Notes, quotes and a thought or two….
I’ll never forget the day that I became a tennis coach.
I had been at Leake Academy for a few months and was transitioning out of a newspaper career.
I walked in the office one morning and Jerry Crowe asked me to come in his office for a minute.
“Coach Robertson, do you know anything about tennis?” Mr. Crowe asked me.
“Well, I used to watch Wimbledon every year when I was a kid,” I responded.
At that point, I knew what the next question was.
“Well, we need somebody to coach the tennis team,” Mr. Crowe said.
“Yes sir. I played a few times in college but that’s about it,” I said.
That was all that Mr. Crowe needed to hear. I was the tennis coach.
It’s this time of year that I think back on those days as a kid, when I would watch Wimbledon on television, probably because it was the only sport on the two and a half channels that we got in Preston. I was particularly impressed with Chris Evert and I loved to hate John McEnroe.
This past week, I got my fill of Wimbledon. With Thursday off, I got up early every morning and watch Wimbledon every day. I would go outside and do a little bit and come back in and watch Wimbledon while I cooled down. After coaching tennis for several years now, I’m even more impressed with the tennis I’m watching. This particular Wimbledon has featured a ton of upsets and some great stories.
But perhaps the best story of the tournament is from Solana Sierra. She was Wimbledon’s “Lucky loser” after making the tournament despite losing in qualifying. Once Sierra made the tournament, she made it all the way to the round of 16, which was a historic run at the biggest tennis tournament on the planet. Even though I had never heard of Sierra, her story is the kind of thing that makes Wimbledon great and compelling summer television.
And every year, it reminds me of my youth. Even though I grew up in rural Kemper County, watching this country club sport was a highlight of the summer for me. It’s kind of hard to explain. But it’s like watching the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the Masters or the Dayton 500, just hoping to catch a glimpse of something great. It’s not because we have a favorite in most of these sports, it’s hoping to see something great and memorable. Like watching Tiger Woods hole out on No. 16 at Augusta, watching Dale Earnhardt Sr. take his final lap at Daytona, watching Larry Bird and Magic Johnson battle it out in the NBA Finals, watching a skinny freshman named Micheal Jordan win the NCAA championship at North Carolina, watching Nick Foles catch the “Philly Special” in the Super Bowl, watching an aged Tiger Woods summon the magic one more time to win the 2019 Masters, watching 46-year-old Jack Nicholson win the Masters and capture a sixth green jacket, watching Derek Jeter’s iconic flip play ion the 2001 World Series, remembering Marshon Lynch’s iconic run that beat my beloved New Orleans Saints in the NFL playoffs, watching the dominance of stars like Michael Phelps and Lance Armstrong, or watching Vince Young and Texas beat Reggie Bush and the USC Trojans for a NCAA football title, or watching David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox break the curse of the Babe and finally win another World Series, or Chris Davis’ “Kick Six” to help Auburn win the 2013 Iron Bowl.
Obviously, I could go on and on. But this is why I watch sports, hoping to see something great. This is why I watch Wimbledon every year. It’s the Super Bowl of tennis. Like the Master’s, there are other majors but nothing really compares to Wimbledon.
