Getting Into Wimbledon

Wimbledon. It's a word that stands for tennis at its best.

Although it is first of all the name of a London suburb, for millions of tennis fans around the world it is shorthand for sportsmanship, athletic prowess, and celebrity stardom. For the half-a-million or so people who manage to see at least some of the annual championship games in person, it also means a huge social event.

One of the great things about the championship tennis tournament played every summer at Wimbledon is that it's one of the few major sporting events for which the average fan (i.e, neither rich nor well-connected) stands a decent chance of gaining entry.

Interestingly, the Wimbledon games ultimately owe their existence not to tennis but to another, more sedate, game that was all the rage among the Victorians: croquet. You see, the private club that sponsors the world's foremost tennis championship was founded originally as The All England Croquet Club.

Founded in 1868, the club did not hold its first tennis championships until 1877. Those games were witnessed by a few hundred spectators in what is described as a "garden party atmosphere."

For a long time now the club's name has been The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, and the Wimbledon championships are attended by more than 500,000 people as well as carried to millions around the world through mass media and the Internet.

Read the full Wimbledon article by Steve Smith.

Country Tennis, Anyone?

It really is true that you learn something new each day...

I was in Juliette yesterday teaching my son Will how to drive. He turned fifteen recently and got his learner’s permit, so we now go driving most Sunday afternoons. We both like Juliette cause it’s the perfect place for him to practice - not much traffic and a whole lot of country roads for him to drive around on. It also has one additional thing going for it - if we practice driving in Juliette, we can ease over to Ed Jr.s’ house after we’re done and spend some time with him.

That’s exactly what we did yesterday. We drove around Juliette for awhile, then rode over to Ed Jr.s’ house. We’d barely gotten out of my truck when he appeared at his front door, yelled hello, and told us both to come on in the house. And that’s exactly what we did.

The three of us talked for a good half hour, and we had a blast. During our conversations we pretty much solved the Middle East crisis, decided which Georgia flag is best, and figured out whether Britney Spear’s chest is real or silicone. It was all great fun.

After that we decided to go outside and stretch our legs. As we walked around Ed Jr.s’ front yard we happened to amble over to where his combination storage shed/garage is located. After serenading us with a couple of slightly off color jokes, Ed Jr. asked Will and I the following,

“You boys ever played country tennis?”

Read the full tennis article by Ed Williams.