90. See a professional major league Sports Event (baseball, basketball, etc)

Last week Nate called me to ask if we had plans on Wednesday. Since I am the social chair in the relationship, I usually schedule our activities.  So I was a bit surprised that he had plans.  Seemed his coworker's boyfriend had a couple of extra US Open tickets, and were we interested in joining them Wednesday evening for some world class tennis?

Of course we were.  Sometimes I really try to ignore that I'm 37 weeks pregnant, and this was a special occasion.  I mean, once the baby is born, it'll be harder to go to an impromptu tennis tournament.

I went to Nate's office at 5:30, we grabbed sandwiches at a nearby deli and took the LIRR to Flushing Meadows, Queens.  We spent the evening with our friends, as they had been to the US Open in previous years (what a nice office perk, discount tickets to sports events) and knew their way around.

I remember when I was younger I used to watch tennis with my dad.  Sometime in the late 80's, in the days of McEnroe, Lend, Becker, Graff, Navratilova, etc. I remember really liking it, and enjoying the tennis experience.  But I guess I always assumed that I had fond memories of spending time with my father, doing things together.   I didn't realize that tennis itself was cool.  I've been missing out, man, this was really fun

Afterr a couple of other not-so important games, we got our seats in the main stadium.  The match of the evening was Andy Roddick vs the unseated Tipseravic.  Roddick was the favorite, of course, and we were rooting for the Austin hometown hero.  But as the game went on, it became clear that Tipseravic was giving his heart and soul.  

What an exciting match!  It went on for four sets, and at some point, it became clear that Andy was not going to catch up.  And I found myself rooting for Tipseravic; he was just so energetic.  Its always inspiring when you see someone hustling out there, performing at the peak of their abilities, playing aggressively.  Andy, on the other hand, was being cautious, obviously saving his energy for the whole tournament.  In this case, it just wasn't enough.

It also made me appreciate the tennis scoring system.  Sure, its confusing how there are 60 points to a set, and 6 sets to a game, and 3 games to a match.... at least I think that's how it goes.  I'm not sure I got the terms correctly.  But at least the point systems keeps the game constantly exciting.  Every few minutes there's a new tie breaker, and a new opportunity to catch up.  Its a constant sense of tension.

I want to keep watching Tennis, I could get into it.  Go US open!