jpaulgorman

  On the inside it's uglier than most can imagine.  Scandal, cover ups, hook ups, and pick-me-ups.  No telling what kinda narcotics float around, pill to pill, shot to shot, dose to dose, a pharmaceutical disaster.  Like Elvis without any music or Chuck Berry without any moves or Bruce Lee without any kicks or Speedy Gonzales without any speed.  Just dizzy, slurring pigment obsessed drunks, sources say. What does CBS stand for anyway?  Doesn't matter now, they've become irrelevant, a bleak reminder of last century.  The fool's century.  Duped and looped.  Now we know. We started in around the late 40's, picking fights, manipulation, sinister and crude.  Stealthy.  Spies with eyes in the skies.  Peace was never kept, it was invaded.  America was a TV show on CBS.

  Vantaggio Day at the Dallas Open began with a late morning breakfast at Cafe De Brazil.  Located across the highway from the event, its proximity and excellent breakfast offerings made it the perfect meet up place.  King The Todd, People's Duke, Keck, King James, they were all there when I arrived.  Bourbon pecan coffee, omelettes, crepes, empanadas, sweet potato fries, grilled breads, hash brown casserole, it was delicious.  Discussions of crypto markets, moon landings, portfolio theory, and spies, nothing about the Super Bowl or the Grammys or the Vanderpump Rules. Then, we loaded up the cars, opened the sun roofs, and cruised to the streets of Highland Park to park.  Found a sweet spot on St. Johns, not too far from Beverly Drive.  It's likely the locals encouraged next year's move north to Frisco, probably bankrolled it, Jerry Jones lives around here.  Either way, the homes are incredible, the yards are brilliant, and I tried to pick up some...

  All of them have dangerous opponents, the top 4 seeds through to the final 8, it's Friday, Quarters Day at the Dallas Open:  Paul and Koepfer, Shelton and Thompson, Tiafoe and Giron, Mannarino and Duckworth.  All the others just weren't up to it, not this week.  This week all the others lost, for various reasons, in various ways.  They'll be more losing to come, but for now, for this entire morning, we're surrounded by winners.  Then, it'll be 2 o'clock, when the losing starts again. As a tennis observer, journalist, and fanatic, it's important to be on record, create a bit of credibility, predict.  All you tennis gamblers get ready, I'm a minor clairvoyant, take note.  Koepfer loses to Paul due to flying his backhand on big points, Thompson loses to Shelton because he can't handle the serve, Giron loses to Tiafoe in a classic 3 setter, and Mannarino loses to Duckworth in a beat down.  Take all that to the bank, trust me, I've done lots of ...

  The walk up seemed different this year at the Dallas Open.  Melancholy and nostalgic, familiar and quaint.  This neighborhood is getting back to normal soon, thanks for the hospitality.  Gone to Frisco, but not yet.  Tennys Sandgren was warming up on the Grandstand side court, he was about to play Marchenko, these veterans were playing to get into the main draw, this was serious, desperation tennis, all business, all glares, all in. Sandgren looked more ripped than the 2018/19 version when he was at the top of his game, making noise in Grand Slams and ranked in the mid 40's.  And leaner somehow, maybe a late career 3 or 4 year run, show some rooks the way, grab a title or two, get back to top 50.  I sat courtside and watched the whole match.  Marchenko looked like an NFL player, big, broad, and strong, he belted the ball.  There were distractions of all types, Tennys noticed them, he acknowledged them, he pointed at them, he overcame them, ...

  Weird not having Wu in the draw.  The defending champion of the Dallas Open was not defending his title and points.  Sources indicate any returning champ stays at John Isner's house, eats John Isner's food, and drives John Isner's Cybertruck.  It made no sense, there wasn't much Wu news in the news.  Hopefully, he's fully recovered from his on court collapse this past summer. He'll be missed, Wu was spectacular last year.  Probably the best tennis ever played in the history of the Dallas Open.  Some would argue the Isner/Opelka match in '22, which featured the longest tiebreaker in ATP history, was compelling, but it was not.  Some would say Fritz, but he seemed to use Dallas as practice, he never even made the final here.  He's out this year, went Top 10 ranking, went big time, Fritz ain't playing in no dinky 250. Frances Tiafoe (15), Tommy Paul (16), Ben Shelton (17), Adrian Mannarino (18) are the favorites.  Eubanks, Wolf, Giron, an...