All hail the conquering 2^nd place.  I know that this loss stings.  In fact I bet “stings” is an understatement and there are not words that truly describe how much you probably hurt right now.  You are currently feeling something that Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and the rest of the US Soccer team knows all too well.  You know what it’s like to start as an underdog, what it’s like to pull off an unbelievable upset in the semifinals, and then of course what it’s like to have a lead against the champ before losing a heartbreaker in the finals.  It’s a silver medal kind of year for the US but, Andy, there are other consolations as well.

For one thing you didn’t have to put up with that damn tape-delay.  I mean really who in the internet age still shows sporting events on a tape-delay?  These last two weeks NBC has been showing the matches hours after they happened.  Thank god they showed the Final live because it was getting to the point where it would be quicker for me to fly to Heathrow, find John McEnroe, and ask him what happened rather than wait for NBC to show it. 

But in that final you saw firsthand that this wasn’t a tennis match, this was a coronation.  From Pete Sampras flying in and sitting courtside, to Federer freaking having a “15” on his tracksuit already, you were reminded of how little chance you were actually given.  But fortunately sitting at the All-England Club you were spared the embarrassment of Nike’s ‘Fifteen Love’ commercial waiting in the wings.  I mean, really Nike? I get that the number 15 makes a great tennis ad campaign and I get that the US Open is rapidly approaching so that commercial could have a short shelf-life but did you have to play the commercial fifteen seconds after he won, or more precisely fifteen seconds after Roddick had his heart broken?  But Andy by being a continent away you were also spared the not so subtle odds.  Vegas was paying 10 to 1 on you.  Ten to one!  Speaking of which…

As fans- at best, we get what we give.  DVR’ing your favorite team or reading the box score later just isn’t the same.  We need to put in more effort if we’re going to really enjoy it.  So it was with that in mind that I got up early on a Sunday, and thank you Andy for making it worth my while.  But as loud as I was cheering in my living room, I’ve got to assume that the cheers were even louder at every Vegas sports book.  Think about ten to one for a second, $100 gets you a thousand.  Now think about that feeling for 4 hours.  Think about that holding that betting slip when it was 13 to 13 in the fifth set. I’m not denying Andy that you felt it worse but I think there’s a bettor or two that feels like they too had a bad beat. 

Another consolation: your Mental Toughness.  I don’t think it will come as a surprise to you to hear that some of us that have followed your career always thought you were a little…soft.  Between dating Mandy Moore, hosting Saturday Night live, and your general celebrity-ness, a lot of us felt that you’d rather be famous than a champion.  Let me tell ya right now, those whispers are going to stop.  Yes you didn’t win the trophy but when you take the greatest player of your era (and possibly ever) to a 16-14 5^th set in his best venue, you have done something spectacular.  In fact when you were up six to two in the tiebreaker in the 2^nd set, and you let the lead slip away, everyone- McEnroe, me, those bettors in Vegas, everyone!- thought that was the end. It didn’t matter that your serve was unstoppable or that you had been working harder than ever before, we assumed that you were mentally weak and that that was the end.  It took another 3 hours for Federer to finish you off, but those next 3 hours showed how hard you’d been working; not just on your game, but on yourself. Those three hours showed that you weren’t done yet, and I don’t mean just done for the day- those three more hours showed that you weren’t done.    

Roger Federer is your white whale.  He is your purpose for existing and your reason for not succeeding.  You are now 2 and 19 against him.  And with a record like that, it usually becomes an obsession.  When two competitors are that lop-sided it’s not even a rivalry, it’s a big brother beating up his little brother.  And it is in those conditions that rarely does the underdog keep his wits.  Maybe it’s the mental toughness that we talked about, maybe it’s that you’re not letting your inner Ahab get the best of you, but whatever it is- you just made this a rivalry again. 

The win does however put Roger Federer at #1 in the world again (helped obviously be a certain Spaniard’s absence.)  That was a title that at one time you held.  Your #1 ranking feels like a lifetime ago…but, it turns out, the lifetime isn’t over.  You have reminded all of us that you are not through yet.  You have reminded all of us that sometimes second place, as much as it hurts, is what it takes.  It’s the sting of 2^nd place, that reminds us that we’ve worked hard and we’re making progress, but that the only choice left is to go back and work harder.  You have reminded us that you are a lot more than what we thought you were. 

Listen Andy, let me just say thank you for the reminder and for the amazing match.  Next time you’re playing at 6am, I’ll be up for it.  I think you will be too.