Sports fans love slams. This phenomenon is seen in everything from the celebrated slam dunks of Michael Jordan to the herculean bodyslam of Andre the Giant by Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania III. The phenomenon can likely be traced to the grand slam in baseball, i.e. to hit a home run with the bases loaded, scoring four runs in one swing of the bat. From such a superlatively offensive play come more metaphorical applications, particularly when applied to the four major tournaments in tennis and golf. A golfer or tennis player winning all four major titles in one year is said to have completed a "Grand Slam." This exceedingly rare feat has been accomplished only once in golf (by Bobby Jones, 1930) and by five tennis players: Don Budge (1938), Maureen Connolly Brinker (1953), Rod Laver (1962 AND 1969!), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988). When a player holds all four titles at once, but won them in two different years, the fans stretch the definition to include such custom-fitted robes as the "Tiger Slam" (Tiger Woods, 2000-01) and "Serena Slam" (Serena Williams, 2002-03). Into this lexicon of bespoke regalia, let us now introduce the "Borussia Slam." German table tennis team Borussia Düsseldorf already holds the Champions League and German Cup titles. Today, they entered the Bundesliga final with a shot at the the triple crown. Borussia Düsseldorf took on 1. FC Saarbrücken TT in the winner-take-all Liebherr TTBL final. Slovenia's Darko Jorgic got Saarbrücken on the board first with seesaw battle with Kristian Karlsson. The left-handed Swede Karlsson rallied from down two games to force a fifth. In the end, Jorgic's aggressive backhand banana flick return of service kept Karlsson on the defensive, notching the first point for Borussia with a 3-2 win. In the second matchup, Borussia's young Swedish star Anton Källberg took on Germany's own Patrick Franziska. The Saarbrücken captain Franziska was up one game to nil and 9-5 in the second, with the serve. With a chance to go up 2-0 in the match, and likely his put his team up by the same advantage, a stunned Franziska watched the fearless Källberg go on a 7-1 run to square the proceedings. Momentum in hand, Källberg never looked back, winning 3-1. With the best-of-five contest tied at one match apiece, Borussia's captain Timo Boll took on fellow left-handed German Shang Kun. While Shang Kun won the first frame, the veteran Boll made the necessary adjustments against his familiar opponent, rallying to win, 3-1. With Borussia on the hill, it was up to Darko Jorgic to keep Saarbrücken's fading chances alive. Looking to play the humane executioner for Borussia was Anton Källberg, who promptly won the first two games to get within one of the championship. Jorgic resuscitated hope in Saarbrücken, however, with a 12-10 win in the third, and then held game point at 10-9 in the fourth. With Jorgic threatening to level the match, Källberg showed the form which led him to a 25-2 record in the regular season, best in the Bundesliga. After erasing Jorgic's game point, he proceeded to earn a championship point, which he converted on the first opportunity. "We have been working towards this goal for months," said the elated Källberg. "I am very happy and proud that we have now made it." The victorious captain did not hesitate to give due credit. "Anton made a huge leap. He has carried us through every game this season," said Boll. "Saarbrücken is an incredibly strong opponent. At any point could not you say in which direction the game was going." Danny Heister, coach of Borussia Düsseldorf, concurred about who should win MVP honors. "Anton was in top form the entire season," said Heister. "He deserved to play in first place in the final too. We made exactly the line-up that we wanted. Nevertheless there are no guarantees." Despite the absence of guarantees, Borussia Düsseldorf managed to run the table and win every title currently available. The only question which remains, then, is how to celebrate such an august achievement? Why, off to Denny's for the Grand Slam breakfast, of course.

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