Djokovic heads provisional US Open field (AP)
Djokovic heads provisional US Open field (AP)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP)—Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and past U.S. Open champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal head the men’s field for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic is 48-1 in singles matches with eight titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He’s a two-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, losing to Federer in the 2007 final and to Nadal last year. The top 101 men in the ATP rankings received direct entry into the provisional field announced Thursday by the U.S. Tennis Association. Three players used special protected rankings to get into the draw: Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas and Ivo Karlovic. The U.S. Open starts Aug. 29 in New York.
The 10-man rotation, starring a Heat win over the Bulls from 1993
The 10-man rotation, starring a Heat win over the Bulls from 1993
A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out. C: NBA.com. Couper Moorhead retro-blogs a March 1993 Miami Heat win over the Chicago Bulls.PF: Moderately Cerebral Bias. ‘Mark Jackson and the Value of a Name.’SF: The Basketball Jones. Tas Melas wants to welcome locked out players to Canada.SG: Disciples of Clyde. Talking everything with Bethlehem Shoals and Eric Freeman.PG: SLAM. Interviewing “celebrity DJ” Dennis Rodman about his Hall of Fame career.6th: HoopsWorld. NBA CBA guru Larry Coon dissects the lockout in his chat.7th: NBA.com. A very, very good column by Jason Friedman on the career of Yao Ming(notes).8th: Esquire. Yao Ming, from 2009, on what he’s learned.9th: Off the Dribble. What the lockout could do to Knick rookie Iman Shumpert(notes).10th: The Basketball Jones. Perhaps time to lay off Chris Bosh(notes) for a spell? Got a link or tip for Ball Don’t Lie? Holler at me at KD_BDL_ED (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter. Related: Chris Bosh, Yao Ming, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, The 10-man rotation
Bestwick to the booth, Briscoe to host Countdown (AP)
Bestwick to the booth, Briscoe to host Countdown (AP)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—ESPN is moving Allen Bestwick into the booth as lead play-by-play announcer for its NASCAR coverage. Bestwick replaces Marty Reid for all Sprint Cup races, practices and qualifying. Reid will be the play-by-play announcer for Nationwide Series telecasts and ESPN’s IndyCar coverage. Bestwick will join holdovers Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth. Nicole Briscoe will take over Bestwick’s old job as host for ESPN’s prerace NASCAR Countdown show. She had been a fill-in host for the show the last two years. She’ll join holdovers Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty in the booth. ESPN broadcasts the final 17 races of the Cup schedule beginning next weekend in Indianapolis.
