Melanie Oudin was relentless vs the Russians.......            And Jeter is leading the awesome Yankees........ Photo by Matthew Stockman - Getty                                     Photo by  Jared Wickerham - Getty

I love Labor Day. What could be better for a sports fan? First of all, performing any actual labor is practically forbidden and what could be better than that? But the sports tableau is unbelievable, especially if you like tennis.

Now I’m watching this little mercuric Melanie Oudin drive this Russian crazy, and being that it’s Nadia Petrova, that shouldn’t be that hard. Ms Oudin is playing smart, taking full advantage of her fitness, moving Petrova left and right, up and down, and she kicked her butt in the second set tie-breaker.

I’m not ordinarily a jingo, but I find myself saying, “move that fat Russian” at every opportunity. But I have an excuse. This little fireball inspires some loyalty; she plays so hard!

But enough about tennis. The great thing on Labor Day is that you can switch between the Yankee game and the tennis, or you can watch the Mets encore against the Cubs with Mike Pelfrey apparently trying to prove he really doesn’t stink. (I had reamed him a new butt in my last article.)

The Yankee pitcher, C.C. Sabathia, is similarly easy to root for (even if the team is not). The last time I looked, he was tie at 1, his only wayward pitch was one that ventured over the plate against Tampa Bay’s Longoria.

Tampa Bay is still hanging in there, especially with Garza on the mound. He’s another real competitor, throwing hard all the time an with every pitch purposeful. (Sabathia’s in trouble now, turning back to the Yankee game).

Labor Day is also like the end of the sports fiscal year, if you will. Baseball’s winding down and it seems apparent who’ll be in the Series (although this year may be different), the football season is just beginning, fantasy drafts have all been conducted, and, as I said, there’s this U.S. Open.

But basketball’s right on the horizon too. And this year, we may even be able to root for the Knicks a little harder. I like the moves they’ve made so far, but it’s almost funny to see the horrible Curry pulling down the money he’s making, 9.7 million. It’s hard to make up that kind of deficit.

But there’s life at the end of the Knicks tunnel. They may not have Nate Robinson anymore, or that nice power forward, but they do have Larry Hughes, Darko Milicic and Cuttino Mobley. They’re all making some fancy bucks too, but I’m pretty sure those salaries will be coming off soon.

Back at Flushing Meadows, Oudin is up 5-3 in the third, and thoroughly wiping out the Red Menace. (Really, I’m no jingoist). Petrova’s done. Oudin just missed on her first match point, but she’s so so close and the result seems inevitable. Relentless is what she is.

And there it is, the end of things; Oudin has prevailed. “Down goes Dementieva, down goes Sharapova, and down goes Petrova”, says the announcer. Three Russians in a row, they’ll be talking about Oudin down in friggin’ Moscow for a long long time. Wow! I’m really psyched!

Geez, the Yankee game seems kind of tame compared to Oudin. But it’s over, it’s time to move along. The Yanks are still tied 1-1, a real pitching duel between CC and Garza. Bottom of the sixth and with these two horses, we may not see any relievers for a long time yet.

Arod just got a little single, and it’s his third hit in as many tries. With just one out and men on first and second now, this could be the end for Garza. Arod’s actually holding up pretty well this year, batting about .280 now with about 24 homers and 80 ribbies, not too shabby for missing April.

It’s so tough to watch men’s tennis and not just for obvious reasons. The thought of watching these guys for up to five sets is just too daunting, kind of the same way I feel in the first quarter of a basketball game. The women just have to win two sets and every point holds your attention.

Nevertheless, Federer is going now against Robredo, and while Federer may be the best player in the world, it’s the first set and I know there’ll be another two hours, at least, before this match winds itself down.

Geez, I just had to explain to my wife about Labor Day. It seems she’s never heard that you don’t work on Labor Day. Wikipedia tells me that I am right (again). This day has its origins back in the 1880’s after a particularly harsh treatment of labor unions in the Pullman Strike. Beyond that though, tradition has always called for this day to be a day of rest, something totally alien to my Brit wife.

At any rate, there is a conspicuous absence of football today unless you’re rabid enough to watch the 4th exhibition games. Not me. The NFL seems to think they can put anybody out there and still command the same commercial dollars from advertisers. No way. Not this guy, I have trouble slogging through all the commercials for a regular season contest.

There have been some things happening though, and I was sorry to see David Tyree let go, albeit totally agreeing with the move. Now both heroes of the Super Bowl are gone and they’ll be missed, if just for the sake of nostalgia. But Tyree’s routes (and hands) were always an adventure.

Back to the Yankees, Posada and Cano (and Hughes for that matter) just teamed up on a great pitchout and throwout of Crawford, the fastest Ray, at second base. Just when I was thinking what a huge mistake it was for Hughes to walk Crawford, the error gets expunged by a beautiful play (and call).


And that’s what makes this Yankee team kinda special, their infield defense is formidable and their hitting and relief pitching are all there too. I was surprised to hear that even Aceves has ten wins.

Aaaaah, Labor Day.

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