Hall of Fame or Hall of shame. Like what a shame? What a pity? What a system. ? What system ? The how you arrive on the podium system …. The induction is beautiful. The acceptance speeches are stuff for the history books. But the other goings on can break your heart. I call tiebreakers heartbreakers. Well guess what folks. Most of all that comes from Newport Rhode Island James a.k.a. Jimmy Van Allen gave us both the tiebreaker and he was the godfather of the Hall of Fame at the Newport ” casino ”
Ok. So I got all muddled in the first paragraph…, The major issue / complaint I have is the nomination and voting process. I’m not certain of the details but basically you get your heart stomped on more than once … Your name gets bantered about as a possible inductee … It’s discussed around and then voted on by international journos. … ? Ok. This years victim. Nick Bollettieri . You could look long and far and it would be hard to find a better guy. Nick has a passion for tennis that’s unheralded. He motivated more players to bring out their greatness. I’m not saying he was the worlds best coach ever. But he is one of them.
Max Mirnyi considers him like a second father. You could leave Nicks academy and the door was always open to comeback even if you defected to Saddlebrook ( yes Kevin could sell ice to the Eskimos ) …..
My point is why make anyone suffer the hopes. And the humiliation. Just announce the winners and keep all the other candidates name secret. …..sorry Nick.
We need to end on a happy note.
We say big congrats to Jennifer Capriati. She will be inducted in the Hall of Fame this year.Jen had great early success. Then hit some bad times. …. Jen then came back from a drug addiction to the top of the game. we always loved her fire and spirit. She was a very tough competitor. Bravo Jennifer.
We also want to mention. If you are in the Coachella Valley and aren’t there to hear 143 bands ….go by Rancho las palmas resort and watch the Easter Bowl !
We saw some names in the draw that jumped out at us. One was Taylor Fritz. He is the son of pro Guy Fritz and the former top tenner Kathy May. Taylor makes the whole family proud . Grandpa was the late David May . David wasn’t a great player … Short on form …but he had a tremendous passion for the game. He truly supported the sport in every way possible. He was a great friend to our sport for over 50 years. Geezer knew him well. They could talk tennis for hours.
Kathy May Fritz was inducted into the Southern California Hall of Fame last year with Billie Jean King and Billy Martin. Oops almost forgot Franklin Johnson ,Dorothy Head Knode, Richard (Dick) Leach ,Hugh Stewart,and Pat Canning Todd…
Remember the name Abe Hewko. Watch for him in Ojai at the end of the month. He is the real deal. He has the game. The focus. The mindset.