Can sombody tell me why the armed forces have to be court side at wimbledon?
How come you only get them there and not all sporting events?
Armed forces at tennis???
Armed forces at tennis???
Born to Lose..... Live to Win
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
It used to be for / as a reward for service.
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
Very good question, it's a thing that has always intrigued me.
Many times I have been to Wimbledon and have always seen service personal from the Army, RAF and Navy acting as stewarts and ticket checkers on all the prestige courts, don't remember ever seeing them on the outside courts.
Randyandy suggests it may be a reward for good service, a reward to me would be a pair of centre court tickets for the day and not having to wear a full uniform whilst watching. No, there's more to it than just that, I guess we should take a look at the make up of the Wimbledon Membership Committee's for the answer, a large percentage of them are made up of Major, Colonel, General, Wing Commander, AV Marshall, Commodore, Admiral (Retd) etc, etc. Who else could get the forces in to act as cheap labour for the day?
Did anyone see the Leighton Hewitt match last week when an offical was sent to stand and then sit by a mob of rowdy (?) aussie fan's who were loudly enjoying the Hewitt return to form. This offical seemed to be more annoying to to the crowd than Leightons fans and when he had little or no effect a uniformed Army NCO was sent to speak to them from courtside.
What if these fans had told this NCO to 'get stuffed', would he then have been expected to gather up a bunch of his oppo's and roughly thrown out these loud but otherwise law abiding ticket holding fans?
Is that what our armed forces have been reduced to, having to push their weight around at sporting events and throwing out tennis fans -- whatever next -- invade Iraq?
Many times I have been to Wimbledon and have always seen service personal from the Army, RAF and Navy acting as stewarts and ticket checkers on all the prestige courts, don't remember ever seeing them on the outside courts.
Randyandy suggests it may be a reward for good service, a reward to me would be a pair of centre court tickets for the day and not having to wear a full uniform whilst watching. No, there's more to it than just that, I guess we should take a look at the make up of the Wimbledon Membership Committee's for the answer, a large percentage of them are made up of Major, Colonel, General, Wing Commander, AV Marshall, Commodore, Admiral (Retd) etc, etc. Who else could get the forces in to act as cheap labour for the day?
Did anyone see the Leighton Hewitt match last week when an offical was sent to stand and then sit by a mob of rowdy (?) aussie fan's who were loudly enjoying the Hewitt return to form. This offical seemed to be more annoying to to the crowd than Leightons fans and when he had little or no effect a uniformed Army NCO was sent to speak to them from courtside.
What if these fans had told this NCO to 'get stuffed', would he then have been expected to gather up a bunch of his oppo's and roughly thrown out these loud but otherwise law abiding ticket holding fans?
Is that what our armed forces have been reduced to, having to push their weight around at sporting events and throwing out tennis fans -- whatever next -- invade Iraq?
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
Hmmm!!
A) Centre Court at Wimbledon OR
B) Downtown Basra Iraq
now A does seem like the slightly better option imho.
And yes I did see and hear the yellow shirted Aussie "fans" and they were a distinct pain in the tits ... personally I would have just heaved the fuckers out no questions asked. The beeb even had an interview with them and on second thoughts I would have just shot the fuckers.
A) Centre Court at Wimbledon OR
B) Downtown Basra Iraq
now A does seem like the slightly better option imho.
And yes I did see and hear the yellow shirted Aussie "fans" and they were a distinct pain in the tits ... personally I would have just heaved the fuckers out no questions asked. The beeb even had an interview with them and on second thoughts I would have just shot the fuckers.
PEOPLE think Stephen Hawking is so clever, but when you ask him a question and he is typing in the answer on his little screen, how do we know he isn't just looking up the answer on the Internet?
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
It's the last gasp of an outmoded class system- and nowhere else
but in the Army is the old regime so atrociously maintained.
How long did it take for black or female 'ball-boys' to be admitted?
And they're still not all that keen on letting in hoi polloi...
but in the Army is the old regime so atrociously maintained.
How long did it take for black or female 'ball-boys' to be admitted?
And they're still not all that keen on letting in hoi polloi...
"a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the
signification...."
signification...."
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
Yeah, but they're Orstrilian- it's not as if they know any better....
"a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the
signification...."
signification...."
-
strawberrycheescake
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
the only reason that the military is present at wimbledon as stewards is because it is a tradition. every year people can volunteer for the role. its quite a popular duty so people end up going through a draw to see who gets the job. most of the big tennis fans apply for the possitions simply so they get to watch a bit of tennis. there is no underlying reasons why the military is present. it is open to all military services so that is why RAF, ARMY and NAVY uniforms can be seen.
-
belfast_birty
- Posts: 634
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
Perhaps some on this forum,would prefer that all Service personnel are fighting in The Sanpit? Except for them,that is!!
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
What do they join up for?
Wimbledon, or War?
Wimbledon, or War?
"a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the
signification...."
signification...."
-
strawberrycheescake
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: Armed forces at tennis???
JJ
Do you actually expect someone to answer that question? Come back with something a bit more constructive or worthwhile and maybe there might be a chance we could engage in a constructive conversation.
I only replied to this because I am from a large military family and know people who have volunteered and worked at Wimbledon for the services. I knew the answer to this question and thought id give an answer. For some reason JJ you want to turn this thread into "do I agree with what military personnel do with there spare time". When you have fought for you country side by side with soldiers whose main concern is ?will I make it to the end of the day? then you may have a say in a soldiers RnR. When you leave your house do you have to worry whether or not someone has put a bomb under your patrol car? Or if the next door you go through has been booby trapped. I don?t think so. These soldiers that you seem to have some problem with deserve all the time off that they get, Whether it be spent working at Wimbledon or defending there time off to people like you. JJ you are a conscientious objector. Do you know what that means? I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.
Do you actually expect someone to answer that question? Come back with something a bit more constructive or worthwhile and maybe there might be a chance we could engage in a constructive conversation.
I only replied to this because I am from a large military family and know people who have volunteered and worked at Wimbledon for the services. I knew the answer to this question and thought id give an answer. For some reason JJ you want to turn this thread into "do I agree with what military personnel do with there spare time". When you have fought for you country side by side with soldiers whose main concern is ?will I make it to the end of the day? then you may have a say in a soldiers RnR. When you leave your house do you have to worry whether or not someone has put a bomb under your patrol car? Or if the next door you go through has been booby trapped. I don?t think so. These soldiers that you seem to have some problem with deserve all the time off that they get, Whether it be spent working at Wimbledon or defending there time off to people like you. JJ you are a conscientious objector. Do you know what that means? I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.