The Wimbledon Story

My family has always loved sports, some of us prefer cricket and some are passionate about soccer news, but what draws the entire family to the TV is no doubt –Tennis. It was during one of those nerve wrecking moments that my three year old wanted to know about the genesis of Wimbledon.  As I opened my mouth to wax lyrical about how it all began at Wimbledon, I was startled to realize that I had no clue! Hence my little dig into the past and this humble attempt at keying some interesting tidbits for the tennis fans.

The Wimbledon story says that since the Middle ages, monks and kings are believed to have played a game that was a lot like tennis. However, it was the 19^th century by the time tennis acquired the form we recognize today. In about 1873, an Englishman adapted the indoor tennis to be played on grass, giving it a tongue twister of a name “sphairistike” after a Greek game.  The game quickly grew in popularity but the burning question was -how it was to be played?  The All England Croquet Club located near Wimbledon decided to answer this by holding the first tennis championship. The real reason behind this championship was to raise money to buy a pony drawn roller for its croquet lawns! Never would the organizers of this championship have dreamt that within some years, those very same croquet lawns would be all but obsolete, with tennis becoming the fore runner with the world agog for the latest tennis news!

This Championship saw a young 27 year old local surveyor, Spencer Gore taking the first gentlemen’s single title in 1877. In a final that was delayed for days by rain, Gore easily won the match in less than 50 minutes before a crowd of 200 spectators who had paid a shilling each to watch the match. What was most surprising is the fact that the first champion wasn’t too impressed with the game himself, he much preferred cricket over it. What’s more, he was of the opinion that lawn tennis was a bit borings and would not catch on!

Tennis, however, didn’t only “catch on”, it soon spread like wild fire. The All England Croquet Club went on to drop the “Croquet” out of their name, but for sentimental reasons, it was restored. Even today, among the lush tennis lawns, there exists a croquet lawn.

The Wimbledon Championship is the oldest tennis championship in the world and is informally known as the “British Opens.” It is considered the most prestigious and the biggest of all tennis tournaments, and has witnessed great tennis action immortalized forever in the form of some amazing sports videos. Wimbledon remains the only one Major, where the game is still played on grass, the original surface of the game which gave its name of “lawn tennis”. Some traditions which mark this Championship, setting it apart from all other championships is the eating of strawberries and cream by the spectators and Royals, a strict dress code for the competitors and a distinct lack of sponsorship advertising around the court.

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Genesis Of Basketball

Most sports buffs today, catch a game of soccer or just the tennis highlights on TV, if we aren’t fortunate enough to watch the match in the stadium. Some of us make do with the highlights on sports news. Ever wondered who invented these games, why did they do it and how? Well, the story behind each of these games is very interesting to say the least. Take basketball for example, an amazing story indeed.  Let’s take a quick peek into the December of 1891 to get story on basketball.

Imagine a bunch of young men, used to burning off all excess energy on the football field or some such strenuous pursuits, cooped up indoors in the dreary winter season. It is a recipe for boredom and more. Catching a game or sports videos on TV was not an option! To be fair, the gymnasium did offer the young college students activities like marching, calisthenics, apparatus work but these activities simply weren’t a match for the more exciting and energetic games of football and lacrosse that could be played in fairer weather conditions.

This was the challenge that landed squarely on the lap of James Naismith, a 31 year old graduate student, who was studying physical education under the capable guidance of Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick. While Naismith was mulling over this challenge, his mind flashed back to the class discussions with Dr.Gulick, where, Dr.Gulick had talked about the need of an indoor game that would be interesting, and easy to play indoors.

Naismith had a compelling challenge at hand. It was to create a simple game, but complex enough to interest the players. He also needed to take into consideration that, as it was an indoor game, to be played in a confined space, it should not be too rough, so as to avoid injuries and yet it must be such that it could involve several players at once. It sure was not the easiest of tasks and took a lot of time, effort and thought to create this amazing game – basketball.  The game included many elements of American football, hockey, soccer, English and American rugby. For the goal post, Naismith contemplated using eighteen-inch square boxes and enlisted the janitor to find a couple of them for him. But he had to make do with peach baskets instead! He nailed these baskets to the lower rail of the gym balcony at the height of ten feet, opposite each other.  Volunteers were enlisted to throw the ball to the players, each time a player made a basket. It would be several years before someone, ingeniously opened up the bottom of the basket!

James Naismith came up with thirteen rules that governed the game. These rules are still in play today, barring a few modifications. This game conceived by James Naismith soon gained popularity across US and Canada, and soon spread to other places. The World War II saw the US servicemen popularizing this game in other countries as well. By 1905, basketball was officially recognized as an official winter sport. The next time you are watching the basketball highlights with a couple of friends, zap them with some basketball trivia.

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