The Summer Olympic Games takes center stage every four years, both in sports and world news. It is a welcome site both because of the nature of competition and the sheer magnitude of the spectacle. The games will be Wednesday, July 24 through Sunday, Aug. 11. The Games will be on three channels, NBC, USA, and NBCSCH. As usual it should be delightful and over too soon. The world will not come to a standstill, however, we likely will plan our days to fit an interest in the televised games. Some of us will ne fortunate to attend a few games. Most of us will depend on the television coverage and newspaper coverage to absorb its magnificence.
The so-called modern games were started in 1896. The Olympiads of ancient Greece many centuries ago used the Games as conditioning and preparation for war. Thankfully, war is diminished from society’s mentality. Even though there is national pride by various counties with Olympic success, for the most part the Olympic Games are fun and games and appropriate admiration for any and all success of our competitors. Initially the Games were to be held without the burden of team scores and focus on individual success and brilliance. Thankfully, there remains some of that feature. We can enjoy!
•This week in Major League Baseball (MLB) are the all-star game festivities and a short break to review the first half of the season. Unfortunately both Chicago teams were in last place in their respective divisions, and under .500 and must be considered failures. The White Sox were under .300 winning percentage and buried in last place in the American League Central. The Cubs were close to Cincinnati just above them and not far behind Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
Where do we go from here?
Just as well, because we are on the verge of the Chicago Bears starting their season. New hopes!
The Bears will begin a little earlier than usual for preseason with an August 1 Hall of Fame game at home against Houston. The regular season will begin Sunday, Sept. 8 against Tennessee at noon.
•The third of the four major tennis tournaments concluded last weekend with the Wimbledon tennis tournament in England. Barbara Kejcikova of the Czech Republic captured the women’s singles championship and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 21 years old, prevailed in the men’s singles championship. Alcaraz won in three straight sets against 37-year-old Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Djokovic won six singles championships on the Wimbledon grass courts in 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2014. Many of the recent tennis champions, Australian, French, and U.S., are from countries which once were behind the iron curtain of the Soviet Union and have produced recently better international players away from the past political disenfranchisement. It makes for good international relations.
The question remains of why is the United States strength in international tennis on the wane? Are there fewer young players interested in making investments in tennis? Is golf a factor for youngsters?
The U.S. Open tennis will be Monday, Aug. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 8, which, coincidentally the latter will be the first weekend of the National Football League games. The hard court tennis surface will be in Queens, New York, not far from the former site of Forrest Hills section of Queens. Always good tennis. We look for the good, young, players to perform well and sustain the interest in tennis.
Interest in tennis in Aurora diminished with the closing of the Aurora Tennis Club.