Legendary Tennis!

Having watched many exciting tennis matches in the late 1970's and early 1980's involving Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Doris and I were thrilled to have the opportunity to see these two tennis legends play each other in an exhibition here in Bangkok last Saturday. Okay, so they aren't exactly in their prime anymore, but it was still neat. McEnroe, of course, protested several line calls by throwing his racket and berating the linesmen or chair umpire, but as most tennis fans know, maturity finally settled in some years ago, and McEnroe's tantrums now are really nothing more than tongue-in-cheek crowd pleasers. As for Bjorn Borg, his personality is still as subdued as it always was.

I'm inserting some photos from the match . . .

. . . including one showing the routine McEnroe hands-on-hips slouch, indicating that a "You cannot be serious!" tirade is about to erupt:

The best part, though, involved several tennis balls that Borg and McEnroe hit into the crowd before the match started. Both players had autographed these balls earlier. Borg hit one into the section where Doris and I were sitting, and the ball sailed over my head.style=""> Over the years I've watched many fans at baseball games bobble homerun balls hit into the stands, so I turned around and patiently waited while the ball bounced off the fingers of numerous people in the rows above us. The ball eventually worked its way down and ended up in mid-air right in front of me, and while holding my camera in my right hand, I simply reached out and grabbed the ball with my left!

Being a sentimental guy, I checked e-Bay listings the next day to see what a tennis ball autographed by these two tennis greats would fetch at auction. I figured maybe this could be the start of our new retirement savings. Sadly, it looks like I could sell the famous ball for an amount roughly equivalent to what I paid for the exhibition match tickets.