Coach Blames the Media -- So What's New?

In July of 1979, when I was the kid reporter on The Post's sports staff, I was assigned to cover Washington's local tennis tournament. On the afternoon of the final between Guillermo Vilas and Victor Pecci, the temperature on court was well over 100 degrees. So it wasn't that surprising when Pecci collapsed late in the second set suffering from heat exhaustion.

As soon as the match was declared a default, I started down to the court from the press box, wanting ask the doctors attending to Pecci exactly what was wrong with him. To be honest, being the eager young reporter that I was, I also wanted to see Pecci close up: Would he be able to stand on his own; what did his eyes look like; might he say something when he finally stood up? I was also hoping for a word with Vilas, who was famous for fast exits after matches but was, at that moment, standing a few feet away from Pecci.

I made it down to the entrance of the court but was stopped by a guard.

"No media on court during a match," he said.

"There is no match anymore," I explained. "The match is over."

Before the guard could answer, a local TV crew came along and the guard, without a word, stood aside to let them pass.

"Why did you let them on the court?" I asked.

"TV's different," the guard said.

That was the first lesson I learned that long-ago day: Most people think TV is really important, think that being on TV makes YOU important and are awed by people who are on TV on a regular basis.

A moment later though, I learned a far more important lesson.

Angry with the guard, I climbed onto the fence next to the court and shouted back to the press box area, looking for help from the tournament's public relations director, Charlie Brotman.

"Hey Charlie," I yelled, standing on the fence. "Tell the guard down here to let the print media on the court!"