For the last three and a half years, Charles Akinloye has been the director of tennis at the Trumbull Racquet Club. He started working there when he was 26, and now, 10 years later, he has more passion than ever for the game and the youth that play it. He had always enjoyed working with kids, but one kid especially still stands out in his memory. A kid with a tremendous forehand, a skill matched only by his mental toughness. When the kid was still going to Fairfield High School, the two paired up one day for a fun game. The kid was 15, maybe 16. Akinloye had close to 10 years on him.

The kid beat him.

"I played against him in a match back when he was in high school, 1996 or '97, I guess," Akinloye said recently. "He beat me 8-6. I knew then, there was no doubt what kind of talent he was. The caliber, the potential, he had. He had a big forehand in high school and he had great ability."

Akinloye was one of many who stayed up until the wee hours of Thursday morning to watch the kid, James Blake, take on Andre Agassi in the U.S. Open quarterfinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadow, N.Y. Even though Agassi defeated Blake, who grew up in Fairfield, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6), it was a match for the ages. It had everything. Momentum swings. Massive rallies. Comebacks. Clutch points. The only thing it didn't have was Blake winning.

But that was OK, too. Blake, 25, has spent this season working his way back up the tennis ladder. From last year,

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from suffering a broken neck and shingles and having his father pass away from cancer, Blake has come all the way back, and his story is something even Hollywood couldn't make up.

"He's proved a lot of people wrong. When he was sick, a lot of people thought (his career) was over, but he's coming back," Akinloye said. "I believe he'll be back in the top 20 soon. No doubt about it."

Sam Callaway of Redding and his wife, Jill, believe the same thing. Their daughter, Lucy, used to practice with Blake at the Tennis Club of Trumbull, and even though Sam and Jill have never met Blake, they truly respect him.

"We're big fans of James. Our daughter played tennis with James and we've followed his career for a long time," Sam Callaway said during the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven. "He was always so great with the kids there (at the tennis club) and he means a lot to Lucy (who's a student at California Santa Cruz) and all the kids. His personality is special and his character is beyond exemplary."

The best part of the quarterfinal match against Agassi? It had to be in the tiebreaker when Blake hammered a winner to take a 3-0 lead. He looked up into the night sky and mouthed the words: "I love you, dad." Man, if that doesn't give you goosebumps, nothing will.

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I'm guessing that if the Red Sox find more of the same magic they had in 2004 to win a second straight World Series, they should vote a quarter share of the player money to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Winning 11 of 16 against the Yankees? Maybe keeping them out of the playoffs entirely? That deserves something. How about a Christmas card for manager Lou Piniella? &

When is Islanders general manager Mike Milbury going to live up to his promise and play that NHL exhibition game in the Arena at Harbor Yard? He made the vow in 2004 and then, oops, the players strike canceled that plan. But hey, isn't the NHL back again? So, where's the game? Oh yeah, it's at The Rinks in Shelton. And by the way, the Rinks is charging $18 a ticket for Sound Tigers exhibition games on Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 just to sit on metal bleachers. If Milbury and the Islanders are going to continue to keep making empty promises and not focus their attention on the city that gave them their name, maybe we should start calling them the Shelton Sound Tigers. &

First of all, nice job by Fairfield athletic director Gene Doris to land Providence and not tick off Yale, whose game he had to postpone this season in order to get the Friars. And kudos to Yale AD Tom Beckett for seeing how important this was to Fairfield and doing the right thing by moving aside. It just goes to show that there are still good guys out there.

Chris Elsberry is a sports columnist. He can be reached by e-mail at celsberry@ctpost.com