reat uncle went to every game with a scorecard and he died

NEW YORK -- Kateryna Bondarenko, who had just won her second-round singles match, was collecting her things at the changeover chair Wednesday night when a man named Sam Hu jumped off the three-foot ledge that separates Court 13 from the stands.Hu landed awkwardly but turned deftly toward the seats and slipped his left arm around her back. Bondarenko, almost reflexively, responded in kind with her right arm, awaiting the imminent photo opportunity.As a friend in the stands snapped the shot, Hu, hip to hip with Bondarenko, gleefully gave a thumbs up and said, Beautiful, beautiful.Two security guards, who arrived at the scene six seconds after he arrived, actually waited several more seconds as the photographer wrapped up. Bondarenko smiled as Hu, 47, was hustled away, amid applause and laughter.If Hu had intended to harm her, certainly he was in a position to do so.Six seconds, said Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a heavily decorated American doubles player, can be a long, long time. Anything could happen, even that fast.And thats the difficult piece of this incident. The two assigned security guards reacted swiftly, but not fast enough, to prevent a potential assault.Earlier this summer, an extraordinary video surfaced that showed a fan jumping down into the players tunnel after a friendly between Lionel Messis Barcelona and the home-team Celtic in Dublin. The fan lands on his feet and, just as he attempts to embrace Messi, a security guard decks him with a chest-high flying tackle. Mike Rodriguez, the USTAs director of security, said that tennis, like basketball, is a tough assignment.Its difficult to guard a court, Rodriguez said Thursday. We are dealing with human beings, so training and focus are always a factor.We got the word out last night. There is a reaction if you try to take that action.New York police made the arrest, charged Hu with interference of a sporting event, recently upgraded to a misdemeanor, and took him to the station house of the 110th precinct.On Thursday, Hu was released and active on Chinese social media Thursday. He owns a?tennis academy near Shanghai, China, but lives in Long Island.Learn from this lesson, he wrote on Weichat. Man [need] to control himself, control, control.As part of the US Open protocol, Hu has been banned from the event for 10 years.Bondarenko, whose doubles match was canceled Thursday because of rain, was not available for comment.The incident recalled last years French Open, when a spectator seeking a selfie with Roger Federer ran onto the court and made contact before security intervened. Afterward, security was visibly heightened. It was another ultimately benign example of star worship, but the opportunity for foul play was there.I feel safe, insisted No. 5 seed Simona Halep after her second-round victory. Nothing happened to me until now. No one wants to hurt you, even if someone is coming to take a picture with you.But in 1993, when Bondarenko was a 6-year-old playing tennis in the Ukraine, Monica Seles was stabbed in the back while sitting on her changeover chair in Hamburg. Gunter Parche, a crazed supporter of Steffi Graf, drove a nine-inch boning knife between Seles shoulder blades. Seles, who had won eight Grand Slam singles titles before her 20th birthday, did not play another match for more than two years. Upon her return, Seles was never the same.That was 23 years ago. Today, terrorism and security occupy a far more significant place in our consciousness.This is more than just a tennis tournament were talking about; its the world, said Patrick McEnroe, the former USTA general manager of player development. You do everything right, and theres still that opportunity. At some point, you have to just trust in the world.McEnroe, citing the increased presence of x-ray machines at the gates and more aggressive bag checks, reminisced about the old days, when security was more of an afterthought.No. 2 seed Andy Murray said safety concerns surface more when hes off the court.When I am out in the streets and stuff, I think more about that, he said. Not just because of the things that have happened in the world, like in the big cities over the last 15, 20 years.When Im at a tennis tournament, I dont know; I just feel comfortable when Im on the court.Murray related the anecdote of a kid who leaped onto the court after a match at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.I had signed his hat, and then gone away with his pen, Murray said. He jumped onto the court and asked for the pen back.According to Rodriguez, the USTA, NYPD and security force regularly engage in tactical exercises.Look, there are plenty of examples in the tennis world, never mind the sporting world, he said. People come on the court to get a selfie, kiss someone, hug them. In our training, we remind people that what youre seeing might not be what you think it is. You need to [be] prepared when its not that.You cant just think its not a big deal. Everything is important.Brad Gilbert, coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, shook his head when Bondarenkos incident was described to him.If someone wanted to do something, thats pretty hard to defend, said Gilbert, an ESPN analyst. If theyre crazy enough to try it, the opportunity is there.The fact that he could get that close to her, man. My guess is the debriefing room is not a pleasant place today.Hes right. Video of the episode was posted on Instagram, and Rodriguez said it generated hundreds of thousands of views. He forwarded it to the private security company responsible.This is what we do on the counter-terrorism side, explained Rodriguez, who comes from that background. I said, You need to use this as a training aid, a positive reinforcement. But we need to pay a little more attention to people understanding what they need to do.All told, Rodriguez said, there are close to 300 security guards and an equal number of New York City police on site every day. Seven or eight people are deployed for the show courts, where the players and attention they generate are greater, and a minimum of two, plus one for relief, on the field courts. In addition, two people from player operations escort players to and from the courts.It stops and makes you think, Mattek-Sands said. But its the world we live in.Cheap NFL Jerseys .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. http://www.nflwholesalejerseys.us/ . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. NFL Jerseys China . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss.CHICAGO -- They spoke of heartbreak and black cats and goats. And finally, Chicago Cubs fans spoke with pride about winning it all.This is new territory for these long-suffering fans and it showed on Thursday, the day after the Cubs wrapped up their first World Series championship since 1908 with a Game 7, extra-inning thriller in Cleveland against the Indians. Amid all the celebrating and relief and joy ahead of Fridays big downtown parade, there was a bit of confusion on just how to proceed.After all, 108 years of falling short is a long time.That just dawned on me yesterday that Chicagos not going to have that reputation anymore of lovable losers, said Peggy Herrington, 49, of Chicago. Were not going to fall back on that and think about the goats or anything.She and others were just fine with that.You get all the ridicule from your friends -- `lovable losers, `they always blow it, I know theyre gonna blow this, said Michael McNeela, a 66-year-old Chicago retiree who has rooted for the Cubs since he was 11. And they have to eat their words. ... I got a (championship) hat now and theyre going to see it and they have to shut up.The story of the Cubs, like so many teams (including Cleveland), is filled with sadness and what ifs. Its just that the Cubs have always seemed to come up empty in the most puzzling ways. The August collapse in 1969, which included a black cat on the field at one point, and of course the 2003 postseason when fate and a fan named Steve Bartman stepped in and suddenly a trip to the Series was gone. But those milestones will fade now, along with the fabled curse of the billy goat, leveled in 1945 -- the last time the Cubs reached the Fall Classic.I think what this does for the identity of the Cubs fan is maybe they will have to deal with less of that tired old trope of the goat, the black cat, said Lin Brehmer, a devoted fan and local radio host. Thats all in the past now. You can forget that part of our narrative.There is a new story for Cubs Nation and fans were eager to share it with each other. Thousands celebrated into the night in the streets of Wrigleyville and many bleary-eyed faces were seen on the morning commute as a new era dawned in Chicago. The Cubs returned to a heros welcome in the wee hours, with first baseman Anthony Rizzo cheered at Wrigley Fiield as he held the World Series trophy aloft.ddddddddddddMany found ways to share the joy with loved one who did not live long enough to see it for themselves, spelling out their memories in chalk on the brick walls of the ballpark. Among them was Mike Compton, 59, of suburban Arlington Heights.He passed away in January, was 91 years old, Compton said of his father. I had to come down and put his name on the brick.Others who poured out of taverns near Wrigley when the game was over to shout, sing, cry, hug and take photographs also took a few seconds early Thursday to touch statues of Cubs greats Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and broadcaster Harry Caray. It was an easy way to share the event with whose long careers with the Cubs came and went without even a trip to the Series.It is sad for past generations that missed it all together, said Judy Pareti, who came from New York to stand outside the Murphys Bleachers tavern, which is in a building across the street from Wrigley .My great uncle went to every game with a scorecard and he died a few years ago, she said. He just missed all of this.She added: It is sad we are never going to see them win for the first time ever again. We lost that.Of course, the Cubs didnt make it easy. A seven-game series is always tense and the Cubs blew a 5-1 lead in the finale Wednesday night. When the Indians tied things up in the eighth inning, many feared yet another devastating chapter in the long history of Cubs heartbreak was on the way.When they tied it up it felt like it was over, they (the Cubs) had lost, said Mike Dillon, a banking executive who drove to a tavern just outside Wrigley to be among other fans . I couldnt believe they won and even going home I had to turn on the news channels to make sure it actually happened.In the end, between 11:46 p.m. and 11:47 p.m. Central time, he and others went from being the longest-suffering fans in American sports to fans of the best team in baseball.It showed the fight, the grit, the up-and-down, the history of the team, the fans and the city, said Donna Drepeau, a 50-year-old artist. It had to be that way, it couldnt come easy. That team showed Chicago what we are. ' ' '