Scouting Report

Here's a first hand view of two young players from Saturday's matches at the US Open-and an As Good As News forecast

-Donald Young - Southpaw junior wunderkind who recently won his first tournament as a pro on the Challenger circuit and his first match on the main tour. Quick, good feel for when to approach the net but lost many points to Feliciano Lopez because he couldn't stick the volleys when he had the chance. Serve needs work. Ground strokes good on both sides but not really a weapon on either. A little temperamental, started to run through his volleys and hit long when he lost control of the match, but Donald was trying to do too much, he never really quit. Donald is 5 feet, 9 inches and will never have a big serve but there is room for improvement. With work Young might be another Sebastian Grosjean. Despite his junior success, he does not look like a player who will be winning majors. Most important- he needs a nickname. Ringing cries of "C'Mon Donald - You Can Do It" were less than inspirational.

-Victoria Azarenka - This 18 year old from Minsk, Belarus pushed Martina Hingis off the court with big ground strokes on both sides. She started out trying to play strategically, hitting an occasional drop shot, mixing in ground strokes up the line. Azarenka was more or less holding her own, then she stopped thinking and started hitting every shot deep and cross court. Hingis, maybe the best strategist on the women's tour, must have known what was coming but she could do nothing about it. Azarenka is listed at 5 feet 11 inches but her legs seemed to be at least 5 feet long. She was in great shape, she was willing to think her way throught the match (until she realized she was better off just slugging) and we may hear a lot more from her. She plays mixed doubles with Max Mirnyi, a sought after partner, so someone thinks she can play.

-Unfortunately for Azarenka her next opponent is Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champ, who seems to be forgotten in the celebrity poor bottom half of the draw. Kuznetsova is playing well, she seems like a good bet to reach the finals ready and rested against an exhausted top bracket survivor. Right now Venus Williams is playing the best tennis of any woman on the planet, but she may have to face Serena in a sister's match that has been a psychodramatic disaster for Venus in years past. Even if Venus survives she may be too drained to handle Kuznetsova. On the men's side - Roger Federer - what more need be said?

Endless Summer

Ex-Worker Shoots at 3 at Co-op City, Killing Old Boss, Police Say - A Trip by Bus And Subway To Surrender - This is in no way funny, but the subway to surrender (the gunman travelled by bus and subway to the courthouse then turned himsel in) aspect is remarkable. In a follow-up to yesterday's post - remember freshmen who are new to NYC, CitiLegs, not subway, CitiLegs.

Tennis Fans Find Excuses to Flee the Office for Flushing Meadows and, in a seemingly unrelated story, At IBM a Vacation Anytime, Or Maybe No Vacation at All. Pictured above is Colleen Channer, a lawyer who was not afraid to pose while watching the US Open because she was officially on vacation. The empty seats were vacated by people who had called in sick and ran just before the photo was snapped. The guy in the big blue cap at the far left in the top row (partially obscured by the railing - well entirely obscured by the railing - all right already, I admit it, he's not really there- just humor me) who is working on his laptop while talking on his phone is from IBM. Being seen at the open is no problem for Mr. Big Blue, he can take as much vacation as he wants whenever he wants under IBM's policy. In fact he is on his 273rd consecutive vacation day and he hasn't enjoyed one yet. Your humble reporter, on the other hand, has not taken a day of vacation since he retired, and yet has enjoyed every one of them.

Backspin

Tehran Says It Has Designed A Smart Bomb - The initial reaction from as Good As News is fantastic, but very surprising, news. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is goofy, but he is sometimes clever. Wouldn't he realize that any truly smart bomb would make a u-turn immediately after launch and explode in his lap? Iran can't just launch this thing, they need to brainwash it first. There must be more to this story. Hugo Chavez, President for Life of Venezuela, and the Cheech to Ahmdinejad's Chong, announced recently that he was adjusting time by one-half hour. Perhaps Chavez plans to reverse the Earth's rotation momentarily (think Superman resurrecting Lois Lane - although in "real" science fiction, you would rotate forward at a speed exceeding the speed of light to reverse time). This rotational adjustment would disrupt the rest of the world's guidance systems, but certainly Hugo would share the details of his time plan with his pal Mahmoud. So, with the appropriate adjustments to the targeting coordinates, Tehran would not just have a smart bomb, it would have the world's only working smart bomb. Somehow As Good As News will sleep soundly tonight, it just doesn't seem like Cheech and Chong are up to this....yet.

Tennis Everyone? Older Players Lose Swagger but Gain Swag - It's not just the Earth that can spin backwards, warping chronological expectations. Each year hundreds of tennis seniors (like 86 year old Lucy Dettmer, pictured above) get endorsement deals with equipment manufactures. OK, Lucy's getting free rackets, not making millions, but I'm still impressed. In fact I'm junking my plan to win the Head of the Charles Men's Grand Master Single in 2033 and concentrating full time on tennis. With focus and dedication, I think I can get a free pair of shoes by the time I'm 75.