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Later in the show, hear this brief and funny one minute segment in which Lesley teases Jeff that he needs Dr. John F Murray to move into his apartment.

Racket control and two-fisted backhands aren’t unusual at a noted tennis academy, but this prospect just turned 5 years old.

Mia Lines ‘has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift,’ her coach says.

Mia Lines ‘has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift,’ her coach says.

“She has the best adjustment steps I’ve seen in 25 years,” said Rick Macci, owner of the Rick Macci Tennis Academy at Boca Lago Country Club in Florida, where Mia Lines trains, when she’s not playing Scooby-Doo back home in Australia. “She has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift.”

Macci, who worked with champions Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and the Williams sisters when they were young, has been celebrated for his work with junior players and has been named the USPTA Coach of the Year seven times. Mia’s father found him on the Internet.

“When Mia was 3, everyone kept telling me she had talent and that I should get someone to look at her,” said Glenn Lines, a former day trader from Melbourne who is now the full-time single father to his tennis prodigy. “I had heard of Rick, and when I researched his program, I brought her to America to train with him.”

At 3 years old? Three years before school starts? At an age just beyond what child psychologists call “object permanence,” the ability of a child to remember what he or she just saw?

“We make sure she’s having fun,” said Macci.

It appears to be the case. Macci, who said Mia had racket control from the beginning, has the child bouncing basketballs with both hands, hitting the ball “on the rise, give ‘em a surprise” and taking lemonade breaks. I watched her hit 30 balls in a row over the net, then jump over a couple of Macci-fed tosses as if the ball were a hot potato. She giggles and laughs, but there is something else inside.

“She’s extremely competitive,” said Macci. “When I had Venus and Serena, they would run through glass on the court to get to a ball. Mia’s the same way.”

She is small, short for her age, but when she gets up on her toes, tiny calf muscles pop out in the back. Her movements are efficient and the ball almost never goes beyond the baseline. But where is this heading, what can come of training three hours a day at such a young age?

“Well she’s not going to win any tournaments for 5-year-olds,” said renowned sports psychologist Dr. John Murray. “But it isn’t necessarily bad that she’s developing her passion. At the moment, she’s no different than any child who plays the violin or is precocious at ballet or art at a young age.”

Tennis has had its share of pushy-parent casualties. Stefano Capriati was famous for changing coaches, signing endorsement contracts and courting sponsors when Jennifer was only 12. Her early burnout is the stuff of legend. Andre Agassi wrote in his book that he hated the game his father forced him to play. Damir Dokic was famously ejected from a tournament where his daughter, Jelena, was playing, when he drunkenly accused an official of being a Nazi who endorsed the bombing of his native Yugoslavia.

“Some of these parents are just pathological,” Murray said. “They don’t understand that all athletes go through developmental stages. Being a star at 10 doesn’t mean that child will be world-ranked at 14.”

It’s too early to tell if Glenn Lines has the right stuff to make the precarious journey. He admits he “took a tennis ball to the hospital where Mia was born”, and “waved a tennis ball” over her head when she was in the crib.

But Lines seems to have some perspective.

“I don’t come from a wealthy family,” he said of his upbringing in Wantirna South, a suburb outside of Melbourne. “I’m middle class, and I’ve decided that when Mia turns 14, if she wants to do something else, anything else, that’s her decision. I know that my father, who loves Aussie rules football, wanted me to play, but I never did.”

Macci will not say whether Mia, whom he calls “Kangaroo,” will develop into a world-class tennis player.

“There are too many factors,” he said. “But I don’t resent or worry about her father. Many, if not most great players, had at least one parent devoted to their development — Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles, Chris Evert, Martina Hingis. Not all parents are bad.”

Lesley Visser, who is writing the epilogue for Dr. Murray’s new book “The Mental Performance Index: Ranking the Best Teams in Super Bowl History” will Serve as Analyst for New Orleans Saints-Miami Dolphins on Thursday, Sept. 3 on WFOR-TV in Miami

NEW YORK — CBS Sports’ Lesley Visser, voted the No. 1 Female Sportscaster of all-time by the American Sportscasters Association, is about to break new ground as the first woman analyst for a television broadcast of an NFL game.

On Thursday, Sept. 3, Visser will serve as a color commentator for the fourth quarter of the Miami Dolphins-New Orleans Saints pre-season game seen on WFOR-TV (Ch. 4), the CBS affiliate in Miami. She works the Dolphins pre-season games with Bob Griese, Nat Moore and CBS Sports play-by-play announcer Craig Bolerjack.

“Lesley Visser is one of the most accomplished sportscasters in history,” said Shaun McDonald, President/General Manager of WFOR-TV/CBS4 and WBFS/My 33. “She’s not only an inspiration for others and a pioneer in breaking down boundaries, but she also sets a standard that every other sportscaster aspires to achieve. Needless to say, we’re delighted that she’ll be contributing her expertise to our final preseason game.”

An example is Visser’s pioneer spirit is her support of sports psychology, as she recently had Dr. John F. Murray on her talk radio show with co-host Jeff De Forest on Fox Sports 640 AM to discuss innovative issues to help improve the NFL and NBA with better mental health care and mental training.

“Having had many challenges in my career, I am especially excited about this one,” said Visser, who was the NFL’s first female beat writer in 1976 when she covered the New England Patriots for the Boston Globe. “I am grateful to CBS for giving me this opportunity.”

This season, Visser, the only woman in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the 2006 Pete Rozelle Radio and Television Award, will be working her 36th year of NFL coverage. She will contribute to THE NFL TODAY, the CBS Television Network’s pre-game show, and cover her 23rd Super Bowl when CBS broadcasts Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010 in Miami. Visser became the first female color analyst on radio when she worked selected Monday Night Football games for Westwood One with Howard David and Boomer Esiason in 2002.

In his new book, to be released in 2010, Murray will unleash his patented MPI system of rating a football team’s performance on a scale of 0 to 1 (like a baseball batting average), including crucial mental factors in the rating such as pressure performance and reduction of mental errors.

The Mental Performance Index (MPI) was extremely accurate over six years of pilot testing in making overall performance explicit in the NFL playoffs, and this data allowed Murray to say more or less how the teams would perform in 5 of 6 Super Bowls and to beat the spread in 4 of 6. For this book, Murray is rating every play in Super Bowl history to produce the data, ranking every team from 1 to 88, showing the actual data, and announcing the best and most dominant team ever.” Many other interesting questions will be answered such as, what is really more important to winning the big game, offense or defense, or something entirely different?

“I’m extremely fortunate to have a superstar and extremely nice person in Lesley Visser to write the epiloge, said Murray. It will greatly enhance an already exciting book and be icing on the cake by a broadcasting legend who has covered most Super Bowl games in history. Visser was recently awarded as the top female sports broadcaster in history. She adds a rare and extremely informed perspective that I’m delighted to be able to share with the world in this book. It’s not surprising that the publisher has a name like World Audience, said Murray with a chuckle, because the world will indeed be audience to an audacious approach in this book, an approach based on precision and thinking outside the box.”

Murray expects people to learn more about the MPI and pay much more attention to the mental game in anything they do after reading this book. “Readers will never quite view football or other sports the same,” stated the sports psychologist once dubbed ‘The Freud of Football’ by the Washington post. “Readers don’t even have to love football to appreciate this because the principle of performing well mentally is necessary in any high-demand situation. We all expect that the interest from fans, coaches, players and media will be overwhelming.”

The author believes that the fun controversy of arguing over which team was best, as well as the learning that will take place in this spirit of healthy competition, will advance the sport for everyone. “Let each city argue over whether their which team was the best, but the truth will become clear with the MPI data analysis,” explained Murray.

Every year after the Super Bowl game, new MPI ratings will determine whether that year’s winner just became the best team overall, or if they did not it will show exactly where they fit in the hierarchy of all teams who have participated. Starting in 2010 teams will be playing two Super Bowls, the regular Super Bowl, and the “Super Bowl of Super Bowls” to see if their team can become overall champ. “This might be the first book in history that never ends, added Murray, as a new chapter will be added to the book at the end of every football season with the new data that emerges! Teams will have a chance to be crowned Super Bowl champion for that particular year, but also crowned Super Bowl champion of all time.”

The logic behind why the system was accurate in forecasting team performance in the Super Bowls between 2003 and 2008 is clear in retrospect. For the first time the MPI includes something extremely influential in performance, but rarely or probably never measured directly, and that is mental performance. “The mental aspect of performance is quantifiable and very real, said Murray, and it will be clear how this is accomplished by reading this book.”

“I’m extremely fortunate and grateful to Lesley Visser for her willingness to contribute the epilogue to this innovative book which will help everyone become a little less intimidated by mental coaching and sports psychology. It will be much clearer after this book how necessary solid mental training is, and future coaches and players will look back and wonder how they ever survived without it.”

The upcoming book and MPI page are available for review at: http://www.mentalperformanceindex.com.

For more information:

“All the cameras shifted from the players to me,” she says. “I went to the top of the Cotton Bowl by myself, sat down and cried.”

When she started at CBS Sports in the late 1970s, network executives were perplexed about what she should wear on-air. “My first jackets were men’s sports coats that they tailored for me and attached a CBS patch near the pocket,” she says. “Ridiculous, right?”

Because she is, by all accounts, as nice as they come, she will not replay all the horror stories from the 1970s and ’80s — the graphic clubhouse gestures (when, in 1989, a New York Jets tight end named Mickey Shuler spotted her entering the locker room, he screamed, “Hey, no f—— women!” She simply waved him off and kept walking); the athletes who wouldn’t give her a second’s time; the fans who refused to take her seriously; the repeated whistles and smirks and tags: Honey. Baby. Love. Cutie.

The mounds of disrespect; of disregard; of disgust. “What kept me going through all the years?” she asks — then pauses for a moment’s reflection. “More than anything, the love of and respect for competition. That’s what it comes down to for me. That’s why I do this.”

In the transient world of televised sports, personalities come and go like failed breakfast cereals. Where in the world is Irv Cross? Joe Montana? Steve Zabriskie? Eric Dickerson? Jerry Azar? Kit Hoover? Meghan McDermott? Emmitt Smith? So much of the medium is based on looks and gimmicks; on catch phrases and ratings, that stability is little more than a meaningless nine-letter word. Today’s hot sideline reporter is tomorrow’s old news. It is what it is — a surface industry. A temporary stroll in the sun.

And then, there is Lesley Visser. The 55-year old. The survivor. She is the one who ignored the words on a credential and overcame Yeoman’s Archie Bunker rant. She’s the one who grudgingly donned the ugly blazers and dealt the taunts and slurs. Nine years ago, when ABC fired Visser as its Monday Night Football sideline reporter, replacing her with the younger, blonder, perkier, sexier Melissa Stark, most thought her career was over. It was a new age in sports television, one where — when it came to women — knowledge and experience ranked a distant second to looks.

Today, Visser is a reporter for CBS Sports, writes a regular column for CBSSports.com and hosts a morning show on WFTL in South Florida. Today, Stark is, eh, uh, somewhere.

“That I’ve lasted,” says Visser, “is one of my greatest accomplishments. Maybe my greatest.” Earlier this week, the American Sportscasters Association named Visser its No. 1 Female Sportscaster, outdistancing a field of 36 finalists that included such standouts as Andrea Kramer, Robin Roberts, Michele Tafoya and Hannah Storm. That the announcement received all the media attention of a John Oates CD release was both unfortunate and, in more than one sense, tragic.

Instead of focusing on Visser’s achievement, the national media zeroed in on the sad, unsavory saga of Erin Andrews, the ESPN reporter who was videotaped naked in her hotel room. Whatever one thinks of Andrews as a professional, each moment devoted to her pitiful plight (and each Google search) takes away from the strides that women like Visser and Gayle Gardner and Christine Brennan made.

Back in the day, the righteous fight was for respectability. Women weren’t objects. Or playthings. Or idiots. Every time a female reporter entered a clubhouse, or asked a thought-provoking question to a chauvinistic jock, or wrote a breathtaking lede, the slow-moving world of sports took another small step toward enlightenment. That was one of Visser’s aspirations then — not to be seen as some sort of trailblazer (which, without question, she is), but as a professional. As an equal. Now, however, thanks to this odd physical obsession over all things Erin Andrews, as well as to the ritualistic hiring of women reporters based first and foremost on looks, we are back in the dark ages. Paging Bill Yeoman. Mr. Bill Yeoman.

Once upon a time, female sports journalists weren’t celebrities to be lusted after. They were simply people who wanted to tell the stories, then step to the side and listen. The goal wasn’t to be seen, or to walk on the ESPY red carpet in a revealing outfit. There were no blogs, no look-at-me antics or low-cut dresses.

Lesley Visser’s goal was to cover sports and go unnoticed. She did it better than anyone.

“In the past few days I’ve received nice emails from tennis icons Martina Navratilova and Pat Cash, famed NFL field goal kicker Nick Lowery of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Super Bowl broadcaster Lesley Visser, a personal friend and tennis partner. I also had the pleasure of meeting and writing about 1972 Miami Dolphins quarterback Earl Morrall in the past few days, and then tweeting about it on twitter. There is no question that Facebook and Twitter are becoming as important as email, the telephone, and the ancient idea of snail mail to communicate a good message and catch up with friends!”

Murray is preparing to present his 8th annual Smart Tennis Sports Psychology workshops at the Sutton Tennis Academy in London, England on the eve of The Championships at Wimbledon. “I think with Wimbledon excitement in the air, all the greats from the past in any sport tune in and get excited too,” said Murray.

“I think he has to change his game completely,” Bollettieri said. “He’s got to serve and volley, he’s got to take chances to come in and he’s got to do something about his confidence.”

Federer is often voted fan favorite and cited for his sportsmanship, but his game has lost its gentlemanly swagger. It’s well documented that he lost his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal, who has now won 13 of the 19 matches they’ve played, including epic battles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

For the first time in five years, Federer isn’t seeded first here at the Sony Ericsson Open, and it has been two years since he won a Masters Series event, the tournaments listed just below the Grand Slams. Federer, always dangerous but lately less damaging, could face Andy Roddick in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, where Roddick stunned the Swiss legend. Moving on, he would likely face Andy Murray or Nadal, both of whom have his number.

“Roger’s such a laid-back kid,” said Bollettieri, who, at 77, looks at someone 27 as still in his boyhood. “He has problems with Murray (who is 6-2 against Federer), but his major hurdle is Nadal. Roger has got to improve his backhand when Nadal hits that heavy topspin crosscourt. Roger should aim for the middle of the court.”

Nadal is hungry now, playing with breathtaking speed and power. The world No. 1, the French and Australian Open champion, the Wimbledon champion, the man who saved five match points just weeks ago against David Nalbandian  in the fourth round at Indian Wells, which he won, has nothing missing in his game.

“He’s got everything,” said legend Bud Collins. “He can play offense or defense, he can serve, he has strength, he can control the game from the baseline and he has the best inside-out forehand since Jim Courier.”

Nadal has already won six Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and a Davis Cup championship. He also has Toni Nadal, his uncle and coach, a position Federer has not filled since severing his relationship with Tony Roche two years ago.

“I think Roger needs a coach,” said Collins. “He told me once years ago, ‘I want to hear my own voice,’ but Nadal has crawled into his head, like a worm.”

Federer spoiled us with his gorgeous, unstoppable tennis, but he has now lost five straight matches to the Spaniard Nadal. Federer has been the overachieving perfectionist, effortless on the court. But now he needs a mental tune-up.

“Nadal is in his head,” said Collins, “the way Bjorn Borg couldn’t beat John McEnroe at the U.S. Open. This is an incredible rivalry, but Roger has lost his confidence.”

Is Federer’s run over? Will he ever win another Grand Slam? Or does he just need Dr. Phil?

“Well maybe not Dr. Phil,” said longtime sports psychologist Dr. John Murray who traveled with Vince Spadea to the Australian Open. “There is no doubt that mental coaching can have an enormous effect on confidence, and, for Roger, the clock is ticking. He should be talking regularly — 30- to 60-minute sessions, to someone who’s done a full assessment of him and his game, someone who’s actively getting him ready for matches, not just a sit down with a therapist.”

At 2-2 of the fifth and final set at Wimbledon, during the second rain delay, Nadal talked to his coach, Toni, and his trainer, Rafael Maymo, in the locker room. After two successive losses to Federer on the lawn at SW19, Nadal told his team he knew he was going to win this one. In January, Nadal brought Federer to exhausted, emotional tears after winning the Australian Open 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-2 and accepting the trophy from Rod Laver. The Sony Ericsson is scheduled to be their next encounter.

“I know this is a big week for me,” said Federer after his second-round win over Kevin Kim. “Last season was very, very tough. I’ve been struggling against Rafa, and Murray, too. I have to get wins against them to turn it around.”

Nadal is 22 and will try to prevent Federer from capturing a record-tying 14th Grand Slam. But the mighty lefty, Nadal, and the gossamer righty, Federer, have given us magnificent memories.