For fans of less traditional sports the end of June and beginning of July is a great time.
The end of June means the Championships, Wimbledon get underway at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, United Kingdom.
Wimbledon is the biggest tennis tournament in the world and is steeped with history including the traditional whites that all players are required to wear during their matches.
This year Canada had a trio of players to look out for, including last year’s quarterfinalist, Vasek Pospisil, and 2014 runner-up in the women’s tournament, Eugenie Bouchard. Both players have since been dropped from the tournament with Pospisil losing in round one and Bouchard losing in round three.
Despite the tough losses suffered by Bouchard and Pospisil, Canada still has a dog in the fight as Milos Raonic is through to the men’s quartefinals.
Raonic is seeded sixth for the tournament and stands a terrific chance of going deep into the tournament thanks to world number one Novak Djokovic’s upset loss earlier in the tournament.
Just across the English Channel another major sporting event is taking place as the 103rd Tour de France kicked off on Jul. 2.
Admittedly, it is harder to get excited about watching the Tour de France since at least nine of the previous 17 events have either been vacated or the winner has been changed due to positive performance enhancing drug tests but I still do get excited.
While a lot of people have a hard time understanding why I would watch nearly 200 men ride bicycles around the country of France, there is more to it than that.
For the riders who are clean it is a tremendous accomplishment to ride over 3,000km in 23 days going up and down mountains and it is something to be respected for.
In addition there is a tremendous amount of coverage shown to the landscape around where they are riding and it is quite impressive.
The other day I was watching it and the riders were coming into Utah Beach in the French region of Normandy and there was as much focus being given to the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 as there was on the race itself.
They showed various shots of the region including the church in Sainte-Mère-Église, which has a paratrooper statue on its steeple in honour of American paratrooper John Steele, who got hung up on the steeple during the invasion.
In addition to some great visuals the commentators also spoke at length about the historical impact the invasion has had on the region. For people who like history it was great.
The tour is only in its first of three weeks so there are plenty more great visuals and historical facts to learn as they make their way from the northern region of France south to the border of Spain, eventually finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which includes trips through both the Pyrenees mountains and the French Alps.
As for those looking forward to watching the cycling as well, there is one Canadian in the field to look out for as Antoine Duchesne makes his Tour de France debut.
So for those fans looking for a new or different sport to watch there are a pair ongoing that will provide a new level of interest.
You have the tradition of Wimbledon and the history of the Tour de France.
Enjoy. I know I am.
