A message to readers

Welcome to a new incarnation of Women Who Serve. In addition to looking a bit different, the blog will feature some publication changes. There will be fewer scores and fewer daily details about the tour; major news, commentary and summary will continue to be featured. Activity will certainly be heavier during the majors, however, though some regular features may be published with more selectivity and less detail.

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year to all!

A note about some problems with Blogger

In the past, Blogger users have occasionally had to deal with a comment count bug that is usually easy to fix. That bug has returned, the fix no longer works, and there are other bugs that have arrived that are related to comments. If you have a Blogger account and sign in to Blogger before you post a comment, you may find that the comment does not appear until much later, or you may find that it posts right away, but disappears later. If one of those things happens, you can comment without signing into your account--until the Blogger staff fixes these problems. You also may find that you can sign into your account and post comments without any problems at all. Some are affected by these bugs, and some are not.

If you have a Blogger blog that allows comments from people with Blogger accounts only, some of us may not  be able to post comments on your blog until these bugs are removed.

For  now, if you post a comment and the comment count on the post does not change, don't assume that someone hasn't posted a reply.

The Blogger staff is aware of these problems and is collecting data so that Blogger can be repaired.

About blog comments

The comment bug has returned. It usually doesn't come back so quickly. Anyway, for now--if you leave a comment and see no response from anyone, that doesn't necessarily mean there is no response.

Note to readers

There is a bug in Blogger that appears every once in a great while, and it made an appearance today. On some posts, the comment count is not changing, despite comments being added. So--for now--the comment count figure is not reliable.

Blogging may slow down for a while

There isn't a lot of blogging going on right now, anyway, but there may be less for a while as I depart for a vacation. But I'll be checking in and doing my best to keep up with the Sony Ericsson Championships. The new calendar places them right during my vacation; I usually watch them upon my return. However, I think I'll get to watch some of the action while I'm gone.

A slight detour, and a blog I recommend

Before I published Women Who Serve, I published The Dees Diversion--which covered a variety of social and political issues, including feminism--and I wrote for the Mojo Blog, the official blog of Mother Jones. One of my favorite blogs from those days--and still a must-read for me--is Tennessee Guerilla Women. I am quite pleased to have something I wrote featured there today.

I do not generally link to my work on the Web (I sometimes publish in electronic literary magazines, and last year, I did some guest blogging prior to the U.S. election), but since Tennessee Guerilla Women was kind enough to mention and link to this blog, I am using this opportunity to do likewise.

Sports blogging survey results in

Women Who Serve was selected to participate in a survey of sports bloggers created and conducted by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. Here are the results of that survey, a couple of which were a little surprising to me.

Davis Cup--final day

In today's feature Davis Cup match in Birmingham, Andy Roddick was so on fire, Stan Wawrinka just didn't have much of a chance. Wawrinka was unable to break Roddick's serve even once, and Roddick pulled himself out of the few 0-30 holes he found himself in. Following the match--which made the U.S. the official tie winner, with a 3-1 lead--a best-of-two sets match was played between James Blake and Marco Chiudnelli. Blake won that in straight sets. It should be noted, however, that Chiudnelli performed well against both Blake and Roddick, and is someone to be watched.

The attendance in Birmingham was the largest in history for a Davis Cup match held in the United States.

When the tournament was over, we stopped by the 5 Points Grill, then visited the Highland Hotel. That used to be "our" hotel in Birmingham, before it was given an art deco restoration and entered the higher level of "boutique." We were impressed with the lobby and bar, and a staff member kindly showed us a suite and a room.

Last night, we ate at the famous Superior Grill, a huge Mexican restaurant with a closed-in patio and live music, and what looked like hundreds of customers. The food was pretty good. There are so many great restaurants in Birmingham, it can be a difficult choice, but we couldn't help ourselves--we returned to Chez Lulu tonight. When you are in Chez Lulu, you have to keep reminding yourself you're not in Europe. Tonight, there was an accordion player in the house, which made the atmosphere even better.

I'm really glad I got to see this Davis Cup tie, even if Federer was not there. I don't especially get into the country vs. country spirit, but I enjoy the competition in my own way. Seeing Andy Roddick and Stan Wawrinka and the Bryan brothers was a real treat.

Davis Cup--day 2

The second day of the USA-Switzerland tie brought more doubles action than some fans may have expected. It took Yves Allegro a while to get his nerves in check, but when he did, he became an excellent defensive player, and a bit later, even tightened up his serve. It is never easy playing the Bryan brothers, no matter who you are, but the Swiss team made the match competitive, and we were treated to four sets, including a tiebreak in the fourth. The brothers won, which means the USA now has a 2-1 lead over Switzerland.

Yesterday, the national anthem was sung by two ballgirls with very sweet voices. They did a straight-forward rendition, which was a breath of fresh air. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is hardly my favorite song, but I can listen to it with a lost more enthusiasm when someone isn't trying to Whitney Houston it to death. No such luck today, though. The anthem was butchered--to wild cheering and applause--by "American Idol" finalist Diana DeGarmo, who also presented a "mini concert" after the match. We didn't stay for that; it was bad enough we had to see Justin Gimelstob a second day.

The pre-match performance today was done by a group of hip hop dancers. Yesterday, we heard from a gospel group. During all the changeovers, a team of young acrobats performs, and these kids are very good. It's especially nice to see boys and girls performing together in an athletic event. There is also a little jazz ensemble that performs in the main hall of the arena.

Yesterday, we walked into the stadium without undergoing any type of security check. Today, I was subjected to a random "check," which meant that I opened my bag. The security officer did not take out anything or unfasten any of the compartments. Some security check.

After the match, we took a stroll through lovely Linn Park, and stopped by for a look at the refurbished historic Tutwiler Hotel, where several Swiss fans had hung a flag and were having a picnic.

Greetings from Birmingham

The rallies were short and the serves were shaky in the first two sets of the Davis Cup match between James Blake and Stan Wawrinka. But by the third set, Wawrinka had found his groove, and he went about finessing his way to a four-set win over Blake. Wawrinka--whose lovely backhand was all over the place in the first half of the match--got himself under control in the last half, and served twenty aces, just for good measure. Later, his countryman--the spirited Marco Chiuddnelli--did his best against Andy Roddick, but it wasn't enough. The rallies in this match, however, were more entertaining than the rallies in the previous match, and Roddick's dive volley at 4-all in the third was the shot of the day.

We had a great time at this first day of Davis Cup play, and when it was over, we dined at Chez Lulu, one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Birmingham is lovely at night, with the Vulcan on Red Mountain glowing, and with hundreds of white lights twinkling on trees in and around Five Points.

I'm off to my first Davis Cup tie

I'm leaving for Birmingham tomorrow to attend the Davis Cup tie. Much of the thrill is gone, of course, because Roger Federer withdrew. But I will still get to see Davis Cup action, and I'm looking forward to seeing Andy Roddick and Stan Wawrinka.

All the fools who jeered at the choice of Birmingham as a Davis Cup site have obviously never been there. Birmingham is a very nice city with some wonderful museums, but we won't get too do too much other than visit some of its lovely restaurants.

Blogging will slow down, of course, but it will not stop, and I'll keep everyone posted on some men's tennis, for a change.

Blogging likely to slow down for several days

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, so blogging will slow down for over a week. I'll return to more in-depth posting on November 3 or so.

Greetings from Birmingham

Women Who Serve is back in business. We arrived in Birmingham early this afternoon--two people and four cats. The Internet cable didn't work, but it has since been replaced, and everything is fine.

Thanks to all for your concern.

To all readers of Women Who Serve

I thought I was going to be able to remain at home, but things have turned out differently, and--to be safe--we are evacuating early tomorrow morning. Obviously, blogging may slow down. However, as soon as we're settled in our hotel, I will resume.