Anticipating Perfection

I’m giddy with tennis fanaticism tonight, I just have to write a post about it. Now that I’ve said that many of you will stop reading this post. I’m actually writing this post for the non-tennis fan – or any one who doesn’t really get the craziness of sports fandom. Usually, I’d side with you. I’m not a big sports fan (obviously with the exception of tennis and the Olympics – two things I do go a bit gaga over). I don’t really follow any professional local teams and I can’t tell you the last time I went to a Superbowl party. But what I do get is natural talent. I don’t have to like basketball to appreciate the literal flight of players like Michael Jordan. I believe there are athletes who are good at being athletes: They train, they practice; they eat, sleep and breathe their sport and therefore, make a living playing well. Then there are those athletes with natural talent (they really don’t have to be athletes – you know what I mean. Someone who doesn’t really have to try but manages to be amazing at their chosen gift) the ability to completely embody their sport and not only make it look effortless, but create magic and grace simultaneously. These are the people that make their sport beautiful; they also remind us why the ancient Greeks were so caught up in the athletic human form – glorious is not a strong enough word. This is why I’m so giddy tonight.

Witnessing said natural talent in action is incredible. If you follow a sport, there’s always that one game, that one athlete, that one perfectly aligned moment of supreme awesomeness that epitomizes said sport. Hopefully you get to be around to see it – usually you don’t. I’d watch Babe Ruth play baseball any day of the week even though I’m not a fan of the game; I understand just how organically magnificent it must have been to see him in action. If I were a baseball fan, I’d lament the fact that I’d never see the game I love at its moment of perfection. I’m not saying baseball will never have another moment of perfection or there isn’t a player out there who has the potential to be even better than The Great Bambino. This is one of the reasons we have sports heroes; to inspire the potentials and put the passion in their hearts. What I’m saying is that the moment of perfection, the star aligned moment of sports awesomeness isn’t easy to predict. The game changing athletes are truly few and far between.

So why am I joyously fanatical this evening? Because tomorrow morning at 8:00 am central time one of those moments will unfold on my living room television: The 2011 French Open Men's Final. Seriously, if at any point tomorrow or later on YouTube you want to see poetry in motion (wow, I really just said that) watch 5 or 10 minutes of this final. Why do I know it will be amazing? How can I already tell it will go down in tennis history? Because both players involved in the match are seasoned and chock full of actual natural talent. Seriously, you just don’t get any better than Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. The mind boggling concept that they are both playing in the same lifetime is simply ridiculous. It’s so rare and there are so many clichés…I’m going with one in a million (wow, I said that too). Every single time the tennis world gets to see these two play each other is a miraculous gift; a gift I get to witness and appreciate while it’s happening! I can’t even apologize for this rant, I’m that excited. Who do I think will win? I have no idea. I’m not even sure who I want to win. I do know that it will be a roller-coaster of emotions for the players and fans alike and at the end one of them will be crying bitter tears while the other will be screaming, primally.

It’s history in the making; I’m SO anticipating the perfection!