Word: scanlon
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...doubles team of Navratilova and Bill Scanlon, a young, scruffy competitor with a hot topspin forehand, had blown a big lead and trailed a pair of unknowns in the deciding set. The DC-9's and the 727's continued to thunder overhead, a loudspeaker bellowed incessantly ("The front exit is the ohnly exit available: please leave immediately"), and now they had run out of tennis balls. It was the end of a long day at U.S. Open. How dare they run out of balls on the two-time defending Wimbledon champion...
Finally, Navratila had had enough. "This tournament is the pits," she shouted. "No food, no balls, planes coming all the time...." She gave an indignant huff and picked up her racket, while Scanlon twirled his nonchalantly. "We're The Match That Bill Talbert (Tournament Director) Forgot," he said with a wry smile...
Which is what happened to Scanlon and Navratilova. They were minding their own business on a side court, methodically overcoming the less-than-dynamic duo of Van Winitsky and Rayni Fox before a few bored passers-by. Then the crowd started pouring out of the stadium when the final featured match of the day ended. It was time to leave--the night session would start in little more than an hour...
...thousands satisfied? Shit, no! So they descended on this doubles match, rooting for the underdogs so the match could go 3 sets, hoping for an upset, minor as it might be. Winitsky and Fox enjoyed this unexpected support. Was Navratilova amused? No way. A bit unnerved, she and Scanlon did manage to eke out a third-set tiebreaker...
...Scanlon declined at first, but relented when Lloyd's of London agreed to insure its depredations. Three elephants at a time in the Waldorf ballroom have presented no problem, and three others are scheduled to be present at the Associated General Contractors convention in Bloomington, Minn., this winter. Sheraton-Waikiki Convention Service Manager Allan Woodrow recalls the day he was asked to accommodate a dead body for a gathering of morticians: it was sneaked in on a service elevator so none of the regular guests would become alarmed...