Carlkolchak
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- Nov 9, 2017
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Like to try to start a new thread, of funny anecdotes of sportswriters with athletes. This one is from the book "Facing McEnroe" By Scoop Malinowski and it entails Harvey Araton's interesting encounters with John McEnroe. Enjoy !!
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"I'll give ten dollars to any of you guys who could lay a racquet on my serve."
Harvey Araton: "The memory that comes to mind right away is the year of the women's World Cup 1999. The day of that final against China - I remember my wife was in Connecticut at her parents' house and I left - we were there with our two little boys and I'd left really early to go to John's induction to the Hall of Fame in Newport. The Times tennis writer Robin Finn - I think her mom had died - so they asked me to do it. So that year I covered Wimbledon and John had played mixed doubles with Steffi Graf and I think John was 40 and he was sort of having a mid-life crisis, so everything John does is like the most important thing in the world. He kept saying during that tournament, I told Steffi, just don't bale on me as we get deeper. Because he saw it as his last hurrah to win another Wimbledon title."
"So Steffi had a big wrap on her thigh and she was retiring (from the sport). It wasn't official but that was her last year I believe. And so she baled out of the mixed I believe at the quarterfinal. She said, I can't play. There was a lot of rain so the matches were stacking up and so John kind of went off... 'I told her, I put my heart and soul into this...' So I sit down and write a column, John, it's not about you. This woman's singles is what it's all about. He always loved doubles, put a lot of importance into it. But let's face it, the sport is about singles. And this is her last hurrah perhaps. So I couldn't get on her case about baling out. So I write that column."
"So now I hit a lot of traffic going up the coast (to Newport). And I get there and he's already at the podium doing his press interview. So I walk in. And my wife, who formerly worked at ESPN, knew this kid - she was his mentor - then he went on to become a sports journalist and he was working for the Newport paper. And he was sitting in the front row. And he sees me come in, he recognized me: Harvey, sit right over here. So I walk right in the front of John and I sit down. And John interrupts a long-winded answer about his Hall of Fame career and says, 'Oh, I see Harvey Araton took the time to come up here. You ought to learn something about our sport. When people make a commitment...'"
"He goes into this long diatribe about Wimbledon and the mixed doubles tournament. And this kid who saved me the seat is like, with his jaw-dropped. And I just look at him, I go, John, I don't think this is about me, this is about you and your Hall of Fame career. We could talk about this later. And he goes on and on for another five minutes about what an idiot I am and he read my column and it was dumb. It was just classic John. Missing the point completely."
"That's one thing. Another one is when he was in that process of being off and on the Tour. He's playing, takes a little leave, come back. Well, I covered, I think it was '86 and he came back from one of his hiatuses at Stratton Mountain (Vermont), the old Volvo tournament. And I believe it was in the second round. A teenage Andre Agassi upset Tim Mayotte in the first round. So John gets him in the second round. I don't think John had even heard of the kid. He'd been off the Tour. Who knew about Agassi anyway?"
"So he comes out to play against Andre and Andre's got like a three-tone ponytail, wearing black shorts, just looked like some hoodlum. And McEnroe misses his first serve of the match, first game, hits the second serve - and you know John would come in behind anything - John comes to the net, Andre steps into a forehand. Hits it like 900 miles an hour - goes about fifteen feet out, crashes into the back wall. John looks up, starts walking behind the baseline to serve, looks up at about four or five reporters who were all there covering his comeback and goes, 'Who the fork is this?!'"
"That same tournament four of us are playing doubles late in the afternoon, after we're done with our work. It was me, Maury Allen, who was considerably older, from The New York Post, and I knew Maury because I worked at The Post when I was a kid, Richard Finn and somebody else. I don't remember who the fourth person was. John comes down after a hit, walking down the hill and sees us and starts laughing at us, ragging on us. And then says, 'I'll give ten dollars to any of you guys who could lay a racquet on my serve.' So he steps on the court. We all take the challenge. Maury steps up - doesn't get a racquet on it. He's hitting twisters and slices. Richard, who is the best player out of all of us, didn't get a hit on it. When it was my turn, I started all the way over in the ad court, figuring left-hander, right? And he served one out wide and I foul-tipped it. And I said, 'Ten bucks! Ten bucks!' And he said, 'No, you didn't hit it, you just tipped it. It doesn't count.'"
CLASSIC STUFF
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"I'll give ten dollars to any of you guys who could lay a racquet on my serve."
Harvey Araton: "The memory that comes to mind right away is the year of the women's World Cup 1999. The day of that final against China - I remember my wife was in Connecticut at her parents' house and I left - we were there with our two little boys and I'd left really early to go to John's induction to the Hall of Fame in Newport. The Times tennis writer Robin Finn - I think her mom had died - so they asked me to do it. So that year I covered Wimbledon and John had played mixed doubles with Steffi Graf and I think John was 40 and he was sort of having a mid-life crisis, so everything John does is like the most important thing in the world. He kept saying during that tournament, I told Steffi, just don't bale on me as we get deeper. Because he saw it as his last hurrah to win another Wimbledon title."
"So Steffi had a big wrap on her thigh and she was retiring (from the sport). It wasn't official but that was her last year I believe. And so she baled out of the mixed I believe at the quarterfinal. She said, I can't play. There was a lot of rain so the matches were stacking up and so John kind of went off... 'I told her, I put my heart and soul into this...' So I sit down and write a column, John, it's not about you. This woman's singles is what it's all about. He always loved doubles, put a lot of importance into it. But let's face it, the sport is about singles. And this is her last hurrah perhaps. So I couldn't get on her case about baling out. So I write that column."
"So now I hit a lot of traffic going up the coast (to Newport). And I get there and he's already at the podium doing his press interview. So I walk in. And my wife, who formerly worked at ESPN, knew this kid - she was his mentor - then he went on to become a sports journalist and he was working for the Newport paper. And he was sitting in the front row. And he sees me come in, he recognized me: Harvey, sit right over here. So I walk right in the front of John and I sit down. And John interrupts a long-winded answer about his Hall of Fame career and says, 'Oh, I see Harvey Araton took the time to come up here. You ought to learn something about our sport. When people make a commitment...'"
"He goes into this long diatribe about Wimbledon and the mixed doubles tournament. And this kid who saved me the seat is like, with his jaw-dropped. And I just look at him, I go, John, I don't think this is about me, this is about you and your Hall of Fame career. We could talk about this later. And he goes on and on for another five minutes about what an idiot I am and he read my column and it was dumb. It was just classic John. Missing the point completely."
"That's one thing. Another one is when he was in that process of being off and on the Tour. He's playing, takes a little leave, come back. Well, I covered, I think it was '86 and he came back from one of his hiatuses at Stratton Mountain (Vermont), the old Volvo tournament. And I believe it was in the second round. A teenage Andre Agassi upset Tim Mayotte in the first round. So John gets him in the second round. I don't think John had even heard of the kid. He'd been off the Tour. Who knew about Agassi anyway?"
"So he comes out to play against Andre and Andre's got like a three-tone ponytail, wearing black shorts, just looked like some hoodlum. And McEnroe misses his first serve of the match, first game, hits the second serve - and you know John would come in behind anything - John comes to the net, Andre steps into a forehand. Hits it like 900 miles an hour - goes about fifteen feet out, crashes into the back wall. John looks up, starts walking behind the baseline to serve, looks up at about four or five reporters who were all there covering his comeback and goes, 'Who the fork is this?!'"
"That same tournament four of us are playing doubles late in the afternoon, after we're done with our work. It was me, Maury Allen, who was considerably older, from The New York Post, and I knew Maury because I worked at The Post when I was a kid, Richard Finn and somebody else. I don't remember who the fourth person was. John comes down after a hit, walking down the hill and sees us and starts laughing at us, ragging on us. And then says, 'I'll give ten dollars to any of you guys who could lay a racquet on my serve.' So he steps on the court. We all take the challenge. Maury steps up - doesn't get a racquet on it. He's hitting twisters and slices. Richard, who is the best player out of all of us, didn't get a hit on it. When it was my turn, I started all the way over in the ad court, figuring left-hander, right? And he served one out wide and I foul-tipped it. And I said, 'Ten bucks! Ten bucks!' And he said, 'No, you didn't hit it, you just tipped it. It doesn't count.'"
CLASSIC STUFF
