Lately, I have been reading copy for a book project that I'll be saying more about in the coming months. However, concurrently, I have also been in the process of gathering information for a book which will be called "The Boys of Ewald Park." Essentially, it's going to be about the lives that my friends and I led in the west end of Alexandria, Virginia during the 1970's. Going back through some of our collective experiences has been a great deal of fun, and it's going to be more fun to put them into writing.
Admittedly, this isn't the best story, per se, but it did happen. I guess you could consider this an excerpt from "The Boys of Ewald Park" at least as it looks today.
Sometimes, I get
to thinking about the first 49 and a half years of my life, and have to laugh
when I think about how I have been fortunate and lucky enough to be involved in
quite a few “Forrest Gump” like moments, particularly with athletes.
My childhood in
Alexandria, VA was defined by our communal attitude toward racism and prejudice.
It was a true irony that the movie “Remember the Titans” came around in 2001,
to describe our hometown in the 1970’s. We didn’t need to see the movie to
remind us of how we grew up. We lived through it. With my best friends and
neighbors, Jimmy and Fred Hopewell, we were acutely aware of the attitudes
among the people who surrounded us. We were raised on Venable Avenue, in a
neighborhood that was as diverse as any in America. Looking back, it was
amazing that we were so young, but so keenly aware of the fact that not all
people got along. And sometimes we acted out in the name of injustice. As
kids. In February of 1974, when Jimmy
and I were 8, and Fred was 11, we held a parade in honor of Hank Aaron, a
pursuit that I have written about before on this blog. Why? Because he was
about to break Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, but was receiving death
threats and hate mail on a daily basis.
But I have never
mentioned my encounter with Arthur Ashe.
 |
| Arthur Ashe, holding up his Wimbledon trophy after winning the tournament in 1975. |
Back in the late
1970’s, Ashe was better known simply as a tennis player. His status as a
humanitarian and cultural icon was still 10 years from becoming cemented in the
public discussion, and his passing would sadly occur 14 years later. But he was
a hell of a tennis player, and also an avid supporter of the National Junior
Tennis League (NJTL), a youth organization that happened to host a quartet of
teams that played and practiced at Ewald Park, which was the epicenter of our
youthful existence.
Anyhow, as part
of our tennis program, at the end of the summer, the different NJTL groups
got together at Rock Creek Park and were invited to a match at the Washington
Star Invitational. As memory recalls, I think we got to see Harold Solomon the
first year. But for the next year, 1979, it was rumored that Arthur Ashe would
be making an appearance to play an exhibition match.
And surely
enough Ashe appeared. Also, at a point during the day, for reasons that were
never made known to me, I was asked to volunteer to help with the program. As
it turned out, the exhibition match needed a couple of ballboys.
The chance to
spend some up close and personal time with such a legend and Wimbledon champ
made for a great day. My memories of it are foggy. Ashe won the match easily,
and I do remember feeling bad for the overmatched opponent because he was
simply being toyed with as Ashe played to the crowd with no look drop shots and
such. I’m sure he won the set 6-0. But he was very gracious after the match, staying
long afterwards to sign autographs and talk. I did manage to get him to sign a
ball from the match, as well as my Gilligan hat.
But it’s a bit
sad that I didn’t know what a legend he would become off the court in the last
years of his life.
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