Pictures From the Men's Action - 2011 USTA Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs: Day 1

Friday’s Quarterfinal Scores

MEN

No. 8 Rhyne Williams ( Knoxville , Tenn. ) def. No. 1 Bobby Reynolds ( Acworth , Ga. ), 4-6, 6-4, 10-8

No. 2 Jesse Levine ( Boca Raton , Fla. ) def. No. 7 Daniel Kosakowski ( Downey , Calif. ), 6-2, 6-4

No. 3 Denis Kudla ( Arlington , Va. ) def. No. 6 Jack Sock ( Lincoln , Neb. ), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 5-4, ret.

No. 4 Robby Ginepri ( Kennesaw , Ga. ) def. No. 5 Steve Johnson ( Orange , Calif. ), 7-6 (4), 6-0

Denis KudlaJack SockBobby ReynoldsRhyne Williams

Those "Pop Up" Halloween Stores are Popping Up Around Atlanta

The job market is tough, but there is a welcoming sight all across the country and especially here in Atlanta. Halloween stores are opening all over the area and providing the unemployed a job during these trying times. Halloween Thrills is one of the seasonal stores opening in the area providing both jobs for the unemployed and the filling of vacant retail locations.

To date, Halloween Thrills has hired 20 temporary employees in the Atlanta area. "We've received several hundred applications and have only 60 positions to fill for our three locations at Atlantic Station, Roswell, and Kennesaw," said Al Adkisson, who runs a chain of local Halloween Thrills retail stores in the Metro Atlanta Area. “And, it's not just people looking for an extra job. For a lot of people that work for us, it is the job that's holding them over until they can find something permanent," Adkisson said.

With Atlanta's 10.4 percent retail vacancy rate, temporary stores, like Halloween Thrills, have found a niche. They come in, pay rent for a couple months and then disappear until the next Halloween season. While not a permanent tenant, these seasonal stores offer a boost to the economy every year and landlords and management companies are more than willing to lease the space.

If you didn't know, Halloween is huge.  According to the National Retail Federation, it is estimated that Americans will spend $5.8 Billion this year for Halloween. Not only costumes for adults and children, many are also dressing up their pet or decorating for Trick-or-Treat and Halloween parties. The stores are already fully stocked with a huge selection of costumes for both adults and children and have a wide variety of accessories for the customer who likes to design their own

U.S. Open Match to Watch: Day 6

Someone was going to draw Serena Williams in the 3rd round and it happened to be Victoria Azarenka.

This has the potential to be the match of the tournament on the women's side and it will be at about 3pm on Ashe Stadium Court.

Serena holds the career edge over Azarenka 5-1, including three wins at Grand Slam events.  Serena won the matchup earlier this summer in Toronto, and I like Serena again here in two tough sets.

Here's the tale of the tape:

Tropical Storm Emily Heading to Florida

Tropical storm Emily has been strengthening as it moves on its northwestern path and pushes its way through the Caribbean.

Earlier this morning, Emily was about 265 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico traveling around 17 miles an hour but it is expected to speed up as it moves across the Caribbean Sea today and moves closer towards the Dominican Republic, where there is a tropical storm watch.

By evening, it is projected that Emily will make its way to the island of Hispaniola.

In the latest advisory by the US National Hurricane Centre, Haiti, the US Virgin Islands, and the islands of St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, and Antigua were also under a tropical storm watch.

Emily has yet to be defined as a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest type of hurricane where damage is typically leads to broken windows, destruction of older homes and roofs.

Thus far, Emily's maximum winds were up to 40 miles per hour. They should get stronger.

Another Casualty of Lockout; "Hard Knocks"

No NFL team will be on the popular HBO series "Hard Knocks" this summer.

HBO said Friday the uncertainty of the lockout "made it impractical for a team to commit" to its yearly training camp reality show. The series is set to return next year.

The network will broadcast a 10th anniversary special Aug. 31 looking back at past "Hard Knocks": Baltimore Ravens (2001), Dallas Cowboys (2002, 2008), Kansas City Chiefs (2007), Cincinnati Bengals (2009) and New York Jets (2010).