The news feed I added to this blog says Wimbledon is going to have to pay out over one million pounds to fans who came out to see tennis yesterday and didn't.
Wimbledon To Pay Fans
Thanks to Wimbledon Live I got to see Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling warming up. Steve Ullrich was in the chair. Rafa kept saying the grass was too slick to play on. Ullrich kept saying he had to get the okay to stop play and told Rafa to keep warming up. The stadium was packed, the fans were in full throat and while Rafa was protesting not an umbrella (ella, ella, eh eh) was in sight. Ullrich admitted that it had started to rain again but that he still hadn't gotten an okay to call the match. Finally some suit burst out from the bowels of the stadium and said the match was off. As Craig would say a little common sense goes a long way. I'm sure the chair ump can't concede to every wish that pops into a player's head but come on.
The question of the day revolves around the no play on Middle Sunday tradition at Wimbledon. It's all everyone is talking about. The weather forecast for Saturday was never good. The staunch traditionalists of Wimbledon drew their line in the sand (or in this case mud) and said that there would be no Middle Sunday play. Period. End of story.
Not quite. Here is the ten day forecast for London, England from weather.com in Farenheit.
Forecast for London, United Kingdom
10-Day Forecast
NEW: Larger Radar Maps & No Ads
High /
Low (°F) Precip. %
Tonight
Jul 01 Showers 59° 60 %
Mon
Jul 02 Light Rain 67°/56° 90 %
Tue
Jul 03 Rain / Thunder 63°/56° 100 %
Wed
Jul 04 Light Rain 66°/56° 60 %
Thu
Jul 05 Scattered Showers 69°/59° 40 %
Fri
Jul 06 Partly Cloudy 71°/59° 20 %
Sat
Jul 07 Partly Cloudy 73°/59° 0 %
Sun
Jul 08 Partly Cloudy 74°/59° 10 %
Mon
Jul 09 Showers 72°/58° 60 %
Tue
Jul 10 Showers 68°/58° 60 %
Last Updated Jul 1 02:22 p.m. Local Time
Looks like a lot of tennis is going to be played the next few days no? Sure everyone knows that the weather can change at the drop of a hat but with a forecast like this, where the first truly clear day is Friday July 6 and some third round matches have yet to be played wouldn't it have been nice if someone had used a little common sense and done what one fan said - declare a People's Day and get some third round matches completed today? Apologists are saying what about catering and things like that? We're talking Wimbledon here folks. Woe to the caterer who got a call from the AELTC for food on Sunday and who said "Sorry, no can do."
True tennis heads will recall the US Open of 2003. I do hope the weather clears up so that whoever wins Wimbledon 2007 will not have to always hear it from fans about not having won fairly.
To end this on a lighter note keep in mind that when fans refer to the FedG!d they may be doing more than fanwanking.
The Emmanuel Church of England that erected a sign in its garden reading 'God made Roger Federer', in Wimbledon, England, Sunday, July 1, 2007. The church is located in the Wimbledon village and a 20 minute walk from the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
2 comments:
That's nice of Wimbledon. If more than two (or is it 1?) matches are complete at the US Open, it is considered that fans had seen enough and no refunds/exchanges are given.
Although Wimbledon has a different system with tickets for specific courts, so maybe that's why.
I know about that US Open policy first hand. I was surprised that Wimby has to pay refunds to the fans.
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