Wimbledon's marathon men: in progress and when it came to an end. All good things come to an end. Who doesn't love this story? Communists, that's who.

I really must pay more attention to tennis, especially since the Red Wings have retained the services of the monster Bertuzzi, quelling any enthusiasm I have for the N.H.L. for at least the next two years. "The Winged Wheel" continues, however infrequently; will I ever be able to "Believe" again?

Project MERCATOR
The Most Dangerous Game invited herself over to my house last night to watch Burn Notice. A little rude, but her apartment doesn't have cable and we hadn't seen each other all week; so, it's fine. But as soon as she arrived she launched into a vicious and entirely unprovoked assault on my father's congressional campaign. I was frankly appalled. It's not even a no-one-beats-up-my-little-brother-but-me situation, because I'm always up for a little good-natured fun at my dad's expense. But there was something absolutely beyond the pale in the nonchalant way she sat in the man's house and made use of his indirect hospitality—basking in his air conditioning, sipping a beer purchased as part of his grocery bill, beer chilled in his refrigerator—while subjecting his greatest ambition to the most unfair ridicule and abuse. Adding insult to injury, she text messaged throughout Burn Notice instead of watching; 'twas a relief when she announced that she had to depart before the episode had even ended. I was fomenting in my little mind a notion to have the whole gang over to the house in just under three weeks' time for the season premiere of Psych, but last night's debacle has thrown the whole scheme into doubt. Appalling, just appalling.

This Week in Motorsport
Lotus Racing is a brand-new squad, but one proud to carry on the name and celebrate the heritage of the original Team Lotus (1954-94). The current Lotus has made it clear that when (if, because Formula One is brutal) they win their first grand prix, it will not be their first victory but Lotus's 80th. In the same vein, this weekend's European Grand Prix (at the Valencia Street Circuit in perfidious Spain), the ninth round of the 2010 World Championships—and thus the new team's ninth race—is being celebrated as Lotus's 500th race. Neat!



The F.I.A. has imposed something similar to the N.C.A.A.'s little used "death penalty," beating the dead horse of USF1: L'Américain.

This Last Week in Motorsport
All of the cars at Mid-Ohio seemed to be moving in slow motion. Perhaps the camera angles were playing tricks? Perhaps it's a lemon of a circuit? ('Tis in *shudder* Ohio, after all.) I plan to watch the next Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race, to be held next weekend, in part just in case last week's race was a dull-as-watching-linoleum-peel aberration but mostly because there's no other race that weekend. I can't wait for the next American Le Mans Series race in a fortnight's time.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Illegal Left" from Don't Know How to Party (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: The premise of "Illegal Left" is that the protagonist stands on a street corner, waving a warning to motorists so that they do not make an illegal left turn. A motorcycle-borne patrolman in waiting in ambush to catch motorists making the illegal left and issue them traffic citations and is not at all amused by the protagonist's actions. The protagonist, meanwhile, muses on what murders, thefts, and other serious felonies must be going unpunished while the patrolman spends his time trying to issue traffic citations. The Bosstones are well known for their socially conscious songs and "Illegal Left" is under appreciated as part of that repertoire.

"He told me I should move along,
I said, 'You got the whole thing wrong,
I'll stay here, I got the time,
And you can deal with real crime.'
He didn't like what I was sayin',
Not at all, no, not one bit.
I didn't see the point in stayin',
It was fun, though, I'll admit.

Maybe I should mind my own,
And maybe it's not my concern,
But somewhere someone's suffering
And this is an illegal turn."