I sure hope everyone is watching the mighty Jaspers of Manhattan in the NCAA baseball tourney on ESPNU!

too bad they're down 5-0...

The draft is coming up soon. AB, will we get a Bronx Banter Draft Preview, or something like that? (I miss Cliff!)

I plan to spend all of Draft Day being annoyed that instead of a first round pick and a compensation round pick, we have Rafae-DL Soriano sucking down Yankee dollars. But first I will enjoy the weekend.

What's the draft? Seriously, I am so not the one. But I'll come up with a bunch of links cause I know the guys at Yankee Analysts and River Ave are super into it.

[1] 16-0 now. Ouch, and mercy rule doesn't apply in the tourney.

16-2, do I smell a comeback?

Well, you do have other writers on staff! But links to River Ave (it's not going to be renamed until after He retires!) are cool, too.

Whoops, [6] -> [3].

It would be great if Federer could win this final. His place in history is assured but I think that would mean a lot.

I get the Federer love, he is an absolute artist out there. I like Nadal however. He started as a clay court master and he has made himself the #1 in the world. I don't know of this personally, obviously, but it is written that he is the hardest worker out there. Constantly improving aspects of his game and adding new ones. No one tries harder on the court. He never, ever quits trying. To the point of aggravating injuries when he should have resigned. Joe Posnanski described Nadal in the following way (I am summarizing, because I cannot find the original post on his site); Nadal reminded him of when he tried out for the tennis team in high school. His first tryout was against this little guy who was just barely taller than the net. The guy's returns were slow paced lobs that had no danger in them. Poz served the ball and the little guy hit it back, just barely over the net. Poz ran to it and hit a great return. The little guy just barely reached it and once again just sent it over the net. Poz once again reached it easily and hit what he thought was the greatest shot of his life. The little guy again barely reached it and the ball barely made it back over the net. Poz bewildered hit the next shot into the net. This is how the rest of the tryout played out. Nadal is the guy who takes your best shots and keeps returning the ball until you make a mistake. You will not beat Nadal by outlasting him. I believe it was Soderling who handed Nadal his French open loss. He did it by gambling. He figured he'd take the low percentage shot that would win him the point. He was hot that day and those shots kept falling in and he beat Nadal. He has never beaten Nadal again after that. I guess you figured out I'm a homer, I am biased. I for one will be rooting for Nadal. I don't think Federer will be unanimously considered the greatest of all-time, as he was just a few years ago. He will always be considered one of the best ever, and arguments will remain unsettled. I think that's great. Everyone needs that one opponent who just won't give up, the one you cannot be sure you have defeated until the game is over. Without that rival how can your greatness be judged. If Federer beats Nadal tomorrow, how much greater will his legacy be? It is not the same to beat Djokovic, no matter how many matches he had won in a row is it?

Sorry for rambling, but one last thought, when was the last time we had this great a rivalry between two all-time greats? I think we have to go back to Magic and Bird era in the 80's. We really need to enjoy this while it lasts.

Nadal is not quite on the level of Federer. Their head-to-head record is misleading because they've met on clay, Nadal's specialty, more than any other surface. The reason for that is that Nadal didn't advance as often on other surfaces. It's kind of like Superman vs Aquaman. Aquaman owns the sea but everything else is Superman's.

Anyway this all works out for Nadal, because Djokovic had a better chance of beating him than Federer.