Ah, tennis players............

Although I can play no longer, I belong with B to The Calgary Tennis Club so I can go and eat and drink wine.  Last evening they held a meeting to discuss what to do with the courts.  The big debate is between the hard-court pounders and the players who actually want to play the original game. 

When I played at The Rideau in Ottawa, there were only clay courts, with a few grass at the very "tony" clubs.  Tennis was played on clay.  Period the end.  In Ottawa, the city built asphalt courts anyone could play on, but they were kind'a shitty.  At our Calgary club they have only four soft courts and the young, male pounders want to replace them with hard courts.  As I sat and listened, I was amazed at how few people even knew what it was like to play on clay.  For these guys, it's just pound, pound from the baseline.  To me, that's not tennis.  It might as well be baseball. 

The last to play serve-and-volley tennis were Stephan Edberg and Martina Navratilova.  Now, that was tennis.  Remember the lob?  Where has that gone?  I remember a match in Bermuda between Jimmy Connors and Ilie Nastase, when Connors lobbed a ball at Nastase.  What did Ilie do?  He ran into the stands, kissed some woman, ran back onto the court and put the shot away. 

Now, that was tennis!

So, alas I fear the pounders will prevail and the soft courts -- they're not even clay, for that matter -- will be dug up and paved over.  Where's the elegance in that?  Where's the finesse?  Where's the charm?  Where's the sliding?  All gone, sacrificed at the altar of those who think they are ready for the US Open.  The players I blame for the baseline pounding are Chris Evert and Jim Courier.  Boo to them.