Well I work a lot - 7 days a week, so this week my wife was off on some vacation, so I took a day with her and we went to the Roger's Cup in Toronto. For Tennis fans (we are pretty big fans of the game), this is "the" event in Canada. Held in Toronto and Montreal, with one year the men playing in one location and the women in the other, then the next year they swap. This year the women were in Toronto. Not quite as encompassing as being at a Grand Slam event, but still top players attend and lots of good tennis. In the past we have seen some of the current greats play here - Federer, Nadal, Djokovich, etc. - we usually go to the men's events but this year we saw the ladies. My wife's alumni association had tickets to their suite, so we bought those for the day and drove to Toronto in the morning. It rained like crazy on the way there, so not sure we were going to seed any tennis. When we arrived at the Rexall center at York University, the rain had stopped, but it was very overcast and wet as you can see in this photo: We picked up our passes and headed for the suite - lunch was already out for us: The rain stopped and all over the grounds they were busy drying the courts - here is our view of center court from the suite, with them busily drying the courts with the big blowers: Finally under way! First match was Li against Pavlyuchenkova.... Nice shot by Pavlyuchenkova here but Li won this match easily: If you are a tennis fan, you will recognize Bartoli from the serve - she won this one as it should be - she is the current Wimbledon ladies singles champ: She easily defeated the American Davis. Last match was Errani v Zakopalova, again fairly one sided in the first set but the second went to a tie break with Errani winning it. The rain held off for the rest of the day and we even had a bit of sun, so overall a great day. Also, a couple of weeks ago we went to a local outdoor music festival....worked most of the day but we got there late in the afternoon as they didn't start until 4 pm each day. It was over 3 days, but we only bought tickets for days 2 and 3. Day 2 had some bands I used to listen to, and some I didn't really.... Helix - rockers from the 80's! Platinum Blonde - last time I saw them live was 30 years ago at pub night in college - they were just hitting it big time in Canada at that time...pretty good live... Next up Whitesnake - not my thing at all.... My wife was not feeling all that well so we didn't stay for the closer that night, Journey...not a band I really listened to anyway, so I wasn't upset at skipping them. Next day was a bit wet, so wearing my rain gear and the SM300 while waiting for the sound checks to be done... Wind him up! Saga was a band I listened to a lot when I was younger, and they were awesome live: Next up a change of gears for Grand Funk Railroad - played really well for a bunch of old guys: Hold the line! Toto was up next! And at one point during their set it poured like mad, but they were awesome, and they even commented that despite the downpour, no one left! And the last band of the weekend was Styx. No Dennis DeYoung, but Gowan is a better singer anyway IMO, and a Canuck to boot. So sharing a little of my down time with you guys instead of talking watches... Cheers, Al
Very cool Al, love Grand Funk Railroad, and I have seen Platnum Blonde live as well, up in Syracuse NY...must have been thirty or so years ago as well...Rock on!
Platinum Blonde were very good, and they played some of their more recent stuff as well as their classics. Not sure if this link will work in the US, but if it does check out their last album from 2012... http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Platinum-Blonde Cheers, Al
Bartoli got a lot of stick at wimbledon for being grumpy and frumpy when the other finalist worked hard to smile and chat and sign autographs throughout the early rounds. I could understand it, but felt sorry for her and was glad she won... Good post al, thanks.
Yes I thought the criticisms were a bit unfair. Really the play on the court is what these players should be judged by, not how they look. Glad you enjoyed it, and one day we will get over there for The Championships.... We have been to the Australian Open, and really the US Open is not that far away from us, so maybe that one is next. Would love to attend all 4 slams... Cheers, Al
You could always apply for the public ballot 1st November and let fate tell you if you should book tickets... http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/tickets/201205091336562669724.html
Yep - we looked at that a few years ago....torn between doing that or going with a tour company with assurances of tickets....at a price of course. Cheers, Al
