Hit For Haiti = Big Hit
I'm not really up on current issues. I watch the news and I read newspapers almost as often as I do gossip mags, but let's face it -- you don't exactly run to me for the 411 on big events, especially tragic ones. Bumming people out really isn't my bag.
You probably already know that the country of Haiti was hit by a devastatingly large earthquake about five days ago. That's not news to you. (And I hope I'm not the only one who keeps coming back to Cher Horowitz's, "So right now, the Haiti-ens need to come to America, but some people are all, what about the strain on our resources?" debate from Clueless.)
I live in Melbourne, Australia, aka the home of the Australian Open. You may have heard of it. Yesterday, some guy named Roger Federer (not sure if you've heard of him, though) decides he's going to round up the best tennis players in, like, the entire universe, and organise a tennis match between them all in one day, then charge people ten bucks a ticket and donate all the proceeds to the Haitian earthquake fund. And because Roger Federer is some sort of superhero/sorcerer hybrid, he does it. He fucking does it. I don't even know how to explain it besides superpowers/sorcery.
How'd you spend your lazy Sunday afternoon, guys? I spent it watching Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Novak Djokovitch, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams and Sam Stosur play an exhibition doubles game. Against each other. For anyone who doesn't follow tennis, that's like rounding up Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand, Beyonce, the entire cast of Wicked and anyone who's ever played Sally Bowls in Cabaret for a leisurely game of SingStar. There is no way I'll ever get to see Nadal serve to Clijsters again in my entire life. It was freakin' amazing.
A photo I took. 'Cause I was there.
The main entertainment had very little to do with actually tennis playing -- the players were miked up, and all had fantastic senses of humour. (Who the hell knew?) They took potshots at each other, made fun of the umpires, Hawkeye, the linesmen. Novak Djokovitch did every amusing thing in the history of everything. I've been to more sporting events than you'd care to believe (I live in Melbourne, remember?), but this was far and away my favourite. It was relaxed and friendly and...amazing. I never thought I'd live to see the day Williams and Federer on the same doubles team. Oh, and at some point, they all decided to play at once. Mindblowing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Okay, you know what? Watch it for yourself. You'll need to type "Hit for Haiti" into Google Video (not YouTube!), but it's worth it. Here's the first:
Click to viewNot only that, but the event raised over $300,000 for the Haitians. Not bad, Roger Federer, you sexy, sexy superhero/sorcerer.