Whilst engaged in my usual lunch time activity of a brisk walk to help keep the cholesterol platelets moving, I happened upon a pair of the neighbourhood youths who were taking advantage of the facilities at the local park. As the tail end of November was rapidly approaching, the grounds keeper had logically assumed that those who were interested in playing tennis would have either retired to an indoors court or perhaps a warmer climate. How wrong he was!
Now, I do like a keenly contested tennis match so I considered myself lucky to find two protagonists actively engaged so late in the season. However, as I approached the chain link fence, I began to notice a few missing items that I thought would have be critical when engaging in a competitive struggle. The grounds keeper could be excused for securing the net and uprights away from the winter weather but it was the insufficiency of racquet and ball that I found most puzzling.
Perhaps the contestants had spent almost their entire budget on the best "Chavy" bling that JB Sport could muster and only had enough left over for one racquet and no balls. Unperturbed by the obvious lack of equipment, they were totally absorbed in hurling the single racquet towards each other along the full length of the court. No effort was being made to catch the projectile and, try as I may, I couldn't quite make out the rules or scoring method but they seemed to know who was winning. Fearing an imminent thwack on the back of the head by a wayward lump of polymer frame, I decided that indifference was the best course of action so, avoiding eye contact, I pulled up my collar and scurried on by.
Lord Coe must be so happy that the lasting legacy of the 2012 Olympics is having such a positive influence upon the young sport men and women of tomorrow. If nothing else, I guess we should just be grateful that there's at least two "Numpties" that are getting more exercise than simply pressing virtual keys on a smart phone keyboard.
