Ireland, NYT and Boxing, Oh My!

Just a week before Wimbledon and I find myself on the correct side of the pond for the start of the game's greatest Grand Slam. I touched down yesterday morning in Dublin, and have joined my two brothers, dad, uncle and a cousin for 10 days of site-seeing, golf playing and Guinness drinking.

So far, so good in Ireland, as we managed to drive cross country in just about three hours and find a nice little bed and breakfast to catch up on our jet-lagged inspired sleep. We golfed this morning at Adare Manor, a charming course outside of Limerick. There was some Irish-inspired danger to a few of the holes, but for the most part, Adare was tame and the weather held out beautifully for us.

A few weeks ago I got in touch with the powers-that-be with the newly-created Straight Sets blog on the New York Times' web site. I told them that I would be at Wimbledon for the first four days of main draw play, and asked if they wanted an experienced tennis writer to contribute from the grounds. They obliged, and I've been doing some posts for them in lead up to The Championships.

The first was about French-to-Wimbledon trends, specifically on the women's side of the game. The second, published yesterday, was a celebration of Steffi Graf's 40th birthday (today) and an ode to a player that for most of my childhood I loathed (I was a Seles wannabe), but have come to love and appreciate in my adult years.

Meanwhile, back in my hometown, a boxer that I interviewed in December for a feature article just won one of the nation's most prestigious amateur boxing championships in Denver. Normally with this kind of stuff I would smile to myself and maybe shoot the guy an email, but Duran Caferro isn't your average athlete - or person for that matter.

Check out my post about him from January, and watch out for this guy to become a rather well-known lightweight boxer in the professional circuit.

Clip of the Week

The French Open has always had its fair share of drama.

This has to be one of my favorite moments, with Martina Hingis on the cusp of finally winning the major we all thought she'd win first, she absolutely implodes.

From the moment she challenges the line call at 6-4, 2-0, it's downhill from there.

If you watch closely, however, it doesn't look like the line woman and chair judge are sure which mark actually is Hingis'. And, the instant reply (though blurry) seems to put the ball closer to the mark Hingis was arguing.

Hmmm, it would've been great to have Hawkeye in '99, right?

Manic Monday

I'm guessing that the ATP is wishing that it was still Sunday. Really wishing.

Steffi Graf, rather, is wishing that Sunday was, well, basically that it just didn't happen.

Ivo Karlovic is hoping for more successful Sundays. As is Jelena Jankovic.

The Bryan Brothers captured their fourth title of the year. Making Sunday somewhat of a successful day for American tennis.