2017 Australian Open

[Shadowlight]

I waited to see who was on the cover of SI this week only to discover they are skipping this week. I know the swimsuit issue is coming soon but these magazines continue to cut back on the number of issues per year with so called fake double issues and other bogus designs to think you are getting the coverage you used to get from magazines. Hell even a lot of monthly magazines have cut back to nine or ten issues a year. Everything keeps shrinking including people's minds it seems. Anyway so there will be no tennis cover on SI obviously but I should point out that the new February 13th issue of Time has a nice article on Federer. Not a lengthy piece but it is neat because it has a timeline string of pictures of Roger holding up the trophy on all 18 of his amazing Major victories. The writer also puts Federer in proper historical perspective. He actually elevates Federer over other quarter century sports titans Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant ( I question Bryant being mentioned in this company) because of his grace, class and generosity. He also mentions Roger's universal popularity and citing the surge of excitement over his unexpected win and the recent huge (especially in Europe) Australian Open TV ratings as further evidence of how much the game still depends on him. Also I think they set an attendance record this year at the Aussie Open. A clear reminder that tennis is a MAJOR sport despite the fact ESPN treats it like some minor aversion. I got the opportunity to see the entire match a couple of times and was amazed at how Federer came back from his biggest rival Nadal in the fifth set never losing his focus or purpose even when things looked bleak.
After being humbled by Nadal time and again it was a much needed milestone for Federer and a testament to his character and resolve. We have seen big winners ( bullies) like Ronda Rousey and Mike Tyson dominate like nobody's business but once they were knocked down they never recovered. Only the greatest champions, think Joe Louis, get back up off the deck, persevere and climb their way back to the top. Roger Federer fits that description now. BRAVO!!!

 

[La France Blanche]

Imagine if Federer had gotten the ongoing fawning media coverage over his brilliant career that Woods got. Not that I'd want that, because the level of worship that Woods received was so extreme that it would make me a little uncomfortable even if it was a White person getting it, but it would have been nice to have some balance. Of course, balance is something Our Side will never get from the media, sports or otherwise.

 

[Shadowlight]

No question the media was way over the top regarding Woods ( puke inducing) and I also agree that hyper worship is an uncomfortable thing in general. Hard to compare but it seems to me Federer had to deal with much tougher competition than Tiger during his run . Same goes for Jack Nicklaus. Heck he had to deal with Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson to name a few. And Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper early on . But in truth I feel Sports Illustrated has given Roger the short end of the stick. They waited until he lost to Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008 to finally put him on the cover which he had to share, a full five years into his magnificent rise. They gave him his first solo cover after he finally won the French Open and I believe those are his only covers. I will have to double check that. I mean get real. One and a half covers for arguably the greatest athlete in the past 25 years? Not cool at all.