Thirsting for Victory
During my last period on unemployment, I drew up a list of “things to do before I die”. Most of them involved attending sporting events. That’s why we entered the lottery for Wimbledon tickets back in October. Fortunately, the J. Crew-dressed grey-hairs that run Wimbledon picked our number. Ten months later we crashed their party… but we managed to keep quiet during the points.
Like the US Open in New York, Wimbledon’s grounds are stunning and filled with people who are there for the booze and society magazines as much as the tennis. Of course, there has not been a British entry in the adult finals to hold the crowd’s attention in longer than anyone can remember. (A 14 year old from 5 minutes away just won the girls title). During the rain delays (there were two on our day) no one complained. They headed straight for the many bars and let their neck rest from rotating back and forth. The tennis seemed to improve as the day advanced; or at least the crowd seemed to enjoy it more. Correlation or causation?
According to the official website, the All England Lawn and Tennis Club claims that they have very thirsty spectators.
- 300,000 cups of tea and coffee
- 150,000 glasses of Pimm’s
- 100,000 pints of draught beer and lager
- 30,000 litres of milk
- 17,000 bottles of champagne
- 7,000 litres of dairy cream
That does not count water.
Thankfully, their architect did not follow the plans of the Fulham Football club (see much earlier entry); there were plenty of restrooms available.
