Something You Won’t See on ESPN: Video of Roger Federer Advancing to the French Open Finals

A goofy situation concerning broadcast windows and rights and other crap meant NBC was unable to air Friday’s French Open semifinal match between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro, a match that turned out to be a five-set barnburner, won by Federer.  Then, for some reason, though the match was aired on other networks around the world, when ESPN reported on Federer’s triumph, they were forced to use stills in lieu of video, like it was a heavyweight title fight instead of a tennis match.  None of this makes any sense to me; nor did it matter to me since I was able to find the match for free online.  And that, my friends, is why the internet will end up rendering television obsolete.  While rich guys argue over who gets to show what and when, we peons sit here with our broadband connections watching it regardless of what they decide.