I was watching that epic match at Wimbledon on Sunday morning when I finally saw the stats for Andy Roddick versus Roger Federer.  I had always just thought of Roddick as a mentally weak loser (no James Blake) but then I realized that Roddick is now 2-19 against Federer.  He’s not a loser, he is just playing in an era against an absolute buzzsaw.  Sure, Roddick doesn’t always have himself together enough to make it to the finals, but Federer has beat him in the Wimbledon final three times now.

Raphael Nadal isn’t in much better shape.  Nadal has the dubious distinction of being the longest world #2 of all time.  Federer has been holding his ass down too.  It has to be tough playing during the time of one of the worlds greatest.  When one man busts out 15 majors on the world of tennis, someone has to catch an L all of those times.

Roger stays cool doing it too, and he’s still got a lot left in the tank.  Roddick looks better than ever, but there is no reason to believe that Federer won’t be good for another 2 years.  These tennis guys tap out early, but Federer is still dominant.  That got me thinking about some of the other greats that beat down in an era of greatness.  How many rings were denied during the Jordan era?

Charles Barkley doesn’t have any rings.

Big Pat Ewing doesn’t have any rings.

Karl Malone and John Stockton?  AHNT!

Yeah, if you played in the era between Bird and Magic, until Shaq and Kobe…unless your name is Tim Duncan, you weren’t getting a ring.  Not a single one.  I know, I know, Hakeem and the Rockets got two in between, but that was while Mike was out playing baseball.  The Bulls might have been the modern day Celtics back in the 90’s.  Phil might have had to break out the “XII” hat on ‘em a few weeks ago.

Football didn’t really have a dominant winner that took everyone elses rings, but they sure has a dominant loser.

That Jim Kelly had the AFC on lock for a long time.  Too bad he couldn’t convert.  He would have been one of the greatest ever.

Dan Marino caught his fair share of L’s too.

So who is next?  People assume that LeBron is going to get his ring, but is he going to do it as the leader of his own team, or is he going to pull a Gary Payton and put himself in the right place at the right time at the end of his career to grab a ring?  Peyton and Eli have theirs, although Tom Brady has a few from Donovan…but Donovan might not be one of the greats.

So Andy, don’t worry about the loss today.  You’ve still got a little time to take your shot.  You are a year younger that Roger, so you might have a shot at every tournament after her retires unless he pulls a Agassi and plays until he is 35.  Great match today though.  Just know that you are not alone.  But you and all the rest of the lovable losers need to Man Up!