Lego Roger

During the semifinal of the 2004 Australian Open, I built a Roger Federer out of Lego and put it on the television as a kind of voodoo doll to help him win. When he did (6-4, 6-1, 6-4 against Juan Carlos Ferrero), I put a #1 on his racket to symbolize that he had just taken over the top ranking. I also resolved to not take the Lego Roger apart until he was no longer number one. Even at the time, I mentioned to Andrea that, given how well he was playing, he might be #1 for a very long time, barring injury. I guessed that he had a good shot at being #1 for five years.

Well, Roger the tennis player is still #1 and is just going past Jimmy Connors for the most consecutive weeks at #1 since the rankings began in 1973. He had his one serious injury in the fall of 2005, but recovered quickly.

Roger the Lego figure has fallen apart a couple of times, but that just shows that the figure is not really a voodoo doll!

And by the way, here's proof that I am not wholly partisan: I have considered building a Lego Rafael Nadal, with his racket in his left hand and a #2 on the racket. :-)