LONDON — Watching a gray-haired, smart-suited 56-year-old John McEnroe speak with mature insight about all-things tennis it seems odd to think that many feel that what the sport needs is a dose of the "superbrat" attitude of the brash New Yorker’s youth.
McEnroe is still the number one off-court draw at the All England club which, as a "bunch of 70-year stiffs", once snubbed him by refusing to award him the usual honorary membership after his maiden singles victory in 1981.
That was the year when "you are the pits of the world" and "you cannot be serious" entered the sporting lexicon as McEnroe mixed sublime tennis with boiling frustration en route to eventually dethroning Bjorn Borg as Wimbledon champion.