By Charles Bricker

The good, the bad and the very amusing from the CBS-TV telecast of the U.S. Open men's final, and there was a lot in every category. And when I say amusing, I don't mean ha-ha amusing. But we'll get to that.

* The good: CBS got a great match with four hours and five minutes of tennis, plus a fairly solid pre-match report with analysis by John McEnroe and a good stage-setter by old pro Dick Enberg. Excellent crowd shots, especially after the match and during the trophy presentation, of the unbridled joy of the Argentines who came to cheer on Juan Martin Del Potro.

CBS also did an exemplary job covering the anger Roger Federer was giving off over a delayed challenge by Del Potro near the end of the third set.

* The bad: For starters, there was Mary Joe Fernandez in the stadium hallway leading from the locker room to the court, waiting for the usual brief, boring chit-chat with the contestants, which serves only one purpose -- to let the viewers see the players' faces up close, possibly to detect nervousness or anxiety. The questions, of course, are inane. But when Federer trooped out of the locker room, he was smiling broadly at Fernandez, no doubt in part because she is the wife of Federer's personal agent. Which raises a serious question about CBS Sports' integrity in having her involved in a broadcast, in any way, featuring her spouse's No. 1 client -- or any of his clients, for that matter. Would CBS use NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus as an alleged "news reporter" to interview client Terrell Owens?

More bad: Despite Enberg's strong start, his post-match work on court was horrible. He let Federer rumble on without any suggestion that CBS was running on limited time. But when Del Potro wanted to say a few words in Spanish (his English is still evolving, and slowly), Enberg essentially told him to make it quick. That was astonishing, considering the Argentine had just won the U.S. Open in a major upset.

* The amusing: Federer's silly and continuing angst about the Hawk-eye electronic line-calling system. Two years ago at Wimbledon, he flipped out, using the S-word and whining that "Hawk-eye is killing me" on a winning challenge by Rafael Nadal. This time, at ad-Federer and 4-4 in the third set, Del Potro stroked wide -- so wide that Federer headed immediately for his changeover chair. Del Potro began to question chair umpire Jake Garner, trying to elicit an opinion on the call. Garner told him to challenge if he wished. So he did, and Hawk-eye showed the ball well wide.

Now Federer blew up, despite winning the point and the game. "I get two seconds and the guy gets like 10. . .every time," Fed complained, and all you could do was watch this and shake your head -- maybe even laugh a bit. Garner tried to explain that "he was talking to me." Not good enough for Federer, who was beginning to feel the pressure of this match. "I see a lot of that stuff. Do you have any rules in there," he complained. Garner raised his hand, as if to say, "Please, enough." Now the 15-time Grand Slam champion seemed insulted. "Stop showing me your hand, OK. Don't tell me to be quiet, OK. When I want to talk, I'll talk. I don't give a (S-word) what he says. I'm saying he waited too long."

A further word or two about time use on challenges. There's nothing, zero, in the rule book that defines the number of seconds allowed to make a challenge. It's at the chair umpire's discretion, but certain things are obvious.

When a player defending his baseline or sideline thinks a ball is out when there is no "out" call, he may contact the ball as if to return it, but he has to raise his hand immediately to indicate a challenge. No one is going to let him watch how good his return shot is before he challenges. It's now or never.

However, on a ball called "out" on the other side, it's not uncommon for players to look to the chair for advice, which, incidentally, I don't think the chair should give. You have the challenges. Use them. But players still do that, and it takes a few seconds, which is what happened in the Del Potro case.

Also, it's not uncommon for a player questioning an "out" call on the other side to walk forward, peering over the net for some yellow fuzz or an off-color spot on the court where the ball might have hit. That takes a few seconds.

Federer is way off base on this one and, despite his use of a profanity, this does not equate to the Serena Williams outburst. So let's not go there.

Charles Bricker can be reached at bricker@tennisnews.com