I'm sitting here watching, what might soon be an ESPN "Instant Classic," between the amazing Roger Federer and the sometimes disappointing Andy Roddick. Quick parallel time for you SFC fans. Andy Roddick reminds me so much of Georgia Football. He's always good and usually in the mix, but at the end of the Grand Slam tournaments you know he will fall short to the Federers' (USC) and Nadals' (Florida). I do love watching Grand Slam tennis events and both Federer and Roddick hit the ball with such incredible power and precision.

Nice to see the Phils take the first two games over the Mets after looking listless and getting swept on the road by the Braves last week. It's still way too early to say J-Roll has snapped out of his funk, especially b/c he loves to hit against the Mets, but it was encouraging to see he and Lidge looking like their 2008 models during the first two games of the Mets series.

I know the Flyers signing monstrous, puck-moving, forward-crushing stud defenseman Chris Pronger has many in Philly chomping at the bit for the season to start, but personally I think the Flyers gave Anaheim too much in that deal. Joffrey Lupol was a young, solid winger, but to get quality you part with quality. However, dealing a young, future front-line defenseman in Luca (thanks Jay) Sbisa along with two #1 picks seems like an awful lot to part with, to get a 36 year-old defenseman with one-year left on his contract. Pronger said he wants to sign a 4-5 year contract extension for $6 million per year. Basically, if the Flyers don't win the cup this year or next (assuming they resign Pronger), this deal could blow up in their faces... And in Philadelphia, why do you think we would ever win the Cup? I do like the signing of Brian Boucher as our back-up to "Renegade" Ray Emery.

Interesting pick by the Sixers, selecting UCLA Frosh Jrue Holliday with their top pick. Obviously the Sixers like his size, defensive prowess, team-first mindset and flexibility. At 19, he was one of the youngest players in the draft. In the future, I think he has the ability to be a Jalen Rose-type of PG. Realistically, the best we can hope for this year is to have a young guy who will come in and play some quality minutes on the defensive end of the floor. The Sixers were actively trying to deal Sam Dalembert, but there was very limited interest in a low basketball IQ, foul-proned center with two years left on a HUGE contract. Curious to see what happens at PG for the Sixers too. Personally I loved the rumored sign and trade with Andre Miller (who doesn't appear to want to be in Philly) for Steve Blake & Travis Outlaw. Apparently the Sixers even asked about Atlanta free-agent Mike Bibby about a 1-year deal, however Bibby had ZERO interest in Philly and is looking to sign a 3-year deal w/the Hawks.

Not sure if Dawgs fans saw this, but Georgia's #1 prospect Alec Ogletree signed with the Dawgs last week. Ogletree, who is the second highest ranked safety in the country, chose the Dawgs over the 50-something offers he had from schools around the country. This is looking like a really strong 2010 class for the Dawgs, but I always hesitate to put too much excitement into the commitment of 17 & 18-year old high school kids. Of course, once they turn 19 and they step on that field at Sanford Stadium, well they have the ability to make or break the overall happiness of about 93,000 fans every Saturday.

In other news:

• Terribly sad news involving former Oiler/Texan/Raven QB Steve McNair. The Tennessean is reporting it was a murder-suicide, however I also read that McNair was threatened by someone on Friday night. There appears a lot more to come out of this sad story.
• In much lighter news, the Vols and Lane Kiffin have sunk to all new lows in recruiting. 13-year old Evan Berry (brother of Eric Berry) has committed to UT, despite the fact that he has not played a down of High School Football. Hey Kiffin, my nephew is 8 and no other kid in the neighborhood can cover him on the deep post.
• I'm still not done w/the Michael Jackson coverage or watching his videos, though the "You are Not Alone" video makes me a little uncomfortable.
• Ran the Peachtree and couldn't believe I didn't see one Michael Jackson costume. Should we blame it on the economy? And regarding the Peachtree, I think everyone magically shaves two minutes off of their time.
• Sarah Palin? Really? Maybe she wants to travel.
• Does any other sport show as many cutaways of celebrity girlfriends as tennis?
• The weatherman phenomenon: can anyone name another profession where you can be wrong 50% of the time and still have a job.
• File this in the you won't believe it section....Apparently 3 humans took on three elephants in a hot dog eating contest yesterday. One guess as to who won. I guess the economy is getting better -- still no word on whether any of the humannoids were dressed like Michael Jackson... http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/US_ODD_People_vs_Pachyderms.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm
• By the way, Joey Chestnutt defended his hot dog eating title by putting away 68 dogs and 10 buns in 10 minutes - defeating the once-legendary eater Kobayashi by 3 1/2 dogs.