Historical sports figures

AFL Needs to Fess UP

2013-08-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

I watched a show on the NFL Network about the AFL league (1960-1969). It talked about chronological years about teams, coaches, and players. Likewise, innovations, rules, and players salaries. Of course, Joe Namath making that guarantee. Most of the player interviews tended to be toward the latter years when NFL films starting to cover them in 1968. However, they did talk about the New York Titans but more than the Houston Oilers who won those championships in the early days. Charlie Hennigan? Yet, they discussed the Sid Gillman and his 1963 Chargers, Buffalo Bills (Lou Saban was too damn weird) '64 and '65 championship, Hank Stram, "keep matriculating the ball, boys. LOL. Finally, they discussed the "RRRaiders" and Al Davis concerning the rules of play and how they get players.

There was the players revolt of the 1964 AFL All-Star game due to the racism of the host city, New Orleans. The players voted not to play and moved the game to Houston. Also, players getting higher salaries from both leagues by threatening to jump to the other league if they didn't get the money they wanted. Pete Gogolak, Alex Karras, John Brodie, and Fred Billetnikoff were examples. My personal like is getting players from smaller colleges particularly black colleges. Eventually, a merger came through with some agreements of using the stadium clock, names on jerseys from former NFL teams (AFL had theirs since inception), and playing in a 50,000 capacity seated stadium (Goodbye Wrigley Field and Fenway Park).

One of the things that they didn't talk about was discussion of each individuals' salaries, players' rights, and players' injuries when the merger occurred. I was suspicious because I was wondering why Joe Namath was able to play in all those games with the AFL Jets but was constantly injured during the NFL time. Through research, Joe was injured in his AFL days but didn't have to take a physical as it was required by the NFL for any player new or old. Further, the AFL didn't have to report who was injured on a game to game basis till the merger. Finally, other players didn't know how much each team was making or what Joe Namath was making.

What really blew my mind was the testimony of Ernie Barnes, a former player and well-renowned artist. My take here is how come I never heard of him? I watched NFL films since 1982, no mention. The "Remember the AFL" website, made a mention of him as an obit. Of course, he wasn't a great player but dude, this guy made that painting still was was used at the end credits of the show "Good Times" and he was the official artist for the Los Angeles Olympiad. My goodness something. Journeyman players who went on to being great in something has always been welcomed in media such as NFL films. Dick Post comes to mind. In reading his bio where he talks, he mentions about a player named Howard Glenn. Ah-Ha!

Howard Glenn was Barnes' teammate when they played for the then New York Titans (now Jets). Howard died in a game against Houston suffering a broken neck on October 9, 1960. But Barnes and a doctor it says it was due to heat exhaustion. However, the coaching staff insisted that it was a broken neck and that he broke it the game before. But he asks, how could he have practiced it the whole week leading up to the Oct. 9, game? I have heard the story of Monte Johnson of the Raiders broke his vertebra against the Colts in the 1977 game and playing the next week against the Broncos. But according to Don Maynard, Glenn complained of not feeling well during the game,slumped to the floor in the dressing room after the game and. the team trainer even said it was too much heat and football but he'll be fine."

Which brings me more questions of the AFL. NFL had some casualties but not like the AFL. You had Stone Johnson dying in a exhibition game, Mack Lee Hill dying in a operation table for a knee injury, and Frank Buncom dying before a game in his sleep at 29. Barnes complained of bad coaches, poor equipment, and while others complained of bad field conditions. What I looked at is how these players like a Sherrill Headrick playing with broken thumb that protruded from his skin, a broken vertebra, and shattered ribs. You hear other stories of Jim Otto, Emil Karras, Houston Antwine, and Walt Sweeney just to name a few from that time and their debilitating injuries that they carry post football that seem worse than the NFL guys.

Which leads to me to the next question, when you are guys going to start telling the truth and who is going to cover it?

Mr. McNally 19 Alive

2013-08-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

Final out in the 1966 World Series, Brooks Robinson (5), Andy Etchebarren (8), and Dave McNally (19).

I was thinking about this when I saw Chris Davis hit a homer for the Orioles. He wears No. 19 for them. I remember back in the early 80's nobody wore that number due to respect of Dave McNally's pitching career

Early years with the O's

which lasted about 13 years (1962-1974). What a great career it was. He won about 181 games for them in that span. Four twenty-game winning seasons as well 8 seasons of winning 13 or more games with his highest being 24 in 1970. A smooth, lanky left-hander who stood about 5'1l. Good hitter, the first and only pitcher to hit a Grand Slam in a World Series. Likewise, he brought down the reserve clause and established free agency for future players. He is probably most famous for clinching Game Four of the 1966 World Series (I hope somebody finds the live NBC videotape of that game).

That was the series in which the Orioles swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in four straight when the Dodgers were favored to sweep them with the great pitching staff of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, Phil Regan, and Don Sutton. Likewise, the speed of Maury Wills and Willie Davis with the timely hitting of Lou Johnson, Ron Fairly, Wes Parker and the 1965 NL Rookie of the Year, and team home run leader, Jim Lefebvre. Baltimore had a decent staff but Jim Palmer was the leader with 15 wins while McNally was 2nd with 13 follwed by Wally Bunker and Steve Barber with 10. Compare that to the Dodgers' staff with Koufax had 27 wins, Osteen 17, Regan with 14 & 21 saves, Drysdale 13, and Sutton with 12.

But the Orioles had triple crown winner, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Curt Blefary (bad fielder though), and Davey Johnson as well timely hitting and fielding by Paul Blair and speed by Luis Aparicio. Russ Snyder. Likewise, the Orioles had good relief pitching for Moe Drabowsky, Eddie Fisher, Eddie Watt, Dick Hall, and closer Stu Miller. Orioles manager, Hank Bauer, didn't hesitate to use them particularly in Game 1 of that series. With McNally leading 4-1 in the 3rd inning with the had the bases-loaded and 1 out, Bauer replaced him with Drabowsky. That was the only time in the series that Bauer went to the bullpen. Drabowsky finished game one (Orioles 5-2), with Palmer and Bunker pitching shutouts in Game 2 (6-0, beating Sandy Koufax) and Game 3 (1-0, Osteen).

Celebrating with Hank Bauer in the locker room afterwards.

Bauer brought McNally back to pitch Game 4. Another's pitchers duel with him and Don Drysdale. The only run of the game came when Frank Robinson hit a solo shot off Drysdale in the 4th, his 2nd off him and the series. From then on, McNally pitched flawless but had help from center-fielder, Paul Blair's leap over the chain-linked fence catch in the 8th inning on Jim Lefebvre's liner. Blair had just come in as a replacement to Curt Blefary before that catch to preserve a 1-0 lead. In the 9th, McNally stuck out Dick Stuart, but gives up a single to Al Ferrera (Nate Oliver pinch-runner) and a walk to Maury Wills. With left-handed batter, Willie Davis up to bat, McNally got him to line out to Frank Robinson. Before finally facing the dangerous Lou Johnson who lead his team in RBI's. Orioles pitching coach, Harry Brecheen, comes to the mound for instruction along with catcher, Andy Etchebarren. Then with two quick strikes on Johnson, McNally gets him to pop out to center fielder, Blair, for the final out. The Orioles win their first World Series and the last AL team to win it besides the New York Yankees since the 1948 Cleveland Indians during that stretch.

Later years with the O's.

With that said. McNally is not going to the Hall of Fame like other retired Orioles like Frank Robinson who was MVP of the '66 series or Brooks Robinson. (Boog Powell is not in the Hall and his number not retired). But I don't think, he should be forgotten either. After McNally retired in 1975, nobody wore 19 till Fred Lynn came to the Orioles in 1985 then Larry Sheets, and then Ben McDonald. I remember seeing Scott Erickson wearing it and I think Jeff Conine, Aubrey Huff. Recently, Koji Uehara and now Davis. Hey, Davis is having a great year but lets not forget of who brought that number alive?

The Wilt Chamberlain Technique

2012-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

With this year's Summer Olympics. I mostly like to see how the women are doing. Not so much in their abilities but their attitudes concerning feedback from their coaches, family, friends, and peers. What I see bothers me. Lack of goodwill towards other women from other countries. I call it the Hillary Rodham Clinton complex. They are so to themselves; competing for their countries to make they coaches, family, friends, peers or husband, happy. The mutual respect of women just isn't there like you see in men's competition, sometimes?

Many years ago, I read an autobiography of basketball legend, Wilt Chamberlain from 1992. In it, besides his sexual conquests, he mentioned sponsoring women's sports like amateur track, volleyball, basketball, and so on. I appreciated his respect for the opposite sex besides looks. According to the female participants, he was very respectful to them, never hit on them or pressured them. Likewise, he appeared in a cover of woman's sports magazine. His sponsorship included Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jeanette Bolden, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Yet, I was curious why his sponsorship affiliations with women sports didn't last long. Mind you this was 1992 and he died, seven years later.

Then comes a recent Wilt Chamberlain's bio by Robert Cherry. The book mentions about how Wilt dealt of being slighted or bullied by his peers in high school. He would get his sister to run with him everyday before school even though she didn't want to and wasn't interested. Eventually, she became a good runner with incredible endurance. Unbeknownst to her, he was preparing her to beat the bullies in a race in which Wilt would bet that they couldn't beat her. Wilt would goad them and her sister would naturally win. This wasn't just an isolated situation. He would do this with his girlfriend track star, Lynda Huey, where he would constantly train with her and then challenge NFL legend, Jim Brown to a race. Who won? In some ways, that is how society is and when it comes to women's sports, men using women as a tool to defeat intense masculinity pressures by other men.

Mind you, I think Wilt was sincere in his support of women's athletics but he always had to deal with masculinity pressure like his sex life. Many basketball peers still maintain that they never saw him with a woman. Many men have always questioned and tried to test Wilt's courage. Lynda mentioned that she never married because Wilt scared off any man that came close to marrying her. Likewise, he never invited her to her family events and treated her rudely in front of people (Robert Lypsyte article, Oct. 13, 2002, New York Times). In short, he remained Peter Pan. However, one thing about Wilt, he never cheated in competition. When he found out that a famous track coach was supplying his athletes with illegal drugs, Wilt immediately withdrew his support to the track team.

The Question Myth of Ruthie Campanella

2012-05-04T21:26:00.002-07:00

I came across her from the Sports Illustrated story discussing Roy Campanella in 1990 by Ron Firmite. It mostly discussed his career with the Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, and the accident that paralyzed him life and the afterwards. It briefly discussed his first wife, Ruthie and how the accident caused the separation. Roy accused of her adultery and then Firmite mentioned her death in 1963. Tommy Lasorda mentioned about her leaving due to his paralysis and about making you wonder why she died? This theme held true in the 1974 movie Its Good To Be Alive where the Ruth showed her alcohol problems and mentioned about him not being to perform due to his paralysis. When Roy died in 1993, same kind of deal but the next week his former teammate, Don Drysdale, died of a heart-attack. That is when things started to change for me, slowly.

When Don died, the whole Dodger was talking about him being a man's man and so on (who could forget about Hawk Harrelson crying). Now, Don was a great guy and very honest in his broadcast but he had drinking issues. I mean, two years before, he got busted with a D.U.I. and sent a lady to the hospital. In his book, Once a Bum, Always a Dodger, every other paragraph seemed to mention about alcohol consumption. Many people have said this death was attributed to his drinking including Mickey Mantle who died two years later. It gave me an impression that Roy was pushed aside for Don. At first, I thought it was a racial but the Edward Murrow show 'Person to Person" which featured Campanella showed me something else.

The background of this was that Roy hit a game winning homer to win Game 3 of the 1953 World Series. Now, he comes home to his family and does the interview. What really stuck was the unhappiness and uneasiness of the whole family including the children. With the exception of Roy Jr., nobody was smiling when Morrow was throwing questions to them. Ruthie looked miserable and sort of tired-passive as if the family got into an argument before the show. What blew me away was how Roy, Sr. behaved? He was smiles and all that but when it came to talking about his kids, he was just praising Roy, Jr. and how he was going to be the star of family-- in front of his other children. He didn't talk about them at all only introducing them to Morrow.

Now, mind you I have seen this with other parents like Richard Williams but this is Roy Campanella after hitting game winning homer in the World Series. Likewise, he acted like it was another ho-hum game (The Dodgers were trying to win their first World Series). The kids acted like his father struck out. I have seen the children of Jackie Robinson look unhappy but I never saw that weariness and unhappiness in his wife, Rachel when they were interviewed for pictures and magazines. But, Jackie showed favorite to his slowest child, Jackie Jr. Maybe reading too much into it but something just wasn't right in Dodger town.

Ruth with Roy and daughter after the accident.

This was in the mid-90's. No blogs then and no commercial publications were going to break myth about Roy and Ruthie Campanella. Only time could do it. But I did look at stories of the Negro-Leagues. There were mentions about Roy having a wife and two girls by the time he was 20 years old. That they were living in his parents home. They mentioned her name as Bernice Ray and why he didn't fight in World War II. Then he divorced her and married Ruth. People didn't divorce back then because it was expensive and Roy was Italian and black living in his parents home! Now, separate, yes. No mention about Bernice. For that matter with Roy's parents. They just seem to disappear when it comes to written when he joined the Negro Leagues. When did they die and so on? Did they care for him when he got paralyzed, too? But this one is about Ruth not Babe but Ruthie.

First I like to know who she was and what she was before she met Roy? I heard she had a son before Roy named David that Roy adopted. He was a do-wop singer before drugs and alcohol killed him at age 41. A newspaper clips mentions him in 1959 about being getting arrested for juvenile gang fight while his father was recovering from his paralysis. You know, I don't remember him on that Edward Morrow interview? With Roy, I now hear the stories about his womanizing and that he was at a mistress's house before the accident. So, Ron Firmite can you stop the "B.S.ing" and your obsession of Reggie Jackson selfishness. Second, I like to hear from Roy, Jr. and how he felt about his mom and what really went on. That goes for Tony and John as well as the daughter's view which we never heard a thing about. Finally, I like to hear about how things really went down with Ruth and was it a Tiger Woods thing?

Ruthie Campanella has been vilified wrongly for all these years to cover Roy's indiscretions. She is no angel but I don't think Roy was either and the truth is slowly coming out. Likewise, I think he followed the Kubler-Ross theory about his paralysis instead of the optimism one that his former teammates talk about. The people in Dodger land history, Campanella family, and the Robinson family need to step up and tell the truth. This is totally wrong. The writers and the truth seekers from that time need to be punished severely for still covering up the truth. Because, Ruthie Campanella is still being punished for no good reason by print.

Brittney Griner, M.D. (Most Dominant)

2012-04-07T21:17:00.051-07:00

I hear that Brittney Griner reads comments of what people say about her in the negative. Well, here something in the positive. You have and will make continuous impact on basketball. There. Here is why: Yes, she can dunk, run the floor, and post up like men do. But she takes more abuse than men do from her women compatriots with the trash talking, physical harassment (Sorry, Jordan Hardcastle, you flung her), and ignorance for her achievement by media, fans, and players. ESPN and Fox are trying but the websites, the papers, and magazine give her no love. Yes, she is protected but still you still did a story on Steve Carlton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I compare her game to Kareem in his UCLA days as Lew Alcindor in this sense. Shaq and Wilt have said that they should be judged on impact instead of their abilities. One being, did they change the rules due to their dominance. Rule changes? There will be one like the 10 sec. time-line for women. But I don't think the dunk will be outlawed? With her and her team going 40-0. Something has got to give or maybe they will accept her dominance as well as her team? "Sports Century" did a feature on Wilt Chamberlain. It discussed why his team lost concerning that North Carolina played the same way of defense but a 2-3 zone and his teammate, guard, Maurice King, couldn't hit that mid-range shot. The big girl showed her small girls how!

She has a leadership that you don't see in dominant centers then or now. Its quiet but very effective. For instance in that Stanford game, her teammates had open shots due to her opponents all surrounding her in a umbrella man/zone defense. Her teammates started pressing by missing easy open shots from mid-range distance. At open point, they missed something like four in a row. Well, Brittney goes outside and the Stanford defense lets her shoot. She hits one, swish in the first half to keep Baylor tied with Stanford. In the second half, she hit another to extend the lead to eight. She hit only three shots from the floor: two outside, a layup, and free throws for thirteen total points. But her teammates got the message real quick because they started hitting their outside shots.

Credit should go to her coach, Kim Mulkey, for developing her game and so on by getting advice from NBA coaches who coached big men. But the one thing, that coaches have never done for the big guys is to stand up for her when opponents gotten rough with some exception. You hear Wilt, Kareem, Bob Lanier, and other big men complain about coaches' lack of ability of not standing up to the roughness. Hence, they lose respect. I'm sure they will say that Kim Mulkey is tougher than the coaches that they played for and wished they played for her.

But ultimately when it comes to taking responsibility for her team, Brittney Griner is a class by herself from the center position. I have watched women's basketball since 1987 (The 1984 Olympics but U.S. was too dominant and boring due to Russia boycott) due to the restlessness of wanting to see the men's finals the next day. I started to really watch it in 1990 with Stanford winning it, Tennessee responding the next year, and Stanford winning it in 1993. Afterwards, Charlotte Smith, Rebecca Lobo, and Shamique Holdsclaw on their respective teams. But the game really didn't evolve when the WNBA started to get players from college that made immediate impact which took awhile. Yeah, you can say Candace Parker, Lindsay Whalen, and Angel McCoughtry. But all they get asked if they are married to ugly guys. With Brittney, its about her play and how she impacts her team. Period. None of that nonsense.

The talk shows and other discussion outlets are nothing but hypocritical hustlers. They talk about guys shouldn't leave college and how college basketball is missing something with high-schoolers leaving for the pros. They don't have anybody or teams to dislike or like to have rivalry like Duke with Christian Laettner. The whiny stuff. But when it comes to women who stay all four years, good citizens, and students, its "they don't dunk" bull. With Brittney, its wondering about her sex, literally. Well, I don't care because she has impacted the game with such ferocity that I don't bother watching the men. Nothing personal but Brittney's impact is greater than then the guys which you have to go back to Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq. One more of Brittney in college? Wow. New Orleans, here I come even if the talk won't.

Why Have You Gone, Carl Morton?

2011-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Originally signed by the Braves

Tom House, the pitching guru, made an admission that he took steroids in the 70's while playing for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners. What struck me from the 2005 article is he said that he and other "pitchers" were doing it to keep up with the competition. Not only roids but HGH. This was in the 70's! When Frank Thomas accused pitchers of taking roids about 2002, everyone thought it was sour grapes or just impossible because pitchers are throwing the ball while hitters are hitting. House's teammates joked that they weren't beaten but "out-milligrammed." Okay, it could be one guy and he could be not telling the truth. But I have always had this Arsenio Hall thing of "hmm" of certain players when I started reading this book called Baseball 1977 in 1982 which featured players from 1976 with bios of All-stars, rookies, and managers then basic stats of top players to mediocre ones in hitting and pitching.

Cincinnati Reds pitchers from the 1976 championship team just disappeared from sight. Gary Nolan, Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney, Jack Billingham, Pat Zachry and Don Gullett, gone. Yeah, some went to other teams but only one pitched after 1981. The 1979 Reds had two pitchers remaining from the '76 team, Fred Norman and Pedro Bourbon. Fred was the oldest player during that championship. While his teammates became mediocore (Billingham the exception), Norman maintained his consistency of 10 or more wins from 1973 to 1979. He finished his career with Montreal in 1980 at 38, going 4-4. Also in 1976, Mike Cuellar, who pitched so well with the Orioles in years past, went 4-13, traded to the Angels in 1977, and released by the Angels in '77 after going 0-1 with an era of 18.90. Earl Weaver said he gave him more chances than his wife when he went 4-13. John Montefusco, Ron Bryant, Randy Jones (Brent Strom), Bill Campbell (he pitched some more years but wasn't the same), Wayne Garland, Ken Holtzman, and Mark Fidrych. Done or mediocore after '76. But the one guy that really gets me is Carl Morton. MLB Network needs to do a show like Bill Kurtis' Cold Case, A&E stuff, and VH1 behind the music. When they do, his should be the first feature.

Rookie year.

I came across him when I bought this book called NL Rookies of the Year. What struck me was that I heard about Ted Sizemore '69, Bake McBride '74, Earl Williams '71, John Matlack '72, and so on before I even read the book. Yet, no mention of him. That was true of co-winner with Zachry, Butch Metzger '76. Carl won it in 1970. He was 26 years old and was in the Braves organization until the expansion draft of 1968 where the Montreal Expos picked him. After that great season of '70 where he won 18 and lost 10, he had two subpar years and was traded to the Braves in 1973. With the Braves, he won 15, 16, and 17 games for the next three seasons. After a 4-9 record in '76, he was done despite signing a 100,000 contract from Ted Turner. I figured he started old and age caught up him. I found out later that he got traded to the Rangers in 1977 and was cut in spring training. Wow! I mean, you would think somebody would give him a chance to redeem themselves but apparently he couldn't because he tried to play in the Rangers' minor league system and was cut by the Pirates in spring training of 1978 .

What really struck me was his early death at the age of 39 in 1983. I mean baseball players don't die that young unless of some tragedy like drug overdose, accidents, or violence. He died while jogging near his parents house. Now, football players, yes, but baseball? Pitchers? Now, Tom House article opens up a can of worms because he mentions that not only he took steroids that horses wouldn't take but amphetamines and anything he can pop. In his confession, he doesn't mention cocaine or marijuana. However, he does mention that steroids was the additional cause of his knee surgeries (5 on the right and 2 on the left) because he gained so much weight from it. Studies show that it causes strain on your heart.

House says he came clean when he went back to school during the off-season and read the dangers about drugs. Today, he is a spokesperson about playing clean. But I have to wonder, how much is he telling the truth about who used and who didn't? But when he says 6 or 7 on each baseball staff either used steroids and HGH, it doesn't sound like sour grapes. I wonder how many hitters and position players were doing them? I guess it was impossible for hitters because they have to hit the ball while pitchers can throw the ball back in '76? I'm hoping Carl was clean on that staff and that Mr. House wasn't including him. Likewise, that heart attack was just that. But like then, I'm scratching my head a bit.

I Talked to Pauline Betz

2011-07-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

Her famous cover from 1946

With this 2011 Wimbledon commemorating Billie Jean King's 50 year anniversary of her first grandslam title in doubles, I thought they should have honored Pauline Betz who died in late May of that year. Maybe, they will at they will at this year's U.S. Open.

When I got into tennis history research, I learned about Pauline from a Billie Jean King book when she wrote about great female tennis players from the past. Thanks to internet you get a lot of info but I didn't really trust those things. She was a war-time player who made the front page of Time Magazine. Her best year was 1946 when she was won Wimbledon, U.S. Amateur (Australia was too far so didn't play), and lost in the finals at the French to Margaret DuPont. Due to World War II, she could only play tournaments in the United States at the time. Won a lot of U.S. Amateur Titles. She was banned from amateur tournaments when she hinted that she might turn professional on a letter. As a pro, she was pretty much undefeated but with less competition. However, she did beat Althea Gibson when she was 5 months pregnant at the age of 40 in a exhibition and lost to her in 2 hour match a few months before.

All these things made me do one of the craziest things but now looking back probably my favorite. I "talked called" her at some home she was staying for elders in Maryland. I had googled some article about a private school and it featured an article about her coaching there for many years. The article mentioned about where she was staying. I decided to make a phone call and boy was I nervous. The first time, it didn't get through but it got there the second time. She ended up talking to me.

I can't really remember what I said but I had so many questions. I only remember a few like was Pancho Gonzales the best tennis player, you saw? She mentioned about Jack Kramer and then I mentioned about Don Budge (she copied his backhand). Likewise, I mentioned about her coaching Darlene Hard and she modestly said that she really didn't do anything. Finally, I asked her about her daughter going with the last name of Addonizio from the shortened Addie (her husband was Washington Sports writer, Bob Addie).

I felt envious and threatened by her accomplishments. Word is that she was actually the first woman to beat Bobby Riggs when he was in his prime in private. Likewise, Jack Kramer both in a practice session. She had a great backhand but a weak serve. Won a tennis scholarship to play on a men's team at Rollins. Her coach Eleanor "Teach" Tennant said that she had the heart of a "stevedore." She won many titles except a grand-slam titles in doubles (she like the baseline, bad overhead). Off the court, a great academic, piano player, tournament bridge master, and took courses to take apart a car engine. Renaissance woman.

All these factors contributed to her being a great champion and help her hang socially with the guys as they called her "Bobbie." Gossip columnists followed her as she dated Jack Dempsey, Spencer Tracy, and friends with Katherine Hepburn and heiress, Barbara Hutton. However, she had bitter rivalry with her opponents of Margaret Osborne (later DuPont) and Louise Brough who received favors with cash and lavish gifts from William DuPont Jr. He sponsored women's amateur tennis tour duing that time. Pauline never wanted to date him because he was a jock wannabe who was unathletic. As a result, Pauline had to sleep on the floor while Louise and Margaret got nice rooms in their tours.

Eventually, Pauline was banned from amateur tennis which ran the majors of Australian, French, Wimbledon, and U.S. until 1968 when professionals were allowed in those tournaments (Australia in 1969). She simply wrote a letter to a friend that she was thinking about it. She played on a tour with Jack Kramer a former amateur and a pro player running the events with Bobby Riggs. They played everywhere in unusual arenas like basketball courts and dining places. It was deemed a failure because Pauline was too good and no opponent could match her for many years. Jack Kramer remarked that "a women's sports can never survive, its not competitive enough."

Being honored with her family and Billie Jean King

At the same time, she married Bob Addie and had 5 children (2 adopted). She said that she need a man who either could match her athletically or someone who didn't play sports. She did make comeback in the late 60's in doubles and local pros who played her when she was in her late 50's says that she could have given Chris Evert a run for her money. She stuck to being an instructor and a touring demonstrator. Home life proved to be difficult as described by her daughter, Kim, a poet in the San Francisco area. Her husband died in 1982 but she lived on. Parkinson's disease eventually claimed for her many years and her life at the age of 91.

I don't know how she will be remembered. I remember ending the conversation to her by saying that she reminded me of a biblical story of Ruth and asked her if she had gypsy ancestry due to her pointy nose from that Time Magazine cover. Whatever, dude. Regardless, I hope Billie Jean or whoever will get her organizers to bring Pauline's history to the forefront as well.

"Old School Team Ball?"

2011-06-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

I like Lebron James. Everybody wonders what would happen if Len Bias was alive? Well, you are looking at him. 6'8 and weighs 270 with ability off the charts. Everyone wants to destroy him because of the expectation of a championship and his bailing out on Cleveland. Hell, if you had a mother like his and you found her with, well ..... I felt cheated when Len died and everybody in public put the blame on Len. Now, this same public is doing the same thing to LeBron who has played to his potential and his money.

I don't care if he chokes in championships for the rest of his career. He doesn't cheat himself or the game. Skip Bayless needs to shut-up and me, the fan. Yes, I screamed for him taking outside shots and missing them early in the shot-clock. But I cheered when he made them against the Bulls. Give Rick Carlisle credit for the Mavs toughness; something Joe Dumars doubted when Carlisle coached the Pistons and lost in the conference finals to the New Jersey Nets in 2003. Now, with Rick, my issue is him talking about old-school team basketball bull. If you do look back, the game has always had stars that failed to win. Including him.

The 1969 Lakers with Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain. Jerry West got hurt and tried to play game 6 when he should have rested. Elgin didn't show up (he went to 7 Finals but wasn't the same after his knee injury in 1965), and Wilt clashed with Butch Van Breda Kolff and injured his knee in the last 7 minutes of Game 7. The 1975 Washington Bullets with Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, and Kevin Porter. They were supposed to sweep the Golden State Warriors but they got swept. The Bullets got outplayed and outcoached. Rick Barry and his 12 bench buddies wore out the starting 5 of the Bullets. Phil Smith, Clifford Ray, Butch Beard, Jeff Mullins, Derek Dickey, Bill Bridges, and Jamal Wilkes (Keith then). Finally, you had the 1977 Philadelphia 76ers. Dr. J, World B. Free, George McGinnis, and Doug Collins. They lost to "team" Portland with Bill Walton's feet holding up long enough. You can blame the Sixers coaching of Gene Shue, lack of ball movement on offense, and Darryl Dawkins accidentally punching out Doug Collins during a fight in Game 2. After leading the series 2-0, Doug stunk especially in the clutch, World B. was hurt and George McGinnis disappeared. But Dr. J. scored 40 in a losing cause in Game 6 and made tough baskets as well as steals to bring cut the lead the two after Portland built a big lead. They had a chance to tie but George missed an open shot.

I don't know what Carlisle is talking about. You look at all those team that beat the stars, they didn't win the next year. Russell retired and Havlicek didn't like being the man, Barry didn't show up for Game in 7 in '76, and Bill Walton hurt his foot in the 78 playoffs, gone for good. But look at the Lakers, they won in 72 (minus Baylor) and went to another final in 73. The Bullets won in 1978 minus Porter, different coach, Dick Motta and a free agent in Bobby Dandridge. Like the Lakers, they went to another finals in 1979. Finally, the Sixers, let go of McGinnis, Shue, Dawkins and Free. Doug Collins retired due to injuries. But they went to Finals in 1980, 1982, and winning in 1983. My question is what did those so-called "old fashion teams" do. Boston had to get Dave Cowens and Larry Bird to win championships and had to wait 18 years before winning one with the stars of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce. Portland hasn't won past the first round and the Golden State Warriors are just happy to get to the playoffs.

In short, stars may not get you championship but you need them to contend for one, consistently. Nowitzki is one but putting pressure on one player maybe a bit too much to go to another final much less winning it. Give LeBron a chance. He will make the adjustments or will tell management to do so just like Elvin Hayes, Dr. J, and Wilt Chamberlain did. Joe Dumars did that by getting Rasheed Wallace in 2004 for coach Larry Brown who got rid of Rick Carlisle, the year before. "Star Carlisle?"

Guys who should be in the Hall

2011-05-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dandridge with Milwaukee

For some reason, this guy is not in the Hall. I think its a shame. He averaged 18.5 pts per a game been on two championships, played great defense, and could score at will. He had better stats than Bill Bradley who had help too. Rick Barry criticized him for not being a good passer but he wasn't soft like Rick under the boards and he was shorter and skinnier than Rick. Great swing man who played great defense on George Gervin, Dr.J, and Dennis Johnson on route for his Washington Bullets team winning it in 1978 (no help defense then). He had better stats than Bill Bradley and went to more championship finals than him. Bradley was a swing man too a decent one but Bobby was better scorer, rebounder, and defender.

He has been tagged like Chris Bosh with the Miami of being two and a half men. In Milwaukee, it was Kareem and
Oscar with Bobby and in Washington, it was Elvin and Wes. But if you look at the games closely, he always got the ball in the closing minutes of a game. Just look at the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals vs. San Antonio, Game 7. Who hit the game winning basket? 6'7 Bradley got his shot blocked by the 6'4 Wes in the 1971 Eastern Conference Finals. Bobby D. Got to put him in.

I say Ray Guy has the biggest injustice of all time when it comes to the Hall. This guy has won three Superbowl's, specialized punting as we know today (no more offense line guys kicking), and revolutionized punting with his ability to pooch and boom kicks. People remember Jack Squirek intercepting that Joe Theismann's pass near Washington's own goal at the end of halftime. But they don't remember Ray Guy's pooched the punt for 27 yards to pin them at that goaline. If he decided to boom kick and the ball hit the end zone, maybe Washington would have decided to run out the clock or be in better position to score. Oh, what about that snap that almost went over his head and caught it with one hand.

This is besides his All-Pro years, his athletic talents (could throw 70 yards, throw a 100 mph baseball , and played defensive back in college), and his own invention of hang time punts, he changed the game. He made punting an art and a science. Just take a look at Youtube with his instrutions on punting.

The Final injustice is Maury Wills. This man revolutionized the game with his base stealing and defense in the 60's. He proved that you didn't have to hit home runs to be a star. Ty Cobb did this as well as others in the early dead ball era. But Ty never won a World Series while Wills won three of them. Likewise, Wills played the infield and still spiked guys on the bases while Cobb played the outfield. As Sandy Koufax said, "Before Maury, it was a bunch of slow white guys playing."

As a minor-leaguer with Seattle Rainers

Would we see a Lou Brock, Rickey Henderson, Omar Moreno, Davey Lopes, Bake McBride, Tommy Harper, Mickey Rivers, or Vince Coleman? Luis Aparicio came before him and stole bases but Aparicio didn't start a trend because Maury proved that stealing bases can win pennants over power on a consistent basis. The Dodger teams that he played on beat the slugging Giants of Mays, McCovey, and Cepeda to win pennants in 63, 65, and 66. He came into the league very late but has better batting average than the Hall guys of Mazeroski and Aparicio as well as Ozzie Smith and Phil Rizutto. Better fielder than Pee Wee Reese. With the exception of Maz, those guys only won one World Series. In short, Maury Wills is a champion like Bobby Dandridge and Ray Guy.

Roberto Hustled

2011-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

I just got the DVD of the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees. There are two DVD's one with Game 7 in which Mazeroski hit that game ending homer and the other showing highlights of that game and the series. Likewise, you had players of both teams discussing what went on during the series as well as the season. You had about 5 players discussing from the Yankees and about 3 or 4 from the Pirates. The Yankees from the losing side had interesting points of view with so many anecdotes. While, the Pirates was blase about their win.

You had one player talk about how Casey Stengel was actually fired before the series started and realizing that, he kind of managed in a loose manner. He discussed about putting a starting pitcher to face Mazeroski in Ralph Terry instead of Ryne Duren or Luis Arroyo who was warming up in the 9th. It wasn't just that game but others in which they lost. Like why Whitey Ford started game 3 instead of 1? The key discussion from both teams was Yankees pitcher, Jim Coates, not hustling to first base off Roberto Clemente's grounder in Game 7. Both teams are unanimous that was the key play and the blame goes to Jim Coates. However, I beg to differ on who is to be blamed.

For one, the infield at Forbes Field was terrible, look what happened to Tony Kubek in Game 7. You just didn't know where the ball was going even if its hit right to you. It hit a pebble! The Pirates Dick Groat had a hard time fielding shots that were hit to him. Balls appeared to have a nice bounce only to end up gaining speed and movement as it got closer to him. Matter of fact, it happened twice which were counted as hits. Roger Maris considered one of the best even made an error. First baseman, Dick Stuart didn't play that game for the Pirates due to his fielding issues but Moose Skowron did. Jim Bouton said he was a bad fielder in his book Ball Four in which Moose responded that he didn't need to do that because he knew. But Moose can hit but so can Dick.

I first came across Jim Coates from a Danny Peary book of Cult Baseball Players in which he interviewed Vic Power and talked about how he use to try to intimidate him as well as Minnie Minoso. Coates had a reputation of throwing at hitters and he seemed to pick on black hitters. Likewise, there was an interview with Ryne Duren who mentioned about Casey Stengel, years later, saying he made a mistake of putting Coates in there instead of Duren. Other Yankees teammates like Bob Turley said that Casey should have been fired a year before and "was losing it" due to old age. Bouton called Coates "Lurch" for his height and stiffness with bad fielding hands.

But if you look at the play, the hit by Clemente was a high bouncer and Clemente was moving real fast. Both Skowron and Coates kind of froze of who was going to get that ball because it was hit between the pitcher's mound and the first-baseman. Moose didn't charge fast enough for Coates to get behind him and Coates didn't go after the ball after contact was made and took a poor angle towards first like he was going to get the ball. They almost ran into each other. Bottom line was both did not communicate of who was going to make the play. That was due to the speed and hustle of Roberto Clemente.

Blame: sluggers and hard-throwers who can't field? That goes to Stengel for not putting fielder when you have a big lead as well a pitcher but how did he know that Clemente was going to be up. Had the ball not hit Kubek, it would have been a double play and Clemente would probably have hit in the 9th inning. Yet, he did bring in Coates after Bobby Shantz gave up an RBI to Dick Groat but didn't switch off Skowron. Look closer. Up to that point, Clemente didn't have a good game and was 0-3. He popped up, grounded into a double play, and grounded back to the pitcher.

Up to that point, Clemente was thought to be surly and if things didn't go his way, he would pout and wouldn't hustle on plays. Teammates like Mazeroski mentioned this. He didn't go back on the homer that Yogi Berra hit over the screen but stayed still nonchalantly. During his first five years there, he was injured and not playing up to his potential of 1956 in which he hit over .300. 1960, he really blossomed into the hitter and player that everyone saw in him but there was still doubts about his toughness and tenacity. Scouting reports believed that Clemente was afraid and anxious of inside pitches, was a bad-ball hitter who swung at everything without discipline, and didn't trust no one.

Therefore, going on that scouting report and Coates reputation of throwing inside. It looks like its in favor of the Yankees. Coates had the count in his favor of 1-2 with 2 outs. He fouled off two pitches that was way above his head and let one go because it hit the dirt. Coates didn't throw one strike to him during the sequence. Finally, Clemente reaches out a pitch that was way outside that seemed impossible to reach much less make contact but he did and the rest is history. Credit: Clemente. Blame: American society for not understanding the cultural issues of Clemente and underestimating his heart which affected the Pirates and the Yankees.

Kerry Melville and Ted Williams history

2011-01-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

I just looking up debates of graphite rackets to wood as well as reading this book by Jackie MacMullan When the Game Was Ours about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird from the 80's. They both have the same feel and attitude in some ways. The Archie Bunker theme song rings in my head except that it is Lionel as Magic Johnson. Now, Jackie is not a racist or a bigot but she covers up for Larry. However, she uses Magic as foil compared to athletes with issues and shortcomings concerning the American worth ethic who happens to be black. Yes, the book is about Bird and Magic and you don't want to antagonize them. Now, Jackie is a great writer but like many idealistic writers, they aren't people smart like Mary Garber. Bird and Magic got her by the .....

She does mention about Larry's idol being Kareem. However, Jackie point out about Kareem's mood swings, not wanting to signing autographs, or talk to the media. No mention from Larry. She will talk about the drugs and how Larry avoided. Larry didn't know about Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. Bring up a quote from Paul Westphal about 65 percent of the NBA used coke during his player career and the players from the 1980 All-Star team who used it. Yet, no mention about Bird's teammate, Pete Maravich and the rumors. He seemed to know Pete. Didn't he learn to pass like him. Finally, the 1985 Chelsea bar fight before the Conference finals? Jackie says something about Larry hurting his hand it in a softball game before his rookie season. Larry talks about Cedric Maxwell being out of shape when signing the big contract costing the Celtics, the 1985 NBA title. No mention of Nick Harris.

She will talk about Magic being a role model but she will mention his shortcoming concerning being a punk to Michael Cooper when he kept fouling him to get ready for the Celtics, Jud Heathcote berating him, the press talking about his lack of an outside shot, Terry Harlow beating him in one-on-one in high school, and being punked as "Tragic" Johnson in the 1984 Finals. His sex life but she justifies it as being young and stupid. But he gets redeemed with Elizabeth Glaser of all folks. Likewise, he signed a little kid's autograph when Kareem rejected that kid's offer in front of his father. Now, that kid is a big time attorney and his father is a CEO that Magic was soliciting for his company. Sign those autographs.

However with Larry, he is perfect with no redeeming flaws but accepted ones like Ted Williams's stubbornness until his Mexican ancestry was revealed. Now, .400 is just .400. Ted didn't play defense, wasn't a great family man, or a champion even though he flew fighter jets in WW II and Korea. I wonder if that is going to happen to Larry Bird? Melungeon ancestry or Native American ancestry? Will we find out the truth about Corrie Bird, that he was the worst one-on-one defender, or the woman who was suing Bird and the patrons from Chelsea's? Was it "professional mutiny" from other Celtics except for Larry and Quinn Buckner that got Bill Fitch fired?

Kerry Melville Reid (right). Like Graf?

Kevin McHale is Croatian. Quinn Buckner was "supposedly" with Bird at Chelsea's and got cut the next year. As for Cedric Maxwell, he did play for Fitch in Houston for two years. Good writing by Jackie but she got suckered big time. It happens to me all the time and to a lot of idealistic fans. Now, could Kerry Melville won all those slams, if she had a graphite racket instead of wooden one? She did like to run-around her forehand like Steffi Graf did?

College Players Get Paid

2010-12-25T17:53:00.001-08:00

I really should put this on the rants and opinion page but I want to put here for this reason. Historical perspective. Paying players has been nothing new. It has been done under the table since college sports has existed. SMU from the 80's, Kentucky basketball with Eric Manuel, UCLA and Cal with Ronnie Knox. Booster and athletic directors says its necessary to attract top level talent to their universities. University Presidents don't want to admit.

All I have to say is this if Notre Dame is struggling then cheating is allowed until they start winning. NBC doesn't want to see a losing product, year after year. Since when can a college team sign a contract with a television company for broadcasting rights? Yet, these players on the field don't get nothing for it? Amateurism is for the eunuchs because if you had a girlfriend, she leave you in a hurry if you played for free but with consequences. Bear Bryant did look out for his stars and gave his Bear honey's a job network.

Joe Pa looked out for his players. They do it within the rules but he has built a resource to rely on without monetary means that newbees have to develop for at least 10 years. Jackie Sherrill who played under the Bear, well? Joe Pa, took over for Rip Engle in 1966. He was assistant to him for 16 years and his chief recruiter. I'm curious to know how he got Lenny Moore and Rosey Grier in 1952 to come to Happy Valley when they weren't Nitany Nation or had a winning program. Lot of racist schools like Pitt but Big 10 was king like Michigan State and Duffy Daugherty for black players. Penn State was independent. Hmm?

Once Penn State and Joe got famous, players came to him as well as the college professors and presidents for "advice." Not to down Joe but you look at all coaches who started programs like Bobby Bowden, Knute Rockne, Don James, and Lou Holtz. They paid up. That was true with programs that seen better days. It ain't cheating, if you don't get caught. But I'm like so what. I like paid football, the players play harder and are tougher because they are getting paid. Unless you are an academy that goes beyond winning, schools with other agenda programs just don't fit the amateur mold.

I can go on about Dana Bible, Howard Jones, Pop Warner (he sold players to baseball teams like Jim Thorpe), Wallace Wade, and others. But I will say that old Husky running back says in the 1926 Rose Bowl, he was promised money. Whether true or not, players deserve to be paid because they have always been paid. To bitter former interns like Tony Kornheiser, shut up. Even Hannah Storm got paid in college.

Ernie Johnson, Sr. the Kung Fu Master

2010-10-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Dont' want it to be a mother's day article but I always wondered why son's of famous athletes' mother gets the blame not the credit for their son's success. In this case, its Ernie Johnson Jr. Every article about Jr. relates to his father and how Sr. will talk about how tough he was on him and how he made go through "the hardway", blah, bla, blah. Yet, read an article about Ernie Johnson's Sr., he always gives credit to his wife for taking care of the kids while he was on the road, broadcasting for 50 years or more.

I have only seen Dusty Baker give credit to Barry Bonds' mother, Pat through her genetics (she ran track in high school) and her competitive spirit that was passed on to Barry. Senior can take credit for a lot of things but dealing with ego's of former athletes is not one of them. Charles Barkley. Charles would have crushed Sr. so bad, it wouldn't be funny. Yes, Ernie, Sr. was in the Marines, "faught" in World War II and pitched for the Milwaukee Braves. However, Charles would have said, but I did you wife. Sr. would have gone home crying, thinking about cutting himself or joining the Klan. Charles would be like "what did I do?" On the other hand, Jr. would have matched Charles ego with diplomacy and said "so did I." That he learned from his momma.

The studio host is like a QB in football or the point in basketball. They have to master all vocal deliveries and know when to deliver the lines. He has to master the script of himself, his guest, and his partners. The host has to take charge in these terms; who to pass to, who to share, and vie other host an equal chance to perform et shine. Finally, the host has to be the toughest guy in the studio. Kenny the Jet and Charles. John Smoltz and Ron Darling. Former athletes with egos who played the game. You can't be soft and passive or they will run you over (Chris Speilman) or come hard with an attitude like of Marty Brennaman (You can talk that regional bull but you can't handle ego's of former athletes who are like you).

The news folks from Fox, CBS, and ABC couldn't do this in a group(Barbara Walters had trouble with Starr Jones?). Likewise, famous broadcasters of Vin Scully, Brennaman, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas, and yours truly, Ernie Johnson, Sr. could do it if they had guys who shucked up to them or great friends. You always saw either the broadcaster kiss up to the color-man or other way around. These broadcasters always played the straight man with no ego front which annoyed the heck out of me. Cause deep down, they had big egos but couldn't take the intensity of being "commander of chief." That is why you had Harry Caray with Skip and Skip with Chip. Marty with Thom.

Now, when people talk about family connections and so on in all walks of life. I don't have jealousy component due to this view. Yes, the Alberts are known in TV and so are Vesceys in print. They have that chip on that shoulder that "nothing was given to them and everything earned" attitude. Which is true. Now, Ernie would fit into this category. However, unlike Kenny Albert and the others, Jr. groomed himself well (with the help of Sr.) to kill the teacher, his father. Not many can do this. Fate intervened with the Earnhardt's but it didn't with the Johnson's. Ernie did become a Christian after he split from his father in 1996 from the Braves.

Kudos to Ernie Johnson, Sr. for having the abilities of his father and his mother to balance out the ego's of Charles, The Jet, and Craig Sager. He may come from family but those dudes know that he can kill you with dignity and respect. That is true with Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and others. He did a lot of work: coverage or World Cup 1990, Goodwill Games, NFL, and he did Local TV for WSB-WSPA-WMAZ-WAGQ. However, it is his ability to kill the teacher (Shaq) which is why he is the Kung Fu Master of Broadcasting. You can give credit to his momma including Charles.

Don't blame Lewis for being Guy

2010-01-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

I was inspired to write this because of the buzzer beater concerning N.C. State and Houston from 1983 (State won, if you don't remember). That game has penalized the coaching career of Houston's coach, Guy Lewis, despite 592 wins and 5 final fours. Critics say that he had great athletes in Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Elvin Hayes, Don Chaney, Rob Williams, Lou Dunbar, Dwight Jones, Otis Birdsong, and Michael Young. Next, they mention the years that he went to the Final Four with Elvin Hayes (67'and 68')and Phi Slamma Jamma years (1982-1984) and nothing in between (Olajuwon played sparingly in 1982). However, I believe circumstances cut down his win totals and his ability to win an NCAA championship. Here is my case:

The NCAA banned the dunk from 1967-1976 not because of center Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) dominance but the fact that the 1967 Houston Cougar team had all five guys that could. That team made the Final Four. Lewis coached and emphasized the dunk because it promoted hustle, concentration, and toughness that so many coaches try to preach. The dunk taught power, flexibility, post play and positioning. Likewise, it taught players to be an attack mode regardless of the score with emphasis on rebounding and blocking shots. By doing those things, teams have control on offense and defense. That dunk law set his program back many years in terms of recruiting great athletes. Had the dunk law not existed, Houston could have won in 1968 and maybe UCLA wouldn't have this great dynasty or Indiana going undefeated in 1976.

Then the 1982-1984 teams of Phi Slamma Jamma. After each final four appearance in those years, their star player left for the NBA as underclassmen. Rob Williams left in 1982 as a sophomore, Drexler left in 1983 and Hakeem left in 1984 as juniors. Yet, Houston made the final four in 1983 and 1984 with a different line-up. You hear coaches complain about players leaving early and what it does to their teams on the negative side. Well, why not give credit to Lewis for coaching for those teams? Also, Lewis's players weren't highly recruited by many colleges because they were not "schooled" in basketball. Yet, these guys became stars under Lewis and many became stars in the NBA. He has three guys in the Hall, yet he is not there. That is not right!

I know coaching opponents criticized his coaching abilities but nobody could beat Kareem in 1967. In 1968 after beating UCLA with the dunk law, they lost point guard George Reynolds to academic ineligibility before the NCAA tournament. In 1983 final, Houston didn't make their free throws. In 1982 and 1984, they were not good enough personal wise to match up with Carolina and Georgetown. So in all, his recruiting and coaching style is what got his teams to the Final Four.

When UCLA lost in 1974 to N.C. State, it was due to David Thompson's vertical game of the alley-op pass from Monty Towe and his ability to block shots. People wondered how UCLA beat Kentucky in 1975 who had bigger players and a bench. Well, John Wooden's teams after 1967 didn't have to worry about being "dunked."

Guy Lewis in the Hall of Fame.

The Realm of John Brodie

2009-12-03T20:45:00.001-08:00

A 1956 Sports Illustrated issue described him as a born gambler who loved to play games like cards and poker before football practice. Former teammate, Gene Washington, described him as a complicated man who is a good winner but a bad loser. Could read defenses and make all the throws, corner to corner. His one weakness is throwing interceptions in a costly manner. However, that was part of his charm, willing to risk all when in position to play safe. Off the field, he forced the 49ers in 1966 to pay him a reported 1 million dollars when he planned to jump to the AFL, Houston Oilers, for a sum of 750, 000 dollars.

I think of former NFL great, John Brodie, as the artist QB. A natural athlete, he won a tennis tournament as a child and in high school, he got to the finals of a San Francisco city tournament in golf. Never a serious student, it was said that in order to get into Stanford, Brodie took his English teacher to the senior prom. At Stanford, he was rumored to have cheated on a cinema class test. On the football field, he earned genius status which earned him All-American status in 1956 and a first round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in 1957.

The first few years, he was a backup to Y.A. Tittle before getting the job full-time in mid-1960. When he retired in 1973, he threw over 30,000 yards in his career behind John Unitas and Fran Tarkenton. Currently, his passing yards are third on the team behind Joe Montana and Steve Young, both Hall of Famers. He threw 214 Touchdowns in 201 games, completing 2,469 passes but threw 224 interceptions. Never been to a Super Bowl in his 17 year career. For many years, Brodie played on bad 49ers teams that didn't have a great defense line. With new coach Dick Nolan revamping the offensive line as well the defense, Brodie had great years in the late 60's. In 1970, he was voted MVP and took his Niners to the NFC championship game. However by 1971, the injuries took its toll on his talent and he retired two years later.

After pro-football, Brodie then became a golfer in the Seniors Tour (now Champions Tour) for twenty four years and a football broadcaster for NBC. In 2000, Brodie suffered a stroke that nearly ended his life. Doctors said that recovery would be nil. However, doctors said the same thing about his 1963 car accident which damaged his elbow and jeopardized his career until his faith in Scientology restored his arm, he claims. As a result, Brodie had his best season in 1965 where he threw for 30 TD's and over 3, 000 yards in 13 games. Brodie and his family went to a clinic in Texas that used an experimental, "investigative" approach to stroke recovery that mainstream doctors disapproved of. Now, he is now making great strides in regaining his speech and walking abilities through this method.

With his wife, recovering.

Brodie's #12 jersey is retired by the 49ers. He was mentor to later QB's like Chris Chandler who married his daughter and to others like Trent Dilfer who wore his number when he played with the 49ers (with permission from Brodie). Trent is an advocate for him to be in the Hall of Fame and that wearing his number would bring attention to Brodie's career. I am, too. A complex man who used football "as art instead of an emotional outlet" (Jim Murray, Sports Illustrated, Nov. 5, 1956)--i.e., throwing passes from corner to corner and reading defenses. Though he threw more interceptions than touchdowns, Brodie's willingness to risk all than to play safe show that a true winner is always willing to lose.

The Better player won

2008-11-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

The 1984 French Open tennis final between John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. Most commentators say that John McEnroe gave away the match including McEnroe himself. However with the exception of Ivan Lendl and his circle, I believe Lendl did win the match through his own volition. How he got that maybe due to his training? He was the first to use a sports psychologist about thinking positive thoughts when situations didn't go his way. Likewise, he got on a heavy physical regimentation and kept himself in top condition at all times. Lendl in previous finals always seemed to fold in tough situations where things didn't go his way. He did it once against Borg, twice against Connors and once against Wilander. McEnroe thought he would do the same after leading 4-2 in the 4th set but Lendl refused to fold and got stronger. McEnroe played well despite some errors but it was Ivan's day. I think credit needs to be given where its due. The better player won.

McEnroe will talk about yelling at the cameraman and ticking off the French crowd. However, it was his first final on a clay surface. Whereas, Lendl played a French Open final against one of the best clay court players of all time in Bjorn Borg and took him to 5 sets. Likewise, he lost to eventual champions the next two years before meeting McEnroe. He won a lot of clay court titles before the 84 final but he couldn't win the French because Wilander and Noah were better athletically and larkish in the big moments. It was more of a hit and miss effect where they didn't built up a reputation as great players before hitting the big stage. They were not target players for opponents to aim at unlike Lendl. McEnroe, on the other hand, was a target player because he was No. 1 with a loud, bratty personality and often a target of media and fans as well as players. As a result, both players came in to the final with expectations and burdens to deal with.

McEnroe didn't win or play many clay court tournaments like Lendl did. Ivan was very confident and commading when playing on a clay surface. However, McEnroe did play on it as a youngster, won tournaments on that surface, and proved that he could beat the best on that surface. Yet, Mac's game was fast surface oriented and tended to avoid the slower surfaces such as clay. Likewise, John didn't play in Europe much due to his commitment to Davis Cup and the indoor tennis season that took place mostly in America. To win the French, you had to beat Ivan. Therefore, inexperience was on his side due to Ivan's established prowess as a clay court player and that no American had won the French since 1955.

Reputation is one thing but he had game to back it up. Ground strokes from both wings like that inside out forehand, the backhand slice (probably better than Rosewall), top spin (which Ken never had) from both sides as well as that crushing forehand (running or stand-still) that could explode at any point unexpectedly to the surprise of the opponent. Oh, I forgot to mention about his serve, power and slice. But the most important: is his anticipation of where the ball was going to be when he made contact due to his ability to scout and take notes of player's tendencies of their swings, movements, and strategies from the start, middle, and end. In short, he prepared like a coach for all his opponents like fellow Czech, Bill Belichick. Likewise, he practiced himself to death on all his strokes to make sure they were perfect. The ability was there to win but not the belief.

If you look at the match between points, during changeovers, or court positioning, Lendl had a commanding presence. He never seemed to lose control even when he was down. Yes, he was a bit worried and a bit anxious but he didn't have the lumpy, dopey, mopey feel like he did against Connors, Borg, Wilander, or even Noah. It looked as if he kept saying this my time and he just not going to stop me. I think sports psychology helped but his experience on clay and playing in Europe really helped because he maintained an even keel throughout the match. He really worked the surface and his opponent. Whereas, McEnroe's emotions were in check for the most part but very volatile and ready to erupt over anything. He didn't want to be there the point where he had to work the court and Lendl. McEnroe took the "I came, I saw, I conquered and I'm out of here" approach.

The first two sets, McEnroe really outplayed him. It looked like Lendl just got out of bed. I noticed in the second set that Lendl started to work the court and got just a little teeth in the match though he was being thoroughly outclassed by McEnroe. I thought it was too late with McEnroe leading and serving 4-2 but he started to slow things down, moving into a saunter rhythm. McEnroe made an error here in there but would back it up with a service ace or an incredible volley. But, I noticed McEnroe started to reach more for his volley and seemed to be a bit off balanced on Lendl's shots. I thought McEnroe would hold on but he didn't. The Ivan Lendl machine game was on.

McEnroe will tell you that he was tired after the third but I don't really buy that because he didn't quit or start the countdown of losing the match in 4th and 5th set. It was just that Lendl figured out what McEnroe was going to do on his serve and his shots. Lendl was a bit of a slow starter but he was really into the match in the last two sets. Lendl should have finished McEnroe quickly but he was trying too hard to finish the match. McEnroe had no chance against the Lendl machine because it was clicking on all cylinders. He really hit a zone. I don't think he hardly made an unforced errors except when he was trying to finish. McEnroe did a great job of hanging in there. I thought, Lend's machine would eventually crash or slow down but never did especially in tough situations.

Of course, Mac really behave badly during the trophy presentation and all (running off the podium). He blamed himself for the loss and felt that he let his country down. But to conclude, I really think McEnroe should give himself more credit of playing well in that match. He just lost to a better opponent who had more experience and a better game suited for clay. Lendl would also prove that his machine game would work on other surfaces like hard courts, carpet and grass but it wasn't enough to win Wimbledon. Likewise, McEnroe's game was good enough to win on clay but not good enough to win the French.

Final conclusion: Lendl wins without dispute.

Elgin's fault as well

2008-06-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

This 2007-2008 Celtics were like the Lakers of 1968-1969 except some things, all three Celtics were healthy and the bench stepped up as well the assistant coaches. The head coach made the right decision but didn't try to be the star. In short, it was a team effort which included the stars, role-players, and practice players working in unison with the coaches from day one.

The 2008 Celtics: Garnett, Allen, and Pierce. The 1969 Lakers: Chamberlain, Baylor, and West. The role players for the Celtics: Rondo, Posey, Perkins, Powe, T.Allen, Davis, House, Cassell, and P.J. Brown. P.J. Brown didn't play much during the regular season but played significant minutes in the championship series as well as the Detroit series. The role players for the Lakers: Counts, Erickson, Egan, Hawkins, Hewitt, and Crawford. In those days, you went 7 deep but all contributed but the loss of Gail Goodrich to the expansion draft really affected because the guys in the Lakers were slower and very vulnerable to a fast-break game of the Celtics. The Celtics guys were old but the Lakers though taller were generally slow particularly the guard position of Johnny Egan and Tommy Hawkins. Most of them were injury prone like West, Baylor, and Keith Erickson. So, player-coach, Bill Russell decided to run the Lakers to death. The strategy worked for 3 quarters but age caught up with the Celtics as well but they held on.

Elgin Baylor should have been at fault in this game 7 but nobody ever seems to mention that. Elgin was Butch Van Breda Kolff's favorite player but he took him out during that game 7 because he was ineffective against the running game of the Celtics for the 3 quarters. The injury from 1965 affected his consistency. Look at Youtube when they show the last quarter, you don't see Elgin much.

Butch was the first designer of the motion offense that NBA teams used throughout the 70's as well as college teams. However, he couldn't handle pressure moments or criticisms(he quit after 10 games in Detroit because of the fan heckling from Leon "The Barber"). Yet, he wanted to be the star and kept Wilt out in the last minute when Wilt was ready to come back. People forget that knee injury sidelined him for almost the whole 1969-1970 season.

Butch didn't like the signing of Wilt Chamberlain and got into a fight with him during that season in Seattle. Wilt didn't respect Van Breda Kolff as a man. Though a tireless worker and courageous, Butch was a bit of a bully towards players he didn't like (Wilt) and sissy with outsiders in that he didn't command a strong presence. On the other hand, Frank McGuire was strong, handsome and classy on and off the court. He handled losses but wasn't going to get pushed around by nobody like refs or coaches like Red Auerbach. Wilt played hard for Frank, Alex Hannum, and Bill Sharman because they were tough on him and outsiders.

Nobody wanted individual glory but team glory including the coaches. I don't like Red Auerbach because he was a hog that is why he is turn off for today's game but Phil Jackson used his assistants well in the past but in this 2008 series, he tried to be a star and looked what happened (defend the pick n roll, please). Doc Rivers maybe the first coach to win a championship without getting into the Hall of Fame but showed great leadership concerning his coaches and players.

1975 Eastern Conference Final

2008-04-28T05:54:00.001-07:00

This piece is edited from a letter that I wrote to some writer for Newsweek. He commented about Black College segment for ESPN. This was about Al Attles coach of the 1974-1975 Golden State Warriors. He mentioned that Al was wrong saying that his own fans booed him because they were going to win the championship in 1975. I said, they booed him because of his coaching relationship with Rick Barry from the next year when they were trying to repeat. Moving on. Careful about film editing.

To me, the 1975 Bullets/Celtics fascinated me beyond belief. Both teams won 60 games but the Celtics won home court advantage due to a coin toss. I know that the 1969 Bullets and the 1973 Celtics are one of the best teams without winning a championship but the 1975 one was fascinating.

Boston had their stars but the role players like Paul Westphal, Kevin Stacom, Don Chaney, Jim Ard, Hank Finkel, and Glenn McDonald really made that team go in '75. Dave Cowens played 65 games while recovering from a foot injury. Don Nelson stepped in had one of his best scoring seasons of his career at 14.0. Silas and Havlicek were themselves.

That year, there was no ebb and flow but pure consistency. Coach Tom Heinsohn was more relaxed and won more games that year than the year before. However, there was a resentment between Jo Jo White and Paul Westphal concerning starting. Westphal was in his third season and was improving. He felt that he was the better player than JoJo but JoJo could control tempo and knew how to deliver passes to his teammates like Havlicek. The tension between Jo Jo and Paul didn't destroy the team during the season instead it forced the team to really focus. However, it was soon apparent that Paul needed to be with another team to start and Jo Jo was still in his prime and not about to give up his job.

Celtics beat the Rockets 4-1 (no first round playoffs for the top 4 teams then) while the Bullets beat the Buffalo Braves (Los Angeles Clippers) in a tough 7 games series. They had a great team and former Celtic, K.C. Jones as coach . Players such as Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Kevin Porter, Mike Riordan, and Phil Chernier. They had 60 wins as well but struggled occasionally. After reaching the finals in 1971, the Bullets were eliminated by the New York Knicks from 1972-1974 in the Eastern semis. With the 7 game series with the Braves, the outlook look bleak for the Bullets. Likewise, Unseld, recovering from knee surgery from the year before, lead the league in rebounding but averaged under 10 pts for the first time in a full season.

It looked like the Boston Celtics were going to the finals due to experience and a mixture of young and old players. The season series with the Bullets was even but looking back, they didn't match up well in the center and forward position. Hayes was on a shorter Silas who couldn't defend him on the blocks or his turnaround. Cowens though considerably taller and quicker than Unseld on offense had trouble rebounding against a shorter man on defense because Wes would play the high post forcing him to come and guard him due to his passing abilities and occasional offense. If a Bullet put up a shot, Wes would come underneath him for a rebound like he did with all taller players. Dave was not use to a smaller man due to the fact that Dave was a small center himself. Washington had players like Mike Riordan who matched up well with John Havlicek who had trouble defending players who moved to their left. On top of that, Riordan was left-handed. Truck Robinson, Jimmy Jones (injured in Game 4 and out for the playoffs), and Clem Haskins were big guys that could handle the ball and rebound out for the bench. The Boston bench of Stacom, McDonald, Ard, and Finkel couldn't match up with the Bullets bench due to the inexperience, their inability to handle the ball in tight situations, and rebound.

However, the key was role player, Nick Witherspoon (Rick Barry found out that he couldn't go left through his videotape machine that recorded his games)beat the Celtics with those crazy shots which forced to Celtics to play everybody straight up. As well the quickness of G Kevin Porter who made those great assists to Chernier and the big guys hit their shots. As for Westphal, he could guard big guards like Oscar Robertson but small quick guards like Porter gave him trouble from both ends of the floor. Celtics didn't have an answer and Tommy Heinsohn couldn't put the run and jump defense with a guard like Porter or double team due to their lack of height from the guard position.

The final factor was Bullets coach, K.C. Jones was a Celtic who knew Red Auerbach's system that Tom Heinsohn used concerning plays, substitutions, and time management. Likewise, he used a psychological ploy after the Buffalo Braves series where the Bullets looked very lackluster on the road (losing all three in Buffalo), he told everyone that he didn't think his team wasn't good enough to win on the Celtics home floor (Celtics had home court advantage over the Bullets despite sharing 60 wins). Washington beat the Boston on their home floor for game 1 win. From then on, their confidence just grew. They finished the Celtics in 6 games to head to the finals where they were eliminated in 4 straight games by the Golden State Warriors.

Despite the loss, there is a special charisma about the 1975 Eastern Conference. final that I can't put a finger on. Maybe, it is that they didn't fulfill that year despite their huge success with a championship.

Digger Needs a T.O., Baby!

2008-02-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

This should have been a Rant portion but it deserves to be in this setting. I will tell you las we go.

Last Tuesday (Feb. 12, 2008), I was watching ESPN College Basketball. Forgot the teams. During halftime, they had a segment with Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, and Stacey Dales. In the highlights of the featured and non, they all made comments except Digger here refused to talk during highlights of women's games. Rece and Stacey were trying to get Digger to say something but he widn't. When they are in the studio, he refuses to acknowledge her. He will kind of turn in a angle on a three shot for a solo shot. But, you can tell the director wants him to engage with Stacey about a particular game, player, or a team because he hasn't changed the shot until the camera reluctantly zooms in to Digger's caricature, up close. Digger holds his ground and turns away from her and gets away with it. He has not had a legitimate conversation with Stacey since they have been working (Stacy tries to whore up to him during men's highlights). While with Rece and other guys, he engages either in a brief or long dialogue and then goes solo to his monologue. I have seen him work this pattern for the 20 or more years at ESPN and CBS. Digger, I don't want to hear that crap about the director slipped and the cue was for you to go solo because for the year and a half with Stacy, you have always turned to side (making it look incidental) when Stacy tries to speak to you.

Now for Digger's side, Stacey is mature for her age but she has no perspective for history concerning coaching, player's styles, and rules for her women's basketball much less for men's basketball. Heck, she was born the year after Digger's Irish went to the Final Four. She is Canadian and grew up playing a sport that nobody really care or is passionate about. She had to love it on her own. Rece and Digger know about coach Iba, Clair Bee, and others. Rece doesn't always know the history but he has the passion to suck it up (My only question is: where is John McClendon in this? Did you know that John Wooden could go to the rack?). The real problem is that Stacey is too young to build a resume for basketball history. Unlike jobs at the workforce, in basketball, it has to be more than 15 years. She only has 7 years out of college.

When it comes to women's players and even men at times (why do women analyst have to do both and men analysts don't) Stacey is a lot like Jerry West. She looks for new players and perspective who are going to make their teams better and why and how they can be pros. Likewise, she does a great job of analyzing high school players coming to college. Digger and Rece do not possess this trait because they get caught up with the prejudices and myths of the past concerning players now and even in the past. Old-timers like a John Issacs or George Yardley get turned off by these folks because they act like, they own their past and have a snob attitude about it because Digger loves the coaches and the accomplishment of the players but not what these old-timer players can bring to the table concerning their experiences to the new players. Even with the lack of history, Stacey is preferred by these old-timers because she is willing to learn and listen without the assumption and trophy attitude.

Rece Davis is a professional and that is his main priority. Yet, he bonds more with Digger. Due to their preparation habits and importance of tradition in sports. With Stacey, he absolutely respects her abilities and work ethic but it doesn't mesh with his journalistic and conversational talents. Likewise, she is not able to mesh with his fan perspective of the sport. Many times, she is thinking one way and he the other. The main problem is that Digger is the leader of the show and he doesn't step up to bridge the gap. Rece isn't the type of person or is any position to tell a legend like Digger, to fuck himself when he is out of line. Not even Jim Thacker did that to Billy Packer.

Very few star players who become analysts have reflective qualites except for Bill Russell and Rick Barry. Both ended up being coaches but weren't good reporters because they either got caught with themselves or analyze too much. Stacy works very hard but Stacey is a reporter not a reflector. She needs the action. She has the mentality of a player, "forget the previous play, good or bad" and move to next play and let the coach worry." This causes her to lose her timing and rhythm with the Rece and Digger who are obsessed with reinactments. With Digger, he is a natural and he honed his speaking skills at his coach's show in Notre Dame but he can't report a lick. With Rece, he is trained to be both a reporter and host.

Digger makes his living of the mantra of three years: 1974 (I beat Sam Gilbert's team), 1978 (screwed me in St. Louis), and 1981 (Nobody on Ainge!!!). On good basketball days, it is 1974; bad days, its 1978; and good or bad coaching decisions its 1981. My only question to you is on the Tennessee vs. Rutgers in Knoxville where Rutgers lost to a clock operator, you should have been on 1978 mode to give perspective and maybe an example like 1986 NCAA Tourney game, Kansas vs. Michigan State where the clock operator messed up. But, you just sat there and let Rece and Stacy talk, waiting for you to step in while getting into your mantra of "I don't do women." Your silence said a thousand words!

I blame ESPN for this bullshit. ESPN should have put somebody like Jody Conradt, Mickey DeMoss, or Carol Ross because those three have history because they were pioneers for women's basketball. Being coaches, they would kept Digger in line as well as the ESPN network. They don't care about being fired; they want things done right and they ain't afraid to cuss out the boss when need to. They would have gotten Digger's and Rece's respect because of their great knowledge and depth about coaching, players, and rules from women's basketball as well as men's.

My biggest wrath is with other ESPN and ABC employees, announcers who do other sports or the same sport, and media, local and national. You know that Stacey is being harrassed, yet you aren't doing a damn thing about it and hope it will go away. What the hell is this, easier to tell on outlaws than your in-laws, isn't it? Where is Real Sports? Why aren't newspapers, reporting this.

Digger, call a T.O. and get your head straight, you are an embarassment to everyone! You better get going or you will be dropped just like the players you dropped who weren't willing to participate as a team. That is my rant!

QB innovator nobody knows, Benny Friedman

2008-01-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

Benny Friedman revolutionized the passing game and the quarterback position in football as we know today. Yet, few people including the so-called experts and historian have heard of this man. Born in Cleveland Ohio to Jewish immigrants from Russia on March 18, 1905, Benny was a small, skinny child who was bullied and roughed up by his older siblings and kids in his neighborhood. His goal was to be the world's strongest man. He devoted himself to books on weightlifting exercises and technique, beginning at grade school till high school. Without any help, he developed his own training regiment of exercise and diet with devotion for many years.

As he got into his teens, he realed he wasn't going to be the world's strongest man when he saw other kids who were bigger than him. Instead, he decided to utilize his strength and speed to become a football player at East Tech in Cleveland. However, East High cut him saying he was too small at 5'8 and 170 lbs. He transferred to another school, Glenville High where he made the football team as well as the basketball and baseball team. In 1922, Benny beat his old team, East High in the regular season 31-0 and in the City championship 13-0 and National Championship against Oak Park, Illinois. In the classroom, he was ranked as top student, president of his senior class, and chosen to deliver the graduation commencement speech.

After graduating from Glenville in 1923, Benny decided to attend Michigan when Penn State said he was too small. With the help of his godfather and working at a Chinese restaurant, he paid his Michigan tuition. He developed his own strength training methods, squeezing tennis balls and using his hands only to slide across stair railings and armrests to become an effective passer. He still maintained his physique from his weight training as a youth and grew to be 5'10 and 175 Ibs. He became All-American in 1925 and 1926 as well as Big Ten MVP in 1926. Michigan won Big 10 tiles in '25 and '26 due to teammate, Benny Oosterbaan blocking and pass-catching abilities and Friedman's passing, kicking, and defensive abilities. After graduation, he turned professional due to his father's illness. He started with the Cleveland Bulldogs which folded in his first season of 1927 and the next year played for Detroit Wolverines.

Newspaper accounts say:

• Friedman led the league in rushing and passing in 1928.
• He threw 20 TD's in 1929 with the old rules and the old, blob ball (4 in one game).
• From 1927-1930, he threw over 50 TD's and passed over 5,663 yards as NFL leader.

New York Giants owner, Tim Mara, bought the whole Wolverine team and paid Friedman 10,000 a year to play for the Giants. He figured that with Friedman's talent, he could attract Jewish fans to come to the Polo Grounds (Giants home). In 1928, the Giants lost 54,000 dollars; 1929, the Giants made 8,500 dollars; 1930, the Giants made 23,000; and in 1931, the Giants made 34,000 dollars (Willard Manus in his article Passing Recognition). In 1932, Benny asked Mara if he can invest with the Giants, Mara said no, because he wanted to give it to his sons. Feeling slighted and exploited, Friedman left the Giants and played 3 more years for the football Brooklyn Dodgers. Throughout his playing days, his mom prayed for his safety by dropping 18 cents in a charity box before each of his games. The number eighteen stands for chai in Hebrew which means "life" according to this mother (Willard Manus, Passing Recognition).

With the Giants

Because of Freedman's passing ability:

1. The football was simmered down from a blob ball to an oval shaped ball in 1933.

2. Passing rules changed where a passer doesn't have to stand five yards from scrimmage to throw.

3. Eliminating 2 incomplete passes as a five yard penalty and an incomplete pass to the end zone as change of possession.

As coach

After his playing days, Friedman coached at CCNY in New York till World War II where he served in the Navy. When the war was over, he became athletic director and football coach at Brandeis University. In later years, he was an outspoken critic of the 1970 NFL pension plan which did not include pre-1958 players and ran QB summer camps for teenagers till diabetes cost him one of his legs in 1980. Not wishing to be burden, Benny took his own life on November 23, 1982.

Elected to the College Hall of Fame 1951 and the NFL Hall of Fame 2005.

Copyright 2005 by Davan S. Mani as unpublished work

Wilmeth Sidat-Singh

2008-01-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

WHO IS WILMETH SIDAT-SINGH?

A Tuskegee airman, athlete and scholar, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh is a class of his own. A man considered friend to all those who knew him. Born in Washington D. C. to Elias and Pauline Webb in 1917, Elias died of a stroke when Wilmeth was 5 years old. Pauline remarried to Samuel Sidat-Singh, a medical student from India. The family moved to New York City where Dr. Sidat-Singh set up his pharmacy practice in Harlem.

It was in the Harlem playgrounds where he developed his character of toughness and level-headedness by playing many sports like baseball, basketball, football, and tennis. He attended Dewitt Clinton High and led his basketball team to the Public School Athletic League championship in the 1933-1934 year and named All-City in 1935. Yet, Syracuse was the only school that offered Sidat-Singh a basketball scholarship despite being one of the top students at DeWitt Clinton. His goal was to be a doctor like his step-father and chose his step-father’s last name of Sidat-Singh. Local newspapers publicized him as Hindu, fully aware of his real ancestry.In Wilmeth’s sophomore year at Syracuse, Roy Simmons, Sr. an assistant football coach asked him to join the varsity team for his junior year after he saw him throw a football at intramural game for 55 yards. He became a lead halfback in the single-wing offense which is equivalent of today’s quarterback. Passing as a Hindu, Syracuse coaches decided to play road teams that discriminated against African-Americans until an article by Sam Lacy, an African-American sportswriter, told the truth about Sidat-Singh’s ancestry. This action resulted in him not being allowed to participate in a game against Maryland in 1937 and against Navy as a basketball player.

A star on the basketball team, Syracuse went undefeated in his senior year at 14-0 with overall record at 40-13 during his tenure. He is credited with the no-look pass. On the football field, he was dominant as ever in 1938 when he beat then undefeated Cornell 19-17. In that game, Sidat-Singh threw 6 passes for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns in the final 9 minutes of that game. The same year, Syracuse beat Maryland 53-0 in Syracuse and played Duke in Durham by agreement from the two University presidents.After graduation with a degree in zoology, he played barnstorm basketball for the Syracuse Reds, New York Renaissance and Washington Bruins.

The NFL had an unofficial rule of banning black players from 1933-1946. Yet for Sidat-Singh, his goal was to be a doctor in the surgery field and basketball was there to pay for his medical education. When World War II broke out, he returned to his birthplace and became a policeman as well as basketball In 1943 to serve his country, he passed the U.S. Army Air Corps exam to serve with the Tuskegee Airmen. On May 9, 1943, Sidat-Singh lost his life during air-training exercises over Lake Huron, Michigan. On February 26, 2005, Syracuse retired his basketball jersey number 19. He is buried in National Arlington Cemetery."We are certain he would feel that his life was not in vain," "if it served to put a spark into the lives of aspiring youngsters and to impress upon them that ability, slowly but surely, receives recognition." ---Dr. Samuel Sidat-Singh, Wilmeth’s father speaking at his funeral.

© 2006 as unpublished work by Davan Mani

Darlene Hard (Forgotten care)

2008-01-06T11:31:00.001-08:00

Who is Darlene Hard?

Darelene Hard was a tennis champion in the 1950’s-1960’s amateur era. In her time, professionals were not allowed to compete in the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and U.S. until 1968. Darlene’s game consisted of a strong serve and volley. Her forte was doubles which she won numerous Grand Slam titles with players like Althea Gibson, Maria Bueno, Jeanne Arth, and Lesley Turner. In addition, she was a mixed double champion with such players as Rod Laver and Mervyn Rose. Finally, she won three Grand Slam titles in singles despite her main expertise in doubles.

Darlene was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mom Ruth was a well-known amateur tennis player in that area. However, Darlene didn’t like the game because you had to wear white, couldn’t make noise, and couldn’t share. Therefore, she played team sports like baseball, basketball, and football. Her father coached her in softball. Friends and family had to manipulate her to play tennis. When she won the Southern California championship for 13 year olds, she committed herself to the game but didn’t beat her mom until she was fifteen.

Through her mom’s tennis reputation and her success, Darlene was taught by legendary players like Alice Marble, Pauline Betz, and Sarah Palfrey Cooke. Also, a famous Australian coach, Harry Hopman, allowed her to play and practice with Australian players like Laver, Roy Emerson, and Neal Fraser at the prestigious Los Angeles Tennis Club. In 1955 at the age of 19, she participated in the Pan American Games in Mexico but lost her father to a heart-attack at the same time. Later that year, she won the French in mixed doubles with Gordon Forbes and women’s doubles with Beverly Baker Fleitz (Anna Kournikova of her time but better). She entered Pomona College in 1957 and won the first National Women’s intercollegiate title in singles. She is the only woman to win a grand slam title and a collegiate title.

Her first moment of impact came in the 1957 Wimbledon final against Althea Gibson. She lost the match 6-3, 6-2 in 49 minutes but her congratulatory kiss to Miss Gibson, an African-American, forced a newspaper in South Africa to shade the photo off Darlene. Her second impact was her rivalry with Margaret Smith from Australia. During the 1962 season (in which Smith won 3 out of the 4 grand-slams), both players were bickering at each other and a rivalry ensued which climaxed at the 1962 U.S. Championships. After winning two straight U.S. Nationals, she lost to Margaret 9-7, 6-4 and cried on an over-rule call in the second set. Her final and biggest impact came at the 1961 French, her doubles partner, Brazilian Maria Bueno, suffered hepatitis and couldn’t play Wimbledon. Her country’s federation could not afford her medical expenses or bring her back to Brazil because her hepatitis could spread to others. Darlene canceled her trip to Wimbledon to take care an ailing, quarantined Maria at a Paris hotel for nearly a month.

In 1963, she won the US Hard Court championship in singles and doubles. The same year, she led the U.S. team over Australia (with Margaret Smith on the team) in the Fed Cup Tournament. Likewise, she won the doubles in the Pan American Games from that year. She retired from the game in 1964 to become an instructor at a country club. After 5 years away from the game, she was a last minute replacement in the U.S. Open doubles with Francoise Durr. Despite her lack of fitness throughout the tournament, Darlene and Francoise got to the finals and but were down 0-6, 0-2 to the duo of Virginia Wade and Margaret Smith Court. In the past, Darlene was known to give up on matches when things weren’t going her way particularly in singles. This time, Darlene was laughing and joking at her circumstance saying “isn’t this fun.” Francoise was not laughing though but they came back to win 0-6, 6-3, 6-4. This was Darlene’s last Grand Slam title. She soon retired from tennis in 1971. In honor of her career and her achievements, Darlene was elected to the tennis Hall of Fame in 1973 and elected to the collegiate Hall of Fame in 1974. Afterwards, she disappeared from public view and is now working at the University of Southern California.

I really believe that Darlene’s sacrifice of her ambition and health for Maria displays an unlimited compassion and care in the heat of competition. Tennis is a game of individualism and sometimes cruel fate favors a player’s outcome. For instance in 1956, Darlene’s ex-doubles partner Beverly Baker Fleitz was favored to win Wimbledon in singles but had to withdraw when she was confirmed pregnant. Fast forward to five years later, Darlene could have taken advantage of Maria’s situation by playing and winning Wimbledon. Yet, Darlene nursed Maria back to health and in the process, caught hepatitis. Eventually, Maria came back and won Wimbledon in 1964 and many U.S. singles titles afterwards. As for Darlene, she won her last singles title at the 1961 U.S. Nationals, never to win a singles title at Wimbledon. However, it is her sacrifice that will stay true to heart.

© 2006 by Davan Mani as unpublished work

Maria Bueno (Latin Superstar)

2008-01-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

WHO IS MARIA BUENO?

She played during the amateur era where professionalism was disallowed in major tennis tournaments. She won 19 Grand Slam titles (7 in singles, 11 doubles and 1 mixed doubles) and won many others in non GS tournaments. In all, she amassed 589 titles in her career. She was the first to win a Grand Slam in doubles in 1960 (Australian with Christine Truman and the others with Darlene Hard). She also won. Leading the way for Latin American athletes, she was the first woman from Latin America to win Wimbledon. Her prime years were from 1958 till 1968 before injuries curtailed her career.

Serving ballerina style with power!

Sportswriters described her moving swiftly and gracefully like a swallow (a bird) that moves swiftly to hunt its prey. Her game was an expression of art and poetry. Her canvas: the tennis court. She had to play the game beautifully and gracefully. Winning mattered but thinking about winning would not allow her to play her fullest: stroke to stroke; point to point; and game to game. By combining the game as art and war, she appealed to fans who like the aesthetic and competitive aspects of tennis. A writer described her as an “ugly ducking who moves beautifully.”

Maria Esther Aldinion Bueno was born on Oct. 11, 1939 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. She learned to play on the clay courts of Sao Paolo where her father was a member of a country club. She never took lessons, instead became a disciple of tennis legend’s Bill Tilden’s book. She read his book very carefully and practiced with her older brother as well as club pros for hours, everyday. The clay surface gives the ball a higher bounce and less speed off shots. Therefore, players learn patience and point construction but Maria was a restless soul who wanted to finish off points quickly. By her own teachings, she developed an attacking style of serve & volley and power-hitting ground strokes from the forehand and the backhand. Likewise, she developed those half-volley touches where she can make contact on the ball at any angle or speed with any type of spin off the bounce. Finally, she was an avid swimmer which provided consistent strength to her eventual, lean body of 5’7 and 115 pounds. Nancy Richey, her former opponent, commented that she was the hardest consistent hitter that she ever faced because the ball felt so heavy compared to others including Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

The results of her work were quickly put into effect. At age twelve, she won her first tournament; at fifteen, she was on the Brazilian National team; and at eighteen, a world class player. Her first grand slam title came at the 1958 Wimbledon doubles where she teamed up with Althea Gibson beat Margaret Osborne DuPont and Margaret Varner Bloss. That same year, they go the finals at the U.S. Nationals despite protests by the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association of wanting only Americans to play doubles with each other. At that time, Althea Gibson was the dominant singles player. She won back to back titles in both Wimbledon and U.S. in 1957 and 1958. Therefore, Althea threatened to boycott the U.S. Nationals if Maria was not her partner and the USLTA acquiesced. In singles, Maria showed glimpses of championship caliber by winning tournaments at the Italian and other smaller venues but struggled in the major tournaments and against better players like Althea in 1958.

Then in 1959, Maria broke through by beating Althea at the Italian, winning Wimbledon, and the U.S. Nationals over French champion, Christine Truman. She was ranked No. 1 in women’s tennis and voted Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. The next year she repeated her success of winning Wimbledon but lost in the U.S. finals. Throughout her career, she never won the major that mattered to her the most, the singles title at the French. The fans appreciated her artistic approach to tennis and she grew up on the clay surface. While she grew up in clay, the grass surfaces at Wimbledon and at U.S. Nationals (then Forest Hills, NY) suited her game because the balls moved faster and quicker off the surface. Despite her failures in singles, she won the French in doubles and mixed doubles.

With Althea Gibson’s retirement during 1959, Maria found a new doubles partner in Darlene Hard. Though adversaries in the singles and mixed doubles, they became great friends off the court and artistic intuitionists on the court. They seem to be in synch spontaneously concerning self, court, and opponent awareness and knew how to respond to each situation, non-verbally with cohesion. Together, they won 5 grand slams in seven appearances. When Maria played in Australia, Darlene didn’t accompany her because Australia was far and expensive for an amateur. Maria played because her Brazilian Tennis Federation was willing to pay for her expenses due to her winnings and World No. 1 ranking. Yet in 1961, the BTF could not pay for Maria medical expenses when she suffered hepatitis during the French. After the canceling the French doubles finals with Darlene, Maria was quarantined at a Paris hotel for one month. Luckily, Darlene took care of her while sacrificing her chance to win the 1961 Wimbledon and her body as she was infected with hepatitis. Darlene would overcome her hepatitis and win the 1961 U.S. Nationals. As for Maria, she recovered to fly back to Brazil but was out of tennis for 1961.

In 1962, a new player was coming in full force to tennis. Her name was Margaret Smith (later Court) from Australia. That year, she won 3 out of 4 majors and the next year won 2 out of 4. She was the first woman in tennis to add weight training to her physical regiment: pulleys, curls, and barbells weighing over 150 pounds. Opponents were intimidated of her size, speed, and her competitiveness. She stood 5’9 and weighed 150 pounds. Margaret beat the smaller and stocky Darlene at the 1962 U.S. Nationals, so bad that Darlene eventually gave up trying to beat her. Maria kept trying despite Margaret’s dominance and her physical problems. Recovering gradually from hepatitis, she did not win any majors in 1962 but optimistic when she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. In 1963, she won Gold at the Pan American games by beating Mexico’s, Yola Ramirez in singles (Darlene won bronze). The same year, she beat Margaret at the U.S. Nationals in straight sets but Margaret was still the No. 1 player of the year for winning the Australian and Wimbledon. In 1964, Darlene Hard decided to retire from amateur tennis to become a professional instructor at a country club. Maria remained an amateur and took on the challenge of beating Margaret for No. 1 in the world.

With Darlene out of the picture, Maria concentrated on beating Margaret for amateur supremacy while maintaining her doubles game with different partners such as Nancy Richey, Billie Jean King, and Margaret Court. She may have resented her dominance but she respected her play. The year 1964 did not start out too well for Maria, losing to Margaret in the French finals and suffering various other ailments when they met at the Wimbledon finals. The 1964 Wimbledon final is considered a classic with Bud Collins describing it as a “potpourri of shot making by both players” as well as speed and movement. The outcome was close with neither player gaining an advantage until the final set when Maria broke Margaret’s serve and closed the final set winning 6-3. Maria would go on to win the 1964 U.S. Nationals and become the No. 1 player.

Maria would go on to face Margaret many times but would lose to her at the 1965 Australian (default due to cramps) and at the Wimbledon finals. She would win one more major at the 1966 U.S. Nationals but arm and leg injuries would end her career at the end of 1968. That year, tennis became a professional sport and all 4 majors would become open tournaments. Maria missed out on getting paid for her profession. The five year period she missed from 1969-1974 was spent on rehabilitation with weights were added to her regiment. She would make comebacks in 1974, 1976, and 1977. But her injuries were too much to overcome and eventually retired for good in 1977. For her achievements and accomplishments, she was elected to the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1978.

As an older stateswoman, she has become an “ugly ducking” that has aged beautifully. Though no long moving swiftly and gracefully like a swallow, she still in attacking mode when it comes to today’s players. She doesn’t like all the screaming and the power that today’s tennis players display because it takes away the expression of art and poetry. It is all war now. She says that only Justine Henin plays the game with beauty and grace as well as power with a touch of a sculptor. Winning does matter but thinking about it does not allow players to play to the fullest. By combining the game as art and war, Maria has appealed to fans, young and old who like the aesthetic and competitive aspects of tennis.

© 2007 by Davan S. Mani