James Drake/Sports Illustrated
Chairman of the Boards.
(James Drake/Sports Illustrated)
Chairman of the Boards.
(James Drake/Sports Illustrated)
SPORTSREDEF PICKS
RIP Moses Malone, Novak Djokovic's Search for Love, Odell Beckham, Tennis Physics, 'Apocalypse Now'...
Mike Vorkunov, curator September 14, 2015
QUOTABLES!
quote of the day
The Lord made some people to be engineers, he made some people to be doctors. He made me to be a great basketball player.
Moses Malone, 1955-2015
sports
rant n' rave
rantnrave://

Another epic final between #1 and #2 in the men's draw. A CINDERELLA-like finish between the #1-slayer and the #2-slayer on the women's side. Did you even remember, come SUNDAY, that the world's greatest female athlete had come within three sets of a grand slam just 48 hours earlier? If you didn't, you are forgiven. It was that good a weekend. The sight of both ROBERTA VINCI and NOVAK DJOKOVIC -- she unseeded, he the world's best player -- openly begging for the love of a hostile NEW YORK crowd made for two of my favorite sports moments in a long time... My least favorite in a long time continues to involve the NYPD and JAMES BLAKE. Maybe there's some context missing from the minute-long video the police released FRIDAY or BLAKE being mistakenly arrested, tackled and handcuffed, but it's hard to imagine what that context would be, as BLAKE is standing motionless, leaning against a hotel wall, before an undercover cop jumps him. Authorities quickly apologized -- after they realized he was a celebrity and he publicly complained. Which makes you wonder about all the noncelebrities without his media access mistreated by police around the country. "Extending courtesy to a public figure mistreated by the police is not enough," BLAKE said in the #BlackLivesMatter understatement of the summer... I don't even know what to say about the weekend's other #1 vs. #2, the lopsided battle between WINSTON and MARIOTA in TAMPA BAY. We probably shouldn't try to predict careers, or even a season, based on one game between two teams who won a total of four games last year. But we can talk about karma, which is what this game felt like... RIP MOSES MALONE. Way too young.

Mike Vorkunov, curator

September 14, 2015