photo credit: toga

I’m a big tennis fan and love the sport for many reasons, including the fact that I enjoy the workout it provides and that it’s cheap to play. More on the cheap part later, as I have an entire post dedicated to tennis as a frugal or cheap sport. If you’re watching the 2008 US Open Tennis tournament you’re already enjoying some of the best hard court tennis players in the world, men and women.
The best part about the tournament, is watching men and women battle it out in the New York humidity and trying to stay calm and focused. Seeing Andy Roddick blast a 140 mph serve is amazing, and as impressive is watching Venus William serve one up at 125 mph. I’ve never clocked my serve, but I imagine it’s probably in the 65mph range.
Serena and Venus Williams will have to face one another in the quarter finals in this years Open and cause a family member to lose out on the chance for $1.5 million. If they had met in the final, the runner up would have received $750,000. Now the loser of the quarterfinal match will walk away with $150,000. Not bad for a few days work! Amazing that one family has two top tennis players and are worth millions of dollars. The only family I recall both playing tennis were John and Patrick McEnroe. John obviously won many tournaments and Grand Slam titles, but Patrick’s tennis career was not as stellar.
Aside from the fact that I get to watch the best hard court tennis action of the year, watching players compete for $1.5 million dollars is really fun. Did you know that men and women have received the same prize money at the US Open for the last 36 years? This year the prize has increased 7%. Did you receive a 7% pay raise this year? Equal pay, for equal work. Wow $1.5 million dollars for two weeks worth of work. Just think what this could do for an unseeded players career. What did the players receive if they lost in the first round of the tournament? How about a cool $18,500 just for showing up. Not bad at all for a days work. If you want to see more about the prize money for all players, visit the US Open website here.

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I couldn’t resist posting this article about Diddy and how he’s asking the oil producing nations to give him “free oil” for his private jet. (warning: video from P Diddy does contain several F Bombs) Diddy has posted a YouTube Video and talks about how high gas prices have impacted his private jet costs. He states that two round-trips to LA a month cost him $250,000. Imagine how many tickets you could purchase for $250,000. Let’s just say that they cost $800 for a round-trip ticket from NYC to LAX. I know you can find cheaper airline tickets, but for this calculation we’ll say $800. Diddy could purchase 312.5 round-trip tickets or fly himself and 311 friends. Now I realize that Diddy is not a frugal person or someone that is going to change every part of his lifestyle because of the price of oil. Do you think he’s going to start riding his bike and taking the train in NYC?

Now Diddy, or P Diddy, or Sean Combs, or Puff Daddy, claims he has to fly coach until the price of jet fuel is reduced. What has the high price of fuel cost him? Diddy and his entourage will be impacted by lines, TSA, baggage claim, and weight restrictions and even the crying baby that can’t sleep. Diddy will now be among the ordinary travelers like you and me that are not part of the Lear jet elite. Diddy could even purchase a fractional ownership in a company like Netjets or Flexjet and still fly a Boeing business jet, Cessna or Gulfstream. This option would have to be cheaper than owning your own private jet, where you have a pilot, crew, and maintenance costs. I’m sure Diddy is trying to make a statement about the high price of fuel, but does anyone feel his pain? Do you think other celebrities will change lifestyle decisions based on this decision? Does Diddy feel the same impact as the rest of the world? What are your thoughts? Do you think his plea to oil producing countries will be heard?

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This poor kid needs to get more sleep! Maybe that’s why his computer fried when the electricity surged in his dorm room. I don’t mean to make fun of this kid, but it sure helped me forget about my rough start to my morning. Just to make “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” more interesting for ratings, they should have asked Chase the million dollar question. I bet he would have nailed it! Just a hunch.

If you haven’t already, be sure to enter my Spring Cleaning Contest. Enter for your chance to win a new Xbox Game.

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