RAFA BRINGS THE DRAMA VS. USA'S RODDICK and HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT OBAMA AND DARFUR

RAFA BRINGS THE DRAMA - WINS INDIAN WELLS 09 THE SEMI FINAL VS. USA'S RODDICK

RAFAEL NADAL (1) DEFEATED ANDY RODDICK (7)
in Indian Wells Semi-Final
6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
in a quirky second set

Andy Murray (4) defeated Roger Federer (2)
in Indian Wells Semi-Final
6-3, 4-6, 6-1

Doubles - Final
M Mirnyi (BLR) / A Ram (ISR) vs M Fish (USA) / A Roddick (USA)
To be played Saturday, March 21, 2009

Final Match Set
Rafael Nadal (1) vs. Andy Murray (4)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
2:00 p.m. Indian Wells, California time
that is 6:00 p.m. USA EST

So Rafa plays another Andy tomorrow. Back to back Andys.

I hope Rafa brings some heat tomorrow.

Rafa in the Semi-Final Match
Indian Wells March 21, 2009
Above photo credits: The photographer is unknown
because where I copied them didn't post credit.
Probably a Getty photographer.

10 pictures of Rafa at the Semi-Final match with Roddick March 21, 2009

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Semi-Final at Indian Wells March 21, 2009 Nadal d Roddick (1 of 2 videos)
Uploaded by merikob

See merikob's playlists

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I watched the semi-final match here...

This is not free:

LIVE SCORING is Free

USA TV Schedule by Region

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This is footage of World #1 Rafael Nadal warming up at the 2009 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA...The practice courts at Indian Wells offer unprecedented access to the players... This footage was shot over the course of several days, thus the different outfits Rafa can be seen wearing. This text is taken from the poster. Uploaded March 20, 2009 by FYB2007

MY SOAPBOX

Apparently, the poker game was more important today than showing the Semi-Final Match live with Rafa and Andy on the east coast of the USA.

It looks like here Fox Sports Net NE is airing the Semi-Final matches between 11:00 pm. and 3:00 a.m. EST

Who knows if they will show the entire match. In the past they have skipped games and almost entire sets to fit the match into the allotted time slot.

Imagine doing that with any football, baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, bowling or any other sport's game. Aw, heck ....poker.

Hey, what about tiddly winks, does anybody play that on TV?
I know. I'm going over the top.
I'm venting.

I mean Rafa is the Number 1 Professional Tennis Player in the World and this is how they air tennis on TV.
Last season, when he was Number Two, they actually left a big match before it was over and went to paid programming.

It's.

Simple.

It's

Ridiculous.

.........
.........

TENNIS
GETS
NO
RESPECT
IN THE USA



Rafa Nadal's interview after Quarter Final against Del Potro - in English

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Rafa vs. Andy Roddick
March 21, 2009
Great Pass by Rafa
Uploaded by SharapovaPower

The Quarter Final Match March 20, 2009
Rafa d Del Potro
6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour 49 minutes
Uploaded by vamosrafelnadal

Rafa enters the court - Indian Wells
Uploaded March 21, 2009 by Rapocali

This was posted March 19, 2009
Rafa Nadal vs David Nalbandian
It's just a medical time-out, but we who love Rafa even like watching this stuff.
Uploaded by luneworld

One of my favorite pictures of Rafa
from the archives....

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And now shifting gears....
to what's really important

Jen Marlowe Director of the film Darfur Diaries and author of the book Darfur Diaries - Stories of Survival, Sandra Hammel and Dr. Peter Liotta, Director of the Pell Center in Newport, Rhode Island at the screening of Darfur Diaries at the 500 seat Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport on March 24, 2007. If you click on the picture, you will see the words: We Will Not Be Silent in two languages on Jen's shirt.

MY OTHER SOAP BOX

The thing is about Darfur and how I try to write about it. I just feel so very helpless. I want to scream at our lovely and shiny new President. I adore him. I do. But he is letting me down. And all we citizen activists who have felt like we have reached down to the bottom of the barrel over and over to try to get the light shone on this humanity-falling-way-short issue of genocide feel so small compared to the huge bottomless hole of ignoring this issue by all of the world's leaders. And really what we mean is President Obama is letting us down for the sake of the forgotten people who have been hanging on by shreds of mental and emotional threads for nights and days on end. Year after year. I understand the treatment of a raped female in Sudan is one of rebuke to the point of totally dismissing her as worthy. Like she is not respectable anymore once she is raped. And she has done nothing to deserve the brutal rapes. And the rapes include ramming sharp objects into the woman's vagina.

And we go about fretting over the stuff in our world where our government, no matter how wrong it has been over the last eight years, it isn't charging people with the duty to torch our houses while we are sleeping, village by village, terrorize our children, brutalize and kill fathers, steal all our belongings and livestock, take away our food and all clean water supplies, rape our souls and our bodies, gouge our eyes out, tell us we are unworthy to live because of the shade of our skin, take everything away from us. EVERY THING. And yet some people are still trying to stand up and keep some shred of sanity. They have to be emotionally frayed. They have to be emotionally depleted. And they don't have anti-depressant drugs. I so hate that "depression drug" commercial that is running on TV..."Who does depression hurt? Everyone. Where does depression hurt? Everywhere...." I mute the TV every time it comes on.

What is wrong with us, that we allow this kind of treatment to go on to our brothers and sisters of the human race? We are just self-absorbed. We are spoiled. We could learn something from the people who are braving to breathe every day with the hope that America, the USA will come to their rescue. Or Europe. The thing is they still believe that the democracies of the world will care about something this brazen. Outrageously wrong. They don't have to watch "Survivor" on TV. They ARE Survivor. The Real Story.

We have done nothing to warrant their trust. And yet they have no one else to put their trust in.

And we are betrayers of their trust in our goodness.

I am just so embarrassed and horrified that we stand by and have done nothing to help these people see an end to this injustice. This bondage. This humiliation. This degradation.

So you see, I really don't have such an issue about the tennis getting no respect on TV. It is people like the Darfuri people who love their children. Who want their children to have a good education. Who want their children to be able to play without being traumatized. Who want to get up in the morning and know that they are safe. Who get NO RESPECT. By our media. By our leaders. We should be ashamed. We like to pretend we are moral people. We like to believe we are principled people. We like to believe that we are the best because we are American citizens of the USA. But that doesn't mean a thing if you don't walk the talk.

I have a wonderful sense of humor. But I find myself feeling like I need to stop myself from feeling humorous or light because these people of Darfur are screaming inside and we are just going about our business like the story doesn't exist.

But the story does exist.

And no matter how many genocides we let go on. And no matter how many politicians lie and say "Never Again" - we know who we are. Small people who didn't want to do anything to stop the madness we gave a word to in 1948 - Genocide I know that wikepedia is no expert resource but check out the page Genocides in history .


Here is a bit of the page:

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.

While precise definition varies among genocide scholars, a legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocidenational, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." (CPPCG). Article 2, of this convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a

The preamble to the CPPCG states that instances of genocide have taken place throughout history, but it was not until Raphael Lemkin coined the term and the prosecution of perpetrators of the Holocaust at the Nuremberg trials that the United Nations agreed to the CPPCG which defined the crime of genocide under international law.

We really are a sorry lot.

Won't you follow Katie-Jay, Gabriel and Yuen-Lin, while they are in Chad the next 10 days?
Here is their website:

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact7

Here is their button:

Follow them on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/iact

It is my first time really doing the Twitter thing. I did it a little when Ann Curry was in the Darfur region, recently.

And won't you choose to make a difference? It starts with one person, deciding to act. And you'll know at the end of your days, that you didn't stand idly by and just ignore this plain and awful behavior of our fellow human beings upon other fellow human beings.

The situation was dire before the arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir March 4, 2009. You know, he wasn't elected, right? Now, the devastating situation is a devastating situation on top of a devastating situation. It is hell on earth.

Please, call or write President Obama and tell him it is not all right with you to continue the same chartless plan of the Bush administration about the Darfuris plight. It just isn't all right. And we need to say so. Clearly and apparently with more voices than we have been saying it with since 2003.

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Write President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also call or write to the President:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Comments to President Obama:
202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.stopgenocidenow.org
www.enoughproject.org
www.savedarfur.org

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Link to the song
The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind
Trini Lopez
Uploaded by hun896

It doesn't have to be blowin' in the wind.


"The Most Important Office is That of Citizen"
I heard Barack Obama quote this on Oprah

I also remember he repeatedly said
"Now, let's go change the world."

Let's. You lead. We so need a leader.

Come on President Obama
Be the one.
We have been trying to be the ones we've been waiting for.
But, we still need a President to
have the political will to find a way to end the genocide.
We can't do it without you, Mr. President.

So, step up
and
join us.

It
is
the
right
thing.

At the Los Angles Darfur demonstration recently.

DOUBLE POST - RAFA NADAL INTO SEMI-FINAL at INDIAN WELLS AND DARFUR IS ON THE BRINK OF TOTAL DISASTER

Rafa from the match with Del Potro
March 20, 2009
6-2, 6-4 Rafa won

Photo credits above are unknown because where I got them didn't credit the photographer.

They are most likely a photographer of Getty Images.

Thank you to Boo Boo for the above Screen Captures

RAFAEL NADAL defeated JUAN MARTIN Del POTRO

6-2, 6-4

Rafa Nadal will play Andy Roddick Saturday, March 21
after the match with Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray

The first match begins at 1:00 p.m. California time
which is 3 hours behind USA EST (meaning 4:00 p.m.)

Links for live streaming

http://atdhe.net/live-tv-4873.html

This one had Rafa's Wednesday night's match:

http://www.radiotennis.com/schedules.php

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But frankly, I must spend my time posting extemely dire things about Darfuri people's lives becoming deaths....

Desperation and Despair for People of Darfur

by Gabriel on March 20th, 2009

Source: http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/

Here are some notes from our Darfuri friend (living in US), Mohamed Yahya, from information he has received from sources inside of Darfur:

• In camps in Western Darfur such as Al- Geniena, Riyadh, Abuzaid, Kerdang and Dorti the refugee’s lives are in grave danger at this moment. Riyadh and Abuzaid were attacked by the government and the janjaweed the day after the arrest warrant was issued in retaliation for cheering and celebrating upon news of the ICC’s decision. More than 15 lives were lost and 300 homes burnt that day with all survivors driven out of the camps with no place to go.

• Thousands are fleeing to the Chad border with anywhere from 30,000 to 4 million more refugees expected to follow. All have been met by the Sudanese government guarding the borders, intent on forced starvation in the Darfur desert.

• After Al-bashir expelled NGOs, the Sudanese government and the janjaweed immediately took over the camps including food stores, medical clinics and water resources. Not only is there a critical lack of water, food and medical attention but there is no milk for the babies. To add to the horror the refugees must stand by and watch their usual rations of food, medicine and shelter sold to the traders in the market. They must starve and fall ill as they watch their lives being sold for the money it is impossible for them to earn.

• Many refugees in many different camps in Western, Southern and Northern Darfur are reporting the same atrocities. El- fashir camps are being hit especially hard with lack of water the greatest current threat. Families as large as 7 get only one small plastic container of water. Each person gets less than 2 liters a day to drink with no water left over for hygiene purposes such as cleaning or showering not to mention the forced choice to quench ones thirst or cook life sustaining food. The projections for 2 weeks from now are far worse.

• In South Darfur camps such as Kalma and Domaya disease is already rampant and spreading every day. Meningitis, cholera and diarrhea have infected hundreds already with more on the way. Doctors have left and the few remaining who are treating entire camps are leaving any day. The disaster has already started
  

• When asked what the refugees want us to do to help they replied:

“We need water, food, shelter and medicine.”

“We need peace keepers as quickly as possible from America and Europe to protect us.”

“We need America to send International police to arrest Al-bashir and others before they kill us.”

“Every one of them said. ’We will die, we will all die very soon. We are starving, thirsty and sick; Al-bashir will not need bullets to kill us if this situation continues for more than 2 weeks. Please, do something for us, ask Americans, ask President Obama, ask the United Nations.”

They pleaded in broken native languages, making me cry. They allowed me to feel their desperation and need for help. I just couldn’t hold my tears back when I asked one man to describe the situation and he replied “Saab, Saab, Saab Khalis Khalis….” Then he went silent because words could not describe the pain. Instead he said what would roughly translate into English,” The situation is very, very difficult…. No one could possibly imagine.”

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March 23rd through April 1, 2009!

From http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact7

For 10 consecutive days, i-ACT will connect you with the faces and lives of Darfur refugees who escaped, for now, genocide in their homeland.

Watch videos and view photos from Darfur refugee camps; read journal entries and add your comments; take action daily that will change the way the world responds to genocide. We cannot expect our leaders to STAND UP if we are sitting down.

The violence and insecurity in and around Darfur has escalated since the ICC announced an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President al-Bashir. Thirteen international and three Sudanese aid groups providing life saving services have been expelled from Darfur, leaving 4.7 million without help. Peacekeepers were ambushed and injured yesterday in the region. The Government of Sudan is seizing food, vehicles, files (names and locations) and more from aid organizations. Many believer that Darfuris will begin to cross the border with Chad, seeking help.

i-ACT will take you to the people to hear what they say about Justice and peace. For you to see and understand the situation on the ground. Each day there will be a daily action item and, of course, we will be doing the i-ACTivist Challenge once again! The swiftness of our actions needs to match the urgency on the ground.

From http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact7

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We Are All the Keepers of Justice ~ Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

Text from the youtube post:

The letter to President Obama was written March 12, 2009 and sent through the White House website contact form, as well as, a letter the old-fashioned way through the United States Postal Service.

Although the government of Sudan (GoS) denies it (just like former President Bush denies he condoned illegal torture. However, neither denial makes it any less the truth):
2003 - through to present: Genocide of unarmed Darfuri families is supported by the government of Sudan

March 4, 2009 Judges at The International Criminal Court ordered the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity for playing an essential role in the murder, rape, torture, pillage and displacement of large numbers of civilians in Darfur. However, the judges did not charge him with genocide as the prosecutor had requested.

The Sudanese government has long vowed to resist the court, and it summoned several humanitarian organizations to a meeting almost immediately after the warrant was announced.

The British charity Oxfam said that the government had revoked its license to operate, a decision the group said could affect more than 600,000 people. Doctors Without Borders from Holland, which provides health care in one of the worlds biggest camps for displaced people, in South Darfur, was ordered to leave the country.

One aid official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, because of negotiations to persuade the government to back down, said the following; It happened right after the announcement. The connection was clear.

The government of Sudan began expelling humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur (March 4, 2009). Thirteen to sixteen agencies have been forced out of the region. This expulsion leaves one million Darfuris without water, food and medical assistance.

http://www.stopgenocidenow.org
http://www.enoughproject.org
http://www.savedarfur.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Write President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also call or write to the President:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Comments to President Obama:
202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call the USA Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
202-647-6575

The USA State Department public comment line
7 days a week, 24 hours a day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obama chooses Sudan envoy, to announce Wednesday

Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:33pm EDT

March 18, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is set to name retired Air Force General Scott Gration as his special envoy to Sudan, where he has warned of a worsening crisis following the expulsion of foreign aid organizations.

We Are All the Keepers of Justice.

In Sudan, there is an emergency.

Silence kills in its complicity to killing by treachery.

March 18, 2009

Meningitis is spreading through Darfur IDP camps. Now more than ever immunization is needed in all camps:
1- New cases climbed to 38 cases in Kalma IDP camp (South camp).

2- Nine cases in Kassab IDP camps (North Darfur).

Situation in Zamzam IDP camps is deteriorating rapidly.

1- There are 63,000 new comers since January without any services or registration. They gather on the bare ground of the Camp. They are the first casualties of NGOs expulsion.
2- Water problem is getting worse. some women and children spend close to 11 hours at the pump just to fill one 4-gallon plastic container.
3- Clinics are closed in the camp. Only God knows how acute the health situation in the camp in the absence of NGOs.

The government of Sudan ordered banks in Sudan to freeze bank accounts of 15 NGO's, of which 12 of them were expelled.

The NGO's are:

1- International Rescue Committee - U.S.A.
2- CARE - U.S.A.
3- Save The Children - U.S.A.
4- Save The Children - UK.
5- Development & Rebuilding Org - U.S.A.
6- TATCO - U.S.A.
7- Refugees Council Org.- Norway
8- Khartoum Center for Human Rights- Sudan
9- Solidarity Organization - France
10- Anti Starvation Org. - France.
11- Doctors -Without - Borders- France
12- OXFAM - UK.
13-MERCY - U.S.A.
14- SUDO - Sudan
15- AMAL Sudan

Dear President Obama

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President Obama - We only ask you to do what you said you would - if President.
Uploaded by savedarfurcoalition

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Will President Obama need this same message?
Uploaded by savedarfurcoalition
September 25, 2006

PLEASE DON'T TURN AWAY

Genocide Ends

When Enough of Us

Stand Up Against It

JOIN US
1-800-GENOCIDE
www.savedarfur.org
www.genocideintervention.net
www.standnow.org

www.stopgenocidenow.org

FUN PICTURES OF THE SPANISH TEAM ~ DAVIS CUP 2008 MADRID

Pictures after Feliciano Lopez won over Sam Querrey in dead match
Davis Cup 2008 ~ Madrid
Above and five pictures below photo credits are Getty and unknown

Below more pictures after Feliciano Lopez' win of the dead match over Sam Querrey
Davis Cup Madrid 2008

Photo credits of seven pictures below: Getty

Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the Davis Cup semi-final 2008
Photo credit: unknown

Rafael Nadal watching the doubles match of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the Davis Cup semi-final 2008
Photo credits of the above 3 photos: DPPI Antone Couvercelle

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The pictures in this slideshow are credited to Mary - from The Forum at www.rafaelnadal.com
They are of the Davis Cup in Madrid 2008

RAFAEL NADAL SLIDESHOW OF DAVIS CUP SECOND SEMI-FINAL MATCH

Rafael Nadal after his second semi-final match against Andy Roddick
Madrid, Spain
Photo credit: Unknown

Photo credit: Abaca Press

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Pictures of Rafael Nadal's 2nd semi-final match against Andy Roddick in Madrid, Spain
Rafa won 6-4, 6-0, 6-4
Photo credits Abaca Press, Davis Cup Website, DPPI Antone Couvercelle, Getty and unknown

More pictures will be coming.

DAVIS CUP FINAL WILL BE SPAIN VS ARGENTINA - RAFAEL NADAL TAKING A REST

Rafa and Fernando Verdasco

Photo credits are Abaca Press
except for the one immediately above, which is unknown

Rafael Nadal won in his second match at the Davis Cup semi-final in Madrid over Andy Roddick
6-4, 6-0, 6-4

The score then was the needed 3-1 over the USA in the semi-final, but the bonus match was played between Feliciano Lopez and Sam Querrey. Lopez won in his hometown, Madrid, over Querrey 7-6(3), 7-6(4)

What fun it was to watch.

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Many pictures will be posted later this week.

In the meantime, here are few photos and some videos.

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Rafa celebrates in the locker room
Uploaded by ninzninz2
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Rafa interviewed in Spanish on the court after his victory over Andy Roddick which clenched the semi-final for Spain. Spain will play Argentina in Argentina at the end of November for the final.
Uploaded by vamosrafel
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Press conference after the Davis Cup semi-final with the Spanish team
Uploaded by vamosrafel

The following excerpt is taken from

Argentina to face Spain in Davis Cup final

the full article at www.iht.com

....In Madrid, a commanding performance by a player having a commanding year ended America's reign as Davis Cup holder and sent Spain into the final.

Buoyed by the cheers of a home crowd in a bullring, Rafael Nadal played the role of accomplished matador to the fullest, defeating Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4, to put Spain in its sixth final.

Nadal, a master on clay, dropped to his knees and pumped his fists after giving his country an insurmountable lead in the best-of-five semifinal.

"It's one of the nicest sensations you can experience in your career," he said.

Nadal said he nearly didn't play Sunday because a scan a day earlier showed a strained buttock muscle...

Rafael Nadal and Spain await Argentina in Davis Cup tennis final

Source: canadianpress

MADRID, Spain — Rafael Nadal isn't too worried about having to play the Davis Cup final against Argentina on a fast indoor court.

Nadal swept Andy Roddick in straight sets on clay Sunday, sending Spain past the reigning champion United States 4-1 and into its sixth final and third in eight years. Argentina defeated Russia 3-2 in Buenos Aires in the other semifinal. It will host the Nov. 21-23 final at Orfeo arena in Cordoba, looking to offset the clay-court edge of Nadal and his teammates.

"It's not just the surface but the team that matters," Nadal said.

Argentina knows a faster surface may be the only way to beat Nadal, a four-time French Open champion who has lost only twice in his last 117 clay matches.

"They'll choose whatever works best for them. If they pick an indoor (stadium) we'll go looking to be as competitive as possible," Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario said. "If they put us on grass we have the Wimbledon champion."

Argentina, whose team features David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro, reached its third final by eliminating a Russian team confronted by a boisterous and intimidating crowd.

"The Argentine public is a factor if the games are close," Sanchez Vicario said. "But if there is any evident superiority in a match then the public will have little influence. It always depends on what happens on the court."

And Nadal may be worn out after the longest season of his career. Nadal and most likely David Ferrer will have little time to recover from jet lag, having to travel directly to Argentina from the Masters Cup at Shanghai, China, which runs from Nov. 11-16.

Roddick faulted the Davis Cup organizers.

"They know that we love this competition, so they take advantage of it and pretty much put us through the ringer with the schedule not really caring if we get much rest or not," Roddick said. "But if anybody can handle it, it's probably (Nadal)."

Roddick knows just how strong Nadal can be on the clay after losing 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 on Sunday - the first time the U.S. player has been blanked in a set over 22 Davis Cup series.

"With Rafa having the year he's had you probably have to like Spain's chances at this point, but Argentina has been a strong team over the years," said Roddick, who helped lead the U.S. to the title last year.

Sanchez Vicario knows the task will not be easy.

"In the end, the best players are there and playing away will be tough," he said. "But with this team, we can do it."

Spain, Argentina reach Davis Cup finals

Source: www.upi.com

BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Juan Martin del Potro scored a straight-set win Sunday, moving Argentina into the Davis Cup finals against Rafael Nadal and the Spanish team.

The 19-year-old Del Potro defeated Russia's Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 in Buenos Aires, giving his team a 3-2 triumph.

Earlier in the day in Madrid, Nadal crushed American Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 to clinch a semifinal victory for Spain.

The Davis Cup championship matches will be played Nov. 21-23 in Argentina.

Spanish teams have twice won the Cup. Argentina will be seeking its first.

Russia had tied its best-of-five series with Argentina, leaving it to del Potro and Andreev to decide which team would advance. Del Potro broke serve in the opening game and did not trail in the match.

Nadal's victory over Roddick gave his country an insurmountable 3-1 lead in its matches with the United States. Spain ended up with a 4-1 margin after Feliciano Lopez defeated Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4)

Nadal said he played "near perfect" tennis against Roddick in a match that lasted just over 2 hours.

"I shocked myself with some of the winners I played ... ," Nadal said.

The United States won the Davis Cup last year.

RAFAEL NADAL AND DAVID FERRER WIN FOR SPAIN - DAVIS CUP SEMI-FINAL 2008

Above photos credit: Getty

Above two photos credit: Mary from The Forum at www.rafaelnadal.com

Rafael Nadal won his match over Sam Querrey, Friday, September 19, 2008
Davis Cup Semi-final
6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

Rafa interviewed after the match
in Spanish

David Ferrer (with a bit of Rafa in the video) won over Andy Roddick in five sets

Davis Cup website article of Rafa and David's matches

Nadal, Ferrer give Spain 2-0 lead vs. US - www.tennis.com

The doubles match is Saturday

See the Davis Cup ESP v USA
on the Versus Channel
for me on Cox Communications it is channel 139
Saturday, September 20 - Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 21 - Noon to 5:00 p.m.
www.versus.com/schedule

and repeated on The Tennis Channel
which I don't get, unfortunately

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Spanish Davis Cup Team
Uploaded by vamosrafel

Video Montage of Rafa's - Total Eclipse of the Heart
Uploaded by Ingeborg08

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All photos during Davis Cup in Madrid, Spain
Photo credits: Getty, Antone Couvercelle DPPI ,
Screen Caps of Mary of The Forum
of www.rafaelnadal.com and unknown

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OBAMA - BIDEN 2008

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Part one Sarah Palin speaking at the Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska
Uploaded by FrederickofAmerica

Part two

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John McCain on privatizing Social Security
If we had privatized it, social security would have been affected by the stock market and this week that would not have been a good thing.
Uploaded by DemRapidResponse

We have socialized business today,
but we have a hard time socializing health care in the USA.

John McCain said both of these statements:
"But I'm not for quote privatizing Social Security, I never have been, I never will be." [New Hampshire Town Hall, 06/12/08]

"Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits." [C-Span Road to the White House, 11/18/2004]