A world without tradition is but as shaky as a fiddler on the roof--what if the roof's retractable?
I'm not quite ready for the "improvements" at Wimbledon: I've always compared that tournament to golf's Masters (past is always present, colors take priority from green jackets to all whites) and a retractable roof just doesn't work with me. Part of the fun of Wimbledon every year is the massive rainouts that push play back to all weird hours...what's next, Strawberry Ice Cream instead of the Strawberries and Cream?
Thankfully, there are a few traditions that persist:
All in the Family in the Finals--Venus and Serena Williams are dominating the field as always and are on a finals collision course: Venus has lost just 18 games over five matches while Serena's had a tougher go of it (25 games lost and a 7-5 second set win over Nueza Silva in the first round).
The teenager tease tradition came in the form of 17-year old qualifier Melanie Oudin--the Marietta, Georgia native reached the fourth round after upsetting Jelena Jankovic. Roger Federer is on track to return to the finals again... despite a tough fourth round match from French Open finalist Robin Soderling.
The "does Andy Roddick have it all put together?" ritual is in full bloom again-- with a quarterfinal matchup against fellow one-time major champ Lleyton Hewitt pending. Much like the TV show Entourage, he's still trying to recover from having Mandy Moore as a guest star for half a season (I mean seriously--Aquaman?).
Last but not least, the "Britain's last hope" tradition is actually enjoying an extended run this summer... as third seed Andy Murray has the UK's hopes behind him. He goes against quite a bit of tradition--the last Brit to take Wimbledon was Fred Perry in 1937...and Bunny Austin's 1938 runnerup finish was the last time someone from GB reached the finals. Murray's a rich man's Tim Henman (4 semis between 1998 and 2002)... has momentum and matchups (Juan Carlos Ferrerro and Roddick/Hewitt are on his side of the bracket). This could be his finest hour...if he can only buck the Federer tradition thing.
Every offseason there are a few bad signings in baseball that are seen as ridiculous from the moment they're announced (Jose Offerman will replace Mo Vaughn's production? Really?)... this year's leader in the clubhouse is the Chicago Cubs inking Milton Bradley to a three year-30 million dollar contract. While Bradley's got plenty of upside the 30-year old has yet to produce a 25 homer or 75 RBI season...two minimum standards for a "slugger".
However, it's other factors that have him registered as a grease-fire. Last Friday after popping up in the sixth inning against the White Sox he threw a tantrum in the dugout, tossed helmets and proceeded to wail on a Gatorade machine...(by the way, what is it with Gatorade machines in dugouts becoming magnets for anger? The Cubs Carlos Zambrano attacked one last month)... before being benched by manager Lou Piniella. Bradley's already been suspended for bumping an umpire...and threw the ball into the stands thinking there were two outs instead of three earlier this year.
Did the Cubs not know what they were getting into? This is a man who tore his ACL while arguing with an umpire in 2007 ("the good news is he won't be suspended for bumping an umpire-- the bad news is he was so agitated he ripped up his knee") and tried to confront Royals TV announcer Ryan Lefebvre due to comments made about him during a broadcast. Just think--he could be playing in Washington. Yes--Bradley began his major league career with Montreal before being shipped off to Cleveland midway through the 2001 season. With everything that's happened in the district this year--misspelling Teddy Roosevelt's name on his bobblehead box, leaving out an "O" on Ryan Zimmerman's jersey, the Sausage T-Shirt Shotgun Shell...let's just say he'd be a perfect fit.
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