Evendays

Last night, Switzerland lost the opening match of Euro 2008 after playing a terrific game against Czech Republic. The Nati lost their best offensive player to a knee injury in the 44th minute. Sad. The Czechs scored in their only real opportunity. Very sad. Then the ref missed a Czech hand in the penalty box (hand over his head—how did the ref miss that?) which would have allowed a relatively easy tie… Very, very sad.

Yes, it was a sad evening.

Today, the Swiss tennis-man Roger Federer will play in the men’s French Open final against his nemesis, Raphael Nadal. My prediction? Federer plays so well that Nadal forfeits the match in the third set. Federer begins to cry and is so emotional that he puts his pants on backwards. NIKE has a fit.

Oh well, one can dream, can’t he?

– The match is over and I’m the one who’s crying. Only one male finalist has been beaten more soundly in the history of the French Open. Ah, it’s a sad, sad day… (Brady)

Yes. Roger Federer was able to serve by his opponent Sunday, the overly biceped Rafael Nadal, who is getting way too good on grass.

I got a hold of Monsieur Federer on his portable just a few minutes after the match. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Congratulations on the win. We were on the edge of our seats the whole match and when you hit that final smash, we went crazy.

Rog: I was pretty excited too. I almost started crying before I even hit the grass. I was so relieved. There were moments when I started to doubt.

Me: And then, before they gave you the cup, I could tell it was emotional. Especially when you pulled on your long pants and court-side jacket.

Rog: What do you mean?

Me: Well, as soon as you stood up and started walking toward center court, Wife said: Hey, Roger’s got his pants on backwards. His pockets are facing the wrong way. Man, you must have been really emotional to put your pants on backwards. Way too funny.

Rog: What are you talking about? That’s the way they’re supposed to be worn.

Me: Oh, come on. We saw you trying to pull your coat down so no one would notice. But Wife has sharp eyes. We could even see the fly was in the back…

Rog: Now, what a minute. I’m a pro. I know how to put my pants on. Come on!

Me: And we were thinking all along: Your sponsor is going to be so upset. They made you a really cool outfit, and there you are holding the trophy over your head, back-pockets front-ways. But we understand. It was an emotional moment.

Rog: You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve changed sponsors. I’m now wearing ekiN’s outfits.

Me: Oh… No wonder things looked backwards. I’ll tell Wife.

So Alinghi did take the America’s Cup earlier in the week, though the Swiss consortium had only one Swiss on-board. But like I wrote earlier, it is a Swiss boat.

Saturday featured the prologue of the Tour de France, in London. The Swiss Fabian Cancellara won with a huge 12 second margin, keeping his promise to wear yellow for today’s first stage. He’ll most probably keep it during the first few days when the stage victories are “reserved” for the sprinters. Who will win it this year? Not Basso, Landis, Ulrich… The list goes on.

Today, the Swiss Roger Federer will be playing to win his 5th straight Wimbledon Championship against el Señor Nadal. Promises to be no picnic on the grass…

All good things to celebrate. But nothing as good as celebrating this Sunday the living Lord.

All sport lovers in this small country are focused on Valencia, Spain and London, England. I guess that means they are cross-eyed.

The Swiss sailing enterprise Alinghi (the first European team to ever win the America’s Cup) is defending its trophy against Team New Zealand. It’s a best of 9 series, with the two teams tied one to one. The Alinghi boat was fabricated in close collaboration with Lausanne’s technical institute (where Daughter plans to study).

Between rain showers, Roger Federer will attempt to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon Men’s singles title. After a frustrating loss to Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final in Paris a few weeks back, Roger is in fine form and ready to tie Bjorn Borg’s record.

That’s all from ESPNNN Switzerland. (Oh, and how ‘bout those Angels?)

The French Open (Roland Garros) started on Sunday and will continue for 15 days. The question here for the avid and not so avid tennis fan in central Europe is simple: Are you Nadal or Federer?

For those of you out of the tennis loop, Raphael Nadal is the mega-bicepped Spanish clay-court specialist who has won this Grand Slam tournament the last two years. He had won 81 straight matches on “terre battue” (clay) before the number-one-in-the-world, Roger Federer, took him down two weeks ago… The first time the Swiss (did I mention Federer is Swiss?) had ever beaten the Spaniard on clay.

Tension runs high here as Son 2 and Daughter root for Roger who’s won every other Major but Roland Garros. He has a huge following not only because he’s good, but he’s just so… NICE! But during matches, I can hardly stay in the room when the points are important. It’s as tense as an episode of Gilligan’s Island.

Since both Roddick and Blake are already out, why not noisily applaud or encourage Roger? My kids would appreciate it. And if you cheer in English, that’s okay. The champ’s trilingual.