As Far As You Know

I had a smooth flight down to Jamaica on a day when many of the 25 or so Choate kids on their way here struggled to get on flights from New York due to the rain and wind conditions there (lots of delayed flights all day). Though the sun is behind cloud cover, the temperature is in the 80s, so the warm weather is already a pleasant change.

Looking forward to some quality time on the tennis courts this week.

The Indian Wells tournament is up and running this week; I watched some night match action (Federer and Roddick player their first matches of the event) on the ESPN satellite feed last night. I have very fond memories of Indian Wells; I spent part of March out at the tournament for quite a few years, when the Choate boys' team were guests of the tournament, and also a couple of times on my own. The desert setting is spectacular, with dry heat in the daytime and cool nights. And the tennis is wonderful, with most of the top men and women in the world gathered together for some great competition in one of the most important stops on the circuit.

The international ESPN channel we get via satellite here in Jamaica is carrying live coverage of Rafael Nadal's match vs. Mario Ancic. I saw these two play on an outer court at Wimbledon in 2003--the first time I saw Rafa in action--and snapped the photo above. I think Nadal was 16 at the time.

I've been using a good bit of time this week prepping my new spring course, "Shakespeare And The Death Of Kings," about the history plays. It will include Richard II, both parts of Henry IV, Henry V, Richard III, and King Lear. I've got the syllabus more or less set at this point and am fleshing out paper assignments and support materials. I've also prepped much of the first play so I can hit the ground running next week.

Hope all you Irish and wannabe-Irish (that's everybody, I think) enjoy the day.

Roger Federer was back in action in Indian Wells this week--his first tournament outing since winning the Australian Open in January. He squandered match points in tonight's meeting with Marcos Baghdatis and got beat in the third-set tiebreak. Too bad: it would have been nice to see how the likes of Djokovic, Nadal, and Murray would have stacked up against the current #1. Maybe in Miami?

I am packed up and about to check out of the resort. It's been a great week of tennis, with good weather (enough cloud cover and cool breezes to keep it comfortable) and good company. I am hoping the weather back in New England will be better than it was when I left!

The vernal equinox has arrived!