The End Of Henmania

[poliphilo]

Poor old Tim Henman got trashed by Roger Federer in the second round at Wimbledon. Henman is a very good tennis player who has never quite managed the step up into greatness. He is also very handsome (in a Tony Blair's fitter younger brother kind of way). The fans and the media have pressured him and pressured him, as the only decent British player, to carry the flag up to the summit,  then mocked him bitterly every time he has fallen short.  He has done his stoical best, but the hope that he will one day win Wimbledon has finally died. 

Do other nations treat their sports stars with such cruelty?

Comments

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

We do not torture.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Of course; how silly of me; I was forgetting....

[michaelkeane.livejournal.com]

I do recall a Colombian defender being executed (admittedly not with government approval) after he scored the own goal which saw his country knocked out of the World Cup. But I see what you're saying.

Is Tim retiring or will he still potter around the fringes in a Jimmy White-esque manner for a few years?

I've always liked Tim, but yes, all too much pressure. And here we are with England's World Cup hopes resting solely on Wayne Rooney. Poor guy.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think Henman is going to retire quite yet. I imagine there's still quite a lot of money to be made pootering round the circuit.

He's still a very good player- it's just that he doesn't really have a prayer against young guns like Federer and Nadal.