Michael Goldfarb
Michael Goldfarb serves as a GlobalPost Correspondent in the United Kingdom. For almost two decades Goldfarb was one of public radio's most familiar voices from London: first as NPR's London...
Wimbledon and Andy Murray: Can Britain survive?
I'm not sure I can take this; I know most of the people on this island can't. The Scot (hence Brit) Andy Murray, is into the semi-finals of Wimbledon ... and given that his opponent, American Andy Roddick, struggled for close to four hours in the blazing sun yesterday to earn the right to play him, there is a sense that Murray will get to Sunday's final.
Scientists have already detected an odd drop in atmospheric pressure over Britain as 60 million people hold their breath in anticipation. According to a report in today's London Times, Center Court tickets are being scalped for £20,000 a piece, about $33,000 — Bonus culture is back!!!!!!
If you don't live here you can't begin to understand the situation. It's been more than 70 years since a British man won Wimbledon. There is nothing comparable in sporting disappointment anywhere in the world. The weight of that failure has crushed every potential British champion as well as the organizational system of the country's tennis establishment for as long as I've been a regular here (since my student days back in the early 1970s).
Decent players like Tim Henman are twisted up into thin-lipped grimacers. Over the decades, the whole country has come to anticipate failure, but rather than patting their current hope on the head and saying, well done, the better man won, they take the same attitude to him as the biblical Hebrews took to their scapegoats. (OK, in Henman's case there is a certain type of middle-class English lady who felt the need to act like a protective mother towards him, but down at the pub the sports fans' favorite drink of crushed hope chased with a double shot of vitriol is the primary way people imbibed Henman's annual stagger towards failure.)
Now, however, Andy Murray is a game changer. Not just because he has the game to beat Roddick, but because he is Roger Federer's nemesis on the pro circuit. Every one knows Federer is going to be Murray's opponent in the finals and the Scot beats the guy on a regular basis in the hot places where rich people live and pro tennis provides the entertainment. Really, Andy Murray can win Wimbledon. Still a long shot — but he could do it.
And this is why I am joining the other people on this island in holding my breath. For years, when people have asked me if I'm going to live in London forever, I have said, "The day a Brit wins Wimbledon is the day I'll leave." It seemed a clever way to say I'm here forever. Now I may have to make good on that promise (believe me, my English friends won't let me forget). And I have no idea where to go.
Reporter's Dispatches
LONDON, U.K. — Two weeks ago, after eight years of politicking, voting — including one do-over to make sure the right result was...Read more >
LONDON, U.K. — Please pay attention. I'm going to say this name only twice, once at the start of the piece and once at the end, but the name is...Read more >
Editor's note: This is part one of a four-part series of excerpts from GlobalPost correspondent Michael Goldfarb's book...Read more >
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