During such a glorious week in sports, it’s always a shame when we have to cope with a death in our sports world. Roger Federer might’ve surpassed Pete Sampras as the all-time Grand Slam champion, taking his fifteenth title against Andy Roddick in a five-set finale which was every bit as suspenseful as last year’s losing effort against Rafael Nadal. Serena bested sister Venus in the ladies’ final to set the career record between the two siblings at 11-10 Serena, earning her third Wimbledon title in the process and denying her older sister the opportunity at a rare three-peat. The Tour de France has once again started its three-week journey as cycling’s summer showcase, with a stunning opening-stage time trial in Monaco kick-starting what has proven to be an incredible race so far. 

But last Saturday, we were also witness to an unfortunate, fluke accident that is so rare in sports that, when it does occur, it shocks the system to imagine it possible. Alcwyn Jenkins, a longtime umpire of cricket matches throughout south Wales, was struck dead in the middle of a South Wales Association Division One league match between Swansea and Llangennech after an errant throw from one of the fielders struck him in the head. After a ball was collected in the outfield, a throw toward the stumps flew off course. Jenkins, caught unaware in the wrong place, was caught by the throw fatally on the side of the head. The 72-year-old umpire, who had been a fixture in Welsh cricket for the past quarter-century, collapsed immediately. Though he was airlifted from the scene, all attempts to revive Jenkins were for naught. “I’m led to believe it was one of the most freak accidents you could ever imagine on the cricket field,” said Neil Hobbs, honorary chairman of the South Wales Cricket Association, to a BBC reporter. The match was canceled soon thereafter, a reminder that there are more important things than sport in our world. 

There is certainly an element of risk inherent in our athletic pursuits of glory, and an umpire on the field of play is not immune from that risk. But we cannot mourn too much, for Jenkins ultimately lived and died doing exactly what he loved doing most. Few of us, first of all, get to find the profession of our dreams. And Jenkins had a wonderful lifetime involved in the sport which defined him within the community. Death is never an occasion for glee, but we can definitely take solace in the fact that Jenkins was able to at least live a rich life up until his time of death. 

The beauty of sports is that it teaches us how to deal with a whole range of emotions that we can then apply to our daily lives. The elation of success is coupled with the dejection of defeat. We are sometimes even faced with the strongest emotion of them all... having to cope with the ultimate loss. But we cannot grieve forever; the game must go on...

 
 

And go on it did for Roger Federer. Last year, after he had failed to win through the beginning of the season, many including myself were writing off the Swiss star as being beyond his prime. But now that we know after the fact that a bout of mononucleosis had diminished his stamina, it appears even more impressive that he was able to still perform at a level that saw him reach the semifinals at the Australian Open and the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. By the time the U.S. Open rolled around in August, his form had returned such that he was taking the title over Andy Murray at Flushing Meadows.

 

In that time, we’ve seen Federer lose his number-one ranking to a surging Nadal. We’ve witnessed history made as he took advantage of a Nadal-free draw to claim his first French Open on the red clay of Roland Garros. And, with his most recent conquest, Federer claimed his fifteenth Grand Slam title and surpassed Pete Sampras as the most decorated champion in tennis history.

 

The championship match at Wimbledon proved to be a hard-fought affair. After dispatching of home-crowd favorite Andy Murray in four sets in the semifinals, Andy Roddick came into the Wimbledon final on the best form he’s enjoyed in recent years. Facing Federer for his third shot at the title, Roddick was a heavy underdog coming into the match. But after taking the first set 7-5, it looked as though the changing of the guard might still be in effect.

 

Federer, though, didn’t become the champion that he is by simply rolling over when the going gets tough. Digging his heels into the lawn of Centre Court, he fought back into the match. Through the second set, the two finalists battled evenly, trading punches like boxers feeling out their opponent’s tendencies. Going to a tiebreak, Roddick opened with a 143 mile per hour ace and streaked to a 6-2 lead. The match appeared squarely in the American’s favor, and it looked once again like Federer might be bested in the world’s oldest tennis tournament once again. But then Roger started blasting back, clawing through to take six straight points and the tiebreak to even the match at one set apiece.

 

The third set ended in the same way. The two traded games back and forth until, once again, we were witnessing another tiebreak. Federer this time jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Roddick struggled back to force Federer to hold serve for the set at 6-5. Roger did just that, taking a two sets to one lead. Once again, the tables had turned, and momentum seemed squarely in Federer’s corner. But while Roddick might not have the career success of his contemporary, he does have the fight of a champion. Instead of hanging his head and being content with having taken a set out of Federer, Roddick came into the fourth set poised to keep the good fight going.

 

Roddick pushed the pace, kept his cool, and came back to knot the thing up at two sets apiece. Winning a break in the fourth game of the set with a searing backhand, Roddick set the stage for what would prove to be the longest fifth set in Wimbledon championship history. Trading punches, both men continued to hold their serve. Roddick had yet to be broken in the contest, both of Federer’s set victories coming on tiebreaks. The match continued onward into the London night, with neither man looking to give up.

 

But somebody had to break sooner or later, and it was thus appropriate that the first service game that Roddick lost was the last of the match. Federer simply showed a resolve which few champions in any sport can match. The sting will remain for a long time, but Roddick played with determination and a newfound confidence that will serve him well going forward. It wouldn’t be surprising to see these two squaring off again somewhere in the draw at the U.S. Open, and the odds for a Roddick victory would pay off far less than those given to the American by the British bookmakers.

 

The field is only growing stronger in men’s tennis, and once Nadal returns we will see at least five guys -- Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Murray and Novak Djokovic -- who are capable of taking any tournament. Robin Soderling continues to improve with age, Nikolai Davydenko continues to show tenacity, and guys like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Haas and Fernando Gonzalez are all in the mix as well. And a new crop of youngsters continues to emerge year after year, so it won’t get any easier for Federer to extend his record going forward. He may have reclaimed the number-one ranking, but that standing is not as invincible as it once was despite the fact that he’s now taken three of the past four Grand Slam tournaments...

 

One final thing I would like to bring up -- because I know that David is going to love the Jason Whitlock reference -- is the foxsports.com writer’s article about Serena Williams which has caused a recent tumult and roar through the collective means of cyberspace media. His essential thesis comes down to the fact that Serena has all the potential in the world, yet has not amassed nearly the record that one would expect from someone of her stature. Eleven Grand Slam singles titles are nothing to scoff at... I’m never going to see the draw of even the lowliest professional ranks, so I am hardly one to speak out.

 

And that’s the thing that rankles most about Whitlock’s rant, I believe. He is presumptuous in his argument and prefaces it by saying that, in bloviating and ballooning in the belt simultaneously, he is fulfilling his destiny as a sportswriter. But just as he says that “Serena could be the best ever, but...”, I must counter that there has been enough depth in the women’s game to be so presumptuous as to think she’d have twice as many Grand Slam victories as she currently holds after her straight-sets victory over sister Venus, she of the seven Grand Slam victories herself, at the ladies’ championship match at Wimbledon. Justine Henin had a came that brought her seven Grand Slams as well.

 

Whitlock says that, “With a reduction in glut, a little less butt and a smidgen more guts, Serena Williams would easily be as big as Michael Jackson, dwarf Tiger Woods and take a run at Rosa Parks.” It’s easy to say that Serena might’ve won another one of the sport’s biggest tournaments had she shaped up better. His argument is correct in a lot of places -- there is a lot of unrealized potential throughout the totality of the WTA calendar and a full slate of complaint regarding the ranking system and her place in the sport. Her commitment has seemed lacking at times, but the role of an athlete is not required to be the role of a visible superstar. The best philanthropists aren’t the ones who boast of their global initiatives... they are the ones who anonymously spread the wealth around in a discrete manner.

 

He simply lacks tact, all too common in this realm where Whitlock asserts that were she more committed she could be “on the cover of every magazine still in circulation” (italics mine). In cyberspace even reporters think that they are above reproach, the fourth estate preaching from atop the mount in a realm of blissful freedoms bordering on anarchy. The repercussions come in the backlash, which is something that all you aspiring copycats might want to remain wary about. Measured thought is never a bad option, and even the most experienced amongst us will do well to remind ourselves of that fact from time to time. But Whitlock, for all his flaws, is who he is -- an eloquent if bombastic wordsmith who is paid to compete with other flapping heads on paper for who can incite the most ire amongst the fans. While this makes for entertainment in and of itself, it is hardly sports journalism when it reaches that point. And to see a talent like Whitlock’s wasted on such inanities is truly a shame...

 
 

Talents wasted by the press are myriad. The casual American sports fan could be forgiven five years ago for thinking that there was only one of their compatriots who mattered when the talk turned to cycling. Lance Armstrong was on the verge of surpassing Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain to take his record sixth Tour de France victory. But the growth of American cycling has been amazing, with riders popping up and emerging as climbers, as sprinters, as time-trial specialists. There is such an amazing diversity in the American ranks of the professional peloton.

 

A look down the general classification after Stage 5 finished bunched together shows, in addition to Lance Armstrong who is in second, just 0.22 seconds down on Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team, two other Americans in the top ten and two more who are top twenty. There is a rider currently in third place in the points classification for the green sprinter’s jersey. The country that has the most Tour de France victories -- ten out of twenty-three editions (43.5%) -- since Bernard Hinault took the last French victory in 1985.

 

American riders are in a position of strength in the peloton. So let’s take a look at the riders not named Lance who are making their mark on cycling’s showcase event:

 
 

Levi Leipheimer (Astana) - 5th place (+0:31)

Working for team leaders Armstrong and Alberto Contador, Leipheimer is quietly positioning himself for another shot at a podium position as a 3A option on this super-stacked squad. Having placed third in 2007 while with Discovery Channel, Leipheimer has the experience but isn’t blessed with the protection of his more celebrated teammates. He still could make a little more noise, though, especially if Astana continues their dominant form that they’ve been exhibiting throughout the race.

 

David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) - 9th place (+1:06)

The American national time-trial champion won his first stage ever in the Tour de France, the short opening time trial on the island of Noirmoutier, in 2005. He felt the thrill of victory, upstaging Lance Armstrong for four glorious days on what was supposed to be the Texan’s farewell Tour. His CSC squad lost the team time trial when David Zabriskie crashed, coming in late in a bloodied jersey and shorts and watching the maillot jaune literally get scraped away from his body. He isn’t going to dazzle in the mountains, but his time-trial skills will continue to keep him in the hunt for this major American team.

 

Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) - 12th place (+1:16)

Vande Velde, another former CSC domestique who came over to Garmin and proved ever bit worth protected status when he rode his way into a top-five position in the race last year, is in the hunt again this year. Gaps of less than a couple of minutes are never guaranteed safe unless they are achieved before Paris arrives on the horizon. Vande Velde is poised to climb up in the standings due to the strength of the Garmin-Slipstream riders as a team.

 

George Hincapie (Columbia) - 17th place (+1:36)

Hincapie was alongside Armstrong as his most trusted lieutenant and the only man to call himself a teammate during all seven of Lance’s previous victories. But after Armstrong left the sport and Discovery Channel dissolved, Hincapie signed his contract with the former T-Mobile squad that has evolved under Bob Stapleton’s management into the Columbia squad. All the talk for these guys has centered around two-time stage winner Mark Cavendish during this first week, but Hincapie is a rider who has been previewed by cycling publications as a potential future contender. His time still could be now, though he is not the most protected of rider on his squad.

 

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) - 120th place (+5.57)

Farrar, more suited to the sprint finishes than the time trails or mountaintop finishes, is in third place in the green jersey race despite being nearly six minutes down on the leading time. The young rider is a potential future points winner sound he follow the same trajectory as fellow English speaker Mark Cavendish has been forced to weather.

 

Danny Pate (Garmin-Stipstream) - 169th place (+11:07)

Pate is the kind of guy who is willing to do anything just for the right to race these roads. He is the consummate team player, going out early to scour time-trial courses for conditions before the big guns finish. He fetches bottles and food bags and does whatever is required. He has aspired beyond being a big fish in the small domestic pond and has now blossomed on an international scale, an American answer to guys like Jens Voigt.

 
 
 

So life goes on for this non-traditional sports fan in America. We’re in one of the most exciting times of the year, with the U.S. National Swimming Trials taking place for the world’s selections this weekend. We’re in the beginning of preliminary heats, so stay tuned next week for more news from Indianapolis. There is Tour action every day through this weekend as well, so there’s no excuse to be bored this summer. Enjoy this action-packed week in the sports world, don’t let the talking heads dominate your thoughts, and remember that life can take us at anytime like Alcwyn Jenkins... so live your life to the fullest, doing what you love best, and always keep expanding your horizons!