A lk at the U.S. Open, the years last Grand Slam tennis tournament:Surface: Hard courts.Site: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.Schedule: The 14-day tournament begins Monday. The womens singles final is Saturday, Sept. 10; the mens singles final is Sunday, Sept. 11.New This Year: A $150 million retractable rf has been installed at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which will allow play when it rains.2015 Mens Singles Champion: Novak Djokovic of Serbia.2015 Womens Singles Champion: Flavia Pennetta of Italy.Last Year: Serena Williams bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam since 1988 ended with a stunning loss to unseeded Roberta Vinci in the semifinals. Vinci then lost to Pennetta in the first all-Italian major final, 7-6 (4), 6-2. After winning her first Grand Slam trophy, Pennetta announced she would retire at the end of the season. Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 for his second U.S. Open title and 10th major championship overall.Key Statistic I: 22 -- Number of Grand Slam singles titles won by Williams, sharing the professional-era record with Steffi Graf. Williams can break their tie at Flushing Meadows. Only Margaret Court has won more, 24 -- 11 as a professional, 13 as an amateur.Key Statistic II: 186 -- Number of consecutive weeks Williams will have spent at No. 1 by the end of the U.S. Open, equaling Grafs all-time WTA record. Depending on results in New York, Williams could be surpassed in the rankings after the tournament.Whos Missing: Top names missing from this years field include Roger Federer (letting left knee heal), Maria Sharapova (serving a doping suspension), Victoria Azarenka (pregnant), Tomas Berdych (appendicitis).Prize Money: Total payout to players is a tournament-record $46.3 million, a $4 million increase from 2015. The mens and womens singles champions each receive $3.5 million, up from $3.3 million last year.---Online: www.usopen.orgCheap China Jerseys . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you lk like a high schl offence. NFL Jerseys Outlet . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. http://www.cheapnfljerseysbywholesale.com/ .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement.For more than a decade and a half, my typical work week is hard to explain. Especially the part of keeping an eye on chiseled men taking center stage and stripping down to bikini briefs. A Chippendales consultant, Im not. Boxing weigh-ins are unlike anything else in sports. Calling fights week after week on national TV fosters an appreciation for them, the texture and passion of the sport is why its one of Hollywds all-time favorite storytelling crutches to lean on. At least parts of it are.The overused late-round drama crescendo is an easy go-to for directors. But the day before the fight weigh-in? Its mostly ignored. Or its dismissed as a convenient scripted smack-talk moment.Then comes the 2016 biopic Bleed For This, the story about former five-time champion Vinny Paz. In what is as authentic a scene I have ever enjoyed in a fight film, native New Yorker Ben Younger perfectly captures the weigh-in for Pazs fight against Roger Mayweather 26 years earlier. He gets it. His film gets it.Forget the hackneyed approach to rating a boxing flick. You know the sports fan review where bona fides are based on how valid the in-the-ring action lks. Although it is quite gd, it doesnt need to apply here.What Younger and his team were able to do in the opening 10 minutes of Bleed For This impressed me. It drew me in. It revealed enough of the world champion Paz to demand I needed to know it all. And for lead actor Miles Teller, it probably revealed more than he ever thought hed have to as well.Teller, who has a lot of natural born fighter traits to him, was on the scale in nothing but a small swath of animal print. As the real-life Vinny told him during production, Stuff a banana in your undies. From that outrageously entertaining opening round this film goes on to stuff a lot into its power punch.Ive known the real-life characters fairly wwell for many years now.dddddddddddd They are mined from the cross-section of society boxing exposes us to and welcomes in.Vinny Paz grew up in Providence, Rhode Island -- a hard working prideful town that is a character unto itself in the film. The Pazienza family was woven into Vinnys life tighter than the canvas tautly pulled over the local ring mat he called home.His manager, Lou Duva, was captured well by veteran actor Ted Levine. And as for the role of trainer Kevin Rney, it was a superb job climbing a challenging mountain of portrayal by Aaron Eckhart.I first met the real-life Rney when I was 15 years old. I was a fan ringside at a local club show and he was in the corner of sn-to-be heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Years later, I was now the boxing expert, still talking the sweet science with Rney as he was in the later stages of an often interrupted career. Alcohol abuse and this game can take a toll. You play baseball and basketball. You dont play boxing. Eckhart gave us an excellent glimpse of the real Rney.Bleed For This does what many fight films fail to do. It defines the champion from the inside out. It takes us into his psyche.It doesnt play on underdog themes overcoming impossible odds. It doesnt care if the champ is winning to right some wrong or avenge some injustice. It doesnt try to wow you with a dramatic get-up-off-the-canvas climbs.Yes, its a comeback story. However, its really a story of understanding what it means to be a fighter. To be wired differently from the rest.Heavyweight king of yesteryear Jack Dempsey was wont to say, A champion is someone who gets up even when they cant.That is what Bleed For This captures. And its exactly why it will capture your attention. ' ' '