A Pretty Good Deal

In the spring of 1964, my senior year in high school, a tennis exhibition was held in our school gym.


The court boundaries were marked off with duct tape on the wooden gym floor.  Volley-ball poles secured the net.  The gym was not air-conditioned.


The players were Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.


The cost for a student to attend was twenty-five cents.


There was maybe as many as 300 students attending.  Many had no interest in tennis, but were using their 25 cents as a ransom to legally cut a couple of classes.


This was in a time before the upswing in the popularity of tennis in America.  Also, this was a time before open tennis.  The greatest players in the world, upon turning professional, were banned from the Grand Slam events and toured on a fledgling pro circuit.  Laver and Rosewall were two of the greatest players in the world.


If you do a little math (300 students x .25= $75) and assume that the players were able to put on  a total of 3 exhibitions a day, the extrapolation would be $225 for the day's work.  This amount to be divided among the players and their handler(s).  Not a very compelling amount, even in 1964.


About 14 years later, the company that I worked for was a sponsor for a tennis exhibition.  The vice-president of our company, his wife, another man and myself played doubles early every Sunday morning.  We were very enthusiastic sponsors.


The players in this exhibition were Laver, Bill Cosby, Ron Ely (Hollywood's current Tarzan) and another player whose name I can't recall.


Sponsors attend a post-exhibition cocktail party along with the players, officials, local press and other hangers-on.  Cosby had a large crowd around him.  He was cracking jokes and chewing on a huge cigar; he was and still is an entertaining dude.  Laver stood in a little out of the way spot, smiling affably and looking out over the crowd.  He looked almost frail except for his gigantic left fore-arm; his shock of red hair and freckles were a banner to his presence. 


I introduced myself to him and reminded him of my high school experience...and the 25 cent price.  He laughed and we talked about trying to hit tennis balls off of a wooden basketball court.  Smiling and again looking out over the crowd, he said "We were really scrambling  in those days,"then turning to me,"sounds like you got yourself a pretty good deal back then."  I agreed (our cost of sponsorship for this event was $2 thousand) shook his hand and made way for the next person to visit with him.  Later that evening, as he was leaving, Laver gave me a wave and a smile.


Over the years, I watched exhibitions featuring Conners, McEnroe and other notable players.  But in many ways they were only harvesting the fields that Laver, Rosewall, Pancho Gonzales and others had plowed.  They never had to play in high school gyms and be paid in pocket change.  The pro players in the pre-open era were scorned by the tennis establishment for not taking part in the hypocrisy that was then amateur tennis...but that's another story for another day.


And Rocket Rod Laver was correct...


It was a pretty good deal.