Thursday, July 21, 2011

London Day 13

My Two Hotties - Kelsey and Mrs. McGoo
First things first, I need to say Happy Belated Birthday to my favorite Non-Married Sister - Freckles (And let's hope it stays that way for a while) - Aka Kelsey.  She turned 21 yesterday and while I did send her a text to wish her happy birthday, I forgot to put it in my blog.

That being said, I'll say it in a way she'll understand. 

Happy Birfday Kelwsey. You're smart, beautiful, and doggonit, you're speshal.

Really short blog today, as we have a large assignment due on Friday and we haven't been given much time to get the task finished.

The official trophies - they never leave Wimbledon
We made our way to Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club (That's a mouth full) today.  We first got a tour of the museum then headed up for a lecture on how the museum markets itself as a different entity than the tournament.  Once that lecture was over, the marketing manager for Wimbledon gave us a presentation of how they market the tournament. 

One thing that is very evident with a lot of places we go to here in London - marketing "Englishness" or "Britishness" is of a high priority for these companies.  The markets they are targeting - South East Asia and India - are very much interested in the "Britishness" of it all.  Funny thing is that is completely opposite of how the London Olympic Committee marketed themselves to the IOC.

Anyway, we took a tour of the facilities after the lectures.  Very interesting to find out that the grass they use for their tournament is killed off after the tournament is over.  So the pictures you'll see are of the courts after they have killed the grass.  When they re-seed the grass, they keep it cut to 8mm long.  They cut it twice a day, which is fascinating.  I told the tour guide that I knew of a guy in Kansas City that loves to cut grass and would be perfect for a job if they were ever looking for help. 

Centre Court
Today (Thursday) is our last tour - London Olympic Committee.  We are also heading to watch Fulham football match.  Probably will be the highlight of my time here in London, so I'm really looking forward to that. 

The Longest Match was played last year at Wimbledon


The court the longest match was played on
The Longest Match Documented
Front of Wimbledon
John McEnroe Display



Court One
Cheers

4 comments:

Mrs. McGoo said...

thanks for posting. Know it's hard to find the time. So how long was the "longest match".

ENJOY THE FOOTBALL GAME!
love you!

oh, and I laughed at the Kelsey lingo. so true!

Anonymous said...

What! That is most certainly not my lingo. I am a 21 year old and I speak in a sophisticated manner! :P

Love and miss you, brudder! Thanks for the text and the shout out! I hope you are having an amazing time!

Larry said...

Hey Kelly. I've enjoyed reading your posts. Sounds like you are in heaven. Can not wait to see you and hear about your trip. Grace and I fly in on Friday the 29th. Safe travels and be safe.
Love ya big guy!
Dad

Tyler Salyer said...

Posts are nice. Don't have too much fun! We're ready for you to head back now.