A year ago I drew him for the first time as a bright young contender in the leadership debate boxing match, his heavyweight opponents battered and bruised by comparison.
But the world No 9, so often hampered by injury, will go to Melbourne buoyed by his form and fitness after winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 against one of the brightest young contenders in the field.
READING MATERIAL To select the ultimate New York novel, I consulted Jay McInerney, the author of a possible contender, "Bright Lights, Big City". He nominated Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" or Joseph O'Neill's "Netherland". I nixed the 730-page "Bonfire" for weight reasons, and picked up a paperback of "Netherland" (256 pages) at the Strand ($12.20).
She will probably not get as much as her teammates and good friends Hannah Teter (the gold medalist in 2006) and Gretchen Bleiler (the silver medalist), or even the Australian medal contender Torah Bright, all often seen smiling in photo spreads that have little to do with snowboarding.
Friedman has a bright rep, having made contenders of the Rays despite payrolls that have annually been among baseball's lowest.
Stella, a winning contender, and a bright and beautiful, many faceted star.
Torah Bright of Australia, another strong contender for a medal in snowboard halfpipe at the Olympics, pulled out of the X Games on Thursday after sustaining her second concussion in three days.
Torah Bright of Australia, a strong contender for an Olympic medal in the women's halfpipe, sent a buzz through the snowboarding world in recent weeks when she announced that she had been practicing a double-cork 900 — an off-axis spin of two and a half rotations that has never been landed in competition by a woman.
By any reasonable yardstick, I'm Like a Bird (even without the hoped-for pantomime response of "Oh no, you're not") is a life-affirming song: bright, breezy and a sure contender for single of the year in 2001's more discerning polls.
A bright, articulate guy, he was a contender for the chief operating officer job, and likely the chief exec's job as well.
A few weeks into his sophomore year, Robinson emerged as college football's brightest star and a leading Heisman Trophy contender.
