Me and sport are rarely mentioned in the same sentence. I do enjoy "watching" Wales playing rugby but really that's only for the National Anthem as I don't understand the game at all. However, Wimbledon Tennis has always been special to me. I have it on as I write and the back and forth of the ball and the gasps of the crowd is such a lovely sound. Ahhhhh, it transports me back in time ...
I first remember watching games in the mid seventies - I vividly remember watching Virginia Wade winning in 1977 and being presented with the plate by Queenie. Infact I remember wanting to change my name to Virginia for a while after that!! We, Mum, J and I, loved John Lloyd, Chris, Tracy Austin and Andrea Jaeger. Then came John McEnroe. We loved watching him play! I can still see and hear Mum standing right in front of the tv shouting out "come on now Borg, double fault!" We were happy bunnies when he won in 1981 and again in '83 and '84. There was something about him - it was like sport theatre! I still like him and love hearing his commentating at Wimbledon - they showed him in the box few years ago with his kids climbing all over him, so sweet. Bad boy? Pah! In my opinion, he was just a perfectionist, so there :-)
I moved to London in 1991 and made my first visit to Wimbledon. We got up at some crazy hour and made our way down to South London by 7am ish - the whole walk from the tube station to the Tennis Club is taken over with vendors selling tshirts and souvenirs - it's a real community event with residents selling their baked goods from their gardens. Then we joined the queue and we got in about 4 hours later and I remember as soon as I entered the gates feeling as if I had stepped into an Emerald City - it's so green and gorgeous! It has to be seen to be believed. I remember watching a few games on the outer courts with a young Philippoussis and a rather gorgeous South African whose name I can't recall. We waited by the dressing room exit and saw Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash, Steffi and a few others. Then, a couple coming off Centre Court gave us their tickets ..... and John McEnroe was playing doubles!! Centre Court is HUGE - television just doesn't do it justice at all. I can still remember being in awe that I was there :-)
I went a few more times in the following years - I remember my friend E and I dressing up one year - I had a silk dress and pearls on. By the time we got to Wimbledon it was raining and waterproof capes were being handed out to the queue - I can remember being freezing to my bones. But it did clear up and somewhere there are photos of us in our posh frocks eating overpriced strawberries and drinking champagne.
The game has changed a lot - there aren't any real personalities anymore, in my opinion. Agassi was the last of them. Roger Federer is okay but John McEnroe he ain't.
Game, set and match to Mr McEnroe.
3 comments:
I totally agree, I love John McEnroe as well :-))
We have a commercial going at the moment where he plays with his "daughter": http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=JdTp1Vz5LbY
I'm not an avid sports watcher either, maybe an event watcher though.
Wow, am jealous lol. Would love to go to Wimbledon one day too. Have been to a couple of tennis tournaments in the past and it is quite an experience, but Wimbledon seems so out of reach haha. I'm still proud of our one Dutch Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek. His little sister is now playing tennis too - she lost her match at Wimbledon yesterday though, curious whether she will ever reach his Wimbledon experience.
I have a good image of you now, being at Wimbledon in your silk dress, so Wimbledon!
Great entry!
i agree, things aint what they used to be. The bands arent up to much these days, the days of wearing evening dress to the opera have gone, there arent the personalities anymore, McEnroe was fantabulous. He presented a game show on TV and he was so funny, he's got a great sense of humour.
I think he was a perfectionist too, not a brat. Look how far he went in life too, it shows it works.
I meant to leave a comment for you about this entry yesterday, but didn't have time. So here I am, and I just re-read your wonderful entry.
I have fond "Tennis Memories", too(mostly from the 70's and early 80's--was tennis just more popular than, or was it that the players DID have more personality?) and your writing triggered some of my own. While I have never been lucky enough to be at WIMBLEDON(!) and haven't been at any big tournaments, I have been to some tennis matches at Rhode Island's own "Tennis Hall Of Fame" in Newport (even met Pam Shriver after a match), and at Longwood outside of Boston(remember Vitas Gueralitis and Vijay Amritraj?? We bothered them for autographs ).
I always remember just having gotten out of school and Wimbledon was on the TV(my sister, actually was the bigger tennis fan and would have that T.V. on as much as possible to catch every game) and then when we went back to school in early September, we would be watching the "U.S. Open" after school on T.V....
Again, how lucky you were to be one of those stylish people watching Wimbledon and for making me remember my own tennis memories again.
One more thing(sorry it's so long!), in August, McEnroe is slated to be at Newport for the Hall Of Fame Champions' Cup--see link:
http://www.tennisfame.com/
I have been thinking of going with my sister and daughter..(but will we have to cover my daughter's ears??)
BTW..I can't hit a ball with a raquet for the life of me.
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