“Mr. Brook, Tear Down That Roof!”
I’m boycotting Wimbledon due to the retractable roof on Centre Court. And I mean it. I watched my last Wimbledon in 2008, and I harbor no regrets.
The Wimbledon is dead, long live the Wimbledon!
The greatest tennis players in the world competed at Wimbledon for over a century without a roof. Now there’s a roof. So now Philip Brook, Wimbledon’s Chairman, can move matches along and finish the important matches on time.
But at what cost?
Money stole away a special element from one of the oldest, most prestigious sporting events in the world.
The unwashed masses will never again horn in on that once-in-a-lifetime Monday Wimbledon Final.
My favorite Wimbledon moment occurred in 2001. Rain forced Wimbledon to move the Men’s Final to Monday. Real fans purchased tickets to the Final, supplanting Lords and Ladies of the Court, and for once the spectacle of cheering fans matched the intensity of the competition below. The Monday Final was memorable, and it’s now a part of Wimbledon lore.
A Monday Final hadn’t taken place for almost 80 years. And it will never happen again, thanks to the retractable roof on Centre Court.
Tradition and history once again take a backseat to filling wallets.
Not on my television. BANISHED!