Two days...Gymnastics and Tennis...and Judo and Weightlifting

There is so much to do and see here, I realized that I missed writing yesterday.  Monday was emotionally draining.  I shot the Men's Gymnastics Team competition.  Going in Japan was favored but the US had earned the highest scores in the qualifying round...so anyone could win.  The US men were keyed up, as were the guys from each of the other countries: Russia, Japan, China, Ukraine, France, Germany and Great Britain.  Over the two hours of watching the US guys give some really top performances you could also see that every so often there would be a little slip...little slips at this level and mean the difference between first and last places.  The difference between first and last was 10 points over five events.  Being only 5 feet from the team you can hear almost everything that is said.  You know when one of them is bummed by his performance and when he has nailed it.  You get sucked into their world so to speak and the score hovers above the arena...so you know where things stand in relation to the other teams.  It was apparent the team was slipping behind.  Jonathan Horton, the team captain tried to rally the guys...everyone was boosting the others.  The end came after the high bar...the US was 5th.  But at the same time we were not making the medaling group, Britain was going crazy.  The crowd was obviously in their corner and they showed it.  The cheering was deafening.  Britain which hadn't won a medal in gymnastics since 1912 and wasn't favored to win any medal this year was announced to have the silver!  Then..it was taken way by a protest from Japan, who was originally in 4th place...Ukraine was dropped from 3rd to 4th and Britain got the bronze.  To put it royally...we were not amused.  In any event it was great being so close to the action.  But the emotion of the US not winning a medal and the UK getting one was pretty intense...I needed a break...but not before I stopped in to see some Judo and Weightlifting.

My break was to go to Wimbledon, today.  It was drizzling but not too badly.  I took the Tube District Line to Southfields and walked.  For anyone who has ever played tennis, walking into the All English Tennis Club is like coming to Mecca.  The aura there is palpable.  It oozes with nostalgia and class.  It was fun being there. I decided to come as Venus Williams, and Serena were going to be playing along with Djokovic, Roddick, Murray, Tsonga, Sharapova, the Bryan Brothers and Federer...quite the lineup.  I got to see Venus, Murray, Roddick, Djokovic, Sharapova and their opponents.  Federer, the Bryan's and Serena's matches got delayed in uncovered courts due to some rain and it was getting late and I had to go.  But seeing what I did from ground level in Center Court at Wimbledon was more than memorable. I may go back later in the Games toward the final.

A good two days.