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 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."

Novak Djokovic Will One Day Be In The Discussion Of The Greatest Tennis Players Ever

Following 5 hours and 53 minutes of unbelievably high level tennis, Novak Djokovic was finally able to knock off his rival Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

In an epic final in Melbourne, Djokovic and Nadal fought it out in the longest Grand Slam final of all-time surpassing the previous longest match in major final history of 4 hours and 27 minutes when Mats Wilander beat Pat Cash in the 1988 Australian Open championship. It was also the longest match ever in Australian Open history breaking the previous longest match in the tournament's history when Rafael Nadal knocked off Fernando Verdasco in the 2009 semifinals in a 5 hour and 14 minute match. Only John Isner and Nicolas Mahut's 11 hour and 5 minute match in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and Arnaud Clements and Fabrice Santoro's 6 hour and 33 minute match in the first round of the 2004 French Open were longer Grand Slam matches than Djokovic and Nadal's final.

The top two ranked players in the world put on an incredible display of tennis for nearly 6 hours. Just when you thought that one of them was down and out, they would fight back and keep the match alive.

In the fourth set, it appeared that Djokovic would run away with the match. The world number 1 had gone up on Nadal 2 sets to 1 after dominating the Spaniard in the third set 6-2. Although Djokovic was all over Nadal's serve in the fourth set, he was unable to convert a break point, as he was 0 for 3 in the set. Despite not having a sniff of a break point on Djokvoic's serve, Nadal was able to scrap and fight and win the set in a tiebreak 7-5.

After pulling out the fourth set much to the dismay of Djokvoic, Nadal looked like he was going to take the decisive fifth set. At 3-2, Nadal broke Djokovic for the first time on his first break point opportunity since the second set and was up 4-2. However, much like how Nadal refused to quit in the fourth set, Djokovic was able to fight back and break Nadal in the next game to bring the match back on serve. With the Djokovic and Nadal tied at 5 in the fifth, Djokovic was able to convert his second break point opportunity of the game and served out the match to win the Australian Open title.

The Djokovic and Nadal final is now in the discussion with the Nadal and Federer 2008 Wimbledon final and the Borg and McEnroe 1980 Wimbledon final as the greatest Grand Slam final matches of all-time.

Novak Djokovic also proved that he will be at the top of the men's game for a very long time and his incredible season last year wasn't a one year fluke. Djokovic looks like he will one day be in the discussion of the greatest tennis players of all-time. Djokovic's 2011 season is up there with

Nole's 2011 year will go down in history as one of the greatest single seasons in men's tennis history.
His overall record was an astounding 70-6 and before Djokovic lost some matches at the end of the year because he was slowed down by injuries, his record was an unprecedented 64-1. Djokovic's 2011 season is up there with Rod Laver's 1969 year when he won all four grand slams, Roger Federer's 2006 season when he was 92-5, and John McEnroe's 1984 year when he was 82-3 as the greaest single seasons of all-time.

The Joker began the 2011 season sizzling hot, as he won his first seven tournaments including the year's first major at the Australian Open. Djokovic's first loss didn't come until the semifinals of the French Open when he fell to Roger Federer in a very tight match 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7).

His 41-match win streak to begin 2011 was just one win shy of John McEnroe's record of 42 straight victories to begin a season, which he did in 1984 before losing to Ivan Lendl in the 1984 French Open finals. Djokovic's 43 straight match victories dating back to 2010 were just 3 shy of Guillermo Villas's record of 46 straight victories, which he did in 1977 before losing to Ilie Nastase in the final of the Aix-en-Provence final. Djokovic also was just one tournament victory shy of joining Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as the only players to ever win 8 singles titles in a row. Nole's loss to Federer was his first loss against a top 10 player since he lost to Federer in the 2010 ATP World Tour semifinals. His 13 match win streak against top 10 players was the third longest in ATP history only trailing Federer's 17 match win streak against top ten players from 2006 to 2007 and Federer's 26 match win streak against top ten players from 2003 to 2005.

Djokovic's 5 ATP Masters series titles were the most ever in a single season and he had a 35-match hard court win streak before he fell to Andy Murray in the finals of Cincinnati. His 35 straight victories on a hard court were the third most of all-time only trailing Federer's 36 hard court match streak from 2006 to 2007 and Federer's 56 match win streak from 2005 to 2006.

The most impressive part of Djokovic's season was his performances at the Grand Slams, where he had an incredible record of 25-1 and won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open. Djokovic joined Rod Laver (1969), Jimmy Connors (1974), Mats Wilander (1988), Roger Federer (2004, 2006, 2007) and Rafael Nadal (2010) as the only players to win at least three Grand Slams in a single season since the open era began in 1968. Djokovic also joined Ivan Lendl (1987), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Rafael Nadal (2008), and Andy Murray (2011) as the only players to reach all four Grand Slam semifinals in a single season since 1972.

Djokovic's overall prize money for the 2011 season was over 12 million dollars, which is the most by a player in one season.

With his victory at the Australian Open this year, Djokovic is already amongst the all-time greats. He has won 5 Grand Slams thus far, which to put that in perspective, is just one shy of greats like Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker and two behind John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.

Djokovic now has won three Australian Opens, which is tied with Mats Wilander for the third most all-time in the open era and is only behind Roger Federer and Andre Agassi's 4 Australian Open titles.

Nole has also won a Wimbledon title and a U.S. Open title, and just needs to win the French Open to complete the career Grand Slam. If he is able to win the French Open, he would join Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal as the only players to win the career Grand Slam.

The future is encouraging as well for the Serbian, as he has a lot of years of tennis left to play. Djokovic is just 24 years old and is just in his 8th year on the ATP tour.

Also, Nole is very solid and can play on every surface. Although he has never won the French Open, he has made the semifinals of the major three times and he also had two quarterfinal appearances since 2006.

Also, Djokovic's rivals can't figure out how to beat him. Dating back to last year in their last 7 matches, Nadal is 0-7 against Djokovic and all of their match-ups have been in finals including at three major finals. Although Federer has been on the brink of cracking the Joker, he is just 1-4 against him in their last 5 matches including losses at the Australian Open last year as well as the U.S. Open when he had 2 match points in the fifth set but failed to convert either one. Djokovic is also 3-1 against Andy Murray.

The future is very bright for the Serbian star and Djokovic may one day be atop the list of the men's all-time great tennis players.

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."

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."

A Dream French Open Semifinal

In one heavyweight semifinal the number 1 seed Rafael Nadal will play the number four seed Andy Murray. In the other semifinal the number 2 seed Novak Djokovic will play the number 3 seed Roger Federer. The top four seeds all advancing to the semifinals of a major has only happened 11 times in the Open era and the last time it occurred was at the French Open 5 years ago in 2006. Previously, these four guys along with fifth seeded Robin Soderling became the first top five seeds since Wimbledon in 1989 to all reach the quarterfinals of a major. Pretty amazing stuff; I would definitely agree with that statement. 

Rafael Nadal is just two matches away from winning his 6th French Open title, which would tie him with Bjorn Borg for the second most French Open championships in history.

Will Rafa tie Borg for the second most French Open titles?

Novak Djokovic has a 41 match win streak to begin 2011, and now has 43 wins in a row dating back to last year. Djokovic needs 1 more win to tie John McEnroe's record of 42 straight wins to begin a season, which he did in 1984. If Djokovic beats Federer in the semifinals, he would tie Ivan Lendl's 44 match winning streak, which he did in 1982. If Novak wins his next two matches at the French Open, he will be just one short of Gullermo Vilas's record for 46 straight match wins, which Vilas set in 1977.

Will the streak continue?

After beating Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16, Federer broke Jimmy Connors record of most consecutive quarterfinal appearance at a major by reaching his 28th straight. Federer is looking to win his first major since the Australian Open in 2010 and is looking to extend his record 16 major victories to 17.

Will Roger win his second French Open?

Andy Murray has made three glam slam finals and has not won a set in any of the three matches. He is looking to break through and win a major at this year’s French Open. Murray is also just the second British player to reach the semifinals of the French Open in the Open Era. In 2004,Tim Henman made the semifinals before losing to Guillermo Coria.

Will Murray finally win his first major?

Although it sounds cliché, tennis is really the winner in this situation. Although everybody likes an underdog story, a semifinal that includes the top four players in the world, who are all playing at such a high level, and all have so much to play for, is just something spectacular. No matter if Nadal ties Borg for the second most French Open victories, or Djokovic's streak continues and he breaks McEnroe's record, or Federer extends his record for major victories by winning his 17th, or Andy Murray becomes the first player from England to win the French Open, it should be a hell of a Friday and Sunday of tennis.

Don't Overlook Roger Federer In The French Open

With Rafael Nadal aiming for his 6th French Open title to tie Bjorn Borg for the most French Open championships in history and Novak Djokovic's current 41 match win streak, most people have forgot about a man that has won 16 majors and is currently ranked 3rd in the world. However, to look past Roger Federer when talking about serious contenders to win the French Open, is a huge mistake.

Roger Federer has not had an easy walk in the park for the first three rounds of the French Open. To begin this quest for a second French Open crown, he had a tricky looking match with the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Lopez had previously played Federer in a great match early in May in the 2nd round of Madrid that lasted nearly three hours. Federer won that extremely tight match, where all three sets went into tiebreakers, 7-6 (15-13), 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (9-7). Federer even had to save a match point during the third set tiebreak in that match. However, Federer played some great tennis and beat Lopez in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). 

In the second round, he lost just 5 games to the young Frenchmen Maxime Teixeira, as he took the match 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.

In the third round, Federer beat Janko Tipsarevic in a difficult third round match 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. His first set against Tipsarevic took just 19 minutes. Tipsarevic said after the match, "I was honestly expecting more from myself today but he was just too good."

Federer is also extremely confident right now. He said, "I'm at peace with my game right now. Physically I feel better. My body is in better shape. I've had more practice, more matches, because between Australia and Roland Garros last year I didn't play much, and when I played it was a bit difficult. It's still early in the tournament but at the same time it's really nice to be moving in the draw so well and so quickly.

In the round of 16, Federer will play his fellow countrymen from Switzerland Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer has owned his really good friend Wawrinka. Federer is 8-1 against Stan and he has won 18 sets out of 21 against Wawrinka in 9 matches. 

The last time Federer was seeded outside of the top two at a grand slam was in 2003 and Federer has never flown so far under the radar as he has at this year's French Open since before he won his first major at Wimbledon in 2003. Federer doesn't mind having so much attention on Nadal and Djokovic and having less pressure on his shoulders. He said, "People expected me to hopefully win or to prove myself here in Paris over many, many years, and this year I don't have to do that because I have already won this tournament before. And now the expectations are sky-high for Novak and Rafa, because he's the defending champion. That leaves me a bit out of the pressure situation, which is not a bad thing for me.

Men's Notable French Open First Round Matches

1. Rafael Nadal vs John Isner: John Isner has really struggled this season. He began the season ranked inside the top 20 at number 19 in the world but has now fallen to 39 because of a rough 5 months to start the season. He is just 9-12 this year. Isner is not at all a clay court specialist and is much better on hard courts. John is just 3-5 on clay courts this season and hasn't reached the semifinals of any clay court tournament. Isner has never made it past the 3rd round at the French Open. However, his big serve and ability to hit the big forehand makes him somewhat of a threat to Nadal even if he is really struggling and has never been to good on clay. Nadal said about playing Isner, "He's one of these players that you prefer not to have to have in the first round. His style of game is dangerous. His serve is unbelievable. He can be dangerous... I have to be very focused with my serve."

24. Sam Querrey vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Philipp Kohlschreiber has always played very well at Roland Garros and he is very good on clay. In 2009, Kohlschreiber beat Novak Djokovic in the third round of the French Open 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 before he was knocked out in the round of 16. On the other hand, Sam Querrey has really struggled on clay. This season he is just 1-3 on clay courts and his only win came because Kevin Anderson had to retire after one set. Sam said about his early season struggles, "Even though I haven't had great results this year, my game feels really good and I actually feel confident. I have been hitting the ball as well as I have ever hit it and I am working really hard. I just need one little spaek to get going... Everyone has their ups and downs aside from gus like Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal], who are pretty consistent at the top. But I think I'm just a bit og a cycle and can turn it around pretty qucikly." Querrey has especially struggled at Roland Garros. He has never made it out of the first round and is 0-4 at the French Open in his career. Querrey said about his struggles at the French Open, "I have never won a match at the French, so the goal is to win one match. That is all I am really focusing on right now. I can't afford to look beyond that... Sometimes in sports you make runs out of nowhere. It would be great to do that here [at the Fench Open] and prove everything wrong." Thus, this matchup is so intriguing and could definitely be a possible upset because Kohlschreiber plays so well on clay and Querrey struggles so much on clay especially at Roland Garros.

3. Roger Federer vs Feliciano Lopez: Rafael Nadal is not the only highly seeded player who has a difficult first round match. Roger Federer will have a tricky match with the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. In fact, Lopez and Federer played a great match early this month in the 2nd round of Madrid that lasted nearly three hours. Federer won the extremely tight match, where all three sets went into tiebreakers, 7-6 (15-13), 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (9-7). Federer even had to save a match point during the third set tiebreak. Although Federer has never lost to Lopez and is 0-8, Lopez looks like a different player in 2011. Lopez has had a terrific season especially on clay as he made it to the quarterfinals of Bareclemona and the finals of the Serbia Open before he lost to Djokovic. Although most people believe that Federer will advance out of the first round, Lopez will be a tricky opponent especially if he is playing well.

Lleyton Hewitt vs Albert Montanes: This is by far the most intriguing matchup of two guys who aren't seeded in the French Open. Lleyton Hewitt hasn't played since he lost to Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round of Indian Wells due to a foot injury. However, as always you can expect the Aussie to fight, scrap, and crawl for every point like he always does. His coach Tony Roche said about Hewitt playing through the pain at Roland Garros, "I think he's used to that. Look, he'd be the toughest competitor that I've ever seen. He's had a lot of setbacks over the last couple of years but he keeps bouncing back... It's his first tournament back fom his operation. It's a big ask, but he could do it... Lleyton is still as keen as ever. He feels in the grand slams, given the right opportunity, that he can still be competitive with the top guys." The other side of this matchup is the Spaniard Albert Montanes. He is a clay court specialist, as his 4 runner-ups and 5 tournament victories, have been all on clay courts. His only winning record at a major is at the French Open. He has made it to the third round of the French Open 5 times. However, this season Montanes has just not been good on the clay. He is 6-7 in 13 matches on clay this season and his ranking has dropped from 25 at the beginning of the season to 37. 

13. Richard Gasquet vs Radek Stepanek: Richard Gasquet has looked absolutely fantastic this season. He began the season ranked 30 in the world and has moved up 16 spots to number 14. At Rome, Gasquet had a great tournament. He beat Roger Federer in the third round 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4). Gasquet beat Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 before his great tournamnet ended with a loss to Rafael Nadal 5-7, 1-6. He showed his new found toughness and grit by coming back to beat both Federer and Berdych after dropping highly contested first sets in both matches. Gasquet showed his maturity, which he failed to show when he was younger and has shown his resolve and determination to fight for every point. His change of attitude makes him look like a real contender to make a deep run at Roland Garros as long as he can first get by the old veteran Radek Stepanek. Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 just last year but has fallen to 57 in the world now. However, he has begun to show his 2010 form, which should be dangerous for Gasquet. He beat Marcos Baghdatis at Monte Carlo in the first round and made it to the semifinals of Munich on clay.

25. Juan Martin Del Potro vs Ivo Karlovic: Juan Martin Del Porto is 6'6. Ivo Karlovic is 6'10. These two guys are huge and their first round match at the French Open should have huge serves and hitting from both guys. Although Del Potro hits the ball very hard and flat, he is also very good on the dirt. In 2009, he made it to the French Open semifinals. Del Potro has been working himself back into shape and tennis form this season after a 9 month break due to a wrist surgery. Del Potro has played pretty well since his return. He has won 2 tournaments and has beaten 5 players in the top 20 including Robin Soderling in straight sets twice, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhali Youzhny, and Marin Cilic. Karlovic and Del Portro aren't very familiar with each other either, as their only meeting was on grass four years ago. Both of these guys are great servers. Karlovic ranks 1st in 1st serve points won at 80%, service game won at 91%, and break points saved at 73%. He also ranks 2nd in aces with 357. Del Potro is a pretty god returner. He rankes tied for 2nd with Novak Djokovic and only behind Andy Murray in break points converted at 50%. Del Potro isn't too bad serving himself either. He rankes 6th in service games won at 87%, 5th in break points saved at 68%, and 5th in 2nd seve points won at 55%. It should be a great match especially if Karlovic can serve well and stay in the match.

Novak Djokovic, Not Rafael Nadal, Is The Favorite To Win The French Open

On November 27, 2010, Novak Djokovic lost to Roger Federer 1-6, 4-6 and was knocked out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in the semifinals. Djokovic hasn't lost a match since then and has a 39 match win streak dating back to last season. Novak has started his 2011 season with a 37 match win streak. In 1984, John McEnroe began his season with 42 straight wins. The record for most victories in a row was set by Guillermo Vilas in 1977 when he when 46 matches in a row. Djokovic would surpass McEnroe and tie Guillermo's record for consecutive victories if he wins all seven of his matches at Roland Garros.

Nobody has been able to stop Novak this season. He has won all seven of the tournaments he has entered. His previous high for titles in one season was 5 in 2007 and 2009. He began his season with a victory at the Australian Open including a win over Roger Federer in the semifinals in straight sets. He beat Federer once again in the Dubai final in two sets a month later. At Indian Wells, he knocked off Federer for the third straight time and then beat Nadal in the finals. At Miami, Djokovic beat Nadal in a second straight final. A month later, Novak won the Serbia Open in his home country without dropping a set in the tournament. His most impressive displays have been at the last two tournaments. At Madrid, Djokovic beat Nadal in the final 7-5, 6-4 on clay. At Rome the next week, he once again beat Nadal in a final on clay in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Before those two matches, Novak had been 0-9 against Nadal on clay and had only won 3 sets in 9 matches against him. However, it looks like Djokovic has cracked the code on how to beat Nadal on clay. He has been taking a lot of chances and has been very aggressive against Nadal in the previous two finals on clay. He is the only player to ever to beat Nadal multiple times on a clay court in one season. Djokovic is a combined 7-0 against Nadal and Federer and is 13-0 against players ranked in the top 10 this year. 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."

Djokovic has shown unreal confidence during his 39 match win streak. After his victory over Nadal at Rome, Novak said, "I'm just most happy about the game I have this year on clay. The way I'm striking the ball and the way I'm so self-confident. I always knew I could beat the top players, but now I have the confidence to do it... I have won against him [Nadal] twice in the last eight days, which I think is incredible, an incredible achievement for me, and has given me a lot of confidence for the French Open."

John McEnroe said, "Nadal doesn't seem to know what to do against him, and quite honestly, if Nadal is baffled by playing him, then that just shows you how great he's playing on clay. You're looking at a guy [Djokovic] who's the best player in the world right now." Pete Sampras added, "I've seen him play a number of times over the years, and he was at the level with Roger and Rafa, but you never felt like his temperament could withstand a four-hour match. It always felt like he was a little bit up and down, a little bit emotional... It took him a few years to find his way.... And this year, something clicked in him, where he just sort of became a little bit more positive... And now he has that aura now where he's really, really tough to beat."

Djokovic also has a great chance to get to number 1 in the world for the first time in his career. No matter how he fares at the French Open, if Nadal doesn't win at Roland Garros, then Novak will rise to number 1. 

Djokovic beat Nadal 7-5, 6-4 at Madrid for his first victory over Nadal on a clay court.

Djokovic beat Nadal in a second straight final at Rome 6-4, 6-4. He became the only player to to ever beat Nadal multiple times on a clay court in one year.