WIMBLEDON, England -- There's nothing wrong with men's tennis that a hamburger, some running shoes and a Coke wouldn't fix.Allow me to explain.Every year I come to Wimbledon, it's the same tongue-clucking story."The men's game is fizzling," critics moan. "There is no interest. No one is watching. Kids back home think a racket is what you make at a Hanson concert."To which I say these five words: Hey, dummy, remember the NBA?
WIMBLEDON, England -- In tennis, there are always two big stories: the reigning champions, and the young turks on the horizon. In case you missed it, the horizon these days is dwarfed by a pair of tall, gangly, American teenaged sisters named Venus and Serena Williams. They hover like twin tornadoes. Both are unorthodox, fast, wickedly powerful with their ground strokes, and as promising as a tooth that bursts through the skin.
WIMBLEDON, England -- As we begin the second week of the world's most famous tennis tournament, let me bring you up to date on what's happened:ENGLAND SCORES!I know. That sounds like soccer. And I said I would talk about tennis. But the fact is . . .OH, YES! A GOOD STRIKE FOR ENGLAND!...even at the tennis, the biggest story is ...ENGLAND ADVANCES TO THE SECOND ROUND!...soccer?
Reporters avoid eye contact as Scotty Bowman passes. He heads down the Joe Louis Arena tunnel, alone, walking in a half-stomp, half-limp, a four-star general with a stone in his boot. Suddenly, he sees an arena worker carrying a large piece of pipe."Hey," Bowman says, jutting out his chin. "What happened?"There is a frozen moment before the worker answers. It is in this moment that the Bowman legend hisses. The way he asks the question. His squinty eyes. That jaw. You can almost hear the analysts now...
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
