McEnroeisanartist
Hall of Fame
Just wondering if anyone has a good McEnroe story, whether it be, meeting the man himself, seeing him in a tournament, or even watching his divinity on TV.
Mine is:
In the summer of 2000, I saw John McEnroe play at the Nuveen Masters Series event in Grant Park, Chicago. The year before he lost to Henri Leconte and threw several vintage displays of pure wrath. On this night though against John Lloyd, attention was brought to his sublime play that was almost reminiscent of his peak year, 1984. Teasing Lloyd with deft angles and a plethora of spins, McEnroe overwhelmed his awe-inspired opponent. McEnroe won 6-4, 6-4, although from the fan's perspective it wasn't that close. Wearing a shirt that was homemade, titled "John McEnroe's Top 10 Outbursts," (No. 2: Answer the Question Jerk, No. 1: You cannot be serious - chalk flew up.) I ventured down to the court, where McEnroe was packing up his bags and signing a few autographs. Nervous like I had never been in my life and feeling a presence of an individual whose persona and immortality was awesome, I had McEnroe sign my shirt. He did a double take, and uttered, "i didn't say that." Giving it a moment's though, he looked the shirt over again, and realized he actually had, and chuckled in amusement. Impressed by the shirt and the potental popularity of the item, as he knew is one of the few figures who transcends their sport, he pointed me in the direction of his agent at IMG, Gary Swain. Swain gave me and my friend his business card and asked that we send two of the t-shirts to McEnroe. He mentioned the possiblity of marketing and selling them at the U.S. Open later that summer, however, it sadly never came to fruition.
Mine is:
In the summer of 2000, I saw John McEnroe play at the Nuveen Masters Series event in Grant Park, Chicago. The year before he lost to Henri Leconte and threw several vintage displays of pure wrath. On this night though against John Lloyd, attention was brought to his sublime play that was almost reminiscent of his peak year, 1984. Teasing Lloyd with deft angles and a plethora of spins, McEnroe overwhelmed his awe-inspired opponent. McEnroe won 6-4, 6-4, although from the fan's perspective it wasn't that close. Wearing a shirt that was homemade, titled "John McEnroe's Top 10 Outbursts," (No. 2: Answer the Question Jerk, No. 1: You cannot be serious - chalk flew up.) I ventured down to the court, where McEnroe was packing up his bags and signing a few autographs. Nervous like I had never been in my life and feeling a presence of an individual whose persona and immortality was awesome, I had McEnroe sign my shirt. He did a double take, and uttered, "i didn't say that." Giving it a moment's though, he looked the shirt over again, and realized he actually had, and chuckled in amusement. Impressed by the shirt and the potental popularity of the item, as he knew is one of the few figures who transcends their sport, he pointed me in the direction of his agent at IMG, Gary Swain. Swain gave me and my friend his business card and asked that we send two of the t-shirts to McEnroe. He mentioned the possiblity of marketing and selling them at the U.S. Open later that summer, however, it sadly never came to fruition.
:mrgreen:
