SW19 Will See Your Butler Cabin and Raise You The Royal Box

Dedicated American sports fans would narrow the list of "the most traditional sports event" to a few choice selections: certain college football programs, venerable baseball/football franchises like the Yankees, Packers, Red Sox, etc. But I'd bet the number one answer in that Family Feud survey would be "The Masters" (Certainly, CBS reminds us about this at every opportunity). But whoever came up with "a tradition unlike any other" has never been to a little strip of houses and lawns in the southwest corner of London known as Wimbledon.

Amidst the majestic trees of Augusta, everybody gets treated like royalty. But what would they say to the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, where on any given moment the patrons may actually be royalty? Everything at Wimbledon revolves around a tradition so old there's nobody within four or five generation who actually remembers why it got started. It's the ultimate delivery of the classic Fiddler on the Roof line: "How did this tradition get started? I'll tell you....I don't know. It's just tradition!"

The first couple days of the tournament have gone swimmingly, but I'm still in the middle of trying to re-acclimate to Europe. I spent a glorious summer in Dublin back in 2005, but never got a chance to make it to London until now. Certainly I've seen Wimbledon on television dozens of times, but the place has such an intimate, up-close feel. Most of the players rent houses and apartments just a few blocks (at most) from the entrance gates and walk freely among the pubs and shops along High Street in between matches. There's a great story of how, after losing one of the classic finals in all Wimbledon history (a five-setter to wild-card entry Goran Ivanesevic), Patrick Rafter headed down to the Dog & Fox Pub in Wimbledon Village and bought a round for the house. So while a fair comparison in terms of stature and power membership might be a lofty perch like Augusta National, I think a more legit parallel to the AELTC would be Bethpage Black, the municipal course which hosted the just-concluded US Open. Just like there, the locals feel an intense, prideful ownership over the place and welcome the world's best with open arms (not to mention LOTS of strawberries and cream. There is only one item that never leaves the menu down at the media 'canteen', and it unfortunately isn't the prime rib. That's okay, but there's only so much prime rib a man could consume anyway.)

One thing does throw you for the first few days in Europe, and that's the incredible length of the days. It's 9:40 here and the sunlight is just starting to fade, and it'll be up at full blast again before 6 AM. This affords us an opportunity for long, uninterrupted broadcasts that stretch from noon-10pm local time (7am-5pm back in the States). So to close with a perfectly shameless plug, tune in to ESPN2 every day during the week for all your Wimbledon needs.