Tennis: No Sweat for Murray - Well, Maybe a Little

Andy Murray was in blazing hot form today in Miami.

The Brit baller absolutely destroyed Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-0 in a paltry 58 minutes. The Serb's serve was his downfall: He connected on only 33% of his first-serve deliveries and Andy made sure to take full advantage. The fourth seed will face either Fernando Verdasco or Radek Stepanek for a spot in the final four of the season's second Masters 1000 tourney.

Wow - talk about hitting your stride. Anyone else's mouth extra watery now for a Rafa-Murray semifinal?

(image courtesy of Getty)

(Photo: Getty Images)

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Rich Rodriguez is a self-described “tennis addict” who not only plays regularly around his home base of Brooklyn, NY but also writes the blog Down the Line!

Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed.

Back From Spring Training Arizona

I almost didn't make it. My annual trip to Spring Training in Arizona almost didn't happen, thanks to scheduling conflicts and the World Baseball Classic. But through flukes and the willingness of my buddy to make this trip a really short one, I got to head out to the desert in 2009.  Here's what I saw:

Baseball Season: Your survival guide

Opening night -- not opening day but opening night! -- is one week away, and that means if you haven't begun planning for it already you need take a week of sick days to be properly prepared. Personally, I'm so not enthused about Atlanta at Philadelphia, but what I am excited about is baseball being played by guys whose jersey numbers are mostly under 60. The WBC was a neat diversion, but it's time for the real thing.

I admit to having to having a problem when it comes to baseball season, and instead of looking for a cure I've decided to embrace it. I know there are plenty of MLB addiction sufferers like me out there, so here is some friendly advice to get through season.

Yu-Na Kim wins World Figure Skating Title with World Record

South Korea's Yu-Na Kim shattered the competition Saturday Night at the Staples Center en route to winning the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships. The previous high score for a female skater was 199.52. Yu-Na posted a score of 207.71 as she became the first Korean skater to win a World Championship. Her Free Skate to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazad"' was one of the finest programs ever put on ice, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation that seemed to last a lifetime. After her free skate she was flanked by over 20 Korean cameras, many of whom stayed in the United States after the World Baseball Classic just to see her performance. Michelle Kwan described Kim as "dominating'" as she took in the action inside the Staples Center.

World Ice Dance Champions Named

The competition continued Friday at the Staples Center with free dance at the World Figure Skating Championships. It was a close battle, with all teams giving their absolute best effort!  In the end, Russian's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin managed to hold off Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto to take the title. The two teams were separated by just over a point, and both gave season's best performances -- which is impressive, considering each team was sidelined with injuries just a month ago. 

Up for Debate: Is NFL going too far to protect its players?

As we prepare for the end of basketball season and the start of baseball season, the NFL remains busy: busy changing its rules. Two rule changes -- one affecting the protection of the quarterback and one affecting downfield blocking -- have our two debaters on opposite sidelines.

Billy Gillispie Gets C-A-N-N-E-D Canned Canned Canned

Twenty-two wins just doesn't cut it when you're working for the Big Blue machine. Billy Gillispie found that one out the hard way today when he was fired as the University of Kentucky men's basketball coach. 

American Evan Lysacek wins World Figure Skating Title

The men's event came to a conclusion Thursday night and in a stunning climax American Evan Lysacek clenched the Gold Medal after a perfect performance that brought everyone in the Staples Center out of their seats.  Evan Lysacek becomes the first U.S. man in 13 years to win the World Title.  The last American to win was Todd Eldredge in 1996.

CC Sebathia Gets The Call To The Mound

When CC Sabathia got the call to play for the Yankees, I bet he knew he was going to have to earn that insane amount of money ($161 million over 7 years). I'm sure he knows the Yanks are expecting him to be a 20+ game winner. For that amount of money, you have to assume he knows the pressure's on.

ARod Gets It Right Finally

I bag Alex Rodriguez year round, whether it be for his string of skanky strippers (Which is an envy issue I have), his Madonna fling (Another jealousy issue), or for being the master of the meaningless homer. You know what I'm talking about, those monster solo shots that come when the team is up by 9 runs in the 8th inning. Finally, I have ragged him endlessly for the roids. Today however in all fairness I have to do something different.