The Roscoe Tanner Appreciation Society

[Your Hero]

I won't lie. I lied. My last thread wasn't my last thread. This is. Thank God!

Folks, stand up and be counted, commit a bare faced affrontery and support
your favorite tennis pro gone horribly wrong. Come join with me in,

THE ROSCOE TANNER APPRECIATION SOCIETY

Yup, there is only Roscoe. A late 70s geek with a haircut even worse than Connors.
He had a really big serve and was a really big jerk. After his playing days came to
an unceremonious end old Roscoe embarked upon a new career. Flim flam man.
Yup, Roscoe went over to the dark side and became a cheap, two-bit thief. Scam
after scam blew up in his stupid, immoral face and our hero left a trail of broken
hearts, busted families and lawsuits behind him. Never one to not run from a
responsibility he high-tailed it out of every crummy town this side of the Mississippi.

Eventually the law caught up with him and a shabby little cell became his new
home. Roscoe was not defeated however. You could take him off the streets but
you couldn't take the streets out of old Roscoe. He commenced to scamming his
cell block. Roscoe was low rent all the way. High maintenance and low rent. Proximity
to his toxicity was fuel to his fire. He'd kick a nun for a quarter.

I admire him immensely. He was committed to his craft.

Join the society and sing with me,

"I love Roscoe, you love Roscoe, we all love Roscoe, yes we do!"

No? Okay, screw it then.

 

[Shaolin]

He owes me $100.

 

[True Fanerer]

Liar!

 

[darrinbaker00]

He owes me $100.

Check's in the mail.

 

[ollinger]

My last thread wasn't my last thread. This is. Thank God

Amen to that!!

 

[Deleted member 742196]

Amen to that!!

Actually, I rather enjoyed this thread. Marks for style and wit.

 

[Deleted member 742196]

I won't lie. I lied. My last thread wasn't my last thread. This is. Thank God!

Folks, stand up and be counted, commit a bare faced affrontery and support
your favorite tennis pro gone horribly wrong. Come join with me in,

THE ROSCOE TANNER APPRECIATION SOCIETY

Yup, there is only Roscoe. A late 70s geek with a haircut even worse than Connors.
He had a really big serve and was a really big jerk. After his playing days came to
an unceremonious end old Roscoe embarked upon a new career. Flim flam man.
Yup, Roscoe went over to the dark side and became a cheap, two-bit thief. Scam
after scam blew up in his stupid, immoral face and our hero left a trail of broken
hearts, busted families and lawsuits behind him. Never one to not run from a
responsibility he high-tailed it out of every crummy town this side of the Mississippi.

Eventually the law caught up with him and a shabby little cell became his new
home. Roscoe was not defeated however. You could take him off the streets but
you couldn't take the streets out of old Roscoe. He commenced to scamming his
cell block. Roscoe was low rent all the way. High maintenance and low rent. Proximity
to his toxicity was fuel to his fire. He'd kick a nun for a quarter.

I admire him immensely. He was committed to his craft.

Join the society and sing with me,

"I love Roscoe, you love Roscoe, we all love Roscoe, yes we do!"

No? Okay, screw it then.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind it at all if you lied again about this being the last thread.

 

[Your Hero]

Personally, I wouldn’t mind it at all if you lied again about this being the last thread.

I won't lie to you. I do have another thread idea.
Unfortunately, it's all kinds of wrong. I'd probably get banned.

The title? "Bill Tilden's Sex Life!"

My one and only OP post? "I'm not touching this one with a 10 foot pole. You shouldn't either."

 

[Deleted member 742196]

I won't lie to you. I do have another thread idea.
Unfortunately, it's all kinds of wrong. I'd probably get banned.

The title? "Bill Tilden's Sex Life!"

My one and only OP post? "I'm not touching this one with a 10 foot pole. You shouldn't either."

It’s a deft touch when you begin these messages saying it’s a last lie. Or that you aren’t lying. Or intend on lying. Or will lie at some point in the unknown future.

Bill Tilden’s Sex Life might just be the post needed on this slow news day. I tried livening the place up with Swiss cereal, but it wasn’t titilating enough.

 

[hoodjem]

Better quit while you’re ahead . . . sort of.

 

[heninfan99]

Apparently he had an elbow injury which ended his career. I wonder if it had something to do with his motion.

 

[hoodjem]

Flim flam man.
Yup, Roscoe went over to the dark side and became a cheap, two-bit thief. Scam
after scam blew up in his stupid, immoral face and our hero left a trail of broken
hearts, busted families and lawsuits behind him. Never one to not run from a
responsibility he high-tailed it out of every crummy town this side of the Mississippi.

Not much to appreciate here.

 

[pc1]

Not much to appreciate here.

I did appreciate watching his serve which was one of the most impressive I've seen.

 

[hoodjem]

I did appreciate watching his serve which was one of the most impressive I've seen.

Yes, and I appreciated his 1979 Wimbledon final against Borg: edge of the seat watching.

 

[eldanger25]

Had a habit of chopping down big trees in big moments during their best years - Connors Wimbledon 1976, Borg US Open 1979 come to mind.

 

[jrepac]

I liked his game quite a bit.....the other stuff, not so much. You may recall that in the early 90's, Connors helped him out by bringing him onto the Seniors Tour, to earn some cash. But I think he wound up in jail not too long thereafter...non-payment of child support, I believe. Money is the root of many evils! And while not exactly the same, look at Borg and Boris? Financial meltdowns, each one of them.

 

[Steady Eddy]

He won $ 1.7 million in prize money. His big serve had to have gotten him much more in endorsements. He was invited to play exhibitions.

Wouldn't he have retired rich?

 

[Steady Eddy]

I liked his game quite a bit.....the other stuff, not so much. You may recall that in the early 90's, Connors helped him out by bringing him onto the Seniors Tour, to earn some cash. But I think he wound up in jail not too long thereafter...non-payment of child support, I believe. Money is the root of many evils! And while not exactly the same, look at Borg and Boris? Financial meltdowns, each one of them.

Says that Borg is worth $ 28.5 million. He should be able to get along on that.

 

[slipgrip93]

I happened to see an old documentary on wimbledon narrated by James Mason on hulu a few days ago. It featured a bit of a match between Connors and Roscoe Tanner. And wow, what a serve, kind of reminded me of Sampras bombing his serves away at wimbledon in his heyday. Curious, I looked up the web on Tanner. He's currently doing "zoom coaching" lessons and has a tennis camp in Florida. (or would one have to be concerned he might not show up for a (pre-paid) zoom lesson deal?)

Zoom Tennis Lesson with Roscoe Tanner — Roscoe Tanner Tennis Training

roscoetannertennis.com

 

[Frankc]

Great talent - great serve and really a solid talent. Ashe and he made a fine doubles team for many years.
Enjoyed your post for the credit to his talent ... then , I should have known better, the darkness and attempt at sly humor is the punchline. One of these days, I will understand the love of the darkness.

 

[atatu]

I actually saw him play in person about ten years ago at the Bocage tournament in Louisiana, he was wearing some Wal Mart tennis shoes and he lost to a rec player in the finals of his age group. It was kind of sad.

 

[JW10S]

I know someone who owns a few tennis clubs and decided to give him a chance and hired him as a teaching pro at one of his clubs. At the time Roscoe didn't even own a car, so the club owner lent him a car he owned to use. The club owner said Roscoe was great with the members and was very impressed with his teaching. Then one day Roscoe didn't show up. Turns out he took a job in another state but took the guy's car to get there. Roscoe was a guy known to have spent every dime he earned on tour, married several times, had multiple children and skipped on paying support--he had no idea how to handle money. I remember later he wrote bad checks to buy a boat he couldn't afford. He lived like the world owed him something. He is where he belongs.

 

[hoodjem]

Had a habit of chopping down big trees in big moments during their best years - Connors Wimbledon 1976, Borg US Open 1979 come to mind.

C'est vrai.