Two weeks ago, I happened to come across one of those notebooks in a forgotten area at home. I was not in a hurry to get anywhere, so I started flipping through the pages and casually looking at the results from 1982 tournaments.

At the bottom of the list was the Sydney tournament, and the winner was John Alexander, grass court specialist from Australia during the early '80s. I even remembered watching Alexander taking on Jimmy Connors in some Wimbledon's early rounds one of those years. Every name in my worn-out notebook brought back similar and scattered memories. The nostalgia was pleasant and peaceful.

Yet, my mind kept going back to John Alexander's victory in Sydney over his compatriot John Fitzgerald. This was a tournament in December, on grass. As I looked more carefully at my notes, two weeks later in Melbourne, again on grass, Pat Cash defeated Rod Frawley to win the title in what was to be the last tournament of that year's professional tournament schedule.

I thought to myself, "I wonder how many young tennis players in this era are aware that there used to be actually two grass court seasons in a year at one time?"

The answer was obvious to me: not many!

Indeed, grass courts were a major piece of the puzzle in the earlier years of the Open Era. In this day and age, that puzzle is much bigger, composed of many more pieces, and if not for Wimbledon, none of the pieces would have anything to do with "greener pastures." As a matter of fact, the grass court season presently consists of six tournaments on the ATP calendar (including Wimbledon) squeezed into a month long period.

This is a far cry from two decades ago when two of the Grand Slams were played on grass or the very early days of the Open era where even the U.S. Open was held on the grassy surfaces of Forest Hills. Believe it or not, this is a relatively positive description of the current state of grass court tennis on the professional tour.

One of the current six grass court tournaments is held the week immediately following Wimbledon in Newport, Rhode Island (the only one outside the European continent). Since in their minds, grass court season ends with Wimbledon, none of the top players put this tournament on their schedule. All this assuming, of course, that grass court season ever even started for some of them! Can you spell Alex Corretja and Gustavo Kuerten?

Four other grass court tournaments are tightly packed into a two-week period, forcing them to compete against each other for players. To add insult to injury, these two weeks happen to be already sandwiched between Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Basically, a player can look forward to playing no more than three grass court tournaments in a year. This is a far cry from the days of players like John Alexander, John Fitzgerald, and Rod Frawley during which they could count on both grass court seasons and a number of tournaments played on their favorite surface.

Is grass court tennis facing the danger of extinction? At first, it seems unrealistic that such occurrence would ever take place. After all, Wimbledon is the most prestigious tournament in the world and it's played on grass. Wimbledon played on any surface other grass would be the same as Waffle House eggs cooked in non-fattening oil solution.

However, a closer look at the issue may present a different, grimmer reality ...

First, there is the issue of the quality of tennis played on grass. Many spectators and tennis fans are subjected to rallies that last no more than a few shots, many times just one or two. With the technology of the racquets improving and providing more power, it is unlikely that we will see points in which a variety of skills are on display.

The 2001 Wimbledon finals between Goran Ivanisevic and Patrick Rafter perhaps provided the most excitement since the epic Borg/McEnroe duel with the famous tiebreaker back in 1980. However, can one argue that last year's final provided the many variety of shots and disputed points witnessed in that clash 21 years ago? It was just as exciting not because of the quality of points, but because of Goran receiving a wild card and reaching the finals for the fourth time to face, arguably, the most popular guy on the tour: Patrick Rafter.

In other words, the "story" factor was there. Oh, and let's not forget that the "sirs" and "madams" who had reserved tickets for the finals on Sunday could not simply use their tickets on Monday and stay glued to the seat while eating strawberries and cream accompanied by a casual clap of hands for the display of talent.

There is also the issue of cost. Keep in mind that Wimbledon uses a ton of grass seed accompanied by 750,000 gallons of water every year. After including the maintenance crew to the cost column, remember that all mentioned above will not even translate to the courts being playable all year round. In fact, most grass courts remain closed for several months at a time.

More and more clubs and juniors are also staying away from grass courts, realizing that it does not help a junior's game to be raised on grass. David Lloyd, an ex-Davis Cup captain for England was very vocal on this matter, raising concern that the rest of European juniors had an edge over British juniors since they get to learn and practice on clay, a surface that allows the best conditions for the youngsters' game to develop.

The current Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) Performance Director is Patrice Hagelauer, the famous French coach. Part of his plans includes taking a group of British juniors to France for extended periods of time to train them on clay courts.

It is no different at the top level. Whereas all top players come to showcase their talent at the three other Grand Slams, a number of players have opted not to even show up for the most prestigious tournament in the world simply because of its grass surface. Gustavo Kuerten preferred to go surfing with his buddies in Brazilian coast last year during Wimbledon and already made it clear that he does not have any intention of attending this year.

Alex Corretja has stayed away from Wimbledon along with Marcelo Rios who has even gone as far as saying that "grass is for cows." Thomas Muster, Andres Gomez, and Guillermo Vilas are few out of many big names in the past choosing to spend their time elsewhere.

Even a serve-and-volleyer like Yannick Noah and an all-surface player like Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon a few years ago. Agassi skipped it three years in a row early in his career and his first Grand Slam victory came at Wimbledon in 1993 following a last-second decision to attend.

Are you beginning to get a clearer picture the "grim reality" that I mentioned? Despite the harsh picture, there are solutions to prevent the disaster.

First, it must be ensured that grass surface is a bigger player on the pro circuit. Wimbledon and Roland Garros should be spread further apart. Having three weeks between the two Grand Slams would add one more week of grass court to the tour.

Second, add one more grass court tournament immediately following Wimbledon in the European Continent and move the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island to two weeks following Wimbledon. If money is available, you could even make that tournament a Masters Series tournament. It would provide a nice transition to the top players since it basically ends when the American hard court season is due to begin.

With these modifications, the grass court season would be extended to several weeks and even if your name is Gustavo or Alex, you could not ignore it, therefore be forced to prepare for it, participate in it. These changes will not come without criticism. Other tournaments will cry foul due to the scheduling change. Some people will even fight against these adjustments claiming, "Wimbledon and grass court tennis is above the need for these menial steps."

Ottoman Empire, Pan American Airlines, the Titanic - all once thought invincible and here to stay forever - are now entries in historical and educational books. Don't think the same can't happen to grass court tennis and Wimbledon.

These types of changes must happen and the growing pains of these changes must be dealt with consistency and determination. Otherwise, these so called "growing pains" will be miniscule compared to the pain that loyal tennis fans will feel once grass court becomes no more than an entry in tennis almanacs.

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