Did CNNSI Fire Gimelstob?

We've noticed that CNNSI hasn't published one of former player Justin Gimelstob's "columns" since his little radio tirade that occurred during Wimbledon. Did they deep six the douchebag or what?

Sound harsh? Excuse me for not feeling very charitable toward the jerkoff. He appeared on some radio show during Wimbledon to call Anna Kournikova a "bitch" "scumbag" "douche" and someone he "despised to the maximum level, right below hate." 

Had enough? But there's more - noting he was scheduled to play a mixed doubles match against her this summer during World Team Tennis, Gimel-dick talked about how he was going to "kick her asshole" and hit her with a 129 mph serve right in the stomach, "if she's not crying by the time she comes off court I haven't done my job."

Oh really? Who's strong enough to hit that 129 mph serve for him, Serena Williams?  We all know Justin can't get it up anymore.

Gimelstob's Brother Murdered a Cop

Gimeldork offered to have Kournikova sleep with his brother, who is "kind of a stud." Yeah he's a stud alright. None of the articles about this controversy mention that said stud Josh Gimelstob pled guilty to negligent homicide for the hit and run death of a Tulane campus police officer in 1997. He left the scene and tried to get his jeep repaired to cover the crime up. The asshole served a lousy six month prison term. Maybe Justin has his own fantasies about Josh's studliness. 

And yes, there's even more from the New Jersey Sage. He said women's tennis players "lack the social skills, they don't go to high school, they don't go to parties." Yeah. Frat parties. Dudes develop tons of top notch skills from slurping on the beer bong and passing out in dirty bathtubs.

Justin had some other locker room barbs for Nicole Vaisidova and Alize Cornet. Vaisidova didn't take offense, but that's because she's used to dating with losers like Radek Stepanek. Kournikova's only comment was that she was going to take the high road. She's grown up a lot since she was on the tennis tour and lives a relatively quiet existence. 

Unlike Vaisidova, Serena Williams took up for Kournikova

"Being pro-women's rights, I just think we've come farther than to be referred to like this," said Williams.  "Anna is a great girl. For anyone to say that about her is not professional. It's just totally uncalled for. Unless you really know these people, you talk to these people, you never know what people go through. It's not good to say those things about people."

Truth and Consequences

Gimelstob was suspended by Team Tennis for one match and he issued an apology. A far bigger issue is his recent election to the ATP Board of Directors, which happened before the incident. Gimelstob was hired by CNNSI to write tennis columns but that seems to have stopped. The columns were mostly wastes of time, like when he defended his bro Andy Roddick from what he perceived as unfair criticism by Jon Wertheim, the real tennis journalist at CNNSI. That was ridiculous, since Wertheim is a frequent Roddick defender and all Wertheim said was that Roddick needed to do something about the attitude he developed with Jimmy Connors. (He did; he parted ways with Jimbo)

Unfortunately the usually strong Wertheim sort of defended Gimelstob after the incident. I wish Wertheim and CNNSI would weigh in on this. If the guy has been fired they need to say so. My take on it is simple:  you have free speech, but private employers retain the right to make you suffer the consequences. That's apparently a tough concept for the Gimelstob family.

HE IS LEGEND

You know men's tennis achieved something truly epic when the match transcends the court and spills over onto... The Gossip Pages.

That's right, Nadal hit both TMZ and gossip guru Ted Casablanca on E! (who judged Rafa as a hottie on the do-me meter). So Rafa apparently has a "secret" girlfriend (yeah, we all wondered about those man-capris) who is banned from his matches due to her magical powers. Deadspin and TMZ have a gaggle of photos of Nadal and said girlfriend- "Xisca"- on the beach. She's 18, white bikini, white hot - you know, the usual.

So who has girlfriend bragging rights, Nadal or Roddick?

I'm thinking Roger needs to tell Mirka to go back to blonde, that dishwater brown isn't working out.

Meanwhile, naughtier, guiltier pleasure Perez Hilton featured tennis several times over the last two weeks. If you're on Perez you're certainly at the top of the zeitgeist meter (just check out the Perez-effect on iTunes). TMZ also got into the, ahem, "act" with Venus and Serena. All this gossip attention can only mean one thing: major celebrity/poseur activity at the US Open.

Chris & Martina on Oprah

Apparently Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova visited with Oprah this week. Chris always did look good in red. These two are in their 50s? A good advertisement for the capacity of women's athletics to keep the old body youthful. 

Fascinating, isn't it, that two fierce rivals who played each other more than 150 times would console each other in the locker room? Can you imagine Justine and Serena doing that? Neither can I. I'm pretty sure they would strangle each other with their disrespect.

This gives me the opportunity to comment on the revamped Tennis Week site that produced the video.  The weekly newspaper Tennis Week was once the only tennis journalism that mattered in the States. When founder Gene Scott died a few years ago it was a terrible loss for tennis. Gene was the conscience of tennis. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the substance of his editorials, it was evident that every word was designed with the best interests of the sport in mind. Gene Scott wasn't afraid to get on the bully pulpit and yell at the game's various special interests. His newspaper was a delight to hardcore fans and favored by industry insiders. 

I've given the new website version of Tennis Week a chance. It's been around for at least six months, probably a lot longer. I have no idea what the print version looks like, but if the website is any indication, it's a lost cause. 

I hate the glossy "In Touch Weekly" "People" or "Us" makeover. 

I hate that there are fewer articles of substance.

I hate the daily video. I don't need that woman giving me Us Weekly stories about tennis. Especially when it ignores serious issues or things that are even timely... Like today, when we learned the Venus is out of commission because of what is described as non-serious medical testing (huh? Get well soon), an Austrian player died of cancer, and Jo Tsonga is out of the US-France Davis Cup clash, which dramatically changes the dynamic.

How much are they paying for that woman to read two minutes of People Magazine stuff? We all know Roddick is friend's with Boyd Tinsley. What we didn't know until this week is that Andy Roddick is friends with T.O. Yes... Terrelle Owens. Weird, wacky, wonderful tennis. I learned of that pairing from the New York Times. When Tennis Week is getting scooped by the NYT, it's time to shut it down.

Ok. Maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe a fluff video is a good thing for tennis. Fine, that girl can even read it. But why does the essence of the paper have to change? Gene would NEVER have approved of this.

The Future Ex-Mrs. Roddick

This is Brooklyn Decker, Roddick's new fiance. I know, totally fake name right? For the record, I agree with celebrity gossipmonger Perez Hilton, who gives it two years to fail. Sorry Andy.

Like Nick Lachey before him, Roddick will soon figure out he didn't need to marry the model to um... you know. Then one day he'll be watching basketball and his wife will ask him if Chicken of the Sea is really sea-water chicken, rather than um... you know, tuna.

What, Jessica Simpson was a singer when she made that famous comment about chi-tuna? Huh. Who knew? Remember that miserable look Nick got on his face when he realized Simpson was dead serious? 

At least she's moved on to someone who can match her stupidity for stupidity:  Cowboys QB Tony Romo.

Congratulations and good luck Andy.

Roddick Beats Roger!

For just the second time in his career, Andy Roddick defeated Roger Federer tonight in Miami, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3. Roddick is now 2-15 against Roger. 

There have been times when Roddick was so close to beating Roger, most notably in that Wimbledon final. But not lately. His game matches up miserably with TMF and their matches have been mostly blowouts for the last couple of years.

Roddick started the year with a miserable Australian Open when he embarassed himself with a Jimmy Connors-like tirade and meltdown. A few weeks later, the two amicably ended their coaching relationship.

Roddick promptly captured the title at Dubai, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semis. It was his first Masters' title in a few years. He is now 19-3 on the year with two titles.

Oh by the way, Roddick got engaged to that swimsuit model last week too. Who gets more credit for Roddick's turnaround, said Model or said ex-coach?

I say neither. I think Roddick deserves all credit for how he's currently comporting himself on the tennis court. A few weeks ago Andy announced he would skip the Olympics to prepare for the US Open. I applauded that decision because no one has been more dedicated to representing the USA in Davis Cup. The Olympics promises to be one big exhausting Hot China Mess (I'll be sharing my own misgivings about the Olympics in a future post). He has taken responsibility for the coaching, for his style of play, for his schedule and for his life. In short, Roddick is acting like a man. 

French Are Flying High

The petit French feline Sophia, CYCLOPS' best friend, wanted to make sure we didn't forget about French success Down Under.

It's been a glorious tournament for French tennis, with 29 players starting the tournament and several making it to the fourth round. With the exception of Amelie Mauresmo, the players have made their mark.  French Tennis has been building for years, with a definite, different methodology at work. They find great athletes and turn them loose on tennis, and are not anxious for stunning results until the player is into his twenties. No angst over non-performing 24 year-olds from this country.

The breakout star is Jo-Wilifred Tsonga. Tsonga's mother is French and father Congolese. All his press refers to him as the Muhammad Ali of tennis because he looks like Ali. His run has been impressive: beating Andy Murray, last year's finalist Gonzalez ,and today his friend and countryman, Richard Gasquet, to advance to the QF.

Steve Bierley, writing for The Guardian, discusses Tsonga's long road back from a herniated disk. Tsonga was once the #2 ranked junior. (Who was ahead of him? Marcos Baghdatis). Since Tsonga beat the Great British Hope in the first round, you have to wade through several paragraphs of woe-are-we-British-tennis to get to the part about the French. The Brits are so jealous.

Other articles say that Tsonga and Gael Monfils used to pretend they were Andy Roddick when they were young juniors, mimicking his serve. That ought to make Andy feel prematurely old.

The French showing is remarkable when you consider that Monfils is out with an injury, and he's a firecracker, amazing athlete and tennis talent.