September 14- Addendum

I’m a spectator-sports junkie. And with the exception of the New York Yankees and any home teams that may be in the playoffs of any given sport at any given time (hasn't happened in a while but one could always hope), I root for the underdog. So it is that I find myself watching the US Open and rooting with all my might for a guy I never heard of before this week. Juan Martin Del Potro is going to a fifth set against the widely acknowledged best player of the generation, Roger Federer. This is a symbolic moment. Del Potro is playing for me and for every person who can’t seem to catch a break against the “big guys”. Playing Federer, to me, is like playing the computer in a video game. It doesn’t matter how good you are, he’s going to find a way. I’ve heard he has lost matches before. I have never personally seen it. But he’s dropped two sets in tie-breakers and is down two-love in the final set. Underdog-rooter that I am, I’m almost starting to feel sorry for him. But that would be like feeling sorry for Bernie Madoff because he’s in jail or the Republicans for losing the last election: a complete misplacement of pity. It’s now three-love, Del Potro. If Del Potro wins it means we all stand a chance! If Del Potro wins it means good things can happen to any underdog. If Del Potro wins then my phone can ring tomorrow with a job offer. It means hard work can be rewarded even when everything seems weighted the other way. My heart is pounding but it is not fibrillation; it is need: the need to be vindicated, to win against the odds, to see David bring down Goliath with my own eyes.
Three-one. Hold! Hold! Four-one. Four-two. Five-two! Break! Can he break? He did! He did it! He won! I can’t wait for tomorrow!