Wimbledon, clear as mud

 Wimbledon begins this week, less than 24 hours after the Colorado Avalanche hoisted the Stanley Cup in Tampa last night. I don't know what that says except the hockey season goes on so long a baby born on opening night is drawing Social Security by the time Stanley gets clean-and-jerked, and that just seems wrong somehow.

But what do I know. In my day hockey was about falling down a lot, losing the feeling in  my extremities and drinking hot chocolate. Now it's about board shorts, heatstroke and "How many burgers you want?"

And as for Wimbledon ...

Well, God bless its high-born, that-simply-isn't-done-old-sport reverence for self.

On the eve of the fortnight, Wimby club officials came out to explain themselves on their ludicrous Russian/Belorussian player ban, and it made about as much sense as you'd expect. Which is to say, hardly any.

Consider this gem, from All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt: "But also, it was very important to us that Wimbledon, given the profile that we have, should not be used in any way, by the propaganda machine which we know the Russian government employs in relation to its own people and how their position in the world is presented and that would be, we just would not countenance Wimbledon success or participation in Wimbledon being misused in that way ..."

Well, that's as clear as mud.

Look. The Blob has said this before, but it bears repeating: By blindly banning Russian and Belorussian players, Wimby is actually punishing some who've publicly decried Vladimir Putin's naked aggression against Ukraine.  Which of course in its own way gives the Russians a pass -- which would be exactly what the staunchly pro-Ukrainian British government has said it doesn't want, and is part of Ian Hewitt's rationale for the ban.

Also, there is the aforementioned self-reverence with which Wimbledon routinely swaddles itself. No one on God's earth would consider it a boost to Russia if Daniil Medvedev, the world No. 1, won the men's singles title. Hell, it's probably safe to say most of the world doesn't even know he's Russian. To them he's just a guy who spells "Daniel" weird.

So, no. It's beyond ridiculous to think anyone who sees Medvedev hoisting the Wimbledon trophy on Centre Court is going to think "Look! A Russian won Wimbledon! Damn, maybe Putin's right!"

Completely absurd. And not how it works, needless to say.

But Wimbledon is Wimbledon. You wear white. You keep quiet on the serve, you lot. And you certainly aren't going to let such a MONUMENTAL WORLD STAGE be used for propaganda purposes.

Why, you're not even going to use a tennis tournament for such purposes. Which of course is all Wimbledon is, in the end.