Roger Federer has been having a bad year. Having lost in Austrailia to the Tank's cousin in the semi's and to Nadal in the finals in both Paris and London, Federer's bid for his first Olympic medal ended yesterday when he lost to American James Blake.

As reported by Steve and the Tank in the past, we think that Roger Federer is human after all. Having never defeated Roger Federer in the past, actually only winning 1 set against him in the past, Blake defeated Federer in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Roger Federer showed some negative energy with an angry scream toward his feet. Then he swatted a stray ball in utter frustration. Next was his thigh and then stomped behind the baseline. Federer even got desperate and started to challenge calls, something that he almost never does. That backfired and was 0-4 on the replays.

And as a last resort, he questioned calls, something he hates to do. That merely made him madder: He went 0-4 on replay challenges.

Federer had been seeking his first Olympic medal after losing in the singles semifinals in Sydney and in the second round in Athens. Blake has never won a medal and has never gone to the finals in a grand slam. He got a call of good wishes from the US Mens Basketball team to wish him luck. Just 2 wins away from gold.

Michael Phelps has done the impossible. He has achieved something no one has ever done before, won 11 gold medals, more than anyone else in history. He is 5-5 in Beijing and will most likely tie or break Mark Spitz's record of 8 in a single games in route to 14 gold metals in total and 9 in Beijing.

While that is amazing, what is more amazing is how Phelps is winning. He took the world record in each of his 5 events and the 800 meter Freestyle relay was not even close. Watch that here.

Unless injury hit him, Phelps will be back in 2012 at age 27 and can tack on to his records. He is already the best ever, not it remains to be seen just how great it will be.

Posted by Steve in New York

Team USA has won convincingly over China and Angola in early Olympic play.  Their dominance is as close to a 1992 Dream Team as you are going to get.  It's not hard with players like Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, D-Wade, and on-and-on. 

Coach K makes sure that they are doing it with grace and class.  Coach K finally gets to coach Kobe as he recruited him out of him school and almost took the Laker coaching job a few years ago.  I met Coach K in Los Angeles in 1991 while I playing goalie for the North Region in Team Handball in the U.S. Olympic Festival.   (We took the Bronze Medal.)  During halftime of a basketball game, a few teammates and myself went up to Coach K to introduce ourselves.   He looked straight ahead and was very intense.  You thought he was still a cadet playing for Bobby Knight at West Point decades ago. 

Barring some catastrophe (God forbid), Team USA will win gold and reestablish global basketball dominance.

Posted by The Tank in NY.

The US Men's 4x100 meter swim team set an Olympic and World Record in Beijing.  Wow!  I thought the favored French were going to win as they took the lead from Jones on the third lap.  But, Lezak dug deep in the anchor leg and set a new Olympic and World Record.

Lezak silenced his critics by beating the Frenchman who said they would "crush" Team USA.  In so doing, Michael Phelps dream of winning eight gold medals is still alive.  He will hopefully best Spitz's 1972 record.  He has won his two hardest events. 

Posted by a celebrating Tank, Honorary Swimmer At Large, in an Olympic State of Mind. 

After a great start following the All Star Break and great trade deadline deals, the Yankees have fallen on tough times.  Joba is out injured on the DL.  Ian Kennedy had attitude issues after melting down on Friday in Anaheim.

The Yankees were swept by the Angels over the weekend.  This is morally devastating because two of the three games were winnable, especially Saturday. 

It is still mathematically possible to catch Tampa as they have a 8.5 game lead but the Yankees will need help.  The Red Sox are still in striking distance with 4.0 games with 6 head-to-head games remaining.  The Yankees have to leap frog the Twins who have a 2.5 game lead.  The Yankees can help their cause in a four game set in Minnesota starting tomorrow night.

Can the Yankees weather the storm until Hughes and Wang return?  I like the offense but the Yankees can't afford any more bullpen meltdowns.  We have to keep the faith in the darkest hours.

Posted by a concerned Tank in NY.

After a long week of work, it was great to get out to Shea on a beautiful summer Friday night.  Thanks to Linda for joining me for Mets-Marlins game!

If you ever watched "All in the Family", you'll remember Archie Bunker's wife Edith.  Well, her biological or spiritual daughter sat behind us.  Substitute "Archie" for "Perez" or anything else Mets and your taken back to Queens sometimes in the 1970s. 

"Perez has gotta get 'em out!" she yelled in classic Edith fashion.

DW's hit run two blast put the Mets ahead 2-0 in the first.

Perez had a bases loaded jam in the second.  We almost died laughing as "Edith" cheers Perez on.  Perez being Perez is why I don't have my physical and stress test during the season.  There were some stressful moments but he thankfully got through them, touch wood.

Delgado hits an opposite field solo shot to left in the fourth inning made it 3-0.

"Are you writing a book?" Edith asks.

"No, I'm writing a blog post," I reply.

"I work enough with computers," Edith says.

Perez threw 120 pitches on a two hitter through seven innings.  DW pats him on the shoulder.  Mets 3 - Marlins 0.

Schneider hits a single to right with one out in the bottom of the seventh.  Argenis Reyes strikes out when he pinch hit for Perez.  Jose Reyes singled to right.  The Mets don't add a run and still lead 3-0 going into the eighth.

Is a three run lead enough for the Mets? 

Mets Bull Pen Coping Mechanism: Linda drinks more beer and I take off my glasses for the 8th and 9th innings.  Since I am a laser vision candidate, I am going by Linda's and the crowd's reaction with the occasional squint.  I tell myself I can't see Heilman screw up if I don't wear my glasses.

Beltran makes a great catch to end the game.  Heilman gets the two inning save, touch wood.  The Mets win 3-0.  High fives to Edith, Linda, and everyone all around.

Posted by a grateful Tank reporting live from Shea Stadium in Queens.

The Summer Olympics are underway with opening ceremonies tomorrow.  I love the Olympics and competition of athletes from all over the world with as little politics as possible.

Dark clouds of pollution and Darfur hang over the Beijing Games.  I am glad that I visited Beijing for the Great Wall Marathon in May 2005.  It thankfully was NOT as hot or polluted as it is now.  To put it in context, Beijing is more polluted than Los Angeles.  Steve told me that Shanghai is more polluted than Beijing.  Cough, cough!

Onto to the Games themselves, Aussie Rod reported the skill and beauty of the Norwegian team beating USA 2-0.

As some of you know, I have a crush on swimmer Dara Torres as she is beautiful.  She is also inspirational as I almost drowned when I was 10 and 18.  Maybe she can teach me to swim?    Go Dara go! 

Posted by an excited Tank in an Olympic State of mind.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the Brett Favre Soap Opera. 

He retired from the Packers in the winter.  But, he recently changed his mind.  He said he was pressured to retire.

Brett reached out to the Minnesota Vikings, THE Packers' fiercest rival.  But, he used a cell phone the Packers provided him.  Big mistake and the Packers leaked it when Brett tried to use the court of public opinion to force the Packers' hand.

After NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Favre, Brett and his wife traveled to Green Bay over the weekend.  You would have thought the Pope was back in town given the media coverage.  ESPN Radio was giving minute-by-minute countdown as his plane arrived in Green Bay on Sunday evening.  It was too much.  I had to switch to business news on Bloomberg Radio.

Where Do We Go From Here:
Brett returned to his home in Mississippi.  The Jets have offered a fourth rounder to the Packers which goes to a first rounder depending upon the Jets performance according to the FAN.  Ouch!  That's it for a first ballot Hall of Famer who is better than Pennington and Clemens?  The Jets need to show they are doing something but not spend too much.  Who knows where he'll end up?  Jets?  Tampa?  Kids Pee Wee Football League?  Retirement?  

Posted by an exhausted Tank in NY. 

UPDATE: The Jets signed Favre.  Watch this page for more commentary and analysis as the season approaches.

The Mets and Yankees were on a roll going into last weekend.  But, the injury bug hit local teams hard like a plague.

The Mets were first victims as John Maine went on the DL.  Billy Wagner had arm pain on Sunday and then went on the DL today.  Aaron "The Human Rain Delay" Heilman is now the closer.  OMG!

The biggest injury could be Joba Chamberlain who had shoulder soreness during last night's loss at Texas.  He will be examined by Dr. James Andrews.  The Yankees may have lost the battle AND war, God forbid.

Steve and I may have to get stress tests during our next annual physicals with Dr. George.  Ugh!

Posted by The Tank hanging on the thread of his bad shoulder in NY.

The Yankees could have laid down and play dead after the Angels took a 5-0 lead yesterday.  They didn't.  They came back twice and won 14-9.  Nady was awesome with six RBIs.

The Yankees finally had timely hitting, sacrificed runners, and did all the things they used to in the late 1990s.  Is the magic back?  I'm not sure yet but I like the chemistry.  The Yankees have a little less than a third of a season to execute with a retooled team.  Texas is not a great team but the Yankees recently lost two out of three to them.  The Yankees must win at least three out of four.

Posted by The Tank in NY.