Ted Wright is Creator of The 2010 US Open Theme Artwork

Official US Open Poster Created by Ted Wright

There is one cool refreshing experience to report on during the tropical heat wave that has stagnated over Flushing Meadows.

The themed poster for this year's US Open pictured above are colorful bright, New York City skylined, cosmic , patriotic and meteroic --not to omit a blazing tennis shooting through a racket earthbound.

Its creator is Ted Wright; raised in St. Louis, he is a multi award winning artist/illustrator. He was behind themed illustrations for the Tiger Woods Junior Golf Clinics , the St. Louis Rams training camps and the Byron Nelson Classic.

His theme is featured on all USTA printed materials such as the tickets, Official Program Guide, limited editions posters, apparel, pins, etc.

I found his posters on prominent display on the right side near the entrance to the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center, which I photographed above.

He has his own website: www.tedwright.com

Summer Patriots and Aristocratic Leaders: Are they Antithetic or Complementary? Consider John Hancock

Portrait of John Hancock by John Singleton Copley, c. 1770-72

Massachusetts Historical Society

Question: Can aristocratic personages make good- even great- statesmen and politicians?

Think Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Hudson Valley estate owner/ neighbor Robert Morganthau , Averill Harriman, Alexis de Toqueville. And even John Hancock.

Hancock (1737- 1793) is best known for being the first of 56 founding fathers to sign the Declaration of Independence and his signature is the largest on the document.

According to wikipedia, he is known as "merchant, statesman and prominent patriot of the American revolution."

In fact in 1764, when his Uncle Thomas died, John- at age 27- John inherited perhaps one of the most successful businesses in the 13 colonies: a thriving manufacturing and shipping business, boats, slaves, a manor and thousands of acres of land.

It was called the House of Hancock.

So what did he do with this treasure? He continued to run the business, and like Jefferson he dressed as aristocrat which of course made him many enemies in the Boston area.

Did he squander this fortune? No. He continued to build his family fortune. This Harvard graduate became an ardent patriot and the security of a thriving business afforded him the opportunity to follow his natural passions
to advance the cause of liberty.

He became a statesman.

Here are some of his accomplishments: When the British sent in troops to enforce the infamous Townshend Acts of 1767 (which created new taxes on imports), Hancock negotiated with Governor Thomas Hutchinson and the British officer in command, William Dalrymple to remove the troops. He was successful.

Despite numerous attempts by the British Crown to interrupt his business, he remained steadfast. He 1769, he made a public speech in front of a large crowd in Boston remembering the Boston Massacre.

In 1774, He was elected simutaneously to the Second Continental Congress and to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.
Two years later, Hancock became President of the former assembly.

Though battling gout, Hancock continued public service by participating in drawing up his native state's Constitution.

He next served as Governor of Massachusetts for five years through 1793.

And this was a man who had to flee Boston into hiding because he was on the most wanted list by the Crown.

Hats off to this patriot.

The blogger was inspired by a C-Span In Depth interview with Gordon S. Wood the eminent Brown University Professor and historian. The program will be aired again this Saturday, September 11th.

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Mort Walker, the Creator of Beetle Bailey, Celebrates his Birthday Today

Born in El Dorado Kansas on September 3, 1923, Mort Walker published his first comic at age 11 and by age 18 became chief editorial designer at what would become Hallmark cards.


The character that would later develop into Beetle Bailey originated from his undergraduate experiences at the University of Missouri . On September 4, 1950, Beetle made his comic debut. Hi and Lois followed a few years late.

The strip is now read in over 1800 daily newspapers and the number is rising.

He was recently honored in July with the release of a Beetle Bailey 44 cent stamp with a ceremony at Ohio State University; the University is the new home of the National Cartoon Museum.

Mort is also founder of Mort Walker's The Best of Times magazine which is published in Stamford, CT the location of Mort's studio and residence.

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Experiencing the thrill of Tennis at the US Open:

Arnault Clement on the run returning a backhand shot yesterday

Who ever said Tennis is on the decline (or that the rest of the country is in a deep recession)?

You would never know it during the fourth consecutive day of sweltering heat at the US Open held at Flushing Meadow's Billy Jean King Tennis Center.

The fans were out in droves. The Armstrong and Ashe arenas were sold out by noon. and as I arrived at 1PM, I felt almost like a squished sardine in a rush hour 42nd Street Shuttle train with no air conditioning.

And why shouldn' the venue be nearly packed to the gills when the winner of the men's or women's singles title can pocket up to $2.7 million along with the coveted trophy?

Who wouldn't want the opportunity to see Raphael Nadal, the world's #1 player win the only Grand Slam that has eluded him!!!

The tournament sponsors are heavy handed as usual. Lexus is out and Mercedes is now in along with Chase bank, Continental Airlines and American Express. The latter has its logo ubiquitously displayed on a single piece earphone gratuitously handed out to fans to follow wirelessly a play by play analysis--even on the grounds courts!

Mercedes is proudly displaying its flashy new coupes as well as its reinvented Gull Wing with a multimedia mammoth screen display booth.

I hung out on court 13 most of the day and got to see some great matches. Arnaud Clement, a surprise finalist at the Australian Open in 2001 was in top shape, had won the first set and at 4-3 in the second set, his amazing opponet Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, lost his footing and twisted his ankle; after receiving some first aid, Schwank continued to play and had to retire, though not before evening the score at 5-5.. The two were playing top tennis.

Maria Kirilenko #23 in the world is an aggressive hard-hitting Russian player who easily beat Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in 3 sets; the latter was bagled in the third.

Five Russian women have advanced to the third round: Svetlana Kutznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharopova and Maria Kirilenko.

The Tennis Channel: The Coming of Age for an Elitist Sport

Steve Bellamy: Founder of The Tennis Channel

It's been a six year wait for the Tennis Channel founded in 2003 by Steve Bellamy.

The TC is now into its second year broadcasting live from the US Open
in the 11AM to 7PM weekdays slot and now on weekend evenings.. It shares daytime coverage with ESPN II , which broadcasts live from 1PM -7PM.

The network claims to have broadcaster/analysts with over 31 Singles Championships among them.

You've come a long way in such a short time.

With some jockeying on my part, I can now access Channel 399, Cablevision in Connecticut, by paying $4.95 premium for a sports tier, a very, very modest sum compared to the $50 one day fee for a grounds pass to the US Open

But, it wasn't always that way.

About three years ago, I switched to ATT U-Verse which had no agreement with tennis channel, nor were they in any serious negotiations at the time.

A group of tennis diehards went online to publicize demands to AT&T. They never responded.

So last year, I switched to Cablevision which has a very attractive Optimum triple play package: high speed internet, telephone and TV/Tivo

Thanks to the relentless, passionate and aggressive Steve Bellamy founder and current president, Ken Solomon and the many investors who keep tennis streaming 24/7!
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The Tennis Channel

Dorothy Cheney, Tennis Star, Turns 94 Today

Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney ( born in Los Angeles September 1, 1916) has great tennis roots. Her father Tom Bundy was a former U.S. doubles tennis champ and her mom is a former tennis Hall of Famer May Sutton Bundy.

In 1936, she reached the quarter finals of the United States Open. Then in 1937-1939, she was a member of the U.S. Wightman Cup teams. She reached star status in 1938 when she became the first American woman to win the Australian Open beating Dorothy Stevenson in the final 6-3, 6-2.

Due to World War II, she was unable to compete in the Australian, French and Wimbledon tourneys. However she played in U.S. tournaments and rose to number 3 in 1937, 1938 and 1941.

She competed in numerous doubles championships and was a three-time runner up in Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments. She holds more then 300 United States Tennis Association titles.

She has played winning tennis from her teens into her 90's.