Billie Jean King - Portrait of a Pioneer
- Thread starter Tchocky
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breakfast_of_champions
Banned
i admire her as a player. thats about it.
FuZz_Da_AcE
Rookie
breakfast_of_champions said:
same here, shes no real pioneer...
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
I disagree. BJK is probably the single most positive person who's ever lived. According to her mixed partner for her Grand Slam victories, she's also the fiercest competitor he's ever played with, man or woman. What she did on the women's tour was basically legitimize it and forge it into a cohesive unit. She alone is responsible for professional tennis on the women's side. Had it not been for her charismatic personality, the tour would never have existed.
Chris Evert repeatedly said that the only person she feared on court was BJK. She said that BJK was the one player she could never look in the eye when they played. That's fairly impressive as it comes from probably the coolest competitor of her era.
I saw the second half of the special (I invested 3 hours watching Troy dammit!) and thought it was well done as well.
Chris Evert repeatedly said that the only person she feared on court was BJK. She said that BJK was the one player she could never look in the eye when they played. That's fairly impressive as it comes from probably the coolest competitor of her era.
I saw the second half of the special (I invested 3 hours watching Troy dammit!) and thought it was well done as well.
Progressive10s
Rookie
Billie Jean was great
I saw Billie Jean King play at the Longwood Cricket Club outside of Boston when I was young in the late sixties. She was a great talent. Without King's influence, the women would not be receiving equal purses at 3 of the majors with the exception of Wimbledon. Also, Billie Jean fight for equality made Title IX a reality. Women's sports on the collegiate level now receive more funding and scholarships than ever before. Billie Jean might not have been the best women's tennis player, but she has meant more to women's sports in general than any other athlete.
I saw Billie Jean King play at the Longwood Cricket Club outside of Boston when I was young in the late sixties. She was a great talent. Without King's influence, the women would not be receiving equal purses at 3 of the majors with the exception of Wimbledon. Also, Billie Jean fight for equality made Title IX a reality. Women's sports on the collegiate level now receive more funding and scholarships than ever before. Billie Jean might not have been the best women's tennis player, but she has meant more to women's sports in general than any other athlete.
lynnlovestennis
Rookie
I saw it. It was awesome. It had a strong potential to be cheezy, but they pulled off a nice piece. I think that HBO group has a future in tv! 
Late for a mtg, and don't have time to write more, but here's a post I wrote about it which includes a link to the trailer.
Late for a mtg, and don't have time to write more, but here's a post I wrote about it which includes a link to the trailer.
Being old enough to remember the time before Title IX (I recall the yearly budget for girls sports in my high school was about 5% of the whole sports budget) I am astounded by what BJK did for womens sports and am glad HBO did a good respectful show on Billie Jean. If I met her, I'd just want to say thanks. Great player, too - loved those lunging volleys!
Trivia question. Who was BJK's brother. He was an athlete that played a team sport at the highest level. Sport? Team? Any other details you know. At one time BJK cited to her brother who was a mid level pro in his sport and BJK decried how his salary (at the time) far exceeded hers.
mileslong
Professional
wow, exagerrate much? the only real thing i have an issue with regarding her is that she actually believes, i think, that women are mens equal on the tennis court. she actually thought her victory over 50 something bobbie riggs was legit...
the fact that women should make equal money as men in every sport is equally ludicrous. if womens tennis brings in as much money as mens tennis then pay them equally. but i guarantee you that womens pro basketball doesnt make as much money as the nba does, should these women make as much as the nba players? if not, then how can you say that women should make as much money as the men across the board? billie jean never addresses this issue just thats it so unfair blah, blah, blah, it doesnt make dollars and sense. if they bring in as much revenue then pay them equally, if not then dont, its that simple. there is no sexual discrimination in that...
you can also thank title IX for the cancelling of major mens programs like baseball at places like wisconsin and smu to name a few. these colleges are literally making up sports just to comply with title ix. nice, get rid of mens baseball you can have a womens lacrosse and rowing team. funny how mens programs especially football ends up footing the bill for all the womens sports which operate in a deficit. then you start cutting these mens programs out to add these stupid womens sports that no one has an interest in anyway. title ix was poorly written and the only thing that has really come from this has been the wnba, the women's world cup and the recently created women's world cup of softball. sad but true.
and if i might quote michael jackson, im glad that "billie jean is not my lover"...
mileslong said:
Wrong!Wrong!Wrong!
BJK knows dam well what her victory over Bobby Riggs was - a victory over a man that was much further past his prime than she herself was - but that it was a victory that gave a very large boost to the cause of women's tennis and to women in all sports. Her support of equal opportunity for women athletes and to equal opportunity for women in all endeavors does not translate to support of the proposition that women athletes in a specific sport are the equal to men athletes in that specific sport (but there might be some individual women in a sport who can beat some men in that sport).
And while Title IX has caused some problems and needs for adjustment in highschool and college athletics, it is resposible for the opening up of opportunities for women athletes that would probably have never come were it not for the legislation. Any inconveniences that have come with that have been worth the advances in womens sports that Title IX has led to.
I interviewed BJK once. A wonderful interview where we talked of Title IX, the FED cup (she was the coach then), team tennis both at the recreational level and the professional level. She is a fan of team sports and is in favor of tennis as a social sport where men and women play together and this translates into her support for the team tennis format. Her support of equal opportunity and equal rights has nothing to do with whether female athletes can beat male athletes. Only that, where government subsidies are involved, they should go equally to boys and girls.
Billie Jean King was one of the greatest women tennis players ever, and a person who has had an impact for good that few of us can ever hope to achieve.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
mileslong said:
You're wrong on both counts. Actually I don't exaggerate much. You've clearly never met the lady or been around her. And, she discounted the Riggs match. If you'd bothered to listen to her or read what she said in interviews. Riggs was the same age as her father so she fully expected to beat him.
breakfast_of_champions
Banned
Progressive10s said:
oh, so she's to blame.
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