Tennis, 1972

Stan Smith led the U.S. team to victory over Romania in the 1972 Davis Cup finals. This article in the Times tells the fascinating story. I like this picture because Stan is swinging a Wilson Jack Kramer, the racquet I was using as a 14-year-old at that very moment in time. I still have it in my garage, strings intact and ready for action (well, first I might wrap some tape around the moldy grip). Not long thereafter we all went metal, with the Wilson T2000, perhaps the ugliest tennis racquet ever made, leading the pack. (It even sounded ugly, with the sweet spot registering an unpleasant "clank" rather than a satisfying "thwok.") I ended up playing for a while with an aluminum and plastic job, made by an obscure company I can no longer recall the name of. Wish I'd hung onto that one too.