TVSquad

Are you like me and you really enjoy the two weeks of U.S. Open coverage that USA Network has every year at this time? Well, don't get too used to it, because after tonight's match (Roddick vs. Djokovic!), the USA Network will no longer carry the annual tournament.

This probably isn't a shock to regular tennis fans, but USA's contract for the U.S. Open is up this year, after 25 years of carrying the two week tournament. Of course, TV fans don't have to worry, because ESPN and The Tennis Channel that will start airing the tournament next summer. I just hope that most of the coverage is on ESPN and ESPN2 because, well, I don't have The Tennis Channel.

As longtime readers of TV Squad probably know, I'm a tennis fanatic. I hate summer with a passion, but I'm happy for the season during four weeks: the two weeks of Wimbledon (late June/early July) and the two weeks of the U.S. Open (late August/early September). If you need me those two weeks, I'll be in front of my TV and a fan, drinking cold liquids.

Of course, it's not all popcorn and roses. There's something that really irritates me about ESPN's coverage of Wimbledon that's going on right now, and I see it every single time I look at the screen (which I find you have to do if you want to watch the matches). It's that damn scoreboard at the top of the screen.

Like most red-blooded Americans, I love lists. We do a lot of them here at TV Squad and you'll see them at many sites every single day of the week. But I think that sometimes the lists go too far. I mean, what's the point of listing the top 50 or top 100 of something? Isn't that a little bit too many spots? Instead of getting down to the nitty-gritty (say, a top 10 or top 25), you ended up not only listing the best, worst, most, least (or whatever the list's topic is), you're just listing all of them.

Case in point, this Forbes list of the 100 most powerful celebrities.

If you really think about it, the U.S. Open tennis tournament is a weird television event. Everyone talks about the Super Bowl and it's massive coverage, but it's really amazing that a network actually gives up its entire schedule and devotes all day, every single day, for almost two weeks to a tennis tournament.

But that's what's happening starting today on USA at 11am. The network will have coverage all day until 5pm, then there's a break for dinner or to shower or to run errands or whatever. And then coverage starts up again at 7pm and runs til 11pm (or whenever matches are over). Nice! This continues for the next two weeks. CBS will have daytime coverage on the weekends, including the men's and women's finals.

If you need me for the next weeks, I'll be in front of my TV in my U.S. Open Underoos.

There are exactly two things I like about summer: tennis and baseball. The rest of it can go to hell (and considering the temps it usually feels that way).

Not just playing tennis, but watching it too. ESPN2 begins their daily coverage of Wimbledon this morning at 8am. The network will have 9 hours of coverage today and most days for the next two weeks (except the weekends, when NBC will have coverage during the day). You can follow the action at espn.com or the official Wimbledon site. They're using that Hawkeye system for the first time this year.

And no, that doesn't mean Alan Alda will be making line calls.