muller is at it again. the luxembourgish tennis star is ripping it up down under, into the third round at the australian open and on pace for another matchup with federer, the man who downed muller in the 2008 u.s. open quarterfinals en route to his 13th grand slam title. but if muller is going to have a shot at a rematch, he's going to have to take care of the powerful young juan martin del potro, the no. 8 seed who is sure to match muller's strong serve with some groundstroke blasts of his own.
in sports, retirement is always temporary. just ask 43-year-old claude lemieux, who is back on the ice in an NHL uniform in an attempt for yet another run at lord stanley's cup. and what better team to come back with than the sharks, who are guaranteed to have at least a share of the overall league lead heading into the all-star break? and this has to be good news from san jose's perspective. signing an old dude for the stretch run? this has all the makings of a p.j. brown / boston celtics kind of fairytale.
apparently, it's really hard to be no. 1. as i write, wake forest is trailing virginia tech by 10 in the second half. okay, the hokies are a good team, and they have done very well against top-ranked teams in recent history. but come on! this is a wake team that just beat clemson this past weekend! the only undefeated team in division I currently looks as helpless as can be. if jeff teague and co. can't turn this around, the blue devils stand to move into the top spot when the new rankings are released. will duke be able to avoid becoming the third acc team this season to fall from the mighty perch? or will they be denied that chance by getting owned by the terps on saturday? one can only hope for the latter.
Showing posts with label gilles muller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gilles muller. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
best and worst sports memories
good and bad are really two sides of the same coin, and i think you will find that some of my sweetest memories are strongly related to some of my worst. that's what keeps us coming back to sports, though, right?
BEST MEMORIES:
-2002 ncaa tournament. jay williams choked, maryland rocked everyone - including kansas and indiana in the final two games - to take home its first-ever men's basketball national title. amazing. (and let's not forget the women's title in 2006.)
-2002 nlcs. after edging past the braves, the giants embarrass the cardinals in five games to clinch a spot in the world series. bonds is homer-ific, benito santiago is rocking the house, and robb nen is a closer extraordinaire. life is good.
-2005 u.s. open. gilles muller, a native of luxembourg, rocks the tennis world by upsetting andy roddick in the first round. yes, he loses in the second round, but at least it's to a half-luxembourger in robbie ginepri.
-2008 u.s. open. muller is back again, and this time he's even better, making a run all the way to the quarters before falling to eventual champion roger federer. what a beast.
-san jose sharks, any recent regular season. 2008-09 is a prime example, but the sharks have been the team to reckon with over the past few seasons. sure, they're not the red wings, but the sharks have been able to pair solid goaltending with serious offensive firepower for years now.
-dallas mavericks, most recent regular seasons. the jason-kidd-for-devin-harris-and-the-kitchen-sink-trade aside, the mavericks have been one of the better teams in the nba in the 2000s, including a run to the finals in 2006 and the best record in the league in 2006-07. no matter what your allegiances, you can't tell me you don't enjoy watching terry, nowitzki, and howard light up defenses - and, for howard, the occasional joint - night after night.
WORST MEMORIES:
-maryland, any season since 2002. gary williams has never been known for his recruiting, but especially since he got his title and waved goodbye to steve blake, juan dixon, chris wilcox, and co., he's thrown in the towel when it comes to getting good players to campus - and keeping them there. sure, maryland's likely to throw up a good upset every season, but without a big man and with serious academic issues, the terps no longer are a threat for the acc title like they were in the early part of the decade.
-2002 world series. in game 6, dusty baker hands russ ortiz the game ball in the 7th inning, and then all hell breaks loose. the rally monkey kicks ass, troy glaus gets the big hit off the injured robb nen, and those almost engraved rings are tossed out and emblazoned with halos instead. i don't eat dinner for two nights in a row.
-2003 nlds. you never want to end your season because you don't pinch-run for j.t. snow. especially when this is the last time you will make the playoffs for the rest of the decade.
-2008 tour de france. after several luxembourgers make runs at the yellow jersey, frank schleck establishes a solid lead heading into the final days of the race. but, of course, carlos sastre steals it away at the very end, denying schleck (and luxembourg) its well-deserved glory. no 'roids reported yet, but just you wait.
-san jose sharks, any recent postseason. i just can't explain it, but the sharks can't finish when it comes to the big-time. year after year, they lose to teams that have been playing worse than them. but after their four-overtime loss to dallas to exit stanley cup contention last season and todd mclellan's arrival in san jose, the sharks look like they may finally have what it takes to translate regular-season success into postseason glory. but that's what i thought last year, too.
-2006 nba finals. with a chance to go up 3-0 in the series, dirk (of all people!) misses a free throw, and the mavericks collapse. dwayne wade becomes a star, shaq gets another ring, and dallas blows its best chance to win a title.
-2007 western conference quarterfinals. you know how you ruin an amazing regular season? by losing to the eighth-seeded warriors in the first round.
BEST MEMORIES:
-2002 ncaa tournament. jay williams choked, maryland rocked everyone - including kansas and indiana in the final two games - to take home its first-ever men's basketball national title. amazing. (and let's not forget the women's title in 2006.)
-2002 nlcs. after edging past the braves, the giants embarrass the cardinals in five games to clinch a spot in the world series. bonds is homer-ific, benito santiago is rocking the house, and robb nen is a closer extraordinaire. life is good.
-2005 u.s. open. gilles muller, a native of luxembourg, rocks the tennis world by upsetting andy roddick in the first round. yes, he loses in the second round, but at least it's to a half-luxembourger in robbie ginepri.
-2008 u.s. open. muller is back again, and this time he's even better, making a run all the way to the quarters before falling to eventual champion roger federer. what a beast.
-san jose sharks, any recent regular season. 2008-09 is a prime example, but the sharks have been the team to reckon with over the past few seasons. sure, they're not the red wings, but the sharks have been able to pair solid goaltending with serious offensive firepower for years now.
-dallas mavericks, most recent regular seasons. the jason-kidd-for-devin-harris-and-the-kitchen-sink-trade aside, the mavericks have been one of the better teams in the nba in the 2000s, including a run to the finals in 2006 and the best record in the league in 2006-07. no matter what your allegiances, you can't tell me you don't enjoy watching terry, nowitzki, and howard light up defenses - and, for howard, the occasional joint - night after night.
WORST MEMORIES:
-maryland, any season since 2002. gary williams has never been known for his recruiting, but especially since he got his title and waved goodbye to steve blake, juan dixon, chris wilcox, and co., he's thrown in the towel when it comes to getting good players to campus - and keeping them there. sure, maryland's likely to throw up a good upset every season, but without a big man and with serious academic issues, the terps no longer are a threat for the acc title like they were in the early part of the decade.
-2002 world series. in game 6, dusty baker hands russ ortiz the game ball in the 7th inning, and then all hell breaks loose. the rally monkey kicks ass, troy glaus gets the big hit off the injured robb nen, and those almost engraved rings are tossed out and emblazoned with halos instead. i don't eat dinner for two nights in a row.
-2003 nlds. you never want to end your season because you don't pinch-run for j.t. snow. especially when this is the last time you will make the playoffs for the rest of the decade.
-2008 tour de france. after several luxembourgers make runs at the yellow jersey, frank schleck establishes a solid lead heading into the final days of the race. but, of course, carlos sastre steals it away at the very end, denying schleck (and luxembourg) its well-deserved glory. no 'roids reported yet, but just you wait.
-san jose sharks, any recent postseason. i just can't explain it, but the sharks can't finish when it comes to the big-time. year after year, they lose to teams that have been playing worse than them. but after their four-overtime loss to dallas to exit stanley cup contention last season and todd mclellan's arrival in san jose, the sharks look like they may finally have what it takes to translate regular-season success into postseason glory. but that's what i thought last year, too.
-2006 nba finals. with a chance to go up 3-0 in the series, dirk (of all people!) misses a free throw, and the mavericks collapse. dwayne wade becomes a star, shaq gets another ring, and dallas blows its best chance to win a title.
-2007 western conference quarterfinals. you know how you ruin an amazing regular season? by losing to the eighth-seeded warriors in the first round.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
re: sometimes, lightning does strike twice
and, sometimes... it strikes four times?!?!
qualifier gilles muller, ranked 130th in the world, dropped five-seed davydenko like nobody's business, prevailing in four sets to reach the us open quarterfinals.
meanwhile, as i write, federer is a break down in the fourth set (although he has a 2 sets to 1 lead). did muller really reach the quarters more easily than federer? and, regardless of who wins the federer-andreev match, is muller going to pull off yet another amazing win and end up in the semis?!?
as my good friend gwen stefani says, this shit is bananas.
qualifier gilles muller, ranked 130th in the world, dropped five-seed davydenko like nobody's business, prevailing in four sets to reach the us open quarterfinals.
meanwhile, as i write, federer is a break down in the fourth set (although he has a 2 sets to 1 lead). did muller really reach the quarters more easily than federer? and, regardless of who wins the federer-andreev match, is muller going to pull off yet another amazing win and end up in the semis?!?
as my good friend gwen stefani says, this shit is bananas.
Friday, August 29, 2008
sometimes, lightning does strike twice
no, i am not talking about usain bolt.
who is gilles muller? you probably have no idea. (but then again, you also probably don't know who kim kirchen and frank schleck are, either.)
unless, of course, you were watching the u.s. open on that fateful day in 2005. as andy roddick took the court against a 22-year-old from schifflange, luxembourg, little did he know what he was in for. three tiebreaker-determined sets later, roddick had lost his mojo and a small nation in europe had found a bit of non-GDP-related glory.
muller went on to lose to then-doubles partner robby ginepri - who is also half-luxembourgish - in 2005, and he faded pretty quickly from the international tennis spotlight. had he used up his 15 minutes of fame?
apparently not. today, after having won three matches in the qualifying tournament and held off laurent recouderc of france in the first round, muller overcame a 2-6, 2-6 start to come from behind and shock grizzled veteran tommy haas in five sets, using his strong serve and a willingness to try and paint the lines - he had 75 unforced errors in the match - to propel himself into the third round for the the first time in his brief flushing meadows history.
in the next round, he will face either californian sam warburg or 18th-seeded nicolas almagro of spain, neither of whom have been into the fourth round at the open. might the fireballer from luxembourg continue to surprise his opponents?
we here at poop on boozer will certainly be watching.
who is gilles muller? you probably have no idea. (but then again, you also probably don't know who kim kirchen and frank schleck are, either.)
unless, of course, you were watching the u.s. open on that fateful day in 2005. as andy roddick took the court against a 22-year-old from schifflange, luxembourg, little did he know what he was in for. three tiebreaker-determined sets later, roddick had lost his mojo and a small nation in europe had found a bit of non-GDP-related glory.
muller went on to lose to then-doubles partner robby ginepri - who is also half-luxembourgish - in 2005, and he faded pretty quickly from the international tennis spotlight. had he used up his 15 minutes of fame?
apparently not. today, after having won three matches in the qualifying tournament and held off laurent recouderc of france in the first round, muller overcame a 2-6, 2-6 start to come from behind and shock grizzled veteran tommy haas in five sets, using his strong serve and a willingness to try and paint the lines - he had 75 unforced errors in the match - to propel himself into the third round for the the first time in his brief flushing meadows history.
in the next round, he will face either californian sam warburg or 18th-seeded nicolas almagro of spain, neither of whom have been into the fourth round at the open. might the fireballer from luxembourg continue to surprise his opponents?
we here at poop on boozer will certainly be watching.
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