The Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played

Five hours and 53 minutes. In a clash of the ages, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal met in their 3rd consecutive Grand Slam Final at the Australian Open. The final score says it all: 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. While not the longest tennis match ever played, it was the longest Final match ever played in the Open era and the longest match ever played in the history of the Australian Open.


After the match, the two competitors were so tired that they needed chairs to sit on during the post-game ceremony, barely able to breathe and sweating profusely.


Rafael Nadal crawled his way back into the match in the 4th set and gave Djokovic a run for his money in the 5th set, but "Djoker" was able to finish off Nadal without the need of a tie-breaker. Although this was Nadal's 3rd consecutive defeat to Djokovic, he showed that he could at least be competitive and that he is not out of the running for winning a Grand Slam this year.


This is Djokovic's 3rd Australian Open championship and 5th Grand Slam overall, putting away a lot of doubt as to his #1 ranking over old favorites Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The Orlando Magic Just Had a REALLY Bad Week

Dwight Howard questions why he is still
playing alongside teammates who clearly
just don't care anymore.

Friday, January 20
By beating the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80, Dwight Howard damages his own draft stock by vastly outperforming his counterpart, Andrew Bynum. Many in Orlando now question why the Magic would give up Howard in exchange for Bynum.


Monday, January 22
The Orlando Magic suffer a crushing defeat to the Boston Celtics, losing 87-56, scoring the fewest total points in franchise history. Dwight Howard scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a standard performance, while the team as a whole shot a franchise worst 24.6% in field goals and only made 16 total field goals.


Tuesday, January 24
Dwight Howard becomes the all-time Orlando Magic scoring leader by scoring a pedestrian 14 points in a bounce back 102-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers, one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. The game was won without Howard's help, because Ryan Anderson scored 24 points, shooting 5/7 from 3-point land. The team as a whole shot 40.6% from downtown, compared to Indiana's 27.3%.


Thursday, January 26
The Orlando Magic play the Boston Celtics for the 2nd time in a week, this time on their home floor, hoping not to get embarrassed on their home court, but still feeling good from their 19 point victory over the Pacers. During the 1st half, the Magic had a 27 point lead... and they lost the game 91-83; the Celtics performed their greatest 2nd half comeback since 1995. After the game, Celtics PF Kevin Garnett referred to the game as a "bar fight," much to the amusement of the national sports media.


Friday, January 27
Hoping to bounce back from choking the game against the Celtics, the Magic traveled to face the worst team in the Western Conference, the New Orleans Hornets. Dwight Howard scored 28 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, bouncing back to his normal form after several mediocre games. It's too bad no one told his teammates to play well, because the Magic lost to the Hornets, 93-67. Howard was the only Magic player to score in double figures, with the team shooting an embarrassing 39.3% FG and 28.6% 3PT-FG.


During halftime, Dwight Howard said to his teammates, "If you don't want to play, just stay in the locker room, because it don't make sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us. It hurts to get out there and you play your hardest and you expect everybody to play the same way, and I'm not calling anybody out by no means because we all have to get better ... but if you don't want to be out there, don't dress up. If you don't want to play, stay home. People work too hard. I want to win a championship. I work too hard every night for anybody to not want to go out there and play hard. ... None of the -- whatever, trade stuff -- none of that stuff matters. Play basketball. That's why we all get paid to do this, because we love the game and it's basketball, so why not give it your all?"




The NBA trade deadline is March 15. Dwight Howard has expressed interest in playing for the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, or Dallas Mavericks, in that order. The Orlando Magic are currently still trying to re-sign Howard to a new contract before he becomes a free agent.

Bruce Bowen's Jersey to be Retired by the San Antonio Spurs

Bruce Bowen, Jr., 3-time NBA champion all with the San Antonio Spurs, will have his #12 jersey officially retired by the San Antonio Spurs on March 21. Bowen is probably the least known member of the "Every Other Year Dynasty", but well deserving of the honor, given his scrappy defense and notoriety for being a player you love to have on your team, but hate going against.


Bruce's incredibly long story from the bottom of the trash heap to Spurs legend after the break.

The Raiders Are Finally Dancing to a New Tune While Also Taunting Their Rivals

The Oakland Raiders have found a new coach in Dennis Allen, the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. Allen becomes the first defensive-minded head coach of the Raiders since John Madden was promoted from linebackers coach to head coach by Al Davis. Despite the change in culture to the team, this is a classic Raiders move, hiring coaches from rival teams. Allen is well-versed in the AFC West by this point, something that the Raiders will use to their advantage.


Dennis Allen has quickly risen through the coaching ranks. Here is his résumé:

• 1996-1999 Texas A&M University (Graduate Assistant coach)
• 2000-2001 Tulsa University (secondary coach)
• 2002-2005 Atlanta Falcons (defensive assistant/quality control coach)
• 2006-2007 New Orleans Saints (assistant defensive line coach)
• 2008-2010 New Orleans Saints (secondary coach)
• 2011 Denver Broncos (defensive coordinator)

Under Allen, the 2008-2010 Saints passing defense improved from 23rd to 4th in the league, and the 2011 Broncos total defense improved from 32nd to 20th in just one year. The Raiders are obviously hoping that Allen can help improve their defense from near the bottom, ranked 29th, to one of the best in the league. What is especially noteworthy about his defensive style is that the 2009 Saints ranked 3rd in turnovers and the 2011 Broncos ranked 5th in sacks.

This is Reportedly the New Xbox's Graphics Card

The Radeon HD 6670 GPU

According to IGN, the new Xbox (currently nicknamed the Xbox 720) will use a modified version of the Radeon HD 6670, making it 6 times as powerful as the Xbox 360 and 20% more powerful than the Wii U. Based on further reporting from IGN, the Xbox "720" will launch in October/November 2013, more than a year after the Wii U is expected to launch. The Radeon HD 6670 supports DirectX11 (which the 360 does not), 1080p HD, multi-displays, and 3D, although it is doubtful that the new Xbox will support multi-display.


If the new Xbox is really going to use this graphics card, it will bring new definition to the joke "Xbox Huge". This could potentially be the largest video game console ever created, just to house its graphics card and processor which will reportedly also support built-in Kinect.

DC Comics Unveils Its New Logo

I understand the concept, but holy hell what an ugly logo. In case you don't get the concept, a "D" with the space filled in acts like a comic book cover having the front cover flipped to reveal a "C". DC will use multiple variations of the new logo, different for each super hero.


It's still an ugly logo, give me back the "old" one, it wasn't dated yet.

THE TIGERS? Also, That Lincecum Deal was Blown Out of Proportion

Prince Fielder has just signed a 9-year, $214 million contract. Fielder, who is 27, has played for the Milwaukee Brewers since 2005. I really don't know what the hell is going on with baseball anymore. Why are these clubs so stupid as to sign players who are obese to lengthy contracts when they will be expected to play a position that involves little to no physical activity?


In other news, Tim Lincecum and the Giants have agreed to a 2-year, $40.5 million deal, securing the Giants pitching rotation for at least 2 years while GM Brian Sabean tries to salvage their hitters with both Carlos Beltran bailing after less than a season and World Series hero Cody Ross departing for the Boston Red Sox.