Game Face

Andy Murray (6) versus Roger Federer (2) 2008 U.S. Open men’s singles final simulated with "Top Spin 3" (2K Sports) for the Nintendo Wii

The contestants enter Arthur Ashe Stadium. I'm playing as Roger Federer against a computer-controlled Andy Murray. (all photos by Max J. Dickstein)

First Set

Roger Federer opens as server. He comes out tight but blazing in the opening points. His serve is irregular, including one double-fault, but Federer cracks four Murray-yanking winners to take the game 40-15.
Federer leads 1-0

In Murray’s opening service game, Federer plays aggressively from the baseline, using both the forehand and backhand wings. He robs the serve advantage from Murray at 15-40 on the second break point.
Federer leads 2-0

Roger consolidates the early break at love, keeping the points short with near-line-painting drives to both sides of Murray’s court. Roger has now struck 11 winners against one error. Murray has one of each.
Federer leads 3-0

Federer is better by one star in each category.

The Swiss No. 2 again breaks Murray, who is apparently not gifted with speed enough to chase down Federer’s finishing strikes from the dry white paint of the baseline.
Federer leads 4-0

The 27-year-old Federer, who lost the No. 1 ranking to Spain’s Rafael Nadal Aug.18, holds at love. He begins to feel guilty for wondering whether Murray is doing an early-career impression of late-career Tim Henman. It was Federer, after all, who said after winning his 12th overall Grand Slam in New York last year that his greatest thrill was to beat younger guys who would challenge his dominance, such as 2007 U.S. Open runner-up Novak Djokovic. "New guys challenging me — this is my biggest motivation out there," Federer said then, having just turned back Djokovic in three sets in the 2007 U.S. Open final. "Seeing them challenging me, and then beating them in the finals." Murray, 21, certainly fits the mold of the young challenger to Federer. The 22-year-old Nadal, a five-time Grand Slam champion whom Murray beat to reach this final, is in another class than his young contemporaries — Federer has acknowledged that.
Federer leads 5-0

With more thunderous and precise ground strokes that are impossible for to reach for scurrying Murray, Federer breaks his opponent at love. At first set’s end, with 22 winners against two errors), the four-time defending U.S. Open champion owns a winner-to-error ratio of 2:1.
Federer wins 6-0 and leads Murray one set to love.

If you turn on the tube right now, all you'll see is cars going in circles:

-ABC: IndyCar racing
-NBC: LeMans racing
-FOX: Formula 1 racing

3 different car races, and none of them are even NASCAR!

The major network holdout is CBS, which at the moment in NYC is showing an informercial for... bicycles.

Our buddies over at ESPN seem to wanna get in on the ratings-killing trend for the day, they're showing bowling.

How many days till NFL preseason games?

Yesterday was an interesting day for the Cowboys QB. He fell into a pond on the first hole at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe.

Maybe he was distracted by the gallery, which looked like this as he was teeing off:

He can't even escape the critics in Nevada. Probably a good thing that it wasn't held in New York.

-- Tim Fiorvanti

Can you spell this Mets pitcher's name?

The fact that Casey Baker was once victorious in his elementary school spelling bee could help him win first place Wednesday night.

More likely not.

The 25-year-old nonprofit recruiter, who left his native Los Angeles for Manhattan two years ago, joins 49 other sports-fan spelling buffs to participate in the first Sports Spelling Bee Wednesday in Times Square at ESPN Zone.

Baker and his competitors will have 30 seconds each to suss out some of the thorniest names in sports.

(The quarterfinal rounds of the ESPN-televised Scripps National Spelling Bee inspired the event. The real Bee starts Thursday.)

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Baker dispensed with names such as Henrik Lundqvist, Doug Mientkiewicz, Mark Buehrle and, of course, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

I couldn’t even spell his name correctly on his goodbye cake. (It’s Erick with a “c” or a “k” — depending on one’s reference point.)
Naming issues aside, we hail Erick Blasco today, sports intern at amNewYork since November. Today was Erick’s final one at the office.
Only 20 years old, Erick shows a remarkable ability to analyze basketball both for us and for another one of his outlets, the open-source fan analysis site Bleacher Report.
Good luck in all your endeavors, my young friend!
— Max

I'm not sure what to say about this new "racing league." As you can see in this somewhat hokey promotional video, the graphics and sounds of the racing simulation and and the skills of the pilots — many of them civilian test pilots and military combat veterans — are impressive.

But the reality keeps slapping me in the face. It hurts! Ouch. Please stop that, Reality of the Situation.
That is to say, the races are not real! The entire league resides in a virtual reality. So unlike other motor sports that feature dazzling feats derring-do — Formula 1 racing, air shows, motocross, etc. — the Rocket Racing League lacks the life-or-death stakes that infuse the proceedings with interest. When one of these flimsy rocket racers inevitably crashes, it's nothing more than a complex computer process.
It's an odd position to take, to clamor for increased risk in a sport. Nevertheless, similar to a professional video gaming league, real physical risk is the most critically absent piece of the new league's puzzle.
— Max

Swimsuit models, from left, Tori Praver, Oluchi Onweagba, Julie Henderson, and Brooklyn Decker pose together as they
arrive to the Sports Illustrated 2008 Swimsuit Issue launch party in New York, Tuesday, Feb., 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)

“This is very adorable,” said Anne V, a $14 million diamond necklace draped below her exquisite Russian visage. “I’m very happy.”

She smiled, winked, nodded and made a little clicking sound.

“I like that!” exclaimed Meghan White, a New England Patriots cheerleader. “It’s unbelievable.”

I had long thought that I was alone in considering my faded, cornflower-blue swim trunks hot stuff.

But I won some proof of the trunks’ irresistibility on Tuesday when I pulled them over my slacks and asked a dozen swimsuit models their opinion of my treasured garment, a J. Crew edition from the early part of this decade.

Just look at them, I said, throwing an unexpected challenge at the feet of these flawless beauties. Marvel at the delicate white stitching, the oversized drawstring, the nautical accents, the accommodating size.

And amid their prances through 7 World Trade Center to launch Sports Illustrated’s 45th swimsuit issue, these slender Valentines bathed my suit in praise.

Well, Meghan and Anne did.

The consensus among several other ladies was that the swimsuit simply included too much material.

It seems that the models’ preferences — for bikinis, sarongs or just body paint — had colored their expectations for men’s swim wear.

“It’s too long,” said Irina Shayk, a compatriot of Anne who joined her for a shoot in St. Petersburg, and who was so stunning that I forgot everything I ever learned while I watched her talk.

“It’s too big. I prefer tiny one.”

Thanks, Irina. I’ll go for a smaller fit next time I go swimsuit shopping.

That will be soon. Because I’m framing these trunks.

--Max J. Dickstein

See photos of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models by clicking here

Read more Max J. Dickstein columns by clicking here.

Bill Simmons' annual NBA trade value rankings is always must-reading--if only to see how badly he messes up (as he notes himself, 8 of last year's top 40 players aren't even on this year's expanded 50-player list, including his #14 and #19 picks).

There's no doubt, though, that the best thing in this year's list is the YouTube clip of Rasheed Wallace 'leading' some Pistons teammates in their version of Jingle Bells.

What a great bunch of guys.