Faulkner

🎶 My Ana Konjuh don’t want none... Nishioka for JMdP’s first match back! Wow. Plus an all-Aussie affair with Kyrgios and Millman.

Not surprised they caved. It’s shocking how many dumb, insulting, poorly vetted decisions have come from the Academy in the past year. There’s so much fat that could be trimmed from the ceremony (lame presenter banter, montages) without touching the awards. Plus, there’s no host, so no need for a protracted opening/monologue.

This Munar kid is SO passive. He’s so frustrating to watch.

Jung had only played two main tour matches prior to this tournament.

Wow at Jason Jung beating Frances.

This is interesting: lots of love for Black Panther for Best Picture and all 20 anonymous voters said they’d cast ballots for Rami Malek for Best Actor.

Speaking of Ryan,

Ha. Ben got dragged around the block for that. No Steffi, KOURNIKOVA.

Well, Miss Genie.

I was a big fan of Ryan’s first solo record when I was in college, but shortly thereafter, all these stories came out about how much of a toxic megalomaniac he was (and his substance abuse issues), going back to when he was in the band Whiskeytown in the ‘90s. I was actually somewhat surprised Mandy Moore hooked up with him at the time, as she seemed savvier than that. At a concert, when some heckler started calling out Bryan Adams songs, Ryan stopped playing and went on such an unhinged, endless rant that attendees left in droves. He’s a big presence in Meet Me in the Bathroom, and he seemed like this charismatic self-promoter who’d leave a path of destruction in his wake. A lot of it dealing with drugs.

I know. It’s certainly more than just his French charm. Davis Cup groups. If top players actually participated, Group B would be the group of death.

Weird, flat taglines. Interesting that Dorinda gets the last word.

Wow. I didn’t actually think Amazon would pull out of NYC.

This is really great.

Oscar nominee Regina King had a bit of close shave at an NBA game last night.

From the Grammys... I loved this.