Sport and Cinema.com

The American leg of the tennis grand slam begins play today on the hard courts of the USTA National Tennis Center in New York.

On the men’s side, history and Roger Federer once again is the lead story.

Despite going with an untested quarterback (incoming freshman Matt Barkley) taking over the reigns from Mark Sanchez (now starting for the New York Jets) , new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates will also play youthful running backs with emerging sophomore Curtis McNeal and redshirt freshman Curtis McNeal on a squad with twelve returning starters. Should Barkley falter, an even younger player will step in, redshirt sophomore Aaron Corp.

Mack Brown has 14 starters returning. The Longhorns are long on defense with 48 sacks to lead the nation last year, but they also lost end Brian Orakpo who won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the country’s top collegiate defender. Veteran Sergio Kindle and newcomer on the end position, Alex Okafor, could cause a lot of disruptions to opposing offenses this year. No doubt their game against rival Oklahoma will have national title implications.

The Hokies simply have got to run better to go deeper in the bowl season. Frank Beamer has done it with defense, ranking in the Top Ten for the last 5 years garnering two ACC titles and 31 wins. Darren Evans, Tyrod Taylor and redshirt freshman Ryan Williams hope to provide some much needed offensive punch.

It is a massive campaign, breaking down the conferences to see who stand the best chance to upset the Florida Gator’s bid to repeat as national champions. So in and around other news from the worlds of sport and cinema, we’ll take a look over the next couple of weeks at the very best and what they offer that just might allow them to vie for the BCS crown.

Displaying the same dominance as he did at the sport’s marquee event at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Jamaican flyer flew into the records books yesterday by setting a world record in the 200 meter race at the World Championships in Berlin.

Bolt’s time of 19.19 clipped .11 seconds off the mark he set last year at the Beijing Olympics and came four days after he broke his 100 record by the same margin.

“I was running my heart out,” Bolt said. “I got my start right and that was the key. And when I got the start I knew was fine.”

The world’s greatest sports league, the English Premier League, began its latest campaign began over the weekend as Arsenal slammed Everton 6-1, Tottenham topped Liverpool 2-1, while Chelsea took care of Hull City 2-1 reigning champion Manchester United got into the winning column with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham City in the major games.

Quarterbacks Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson got the Minnesota Vikings started in pre-season action, but the team will ride its playoff hopes on the 39 year-old arm of Brett Favre , who signed with the team yesterday.

Just over a month ago, Sports and Cinema.com reported on the USOC’s plans to launch a major cable television network.

Four weeks later, in the midst of the marquee Olympic sport of athletics hosting its world championships , after meeting with IOC president Jacques Rogge Sunday, USOC chairman Larry Probst decided to postpone their efforts.

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica smashed his own 100 meters world record with a stunning time of 9.58 seconds to win the final on Sunday at the IAAF World Track Championships in Berlin.