As the Summer of Sports turns the page to its second full month of July, this week the sports world's attention turns to a suburb of one of the world's greatest cities for one of its greatest events - Wimbledon. It is, quite simply, the most prestigious championship in all of tennis, as well as the sport's oldest tournament, and one that's full of history and rich in tradition. It's also a British institution that brings about sights of not just of the world's best tennis being played on its original surface of grass, but also queues outside the All-England Club, the always-present threat of rain hampering with the best-laid plans of the best players, the favorite dish of strawberries & cream and many traditions unique in a sport as modern as tennis and a country with old-school values as Great Britain.
The Championships have grown from beginning as a small gathering in 1877, to now being the toast of tennis with nearly 500,000 people attending the two weeks of play at the complex, and reaching hundreds of millions worldwide via television and extensive media coverage. An additional 6,000 people are on site during the fortnight to perform jobs that have something to do with the tournament either as full-time, year-round Club employees or just for the tournament. And players from 60 countries join with the world's top-ranked players to play for a prize acknowledged as the universal symbol of excellence in their sport...one that's cherished by anyone who picks up a tennis racket.
Every summer going back to when I was a kid, I look forward to watching Wimbledon and where tennis steps to the forefront of the sports scene. It's an event that is at the heart of a sport that was once the domain of the rich & wealthy, and for which every trip to it brings fans and viewers back to simpler times. The appeal of it brings an affection for the event that I have, and is something that never gets old.
