Monday Musings: Fist pump, fist pump, fist pump!

In the end, I don't think winning Wimbledon was the best news Andy Murray got on Sunday. Murray likes to fist pump and he sure lets a lot of them fly. He did that again during his straight sets win over Milos Raonic, to be sure.

But his most emotional, jacked up fist pump might just have come in the aftermath, as he lugged his trophy all around the clubhouse at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club. Meeting actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who had been a guest in the royal box during the final, Murray asked him what he was up to. When BeneBatch replied that he was shooting upcoming episodes of "Sherlock," Murray greeted the news with the heartiest of pumps. Guy's carrying the championship trophy from his sport's greatest tournament, moments after he wins it and he gets stoked that there are new episodes of "Sherlock" coming? Can't blame him, really. That is a damn good show.

Then again, maybe Murray fist pumps over everything. Make a good shot? Fist pump. Win Wimbledon? Fist pump. Score a great parking space right in front of the garden centre when he needs a dozen bales of peat moss? Fist pump. Get a bonus onion ring in hs order of fries? Fold an omelette without tearing it? Fist pump, FIST PUMP.

As for the women's champ, Serena Williams, what more can you say? If she hasn't reached the sandy beach of "Greatest Of All Time Island" then all that's left to do is jump out of the boat and wade through ankle deep water to get there. A seventh Wimbledon championship for her now and tied with Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam singles titles at 22 apiece. If I were Serena, I'd invite six friends over and use those championship platters as dishes at their place settings. Then I'd keep asking, all through dinner; "did I tell you guys where I got these cool plates?"

THE LITTLE THINGS...

There's a surefire way that I can think of for Andrew Wiggins to get back into the nation's good books. Everybody's next round at Timmy's is on him.

Guy eats 70 hot dogs in ten minutes and he's a hero. I eat one - just one - whole pie in an afternoon and there's "something wrong" with me?

Most missed out on what is probably the biggest sports story of the week. Apparently a guy in Sudbury, Ont., TKO'd a bear with a punch. "Most bears are right-handed," said bear boxer Rick Nelson, dispelling the widely held notion that they are. . .  *cough* . . . . southpaws. (Fist pump)

"Juno is going to go into the scariest part of the scariest place that we know about," announced NASA, last week. It became a Cubs fan?

Apparently the inscription on the Wimbledon Men's Championship trophy reads "The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World," so what's up with all the two-handed backhanders, people?

If only I could harness the power of the Michael Saunders all-star voting lobby. Then my petition to have birling named Canada's national sport would get some real traction.

BUT SERIOUSLY...

Canada's men's basketball team fails to qualify for the Rio Olympics and Wiggins gets to take the blame. Or, at least, the lion's share of the scorn.

It's curious when people take decisions like this so personally, an athlete declining to play for his country. Why that is I'm not so sure. Guys like Wiggins are turning down an opportunity to play basketball, is all, and it doesn't have to be - nor should it be - construed as a slap in the face to those who would paint a maple leaf on their own cheeks. That's fine, to each his own and yup, Canada would have fared better had Wiggins been in the line up, there is not much doubt about that.

It's not exactly treason that Wiggins chose to instead take the summer to do what he and his NBA bosses with the Minnesota Timberwolves decided was best for the 21-year-old rising star.

However, taking a pass on Canada's qualifier - and quite possibly an Olympic appearance had he played in that qualifier - runs counter to the business plan Wiggins claims is the reason for his absence.

“As my third NBA season approaches, I understand my increased role with the Timberwolves and dedication to the upcoming season must have my total focus,” he said in a statement released in June. Not sure exactly why good basketball competition in July and August would scuttle his focus on the upcoming pro season. It would, one assumes, actually serve to bolster the hopes for one of Wiggins' stated desires for he and the Timberwolves; to build a championship contending team. Whatever plans the T-Wolves and Wiggins have to build this contender, they just might be valid.

But...

What's also true is that a Wiggins appearance at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Philippines and a possible Olympics competition experience beyond that, against some of the most passionate basketball teams around, would have served nicely to buff up the young man's skills and would have offered plenty of opportunity to grow his game, psychologically, in the heat of those fiery competitions.

Plus, hanging out with Steve Nash is a good thing for a basketball player to do.

Wiggins didn't owe Canada an appearance at this tournament but the decision to stay away, from a personal development standpoint, is just as curious as the idea that if a guy opts not to play that he has insulted his country.