Sports: The Night Owl's Slam

To the dismay of American tennis fans, trying to watch the Australian Open live is a nightmare here in the States. Melbourne, the site of the tourney, is in the UTC+10 time zone - fully 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. That means most of the important matches (and all of the night ones) take place when the country is asleep.

It's a shame, too, because even the early rounds of the 2010 AO have had some gutsy tennis on display in those night matches. American James Blake lost an epic, heartbreaking five-setter to U.S. Open champ Juan Martin Del Potro; for the handful of people who stayed up to watch, they were treated to the 30 year old Blake's best performance in years. Justine Henin, in her first Grand Slam since unretiring, defeated No. 5-ranked Elena Dementieva in another tightly contested night match that had the quality and feel of a semifinal, not a second rounder.

ESPN does replay some of the previous night's tennis during the day, but of course it's pretty pointless watching a rebroadcast when you already know who won. At least the commentary is good - Darren Cahill, one of the game's most respected coaches, is often on hand to give expert analysis. Bad commentary can ruin a sports broadcast - I can't even watch "Football Night in America" when Keith Olbermann is hosting.