The Whole Delivery

From USAToday.com Game, Set, Match: Djokovic defeats Murray 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 It was the calm that carried Novak Djokovic to his 4th Australian Open title and 3rd straight championship in Melbourne, while it was the body that failed Andy Murray in the end.  The Serbian showed how he is the best in the world again, while the extra day of rest and much easier semifinal played a significant role in Murray's physical ailments revealing themselves as the match began slipping away from him.  Djokovic did so well to avoid going down a crucial early break in the 2nd set, down 0-40 and seemingly letting the frustration from a poor 1st set tiebreaker grip him. That hold down three break points was the turning point in this match and one of three defining moments, as Djokovic began to settle down on the forehand side.  If Murray gets the break there, with his forehand at its optimum level and his serve firmly locked in, Djokovic would have likely...

From AustralianOpen.com Similar players, similar games, similar real, similar temperament. The similar tactics for these all court, forehand stable or unstable elite baseliners. For Li: 1) Keep believing in your forehand.  2) Attack Azarenka's 2nd serve relentlessly.  3) Win the backhand battle. 4) Be a survivor to a closer.  5) The crowd is behind you. Use them. For Azarenka: 1) Believe in your forehand as well, get consistent depth.   2) Be strong on your serve, placement is key.  3) Be sound with your defense and get your backhand to her FH. 4) Use a drop shot at times, use it. 5) Win the backhand battle, dealing with the adversity.  With both players playing in the night time conditions for the first time this tournament on Laver, it could take both of them a while to get accumulated. With that being said, Azarenka's game is just a little bit more stable when it come...

Photo from Australian Open Even without all members of the Big 4 in Melbourne this year, the Big 4 matches still live on with the men, as the Australian Open men's title will be determined as expected by Rafael Nadal's elite quartet brethren.  Novak Djokovic is patiently awaiting, with the major advantage of thrashing David Ferrer once more in no time while having the crucial extra day rest that Roger Federer and Andy Murray won't have. In short, the world #1 would not feel bad at all if both men played a titanic 4-5 hour long epic.  Although Federer claimed victory in their last match at the ultra fast ATP World Your Finals indoor court, their last standout contest really was the victory that changed Murray's career, the Olympic Final. Regardless of how much fatigue Federer had from surviving Juan Martin del Petro the round prior or if his back was truly ailing him, the Swiss legend still showed signs of winning that big match if Murray wasn...

Recap of Victoria Azarenka's almost "choke of the year," as she held onto to beat Sloane Stephens 6-1, 6-4.  GSM: Li d Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 Maria Sharapova thought she had control of this rivalry with Li Na, especially after she placed another 6-0 set on her in Beijing 3 months ago to improve to 8-4. But today, the Chinese #1 refound the confidence that made Sharapova an angry and confused presence on the other side of the net.  Today, Li Na's forehand stability and serve placement were not only present today when they needed to be, they were simply special. Sharapova was shocked with how Li rarely donated any points to her off that notorious patchy wing, and was even more flustered by the consistent, superb spot hitting by her fellow Max Eisenbud client.  In the middle of the 2nd set, Sharapova was more devastated by not jumping out to a 2-0 lead, as Li saved another break point thanks to another brainless aggressive return from her. It was ...

Game, Set, Match: Stephens d. S.Williams 3-6, 7-5, 6-4  When the postscript of the 2013 Australian Open women's singles title is written, the fate of the tournament was actually decided in its bridesmaid competition: the women's doubles.  For on Tuesday afternoon, the limits of Serena Williams' chance at pulling off another Grand Slam duel title reached its breaking point and trickled over to Sloane Stephens' biggest win of her young career and the shock result of the tournament.  The physical toll of her doubles loss with sister Venus the prior day caught up to her and lead to the 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory for the 19-year-old upstart, and ended any hopes of holding all four grand Slams for a 2nd time in her career, as well as a calender Grand Slam this year.  The back injury Serena suffered in the second set to go along with her nagging ankle ailment spelled doom for her, even with regaining enough strength on her serve and barely losing any power on...

Because unlike Beyonce, LeBron and DWade do real performances without lipsinging. From the Heat's annual karokee event over the weekend, the #6 sung "Rock With You" and had Wade come on stage to join him in serenading this woman with Shai only major hit, "If I Ever Fail In Love." More from The Whole Delivery later, stay tuned.....

Pre-Match Runthrough: 4) A. Radwanska vs 6) Li Quarterfinal time at the Australian Open, and a key matchup expected to be the closest matchup on paper of all the singles matches left on both fields is first up on Laver. Aga Radwanska will look to continued her flawless January and record her 2nd straight win against an improving but still unpredictable Li Na.   With no offense to their matchup at the Apia international 11 days ago, their matchup today will be the true examination to see who will be the early challenger to the Top 3.  Some, including myself, feel that Radwanska has already displayed her legitimacy at challenging those ahead of her in the rankings. It has been the true perfect start to the 2013 for the Polish ace, with no matches dropped, let alone sets for that matter.  Radwanska's balance of positive emotion with subtle "Come Ons" on winning key points with her usual calm demeanor has been a major benefit to her. In the past ...

Final: Baltimore 28, New England 13 You all know the rest to that story by now.  Halftime Version:  Jim Caldwell must get Joe Flacco out of the pocket and move him around to make the key throws and avoid the Patriots linebackers playing up the field. Aggression is the major strength of Belichick and Mike Patricia's unit, but when placed in pass coverage situations, it was problems once again.  Dickson and Pitta are vital to Flacco in his second half, as the Patriots safeties of Gregory and McCourty have played deep as expected to prevent the deep ball. Caldwell must let Flacco be unleashed in this half.  On the other side of the ball, Dean Pees must figure out a way to shut down Aaron Hernandez, as josh McDaniels has been superb at using him across the field as usual. A mix of Pollard and Ellerbe has to be used around him instead of just isolated corners, and they must try and get physical with him.  Key performers:  Da...

Final: San Francisco 28, Atlanta 24 (Photo from NFL.com) A tough running game and a stout defensive unit have been the strong physical identity that has revitalized the San Francisco 49ers franchise. And today in that second half, those two things proved the reason they are returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. The trust in their core strengths as a team, their defense and their running game, is what has given this organization a return to the ultimate stage. The offensive line was stellar after a rough start and showed why they are the best in the NFL, and Frank Gore contributed to how elite between the tackles he still is. 80 yards for Gore seem less for how huge he was in this game, with 16 effective carries all day today. LaMichael James was also keep with the touchdown to get the entire team going, but Gore showed how invaluable he is to this team. Despite Matt Ryan's costly two turnovers in the 3rd quarter helping, there was no as...

Halftime Adjustments: Patriots 17, Texans 13 1) When Brady had time today, he's exposed Barrett Rudd, Glover Quin, and Bradie James in pass coverage. Those three players must make those stops in open field in the 2nd half when the Patriots think they have matchup problems. JJ Watt has played as well as he can, but he needs Cody and Smith to help him out. So too Connor Baldwin when match up against Veereen and Ridley in key tackle situations.  2) Rick Dennison must continue to show different run formations not near Vince Wilfork to give the Patriots young linebackers another thought about just crashing into the middle to stop the run.  3) Matt Schaub has done a good job not making really bad throws, and he must continue to trust his checkdowns and not be predictable on any throws deep in the middle of the field.  Once again, when it matters on third down, if you don't get any pressure on Tom Brady, you face the consequences. The absence of Gronkowski ...

Final: Falcons 30, Seahawks 28 Mike Smith and Dirk Koetter wanted and did blow that game for Atlanta with awful play calling in the 4th quarter, but Matt Ryan redeem them and himself with those two huge throws on that winning drive.  But that was all Matt Bryant's heroic kicking that made the major difference on the day, and prevented Arthur Blank's franchise from another embarrassing early exit.  Seattle's tremendous heart and competitive spirit couldn't overcome their lack of a pass rush today. The absence of Chris Clemons was felt all throughout the day, especially on the final drive. No pressure on Ryan gave him the ample space to throw and make it happen after letting the Seahawks back into it.  Though Bryant's clutchness and Ryan's calmness with 28 seconds left will get the first thoughts, the offensive line play of the Falcons (Clabo, Konz, McClure, Blalock, and Baker) should get the major billing. They were elite today. ...

Final: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool  It's a sound, workman like United victory, accomplishing the double over their bitter English rivals to go up 10 points on Manchester City in the standings and 24 points better than Liverpool at the moment.  It was another tough result for Brendan Rodgers side against the league's elite this season, as their midfield just did not have enough to help Luiz Suarez muster a consistent strong challenge for a United backline that has been shaky this season.  No clear cut chances for Suarez today. And still relying on Fabio Borini to get goals sums up the level Liverpool just is at, regardless of the positive team oriented style of play Rodgers has implemented. United have past the first test of their difficult two week period in the league, as they have Tottenham on the road next week. City and to a lesser extent, both Chelsea and Spurs, hoped that United would drop points in this difficult back to ...

The key for the Packers is if they can match the physicality of this 49ers outfit. That certainly was not the case in Week 1, as Frank Gore ran whenever he needed yardage behind that formidable O-line. B.J. Raji must be major in the middle today against Jonathan Goodwin and a mixture of Mike Iupati and Alex Boone . Raji needs to command double teams today, but that will also require Ryan Pickett , C.J.Wilson , and AJ Hawk from MLB to play their best games of the season. While Clay Matthews needs to find a way to continue to stuffing the run against Joe Staley in a heavy weight match, those are the major keys in this game today. And not to be overlooked at all is the tremendous punting of Andy Lee, who will be vital in field position all day today if the 49ers have solid field position. I feel the loss of Kyle Williams and Mario Manningham on offense, and Justin Smith's injury woes will be too much for Kaepernick to overcome, as Dajuan Harris will be able to give Aaro...

FINAL: Ravens 38, Broncos 35 (2/OT) 5 key post game points:  1) Though Manning;s throw across his body that lead to Graham's second INT of the day gets the primary focus, Rahim Moore's awful neglect of his primary job as a deep safety was the most egregious of killer Broncos' mistakes today.  2) Overlooked from Harris and Manning crucial errors was the Broncos lack of a pass rush all game long. With only one sack (and that came in overtime), Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil were just dominated today by Oher and Bryant McKinnie were great today along with Jim Caldwell making sure Flacco rolled out of the pocket enough.  3) Hopefully the continued ridiculous talk of Joe Flacco not being clutch will end again, at least for a week. Regardless of how he performed his 2nd half of the season, he proved last January how clutch he was in the AFC title game.  Though John Fox did him favors by running three straight downs and allowing him one last chance ...

Photo of Cooperstown Hall of Fame (From Baseball Hall of Fame) For only the 8th time in history and first time since 1996, no player will be going into the Hall of Fame, with Craig Biggio getting the closest number.  It was expected but still telling that the Hall of Fame voters decided to have fake integrity and not allow Barry Bonds or Roger Clemons into the Hall of Fame despite never reporting on their steroids usage during the rise of PED in the 90's.  The final vote tally:  And the numbers for Clemons and Bonds.....Mark McGwire with 17%, and Sammy Sosa with 12.5% More on this to come, stay tuned to The Whole Delivery. 

"1776 will happen again", "The Republic will rise again," and "Piers, don't try what your ancestors did before," are the standout quotes from this first of many ridiculous but entertaining interviews in 2013.  It's what happens when you have nutcases on cable news and think they are fit to have a healthy conversation.  And you'll keep on seeing people like this on TV because the likes of Piers Morgan just don't know when to stop having ill suitable people on their supposedly esteemed shows.  At least Jones brought up the "News of the World" history of Morgan, where there isn't just one buffoon in this interview. 

Halftime Thread: The AJ McCarron Beatdown show  Never thought AJ McCarron would be able to repeat his sharp performance from last year against LSU. Although Bob Diaco has called a terrible game with no pressure towards him, it's been a great performance by a much maligned quarterback.  McCarron having a big night to go along with expected top plays from their O-line and top running duo of Lacy and Yeldon, it's been blow out city USA. So embarrassing indeed for Brian Kelly, so wonderful 

The continuation of America's intelligence imperialism was highlighted today by torture/drone advocate John Brennan be selected by Obama today, but in no surprise whatsoever though. All the attention has been given to nutcase Republicans making fake outrage over Hagel, but in a sane society, we wouldn't tolerate centrist Obama's continued preference to not alter the culture of US ridiculousness. The Runthrough GOP math surely is no higher than arithmetic . Matt Stroller on our lazy corporations . So embarrassing for Milford, Delaware . More from The Whole Delivery, with coverage of the BS BCS title game later on this evening. 

Messi wins 4th Ballon D'Or As expected and as should be, Lionel Messi has won his 4th FIFA Ballon D'or, with Ronaldo and Iniesta finishing as the bridesmaids. Ridiculously enough, instead of at least 90% of the vote for a record 91 goal year, the Argentine legend (and new 60 Minutes feature star ) only received a 41.60% majority. Sir Cristiano got a shade under 24% while Iniesta with the rest of the scraps. Some clowns hated Messi so much that they had him in third place , while some didn't even have him in the Top 3 (especially the Italy captain, who didn't even list him). Despite the hate from ridiculous media figures, the magic of Messi just continues to grow, as he is certainly the favorite to win the title next January. To save Ronaldo of more disappointed faces, they might as well create their own Lionel Messi Platinum Ball award just in case there's a need to let someone else win who is clearly second fiddle to the magical #10. Ronaldo's ...

Final: Seahawks 24, Redskins 20  Though all the headlines outside of Seattle will be on "The Knee", it was all about the perseverance though mistakes of this Seattle team that was the true difference in this game.  The two 3rd quarter miscues of Lynch's fumble and WIlson missing Baldwin for two sure touchdowns could have made a young team think the day wasn't going to be theirs. Instead, Pete Carroll's ball club kept plugging away, and their fight lead to that trip to Atlanta they deserved.  Halftime Thoughts:  Really with all the momentum riding for Seattle, it's all about Russell Wilson not making any mistakes while keeping the pedal on the medal. Seattle survived the wave of emotion and dealing with how physical the Redskins are on the ground, and now have a growingly gimpy Griffin to deal with.  It's going to be interesting to see if Griffin can find just another level to get through, but it's going to be u...

Final: Ravens 24, Colts 9 De facto day #52 day ends with him having the most tackles, and them hitting Luck all over the place today. To Mile High they go, but it's all about Mr. Lewis for sure.  The Key Play Torrey Smith was virtually invisible in the first half in the passing game, with great coverage from the always underrated Vontae Davis playing a major part in that. However, Smith shows how pass catching isn't the only way a wide receiver should contribute to his team in a key fashion, especially when you have a top tier running back.  And that was the case with Smith's key blocking extending Ray Rice's massive screen gain.  Needed Adjustments Clyde Christensen has done well in Bruce Arians absence calling plays, doing a good job of trying to establish the run with Vick Ballard mostly to take pressure off of Luck. Nevertheless, the Colts offense hasn't done the best job at really using Luck's ability to run well this se...

(From NFL.com) Yes, it's time to just line Adrian Peterson in the wildcat and just go from there for the Vikings. Nevertheless. outside of standing in the pocket too long and getting sacked by Jared Allen, it's been another fine half of play from Aaron Rodgers. His line, questioned all season because of both injuries and protection quality, has done well enough. Most encouraging for Green Bay was the running of Dujuan Harris who showed fine burst and could add another element for this team next week in San Francisco. But there is no way they are losing this game.

Final: Texans 19, Bengals 13  The O and D-lines were strong today for the Texans (Photo from NFL.com) When it came down to it, Andy Dalton and Rey Maualaga needed huge days to win on the road, and they just did not produce it. It was one thing for the Bengals to lose the line of scrimmage battle, but for the two guys Marvin Lewis called out in the middle of the season, they gave performances where you have to ask yourself if Cincinnati is going to have the guys to lead their team in big games the next year or two. For Houston, their line of scrimmage and Foster showed how elite they are in the run. And the energy on defense from Quin, Barwin and others to help Watt is something they to re-find what made them elite. Schaub showed composure to make the game winning throw to ice it, but he still was far from title winning convincing today. Halftime Thoughts and Adjustments:  Arian Foster has had his way so far. But can his quarterback not make...