Write The Future

With the World Cup set to start tomorrow, I thought I'd post Nike's latest epic ad, which you may or may not have already seen if you've been watching any sports — or TV in general — lately.

I got the biggest kick (pun intended) out of Wayne Rooney's alternate futures. The English striker's segment also contains a funny pair of cameos by some members of the U.S. squad, which is hoping to pull off "Miracle on Grass II" on Saturday.

Speaking of Rooney's portion of the ad, our loyal readers who are fans of tennis — of the table and non-table varieties — might enjoy the five seconds starting around 1:40.

As Seth Stevenson points out in Slate, this ad probably had a budget exceeding those of some of director Alejandro González Iñárritu's feature films. The resulting product, in any case, is marketing at its Nike-est.

The U.S. Open, Now With More "Open"

TIME has the details:

The United States Tennis Association is debuting a "National Playoff" tournament in the run-up to the main event in late August. These small-time events don't include the luxuries of the real deal played in early September, like actual fans and millions of fresh fuzzy tennis balls. But if you win 15 matches in a row, you can earn the right to get plastered by Roger Federer, at Ashe Stadium, under the lights in prime time.

Related: Novak Djokovic—attired in an orange Adidas t-shirt—gives two-handed backhand tips, and advice on six other common tennis shots, in a TIME video, capped off with one of his trademark impressions:

Sampras Serves and Agassi Returns ... Animosity!

The charity doubles match between Pete Sampras & Roger Federer and Andre Agassi & Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells took an awkward turn when Sampras and Agassi switched the tennis balls with insults:



I'm guessing Rafa's wedgie suddenly got more uncomfortable than usual!

More U.S. Open

I'm sure everyone has seen this shot already, but I figured I'd post it for posterity, and to cancel out the clip of Fed falling. Also, if he needs something to boost his spirits after the outcome of the Final, he can come here and watch the clip again and again.

Finally, here are a couple of interesting blog posts from The New York Times:

What it Takes to String for the Pros

When the string bed of each racket is struck, both should ping at precisely the same pitch, indicating the string tension is identical. But Heydt’s were slightly off.

“I could hear it right away,” he said. “Yat said, ‘Your tensions are different. These may be one pound off, but this is unacceptable.’”

A Speed-of-Serve Snapshot

But how is that 148 miles an hour determined? Rallis Pappas, president of Information & Display Systems and a U.S.T.A. consultant who works in the IBM Statistics room at the Open, says it’s not as simple as putting a radar gun on the court. “It’s Doppler radar, but there’s a lot of software that’s part of the system,” Pappas says. “We really refer to it as a serve speed system because of that.”

Federer's Footwork and Safina's Serve

With the U.S. Open getting into gear, the New York Times comes through with two interesting links.

First, an analysis of Roger Federer's footwork, complete with slow-motion video and animations.

As he elevates off the court to create the split step, watch how he opens his right foot slightly when he sees that the ball will go to his right. This makes for a quick move toward his forehand. When landing on the split step, he quickly pushes off with his left leg and makes a final stride with the right. Notice the exaggerated heel-to-toe foot placement. Federer does this to maintain good balance, as the heel-toe foot strike allows him to slow the acceleration of his body and position himself for the shot.

Second, a piece on some of the top women's players, and their service troubles. An excerpt:

The serve and the free throw share key components: foot placement; body balance; weight shift; toss and follow through. Misses happen when players’ minds are willing but their mechanics are weak, or vice versa.

Update 2009/09/04: The Wills, Arnett and Ferrell, joined the Andys, Roddick and Murray, on court for a celebrity doubles match, with SNL's Kenan Thompson as the "umpire", to do pretty much the opposite of what Roger Federer does:



Update 2009/09/07: I must've jinxed Federer — I caught a portion of his match against Hewitt on Saturday, only to see what commentator Mary Carillo called "the most awkward thing I've ever seen Federer do". It's not as awkward or embarrassing as what this ball boy did, though.

The Inner Game of Tennis

Here's a video that I've been trying to track down for a while. I saw it once during a lecture in one of my college Computer Science classes, and it has stuck with me ever since. I was recently telling some friends about it, and decided to give it another Google.

It's a presentation by computer pioneer Alan Kay, in which he plays a clip of Tim Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis, from a 1975 segment on ABC's Evening News (with Harry Reasoner and Howard K. Smith). In the segment, Gallwey teaches a "55-year-old lady, 40 pounds overweight, 5'2" in a mumu", who had never tried the sport and had not exercised at all in years, to play tennis in under 30 minutes.

Is it possible to get someone to hit balls consistently — that too using a wooden racket with a 65 sq. in. head — just by having them watch another person and say "bounce, hit, bounce, hit" to the rhythm of their shots? See for yourself:



If you're interested in user interfaces or computer history in general, I'd recommend watching the entire video. It's quite fascinating.

Alternate Links:

• YouTube — Part 1, Part 2
• webcast.berkeley.edu — Real Player format [via]
• The Internet Archive — Higher Quality downloads

[Found via Talk Tennis at Tennis Warehouse, which saved me a lot of time clicking around at Berkeley's webcast site.]

Playing Hurt

(click to enlarge)

Despite my begrudged respect for the defensive prowess and overall championship-worthiness of this year's Boston Celtics, I've been reading about how torn up Tiger's knee was during the U.S. Open, and I had Photoshop running already, so I decided that the above photomontage was not going to make itself.

I do think Pierce deserved his Finals MVP, though; not only for the way he continually attacked the Lakers on defense and hit big momentum-shifting shots on offense, but for the way he carried his team through two crucial Game Sevens earlier in the playoffs. Plus, he's an L.A. guy at heart, even though he plays for the bad guys now.

Just, please — fewer theatrics next time.

Blood, Sweat, and Bears

Some videos to pass the time:

• Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty ... of death!


• In America, you hit tennis ball with racket. In Soviet Russia, racket hits you! (apologies to Yakov Smirnoff)


• Kids, don't miss out on the hottest new dance craze that's sweeping the nation — do the Bear! (plays after a short ad)


• Keep those Rock Band skills sharp, my friends; you never know when your musical talents will come in handy. (read the linked Wikipedia page too, if you have the time)

Tennis Court Surfaces

The NY Times' concise graphical explanation of how clay, hard, and grass tennis courts differ, and why Rafael Nadal fares better on one versus the others. [via Kottke]