TGIF.

Nothing more awesome than welcoming the weekend with a video of Ryan Gosling giggling. As much as I would love to create a fake Mrs. Gosling account on Twitter, my inner self that is so totally against trolling prevents me from doing so. Anyway, giggle away, Goz. You'll always and forever will be the mascot of my blog site. 

The "Must" List: Muppets against Romney? LOL.

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

* So, there's Sesame Street Diplomacy and now there's US presidential candidate Mitt Romney going after Big Bird during his first live debate with incumbent president Barack Obama. Who knew that these muppets could wield so much power and influence?  

* Thanks, Patricia Evangelista, for telling us what the future could look like with Sen. Tito Sotto as the King of Cyberspace. God save the Philippines.

* Roger Federer being, well, like Roger Federer:

"I think he's done so well," Federer added. "His reaction was amazing after not winning Wimbledon against me.
"Then coming back to win the Olympics and bringing the victory home for his first Grand Slam at the US Open was great to see.
"I was very impressed and I'm sure that's going to give him confidence for what's to come.
"How me, Novak and Rafa - whenever he comes back - and the rest of the players will play will have a little bit of an impact.
"But, overall, Andy has some control over that himself now."

* Novak Djokovic dancing Psy's Gangnam Style. Tennis is so cool.

* And I've missed you too.

* Anna Wintour is a big fan of tennis. She's also a big fan of Homeland. Who knew that we had a lot of things in common?

* Team Nicki Minaj or Team Mariah? Let BuzzFeed help you decide.

The "Must" List: Grand Deception?

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the 5 people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I humbly submit the above video as evidence as to why women tennis players deserve equal prize money. Oh. Hi there, Gilles Simon. Who's the most popular out of the four of you there? (Video courtesy of @OnTheGoTennis)

*Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and probably the best cyclist that ever lived, is going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport that he dominated after refusing to defend himself from allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. This early 2011 investigative piece from Sports Illustrated sheds some light into the issue and even hints at a grand deception on the part of Armstrong and his entourage to cover-up his long-term doping. After reading this article, I can't help but compare Armstrong to Tiger Woods, another superstar who spectacularly fell from grace after being involved in a sex addiction controversy, and how far celebrities and their handlers would go to appear "clean", deceive people and cover up any negative publicity. I know that Armstrong is revered more than Woods mainly because of his work with Livestrong but, after reading SI's article, I can't help but still feel betrayed. I love sports and admire athletes who work really hard and sacrifice a lot of things just to be able to compete and be the best that they can be. It's a shame when they cheat by relying on performance-enhancing drugs and don't do the hard work that other athletes do. It's also unforgivable when they act out like Mafia bosses and ruin the lives and career of people who dare expose them as frauds.

*Here's a nice Strong is Beautiful campaign photo featuring Ana Ivanovic from the WTA. I can't help but feel emotional (you know how we tennis fans can be) after reading the following tagline: "Strong is…never giving up the struggle to be as great as you know you can be. Strong is Women’s Tennis." It's no secret that I'm a big Ana Ivanovic fan (just run through my previous posts) and, of course, I know very well how enormously talented she is and how hard she works to get back to where she once was before the slump happened (Grand Slam champion, former world no. 1). It just sucks big time that her results since late 2008 have not been commensurate to her abilities. I still hope against hope that someday she will somehow recover what she lost during her long slump (e.g. ranking points, a couple of titles, Queen Bee locker room status, endorsement deals). Thanks for keeping the faith, Hitler.

*How hard is it to be a wannabe Secretary of State or Foreign Affairs Secretary? Just ask Steve Walt.

*Vladimir Putin doesn't have a sense of humor. Another post from Steve Walt: 

Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the punk band Pussy Riot got sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism," all because they had the temerity to poke some harmless fun at Vladimir Putin and made the mistake of doing it inside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now there's a real threat to public order!  And the government's lame response is revealing: throwing young female musicians in jail is like taking out a full page ad in the world's leading newspapers announcing "We are afraid of independent thinking and have absolutely no sense of humor." In a world where success increasingly depends on tapping into the energy, imagination, and initiative of the citizenry, Putin is telling young Russians to be dull and conformist. I think he's also betraying a profound sense of insecurity: when a three-person punk band is a threat to society, you know that the government has lost all perspective. He's got Madonna ticked off too, although I'm not sure that matters all that much. 

*Cute guys edition: Ryan Gosling does ballet? I need a video ASAP. Brody Jenner's single, y'all. (Oh wait, I shouldn't have announced that. Darn.)  Unintentional hilarity still follows Andy Murray.

*The Philippines lost a good public servant last week. While a lot of tributes have been written about DILG Secretary and multi-awarded former Naga City major Jesse Robredo, this piece written by Patricia Evangelista is probably my favorite. RIP, Sec. Robredo. Your brand of leadership will surely be missed. 

Golden Boy

Roger Federer has a Rafa Nadal problem. Rafa has a Novak Djokovic problem. Novak has a Roger problem. Poor Andy Murray has a lot of problems. Andy lost to Novak in the semis of the Australian Open. He was no match for Rafa at the semis of Roland Garros. He was reduced to tears after losing to Roger in the finals of Wimbledon just a couple of weeks ago.

This has been the story of Andy Murray's career. He has been to four Grand Slam finals already but has never managed to win one. The Scot was simply unlucky to be Britain's only tennis hope during the time that Roger, Rafa and Novak were extremely dominant. It has been said several times that Murray's tactical, but defensive, game would not be enough to topple the big 3 and win him a Grand Slam. His strategy of just waiting for his opponents to make mistakes was just not going to cut it.

I can't remember the specific match that I saw that made me a big Andy Murray fan. I remember becoming a big Ana Ivanovic fan when I saw a replay of her semifinal match on tv against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic during Roland Garros '08. I just remember being impressed by how cleanly she hit her forehand. Up to this day, I still think it's the most beautiful shot in the game. I took tennis lessons before just to be able to copy the Ivanovic forehand (to no success). I know Ana's game like the back of my hand and heck even her body language when she enters the court. My friend Erny and I would text each other every time we are able to catch a match of hers live on tv. We would make predictions as to how she would play judging by how she looked and acted as she entered the court. It may be a talent but we are rarely wrong when making Ana-related predictions.

I have seen a lot of Andy's matches even before I became a big fan of his. While I admired his very tactical game, I just wasn't that enamored with it in the beginning. On the men's side I tended to root for Roger or Novak a lot. In a match that doesn't feature any of them, I root for the, uhm, more good-looking player (e.g. Ernests Gulbis, Tomas Berdych, Juan Monaco, Simone Bolelli). But then came one eureka moment when I was watching Andy in a Wimbledon 2010 match. I can't remember who he was playing against but something just clicked inside my brain. I was suddenly able to distinguish how differently he adjusted his game, specifically how he hits his backhand, from one surface to another. It was like my mind became a television screen and Andy's game was shown on slo-mo and in several split screens playing on a slow hard court, a clay court, a grass court and a fast hard court. I think it was during that time that I realized, for better or worse, that I was a bona fide tennis nerd. From then on I realized that I was watching tennis from a very technical point of view.

After that match, I just couldn't switch the channel every time an Andy Murray match is on tv. I started reading articles about him and I just totally fell in love with the guy's dry British (or Scottish?) humor and with the unintentional hilarity that seemed to follow him.  It also helped that he is very complimentary of women's tennis (I'm looking at you, Gilles Simon) and that his girlfriend's dad (Nigel Sears, dad of Kim Sears) is currently coaching Ana. Probably what I found most endearing about him was how honest and aware he was of the pressure of being Britain's great tennis hope in probably the greatest men's tennis era of all time. Andy knows how talented he is but is just unable to get to the next level. He's a classic Feza fave: an extremely talented person who chokes when they are about to reach their moment. I guess I'm lucky that I attended a school for fans that taught students how to poke fun at their favorites that's why I am still able to  root for the likes of Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray a.k.a. headcases. I still believe, no matter what, that (a) Ana can win another Slam, (b) that Andy will defeat one of the top 3 in a Slam final and win at least Wimbledon and that (c) they can still be multiple Slam champions. I always add, though, in the end that (d) "I'm  delusional" and that (e) "the tennis gods have put a curse on me". I know. It's like believing in unicorns and in flying pigs.

But, at least for the past week or so, Andy was able to prove that (d) and (e) are not always true. He was able to prove that rooting for headcases is not always a lost cause. I know that winning a gold medal at the Olympics may not mean the same as winning a Grand Slam for many people but, hello, how many tennis players can claim that they've won a singles gold medal? Not even Roger, who has won a career Slam and has 17 Grand Slam titles, can claim that he has won a gold medal on his own (I refuse to include his doubles gold medal with Stan Wawrinka in the statistic). Not even Novak with his invincible 43-0 win-loss record at the start of 2011 has a gold medal. With the right mix of defense and aggression (and an improved forehand, thanks to his coach and tennis great Ivan Lendl), Andy defeated both Roger and Novak on his way to winning the gold medal at the Olympics, in front of a hard to please home crowd. (Rafa, I hope he gets a chance against you next.) Obviously I'm praying that it could lead to a US Open title but I'll try not to think too far ahead. This is still Britain's first gold medal in tennis since 1908 (!). So, as a fan, I'm savoring this moment. This is as good as a Grand Slam and he officially won the gold medal as a representative of his country. The British tabloids can mock him some other time.

Unintentional hilarity: Sesame Street diplomacy

*I didn't know that there's such a thing as Sesame Street diplomacy. I wonder who among Ernie, Bert, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Oscar the grouch and Elmo would've made a fantastic Ambassador?

*A couple of observations from Maroon 5's Payphone video: (1) Adam Levine and his female companion in the video were running in front of the robbers and they couldn't get a clear shot of him?! (2) why are the cops running after Adam's character? Aren't the robbers STILL inside the bank? (3) Adam's sexy but he's still no Jason Statham.

*This book about marriage and game theory totally makes sense. Really, props to the author. I would've made a thesis out of it if only I was able to think about it first.

*Who knew that googling Scottish tennis player, Andy Murray, could yield these hilarious photos of other players?

*For the record, I wouldn't mind seeing a Bollywood number during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I'll take that over Beijing's fake fireworks and lip-synching.