Black Tennis Pros

This has truly been one sad weekend. I can't even begin to speak to how much I love the music of this man. To this day I play "I Stand Accused" and "Walk On By" in my daily mix of music. The man was beyond talented. My mother and father played his music endlessly, which is how I came to love him so. I am very glad to have his library of music in my home.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — American funk-soul legend and Academy Award-award winning musician Isaac Hayes was found dead Sunday at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, officials said. He was 65.

The talented singer, songwriter and composer, who won the Oscar in 1972 for best original song for the theme from "Shaft," was found unresponsive at his house by family members, Shelby county spokesman Steve Shular told CNN.

"Shelby county sheriff's deputies received a 911 call about 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) central time from family members. They had gone out at about noon today to a grocery store and came back and unfortunately found him unresponsive in the bedroom," he said.

Hayes was given CPR by paramedics but could not be revived.

"Family members believe at this point it is a medical condition that might have led to his death," said Shular, adding that Hayes was being treated for "a number of medical issues." He declined to elaborate further.

Hayes suffered a stroke in 2006.

The ITF Tennis.com Olympic Tennis Event site has found it necessary to differentiate between a Williams sister and the other players.

On the "As It Happens - Day 1: Sunday August 10" page, the writer makes the following entry:

"2:40pm: World No. 47 Olga Govortsova is about to start against Serena Williams. The formbook and history suggests this shouldn't prove too hard for the American. For those of you who like this stuff and I know there's plenty of you, she's wearing a very fetching red headband and 'normal' white dress. She also looks very focussed."

Now, this person mentions Samantha Stosur, Alize Cornet, Caroline Woznacki, Francesca Schiavone, Marta Domahowska and other women as well. In not one instance did he refer to anything about any of the other women as "normal."

If ITF Tennis.com is going to use such terms, I believe that it is only fair that they share with us what their sense of normalcy is so that we can know what they are talking about. And if this is a 'personal' assessment and not tennis commentary, then state it somewhere else where this can be clearly distinguished.

The games have just begun, let's play nice now.

Well, play has been called for the day. The weather would just not cooperate with the Olympic scheduling. I tried "rain, rain go away, come again some other day," but it didn't work.

Hmmm, anybody know any other weather magic?

Now that's what I'm talking about!

American James Blake announces the arrival of Team USA with a straight sets 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Australian Chris Guccione.


The match began late after a serious downpour of rain this morning. After it finally subsided and the grounds crew dried the courts, the opening match began.

Opening Day of the Olympic Tennis event will see American Serena Williams Centre Court at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning against Olga Govortsova of Belarus.

James Blake will also be on court in first round action against Australian Chris Guccione.

Venus and Serena are seen here practicing, and seem to have run into Roger Federer in the process.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Venus Williams

From inception to production, the spectacular event that was the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics was beyond compare.

I have NEVER seen the conceptualization of anything so brilliantly put to movement, lights, pyrotechnics and costuming. From beginning to end each and every aspect of this 'experience' was without flaw. I am in awe of the depth and degree of life and energy invested into bringing this concept to fruition.

The event's creator manifested 5,000 years of history right before your eyes. If you know anything of China's history, you literally saw it evolving with each act of the performance. Most impressive in that evolution was the fact that with the exception of the fireworks, everything was people driven. From their numbers, to their talent, to their costumes, the people of China that performed for this event put their hearts into every movement.

When the performance portion concluded, I thought that the parade of countries was going to be just that, the parade of countries. It was then that the real beauty of the Opening Ceremony kicked in for me. Looking into the faces of all of those beautiful people from every corner of the world in their cultural dress waving their countries flag was just a heart warming spiritual moment. I think that I've somewhat dismissed this moment or taken it for granted in years gone by. The current state of the world helps you put things into perspective when you see such a conglomeration as was seen last night.

If nothing else was accomplished, I do believe that China set a beautiful tone, and opened a few hearts and minds to the possibility of their theme "One World, One Dream."