Sports Then and Now

Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams sit atop the women's tennis power rankings.

A new face at the top of the power rankings may lead many to believe Elena Dementieva’s presence is a harbinger of changes to come.

There are myriad story lines adding to excitement of the first major of the year for the women’s tour: Along with the resurrection of the tennis careers of the Belgian duo of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, there is the attempted return of Maria Sharapova.

There are also many questions about the promise yet to be realized for Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina as well as the scalability of newbies Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and big-serving Sabine Lisicki.

Add to that the staying power of the Williams sisters.

The preseason power rankings borrow a little from 2009 and a lot from 2010. Here is how they stack up early in the year…

The Top 10

1. Elena Dementieva (Last Power Ranking: NR; Current WTA Ranking: 5)

Last four tournaments: Sydney [Winner], Doha [RR 2-1], Beijing [Quarterfinalist], Tokyo [R32].

Power Ranking Points: 518

On her way to the finals in Sydney, Elena Dementieva defeated No. 2 seed Dinara Safina, No. 6 seed Victoria Azarenka, and No. 1 seed Serena Williams to collect her first tour championship of the season.

Unfortunately for Dementieva, she was drawn into the most contested quarter of the draw and can expect to meet reborn Justine Henin in round 2.  The quarter also includes No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 15 seed Kim Clijsters.  This quarter is jam packed with potential champions.  It will be a real test for the Russian to find herself standing in the quarterfinals.

If Dementieva gets past Henin, it will mark a major hurdle.  But it would still only be round two.  There remains a mountain of matches left to win before the finish line. If the Russian makes it there, she may retain her No. 1 power ranking at the conclusion of the Australian Open.

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Former Dallas Cowboys and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Chan Gailey will become the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

I had heard the buzz yesterday, that the Bills would be announcing Chan Gailey as their new head coach. I’ll have to admit, it was underwhelming at best. Then I looked at his record and was almost impressed.

For instance, I did not know that (with the exception of Kansas City in his most recent brief assignment) every NFL team that Gailey has worked for, has gone to the playoffs each year he was there. So, I was starting to convince myself to be at least cautiously optimistic.

But then, as I was eating breakfast today, Chicago’s morning sports anchor announced the same story, ending with the comment in quotes above. The sick feeling returned.

Yes, I’m a die-hard, you might say many times dead, Buffalo Bills fan from childhood. I bleed red and blue. My scabs and scars always take the faint, understated shape of a buffalo. And while disappointment is a staple in the Bills fan’s diet, the club’s inability to land even an A-list coordinator for its head coaching vacancy, when so many A-list head coaches are available is one of the worst blows to the gut we Bills fans have ever had to endure. Bar none!

If we take our 91-year-old owner seriously when he said he would spare no expense to get top tier football people into all aspects of the team’s operation, and especially in the general manager and head coaching positions, then it appears that no amount of money or autonomy was enough to entice any of a “Who’s Who in Football” list to accept, or in some cases even interview for the job.

Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan put it in print– that which most of us would have preferred not having to say, hear, read, or think out loud– that the Bills’ inefectual leadership search indicates that the Buffalo Bills top job is not even the 32nd best coaching job in football (there are 32 teams in the NFL). Sullivan based this on the fact that at least six potential candidates turned down the position or refused to interview for the positon. Read the rest of this entry →

Though neither Tyra Banks nor Paulina Porizkova were likely within miles of the City of Brotherly Love last week, America’s Top Women’s Soccer players were busy modeling the hot new fashions of PUMA’s 2010 WPS uniform line.

PUMA, the founding sponsor of the WPS, unveiled the 2010 WPS home and away uniforms last week at the Trust Building in Philadelphia. The event, which was hosted by Los Angeles Sol goalkeeper and WPS All-Star Karina LeBlanc, included a high energy fashion show up the green turf runaway and featured the stars of the WPS, plus live break dancers, specialty cocktails and hors d’oeuvres catered by Steven Starr. Read the rest of this entry →

Jennifer Capriati defeated Martina Hingis in a memorable 2002 Australian Open final.

Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis competed against each other in one of the finest women’s matches in the past decade at the 2002 Australian Open.

Ironically, both started playing competitive tennis at an extremely young age and enjoyed immediate success and acclaim. But both endured controversy and ended their careers prematurely.

Capriati was pushed along early by her father, playing her first professional match in 1990 a couple of weeks before she turned 14. The teenager astounded the tennis world by upending some top-ranked players as she skyrocketed to the No. 8 ranking by the end of the year. She even made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Capriati was young, bubbling over with enthusiasm. The public and the press adored her.

In 1991 she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. In 1992 she won a gold medal at the Olympics. The more success she enjoyed, however, the more pressure people exerted upon her to do more—win more. Read the rest of this entry →

Nikolay Davydenko could be a factor in the 2010 Australian Open.

Nikolay Davydenko has been regarded with a mixture of awe and sympathy for many years.

He announced himself as a factor in the 2005 Australian Open, after causing a minor, yet noticeable jolt to the draw by pounding Tim Henman and Guillermo Cañas in succession. In the quarters of that event, he faced Andy Roddick, who was then No. 2 in the world.

Even then it was hard not be amazed at his shots: Time and time again he spun in his first serves, rarely winning points outright with them, but forcing Roddick to cough up a ball landing at midcourt which the Russian could crush. And that’s what he did, sending a host of forehand winners past the American.

Victory was not to be his that day, as Roddick was holding serve easily, and his returns eventually started landing deep enough to prolong the rallies, which eventually contributed to mistakes on the Russian’s side. Though he lost in straight sets that day, Davydenko announced that he was one of the best pure ballstrikers in the world.

And that pure hitting allowed him to reach the top 10 that year, and stay in the top 10 ever since. In an era where the players are ever bigger and more imposing, Davydenko is 5’10” – the only man under 6 feet in the current top 10 – and perhaps generously listed at 154 pounds by the ATP Tour website. What’s more, his thinning tufts of blond hair have always reminded of a freshly hatched chick. Read the rest of this entry →

FC Gold Pride and Tiffeny Milbrett are poised for success in 2010

At the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, Tiffeny Milbrett held a field demonstration session on Thursday, January 14, 2010.  We got there about 15 minutes after it started, but still got the gist of what was going on and enjoyed watching it.  Afterwards, we went up, introduced ourselves and got to talk to Tiffeny for a little while about her thoughts on the WPS draft, the upcoming season and the acquisition of LA Sol midfielder, Camille Abily.

Lauren Green (LG): What are your thoughts on tomorrow’s WPS draft?

Tiffeny Milbrett (TM): I think it’s going to be the best class ever for any WPS draft, (laughs), it’s the second year.  But no I think, I don’t know absolutely all the players because I don’t get to this part of the states, that part of the states to be able to see all of the players that are coming out.

But of course you know the top four or five players that will probably be taken right off the bat. And it’s just exciting I think, you know when the WUSA went away, it’s just, it was such a sad moment, not for the current players, but for those players coming up, coming through college.  You know, their dreams were wiped out of becoming pro and just tomorrow again, symbolizes the chance for these players to have a place to play as a professional soccer player. And that is just phenomenal to me.

LG: Is there anyone in particular that you would enjoy getting to play with if they were to be drafted by FC Gold Pride? I know they have a high pick in the third overall pick, but is there anyone in particular that you would be extremely excited to be playing with? Read the rest of this entry →