I suppose the question is: how much sport can you watch? Coupled with: and what are the priorities? Because I normally watch Wimbledon religiously. But this year my god has deserted me. Or perhaps been replaced by a bigger god, the World Cup, the MOAG. Mother Of All Gods. An interesting phrase that the more patriarchal among us will have hours of fun with.

But this is not some philosophical fucking debate about theology, this is important! This is sport!!

For getting on for 40 years, since my repeatedly dislocating right shoulder put an end to my own, personal aspirations to Harry Kanism, tennis has been my game of choice. I’d loved it before but, ironically considering tennis for a right-hander is the most right-shouldery game you could ever get, it was fine to play. Not so brilliant now but we all live with pains. Some people are married to them.

And I play tennis every week, outdoor, summer or winter, regardless of who the Prime Minister might be, what terrorist activity is occurring, whose winning the Ashes. Because I love playing it. But watching it is different. I virtually never watch the US Open, the Aussie (don’t do 4 in the morning for anyone… except Lila) nor the French. Can’t be bothered. But when Wimbledon comes along I’m hooked. Normally. This year I haven’t even put the hilights program on series record. An act of treason in the post-technological world.

On Saturday at Wimbledon, whilst England were beating Sweden in Russia, centre court was less than half full for the match being played. Phone use is strictly banned at Wimbledon, quite rightly so; you don’t want to disrupt an important second serve at 15-40 because someone’s mate ‘liked’ your photo of lunch with the usual electronic fanfare. But its conflict. People who bought their tennis tickets, jumping for joy in March that they’d actually ‘won’ in the annual ballot, are now desperately trying to sell them on if they happen to be for the men’s final. Normally the ‘hottest ticket in town’, now that there’s a chance England may play in the World Cup final on the same day and at virtually the same time, they’re abandoning Wimbledon in droves. Even though a day at Wimbledon is a truly magical experience.

Ironically, yesterday, there was no sport on tv. I don’t count grand prix, sorry Lewis. Mel had a ladies’ lunch birthday thing and I was ‘free’. No football, no tennis, no nuffink. My day was ruined. I had to meet friends for lunch at a gorgeous pub on the River in Kew. Terrible. Such a waste of prime tv-watching time.

They’ve had 4 years to sort out the scheduling, the problem could only have been that the Wimbledon admin bods didn’t ‘believe’. About the ‘comin’ home’ thing. Now they’re paying for it.

Shame

Happy Monday

A xxxx