35 fictional boyfriends

It's my birthday and I'm 35. So I've written a special blog post for the occasion. My great loves in my life have always been from books, TV programmes and films. This has meant I have had many fictional boyfriends in my lifetime.

Fictional boyfriends have allowed me to get close to men when, in real life, my anxiety hasn't let me get close to anyone as my fight or flight kicks in for some reason; you can't run away from fictional boyfriends, throw up in front of them or simply not try due to literally paralysing fear. They have also given me the opportunity to date them when I watch them on TV, on the big screen or read about them. You can give up on them, but, true story, apart from panic attacks, I have never left the cinema, not seen a TV series to its end or not finished a book. To be perfectly honest, fictional boyfriends may be the reason I have never had a boyfriend; no one can live up to them!

So, if you know anyone who complements my anxiety-prone nature, who is witty, laidback and patient, loves books, TV and films; he'll have to be able to get all my references; has a bit of an edge, thinks deeply and will challenge me, set me up!

Disclaimer: This is the unashamed, non-guilty pleasure and unedited, while also edited a lot, list of all my fictional boyfriends past and present. They have all played a significant part in my fictional romantic life from an early, perhaps too early, age right up to now. Some were of their time, some came at the right time and some are timeless. I have tried not to be swayed by actors, although I did go through phases of liking certain people.

Jordan Catalano

Leon

I didn't include: Jared Leto's Jordan Catalano from My So-Called Life (too much of a cipher, despite being sooo pretty); Burt Ward's Robin from the 60s Batman (one of my first TV crushes, but don't think it was romantic); Ross Poldark (I can't have two Aidan Turner characters, he leaves his love alone too often and he's even worse in the books); Henry Ian Cusick's Desmond from Lost (all of that cast is sullied by the final episode, but what a lovely Scottish accent and such a lovable character); Jean Reno's Leon from Leon/The Professional (despite being sweet, sensitive and able to look after himself, he does kill people); David Bowie's Goblin King Jareth from Labyrinth (too disturbing, but caused many a teenage awakening for an entire generation of boys and girls); the bad boys from The Breakfast Club (Judd Nelson's Bender), Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean's Jim Stark) and Eoin Macken's Gwaine from BBC's Merlin (too difficult to be around); the antiheros from A Discovery of Witches (it's only because of Matthew Goode's portrayal of Matthew Clairmont that I'm even mentioning him as he's sooo obsessive and controlling), House (Hugh Laurie, too petty and gloomy), The Mentalist (Simon Baker's Patrick Jane, too frivolous on the outside and dark on the inside), Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock (too selfish) and any of the superhero TV series (too dangerous and stressful to be with); Samurai Jack from the cartoon series (more respectful of him than anything else); and any sappy romcom guy like those from Ever After, Breakfast at Tiffany's or The Notebook (too perfect and unrealistic).

35. Heathcliff - Wuthering Heights: The guy you idealise and idolise without realising their true character. He used to be my fictional boyfriend when I was a teenager; he connected with me as Emily Bronte was writing exactly how I saw romance at the time. But as I grew older and obviously Emily didn't get to live that long, I realised she didn't have a chance to write about real love and I realised how Heathcliff and Cathy's love is unrealistic. He's like your boyfriend from school and while you now both want different things out of life, you can't let each other go due to your shared history. Never has a love soared so high and sunk so low, in the book and with me.

34. Rochester - Jane Eyre: The older man you want to notice you. It may be one of my favourite books of all time, but Rochester is awful. He's the man you love to hate. The man you wish you could give up, but you can't. You know he loves you for you, but that love is twisted, controlling and manipulative. He won't take no for an answer, lurking around you until you give in. It's only when Jane becomes more powerful than him, that they can be together. At least Charlotte understood love a bit more than her sister. My favourite portrayal is by Orson Welles, though everyone has brought something different to Rochester. Anne Bronte was the Bronte who wrote about love the best.

33. Rhett Butler - Gone With The Wind: The cheeky and confident man every girl loves and every boy wants to be. The book version and not Clark Gable's film version, obviously. He's not as bad in the book, but he's still pretty terrible. His only saving grace is his unconditional love for Scarlett, the way he challenges her, including laughing at her which is great, and how much he believes in her, even if he does reject her at the end, it's clear he still wants her. These types of men exert a magnetic pull all of their own, but it's more lust than love.

Colin Firth's Darrcy

32. Darcy - Pride and Prejudice: The brooding silent type you want to get to know. Best of a bad bunch following Heathcliff and Rochester. I guess it's controversial having him so low down the list as he's many people's ideal fictional romance. His brooding intensity, strong silent presence set the romantic archetype forever more. I wasn't immune, but he's like that guy who's not as great as he thinks he is, despite his money and influence.

31. Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie: The boy who never notices girls. Before I was attracted to boys, I was drawn to Peter Pan by reading the book. I loved his devil-may-care attitude and I never wanted to grow up, just like him, but with him!

30. Robin Hood - The Disney version: The leader of the pack who has a whole gang around him. I think this was one of my first fictional crushes and I think it might have been quite a few people's of my age. How can a cartoon fox be so attractive?! Maid Marian may have been the same for lovers of the fairer sex.

Hawkeye

29. Clint Barton/Hawkeye - The MCU films: The strong and stable type. I had to include a superhero as they are one of my film obsessions right now and I'm seeing the latest Avengers for my birthday. Clint is the most stable of them all and you can tell he's a great father, not just from the big reveal, but by how he treats Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Plus, Jeremy Renner is an underrated actor.

Oberyn

28. Oberyn Martell/The Viper - Game of Thrones: The coolest guy in school who always seems to have a different girl on his arm. His character in the books is so vibrant, confident and powerful, I was hooked and then when he was played by Pedro Pascal in the TV series, I was gone. He was true to himself, his proclivities and his passion. I wish I could be that uninhibited. However our relationship didn't last long, as he doesn't last long. But it was good while it lasted.

27. Legolas - The Lord of the Rings and Will Turner - The Pirates of the Caribbean films: The archetypal romantic hero. Alright, I had an Orlando Bloom period, but Will is straight out of an Errol Flynn film. He will do anything for love and who doesn't want that? For Legolas, clearly this was the film version and not Tolkien's, so it's all about Orlando Bloom's performance. He may be more interested in his friends than you, but he can turn his hand to anything.

26. Captain Jack Sparrow - The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: He wants you, he wants you not. Note that this is specifically about the Jack from the first film. I have a weird thing for amoral men, I must do. He would've been higher if Johnny Depp had not gone down in my estimation. He's the love you and leave you type, who'd return to you if he felt like it, but he's never around.

Kili

25. Kili - The Hobbit: The romantic. As there is no romantic subplot with a character that doesn't even exist in the books, this purely comes from Aidan Turner. For a dwarf, he's prone to frivolity, mischief and fun, plus he takes romance seriously. But this romance is doomed.

24. Dickon - The Secret Garden: He will always love something else more than you. After reading the book, Dickon was in my thoughts a lot. He loves animals and even has a medal named after him. My love for Dickon is pure and he will always have a special place in my heart.

Jesse

23. Jesse - Free Willy: The diamond in the rough. The film came out at the right time for me, okay? He may look like he's not worth the trouble, but all he needs is someone to take him under his wing. I still harbour an interest in Jason James Richter; years ago we were MySpace friends and bonded over the band Travis!

22. Laurie - Little Women: The literal boy next door. Always on the list of fictional boyfriends, but he's a slow grower. You won't realise you like him that way until suddenly it seems like you've always loved him. Give it time, there's always the money, playfulness and puppydog loyalty to tide you over in the meantime.

21. Jamie Fraser - Outlander series: Too good to be true, even for a fictional boyfriend. This is why he isn't higher up the list; he's a sensitive principled warrior, an oxymoron in itself, can look after himself and others, but is also tender and gentle. He's another who would do anything for love and family and puts his life on the line way too many times. I have a penchant for a Scottish accent, so Sam Heughan in the TV series is high up on my TV crush list.

Martin

20. Martin Blank - Grosse Pointe Blank: The drifter. The first entry for John Cusack and an assured fictional boyfriend as he's in one of my favourite films. He will frustrate you and turn you on in equal measure with his sarcasm, dark wit and ability to protect you come what may. But you never know whether he's going to stick around or not.

19. Jack Pearson - This Is Us: The ultimate archetype. Jack is too perfect: handsome, strong, funny, capable and loving and no matter how much they try to undo that with his closed-off-ness, perfectionism and stubbornness in later episodes, it's too late, he's the archetype of a father, husband, son and brother.

18. Geordi La Forge - Star Trek: The Next Generation: He will always be there for you. Maybe it's because he wore glasses, maybe because the actor LeVar Burton has the same surname as me or maybe it's because he's a smart, funny and loyal guy who's a great friend to someone different. I fell for Geordi at an impressionable age.

Killian

17. Hook/Killian Jones - Once Upon a Time: The bad boy turned good. The series may be over, but his loyalty saw him through to the end. He could've been so much less attractive, interesting and charismatic if it were not for Colin O'Donoghue, who forced them to make more of his character by the sheer power of his performance. He's a bad boy, selfish and flippant, but love will change him into a caring, mischievous and strong hero.

16. Jon Snow - Game of Thrones: Someone to rely on... He's one of the main characters in the programme and books and Kit Harington is Jon Snow; he makes me feel like a teenager again. I don't think he'd make the greatest of boyfriends as he's highly virtuous, ambitious and prone to getting into trouble, betrayed and even killed, but he'd make a brilliant friend when the relationship inevitably goes sideways.

15. Aladdin - The Disney version: Just give him a chance. The film came out at an impressionable moment. It didn't help that he was based on Michael J. Fox, one of my all-time crushes. He's handsome, sensitive, romantic, cheeky and offers freedom. What more could a girl ask for?

Henry

14. Henry Tilney - Northanger Abbey: You will need to make the first move. My favourite Jane Austen book and my favourite Jane Austen main man. He's a lovely guy, just not someone who would come out and tell you, loving you from afar. You'd catch him looking at you, but he will look away when you see him. He's worth the effort.

13. Spike - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The antihero. Angel may be Buffy's paramour, but Spike is her truest love, even if it's unrequited. James Marsters wins over David Boreanaz any day. You can't change Spike, but if you spend enough time, he can change for you.

Logan Echolls

12. Logan Echolls - Veronica Mars: He will change for you. I'm team Logan all the way (Piz is soft) and he wins Veronica in the books and film. Jason Dohring was so good at being bad, they upped his part. But he isn't bad, he's misunderstood and acting out. He just needs someone to believe in him. Logan is the rare thing: a man you can change through sheer persistence.

11. Benny - Benny and Joon: You will make a good team. For those of you who haven't yet seen this film, you have to. Seriously. It's one of Johnny Depp's best performances. He's your equal in all things, a true partner, someone to consult about anything and you could live the rest of your life with.

Dean

10. Dean Winchester - Supernatural: He'd be your everything and you'd be everything to him. I know I should love Sam more as he's the intelligent one who reads books, is a good researcher and a sensitive soul; he'd make a great librarian. But it's Dean who I find the most attractive; you know he'd look after you, defend you and give great hugs, as well as be a fantastic father. If he has the time between hunting monsters and saving the world. It helps that Jensen Ackles, in fact the whole cast, are awesome people.

Jess

9. Jess Mariano - Gilmore Girls: A walking contradiction. I'm team Jess all the way: Dean is an idiot and Logan turns Rory into someone she's not. Jess loves books! He's a bit of a bad boy. He's a sensitive soul. He's so considerate, caring and compassionate. Milo Ventimiglia is easy on the eye. If only he could get his act together and stop wasting his talent. He makes you bite your lip when you see him and you know you shouldn't get involved, but you can't help yourself.

8. Lloyd Dobler - Say Anything: The friend who becomes something more. Okay, I have a small John Cusack preoccupation. However he plays toasted marshmallows so well: crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. He's the ideal boyfriend, your childhood sweetheart, your first love and only love, someone you could grow old with.

Benton and Dief

7. Benton Fraser - Due South: Too good for this world. He's the ideal man in many ways. He looks handsome in his mountie uniform, but when he puts on a leather jacket... Benton is so much more than man candy though. I love his intelligence, his kindness and his polite nature, but adore his innocence. Paul Gross gives him an edge.

Ten

6. The Tenth Doctor - Doctor Who: The stalwart presence. David Tennant is my Doctor. When you spend so much time with someone, even if they change on you, they will always be a big part of your life.

5. Beast - Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The one who will always put you before himself. He gave her a library!

4. Marty McFly - Back to the Future: The one who knows who he is. I had a huge crush on Michael J. Fox for a time, entirely based on this film. Now I just admire and respect him hugely. The love has developed. What I adore about him the most is the fact he is entirely his own person, accepts himself and his flaws and is unashamedly himself.

Westley

3. Westley/The Dread Pirates Roberts/The Man in Black - The Princess Bride: The fantasy. He is the same witty, sarcastic, confident, assured and prepared man all the way through the book and the film. You know he can put his hand to anything. He is intelligent, strong, skilful, learned and romantic. The book is wonderful, the film is peerless and Cary Elwes interpretation will always be my fictional boyfriend. Yet, I haven't put him at the top...

Michael Vartan

2. Michael Vaughn/SPOILER André Micheaux - Alias: The paramour. Michael Vartan's love interest is almost perfect, but he should have waited! He was always going to be on this list as he's in my favourite TV series of all time. However his courage, determination and ability to lapse into French at any time helped. Plus, he's supportive but gives you your freedom. He's romantic, but not in a soppy way. He's intelligent, loyal and couldn't do more for you. He's like the boy next door, who's your first unrequited love and you discover each other again later in life...

1. Gilbert Blythe - Anne of Green Gables series: The perfect fictional boyfriend. Gilbert develops from a idiotic boy into an incredible man, boyfriend and SPOILER husband, while never being perfect himself. You can grow up and grow old together, never growing apart. The fictional boyfriend that lasts the test of time.

Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie)

Turn

I wouldn't say I've done an about-turn; I still prefer to do things the old fashioned way: pen and paper as opposed to a computer, tangible CD rather than an ethereal mp3 file and face-to-face instead of phone, skype, email, IM or text. I sometimes feel like Alice in Wonderland with all this new technology, stumbling through a completely bizarre world that's like ours, but not quite right. All the advances are starting to make me feel small, but the power they give just blows everything out of proportion. To further the analogy, the Queen of Hearts is undoubtedly Steve Jobs, bringing out new innovations each year and cutting his opposition down to size at every turn. The Mad Hatter is Mark Zuckerberg, mastermind behind facebook, a genius who has lost his sense of self. Bill Gates is the White Rabbit, a minor character now but still doing a lot behind the scenes, and seemingly always rushing around, never having enough time. The Jabberwocky is a synecdoche for all the nefarious characters who exploit everything in their path: the hackers, the viruses and the spammers. Tweedledum and Tweedledee can represent Twitter, voices struggling to be heard in the sheer mass of communication, saying the same thing over and over, finishing people's sentences and trying to outdo each other. And the Cheshire Cat? All of us. Sending out every aspect of our personalities into the internet ether, until all that's left is a grinning facade. Still looking out for a caterpillar smoking a hookah though...However I must admit, some of the applications we've been looking at have turned my head, if not made me do a double-take. I had one of those the other day; a driver honked his horn at me and I wasn't even wearing anything special. I'm not one of those who takes offense at that kind of thing, but I wish the guy who did it was a bit younger, more attractive and not a white van driver. Here is what I was wearing, sorry about the blatant advertising on the bottle:

My friend Chris' little brother

Being of the right generation (and having a boss who is an advocate of web 2.0 helps), I was using quite a number of the applications already, along with others we haven't covered thanks to my technical wizard of a brother. He's recently got a smartphone and is having fun downloading the free apps. I must admit the GPS one is quite cool; I'm a fan of Google Earth and Street View as well, the supposed Big Brother; privacy issues are blown out of all proportion. I'm on Street View, several times, when looking from behind; I can't believe I missed the camera going past, though it looks like me and my Dad are unpacking the car after coming back from holiday:

Google Street View

The applications I already use are Zotero, facebook personally and professionally, Google Calendar for work timetables, wikis, Delicious - my colleague is well up on it, see their blog here: - Youtube and RSS feeds though I barely have anything to do with ours as it's automatic. I've started to use Doodle, but only because others are: the book club, other communities and colleagues for example. I created a Twitter account for Cam23 and have tried to update it daily, that reminds me... I'm not sure I'll carry it on if others abandon it, but a few friends I've made within the library community tweet, so maybe I will. I'll use LibraryThing for my books at home, but when I find the time. The only ones I know I won't use are LinkedIn as I think professional networking is more insalibrious than social networking (I prefer to make friends with someone I've actually met and genuinely like first and have someone want to help me, rather than contacting an avatar and using them for my own advancement), podcasts as I am disinclined to acquiesce to watching them and Slideshare as I prefer to create my own from scratch. I'm using Flickr more as the Google images set up has changed and it's a lot less user-friendly. iGoogle has been the most successful with me as I can see the weather forecast, the latest news and what's happening each day on our Google Calendar all in the same place. Nevertheless the best bits are the daily literary quote and Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. Here's today's for old time's sake:I can't believe that we've come to the end and I'm missing the closing ceremony; it clashes with my summer holiday. I love writing a blog post every week and I may even keep it up. There's our new library induction video for a start; filming began yesterday and carried on today. It's going surprisingly well and has ben a lot of fun, but can't say much more than that as we're sworn to secrecy. Check my Twitter account for more details @judgesarah. There's also the library blog which is going to usurp our written newsletter. I think the last word should go to Wordle, I adore the eclecticness of my tags:

Tied to the 90’s

Harpagornis ~away~

A young library assistant (well she’s the youngest in the department) was walking around in her own little world, not seeing the reality of her profession, not particularly knowing where she was going and not really that bothered about it to be perfectly honest. That is until she found a wise group of Cambridge librarians who led her down a new path, one that led to enlightenment as to the ways of the world, one that opened up new possibilities and one where she was not alone in her journey. It made her realise that appearances, age and even gender can be misleading. She may have been at the right age to latch onto all the new technology as it came in: CD’s, the internet, DVD’s, mp3’s, chip and pin, digital radio and HDTV, but it doesn’t mean that she welcomed it. She misses the old Commodore 64, rewinding VHS tapes, recording the Sunday chart show onto cassette (timing it just right so she misses the waffle but not the start of the song), CD players where you can only listen to one album at a time and TV’s with dials instead of controllers (she even remembers a black and white TV). She was the last one to get a mobile in her group of friends, vowing to only use it in emergencies (we all know how that one ends), and she still hasn’t bought a new one, she was the last one on facebook and Twitter and the last to discover the joys of eBay and Amazon. jurvetson

This is a cautionary tale about someone who got complacent, who stopped exploring because they felt they knew all they needed to know and who, in doing so, became naive, stubborn and buried their head in the shifting sands of technology. In this age where we’re all literally connected, supposedly sociable over online networks and where we can speak to and see anyone, anywhere and at any time using webcams, she felt the growing dissension, realising that talking to people over the internet, whether it be posting on peoples’ walls on facebook, Twittering to the ether or via online forums, isn’t any substitute for face-to-face contact. She misses not being able to contact someone and having to live with that uncertainty, she misses answering the phone without knowing who it is and she even misses using phone boxes. Mostly, she misses trust. The internet has made everyone paranoid about privacy, we can check up on people whenever we like as we all have mobile phones, facebook pages and email addresses and everyone is going overboard (pun intended) about the piracy of music, TV and films.

Despite this new path, this cynicism about technology has remained; her overactive imagination has painted a dark picture of a dystopian future where gadgets, the web and robots have taken over everything. The fact that she cannot remember how she survived without computers, the internet and mobile phones only makes it worse. Whatever anyone thinks, she is old enough to remember that time. Nevertheless, that has now been tempered by her following in the wake of that wise group of librarians. She may have at least heard of if not used most of the things she discovered while on her Cam23 journey, but she had never realised their potential before. She has experienced how having a page where she can see lots of websites at once can prevent procrastination. She is enjoying sending and reading the twittering in the ether. She has started to see the benefits of having access to a whole library of beautiful images at your fingertips (it appeals to her sense of beauty, love of humanity’s quirks and her hoarding instinct). The best thing about this path? The journey hasn’t finished yet and it never will.

Tom Rydquist

The Beautiful Occupation

AELTC

No, not librarianship, though I do find books beautiful, especially after looking at bookporn’s Flickr photo gallery. And yes I do know the Travis song I’ve used to title this blog is about the Iraq war, but it works and is surprisingly apt (all you can do is “stand there watching it happening”, there should’ve been an intervention, especially to save Isner who looked like he was about to drop, and someone should’ve called the United Nations about cruelty to tennis players). I’m now going to use and abuse this blog to talk about one of the great loves of my life, tennis. I have never been prouder to be a tennis fan after watching last night’s match between the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and the American John Isner. Unluckily I had to come to it late, but I watched it until the end, which was about 21:30, when Mahut unwisely but understandably brought it to a halt due to poor light and Isner against all comprehension wanted to carry on. By the end he couldn’t even hold his towel and was carrying it in his mouth, he picked up a banana and then though it’d be too much effort to eat it and he looked delirious with exhaustion standing statuesque yet still serving impeccably and somehow returning the ball as well. It is certain that the winner will go no further in the competition as they will have been playing for 3 days, over 10 hours and run the equivalent of a marathon which takes months to recover from. I’m rooting for Mahut by the way as, and I’m going to come across as smug by saying this, I pointed him out as one to watch in 2007 when he got beaten in the final at Queen’s by Andy Roddick; he’s been injured since then so he couldn’t capitalise on that promise. As for John Isner, he won the warm-up event to this and did well at Queen’s. By the way, Mahut had to qualify for Wimbledon and has had to play two marathon five-setters before this and it is still only a first round match.

H. Blair

If you ever talk to anyone who truly follows tennis, you’ll find that they can be just as passionate about the beautiful game as football fans, and what’s more, they’re great advocates for the sport. As a comment from my previous blog post said, thank you LucyLike23, “Now, after reading your post, I want to watch tennis - though it is not usually my cup of tea.” So I’m now going to try and convert everyone.

I can’t remember when I fell in love with tennis, but it was doubtless due to Tim Henman and definitely Wimbledon. It was probably that year he almost got to the final, but because of that damn rain delay... least Goran Ivanisevic won that year. I love tennis because the match and the winner’s lead can hang by a thread; one net cord, one wrong line judgement, the weather, one literal slip, one mental slip... anything can affect the match. A match can turn as quick as you can click your fingers, that’s why you never want to leave it. Whereas with, football say, you can go and get a drink and not miss anything; the roar of the crowd or the commentators will alert you if anything’s happening.

I’ve been writing this blog post in my head ever since I woke up before 6am this morning; unfortunately I haven’t had time to write anything down so I’ve forgotten most of the assuredly great stuff I came up with. For once, hyperbole, superlatives and clichés can’t sum up that record-breaking historic match last night. It’s like watching Usain Bolt or Michael Johnson or Torvill and Dean (and John Inverdale was right; Mahut and Isner will be forever linked), you can’t believe what you’re seeing but it is really happening. It’s unprecedented, unbelievable and entirely unexpected (the first time, and this is the first time and the only time; we’ll never see the likes of this again). You just can’t believe your eyes or ears and to paraphrase Johnny Depp Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, “Not impossible, but improbable.” Everyone I talk to about it just shakes their head in disbelief. I’m not going to even try and describe the indescribable. In what other sport can you see players carrying on into practically total darkness (like the 2008 final), matches spanning three days (without rain delays) and a match go on for 10 hours? And it’s still going on! It could only be tennis and only at Wimbledon. Wimbledon has treated us to some awe-inspiring events over the last few years, and I truly mean awe-inspiring as it has left me in admiration of the players. First there was the Nadal and Federer final in 2008. I was on holiday at the time and I started watching it from the beginning in the afternoon and it was still going, obviously, late into the evening. Me and my entire family were having a meal out in a restaurant and I kept racing over to look at the TV screen in the bar. After a while, the staff just let me take my food and eat it there and after my family had finished, they came and joined me. Then there was last year’s final, which I mentioned in my previous post, I can’t think about it without tears coming to my eyes. Roddick was two sets and a break up, usually an unassailable lead, and he still lost.

Getty

If you’re in any doubt how historic, important and significant the Mahut and Isner match is, it will almost definitely change the rules of tennis, at least at Wimbledon if not the entire sport. For me, I don’t think they should change it, just as you shouldn’t change the rules due to one singular event; this will never happen again, it’s an anomaly and a beautiful one at that. McEnroe is wrong, they should finish the match where they started it, on one of the most outside of outside courts, court 18, and not Centre Court in front of the Queen. I've invented a new term; there's break point, game point, set point, match point and championship point, now there's save point (for when you hold serve). In this match, every time Isner or Mahut held serve, it felt like they'd won. Every time they took a few points off the other's serve it was momentous. Every time they got a break point it felt like a championship point; Mahut saved three match points as throughout the last set he was serving to stay in the match. The statistics are incredible as they have literally broken all the records in tennis, not just Wimbledon, apart from the ones for the quickest, obviously. The one that gets me is the last set, already, is longer than the longest match ever and it is 3 normal matches in one. Even the scoreboard couldn't keep up and gave up the ghost at 47 all; humanity beats technology yet again. As Federer said, perfectly as he seems to do in everything, it was all "too much."

Oh and we won some football match too, which was also amazing, but for entirely different reasons. Why, with all our world-class players who are some of the most famous in the world, do we still scrape through by the skin of our teeth, runners up to a country who calls it soccer? The USA deserved to come top by the way; they should’ve won the match they played against us. Least the cheating French are out of the World Cup. I loved it when James Corden replaced France with Ireland in his TV show line-up. Mahut could teach his countrymen a thing or two about national pride, sportsmanship and determination. Both Isner and Mahut could teach football players a thing or two actually, about stamina, teamwork and being a sportsman. That's why I love tennis for the drama, the game and most of all for the characters.

AELTC

The war of attrition starts again at 15:30, will you be watching?