Off to Hagerstown

Tomorrow I start my new job as a Design Engineer in Hagerstown, MD. I am looking forward to it! I'll drive over there later today and stay in a hotel for a week. I hope to be able to get back to my apartment on the weekends.

As I was flipping through channels yesterday, I came across the Iowa-Illinois football game. Third week in a row I've gotten to see Iowa play on TV! They ended up winning the game fairly easily to boost their record to 4-0. Next up is Ohio State, I believe.

Federer wins #9

No surprises at the US Open final yesterday. I was glad to see Roddick put up a fight, but in the end it was Federer winning in 4 sets. His 9th career major. I am always impressed by the way Federer elevates his game when he's under pressure. Roddick was in a good position to force a third set tiebreaker, and, with his strong serve, he would have had a great chance to take a 2 sets to 1 lead. But Federer raised his game and broke Roddick to win the set 7-5. He did the same thing in last year's final against Agassi. It's good to see Roddick playing well, though, and it will be interesting to see how he does in Australia in January.

Roddick vs Federer

I saw both men's US Open semifinals this afternoon. Federer's win was a foregone conclusion, but I was very happy to see Roddick win. I think he's coming out of his slump. Tomorrow's match will be interesting, but I think ultimately Federer will come out on top. I would not be surprised to see Roddick win a set.

As I was checking out some college football action on TV, I was surprised to see the Iowa-Syracuse game being televised. I'm not sure why it was aired here in Philly, but I was glad to catch the end of it nonetheless. I don't think the Hawkeyes played very well, because they ended the regulation in a 10-10 tie. They finally won in the second OT, thanks to Syracuse not being able to score on multiple attempts inside the 1 yard line. I could not believe they failed to get a touchdown. But the Hawks are now 2-0, so I'm happy. I believe the next game is against Iowa State.

The Winds of War

Currently I am reading the novel The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, which provides an excellent account of events leading up to the United States' entry to WWII. The book falls in the category of "historical fiction", meaning that the main characters are fictional, but every battle or other world event is completely factual. Wouk does a terrific job of maneuvering the various characters around so that every aspect of the war can be examined. The main character, named Pug, is a Navy man who wants nothing other than to go to sea, preferrably as commander of a battleship. Unfortunately for him, he always seems to get land assignments. He travels from Berlin to London to Washington to Moscow, and he meets Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. He witnesses the Battle of Britain and fighting on the eastern front. His son Byron is in Poland when the Germans invade, and his son Warren is in Hawaii when the Japanese attack. Farfetched? Absolutely. Boring? Not at all. The Winds of War, along with the follow-up novel, War and Remembrance, are the best fictional WWII accounts I've ever read.

The main focus of The Winds of War is the war in Europe and the moral dilemmas raised by it. The US's isolation is examined in depth. Europe in 1940-41 was a gruesome scene. Yet people in the USA viewed it as a ball game, with England as the home team. Let Europe's problems stay in Europe. Roosevelt, shrewd man that he was, found ways to support the Allies while convincing Americans we were still neutral. First by selling materiel to England, then just flat out giving it to them under the guise of Lend-Lease. So what was the right thing to do? I suppose there's no correct answer.

Agassi's last match

I got to watch Agassi's last match at the US Open this afternoon. The fans gave him a terrific farewell, and the poor guy got a little emotional. After watching him, though, I have to say I'm very happy he's retiring. I can't remember the last time I watched an Agassi match where he wasn't limping or staggering in obvious pain. As much as I enjoy watching him play, it's no fun when he's hurt too much to be at the top of his game. It was a great way for him to end his career. As for the rest of the US Open, there haven't been any huge upsets. I actually thought Agassi beating Baghdatis was an upset, but it wasn't really huge. The two big dogs, Federer and Nadal, are still alive and well. And Andy Roddick came through a 5 setter against Fernando Verdasco a little earlier today, so I hope he continues his stellar performance in the next few rounds.

I noticed that college football got underway over the weekend. Very big deal! Games on almost every channel on Saturday. But I did not see coverage of the Iowa-Montana game. Not that I would have watched it, but the Hawkeyes did eke out a win by about 35 points. NFL starts next week. I can hardly contain my excitement! (and that's only partially sarcastic)

The Phillies played back to back doubleheaders yesterday and today against Atlanta. The Saturday twin bill was due to a rainout earlier in the season (the one game I was actually going to attend), and I guess one of today's games was a makeup from the Friday rainout. Whatever the case, I listened to the Phils a little bit on my way home from Baltimore, and apparently they had a very exciting win in the first game. And Ryan Howard hit 3 taters. The guy now has 51 homers on the year. 51! On September 3rd. There was a time when this would have been a very big deal, but now that the single season home run record is 73, it's obviously not. Still, Ryan Howard is having one incredible season.