August 14, 2008

• Third year going to Legg Mason

  Before I talk about my tournament trip, I first gotta say congrats to James Blake for beating Roger Federer at the Olympics!  I swear, I had a dream last night predicting that was going to happen, but when I wrote up I thought “nah”.  I do feel a bit bad for Federer.  He now got to wait until 2012 in order to fulfill his dream of getting gold.  Now I just want James Blake to beat Fernando Gonzalez and Rafael Nadal to beat Novak Djokovic in the semis and I’ll be estatic!

  

  US Open Series Road Trip Bus!

  So yesterday I went down to the Legg Mason tournament for the third straight year and I think this was my best trip yet!  The weather was wonderful; sunny, not too hot, with a breeze.  The matches we saw were high quality, especially the one between Tommy Haas and Nicolas Mahut. 

  Forgot to mention that I got into the tournamet for free, thanks to free tickets given to me for volunteering at an Asian festival in DC this past weekend.  At the last minute I realized I had an extra ticket, so I quickly found my little cousin at the tennis courts and kidnapped him haha.  It was his first time seeing professional tennis live, so I hope he enjoyed it.

  
  not the most flattering picture of us.

  Once there, I immediated headed over to the practice courts in hope of seeing Roddick practicing.  I didn’t see him, but I was pleasantly surprise to see Vince “Ain’t Afraid of Ya!” Spadea there!  Been a fan of him ever since reading his book he wrote about his adventures on tour.  He is also known as the tennis rapper, and he sure acted like it when I met him. 

  Me:  “Hey, can I get a picture with you?”
  Him:  (in a deep voice, sorta sounding high) “Yeaaaa mannnn!”

  
  I admit I was a bit nervous there.  I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands!

  A video I took of him practicing his serves with his coach.  Towards the end he acknowledges my camera after saying “Go Spadea” to himself:

  After that, we pretty much stayed in the main stadium to watch all the featured matches of the day.  I manage to snag some really good seats right up front near the player’s entrance, which allowed for some good close up viewing of matches as well as first priority in getting autographs. 

     
  Some match shots (click to enlarge)

  By the end of the day I gotten four pro’s signatures from Tommy Haas, Eric “Booty” Butorac, John Isner, and Vince Spadea (pictured below).  Much better than expected!

  

  
  Woohoo!

  Can’t wait to go again next year when people that didn’t come out this year due to the Olympics will be there.  

  • 9:50 pm
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