>nothing else can explain the enthusiasm for a player as uninspiring as Tim Henman
I play a lot of tennis. I've never understood this fascination of Brits, often those themselves who do not play tennis, to bash Tim Henman (and also curiously enough Andy Murray pre-Wimbledon win). Henman won 11 ATP titles, reached 6 grand slam semi-finals, ended 5 years in the top 10, and is an Olympic finalist. He's also a pretty nice guy who continues to promote grassroots tennis in Britain.
Yet the only conceivable reason to the author that people might be enthusiastic about Tim Henman is nationalism? And to leave such a baseless claim without comment like it should just be accepted? Honestly I expect better from the LRB.
I agree. In football / other team sports, it is common to support teams who have never been in the top 10 ever, or at least for over 50 years. No-one seems to question that.
I used to be Everton fan when I was a child, then for a long time Werder Bremen, but for the last few years I was a Liverpool fan. Now I might switch again :-D It helps that I have nothing to do with Merseyside.
Haha - there’s a strong cultural rule in the UK that you can’t change the team you support after a certain amount of time. No matter how much you’d like to - you’re stuck with the terrible team until the end of time
The article's implied question is why people don't switch their favorite to someone who actually wins the moremmajor titles, since switching has no cost and high value in the BIRG world of sport.
I play a lot of tennis. I've never understood this fascination of Brits, often those themselves who do not play tennis, to bash Tim Henman (and also curiously enough Andy Murray pre-Wimbledon win). Henman won 11 ATP titles, reached 6 grand slam semi-finals, ended 5 years in the top 10, and is an Olympic finalist. He's also a pretty nice guy who continues to promote grassroots tennis in Britain.
Yet the only conceivable reason to the author that people might be enthusiastic about Tim Henman is nationalism? And to leave such a baseless claim without comment like it should just be accepted? Honestly I expect better from the LRB.