The Sporting Body: Jack Johnson and Helen Wills to Odell Beckham and Brittney Griner - Part 1

This is the first part of a three part article on the evolution of masculinity, femininity, gender, and sexuality in sports.

Societal norms and behaviors are refracted through the sporting body, and athletics often act as a reflection of socially constructed representational politics. While sports can reproduce pre-existing gendered ideologies, external perceptions of the athletic body and its effect on gender specific self-consciousness also actively shapes discursive understandings of self-identity and transverse, or deepen, constructions of gendered athletic spheres. 

Sports act as a representative medium for the formation of individual manhood, and the valorization of the heroic ethos allows for the construction of a glorification of the masculine body. Throughout history, sporting discourse has explored the sexualized classification of sporting figures, and how the gendered body of male athletes negotiates within, or functions against, underlying social understandings and pre-conceived perceptions of masculinity and sexuality. By constructing separate athletic spheres, males have inherently marginalized the self-identity of women through their sexualized objectification and their dissociation from masculine-defined sporting glorification and social agency. 

Over time, individuals have gone from explicitly exploiting the sporting body in a systematic embrace of cultural manifestations of a gender specific self-identity to more implicitly policing any representations of a feminized sporting body that is not aligned with socially accepted heteronormative masculinity. While not beholden to a monolithic gendered classification, the culturally contrived and dictated formulation of the male sporting body has been used to codify masculinity and male dominance, while also being composed as a dichotomous construction to feminine sexualization and objectification.

During the early 1900s, as the country began to urbanize and technological innovations proliferated throughout a modernizing society (think Wright brothers and Henry Ford), men used sports as an emblematic re-affirmation and restoration of their dominancy over an ever-changing world. Ty Cobb’s rugged individualism and assertiveness acted as a conspicuous representation of the maintenance of American masculinity, despite external attempts to protract societal emasculation. In his journal article "The Most Popular Unpopular Man in Baseball," Steve Tripp said, “Fans needed fiery players like Cobb to test raw definitions of manhood; Cobb needed the active engagement of fans to goad him to further exploits of nerve and masculinity. Neither side was ever completely satisfied. Both sides recognized that manhood something needed to be continuously reestablished.”

Charles Leerhsen - author of Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty - discussing Cobb's complex sense of self.

As a player that on the field slid into bases with his cleats up and constantly got into heated exchanges with opposing pitchers, and off the field was notoriously disgruntled with those around him and had quite a morose personality to say the least, Cobb acted as the archetypical symbol of the persistency of masculine aggression and toxicity. Cobb fought in War World I and he treated baseball like a battlefield, as if it was a constant test of his internal will. Since sports function as a public spectacle, Cobb’s relentlessness and dominance on the baseball field (the guy won 12 batting titles in 13 years if you include the disputed one he won over Nap Lajole in 1910) acted as a perpetual pageant-like performance of his masculinity.

Ty Cobb "sliding into home plate," in line with the Chase Utley school of sliding.

However, an article in the old Chicago Eagle newspaper in 1918 said, "A star player is easiest to handle. Ty Cobb, fiery and aggressive though he is, has caused the umpires less trouble than almost any man that wears a big league uniform today.” The newspaper reflected a sporting discourse of how Cobb could paradoxically project his masculinity and primordial impulses within the sporting sphere, while still maintaining a semblance of his bodily self-discipline. Funny enough, three years later in September of 1921, Cobb actually got into a fight with umpire Billy Evans under the grandstand of a stadium after some in-game disagreements (and we thought Blake Griffin acted out of line punching Clippers equipment staffer Matias Testi).

Phil Deloria added in Indians in Unexpected Places, “Upper-crust American manhood, the games suggested, could survive the taming of the frontier, the threat of effeminating urbanism, and the challenges of reorganized family relationships and politically and economically active women." Individual males needed to embody virile athletic tropes to certify their dominance over a hierarchically gendered power structure. Men, like Cobb, embraced the physicality of sports to fortify their collective identity and to maintain their place in an ever-changing society during the Progressive Era.

Steven Riess added in the journal article "Race and Ethnicity in American Baseball: 1900-1919," “Fans often took their sons to the ballpark as a kind of ritual passage into manhood.” As Riess noted, sports acted as a sacred passage into adulthood, so consecrations of the fully formed male identity could only be awaken through masculine sporting activities. The symbolic sanctification of personal development was defined by masculine sporting characteristics, and assimilation into society became based on embodying normative masculine behaviors. Through a conceptualization of the sporting experience as a ritualistic passage into manhood, the male dominated ballpark not only affirmed individual masculinity, but also encompassed a sense of masculine self within a larger communal feeling of reassured male identity.

Beginning during the early 20^th century, sporting institutions and individuals quickly conformed to the culturally constructed concept of patriarchal “hegemonic masculinity,” which sociologist R.W. Connell purported as the dominancy of athletes based upon externally defined standards of physical manhood and aggressiveness. 

However, masculinity did not form in a gendered vacuum independent of wider social structures, as masculinity specifically cut across class and race as ethnic groups began to conjugate together during the turn of the century. Sports offered a platform for the formation of a collective male identity, but only if individuals prescribed to their specific “manly” sporting orientation. 

Deloria wrote about Native Americans, “Becoming manly meant, in many ways, becoming white. Indian players could beat white men, Pratt [founder of Carlisle Indian Industrial School] told his teams, not because they were Indian, but because they were becoming more like white people.” Deloria’s statement was that sporting discourse created a narrative where any Indian display of manliness was claimed as being a representation of whiteness. Indians being forced into assimilation was merely a manifestation of white domination to reassert a racialized masculinity. By denying a distinct Indian manhood, white men eliminated an independent Indian space for self-expressionism. Indians were dissociated from their own heritage, and their masculine identity was merely a conceptualization to reinforce white masculinity. Indians were part of the sporting community, but only based upon their orientation along “Americanized” ethnic standards.

Pop Warner (third from the right in the top row) coached at Carlisle from 1899-1903 and again from 1907-1914, and Jim Thorpe (third from the right in the seated row) was a two-time consensus All-American for the school.

Similarly, Jack Johnson’s conspicuous domination of the white male body threatened an inversion of the power relationship between the two races. If white men could not assert their masculinity within the ring, Johnson had to be symbolically disemboweled because by dating white women, he was removing the purity of what white men perceived to be as “their women,” or their sexualized objects. 

Johnson was arrested under the Mann Act in 1912 to prevent further subversion of white masculinity, and to reinforce white control of a gendered and racial social hierarchy. Jack London said before Johnson's fight against the "Great White Hope" James Jeffries in the "Fight of the Century" (although I would say that the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier bout in 1971 could contest that title), “It is the moment, the everlasting fantasizing, and Jack Johnson succumbs.” Unlike the masculine respectability that was placed upon Ty Cobb, who was the classical figure of racist white manhood, Johnson was a similar forceful and self-dictated figure. However, whites justified his place outside of a masculine-defined hierarchical society through an ideology that he lacked any self-control.

Jack Johnson may have had his way on the boxing canvas, but racial power hierarchies dominated outside of the ring. 

Sports allow individuals to project their own self-conceptions and anxieties onto the actions of others, so men quickly challenged newfound understandings of womanhood to re-affirm their own self-prescribed masculinity. During the early 1900s, there was widespread male unease as women began to embody masculine qualities in athletic activities, showcasing strength and quickness. Men described their manliness in opposition to womanliness, so as women embraced the bodily composition of men and eliminated their female sporting “otherness,” it challenged how men defined themselves. 

Males often maintained a gendered differentiation through separate athletic spheres by getting women educators to comply with female separatism. Susan Cahn said in her book Coming on-Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women's Sport, there was "a separate realm of play in which women could gain the traditional benefits of sport - health, fun, 'sportsmanship,' and a cooperative ethos - without fear of sexual harm or taint of masculinity.” By maintaining an emphasis on the different physical and social behavior of women, individual men were still able to hold onto their separated existence, and re-affirm their perception of internal superiority. Women were forced into playing certain seemingly more refined and “ladylike” sports to prevent the masculinization of the female body, creating a gendered separation. Women were not allowed to occupy the same space as their male counterparts.

Only upper class white women that could maintain their refinement and “womanliness” were allowed to participate in sports without being denigrated by the public, as Cahn said, “Calls for self-restrain, refinement, and efficiency celebrated a “womanliness” rooted in the privileged position of the lady.” Men could affirm their masculinity by restricting the sporting spheres that women occupied, and confined them to sports like equestrian, tennis, and golf. Any fears of female empowerment were subverted by a rationalization of their “womanliness” in sports. 

In her examination of women's basketball at Bennett College in North Carolina, Rita Liberti mentioned how sportswriter Ivora King reflected the pervasive belief amongst many men in the 1930's that, “in denying her femininity, the athletic woman threatened to corrupt her gendered and sexual identities, and in doing so, forfeited her existence as a real woman.” By creating a tangible tension between womanhood and athleticism, sports actively questioned women’s own gendered self-identity and sexuality, while acting as a vehicle to confirm the male identity.

Over time, in a society that glorified extravagance and social amusement during the 1920s (think Zelda Fitzgerald), wider cultural acceptance of leisure and entertainment for the masses allowed for a more public female sporting sphere. Women personified a “fit femininity” outside of Victorian ideals, and despite masculine attempts to create a monolithic female gendered ideology, women dramatized their social struggle for a new womanhood through the avenue of sports. However, since men cultivated their self-identity by orienting the self against contrasting social groups, women were still forced to accept more traditionally defined virtues of womanhood to not challenge notions of a hegemonic masculine agency. 

Helen Wills, a 19-time grand slam singles champion (only Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams have more major titles), was accepted as a dominant force in women sports because she embodied an externally acceptable femininity that did not complicate gender specific conceptualizations of self-identity. Cahn reflected, "In her 1920s heyday, she [Helen Wills] offered a nonthreatening portrait of refined, well-bred, and charming womanhood that blended modern athleticism with aspects of conventional femininity.” Wills was given a sporting place as the ideal “American Girl,” rather than the more indomitable Molla Mallory (whose altercations with Suzanne Lenglen overshadowed her 7 US Open victories in 8 years), because men saw Wills’s femininity as conforming to traditional standards of womanhood. Willis's grace was often misconstrued as an act of implicitly accepting feminine fragility in a subservient gendered identity to men. Thus, only the non-radicalized, non-masculine fixated women were accepted in the context of wider sporting narratives.

Helen Wills was accepted by the male sporting community because of the narrative that she embraced her feminine, upper class "womanliness."

Telling It All Podcast With Ben Goodman - Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl LI Recap

Topics Include: The Atlanta Falcons Dominate First Half (2:37). The Patriots Comeback/Falcons Collapse (7:33). The Falcons 4th Quarter Play-Calling (16:30). The Inevitable Patriots Touchdown In Overtime (22:30). Tom Brady As the Greatest Quarterback Of All-Time (26:40). The Devastating Loss For The Falcons (29:30). Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal 2017 Australian Open Finals (34:00). Carmelo Anthony Trade Speculation (39:30).

SoundCloud Podcast Homepage: https://soundcloud.com/ctellallsports

Telling It All Podcast With Ben Goodman - Rio 2016 Summer Olympics

Topics Include: Rio de Janeiro As The Host City (1:00). NBC's Coverage Of The Olympic Games (12:10). Experiences As A Fan At Rugby, Table Tennis, Swimming, and Volleyball Events (20:25). Lilly King-Yulia Efimova Swimming Rivalry (28:40). Mainstream Sports At The Olympic Games (34:05). Overall Impressions Of The Olympics (39:55).

SoundCloud Podcast Homepage: https://soundcloud.com/ctellallsports

Telling It All Podcast With Dylan Flanagan - State And Future Of United States Tennis, Australian Open Second Week

Topics Include: The State Of Tennis/ATP Tour Financing (1:00). The Future Of United States Tennis (7:35). The Advantages And Disadvantages Of College Tennis (14:15). Seven Empty Seconds As Mysterious As The Missing Audio From The Apollo 11 Moon Landing (16:35). Australian Open Men's Singles Second Week Predictions (16:45).

SoundCloud Podcast Homepage: https://soundcloud.com/ctellallsports

Telling It All Podcast With Ben Goodman - AFC/NFC Championship Games, Mets Signing Yoenis Cespedes, Cavs Firing David Blatt, Australian Open Second Week

Topics Include: Broncos AFC Championship Game Victory Over The Patriots (0:30). Our Thoughts On The Panthers Dominating The Cardinals In The NFC Championship Game (11:40). Reactions To The Mets Re-Signing Yoenis Cespedes To A 3-year, 75 Million Dollar Contract (14:00). Second Week Preview of Australian Open Men's Singles (19:00). Super Bowl 50 Predictions For Broncos And Panthers Game (23:30).

SoundCloud Podcast Homepage: https://soundcloud.com/ctellallsports

The Craziness Of Kansas Winning Its 10th Consecutive Big 12 Regular Season Championship

Immediately after watching Kansas beat Oklahoma for its 10th consecutive Big 12 regular season championship, I began to search the web for the most impressive streaks in sports history.

I will admit that there was a rather long period somewhere in there where I played ESPN's NBA draft machine so that I could fantasize about the Celtics landing Joel Embiid or Andrew Wiggins.

A quick thought I had during my adventures on the draft machine that has nothing to do with the C's: I really like the trade that the 76ers made with the Pelicans during last year's NBA draft. Despite giving away a 23-year old point guard coming off a career year averaging 17 points and 8 assists per game, Philly not only got Nerlens Noel, who could be one of the league's best rim protectors like a Larry Sanders type, but they also got the most important thing of all, a top five protected pick in the best draft since AI, Kobe, Ray Allen and Steve Nash in 1996, or at the very least, since the superstar draft of 2003 with LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh, and Wade (funny how 3 of them are on the same team now).

The Pelicans should remain in the lottery, especially with Jrue Holiday's leg injury, Anthony Davis's shoulder problems, Al-Farouq Aminu and Luke Babbitt combining to play nearly 45 minutes a night, and the team allowing opponents to shoot 46 percent from the field, not to mention the fact that they are named the Pelicans and play in the Smoothie King Center (a close contest with the Overstock.com Coliseum, KFC Yum! Center, Sleep Train Arena, and Jobing.com Arena for the worst name of a stadium in sports). The 76ers could conceivable wind up with something like Jabari Parker and Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle and Rodney Hood, or Andrew Wiggins and Gary Harris in the lottery. Philly fans could actually see their lineup change from a bunch of guys that make the 1997-1998 Denver Nuggets cringe - no offense to Hollis Thompson, Henry Sims, and Elliot Williams - to a respectable core group of young players with the likes of MCW, who has the best acronym in pro sports other than AK47 or Run DMC, Noel, Tony Wroten, and whoever they draft this year.

I just wasted way too much time on a team that is 3-21 over the last two months, let the Bucks score 130 points in an actual NBA game, and is tanking as hard as Tulane did in 1985.

Anyway, back on topic, so here is the list that I have come up with for the best streaks in sports.

1. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941

You know a streak is just crazy when it allows you to win a MVP over a guy that is still the last hitter to bat over .400 in a season and the only batter since Rogers Hornsby in 1924 to do so (many people do not realize that the sacrifice fly rule was not instituted into the MLB on a permanent basis until 1954, and therefore Williams would have actually batted .411 had the rule been in place). Who cares if I wasn't born until 54 years later, I'm still bitter about the splendid splinter losing out to DiMaggio (and the fact that Grady Little left Pedro in the game in 2003, but that's besides the point).

There is no doubt that it takes a little bit of luck to go 56 consecutive games with a hit, no matter who you are in baseball (unless maybe you are Babe Ruth in 1921). In fact, in 34 of those games during the hit streak, Joltin' Joe had just one hit and was just that close to losing the historic mark (in DiMaggio's 35th game of the hit streak he was 0-3 going into his final at-bat of the seventh inning and was fortunate enough that St. Louis Browns pitcher Bob Muncrief disobeyed his manager Luke Sewell and didn't walk him, allowing the Yankee Clipper to get a base hit in his final at-bat. Two games later against the St. Louis Browns again, DiMaggio only got a hit in his final at-bat in the 8th inning because Red Rolfe walked and got on base for him). No player has ever gotten close to threatening DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak, as Pete Rose is the only batter since to ever surpass 40 games in a row with a hit, but his streak ended at 44 in 1978.

Taking into account the fact that DiMaggio batted .357 in 1941, advanced metrics tells us that his probability of getting a hit for 56 straight games was the slimmest of odds at 1 to 40,000 (nearly the chance of being killed by an asteroid or comet, dying in a bath tub, or getting struck by lightning. I'm not even making this stuff up or am I? To take a page out of How I Met Your Mother, 83 percent of my statistics are just incorrect). Despite my reference to a show that has lasted 3 seasons too long, DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak is the most legendary run in sports for a very good reason, and the chances of another batter going 57 straight games with a hit is as likely as the Bobcats making the playoffs (oh wait, how could I forget that the East is the biggest joke since the Johnny Depp's The Lone Ranger. Your 27-30 Bobcats, ladies and gentleman, meet the 7th seed in the East right now).

2. Bryon Nelson's 11 Consecutive PGA Tour Wins

This run is far too underrated, as it is rarely ever mentioned in the conversation for the best streaks of all-time. It may have something to do with the fact that Nelson went on his roll in 1945 when televisions weren't even around (checking the Internet now to see if I'm just dead wrong with that fact too). Going five months without losing a tournament in a time period with golfers like Jimmy Demaret, Lloyd Mangrum, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead is just insane. Lord Nelson (I feel like this has to be his name, especially after Lord Bendtner started trolling the world with Arsenal this year) won the 1945 PGA Championship during the streak, in a match play format, over a guy that played 8 years in major league baseball (contemplating if this should really be the second best streak ever).

In 2011, the top five golfers on the PGA tour's wins list did not even accumulate 11 victories combined during the season, and in the last 60 years, only Tiger Woods in 2000 (9 wins) and Vijay Singh in 2004 (9 wins) have had more than 8 wins in a season. Nelson eclipsed that in less than half a golf calendar in consecutive starts. In fact, Ben Hogan is the only golfer to have more wins in an entire PGA Tour year than Nelson did over the course of his ridiculous streak in five months, as Hogan had 13 victories in 1946, which included a PGA Championship at Portland Golf Club. Tiger Woods got close to Nelson's record in the 2006-2007 season, winning seven straights PGA tour events from the British Open in July to the Buick Invitational in January, but he still feel well short of Nelson's incredible mark. This streak will leave an indelible mark on history for its longevity, especially with Tiger Woods hooking his driver like he is Jim Furyk on the 16th tee at Olympic in 2012.

3. Roger Federer Making 23 Straight Appearances In Grand Slam Semifinals

This one I really struggled with just because of some of the other absurd streaks I was leaving off of this list. There are some consecutive start streaks that are just Inception mind-blowing (ok, not that far) such as Cal Ripken playing 2,632 straight games in an Oriole uniform (the guy closest to Ripken and the iron horse Lou Gehrig is Everett Scott at just 1,307 games, nearly an entire 8 seasons less) and Brett Favre starting in 297 straight NFL games. Hockey's version of DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak is Wayne Gretzky's glamorous streak of going 51 consecutive NHL games recording a point in 1983-1984 with the Edmonton Oilers (other than the great Mario Lemieux, who had a goal or assist in 46 straight games for the Penguins in 1989-1990, no other hockey players has ever eclipsed a 30-game NHL point streak). Finally, this should not come as a surprise, but Wilt Chamberlain has a bevy of records that deserve to be touched upon in this category. He had 126 straight games scoring at least 20 points from 1961 to 1963, seven straight games scoring 50 points in 1961 (not even Terrence Ross can do that), and a streak of nine games in 1967-1968 with the Philadelphia 76ers where he had a triple-double in each contest.

However, by a very slim margin, I think that Federer's run to 23 consecutive semifinals in majors is just a little bit more impressive than some of the aforementioned streaks. Federer went on his outrageous streak from Wimbledon in 2004 to the Australian Open in 2010, during a time when tennis saw the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic rise to prominence. To put in perspective just how impressive it is to go nearly six years (119 matches) without losing before the semifinals of a grand slam, the record before Federer went to 23 straight semifinals was just 10 (54 matches), set by the always exuberant and emotional Ivan Lendl from 1985 to 1988, showing that nobody is even in the same hemisphere with Federer for this record (it's like the Oscars was when 12 Years a Slave was nominated). Federer avoided upsets in grand slams for nearly six years, something that all-time great Rafael Nadal has struggled with, as he has gone down to low ranked players Lukas Rosol and Steve Darcis in consecutive Wimbledon opening rounds in 2012 and 2013. Federer was also able to remain amazingly consistent on all surfaces, unlike tennis legend Andre Agassi, who lost before the semifinals of the French Open 12 times in his career.

After going through these unfathomable streaks, I realized I had made one small error. (I promise a small misstep like Neil Armstrong forgetting to say one small step for "a" man or the crew of the Titanic not seeing the giant iceberg right in front of them, which was actually a pretty big blunder... but you know what I am saying) The streaks I had previously just discussed were all individual records and the subject of my article here is on Kansas's unbelievable team streak. Have no fear, though, because here is a list of the best team streaks in sports history.

1. 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers 33-Game Win Streak

Any evidence of just how how hard it is to rattle off win after win in the NBA was demonstated to us last year by the Miami Heat. Their 27-game win streak, which was the second longest run in NBA history, was just as difficult, if not more arduous, than capturing their second straight championship. The NBA is very different from the NFL from the standpoint that the season is so long, and filled with so many games, that it is impossible to bring the same spirit every night. Teams typically have a few games during the season where they just don't show up or don't play with the same energy as usual (unless it's the New York Knicks, who just decide to do this every night). While the Heat's win streak last year helped them stay motivated after coming off of an NBA title, their run took an inordinate demanding toll on the team. Towards the end of the streak, the Heat were so drained that they had to come back from double-digits almost every night just to somehow escape and keep the run alive (the Heat had four consecutive double-digit comebacks towards the end of the streak - a 17-point comeback against the Celtics, a 27-point comeback against the Cavs - tied for the 8th biggest comeback of all-time, a 11-point comeback against the Pistons, and a 11-point comeback against the Bobcats - and they had to come from behind 11 times in the fourth quarter during their run).

The Los Angeles Lakers went on this same exact run in the 1970s except they went on to win 6 more games than the Heat, bringing their total to 33 in a time when the league was not as watered down as it is today (there were only 17 teams in the league in 1971-1972, as opposed to the 30 that are in the NBA today, meaning the Lakers had to face Kareem's Bucks, Havlicek's Celtics, Frazier's Knicks, and Archibald's Royals almost every night, and even the other few teams in the league still were made up of the NBA's best since there weren't as many players in the game). Obviously, it becomes a lot easier to set a ridiculous NBA record with a team of Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain, but it doesn't matter who is on the floor, because going 40 percent of a season without losing a single game is just crazy.

2. UCLA's 7 Consecutive NCAA Titles From 1967 to 1973:

UCLA was fortunate enough to hire John Wooden from Indiana St. in 1948, the greatest maverick basketball has ever seen (and to think that if there wasn't a snowstorm in the Midwest, Wooden would stayed in the region and gone to Minnesota. Imagine this story today: Wooden chooses Minnesota over UCLA because a snowstorm knocked out the Golphers phone-lines and he thought he had been passed over for their job). The Wizard of Westwood was not only a genius from a basketball scheming standpoint, implementing the high post into his offense like no one before him, but his "Pyramid of Success" and other motivational sayings have become a trademark for what coaches around the country use today.

However, a wizard is only as good as his tricks, and Wooden's magic was his players (I feel like I'm explaining the plot of Now You See Me). The amazing part about UCLA's 7 NCAA Championships in a row was that they did it with so many different stars leading the way.

When the Bruins won their titles in 1966-1967, 1967-1968, and 1968-1969, Lew Alcindor was the team's 3-time NCAA Player of the Year (it needs to be mentioned that he also got a lot of help from Lucius Allen during the first two titles). UCLA's next two championships in 1969-1970 and 1970-1971 were from a more balanced attack with All-Americans Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe leading the way. The Bruins final two NCAA titles of their unprecedented run were lead by arguably the greatest college basketball player of all-time, 3-time NCAA Player of the Year Bill Walton, and his sidekick, Keith Wilkes, in 1971-1972 and 1972-1973. UCLA won 28 straight NCAA tournament games over the stretch (the Bruins actually won 38 straight overall from 1964 to 1974 because they won the title in 1964 and 1965 and didn't make the tournament in 1966 before going on their streak from 1967 to 1973. Duke has the next most tournament wins in a row with just 13 from 1991 to 1993). While the Bruins won 7 titles in a row, no other college basketball team has been able to win more than two consecutive titles (Oklahoma A&M won in 1945 and 1946, Kentucky had a repeat in 1949 after winning in 1948, San Francisco won two in a row in 1955 and 1956, Cincinnati went back-to-back in 1961 and 1962, Duke won in 1991 and again in 1992, and Florida won two straight titles in 2006 and 2007). This record is definitely very safe (much like how Ukraine is safe from Russian intervention, just kidding on that one).

3. Boston Celtics 8 Straight NBA Championships From 1958-1959 to 1965-1966:

The two greatest dynasties in the history of sports (aside from the Mighty Ducks series) deserve to have their historic title runs next to each other for the final part of our greatest team streaks of all-time. Both UCLA during the 1960s and into the 1970s and the Celtics from the late 1950s and into the 1960s had an impeccable formula for success, an ingenious and shrewd head coach and a team littered with transcendent superstar players. The similarities between the clubs is apparent, as the teams have more in common than the plots of Skyline and Battle: Los Angeles or White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen. Much like how UCLA had John Wooden, the Celtics had the greatest coach in the history of the NBA with Red Auerbach (fun game to play: name all the players or coaches with a color in their name - Red Auerbach, Paul Brown, A.C. Green, Tim Brown, Vida Blue - this game is not as much fun I first thought). Auerbach was a coaching visionary, getting the Celtics to play together as a team at a level that no other coach had been able to do before him, and paraphrasing DJ Khaled "all he did was win" (Red had one of my favorite sports quotes: "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser"). I just did an injustice to society by quoting DJ Khaled and then Red Auerbach, but at least I didn't quote Tom Cruise.

Much like how UCLA had a collection of different stars during their title runs, Auerbach also had to make sure his various superstars were able to coexist and thrive at a high level. This was made much easier with the "constant" he had in his lineup throughout the Celtics 8 straight NBA Championships, Bill Russell. The greatest center in NBA history was the defensive cornerstone of Boston's championship runs and he just cleared everything on the glass. In the Celtics early title years, Russell teamed up with Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn, and Frank Ramsey for basketball domination. However, towards the end of the run, it was stars like Sam Jones, John Havlicek, and Tom Sanders that helped Russell continue the Celtics streak, and round out their 8th straight NBA title. In the playoffs from 1958-1959 to 1965-1966, Boston had an incredible record of 64-31, and no other team has ever won more than three NBA titles in a row. Put it this way: the Celtics were so good that their 8 playoff victories in each of their NBA playoff runs is just as many postseason wins as the Washington Bullets/Wizards have had in the least 26 years, or since 1988.

After spending a significant amount of time looking at the best individual and team streaks in the history of sports (my lists were as long as Lawrence of Arabia, except I'm not Peter O'Toole), it is time to look at a run right now in college basketball that is already quite impressive, and could, if it continues, be one of the best team streaks of all-time. I'm referring to Kansas's 10 straight Big 12 regular season titles, which is quickly becoming one of college basketball's most amazing streaks (pales in comparison to Adam Sandler's streak of being in just atrocious movies though).

Before I begin with my main point, let me assert that I am not one of those people who think that the college basketball regular season is totally meaningless (anybody who watched either one of those Syracuse-Duke games this year can tell you that there are some really great games that happen during a college basketball season). While I believe the college basketball season still matters, many people would agree that it has been devalued a little bit by the expansion of the tournament field to 68 teams, as the difficulty of reaching the postseason has drastically decreased for big budget institutions. Meanwhile, for as much as people have condemned the BCS like it is the Arizona religious freedom bill, the value of the college football season cannot be argued, as it provides fans with the most exciting regular season in all of sports, and that's not even close! Each and every week teams are playing with National Championship implicatoins because one loss can take you out of the National Championship picture (just ask Michigan State).

However, people that solely judge a program's success in college basketball based on their performance in the Big Dance, and do not even care about the team's play in the regular season, are making a little bit of a negligent assessment. I know way too many fans that have been calling for Josh Pastner's job because some of Memphis's postseason failures over the past three years (the Tigers have only had one tournament win since Pastner took over, despite the fact that they are 106-34 over the span).

Much like Josh Pastner, John Thompson, Mark Few, and even Bo Ryan to a certain extent, Bill Self has had some bad postseason losses over the years at Kansas. In 2005, as a three seed, Kansas was stunned by Patriot League foe Bucknell in the first round of the tournament in a shocking loss, and the following year, this time as a 4 seed, the Jayhawks fell to Missouri Valley's Bradley University, once again in their opening game. Then came Kansas's loss to 9th seeded Northern Iowa in the second round in 2010 and finally their defeat to 11th seeded VCU in the Elite Eight the following year, both of which came in tournaments where Kansas was a number one seed and one of the major favorites for to win a National Championship. Obviously, sports are all about winning, and if a coach's team continues to struggle in the postseason, then there are going to be some real reasons for concern. However, Self won a National Title in 2008 and got to the NCAA Championship Game two years later in 2010 (Steve Fisher, Billy Donovan, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, and Coach K are the only active coaches with more title appearances than Self).

The debate over the job that Self has done with some of his very talented teams in the postseason can be deliberated until you are red in the face, like the kid from Insidious. However, much like how many people look at college basketball through the vacuum of how teams perform in the postseason, which I don't necessarily entirely agree with, lets look at Kansas's amazing Big 12 championship winning run through the prism of their accomplishments solely in the regular season. When viewing Kansas's streak from this standpoint, and not letting everything else cloud your mind, it is rather conspicuous to see just how impressive their run has been, as it shows an incredible amount of consistency (the last time Kansas didn't win a Big 12 title, our world had the privilege of not knowing Justin Bieber) .

Kansas's streak of 10 Big 12 regular season championships in a row is almost unprecedented in the great history of college hoops. It is tied for the third longest streak of consecutive conference titles, only behind UCLA's 13 straight conference titles from 1967 to 1979, Gonzaga's 11 West Coast Conference championships in a row from 2001 to 2011, and tied with Connecticut's 10 straight conference titles from 1951 to 1960 and UNLV's 10 consecutive Big West championships from 1983 to 1992.

However, I would say that Kansas's run is more impressive than the other schools that have had at least 10 conference titles in a row other than UCLA. While it is obviously very hard to finish at the top of any conference year after year, some of the other teams in this conversation did so in much easier leagues. Gonzaga only really had to compete with Saint Mary's out West and although the Gaels did have the beast that was Omar Samhan in 2010, the Zags have not really faced any real competition for the WCC crown. The same goes for UNLV, who played in the very weak Big West conference, a league that only had one team make the tournament four of the ten years UNLV won the conference. Similarly, not only did UConn have their conference dominance in a league called the Yankee Conference, (the only worse conference idea was naming the Big 10 divisions Leaders and Legends) but their biggest competition was also Rhode Island in a very weak six team league. However, Kansas has won 10 consecutive conference titles in the very competitive Big 12, one of the powerhouse leagues in college basketball with top tier programs like Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., and Kansas State (although playing Colorado each year was nice for Kansas before they left for the Pac-12).

In modern day college basketball, no team has come anywhere close to matching the prolific success that Self has had with the Jayhawks in the Big 12, as Kansas is 138-25 over the past ten years in conference games. Coming into this season, Harvard from the Ivy League, Bucknell in the Patriot League, Long Beach St. from the Big West, and Belmont, in the Atlantic Sun first and later moving to the Ohio Valley Conference, are the programs with the longest current conference championship streak at just three in a row, and none of them are in college basketball's major leagues.

Even some of college hoops most dominate teams have never had the same conference supremacy as Kansas has had over the past 10 years with Self. Coach K, who has the most Division I wins, has won 12 ACC Championships, but his longest run of conference titles is 5 in a row from 1997 to 2001. Tom Izzo, whose 6 Final Fours in 12 years have only been matched by John Wooden and Coach K, has won 7 Big Ten regular season titles at Michigan St., but his longest streak of conference championships is 4, which happened from 1998 to 2001. Jim Boehim, who has had the most wins at one school in Division I history, has won 9 Big East Championships, but he has never won more than 2 consecutive conference championships. Billy Donovan, who is one of just seven coaches to lead a team to back-to-back National Championships, has won 7 SEC regular season titles at Florida, but his longest streak of conference championships is 3, which occurred from 2000 to 2002. Finally, Rick Pitino, who is the only coach to take three different programs to the Final Four, has won 7 conference championships in 22 years at Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville, but has never had more than a back-to-back regular season crown.

One of the most impressive parts about Kansas's Big 12 regular season titles streak is that they have done it with so many different players, as the Jayhawks have had to sometimes face yearly changes in their personnel on the floor, and their assistant coaches on the sidelines. In the Jayhawks 10 consecutive conference championships, they have had a different player lead their team in overall scoring 8 times (Wayne Simien in 2005, Brandon Rush in 2006, Darrell Arthur in 2008, Sherron Collins in 2009, Marcus Morris in 2011, Thomas Robinson in 2012, Ben McLeMore in 2013, and Andrew Wiggins this year). While the early Jayhawk teams had role players like Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright, those players quickly morphed into glue guys like Cole Aldrich, Tyshawn Taylor, Markieff Morris, Jeff Withey, and Trevis Releford.

Another amazing feat that the Jayhawks have had over their title winning stretch in the Big 12 is that in the day of one-and-done players, the program has been able to retool each year, often times having a bench player step into the lineup after someone departed to the NBA, and playing just as well as the previous starter. Self has certainly had some prominent one year college stars like Xavier Henry in 2010 and Ben McLemore (red-shirt freshman) last year, but many of his main contributors have stayed in school and become star players after sitting on the bench and learning how to improve in the fast-paced nature of college hoops (you would think this would happen everywhere in college basketball, where a starter leaves, and a bench guy replaces him and steps up to fill the void, but it really doesn't. Often times, if you aren't a star your freshman or sophomore year, or don't show flashes of talent, the team forgets about you). Sherron Collins played fairly well behind Mario Chalmers in Kansas's 2007 and 2008 teams, and then was a second team All-American in 2009 and a first team All-American in 2010 when he was handed the keys to the offense. Jeff Withey played behind future first round pick Cole Aldrich and didn't see a lot of court time in 2010, but by the end of his career, his resume included a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 and a Co-National Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Despite averaging 20 points and 17 rebounds per 40 minutes, Thomas Robinson only played 15 minutes per game for Kansas in 2011 because the team was led by the Morris brothers (so many brother combinations in sports right now: Lopez brothers, Bryan brothers, Sedin brothers, Pouncy brothers, McCourty brothers). However, after improving his mid-range game and getting much stronger, Robinson was the Big 12 Player of the Year and a first team All-American in 2012.

The scary thing about Kansas is that their future looks as bright as Rihanna's forehead (my best analogy ever), as they could actually be better next year than they are this year. Andrew Wiggins is going to leave for the draft after this season although I think that Jabari Parker and Julius Randle are more ready to play in the NBA given their rookie seasons (hopefully he doesn't follow in the footsteps of fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett, whose 4 points per game and 21.6 three point percentage puts him dangerously close to being the worst #1 overall pick since Josh Smith, Michael Olowokandi, or Kwame Brown). While I think Joel Embiid could greatly improve by staying in school and working on his very raw offense game (remember that he has only been playing organized basketball for 3 years), my instincts tells me he will leave school, just because it is so hard to turn down being a lock for a top 3 pick in the NBA draft. Even in the worse case scenario, where both Wiggins and Embiid depart for the pros, the Jayhawks are likely going to return a back-court of Naadir Tharpe and Wayne Selden Jr., along with Perry Ellis down low. Self is also adding two top-11, five-star recruits, according to ESPN, with power forward Cliff Alexander and small forward Kelly Oubre, who should make Kansas a real National title threat. A starting lineup of Tharpe, Selden, Oubre, Ellis, and Alexander (and possibly Embiid if he pulls a Marcus Smart, minus the fan pushing) could make the Jayhawks the pre-season #1 in college basketball next year and begin their push towards challenging the longest streak of conference or divisional championships in sports: the Braves 14 straight NL divisional titles from 1991 to 2005. However, the Braves streak is not as impressive as Kansas's run since they won 11 of those championships in a five team NL East, which is actually four teams since the Mets were part of the division!

To wrap up this 5,535 word monster, I don't think that the impact of the Jayhawk faithful can be underestimated when it comes to looking at Kansas's unparalleled Big 12 dominance. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, the KU fanbase, has been the fortress for Kansas's supremacy for years, and opponents that have enter Allen Fieldhouse have become more poised with clouded thoughts, uncertainty, and doubt than Othello in the Shakespearean tragedy. Since the Jayhawks streak began in 2005, their record on James Naismith Court is an astonishing 77-5 in Big 12 Conference games, and they have one game left to play at home this season against Texas Tech. Fanaticism is not only present in Cuba with the following of Castro, but it is also evident in college basketball gyms throughout the country, especially at Kansas.

This brings me to a story about my brother, Rory. One day in Florida he was getting out of an elevator when he saw somebody wearing an Alabama shirt (unfortunately for him, it wasn't Katherine Webb). As the man was getting into the elevator, Rory said to him, "roll tide," and he got a very emphatic "roll tide" right back. He told me it was one of the happiest moments of his life. It is the small things that make sports fans happy. Of course we would want a nice porsche or a big time job, but what we really want more than anything is for Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving to get along, or for the Raiders to finally get a quarterback, or for Ricky Rubio to stop shooting like he is Victor Oladipo or even, gasp, Josh Smith. As ESPN so perfectly coined, "It's Not Crazy, It's Sports."

What I Am Thankful For In Sports

There are clearly a lot of things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day: your family, your friends, the men and women who fight to protect this country, twitter, and obviously sports. While most Americans associate Thanksgiving with turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, my Thanksgiving is dominated by football, even if the Lions and Cowboys, who have both hosted Thanksgiving Day games every year since 1978, have only won a combined 3 division titles in the last 15 years. With a feast of games on Turkey day (pun intended) including three big NFL matchups (Texans-Lions, Redskins-Cowboys, Patriots-Jets) and a newly installed college football in-state rivalry (TCU-#16 Texas), the Thanksgiving Day action should fill the bellies of hungry football fans (last pun, I promise). Here is what I am thankful for in sports on this 391st Thanksgiving Day.

Despite the fact that the LA Kings championship run as an eight seed was incredible to watch last year, I am thankful for the NHL lockout because now America doesn't have to pretend that we actually care about hockey. For the National Hockey League to be locked out for the 3rd time since 1994 and the 2nd time in the last 8 years is an absolute disgrace. I would advise Gary Bettman, who has dealt with more labor stoppages since he became NHL Commissioner in 1993 than ever imaginable, to not travel to Canada anytime in the near future.

I am thankful that Chelsea fired Roberto Di Matteo because at this rate, I have a chance to become the Blues manager. The European Champions, who fired Di Matteo a little more than six months after he completed the FA Cup and Champions League double, have had more managers since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003 than Egypt have had Presidents. The London club have now had 9 different managers in a six year span since September of 2007 (Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Ray Wilkins, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti, Andre-Villas Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, and Rafa Benitez). In fact, neither one of their last two managers, Andre-Villas Boas or Roberto Di Matteo, lasted 10 months with the job. Good luck to Rafa Benitez because looking at Chelsea's past managerial history, come a year from now, he will likely be watching the Chelsea games from his couch like the rest of us.

I am thankful for Cleveland sports teams because whenever I am feeling down in the dumps about the Red Sox, I remember that it could be worse: I could be a Cleveland sports fan. The Browns have made the playoffs just twice in the last 23 years, while the Indians and Cavaliers have lost superstars left and right including CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, and some guy named LeBron James. Cleveland sports teams are like a sequel to a bad movie; you think that they might improve, but they just wind up terrible once again.

I am thankful that J.J. Watt is a pro football player because he is much too talented and way too hard of a worker to be delivering pizzas in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Watt, who I kid you not, worked for pizza hut after he dropped out of school because he no longer wanted to play tight end for Central Michigan, is now one of the most dominant defensive ends in the NFL, and he is the front-runner to win the Defensive Player Of The Year Award at the mid-season mark. The former Wisconsin standout (he transferred to the Big Ten school in 2008 and played 2 years there) deflects more balls at the line of scrimmage than anybody else in the NFL and his 13.5 sacks are 2nd most in the league, only behind San Francisco's Aldon Smith (15).

I am thankful that Novak Djokvoic is the world's number 1 ranked tennis player. While I enjoy watching the Serbian's mastery on the court, it is a nice bonus that his girlfriend, Jelena Ristic, is a spectacle to see on her own. Since Ristic is shown on TV more than Rob Ryan during the Cowboys games, it is undeniable that Djokovic brings the total package to his matches. But in all seriousness, Djokvoic deserves a lot of credit for reclaiming the number 1 ranking from Roger Federer and winning the year end ATP World Tour Finals.

As hard as this is for me to say, I am actually thankful that #1 Notre Dame is undefeated because outside of Gainesville nobody wants to see #4 Florida in the BCS National Championship Game. The Gators, whose offense has looked so anemic this year that you wonder how they have only lost one game, would likely wind up in the National Championship if they were to beat #10 Florida St. and Notre Dame were to lose to USC. This Florida team, which at home needed two touchdowns in the last two minutes to beat Louisiana-Lafayette, would not be able to score against any of the top college football teams.

I am thankful that Andrew Bynum's hair is one of the main talking points of the early NBA season; now if only the big 7 footer could get onto the floor for the 76ers. Although Bynum should have a nice role in Doug Collins's offense, the injury prone center is still suffering from right and left knee setbacks, which could keep him out until January. Hopefully, Bynum can return to action for Philadelphia shortly, because then people can start talking about Bynum and basketball, along with his hair of course.

Andrew Bynum then

Andrew Bynum now

But enough about me already. What are other people in sports thankful for?

Toronto Blue Jays fans are thankful for their new best friend, Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. After Loria decided that he was fed up with the Marlins large payroll, his fire sale saw the team's two best pitchers (Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle) and star shortstop (Jose Reyes) head north of the border to Toronto. Now that the Marlins shed nearly 150 million dollars in the mega-trade and their opening day payroll is currently projected at less than 40 million (in comparison the Padres and A's are arond 55 million) it is evident that Loria cares less about his team than a male audience cares about the new Twilight movie.

Washington Redskin fans are thankful that they now have a real quarterback with Robert Griffin III. Nothing against Jason Campbell, Tood Collins, Rex Grossman, and John Beck, but the Skins haven't had a real quality quarterback since the Stone Age. Ok, more like Joe Theismann in the 1980's but it feels like forever. Not only is RGIII the most dynamic quarterback to ever play in the NFL, but his Heisman Trophy socks were beyond awesome. In any case, Washington should be thankful for their rookie sensation.

Although the Luck vs RGIII debate will rage on for years, we can all agree that Griffin trumps Luck in the sock department.

Finally, Tim Tebow is thankful for God, but who didn't know that one already.

Australian Open Week 1 Storylines

Australian Fire Power: There has been a tremendous amount of pressure on the top Australian players, Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt, as they are playing in their home country for this year's first major tournament. The fans expect a strong showing from their hometown players and expect them to perform well on the biggest stage and in front of the home crowd. Mark Edmondson remains the last Australian to win the Australian Open when he beat fellow Aussie John Newcombe in the 1976 final 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. An Australian hasn't won the Aussie Open in the last 36 years and Australians Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt are looking to end that drought this year. Both Tomic and Hewitt have advanced to the round of 16 and of their 6 wins, 4 of them have been against seeded opponents. The 19-year-old Tomic has captured the Australian crowd through his tough and competitive victories. Tomic beat Fernando Verdasco and Alexandr Dolgopolov in two long and grueling five set matches. He has been feeding off of the crowd's enthusiasm and all their energy and support. The big 6 foot, 5 inch Aussie said after his victory over Dolgopolov, "Tonight was a really good match and a match that I need to win... I think the crowd made me win so thank you for coming out and supporting me." Lleyton Hewitt has been a home town hero in Australia since his first appearance in the grand slam all the way back in 1997, as he continues to wow the crowd to this day. As always, Hewitt has played very consistently and has limited his unforced errors. In his four set victory over #23 Milos Raonic in the third round, Hewitt had just 32 unforced errors compared to Raonic's 54.

The Dominance Of The Top Four: The women's tennis game has been pretty wide open since 2009. Since the 2009 French Open, 7 different women have won a grand slam. However, the men's game has been dominated by the top four players (Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal Roger Federer, and Andy Murray). Since the 2005 French Open, Juan Martin Del Potro's U.S. Open championship in 2009 is the only time a player aside from Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer has won a grand slam and this year looks no different from any other. The top four players have been dominate thus far and look on a collision course to all meet in the semifinals just like they did at the French Open and the U.S. Open last year. Djokovic has lost a total of 10 games in 3 matches and he has faced just 8 break points in three matches. The four time grand slam winner has hit 80 winners and just 42 unforced errors. Like Djokovic, Nadal and Federer haven't dropped a set thus far and Murray has lost just one set. Nadal and Federer have both won over 80 percent of their first serve points. However, Djokvoic and Federer won't have a lot of fan suport in their next match as the Joker plays Lleyton Hewitt and Fed plays Bernard Tomic. Looking down the road, the biggest threats to stop the top four meeting in the semi-finals are likely Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro, who have Andy Murray and Roger Federer in their quarters respectively.

Marcos Baghdatis's Meltdown: With the top players all having little trouble through the first week and a lack of upsets, as only four of the 16 remaining players are unseeded, one of the highlights of the tournament was Marcos Bagdatis's meltdown. Marcos Baghdatis has been loved in Australia since he made his incredible run to the finals of the major back in 2006. Also, Baghdatis has received huge fanfare and support in Melbourne because of the large Greek-Australian population there. The Cyprus born star has a great following at the tournament. However, in this year's Australian Open in a night match on Margaret Court Arena in the second round, Baghdatis didn't fare as well. While he was down 2 sets to love and a break to #21 Stanislas Wawrinka, Baghdatis had an eruption and an emotional breakdown. To take out his frustration and anger, Baghdatis smashed four of his rackets during a change-over. It was quite a meltdown to witness. Serena Williams said, "I've done that. That's impressive. Wow." 1992 and 1993 Australian Open Champion Jim Courier said, "I hope he gets a share of the YouTube clips. It was such a raw moment."

Bernard Tomic Has The Weight Of A Nation On His Shoulders

During every grand slam there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the players who are playing in their home country. The fans expect a strong showing from their hometown players and expect them to perform well on the biggest stage and in front of the home crowd. However, players have not fared well in their home country in recent major history.

The last time a French player won the French Open was in 1983 when Yannick Noah beat Matts Wilander in the final 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). A French player has not even reached the finals at the French Open since Noah won the title that year and no French player has won the French Open beside Noah since Frenchman Marcel Bernard won all the way back in 1946, which was 66 years ago.

Anybody who has watched Wimbledon the past few years knows the almost unreal amount of pressure on Andy Murray to win the tournament, as the British fans are dying to see a champion from the United Kingdom. A British player has not played in a Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin when he lost to Don Budgein the 1938 final 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. Fred Perry is still the last British player to win Wimbledon, as he beat Gottfried von Cramm of Germany in the 1936 final 6-1 6-1, 6-0.

Of all the majors, the U.S. Open has had the most success with players from their home country. However, an American has not won the U.S. Open in 8 years since back in 2003 when Andy Roddick beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final to win his first and only major 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. This is America's longest drought without a U.S. Open champion from the United States since an American didn't win the title from 1956 to 1967, which is over 45 years ago. In fact, an American hasn't appeared in a U.S. Open final for the past 5 years since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the 2006 final 2-6, 6-4, 5-7, 1-6. This is America's longest drought ever without having a player appear in a U.S. Open final.

The Australian players have also struggled at their own national tournament in their home country. Mark Edmondson is the last Australian to win the Australian Open when he beat fellow Aussie John Newcombe in the 1976 final 36 years ago 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. The Australian fans have been teased since 1976 with tons of high quality players who have come so close to winning their national title but have fallen just short. Since 1976, five times an Australian player has won a major. However, none of those grand slam victories have come at the Australian Open.

When Pat Cash was playing Davis Cup matches at the age of 18 for Australia, he was destined to be the next great Aussie. Although Cash won Wimbledon in 1987, he failed to ever win the Australian Open. In the 1987 final, Cash lost to Stefan Edberg after crawling back from 2 sets to love down in a tough five set battle 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6. The following year he appeared in the final once again but he lost a heartbreaking four hours and a half match to Mats Wilander 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-8.

Despite winning the U.S. Open in 1997 and 1998 and reaching the finals of Wimledon in 2000 and 2001, Patrick Rafter was never able to make an Australian Open final. In 2001, he lost a thrilling match to eventual champion Andre Agassi in five tight sets 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 3-6 in the Australian Open semifinals.

Mark Philippoussis of Australia reached the U.S. Open final in 1998 and the Wimbledon final in 2003 but he was never able to make it past the 4th round of the Australian Open, as he lost in that round of the tournament in 1996, 1999, 2000, and 2004. In his 1999 round of 16 match, Philippoussis had the Aussie fans going crazy and wild, as he won the third and fourth sets after dropping the first two but he fell in the fifth set to Thomas Enqvist after bringing the match the distance.

Former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002 but he lost in the Australian Open final in 2005 to Marat Safin. Once again the Aussie fans were so close to having a champion from their home country, as Hewitt took the first set pretty convincingly over Safin 6-1. However, Safin fought back to win the next three sets much to the disappointment of the fans 3-6, 4-6, 4-6.

Australian tennis fans are dying for an Australian player to make a run in this year's tournament and with Lleyton Hewitt well past his prime and struggling with all of his injury woes, the fate of Australian tennis has fallen on the shoulders of Bernard Tomic.

Tomic, who is just 19 years old, has been touted as the next great Australian tennis player since he cracked the pro scene back in 2009 at the age of 17. However, he is rather inexperienced and at such a young age it is very difficult to deal with all the the pressure and hype. Tomic has even admitted that he is feeling the pressure of playing in front of his home fans. He said, "It's a bit different now. Last year I was a bit younger. I could play a little bit freer. Now people expect a lot from me."

The other players on the tour can also feel all the attention surrounding Tomic. Sam Querrey said that there is definitely a buzz surrounding the big 6 foot 5 inch Aussie. If that buzz was felt before the tournament, it it is being heard now like a 10.0 earthquake on the richter scale now, as the Aussie fans are exuberant with Tomic's early success in the tournament with his three victories over #22 Fernando Verdasco, Sam Querrey, and #13 Alexandr Dolgopolov.

It appeared as if Tomic was going to make an early exit from this year's first major, as he lost the first two sets to the Spanish lefty Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-7 (3-7). However, as Tomic began to climb his way back into the match and cut down on his unforced errors, he was able to use the crowd enthusiasm to get back into the match. Tomic was able to win the next two sets decisively before pulling out a tight fifth set 7-5 with an electric atmosphere on Rod Laver arena. The four hour and 11 minute struggle was an incredible victory for the young Aussie and just the second five set victory of his career.

Tomic got off to a rocky start in his first ever night match at the Australian Open against Sam Querrey. He dropped the first set to the big hitting American 3-6. However, Tomic rallied to win the new three sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Tomic was able to limit his unforced errors, as Querrey struggled to find his consistency. Querrey had 50 unforced errors in the four set match, while Tomic had just 29.

Just when you thought that Tomic mania couldn't get any bigger down under, it has after his incredible 3 hour and 49 minute marathon match with Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. In a match that had a combined 35 aces and 121 winners, Tomic was able to eek out the tight victory in five sets 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-3. The excitement from the crowd was a sight to see, as Tomic was able to once again win a night match on Rod Laver Arena.

But all good stories have to come to an end sometime, right? Tomic's next opponent is none other than 17 time Grand Slam winner and 4-time Australian Open winner Roger Federer. There will certainty not be a lack of star power or fan enthusiasm for that one.

Men's Notable US Open First Round Matches

#32 Ivan Dodig vs Nikolay Davydenko: After being seeded 6th at last year's US Open, Nikolay Davydenko has taken a nose drive. After a horrible 2010 summer, where didn't win more than two matches at any tournament, he fell out of the top 20. By the end of January 2011, he had dropped to 35. Davydenko has not had a great summer and his ranking is now 39. Davydenko never won more than a match at any tournament this summer and didn't win a set off of Mardy Fish, Novak Djokovic, or Fernando Verdasco in three matches. Despite his rough summer and recent play, Davydenko shouldn't be totally dismissed in the early rounds as he has had past success at the US Open. He made the semifinals of the US Open in 2006 and 2007, and has made it past the second round of the tournament every year but once since 2006. While Davydenko has really struggled recently, Ivan Dodig has played very well. Last August, Dodig was ranked in the 140's, and now he is number 33. Dodig's best surface by far is the hard courts, as it is the only surface he has a winning record on. Dodig has a 14-8 record on hard courts this year including a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) win over Rafael Nadal in Montreal earlier this month. Dodig looks like the favorite to win the first round match because he has played well recently and Davydenko doesn't look like the same player that was in the top 10 for more than 5 years.

Prediction: 32. Ivan Dodig over Nikolay Davydenko in four sets.

# 27 Marin Cilic vs Ryan Harrison: United States tennis fans are hoping that Ryan Harrison can be the next great American tennis player. With just one American in the top 20, the struggling Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey still recovering from an arm injury, Harrison has a lot of pressure on him to perform well at the US Open. Last year he beat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round. However, it may be a lot to ask of Harrison to do it again this year because he has a very difficult first round match with the big Croatian, Marin Cilic. After falling outside of the top 30, Cilic had a nice run in Montreal to pick his ranking back up to 27. Cilic beat Andreas Seppi and had a big win over Juan Martin Del Potro in Montreal before losing to world number 1 Novak Djokovic. Harrison will have to return very well because Cilic is in the top 15 in both st and 2nd service points won. Harrison has a good shot of winning if he can play like he did earlier in the summer when he reached the semifinals of both Atlanta and Los Angeles before falling to Mardy Fish both times. Ryan has shown he can beat some of the top players in the world, like when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round of Cincinnati in straight sets.

Prediction: Marin Cilic over Ryan Harrison in four sets.

#23 Radek Stepanek vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Radek Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 last May, but he fell to as low as number 70 in April of this year. However, Stepanek made a huge comeback this summer and found himself ranked in the top 30. He made an outstanding run in Washington to win 6 matches and the 500-point tournament. Stepanek knocked out Fernando Verdasco in straight sets in the quarterfinals, and then ended up beating Gael Monfils in the final 6-4, 6-4. A few weeks later, Stepanek beat John Isner and Andrey Golubev enroute to a round of 16 finish in Cincinnati. Stepanek's two big summer tournaments enabled his rank to go from 54 to 23. He has a chance at making a run in the US Open as long as he can get by his tricky first round match against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Although Kohlschreiber can play some bad matches like he did when he lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets in Montreal, he has shown that he can beat the best in the world. The German beat top 25 players Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati this summer. Stepanek and Kohlschreiber met at the US Open in 2009, and Stepanek won that match in four sets.
Prediction: Radek Stepanek over Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets.

28. John Isner vs Marcos Baghdatis: Marcos Baghdatis and John Isner have played twice recently, and the they will meet for a third time in three weeks when they play in the first round of the US Open. Their first encounter came in the first round of Montreal when Isner beat Baghdatis in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Although Isner had just 8 aces, his big serve still caused a lot of problems for Baghdatis. Isner won 84% of his 1st serve points, and didn't allow Baghdatis to have one break point chance during the entire match. The two met again in the Winston-Salem quarterfinals just two weeks later. Although Baghdatis looked much better and returned Isner's big serve much more effectively, he fell in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. Isner won just 43% of his 2nd serve points and was broken three times by Baghdatis. Marcos won 37% of his return points, which is much better than when he won just 22% of his return points in Montreal. Although Isner has beaten Baghdatis twice this summer, it is extremely difficult to beat an opponent three times in a row, and Marcos has shown that he can return Isner's big serve as he did in Winston-Salem.
Prediction: Marcos Baghdatis over John Isner in five sets.

#16 Mikhail Youzhny vs Ernests Gulbis: In 2007, at the age of 18, Ernests Gulbis made a thrilling run in his first ever US Open. He beat two seeded players to make it to the round of 16. The Latvian teen was labeled the next great up-and-coming tennis star, but all of his immense talent has never led too much success on the tour. However, his recent success is a good sign that he can make a run in this year's US Open. Gulbis won his second ever ATP tour event when he won Los Angeles this summer. He knocked off Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 and then came back from a set down to beat Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Gulbis will have a lot to deal with in the first round of the US Open though because he will play an experienced Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny made it to the semifinals of the US Open in 2006, and again last year. Youzhny loves playing in front of the NYC crowd.
Prediction: Mikhail Youzhny over Ernests Gulbis in five sets.

Men's Notable Wimbledon First Round Matches

27. Marin Cilic vs Ivan Ljubicic: The Croatians will meet for the second time in their careers at the All England Lawn Championship in the first round. Cilic had two nice wins over Arnaud Clement and Thomaz Bellucci at Queen's Club on grass before he had to withdraw from the tournament due to an ankle injury. It seemed like a precaution so that Cilic wouldn't further injure the ankle before Wimbledon. Cilic is looking to make it past the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in his career but he has played pretty well in his four years at the All England Lawn Championship. Ivan Ljubicic also played at Queen's Club but he only survived two rounds, as after his first round victory over Ryan Sweeting, he lost to Radek Stepanek in three sets. Ljubicic's worst surface is grass. His career record on grass is under .500 at 22-25. The farthest he has ever gone at Wimbledon is the third round.

Prediction: Marin Cilic over Ivan Ljubicic in 3 sets.

22. Alexandr Dolgopolov vs Fernando Gonzalez: The 22 year old Dolgopolov will only be playing in his second Wimbledon this year. In his first tune-up for Wimbledon, he beat Robin Hasse in the first round before losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second. He lost at Eastbourne in the first round to Carlos Berlocq in two sets the next week. Dolgopolov has only played 9 matches in his young career on grass, so he doesn't have nearly the experience that Gonzo has on the surface. The advantage for Dolgopolov coming into the match is that he has played a lot of good tennis in 2011, while Gonzalez has not been able to get on the court much. After the U.S. Open, Gonzo had to get surgery on his right hip and his right knee. He didn't return until the end of April but has been out since then. Wimbledon will only be Gonzalez's second tournament of the year and first on grass. He will definitely show some rust because of his long layoff. Gonzalez has played pretty well on the surface before, as he made a quarterfinal run back in 2005.

Prediction: Alexandr Dolgopolov over Fernando Gonzalez in 4 sets.

John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut: The rematch of the longest men's tennis match in history is upon us. Last year for three days, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled it out on court 18 in the first round for an astonishing 11 hours and 5 minutes until John Isner finally won in the fifth set 70 to 68. To put that in perspective, the longest match in Australian Open history between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco back in 2009 lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes. The fifth set of John Isner's match against Nicolas Mahut took 8 hours and 11 minutes alone. The fifth set of their match required a record 138 games. Isner also set the record for most aces in a match with 113 and Mahut also had 103 aces, which is the second most by a men in a match. Before the draw for Wimbledon came out this year, John Isner joked with his now close friend Nicolas Mahut, "Watch us play each other." Mahut replied, "No, there's no way. That's not even funny." Although there was a 0.7 percent chance that Isner would play Mahut in the first round for the second year in a row, it has occurred and obviously there was a lot of reaction. Andy Murray said, "Isner vs mahut drawing each other in the first round after last year is the most amazing thing I've seen in tennis! Centre court anyone?!" Andy Roddick said, "Isner/mahut again. Unreal Do they play it on the same court???" Patrick McEnroe said, "ISNER MAHUT rematch in round 1. Since I have'nt been able to get my big brother on twitter yet I will say it-you cannot be serious." Isner said about the rematch, "we're going to enjoy it and laugh at it at the same time." 

Prediction: John Isner over Nicolas Mahut in 5 sets

32. Marcos Baghdatis vs James Blake: Marcos Baghdatis has always loved to play on grass. He made it to the semifinals in 2006, the quarterfinals in 2007, and the round of 16 in 2008. In his tune-up tournament for Wimbledon at the UNICEF Open in the Netherlands, Baghdatis won three matches before losing to Ivan Dodig in the semifinals. The success that Bagdatis has had on grass is the opposite of how Blake has been on the surface. He has lost in the first or second round 6 out of 8 years and in the other two years he only reached the third round. The combination of Blake's lack of success of grass and his recent play makes it a difficult task for him. The last ATP tournament Blake played in was in the beginning of April. He has been recovering from a knee injury that caused him to miss much of the clay court season including the French Open.

Prediction: Marcos Baghdatis over James Blake in 4 sets

A Look Back At Novak Djokovic's 43-Match Win Streak

Coming into his match against Roger Federer in the semifinals of the French Open, Novak Djokovic had a 41-match win streak to begin 2011, and a 43 match-win streak in a row dating back to last year. Djokovic needed 1 more win to tie John McEnroe's record of 42 straight wins to begin a season, which McEnroe did in 1984. He also needed just 1 more win to tie Ivan Lendl's 44-match winning streak, which Lendl did in 1982. Novak was also just two matches away from being one win short of Gullermo Vilas's record for 46 straight match wins, which Vilas did in 1977.

Djokovic said about the incredible win streak, "It [has] to end somewhere. I [know] it’s coming." Although it appeared at times that Djokovic would never lose, his streak came to an end in the semifinals of the French Open against Roger Federer. Federer beat Djokovic in four grueling sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5). The match could have gone either way. To honor one of the greatest streaks that tennis has ever seen, here are some highlights.

Winning the Australian Open: One of the most impressive things about the Joker's streak was that he won a major during it. When John McEnroe won 42 matches in a row in 1984, he also didn't win a major during the streak. McEnroe lost in the final of the 1984 French Open to Ivan Lendl. When Ivan Lendl won 44 straight matches in 1982, he didn't win a major during the streak either. In fact, he didn't win his fist major until the French Open in 1984. However, Novak was able to play well under the pressure of a grand slam and was able to win his second major. In the semifinals, Djokovic beat Roger Federer in straight sets 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-4. He had previously been 2-4 against Fed in majors. Djokovic joined Rafael Nadal as the only player to beat Federer in consecutive majors, as Djokovic beat Federer at the US Open last year in the semifinals. It was also his third win over Federer in the semifinals of a major, while no other player has more than one win over Fed in the semifinals of a grand slam. In the final, Novak beat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to take the title and his first grand slam since the Australian Open in 2008. He lost just 1 set the entire tournament.

Victories Over Rafael Nadal In Four Finals: Coming into 2011, Novak Djokovic was just 7-16 against Rafael Nadal including 0-5 against him in finals. That all changed during the streak as he beat Nadal four times in finals. The first victory came at Indian Wells in March on a hard court. He beat Rafa in three sets after dropping the first 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Joker's next victory over Nadal came at Miami a week later. He once again dropped the first set but came back to win in a 3 hour and 21 minute match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). No only did he prove to himself, Nadal, and the world that he couls beat Rafa but he also showed he could do it coming from behind. Djokovic became the first player to win the Austrlian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami in one season since Roger Federer in 2006. He became the seventh player in history to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. Djokovic entered the clay court season undefeated joining Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi as the only players to do so. However, questions still remained on whether Djokovic could beat Nadal on clay, as he was 0-9 against him on the dirt and has only won 3 sets in nine matches. He proved the doubters won in his next two tournaments. At Madrid, Djokovic beat Nadal in the final 7-5, 6-4 on clay. He proved that it wasn't a one time thing when he beat Nadal at Rome the next week once again in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on clay. He became the only player to ever to beat Nadal multiple times on a clay court in one season. As Rafael Nadal said after he loss to Novak at Rome, "He is doing amazing things. He is playing fantastic, doing a lot of things very well and has a lot of confidence. The most important thing for me is to be confident and be happy with what I am doing. I have done everything I can, I cannot ask more of myself but one player is doing better then me."

Victories Over Roger Federer: This season, Djokovic joined David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal, as the only players to beat Federer 3 times in one calenday year. After the Joker beat Fed at the Auzzie Open, he beat him at Dubai in a final. He joined Rafael Nadal as the only player to beat Federer in the semifinals or later of a major and then beat Federer in the next tournament he played in. During their match at Dubai, the Joker won an impressive 81 percent of his first service points. At Indian Wells in March, he beat Federer for a third straight time in the semifinals in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. With his victory over Nadal in the final of that tournament, he joined David Nalbandian and Nikolay Davydenko as the only players to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament.

After Djokovic lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals of the French Open in a great match 7-6 (5-7), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) snapping his win streak, Djokovic said, "It had to end somewhere. Best five months of my life, my tennis career. I cannot complain. It was definitely an incredible peroid."