gets in directly and who has to qualify fro any given tournament. Darcis, Garcia-Lopez, and Guccione were all ranked above Schuettler two weeks ago. And Darcis just lost in qualifying, which seems like a travesty to me that a top 50 player is not going to be in the main draw for this event.

The NBA's wild wild Western Conference playoff race is insanely close, with only 6 games separating 1st place from 9th. A bad week by any of the top 9 teams could result in them being eliminated from one of the 8 playoff spots. So which team is most likely to end up 9th and out of the playoffs?

The Olympic silver medal has been by far his biggest accomplishment as a tennis player, but his victory over the #1 Roger Federer yesterday in a 63 minute straight set rout was by far the biggest win of his career. So which one do you think is the most impressive?

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=reu-mendubai...

Sounds like the supposed gentleman Federer had himself a bowl of sour grapes after his match. Or maybe he learned some post-match interview skills from Serena Williams.

Her reason is because she wants to concentrate on improving her ranking. But how would skipping Fed Cup have any impact on improving her ranking? The WTA doesn't have any tournaments on the schedule when it is a Fed Cup week. She also said she still wants to play in the Olympics in Beijing. Should the Czech team allow her to be on the Olympic team? Your thoughts?

Source:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=ApHJJuyHyGDp...

I know that Jelena Dokic used to represent Australia when she first turned pro, and that she switched her nationality to her country of birth (Serbia) back in 2001 because she was feuding with the Australian Tennis Association regarding her father's boorish tennnis-parent behavior. Now that she is trying to make a comeback, is she once again playing for Australia? Should she be allowed to switch her nationality so frivolously?

Oksana Baiul - 1994 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist in Ladies Singles

Oksana Grishuk - 1994 & 1998 Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist in Ice Dancing

Oksana Tchusovitina - 1992 Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist in Vault & Team

Oksana Omeliantchik - 1985 World Gymnastics Championships Gold Medalist in All Around, Floor, & Team

Every other player Gilbert coached (Agassi, Roddick for example) reached their peak (#1 in the world) when with Gilbert, then went down in the rankings after they split with him. Do you think Andy should have stayed with Gilbert, and do you think he will follow in the steps of Agassi and Roddick and take a dive in the rankings?

Obviously he doesn't wear glasses when he plays, but I have seen many photos of him wearing glasses off the court. It's a very Clark Kent/Superman duality with and without the glasses.