The Rogers Cup

When I first applied to be a Rogers Cup volunteer back in June, I had little hope that I would be roaming the grounds of York University in August, because I had missed all the important deadlines. But luck would have it that in July, a few spots opened up and I was pulled off the waitlists. After going through the orientation and getting the free tickets and the uniforms, I felt pretty excited about the tournament.

Then, I had a job for a month. Before I knew it, August 15th was here. On opening Saturday, I went to visit the grounds with one of my friends. Then, the following morning, I was on my first shift, as an usher on Grandstand, the largest court outside of Rexall Centre. Sitting in the sun all day, I got ridiculously tanned, but the tennis was great.

On Opening Night on the 17th, I was there again for my second shift. It was just an amazing atmosphere. Then on Wednesday night, I went with a friend just to kick up our feet and watch tennis. Serena played that night and she won. Ivanovic also played that night and she lost.

Thursday night was probably the wildest of all my shifts. With ominous clouds bearing down on Rexall Centre, I was tucked safely inside the Tennis Canada offices. And then came the wind, the funnel, and then a tornado. Though the tornado wasn't near us, the funnel was still visible from the stadium and due to that, everybody was evacuated indoors. Still, just shortly before 9, tennis was back on. That night, I also squeegeed a tennis court for the first time.

Thursday night, I came home at 1 in the morning. Friday morning, I had to catch a morning shift. On Saturday, I brought my parents along for the day session and a couple of my best buddies for the night session. That was a ton of fun.

Now today, it hit me how fast this tournament went by and how much fun I had. I'm a pretty nostalgic person by nature, and I'm going to miss volunteering at the Rogers Cup. It was so cool to see the teamwork from all the volunteers. And of course, seeing what makes the tennis happen over these 9 days-you know, the behind the scenes stuff.

I caught about 20 matches over the course of this week, including most of today's two finals. I also scored a few tennis balls, two tennis bottles left over from Dementieva's practice, sat in an umpire's chair, and stepped onto Centre Court. For now, I can only say that I can't wait to come back next year!

-D

Unboltlievable

9.58!

9.58!

9.58!

We need new adjectives to describe what Usain Bolt did in Berlin a couple days ago. To run 9.58 is one thing-and it's a darn incredible thing at that. But to shave 0.11 seconds off the world record is quite another. This is track and field, not swimming, and that kind of thing just does not happen everyday.

Tyson Gay, the man that proclaimed he could break Bolt's old record of 9.69 ran a formidable 9.71 behind Bolt. I wonder what kind of impact it has on a runner with someone as fast as Bolt up ahead. Does it make him go faster? If so, by how much? I really doubt that Gay could ever break Bolt's 9.58 but I do think Bolt will probably lower that mark at least once if not more during the course of his career. Important note for Bolt: KEEP HEALTHY!

And last but certainly not least, look what I wrote on this blog on January 2 of this year, as part of my 10 big sports predictions of 2009: "4. Usain Bolt will break his own World Record in the 100 M Sprint...again. Do I dare say at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin?"Accurate or what?

-D

Photo Credit: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2009/8/16/1250457586230/Usain-Bolt-and-100-metres-001.jpg

A Metre Away

Today, I was down at the Rogers Cup at the Rexall Centre. It was free family weekend, and I have volunteering there starting tomorrow, so I felt I might as well check out the grounds.

It was a beautiful day first of all, a little bit hot, but sunny nonetheless. I had a lot of fun, with my friend Harry. Took tons of pics on Centre Court, watched a three set, somewhat exciting qualifying match and we went out for a stroll.

That's where we ran into a crowd of people. Ana Ivanovic was being ushered from one practice court to another. Maria Sharapova was coming out of the court that Ivanovic was going into. A golf cart was waiting to transport Sharapova somewhere else. A huge line formed to see her in person/ask for autographs.

Harry and I didn't get good spots for that one and we ended up with a couple mediocre pics. (We didn't have a pen or anything.) After watching Ivanovic practice, we crowded around the exit as she came out. Security tried desperately, to no avail, to get us into two lines. Then, they had to whisk her away whilst trying to control the crowd. Now, I got a couple really good pics of that scene (check 'em out!).

Overall, it was a great day. I can't wait to get to the volunteering part of it!

-D

Walk Off!

As the ball sailed over Nolan Reimold's head, the entire stadium stood up and cheered for Adam Lind. The Jays finally won a game. The whole team jumped onto the field. For a moment there, it did feel like we were back in 1993.

I was sitting in the upper deck for this one, in the first row, hoping that a foul ball would somehow come my way. It didn't, but it was nice to be with the other 28 000 fans reveling in a much needed celebration.

When I walked into the stadium, it was sunny. There was no action out on the field. I was disappointed. But about 15 minutes later, the Orioles started taking their BP hacks. During the course of BP, I got O's pitching coach Rick Kranitz to toss a ball up from the bullpen. It was a homer that landed there earlier. I had another shot at a ball when a homer hit the seats and bounced one row behind me. There was a three man scramble, and I lost. Nonetheless, I was happy to have my 10th career Major League baseball in tow.

With the threat of rain looming for the afternoon, the roof on the Rogers Centre closed during the 5th inning. The game itself, great. Brian Roberts injured his ankle on a foul ball. Brett Cecil strained his knee chasing a bunt. O's manager Dave Trembley had a heated argument with home plate umpire Cedarstrom but kept his seat in the dugout. Rios hit a bomb. And Adam Lind put the icing on the cake.

Great day to be at the ballpark!

-D