European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday july 21,1990 the stars and stripes Page 25 drills grime pros s Bubuc Syfox. Staff writer Stuttgart West Germany a George grime is a Tennis Umpire. You know the Job. Announce the score and Brace for explosions from the likes of Jimmy Connors and John Mcenroe. Its Tough to picture grime sparring with Jimbo and Mac. He san officer in the British air Force with a gentlemanly Demeanour to match. He a also a dental surgeon which might explain his Sharp bite at various Tennis Points. A a the whole aim of a match is to keep the players Happy a grime said during a break wednesday As chief of umpires at the Mercedes cup. Quot but you can to be weak keeping the players  7-year. Boing open next month. Connors originated the court cry in 1972, the year after grime started umpiring. They made mean Contact in the 1984 Davis cup finals in Gothenburg Sweden. With grime in the Umpire s chair during the first singles he remembers Connors a belted the Hack of a chair with his Racket and also expressed two obscenities. I had no option but to order a court  under the rules of that time Connors would have defaulted with one More violation. He stayed in there although Sweden won the �?T84 finals and years later gave grime one of his fondest memories. A the actually came off the court and Shook hands and said a Good Job a a grime recalled. That does no to fog the question of who a the brat. A Connors and John Mcenroe have probably been the toughest players on my card Quot said grime who also mentioned Australia s Mark Edmondson. A a they re brisk. But in All fairness i got the impression that our British accent sometimes gets up their nose. I try for a lower key for our old colonial  grime who has Umpire in 19 Wimb Lemons Calls women the most polite play ers. A on the menus Side you have a pretty Tough group a he said. A a that a because every Point is so important to them. They re fighting for their  which is Why grime s first Rule is a never talk with a player who has lost. You done to say a bad  you done to know How upset he might  Grimes toughest Calls involve balls hit Ting the sideline nearest his chair. Its so Tough to see space Between that line and the Ball he rarely overrules a line judge. A sorry Quot he tells squawking players. Quot i saw no space. The play has to stand. That goes for any griping player. Grime swears that umpires make Calls the same for crowd favourites such As Boris Becker and unknowns such As Luis Herrera. Quot As far As Calls go a grime said with his hand Over his heart a a they re so fast so instinctive there a no time to decide who gets the  and yet grime admits that umpires stretch their patience to keep from booting crowd drawing players. He remembers one such Star he  reveal his name who walked off the court and  return. Grime came Down from his chair and said a i know this might not mean much to you but there Are a lot of people who paid to see you play. Why done to we finish the match the tactic worked. Grime Isnit in the umpires chair this week in Stuttgart As chief of umpires he runs Between courts to set up chair umpires and line judges. Next week he will return to the chair As a guest Umpire in a women a tournament in the Northern Germany town of Rheda Wiede Briick. In August he will be the referee in the Davis cup tie Between Belgium and Korea which Means he will control the event in Brussels. In september he will climb the chair As an Umpire in an association of Tennis professionals tournament in Basel Switzerland. Quite the schedule for this 52-year-old Wing commander the equivalent of lieutenant colonel in the Royal air Force. How does he manage to get away from his dental work at Raf Hereford eng 948 in of Oro George grime chief of umpires this week in Stuttgart has called 19 Wimbledon. Land As grime tells it he gets seven weeks of annual leave plus he takes six weeks without pay in addition the Royal air Force figures in his Davis cd umpiring As honorable duty which translates into paid leave. Grime says an at tournament such As the Mercedes cup Means a weeks pay of $600 for a chair Umpire. Wimbledon pays about $155 a Day. Grime ran into this umpiring business in 1971. He was playing in the Royal air Force championships at Wimbledon and since he Tost he had to Umpire the next match. His score announcements were so impressive an Raf Umpire advised him to join the British umpiring organization. Ten years later he became an International Umpire. Now he umpires for the at Ana International Tennis federation which overseas grand slam and Davis cup events. Somehow this native of Liverpool who went to grammar school with John Lennon finds time for his wife Sylvia his daughter Rebecca 19, and his son Nick 17, All of whom play Tennis. A a he a a Good chief of umpires Quot said Hany Schaeffer one of the chair umpires Here. A the makes Good use of lots of experience from Many years of  of Grimes 19 Wimbledon four were finals women s doubles in 1990, menus doubles in 1989, the Becker Ivan Lendl match of 1986 and the Martina Navratilova Chris Evert Battle of 1982. A one to go for the set a mixed doubles Quot he said. Grime was in the Wimbledon chair three weeks ago for the Steffi Craf Jan Nifer Capriati fourth Rounder which packed Centre court. His biggest decision was overruling a line judge who had called a Graf shot Good. Graf did no to Gripe much and went on to win. The Best players grime has seen Navratilova bios Borg and Mcenroe. Even if Mac Wasny to always so  cup proves soccer is a snooze Roo dear editor i just finished watching the entire soccer world cup based upon which i strongly recommend that our lawmakers seriously consider adding a statute to our criminal codes to provide calamitous penalties and suffering to the next person who describes soccer As a the worlds most exciting  for years North american sports fans have been reviled As unsophisticated provincial and witless drones because we followed such pedestrian team events As baseball basketball football and ice hockey. You see we North americans our Canadian Brothers must share the guilt Are just too uncivilized and uncultured to see the Beauty excitement and thrills in a game in which the rare scoring plays Are accidents a usually the result of a defensive breakdown a and scores of 0-0,1-0 or 1-1 Are the Rule and not the exception. I watched an International club soccer game on to several years ago in which not Only was there no score a that was expected a there was not a single shot on goal by either Side. And this is not unusual Argentina reached the final this year averaging less than one goal per game. Only one game in the world cup Cameroon against England had the Lead change hands. Yet it seems that even though we know better we continue to pay lip service to this slogan about a the worlds most exciting  for example in no a Fred Hickman normally a great announcer was gushing with passion on the evening sports show As he described the semifinal Between Germany and England however he had obviously not watched the game because a he mispronounced All the players names and b he said that the sports letters game was exciting it was not. I suspect that even its adherents Are starting to wonder. The set of letters from soccer supporters in a recent edition of the stars and stripes sounded like children whistling past the graveyard. One writer bravely defended soccer but encouraged viewers to watch it in a pub the real message you Nave to be drunk to enjoy this game. Another pointed out that some nil football games Are Boring True but 95 percent of All soccer games Are worse than the most Boring nil game. The fact is that the game As it is now played is a Lemon. It is a game with Little strategy no tactics never any drama Little suspense and no excitement. After following european soccer off and on for 20 years and watching this latest world cup disaster i now know Why soccer hooliganism is increasing in what Are otherwise civilized countries. If lived in a country where soccer was the a most exciting sport a id go out and riot too. And after watching the cup 1 think ill join them. Give me a Brick lads and lets go get Mem. Michael Corum Wiesbaden West German Wake up to great soccer dear editor in be waited a few Days to fully digest an article taken from the Washington Post about this years world cup. Though i had intended a much longer response to or. Twomey a smug article i la restrain myself to a few comments which illustrate my Point of View. Here goes. A. The article cites the authors wealth of soccer experience having watched French soccer As Well As the opening round of this years world cup. Obviously this Lack of experience explains Why the sport a a fails the  in particular his mind. Perhaps his article would be better titled a american soccer fans done to know any better Quot or just Plain a gee Wilbur i just done to get  b. The american resistance to this Quot foreign Quot sport continues to Puzzle me. Not because there a some genetic aberration encompassing the length and Width of the . Preventing us from absorbing the arcane mysteries of soccer. Instead in a reminded of a stubborn child who refuses to have anything to do with a sport he did no to invent understand or play better than e Vei one else. C. The author wonders Why an entire world aside from the United states which is often accused of thinking that it is the world is absorbed by this plainly simple and obviously Dull Little snort Well for starters anyone can play the game. All you need Are feet a Ball and the desire to play. You Don t have to be Over 6-foot-5 or run a 4.4 40-Yard dash with All sorts of equipment on to make the pros. Perhaps or. Twomey is right in his a Light hearted Quot article which seems to encompass so Many american attitudes. We ought to give the finals away for 1994 before we Embarrass ourselves in front of the world by our apathy give it to a country that really wants it and would give it the respect an 1 attention it commands from the rest of the world. A country like say Cameroon. David m. Cole Baum older West Germany