Squiddies 2014

The Armchair Squid turns five years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: Stan Wawrinka Wins the Australian Open

via Wikipedia

In my Squiddies post a year ago, I wrote that Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka was not likely to threaten for major tennis title.  Well, he showed me!  In January, he broke the Big Four's stranglehold on the Slams by winning the Australian Open.  It was the first time since the 2009 US Open that any man outside of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal won a major.


Biggest Disappointment: Basement Flood

via Amazon

One Wednesday morning in April, we woke up to three inches of water in our basement.  We lost a lot of stuff, mostly books.  Most disappointing for me, my treasured Dungeons & Dragons books from the '80s were thoroughly soaked.


Best Match: Wimbledon Men's Final

Roger Federer is not the irresistible force he was 5-10 years ago but he's still substantially better than nearly everyone else on tour.  He gave Novak Djokovic just about all he could handle for five sets in the Wimbledon final before the Serb finally broke through.  It was a brilliant match with both players providing sparkling moments of genius.  With the win, Djokovic also regained the World #1 ranking.


Best Story: Wawrinka

With his Aussie Open title, Wawrinka cracked the top 5 for the first time in his career and, far more shocking, became the top ranked Swiss player.  There's no shame, of course, in being second best to Federer but finally passing the grandmaster must have felt awfully good.  Wawrinka won their next head-to-head match, too, besting Fed in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in April.  Alas, at Wimbledon, order was restored.  Federer's quarterfinal victory over Wawrinka was visibly demoralizing for the younger man.  Roger is Swiss #1 once again.


Best Read, First-Time Category: Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford

via Amazon

My Wife had the brilliant idea of a Family Book Swap for the summer, each of the three of us giving books to the other two.  Heat was the first one she gave to me and my favorite book for the year.  As the subtitle explains, Buford's culinary odyssey takes him from New York City to the Italian countryside.  He genuinely wants to learn to cook but also clearly enjoys the outrageous characters he meets along the way, as do I.  It's a book that makes me want to learn more: always a good thing.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

via Wikipedia

Admittedly, Wrinkle was my only re-read this year but I was delighted to revisit this childhood classic.  L'Engle's tale of inter-dimensional travel and self-actualization speaks to me differently as an adult.  I still prefer the third book of the series, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, but Wrinkle's good fun.


Best Comics Find: Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

via Amazon

Tezuka is manga's most revered creator.  His series on the life of Buddha ran in Japan from 1972-83 and was translated to English in 2006.  Buddha's path is filled with characters both historical and fictional.  I am by no means an expert on the faith but I think the series is at least good fuel for anyone eager to learn more.  The artwork, especially the landscapes, is frequently breathtaking.


Athlete of the Year: Rafael Nadal

via Barnes & Noble

The computer rankings say that Djokovic has had a better year but Rafa's two Slam titles over the past twelve months trumps Novak's one.  Plus, I read Rafa's autobiography this year.  The long-term outlook for Nadal is frequently worrisome and concern is definitely warranted at the moment.  He hasn't played a match since Wimbledon and has withdrawn from the US Open with a wrist injury.  He would have been defending champion in New York so his ranking points will take a serious hit.  Some day, he'll decide that the wear and tear on his body just isn't worth it anymore and he'll retire to Mallorca to wallow in his millions.  He doesn't have much left to prove but the Rio Olympics will be played on clay.  I can't imagine that isn't a powerful incentive for him to tough it out for a couple more years.


Post with Most Unexpected Consequences: Star Trek: The Alternative Factor

"Janet MacLachlan" by [1]. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

I think it's fair to say that "The Alternative Factor" is one of the weaker stories from the Star Trek original series run.  However, the episode is notable for what didn't happen.   The original script included what would have been network television's first interracial romance, sealed with a kiss.  But southern affiliates balked so the idea was shelved for a couple of years.  This discovery inspired my blogger pal Maurice Mitchell to do further research.  His much better post on the subject can be found here.


Best Family Adventure: Montreal

This was a tough choice.  Looking back, we've had several satisfying adventures this year.  Our Colorado trip last month was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with extended family.  That would be Purple Penguin's top choice for sure.  Our weekend in Montpelier for the Green Mountain Film Festival was also a great success.  Even the Family Book Swap was worthy of consideration here.

In late February, we spent a few days in Montreal.  The city's only a couple hours away from us and we go several times a year but always just for the day.  This was our first overnight in town as a family.  We hit a few tourist attractions but mostly, it was an opportunity to observe Montrealers going about their daily lives: going to work, walking their kids to school, etc.  Not wanting to be stressed out by driving, we left the car at the hotel for the duration and got around via subway.  Public transit is excellent, a great way to see Montreal.  It was bitterly cold but that gave us an honest view of life in the Canadian winter.  I'm very happy about the role Montreal has come to play in our family. Getting to know the city on more intimate terms was lovely.


Best Unexpected Benefit of Blogging: The Adventure of Guest Posting

via Goodreads

In July, I had the honor of writing my first guest post, a piece about bullying on Janie Junebug's blog, WOMEN: WE SHALL OVERCOME.  It was also a second opportunity to share my thoughts on another of my favorite books from the past year, Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  Engaging with another blogger's audience was highly enlightening and a great way to make new friends.


Squiddy Posts from Previous Years:

2013
2012
2011
2010

Wimbledon 2014: Champions

via Wikipedia

Wow, what a match!  Between Netherlands/Costa Rica and Djokovic/Federer, I spent quite a lot of the weekend on the edge of my seat.  Novak Djokovic (Serbia) won his second Wimbledon, his seventh Major overall.  He also regained the #1 world ranking and has to be considered the early favorite for the US Open.

via Wikipedia

For me, the only mystery with Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) is why it took her so long to win her second Wimbledon or even her second Major tournament.  When she first won three years ago, she seemed to have both the game and the swagger to not only win more Slams, but perhaps dominate women's tennis for many years.  She's 24 now, plenty of time to claim a few more big prizes before she's done.

Wimbledon 2014: Second Week

via Wikipedia

Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova was a dynamo on the junior circuit.  She won the Australian Open girls singles title twice, in 2002 and 2003.  In doubles, she was even better, picking up championship trophies at Aussie, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.  The senior tour has been more of a struggle.  In an era of tall women with ferocious power games, the 5' 5" Czech has had a respectable, though not exactly world-conquering career.  She had never made it past the third round of a Major until last week.

Every Slam tournament has its giant killers.  They're a big part of the fun.  Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova has taken out two seeded players en route to Wimbledon's second week: Na Li (2nd seed, China) and Elena Vesnina (32nd, Russia).  Her next opponent, today on Court 12, is Caroline Wozniacki (16th, Denmark), my pre-tournament favorite.  On the one hand, BZS did Wozniacki a huge favorite by taking out Li and Vesnina.  Wozniacki has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon so this is a great opportunity.  On the other hand, who's to say the giant killer won't strike again?

Wimbledon 2014: My Picks

Tennis is long overdue for a genuine youth movement, especially on the men's side.  The youngest of the top seven players in the world is Scotland's Andy Murray at 27 years of age.  To those of us north of 40, 27 still seems awfully young but in the tennis world, 25 has long been a line of demarcation.  If you haven't made it to the top by age 25, you probably won't.  Consider the current kings of the sport.  Rafael Nadal won his first Major at 19.  Roger Federer won his first at 21.  Novak Djokovic was 20.  But those three players have had such a stranglehold on the top honors for so long that even the most talented players in the next wave have struggled even to attain relevance.  Add in improved sports medicine and fitness and top pros are playing better for longer than ever before.  Even the one breakthrough this year was by Stan Wawrinka, already 28 by the time he won the Australian Open in January.

via Wikipedia

Enter Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 23 years old.  Never heard of him, right?  Well, he is no stranger to those who follow tennis with any regularity.  As a junior player, Dimitrov was burdened with the nickname Baby Fed, essentially anointed Federer's successor.  Like Fed, he has a strong all-court game and a big serve.  In a normal era, Dimitrov would probably have won a Major by this point.  But the Age of Fed-Rafa-Novak has been anything but normal.  Wawrinka did prove, however, that the top dogs are not invincible.  Play brilliantly for two weeks and anything is possible.

Dimitrov has a good game for grass courts, a junior champion at Wimbledon.  He just won his first ATP grass title a week ago at the 2014 Aegon Championships.  He is, without a doubt, a long shot but I think it would be great for the sport if he could pull it off.  Then maybe he can be known as something other than Maria Sharapova's boyfriend.

Speaking of 23-year-olds with well-publicized love lives, Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki could probably do with making headlines for her tennis rather than her recent split with golfer Rory McIlroy.  She was World #1 for 67 weeks but has never won a Slam title, leaving her open to great criticism while she owned the top ranking.  I've always liked her.  She smiles a lot.  But she really won me over when, in accepting the runner-up trophy at the 2009 US Open, she gave her speech in English, Polish and Danish.  That's not something you see every day. 

via Wikipedia

Wozniacki does have a grass court title, having won the Eastbourne tournament in 2009.  She is probably an even longer shot than Dimitrov but it would be nice to see her win.  It's difficult to feel too badly for anyone with $16 million in career winnings but it's gotta be rough being saddled with a label like Best Player Not to Win a Major as Wozniacki was for a long time.

Roland Garros 2014: 2 for 2

For the first time since I started this format for tennis's Majors (this is the fifth tournament of the current regime), I got both of my champion picks exactly right: Nadal and Sharapova.  Rest assured, this will probably never happen again.

via Live Tennis Guide

Rafael Nadal's ninth Roland Garros title in ten tries is insane - just plain old crazy.  No other man has even won the same Major tournament as many as eight times.  The King of Clay is without peer in Paris.  Meanwhile, the plot thickens in the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) discussion...

Nadal has now won 14 Slam titles, the same number as Pete Sampras.  He is still three behind Roger Federer's 17.  Assuming overall Majors is the best metric to consider, Rafa probably noses ahead of Pete because he has a Career Slam, meaning he's won each of the four tournaments at least once.  Sampras never won Paris, the blemish on his otherwise stellar resume.  For the record, Rafa has now also matched Pete for overall tour titles with 64.

Maria Sharapova has a Career Slam, too, but only five Major titles overall.  The top two seeds in the women's bracket - Serena Williams and Na Li - lost in the early rounds but Sharapova persevered.  She even vanquished Serena's conqueror, Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain.  Sharapova is 27, theoretically on the down slope of her career trajectory.  But the top tennis pros are regularly contending into their 30s these days so who knows?  Apparently, the women's final between Sharapova and Simona Halep of Romania was brilliant.  I missed it as I was running the Girls on the Run 5k with my daughter - easy choice, that one.

Roland Garros 2014: Middle Weekend

Every player has a story.  With 128 players in each singles draw, that's 256 stories waiting to be told at the beginning of each Major tennis tournament.  The eventual champions get the most celebrated stories but for many others, just making the main draw once is the highlight of a career.  Sometimes, the story is a breakthrough performance.

via Wikipedia

21-year-old Croatian Ajla Tomljanović had never made it to the main draw at the French Open before this year.  She had never even made it past the second round of a Slam before.  This past week, she caught fire.  Not only has she reached the fourth round in Paris, she's taken out two seeded players en route: Agnieska Radwanska (3rd seed, Poland) and Elena Vesnina (32nd, Russia).  She has yet to lose a set.  Next up for her is Carla Suarez Navarro (14th, Spain), a former quarterfinalist.

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: May 2014

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
Author: David Epstein

via Barnes & Noble

Have you ever wondered how Jamaica, a nation of under 3 million people, has come to dominate world sprint competition?  Or how particular tribes in both Kenya and Ethiopia have done the same in distance running?  Or whether or not you should pick a sport for your child based on DNA analysis? If so, The Sports Gene is the book for you.  As advertised, Epstein's book is an exploration of various studies on the biological and environmental factors which contribute to athletic performance.  Genome mapping has allowed deeper examination but mysteries still abound.

In my exploration of sports books, I'm always on the lookout for those that would be enjoyable for non-fans.  I think it's a reasonable measure for books in any genre but more importantly for me personally, such a book is one I can safely recommend to my wife.  My dear bride is a voracious reader with a life list to put all of us to shame.  However, to say she is not a sports fan is comparable to saying a duck is not a water balloon.  But I still make modest efforts to convert her from time to time.  Giving her the right book to read is as strong a tactic as any.  The Sports Gene is a good candidate.

For starters, the book is very well-written.  David Epstein follows in the grand tradition of gifted Sports Illustrated staff writers.  Also, I think the anecdotal style and the attention to broader topics beyond sports are selling points for the general-interest reader.

Make no mistake, there's plenty to love for sports fans, too.  The book opens with a story about Hall of Fame-caliber baseball players being completely flummoxed by Jennie Finch, the world's best softball pitcher.  Turns out, despite all their physical gifts (average eyesight for Major League hitters is 20/11 in the right eye, 20/12 in the left), batters rely heavily on a highly refined mental database for recognizing pitches even before the ball leaves the hurler's hand.  The same goes for tennis players reading an opponent's serve and chess grandmasters processing positions on the board.  Take away that database, as in the case of facing an ace softball pitcher, and all of the expert hitter's advantages fly out the window.  The book is filled with peak-behind-the-curtain revelations such as this.

I spoil nothing by sharing the book's conclusion as Epstein lays it out plainly in the book's introduction.  Athletic success is dependent upon the combination of both nature and nurture.  All the talent in the world will only take you so far if you don't put in the work.  Similarly, a stellar work ethic, while admirable, is rarely enough to reach the top of the medal podium without the help of a genetic advantage or two. 

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post June's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is June 27th.

Family Movie Night: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

Title: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
Director: Luc Besson
Original Release: 2010
Choice: My Wife's
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Okay, imagine combining Tintin with Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park.  Throw in a beautiful, take-no-prisoners female lead.  Set it all in a steampunky pre-Great War Paris and you've pretty much got The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec.  Based on the comic book series of the same name by Jacque Tardi, Besson's film introduces Adèle, a fearless reporter/adventurer.  Adèle travels to Egypt in order to exhume and resurrect Pharoah Ramesses II's personal physician so that he, in turn, can cure her comatose sister, out of commission for five years since a gruesome hatpin accident during a tennis match.  Meanwhile, a live pterodactyl hatches out of a 136 million-year-old egg at a paleontology museum in Paris.  Yes, the two stories are related.  Crazy, crazy movie...



I'd explain more of the plot but that would ruin the fun for anyone who decides to watch.  Suffice to say, the narrative is absurd without apology.  The film is well cast with quirky character-actor types.  The visuals - mostly live action but with CGI for the movie's supernatural and prehistoric elements - are dazzling.  Louise Bourgoin is infinitely charming in the lead.  This is really a very solid picture, but only a 3 for me.  I don't feel a strong need to watch it again, though I have a feeling it will come up again in our rotation.

Roland Garros 2014: My Picks to Win

via Live Tennis Guide

For nearly a decade, the great Spaniard Rafael Nadal has dominated Roland Garros.  In fact, dominance seems an inadequate word.  Nadal has played in the tournament nine times and has only lost one match, a quarterfinal tumble with Robin Soderling (Sweden) in 2009.  It's an absurd accomplishment.  No other man has won any Major eight times.  However the overall Greatest of All Time discussion shakes out, pretending anyone other than Nadal is the best ever on clay courts gets increasingly ridiculous with each passing year.  Picking someone else to win this year's tournament would seem crazy.

And yet, the Clay King and current World #1 suddenly seems vulnerable.  Nadal usually steamrolls his way through the appetizer tournaments on the clay court swing but ONLY managed two titles this year: Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.  He failed to take home the big prizes in Monte Carlo, Barcelona or Rome - tournaments he has won at least seven times each.  He hadn't lost in Barcelona since 2003.  A recent interview with Time magazine hints at flagging confidence.  Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic (Serbia) is breathing down his neck for the top ranking and is surely motivated to win in Paris to complete his own Career Slam.  Moveover, the Djoker has won their past four head-to-head meetings, including the recent Rome final on clay.  If ever there were a year to pick against Nadal at the French, this would seem to be it.

But I can't do it.  One day, the King's reign will end - just not quite yet.

The story is different on the women's side.  American Serena Williams arrives in top form - very bad news for the rest of the field.  Few players in the world can even give Serena a decent match when she's at her best and her recent title in Rome indicates she's more than ready to defend her title.  Her biggest threat may well loom in the quarterfinals: Maria Sharapova (Russia).  With wins in Stuttgart and Madrid, Sharapova is the second hottest player coming into the tournament.  Whichever woman survives to the semis should run the table thereafter.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say Sharapova scores the upset and wins the big trophy.

via MariaSharapova.com

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: March 2014

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Also, next month will be the twelfth for the Coffeehouse, a full year of book loving under our belts.  It's a good time for reflection.  I'm quite happy about the way things have gone but I welcome thoughts on how I might improve upon the concept.  So please give forth in the comments section below.  Growth and evolution are good things.

Title: A Champion's Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis
Author: Pete Sampras with Peter Bodo

via Goodreads

It has been my month for reading tennis autobiographies.  I also read Rafael Nadal's book (review here).   As tennis players, Sampras and Nadal missed each other entirely, never having played a match against one another.  But they are currently locked in an historic battle of legacies.  With his next Grand Slam singles title - and he is always the prohibitive favorite at the French Open - Nadal will match Sampras's career total of 14.  Given the fact that Nadal has a Career Slam (all four Major titles) and Sampras doesn't, that would almost surely relegate Pete to 3rd place in most Greatest of All Time discussions.  Both men are still looking up at Roger Federer with his 17 total Slams.

Even viewing from the tail end of the glorious era of Federer-Nadal dominance, Pete Sampras is still my favorite tennis player of all.  The story of his career is very much the story of how I became a fan of the sport - the subject of one of my very earliest blog posts (read it here).  As such, reading Pete's own reflections on his career highlights affords me a quick stroll through the memories of my own young adulthood.

Sampras's insights into the sport are wonderful - in-depth analyses of the games of his rivals, descriptions of the character of each Major tournament, technical rundowns of important matches, etc.  The tone is quiet and conversational, befitting the author.  Of all the famous people I've observed in my life, Pete Sampras was the one who seemed least comfortable with being famous.  Many considered it off-putting, more accustomed to larger-than-life types like John McEnroe.  I found it endearing and one feels all the more privileged to be allowed into his confidence.

Pete is very gracious in discussing his rivals, particularly Andre Agassi.  One could argue that as undisputed top dog of his era, Pete can afford to be magnanimous but it contrasts sharply with Agassi's own book, Open (review here).  Andre is quite petty in some of his stories about Sampras and Pete got off easy compared to others.  Pete probably cast the book aside with a laugh and got on with his day.  Meanwhile, Michael Chang and Jimmy Connors were likely on the phone with their publicists.  Of course, one might say the snarkiness is part of what makes Agassi's book a fun read but it did little to endear me to him as a person.

Always a fun topic, the Greatest of All Time debate is likely to ramp up again in the coming months.  Long retired, Sampras can only watch as Nadal and Federer improve their credentials.  There are, however, two career metrics Sampras should be able to claim over both of them when all is said and done.  First, the record of which Sampras claims to be most proud is the fact that he finished World #1 for six consecutive years.  Federer topped out at four in a row.  Nadal has finished #1 three times, but never twice in succession.  Secondly, Sampras's first Major title and his last were 12 years apart.  Nadal has a shot at that since he won his first at 19 (same as Pete) but it's less likely for Roger who won his first at 21.

Reading this book soon after Nadal's allowed for interesting comparisons between the two men - so different in their public personas and styles of play, yet similarly accomplished as tennis players.  Both have a healthy, though certainly not misplaced arrogance born of success.  Yet both know that at the end of the day, they're just tennis players and their impressive resumes do not make them superior people.  The most interesting contrast to me was their opposite attitudes toward losing.  Rafa is terrified of losing which has driven his work ethic and his competitive spirit for his whole life.  Pete is not afraid to lose, encouraged from a young age to focus on improving his own skills rather than dwelling on match-to-match results.  One wonders where Roger falls on that spectrum.  My guess is closer to Rafa's end.

Like Rafa, this is a fun book though probably most fun for a tennis fan - probably not so much to offer for someone who doesn't follow the sport.  Agassi's Open is a better book for those with more casual interest.

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post April's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is April 25th.

On the Coffee Table: Rafael Nadal

Title: Rafa
Authors: Rafael Nadal and John Carlin

via Barnes & Noble

If you are a sports fan, Rafael Nadal requires no introduction.  The world's current top-ranked tennis player is one of the most mesmerizing athletes you'll ever see.  He is a ferocious, irresistible warrior when the match is on and a humble, gracious gentleman the instant it's over.  Still only 27 years old, he is on a very short list of the greatest players of all time.  I would happily wax poetic about the man myself for paragraphs on end but for this post, I shall endeavor to stick to the book.

The book is written mostly in first person from Rafa's perspective but interspersed are sub-chapters in third person, usually about his home life in Mallorca.  Nadal, for all of his unfathomable wealth, fame and success, still lives with his parents in Manacor.  His family, especially his parents and his uncle/coach Toni, have worked hard to maintain a normal life for him when he is not on tour.  In Mallorca, he is nothing special - just a guy with a job that pays him handsomely.  His family and his neighbors never gush, by design.  The book asserts that without this solid rooting in the everyday, Rafa's extraordinary success - as both player and human being - would not be possible.

The story begins in medias res at the 2008 Wimbledon final with Roger Federer on the opposite side of the net, certainly the turning point of Nadal's career and arguably the most important tennis match of the current era.  From there, Rafa reflects back to earlier stages in his life, but always returns to the match at Wimbledon.  I have to admit that this structure was a bit disappointing since, in a sense, I have already read that book.  L. Jon Wertheim's excellent Strokes of Genius (review here) examines the match thoroughly with flashbacks for both combatants.  Of course, the perspective of a player is not that of a journalist so Nadal's thoughts are still valuable.  Still, I would have appreciated a different structure.  The second half of the book takes a similar approach to the 2010 US Open final against Novak Djokovic, a less interesting match but equally important to Rafa's career arc.

In the world of megastar athletes, one would be hard pressed to find one more admirable than Rafael Nadal.  The book only enhances his public persona.  That said, Rafa's not as much fun as Andre Agassi's Open (review here).  Agassi has lived a more colorful life but I'd say his book is also better written.  A non-tennis fan could still enjoy Open.  I'm not so sure about Rafa.  If you are lucky enough to be a tennis fan, it's a must read.

Australian Open 2014: Wawrinka!

via Wikipedia

Stanislas Wawrinka (8th seed, Switzerland) is the Australian Open champion.  There shall be no asterisk.  He was dominating the final match even before Nadal's back problems.  Stan played the tournament of his life, the first man in 20 years to beat both of the top two seeds at a Major.  For the first time in over four years, a man outside the Big Four has won a Slam.  Perhaps most amazingly of all, on Monday, Roger Federer will be only the second-ranked Swiss player in the world.  Tennis has a new story.

Nadal missed this chance to catch Pete Sampras on the all-time Slams list but he seems likely to take care of that in Paris in June.  He missed last year's Aussie entirely so his trip to the final secures the top ranking for the foreseeable future.  Hopefully, the back situation isn't serious and he'll be ready to go in time for Indian Wells in March.

via Wikipedia

All famous athletes, perhaps all famous people, should be like Na Li (4th seed, China), the women's champion.  Please enjoy her post-final speech here.  She is the most likeable player on tour, no contest.  This was her second Slam title, virtually ensuring her enshrinement in the Hall of Fame one day.  Tennis is booming in Asia and the sport could not ask for a more charismatic ambassador.

Australian Open 2014: Middle Weekend

via Wikipedia

Six of the 16 men in the fourth round of the Australian Open are 30 or older.  Tennis still definitely favors the young but players seem to be remaining competitive for longer than in the past.  The sport is more physically demanding than ever so what accounts for the change?  Improved fitness and nutrition?  Is experience worth more in the sport than it used to be?  Have extracurricular drugs played a role - either fewer recreational ones or more performance-enhancing ones than in the past?  Is this a trend we can expect to continue or is the current 30+ cohort an exceptional group?

One fourth round matches pits two 30+ players against one another: Florian Mayer (Germany) vs. David Ferrer (3rd seed, Spain).  Ferrer is a regular in the late stages of Majors, having made at least the quarterfinals of all four multiple times.  He is one of the most respected players on tour and is the easy choice as best active player never to have won a Slam. 

For Mayer, making it this far is a much bigger deal.  When healthy, he has been a solid top 100 player.  However, this is only the third time in his career that he has made it past the third round of a Major and the first time he's done it at a tournament other than Wimbledon.  Ferrer's a tall order for any player but Mayer may have a shot.  His head-to-head record against the scrappy Spaniard is a respectable 3-4, including a hard court win this past fall in Shanghai.

Australian Open 2014: Squid Picks

I'm gearing up.  I've got Melbourne time and weather set up on my phone apps and I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that Chromecast will come through for my match streaming needs.  The Australian Open tennis tournament begins today - well, tomorrow Melbourne time.

As I've written in previous posts, the Australian - long the forgotten stepchild among tennis's Majors - may well be my favorite.  For starters, Southern Australia looks amazing in January.  Most players are well-rested, having just come off tennis's skimpy off-season.  The hard court surface is a happy middle ground between clay and grass.  All courts have lights, so plenty of night tennis.  Perhaps best of all, the Australian has two courts with retractable roofs.  The time zone is a bummer from the Eastern US perspective but otherwise, Aussie has positioned itself very nicely as the Slam of the Future.

via Shrewd Tennis

Melbourne has become Novak Djokovic's kingdom.  The 26-year-old Serb has won the Australian each of the past three years and four times overall.  He finished 2013 in good form and always trains hard so he should be the man to beat once again.  Nadal is always a threat, of course, but he's on the tougher side of the draw.  Murray's recovering from back surgery.  Federer's still a joy to watch but at age 32, days of winning Majors may be over.  (First time admitting that to myself, by the way.)  So, until proven otherwise, the defending champ is the favorite.

The narrative in women's tennis is very different these days.  When she is in top form, Serena Williams is not only the best player on tour, she's the greatest female athlete in the world.  Case closed.  Also 32, she seems as invincible as ever, last year becoming the oldest woman to be ranked #1 in the world.  Every tournament is hers for the taking unless she finds a way to beat herself through injury or emotional meltdown.  She has a history of ankle troubles Down Under so there's always a possibility someone else will snag the big paycheck.  The best bet to do so is Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.  Vika is the two-time defending champion, not usually the sort of player one would consider a long shot but such is the state of the sport in 2014.

via Wikipedia

Azarenka's my pick.  If you do catch one of her matches on the tube, keep a finger on the mute button.  She's a screamer!

US Open 2013: The Rich Get Richer

via bettor.com

Congratulations to both Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, 2013 US Open singles champions.  For Serena, it's Major #17.  For Rafa, #13.  For both, a place in the all-time pantheon is quite secure.  Both of my initial picks, Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic, lost in the finals.

via Wikipedia

Serena has the inside track for the year-end #1 ranking on the women's side.  On the men's, Rafa still has some work to do.  While he has 2 Slam titles on the year to Novak's 1, Djokovic was at least a semifinalist at all 4 Majors.  Rafa's never been one to finish the year strongly, either.  We shall see...

US Open 2013: Middle Sunday

via bethubb

Philipp Kohlschreiber (22nd seed, Germany) is what is known in tennis circles as a dangerous floater.  Never one to challenge for Major titles, he's still the guy nobody wants to have to play.  He's a scrappy right-handed grinder who fears no one.  The giant killer resume is quite respectable.  In recent years, he took out Andy Roddick in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open and Novak Djokovic in the third of the 2009 French.  In fact, he's the last player to beat Djokovic before the quarterfinals of a Slam.  He certainly has John Isner's number - at least on the big stage - having taken the towering American out of the US Open both this year and last.

Kohlschreiber is now 29 years young and still going strong, having reached the finals of three tournaments this year.  He won the doubles title in Doha with countryman Christopher Kas.  Next up, he faces the hottest player in tennis: Rafael Nadal (2nd, Spain).  He actually has one victory over Nadal (Halle 2012) but has lost to the Spaniard nine times.  I would say Kohlschreiber has a better chance of derailing the dream Federer/Nadal quarterfinal than Tommy Robredo (19th, Spain) does but that's not saying much.  Robredo has never beaten Fed (7th, Switzerland) in 10 tries.  The best weapon Kohlschreiber has is force of will and no one's ever going to beat Rafa at that game.

US Open 2013: My Picks

It's been a crazy summer in tennis.  Legends won in Paris.  Legends lost early in London while a national hero finally claimed the prize.  Per usual, the dramas which have been building over the course of the tennis year all near climax as the US Open begins.  Neither of my picks is especially daring this time, though neither is even the odds-on favorite. 

My Men's Pick: Novak Djokovic (1st seed, Serbia)

via Khelnama

Generally speaking, Novak Djokovic is the world's best hardcourt player.  He is nowhere near the sure thing Nadal is on clay or Federer once was on grass but he is the top gun on the surface.  However, an unexpected storyline has emerged this summer as Nadal has gone on a tear, claiming the titles in both Montreal and Cincinnati, beating Djokovic in the semis of the former.  It will be a barn-burner of a final if they both make it.  While he's not the player he once was, I still think that if both men show up in top form, Nadal wins.  But the question with Nadal at this stage of his career and his season is always how well the knees will hold up.  I think Djokovic takes the prize this time.  For the record, I'd love to be wrong on this one.


My Women's Pick: Victoria Azarenka (2nd, Belarus)

via wallfive

As always, the top-seeded Serena Williams is unstoppable if she plays her best.  But age is cruel in tennis and with 32 right around the corner, Serena can't summon her best as dependably as she once could.  Azarenka, last year's losing finalist, is her biggest threat.  She is one of very few women on tour with even a chance at matching Serena's power.  Azarenka has won two Australian Opens so far.  I say she adds the US Open to her Majors tally this year.

State of the Blog 2013

Squid do not molt in the wild.  But here in the blogosphere, The Armchair Squid undergoes annual transformation, shedding the skin of the previous year and preparing for new adventures ahead.  As the interests of the blog's humble author shift and reader interests shape the conversation, The Squid seeks greater refinement and more nourishing feeding grounds.  To this end, the blogging motto for Year 5 in the life of The Squid is a very simple one: Embrace the Inner Geek.


Blogging Projects

I have been very pleased with the first three months of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, my bloggers' book club.  The idea: each month, participating book enthusiasts shall post about a favorite book from the previous month's reading.  Bloghop meetings are held the last Friday of the month.  I hope the concept will continue to evolve and expand during the coming year.  If you would care to join us, I plan to keep a sign up list in the upper-right corner of my blog for as long as the group remains viable.


Good Reading

I've got big changes planned for these posts.  Comic books have been a major guiding factor in the course of The Squid over the past two years.  Inspired by comics, I tested a new concept during a slow week in February: reflections upon original series Star Trek episodes.  I've only posted two over the past few months but with the dawning of Year 5, Trek entries shall become a weekly feature at The Armchair Squid.  I'm aiming for Wednesdays.  Embrace the geek!

I will continue my more generic book reviews as well: comics, sports books and children's literature.


Family Adventures

I'm hoping for more family travels in the coming year - not big trips, necessarily, but perhaps more frequent ones.  We have a lot of friends we haven't seen in a while and I do regret not making it to the ocean this year - good goals to work toward.  I'd like to give camping a go next summer, too.  I did a fair amount of tent camping as a kid but we've never done it as a family, apart from one overnight in the backyard.

I'm planning a theme for my own Family Movie Night choices this year - more on that in a bit.  Food, always the best incentive for getting everyone out of the house, may make occasional blog appearances as well.  Family posts are likely to launch on Sundays.


Tennis

via hermes' helix

The Armchair Squid began as a tennis blog.  I cut back a bit on my posts in the past year - weekly during Majors rather than daily.  I intend to continue the same for Year 5.  The US Open starts on Monday.  Expect my picks to win soon.


Music

via Popdose

This is my trickiest blog topic.  Music is my day job and I do my best to keep blogging and work separate as much as humanly possible.  But music is everywhere and it's silly to pretend that it's not important to me in the rest of my life.  Generally, it has worked best for me to connect music to the other topics I blog about.  For the coming year, I plan to explore music in film.


In conclusion, I am eternally grateful to all of you who have shared in my explorations.  To borrow from Jon Wertheim, if any of you enjoys reading The Armchair Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing pretty well.  I hope you'll join me for Year 5.

If you're interested in previous State of the Blog posts, try the links below:

2012
2011
2010

Squiddies 2013

The Armchair Squid turns four years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  And the Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: The Walking Dead

via Webcomics Guide

The critics raved but I was still unsure about The Walking Dead comics.  Zombie narratives are definitely not my thing - too much blood, too formulaic, too hopeless.  And yet, there was something about the series that worked for me.  I think two factors helped me enjoy Walking Dead more than the standard zombie fare: 1) the series is drawn in black and white so the copious amounts of blood are not red and 2) we don't actually see the zombies very often.  The story focuses on the struggles of a small group of characters to make a new life in a post-apocalyptic world rather than a constant onslaught from the undead.  After four trade paperbacks (finishing with Volume 4: The Heart's Desire), I decided I'd had enough.  That's still a lot further than I would have expected to get.


Biggest Disappointment: The Man Who Knew Too Little

via Wikipedia

We had a pretty good year with Family Movie Night films.  The Man Who Knew Too Little, a 1997 Bill Murray vehicle, was the only real clunker in my estimation.  It's funny at times but the story falls well short of compelling.


Best Match: Australian Open Fourth Round: Djokovic vs. Wawrinka

via Live Tennis Guide

Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) is not likely to threaten for Major tennis titles.  At age 28, he has never advanced passed the quarterfinals of a Slam tournament.  However, he is the sort of tough grinder who's difficult to root against.  In January, it really looked like he had Novak Djokovic, the top seed and two-time defending champion, on the ropes in Melbourne.  The Serb eventually managed a 12-10 escape in the fifth set and went on to win the title.


Best Story: "Sweet Caroline"

After the bombing at the Boston Marathon, baseball stadiums across the country played Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," a song adopted long ago by the Red Sox, in tribute.  When I heard the crowd at Yankee Stadium sang along with gusto, I couldn't help tearing up a bit.  However, the following from the Salt Lake City Marathon is even better.  Definitely worth a re-post:




Best Read, First-Time Category: Paper Lion by George Plimpton

via The Scores Report

Renaissance man George Plimpton was brilliant at playing the stuffy aristocrat on screen.  In print, he was humble, insightful and pretty darn funny.  Paper Lion is a seminal work in sports journalism, chronicling Plimpton's adventures while embedded with the 1963 Detroit Lions.  It's the sort of book that's embarrassing to read on an airplane because I can't stop giggling.  It also provides a wonderful glimpse of a simpler time in professional football - a must for any thoughtful fan.


Best Read, Re-Read Category: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

via Etsy

No one's better than the Bard and Macbeth is my favorite among his plays.  For my submission to July's Cephalopod Coffeehouse, I read an illustrated folio addition, artwork by Von.  Macbeth has it all: murder, intrigue, insanity, power lust, dark magic.  What's not to love?


Best Comics Find: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

via Amazon

I have long loved the film version of V for Vendetta but never got around to reading the original comics until last month.  After posting my review, I quickly learned that not all comic book readers are as impressed by Alan Moore as I am but he's definitely my favorite.  His allegorical rant against Thatcherism is highly compelling, the best graphic narrative I have seen so far.


Athlete of the Year: Andy Murray

via Roger Federer Fans

Andy Murray's entire career has been validated over the past twelve months.  Britain's #1 won his first Major at the 2012 US Open.  The real prize came just last month when the Great Scot ended the UK's 77-year title drought at Wimbledon.  Now maybe - just maybe - everyone will get off his back.  (Yeah, right...)


Post with Most Unexpected Consequences: A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Fathom

via Westfield Comics Blog

One of the least interesting comic books I read for this year's A-Z Challenge inspired one of the most interesting conversations - most revolving around the merits of the cover art (or lack of merit, depending on perspective).  Discussion in that thread also lead directly to the creation of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse (details here).


Best Family Adventure: Lake Superior

We did not make it to the seashore this year but we did the next best thing by visiting the world's largest body of freshwater.   During our Michigan adventure, we took a boat tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Superior is nothing short of awe-inspiring.  I felt like I had reached the edge of the world, staring out across 150 miles of empty water.  Until this summer, it was the only one of the Great Lakes I'd never seen, except from an airplane.


Best Unexpected Benefit of Blogging: A Blogger Posse

At this point, I really shouldn't be surprised by the joys of making friends in the blogosphere.  However over the past few months, I've found an unexpected niche among a small enclave.  It started with Suze's Tiny Harmonies series in March, grew with A-Z in April and found a regular meeting place with the Cephalopod Coffeehouse.  Several of them are Coffeehouse regulars so if you'd like to get to know them, too - and why wouldn't you? - please join us for August's meeting.


Squiddy Posts from Previous Years:

2012
2011
2010

Wimbledon 2013: The Middle Sunday

Bernard Tomic is tennis's resident bad boy.  The 20-year-old is currently the top-ranked Australian man on the ATP tour and he's into the second week of Wimbledon for the second time in his career.  At his best, he looks like the sort of player who could challenge for Major titles for years to come, especially on faster surfaces.  At his worst...  well, his worst is pretty bad.  He has walked off the court in protest in one match and been accused of tanking in others.  He's had legal troubles away from the court, too.

Photo via Bernard Tomic

Tomic's biggest problem is his father, the proverbial nightmare tennis parent.  In May, John Tomic attacked his son's hitting partner, Thomas Drouet, outside of a hotel in Madrid, leaving Drouet with a broken nose, a cut above the eye requiring stitches and a bruised neck.  As a result, the elder Tomic was banned from the grounds at the French Open and also Wimbledon.  The father-son relationship is so toxic that Bernard once approached a chair umpire and asked that his father be tossed from the stands (not granted).

I've never been a fan of the bad boys in tennis or any sport but it's hard not to feel some compassion for Bernard Tomic.  He's hardly the first athlete to have daddy issues but few have had to endure them in the glaring view of the public as he has.  He's an adult now and responsible from his actions.  One hopes for his sake and that of the sport that a heavy dose of maturity will see him through to brighter days.

Tomic has had a good Wimbledon so far.  He's taken out two seeds: Richard Gasquet (9th seed, France) and Sam Querrey (21st, USA).  He faces former finalist Tomas Berdych (7th seed, Czech Republic) in his next match. 

Yes, I am going to gloss right over the big story of the past week: the early round demises of both Roger Federer (3rd, Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (5th, Spain), winners of nine of the past ten Wimbledons between them.  Actually, I will say this much: no one should be surprised that neither (especially Fed) is the player he once was.  There are also still chapters yet to be written for both.