Little Tidbits From Cooper

Sometimes our friend, Cooper, drops in with some things that he has heard around the tennis officiating world. Here are some he shared with us today:

* Seems that our indefatigueable HERB TAYLOR was doing a match recently and couldn't stand the music they were playing during the warmup. In his exhuberance to save his eardrums, he put in some trusty ear plugs. When he made the pre-match announcement he asked the players if they were ready to play--when they seemed ignore him, he became a tad irritated. Finally one of the girls in exasperation yelled at him and he finally realized: HE STILL HAD THE EAR PLUGS IN.

* Seems that our own beloved, KEVIN HOLMES, was doing a men's match against VCU and was not incurring the love and appreciation of the VCU player. After an overrule, the player looked at Kevin and said, "I want to say this as diplomatically as possible so as not to offend you, but I have been doing this for four years and you are absolutely the worst official I have ever had." Kevin shed the appropriate crocidile tears and then completed the match without much love and appreciation.

* During a recent SMU men's match, our normally cultured and refined BILL JESBERG was preparing his court for his doubles match. In his pursuit of perfection he managed to turn over the entire water container underneath the officials chair and delude the court with 10 gallons of water. After a brief delay in which the assistant coaches of SMU and various other officials cleaned the court, Bill was able to resume his duties in fine fashion.

* Another interesting note for our always viable HERB TAYLOR. During a cold cold Dallas day, he could be seen in the chair for an SMU match in his overcoat, toboggan, and and head completely covered except for his eyes. Made quite an imposing sight!

* Sometimes there are events that cause us to pause and pray for healing for those involved. In a recent Baylor men's match in which the always on the scene, CHUCK SCOTT, was the referee he was called to the court by an irate coach. Chuck was quick to spring into action but alas, he was slowed due to the fact he had recently strained his hamstring and was walking very slowly with a cane. It was indeed quite a sight to behold Chuck struggling to reach the screaming coach with his hair streaming in the wind, huffing and puffing from the ordeal, and trying to look official during the whole episode.

* A somewhat humorous event occurred for our own, DON BRANDY, during a Baylor men's match. Seems that the VCU player screamed "shit" and everyone in Waco heard him except Don. Not to be outdone, Don called the player to the chair and said, "what did you say?" Of course, the sinless VCU player replied, "I said nothing." The look on Don's face was surpassed in excellence only by the referee, Chuck Scott, who was standing courtside.