Hello? Anyone here? It’s time to wipe away the cobwebs and resurrect everyone’s favorite tennis blog! We’ll start with an easy one — the friendly US Open fantasy league contest. As in the past, you’ll choose your fantasy tennis team on the fanslam.us website. One thing that’s different this year is I created my own contest, under the name LittleYellowBall.blog. No more confusion about which contest to enter–just look for the LittleYellow name. Easy cheesy! (My brother tells me the phrase is “easy peasy,” but what would you rather have, peas or cheese?) The downside of starting my own contest i ..read more

After a brief hiatus, we’re back with our Wimbledon face-off. Well, the women’s face-off, anyway. The men look completely indistinguishable to me. And on first blush, I thought the women’s outfits would be a bore, too, but on closer inspection, there’s more to like than expected. In fact, even as I type out this sentence, I’m debating whether to have four nominees instead of our usual three. We’ll just have to wait to the end of the post to find out… Nominee #1: Ajla Tomljanovic Embed from Getty Images I don’t often (or ever?) nominate polo-style sportswear in the women’s category. It’s too bu ..read more

Fantasy tennis is back, baby! Get busy picking your teams. You have until Sunday–when the French Open begins–before you’re shut out of all the fun. I don’t want to hear any of your lame-o excuses this time around. Excuses such as: “I wanted to enter, but I didn’t know where to go! Wah!” Go to fanslam.us. Make an account, if you haven’t already. “There were too many contests–I didn’t know which one to enter! Wah!” We’re entering the two contests marked “Enter free” under the status column. There’s one for the men and one for the women. “I didn’t understand the rules. Wah!” It’s really not that ..read more

May starts is less than two hours, so let me sneak in April’s blog post… Thursday was my first spring league match, and I can tell you it felt nothing like spring. Such is New England weather, but I don’t think I’ve ever played in less hospitable conditions. The temperature was maybe 40 with a gusting wind. This is how one of my opponents dressed for our match: Brrrrr… The smarter members of the two teams deemed the conditions unplayable and rescheduled their matches. My foursome, on the other hand, decided to soldier through for reasons that seem patently unpersuasive to me in hindsight: The ..read more

Even though I don’t have a job, I still love Fridays. I’m like one of Pavlov’s dogs, salivating at the sound of “TGIF.” And now look at me. All covered with slimy drool. Gross. Let’s do a face-off. Nominee #1: Every Single Woman Forced to Wear That Friggin’ Nike Dress, with the Exception of Simona Halep Who Would Look Good in a Paper Bag (or ESWFWTFNDESHWWLGPB, for short) Remember how Cinderella wanted to go to that ball? And her mean stepmother and stepsisters (“The Steps”) tell her she can go only if she finishes all her chores? Then they hand her the mother of all to-do lists so that even i ..read more

When the first Friday of a slam rolls around, I’m usually hard pressed to find three candidates for best-dressed man. Not this time, though. An hour ago, I had a list of NINE! There can be only one explanation for this sudden glut of male fashionistas: Word is getting out on the tour about the Fashion Face-off! The men are finally upping their game, hoping to score a coveted nomination—or at least avoid the ignominy of a worst-dressed award two weeks from now. It’s the power of the press in action! Either that or my standards are slipping. I struggled to whittle down my list to three before fi ..read more

I woke up to the news that Novak Djokovic has been kicked out of Australia. I can’t pretend to be sad about that. Not only does it remove a major hurdle for Rafa to win his second Australian Open (although I still think that’s unlikely), but it clarifies the men’s draw for fantasy tennis! Want to play? You have only a few more hours to pick your fantasy team, so put down your dust mop and get busy! Go to FanSlam.us. After you log in, you’ll see a long list of contests, most of which are marked “private.” Scroll down past all that, and you’ll come to a second grid marked “Fanslam Calendar: Upco ..read more

Happy 2022, everyone! Have you made your resolutions for the new year yet? I have, and as usual, my list is too long. After all these years, it’s hard to believe I still have that much left to improve. My resolutions always include something to do with writing, and this year is no different. Along with specific projects I’d like to finish, I aim to write a blog post a month. That’s a pretty low bar, especially with the Grand Slam fashion face-offs accounting for a full third of the total. Really, we’re looking at eight non-face-off posts a year. If I can’t manage that, I should just fold up sh ..read more

Is there anything better than opening a new can of tennis balls? There’s that gratifying pop as the seal breaks and the pressure is released. There’s that distinctive aroma, an intoxicating blend of new rubber and stale air. The balls roll out of the can and into your palm, and they’re bright and pristine and full of promise. Ahhhh. It’s going to be a good day. Of course, there’s a dark side accompanying all this new-can fetishizing. Tennis has a pollution problem. I’m sure, like me, you toss your old cans into the recycling bin, but I’m also sure you’ve heard plastic recycling is mostly a sha ..read more

Late again. But to make it up to you, we have two polls! A couple of people suggested Naomi Osaka for inclusion on this week’s worst-dressed list, and while I can’t disagree, I also can’t pile on the poor girl. She’s clearly having a rough time adjusting to the expectations that come with being a champion. My heart went out to her when she was crying in her interview after her third-round loss. So to demonstrate our compassion, let’s pile on other people and see if we can make them cry instead. Nominee #1: Evgeny Donskoy Embed from Getty Images Believe it or not, this was the best photo of the ..read more