Doldrums End with US Open Women's Final and the Opera
So even though Labor Day marked the official end of the summer doldrums, we here in the Northeast have nevertheless had to endure yet another slug of extreme "HHH" (hazy, hot, humid) weather after that. In fact, the combination of heat and humidity was so extreme that tennis player Rafael Nadal, competing in the US Open (which takes place in New York), noted it was the most oppressively hot and humid weather he's faced in all his years competing in the event. Which brings us to the US Open.
Since the week's market action wasn't particularly interesting, I found myself checking in with tennis more than usual. The result of which was last night's Williams-Osaka women's championship match to be followed later today with the men's: Djokovic-del Potro. And in lieu of any drama in the markets this week, we were served with a good dollop in the women's match yesterday. The drama received enormous coverage, so I won't comment on it here. But I must say Osaka was an appealing champion. I wish her well in her future endeavors.
Not being a tennis player myself (nor much of an athlete), my appreciation of the game comes from years of watching the sport on TV. I did attend one US Open live match years ago when I came into some seats my company that the time was trying to give away. I saw the great Ivan Lendl play someone in a preliminary match (I wasn't important enough to get seats for a big match) and it was enjoyable. My only memory of the occasion was being impressed, maybe even stunned, by the speed and power (are these the same?) of Lendl's shots. He won in straight sets; it wasn't much of a match.
Since then, I've never really had any desire to fork over the big bucks required to get seats to any US Open tennis. Then again, I find it hard to justify spending the enormous sums required for a lot of professional sports these days. Which brings us to the Met Opera (a jarring segue?).
The Met's season begins soon. I bring it up because we've not been to the live opera in a while - this after year's of attending typically between 6-8 performances per season. Life has changed (as it always does) and attending the opera has been a victim (if that's the right word) of those changes. But despite not having any tickets to the Met this season (at least so far), I'm always excited when the new season begins. Even better when the Saturday live broadcasts fire up, many, if not most, of which I'll likely catch, as usual. Opera's just such a great art form. And if you're into drama of the sort that accompanied the women's finals of the US Open, then you're a good candidate to be a fan of the opera, if you're not already so.
All of this basically has forced me to get back into the swing of things here, after a doldrums hiatus.
As for the markets, well, I won't be surprised if we see some drama this fall.
Since the week's market action wasn't particularly interesting, I found myself checking in with tennis more than usual. The result of which was last night's Williams-Osaka women's championship match to be followed later today with the men's: Djokovic-del Potro. And in lieu of any drama in the markets this week, we were served with a good dollop in the women's match yesterday. The drama received enormous coverage, so I won't comment on it here. But I must say Osaka was an appealing champion. I wish her well in her future endeavors.
Not being a tennis player myself (nor much of an athlete), my appreciation of the game comes from years of watching the sport on TV. I did attend one US Open live match years ago when I came into some seats my company that the time was trying to give away. I saw the great Ivan Lendl play someone in a preliminary match (I wasn't important enough to get seats for a big match) and it was enjoyable. My only memory of the occasion was being impressed, maybe even stunned, by the speed and power (are these the same?) of Lendl's shots. He won in straight sets; it wasn't much of a match.
Since then, I've never really had any desire to fork over the big bucks required to get seats to any US Open tennis. Then again, I find it hard to justify spending the enormous sums required for a lot of professional sports these days. Which brings us to the Met Opera (a jarring segue?).
The Met's season begins soon. I bring it up because we've not been to the live opera in a while - this after year's of attending typically between 6-8 performances per season. Life has changed (as it always does) and attending the opera has been a victim (if that's the right word) of those changes. But despite not having any tickets to the Met this season (at least so far), I'm always excited when the new season begins. Even better when the Saturday live broadcasts fire up, many, if not most, of which I'll likely catch, as usual. Opera's just such a great art form. And if you're into drama of the sort that accompanied the women's finals of the US Open, then you're a good candidate to be a fan of the opera, if you're not already so.
All of this basically has forced me to get back into the swing of things here, after a doldrums hiatus.
As for the markets, well, I won't be surprised if we see some drama this fall.
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