The Middle Sunday

All of the top Nike athletes seem to have personalized shoes. I think Tiger needs some personalized golf shoes!

Guess who? Hint: He's won 4 consecutive US Open trophies & his initials are RF.

Serena's shoes are personalized on the back, tongue & sole. The little hearts on the edge of the sole have the years she's won.
(click to enlarge)

Nadal's shoes have bullhorns on one & "Rafa" on the other.

I started the day shooting Roger.

Between the matches, Mary, Kathy, Susan, Frank & I took a stroll around the fenced-in grounds of the old World's Fair. If I could get inside the fence, I'd spend the whole day shooting my two favorite things, rust & peeling paint. That's way more interesting than shooting tennis.

Mary held up the Unisphere while I shot her with the Fuji digital infrared camera.



I was shooting the Roddick match when Mary shot me with the IR camera.

I always like to wait until the player gets in just the right spot near the logo. You can't get this photo in week two, since there's a linesjudge permanently stationed in the middle of the logo.


I went up on the roof of the press box to shoot the grounds.

While I was up there, I found some nice rust.

Hot & Humid!

Rafa hits an autographed ball into the stands.

Even though I enjoy shooting elevated, I decided to shoot most of the matches from court level today. Here's Serena from the dugout.

I never get tired of shooting Monfils. He makes great pictures!

Venus from the dugout.

Johnny Mac, Dick Enberg & Mary Carillo watch Connors beat Borg (1976) on the Jumbotron ... or should I say Jimbotron?!?

USTA Member Appreciation Day

It's USTA Member Appreciation Day, & since I'm a Lifetime Member, it means a quick trip to the hospitality village to pick up my annual gift. This year it's an aluminum water bottle.

Roger won in straight sets.

My curiousity was piqued. Can you blame me?

It's not easy hoisting the 700,000 pound Unisphere. It's 140 feet high, 120 feet in diameter & made of stainless steel. Luckily, Mary is quick, so I didn't have to hold it that long to get a blog photo.

Thursday

The Blake match ended abruptly when his opponent retired after splitting sets.

The light was just getting nice & Monfils looked great, when I had to leave to pick up Mary at the airport

I wasn't happy that Venus was wearing white. Upon closer examination, I noticed she was wearing pink.

Nice Light ... Great Weather!

Serena sizzled in the nice light with her red dress.



Marat threw a few fits, but pulled it out in five.

The serves looked nice from every angle.

This Lexus IS 350 is covered in tennis ball felt, complete with a rubber seam. It must get really heavy when it rains.

From the top of Armstrong, there's a great view of Shea Stadium next to the soon to be, new home of the NY Mets, Citi Field. It's funny that the new stadium looks smaller.

It's Showtime!

The Opening Ceremony was quite a show. Earth, Wind & Fire played as did the cast of Jersey Boys & some local acts.

Paula Abdul was in the crowd, but there was no sign of Simon or Randy.

Since this year's theme is "Celebrating 40 years of Open Era Tennis," most of the past champions were present to be honored.

This year the US Open has finally decided to "go green." YAY!

National Waffle Day ... postponed!

Everybody who reads my blog, knows I host famous waffle design parties. When I saw Helaine at Catalina, she told me that today is National Waffle Day. I couldn't believe I never heard of it!

Today celebrates the anniversary of the first American waffle iron patent by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, NY on August 24, 1869. His early waffle iron was used in conjunction with coal stoves, consisted of a griddle and a cover and required flipping of the device to cook both sides of the waffle.

My National Waffle Day celebration will have to wait a couple of weeks, since I'm in NY at Catalina, about 1,000 miles away from my waffle Iron.
10 Tips To Make Perfect Waffles

There was a really nice shadow on the pavers near the Oceanview office.

For some reason, I never get tired of shooting these flags.

At the end of the day, the surf was rough & there were a ton of abandoned beach chairs waiting to be stored.

Mom & Sandy enjoy the ocean breeze.

Helaine & Andrea, Mom & Adam.

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day

I opted to skip the stadium show to shoot interview room portraits.

There were cute kids everywhere!



There was a booth for the Double Stuf Racing League near Ashe Stadium (here's a great commercial for the DSRL starring the Williams sisters & the Manning brothers). Ironically, there was a nutrition interactive area near Armstrong Stadium.

I thought this photo of me & Mr. Double Stuf was way more blogworthy than me with the food pyramid sign. Luckily Chris Trotman was there to shoot this photo.

From Ridgewood Country Club to Flushing Meadows

I shot some golf this morning & after lunch I did a little shopping at Campmor before heading to Flushing to pick up my US Open credentials.

The light was nice so I walked around & took some snaps.

All of a sudden these fans started screaming. Then I saw Nadal emerge from the practice courts.

As I was leaving the tennis, I felt compelled to take a picture of Shea Stadium before it gets torn down. After all, it was the first place I went to a ball game with my dad.