Could it not wait a week? Can anyone tell the difference between a blazing 90-plus degree day and a muggy 85-degree day the second week of September?
Traditionally, Labor Day marks the end of summer. You know, the day that people are to stop wearing white, put the flip-flops in hibernation and worship all things football.
This is America, the land where in some respects, laws, or in this case traditions, were made to be broken. And the process of idolatry that revolves around football must be postponed, but only for a week.
How would one week of make a difference?
It would give America, and for the sake of argument Black America, a chance to revel in the second week of the US Open.
Everyone knows of the Williams sisters, mostly because they are cute and have game that surpasses their looks.
African-Americans are not new to the tennis scene, but once the Williams sisters are eliminated, in some regards tennis resembles golf when Tiger Woods is out of contention.
People watch, just not our people. Venus and Serena Williams are not the only talented tennis players on the planet.
For those of you who are too ignorant to pay attention, you’ve missed a lot:
The woman who beat Venus, Kim Clijsters, will have nothing short of a dogfight in the semifinals against world No.1 Maria Sharapova. Remember her, she’s the white girl who beat Serena in the Wimbledon finals last year.
Top-ranked Roger Federer has a smile and the artistry of a Rembrandt, and winning 22 consecutive matches could bring smiles to the most depressed of souls.
Tennis immortal Andre Agassi played one of the matches of the year against young upstart James Blake Wednesday night in the men’s quarterfinals. Only an idiot, or someone with a small bladder left their seat during the epic match that concluded at 1:15-in the morning!
For those who want to (foolishly) underscore Blake’s achievement, please remember that Ashe is the only African-American male to advance farther in the US Open Tournament.
FAMU has taken one step forward and two steps backward in advocating tennis.
More co-eds play than one’s near-sighted mind might think and there is a group on The Facebook devoted to tennis players.
The progress of a few students has been muted by Dr. Castell Bryant and Co. as both the men’s and women’s tennis teams were dropped over the summer ironically at the time Venus was making her astonishing run at Wimbledon.
If you drive by the tennis courts some time, you might catch a student or two smacking a few forehands on another muggy Tallahassee evening.
By now, most of us know it’s too hot to do much of anything outdoors in a Florida summer, no matter how long it lasts.
Will Brown is a fourth year newspaper journalism student from Rockledge, Fla. Contact him at wwbrown19@yahoo.com.