Kurt Streeter: Serena Williams should be suspended for the rest of the year

The men’s final at the rainswept U.S. Open of 2009 was a long one, but compared to the epics we’ve seen recently at Wimbledon, a dud. The women’s final? Did anyone watch? Did anyone outside Belgium truly care?

Let’s face it, the 2009 Open will always be remembered for Serena Williams’ sudden, salty burst of lunacy. Now the question, even after her Monday apology, is how  tennis will respond.

Look, I still have great admiration for Serena Williams. I still think the journey she’s shared with her sister is one of the greatest stories in the history of sports. From where they came from, if the sisters had just been good enough to play college tennis it would have been unbelievable. Almost unthinkable. The fact that they are both among tennis' all-time greats -- mind-boggling.

A fine history is one thing. In the here and now, however, for her actions at this tournament, threatening a lineswoman who made a good call at a bad time, the $10,500 fine she’s been assessed is an utter joke.

Come on … $10,500? To a woman whose career prize money is more than $26 million? To her that’s nothing more than a thin dime.

The Streak -- yet another reason Roger Federer is the greatest athlete in the world

Alex Bogdonovic, Alejandro Falla, Thomas Johansson, Ivo Karlovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Sebastian Grosjean, Alberto Costa, Marcos Baghdatis, Fabrice Santoro, Andrei Pavel, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman, Fabrice Santoro, Takao Suzuki, Jakko Nieminen, Marcos Baghdatis, Andre Agassi, Marat Safin, Dudi Sela, Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Gonzalez, Carlos Moya, Victor Henescu, Rafael Nadal, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Ivo Minar, Nicolas Kiefer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Lleyton  Hewitt, Ivo Minar, Fabrice Santoro, Oliver Rochus, Nicolas Kiefer, David Nalbandian, Lleyton Hewitt, Denis Istomin, Florian Mayer, Max Mirnyi, Tommy Haas, Nikolay Davydenko, Nicolas Kiefer, Diego Hartfield, Alejandro Falla, Nicolas Massu, Tomas Berdych, Mario Ancic, David Nalbandian, Richard Gasquet, Tim Henman, Nicolas Mahut, Tomas Berdych, Mario Ancic, Jonas Bjorkman, Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, Tim Henman, Vincent Spadea, Marc Gicquel, James Blake, Nikolay Davydenko, Bjorn Phau, Jonas Bjorkman, Mikhail Youzhny, Novak Djokovic, Tommy Robredo, Andy Roddick, Michael Russell, Thierry Ascione, Potito Starace, Mikhael Youzhny, Tommy Robredo, Nikolay Davydenko, Teimuraz Gabashvili, Juan Martin Del Potro, Marat Safin, Tommy Haas, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Richard Gasquet, Scoville Jenkins, Paul Capdeville, John Isner, Feliciano Lopez, Andy Roddick, Nickolay Davydenko, Diego Hartfield, Fabrice Santoro, Janko Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych, James Blake, Novak Djokovic, Sam Querrey, Albert Montanes, Mario Ancic, Julien Benneteau, Fernando Gonzalez, Gael Monfils, Dominik Hrbaty, Robin Soderling, Marc Gicquel, Lleyton Hewitt, Mario Ancic, Marat Safin, Maximo Gonzales, Thiago Alves, Radek Stepanek, Igor Andreev, Gilles Muller, Novak Djokovic, Andreas Seppi, Evgeny Korolev, Marat Safin, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Roddick, Alberto Martin, Jose Acasuso, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Tommy Haas, Gael Monfils, Juan Martin Del Potro, Yen-Hsun Lu, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Robin  Soderling, Ivo Karlovic, Tommy Haas, Devin Britton, Simon Greul, Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Robedo, Robin Soderling.

These are the foes Roger Federer has played during the most remarkable streak going in modern sports. With his Wednesday win over Robin Soderling at the U.S. Open, Federer has now made 22 straight slam semifinals. Twenty-two!

The list details his opponents, in order, first round through the semifinals, from Wimbledon 2004 through this current U.S. Open. The wins, 131 of them, are in normal type. The losses, all 3, are in bold. It's a mark of sustained greatness that none of the current stars in other sports come close to.

Tiger Woods missed a cut at a grand slam this year; to say nothing of the times he’s failed to have a top-4 slam finish since 2004. Kobe Bryant’s Lakers didn’t make the playoffs in 2005. They lost in the first round in 2006. Michael Phelps is wonderful, but the Olympics are far from a yearly event.

Twenty-two straight Grand Slam semis. Twenty-two of the biggest, most pressure packed tournaments, played over a five year span against the very best, four times a year, on three different surfaces.

The previous consecutive streak? Ivan Lendl’s 10.

Wow.

-- Kurt Streeter

Photo: Roger Federer. Credit: Chris McGrath / Getty Images

Enough is enough -- bring NFL football back to L.A.!

For me, the highlight of this holiday weekend -- the last before NFL 2009 begins -- was my fantasy football league draft. I walked off with Adrian Peterson, Steve Slaton and San Diego's Mr. Rivers, a really nice haul. So why aren't I feeling a bit more chipper this Tuesday? Frankly, it's because I'm tired of having to fill my football fix with fantasy leagues and TV games broadcast from two time zones east.

I live right smack dab in the heart of Los Angeles, the nation's second biggest city, the cornerstone of a county containing 9,862,049 people, according to official stats from 2008. Good God, 9,862,049, and we've got no NFL team ... are you kidding me?

When is this madness going to end? When will this region have a team again to root for -- live and in living color, not from the distant remove of flat-screens and keeper fantasy leagues that have me not really caring about the outcome of games so much as whether Slaton can rush for 1,200 yards and give me 10 touchdowns this season? His team plays in Texas. I don't care about Texas. I care about Los Angeles, a city with ...

Kurt Streeter. First half story -- Bruins very good, Darren Collison...not so good

Early on in the first half, Darren Collison didn’t have much in the way of significant impact. He was called for a hard foul -– an attempt to draw a charge that looked more like a flop than anything else –- and he promptly sat on the bench just a few minutes into the game. He was replaced by freshman Jerime Anderson and his skimpy 2.8 points per game average. (Collison averages 14.6.)

Not exactly sure why Ben Howland put his star guard on the bench, but Collison sure didn’t look pleased. Maybe he was angry at himself, maybe he was angry at his coach, but he shook a fist in the air and draped a towel over his knees.

His face was a mask of sour disappointment. (Could well be that he’s just ticked-off at having to sit on the bench for even 15 seconds of his last regular-season game against UCLA's cross-town rival.)

When Collison returned, his team was up 15-7 and he’d scored two of the Bruins points on free throws. Again manning the point, he wasn’t much more of a factor. A few minutes went by and he picked up an assist. Then Howland sat him again.

Remember my belief that as Collison went, so would his team? Well, apparently I was wrong.

With just under six minutes left in the half he came back, but without him, his team hardly missed a beat -- the Bruins were up ,34-13. Pretty much everyone with the letters UCLA on the jersey was playing well.

The Trojans? They looked as if they’d either emerged from a slumber just 15 minutes before the game began, or as if they simply felt they had no chance against the onslaught of shuffling feet and waving arms that is the Bruins' defense.

A performance such as this certainly is great news for UCLA’s long-term hopes. If, without their most important player giving them much, they can play like this, then maybe they are much more than Mr. Collison and his merry mates.

At the half the score is UCLA 44, USC 21. Only a miracle will allow the Trojans to win this game.

Josh Shipp leads the Bruins with 10 points. Darren Collison?….ouch. He has two points on two free throws. He also has one assist.

For his sake, let’s hope the NBA scouts missed the first half.

-- Kurt Streeter

Photo: UCLA guard Darren Collison moves the ball up court against USC on Wednesday night. Credit: Gary A. Vasquez / US PRESSWIRE

Darren Collison: the key to UCLA versus USC hoops?

UCLA versus USC, this time at Pauley Pavilion, is just underway and I’ve got my eye on one guy right now: Darren Collison, the Bruins wiry, light-footed point guard.

Collison, of course, came back to college rather than enter last year’s NBA draft. He did so precisely for games like tonight’s.

As the 6-foot Collison goes, so go the Bruins. He’s their leader -- emotionally and down at the level of the squeaky shoes, the pick-and-rolls and the cross-court assists.

If he can play to his potential -- solid, smart and speedy -- the Bruins probably win this game. If he plays well the rest of the season, UCLA has a real shot at doing damage when the NCAA tournament comes.

More, proving himself in this kind of tightrope game will help his stock rise in the eyes of NBA scouts, which is a big reason why he’s a Bruin in 2009. Much is at stake for a guy like Darren Collison tonight.

This being the case, I’m going to pay him a little extra attention tonight. Will he be the key to how this game ends? We’ll see.

-- Kurt Streeter

Photo: Darren Collison slides into the UCLA bench while trying to retrieve a ball heading out of bounds during a game last month. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press

Streeter: Andy Roddick has a real chance against Roger Federer

As some of you know, I'm probably the only sports columnist at a major American newspaper to have played professional tennis -- albeit in the minor leagues.

My highest ranking back in the early '90s was around 440 in the world as a doubles player; AA ball, nothing higher. But having played a bit, I have  a good sense of the game, and here's my take on the lone American male still standing at the Australian Open.

Expect fireworks when Andy Roddick meets Roger Federer in the semifinals. I’ve watched a good amount of Roddick at the Australian Open and it's not a stretch to say he’s playing better than he ever has. Probably even better than when he won the 2003 U.S. Open.

It's all about the coaching. His new tennis guru, Larry Stefanki, demanded Roddick get in much better condition for the ’09 campaign. Roddick has lost,  reportedly, 15 pounds. That's allowing a guy who was already a gifted athlete, but a bit of a tall and big-boned guy for a tennis player, to move around the court with a light-footed dexterity he’s never had.

He’s not moving as well as Rafael Nadal or Federer, and he never will. But with his power on serve, he doesn’t have to.

As he did in the past with Marcel Rios, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Tim Henman and Fernando Gonzalez, Stefanki also has Roddick playing more aggressively. Roddick is looking to take more balls on the rise and trying to step further inside the court during rallies, a hallmark for pupils of the Southern California-based coach, who played at Cal a decade or so before I co-captained the team there.

(Note: This aggressive style has distinct California roots, partly because one of Stefanki's prime mentors was the late Tom Stow, a collegiate national champ in the 1920s, who, for decades taught a distinct serve-and-volley style as head coach at Cal and then at the Berkeley Tennis Club and other Northern California tennis outposts. Among his pupils: Hall of Famer Don Budge. Trust me when I say there's a little slice of Tom Stow in Andy Roddick right now.)

Roddick advanced to the semis when he beat Novak Djokovic 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1. Djokovic dropped out from exhaustion on a day when the temps on court surged above 120 degrees. When both players were fresh, in the first set, they were essentially equals, a big development since the Serb won this tournament last year and some, unbelievably, have considered Roddick washed-up.

Can Roddick beat Federer in the semis? I wouldn’t bet on him if Federer plays in the other-worldly way he did in his quarterfinal (6-3, 6-0, 6-0) clubbing of Juan Martin del Potro. Good god, if Federer plays like that, I’ve got my condominium, my car and my cat on him winning this tournament, which would give him 14 grand slams and tie him with Pete Sampras for all-time slams on the men’s tour.

But repeating that kind of monumental play is a tough task, even for the great Federer. If his level falls back a bit and Roddick plays the clean, aggressive way he has all tournament, we could be in for a big surprise.

-- Kurt Streeter

Photo (top): Andy Roddick plays against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Australian Open on Tuesday. Credit: Lahalle / Presse Sports via US PRESSWIRE

Photo (inset): Roger Federer. Credit: Greg Wood / AFP / Getty Images

What would MLK think of Kobe vs. LeBron?

Before the Lakers vs. Cavaliers smackdown, everyone involved struck all the appropriate notes when speaking about the historic inauguration in Washington Tuesday, and about the significance of Monday, Jan. 19 -- Martin Luther King Day.

It's "not even about playing basketball on this day," said LeBron James, standing near his locker, surrounded by an army of reporters. King was a "guy who [saw] the future before the future happened."

There are few people on the planet more aware of the way sports stars are deified these days than LeBron James, but he seemed genuinely humble as he sought to add some perspective. There's "no leader in the NBA or any sport who compares to MLK," he emphatically stated.

All of this got me thinking about how Dr. King's legacy has played out in sports. Of course, were he alive and at Staples tonight, Dr. King would be appropriately pleased about seeing the way African American athletes have been completely accepted by society at large.

When his life was cut short in 1968, this wasn't necessarily the case. A pro basketball team starting five African Americans, even four, would practically be national news.

A black head coach in the NBA like Cleveland's Mike Brown? The year King was killed, in all of American pro sport, only Celtics great Bill Russell had ever reached that level. And that year, the notion of black stars like Russell being used, LeBron-like, as national pitchmen for big-time ad campaigns would have been laughable. That didn't really happen until Michael Jordan.

Yes, Dr. King would be extremely happy were he watching this great game, but in my view he'd be just as pleased by the wave of internationalism we're witnessing in sports -- and in America, particularly what we are seeing in basketball. The Cavaliers' starting five included Serbia's Sasha Pavlovic and Brazil's Anderson Varejao. Usually, it includes Zydrunas Ilgauskas, from Lithuania, but he's injured.

The Lakers started Serbian Vlade Radmanovic and Spaniard Pau Gasol. That's 40% of the starters in this game born and bred outside America.

Much is made of the NBA's being an African American game, but with each passing year it becomes a world game, and with each passing year the international players are becoming bigger and bigger stars.

And this is where we get to Dr. King again, because it should never be forgotten that while he naturally focused his energies on the plight of the African Americans during the 1950s and '60s, his vision was always broader than that. He spoke of world equality, studied Gandhi and other great thinkers from far beyond these shores, and referred to the arc of justice in universal terms.

He frequently reminded us that all citizens of the world are connected in very real ways. That is part of the reason he strongly opposed the Vietnam War. For King, equality and freedom were much more than a matter of black and white.

I just watched Sasha Vujacic nail a three-pointer and lope down the court basking in a huge ovation. If Dr. King were sitting next to me I have a hunch he'd be smiling broadly.

--Kurt Streeter

Kurt Streeter: Come on Penn State, you can do better than that ... right?

Wait a sec, hold on a minute, what in the name of William Penn and Mayor Frank Rizzo is going on?

This was supposed to be a classic: a tense, tight affair between two teams that were just a few regular season field goals away from appearing together in the national title game. This was supposed to be a scrum inside a telephone booth, a dog fight, a battle royale -- and I was the mistaken fool who predicted USC would score three touchdowns and LOSE by three. Ouch.

The first half ended with the USC team and Trojans fans riding such a high of emotion that I worried for a moment about their sanity; particularly the big burlies on the team who, en masse, lined up on the sidelines after that last TD made it 31-7, jumping around like they were on battery powered pogo-sticks, eyes crazed, sweaty hair flying.

31-7? Forget the prayers, I'm in the press booth and from what I hear Mr. Paterno is sitting in a suite nearby, so I'm thinking of knocking on his door and delivering a lecture: this is not how you beat SC. Your cornerbacks don't let the Trojans receivers lope around the field like this is a flag football game and your linemen don't treat Mark Sanchez like he has a severe case of the chicken pox, and you don't cough-up penalty after penalty on big plays. No beating SC that way. None.

Maybe the Trojans are just too good. Certainly appears so. Then again, the way that first half looked, it appears UCLA is a tougher team than Penn State, and that's a pretty rough assessment of JoePa's boys. Maybe they took too much to heart the advice I offered in a print column a few weeks back; maybe they did indeed spend their off hours in Malibu, flirting around, eating hot dogs, lazing about on the beach, ... Maybe they did all this, and to supreme excess. Tell you what, they're playing like it.

It's 31-7 and there's nothing right now to make me think Penn State can come back. Looking over at the solemn, shocked faces of the Penn State crowd right now -- they've gone quickly from apoplectic to horrified -- it sure looks like I'm not the only one thinking this way right now. 

-- Kurt Streeter

Kurt Streeter: From the Rose Bowl, a prayer answered

GAME ON!

A few sputtering drives into this game and then -- wham! -- USC marches down the field like the Penn State Nittany Lions are the Washington State Cougars and one big thought starts running through the head: Please, God of All College Football, don't let this be another blowout. Don't give us a repeat of last year's game, a snoozer once a few minutes had ticked off the second half. This game deserves better.

Then Penn State, bless them, they run and they pass and they move their guys around in just the right way and, for at least one series, they make you wonder how it was exactly that USC's defense ended up with all those accolades. The Best Defense Ever? Well, they're good, but probably not that good, and this drive helped prove it.

The score is 7-7, after the extra point, the Penn State crowd is absolutely apoplectic (they're largely dressed in white T-shirts and waving pom-poms), and suddenly, thankfully, maybe even stunningly, we've got us a contest!

(Wouldn't you know it. As I typed this post and readied to send it, USC answered back with a six-play, 80-yard drive. It's 14-7 now. Can Penn State keep up? Please, God of the BCS, make it so....)

-- Kurt Streeter

Kurt Streeter: The Rose Bowl -- what a beautiful sight ...

Lovers of sport, this is truly something to behold.

First day of the new year, a few minutes before the big game, the sun sweeps over the nearby hazy San Gabriels, the Rose Bowl bursts already with fans clad in either cardinal and gold or navy blue and white, players wearing those same colors scatter across the field, most of them running around in that casual, loose, above-all-others way that supremely talented athletes do. Like this is a walk in the park, just another day: their day.

Already, the Trojan marching band is letting loose with its unendingly repetitive USC anthems. Already, Penn State fans, most of whom are sitting in the northwest corner of this fabled stadium, respond with cheers for their players and rhythmic clapping and loud shouts: PENN STATE! PENN STATE! PENN STATE!

This is as electric and exciting an atmosphere as you'll find in college football, and for those of us who love sports, no matter whom we are rooting for in the 95th version of the Rose Bowl, this is a moment to be cherished.

So what's this columnist's big prediction? Hey, maybe I'm dead wrong (would hardly have been the first time), but I think Penn State is way better than most of us in Los Angeles have been giving them credit for. They're tough, rough, faster than you'd expect for a team from the middle parts of this great nation, and they've got a wise wizard for a head coach. Not that Mr. Carroll is a slouch, but sometimes you've gotta give it up for experience.

OK, I'm going out on a limb, rolling the dice, predicting that Penn State wins this in a tight one. Final score: Penn State 24, USC 21.

Now watch, I've jinxed the whole deal, this game turns into a repeat of last year's bout against the Illini, SC ends up walking off with a five-TD cushion, and I look like a total schmuck. We'll see....

-- Kurt Streeter

Photo: A member of the USC marching band bangs the symbols together at the start of the Rose Bowl game. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times