Running Is Only The Medium

I was recently asked by a couple or three publications/media outlets, as has happened every year for the past 4 years or so just before the particular anniversary of the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King which happened on September 20, 1973, for my recollections of same.

To explain, my father Robert’s sister Marion (my aunt) married John Riggs, the older brother of Bobby Riggs. And my Uncle John was Bobby's business manager. So in 1973, when I was but 14 years old, Bobby hired me to create a series of scrapbooks chronicling the events that led up to the famous "Battle of the Sexes."

For those readers under the age of 35, we old folks used to get our news by reading things called "newspapers" and "magazines.  And, there were service providers known as "newspaper clipping services" which would send articles from periodicals to whom ever wanted them (usually celebrities like Bobby who liked to read about himself). So I would receive at my home all of these articles, and I created 11 scrapbooks with indexes chronicling the series of events surrounding the "Battle of the Sexes." I am proud to say that one of these scrapbooks is now in the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

The reason I get asked to comment is that when this match was played, Bobby was 55 and Billie Jean only 29. So while Billie Jean continues to go strong, Bobby passed away quite some time ago, and his "camp" consisted of men around his age of 55 and me, who was 14 and then 15 (he called me "Kid" for obvious reasons). So I am the only member of Bobby's camp still around, as best as I can tell.

To state the obvious details: on Mother's Day in 1973 Bobby defeated Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 is a tennis match that was essentially a promotion for the Watt Companies' unveiling of their timeshare project San Diego Country Estates, in Ramona California. While somewhat publicized and written about, this match did not draw national attention. However. it did lead to the "Battle of the Sexes" a few months later in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, before a record crowd of 30,472 (I did not have to look that up, by the way) and over 50 million television viewers, which at the time was the largest crowd ever at a tennis match, and the largest TV audience ever for a tennis match.

But beyond that, the match was played in the context of the "Women's Liberation" movement, which movement had no bigger champion and advocate than Billie Jean King. And there existed no man more chauvinistic than Bobby Riggs. So as far as tennis goes, it was serious business. But the sociological implications were even greater, which I did not and probably could not comprehend at that time. Billie Jean of course destroyed Bobby, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. (And I got ~o meet Jim McKay and Howard Cosell!)

Over the next few years, the popularity of tennis exploded, and it grew to becoming the sport that more women played than any other sport. But now, the most popular women's participant sport is running.

So to put this in at least some context 37 years later, and to bring running at last into this commentary (which is supposed to be about running), on October 17 there will be 20,000 women running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco (well, 98 % of the runners will be women, it is after all San Francisco... ) and another 15,000 or so women will be among the 30,000 runners at the Long Beach Marathon on the same day.

That's 35,000 women runners just here in California, running a real long distance on the same day. But in 1973, women could not enter or run the Boston Marathon. And in 1973, women could not enter or run the New York City Marathon. And in 1973, most private tennis and golf clubs were limited to men only. And it of course goes on.

So, now I understand that in the "Battle of the Sexes," tennis was only the medium through which the events occurred. This event was in fact 50 % carnival and 50 % sociological event: in my opinion, the most important sports sociological event in the history of this country. Because from this event, women started played tennis, and women started running, and events opened up to everybody, as did tennis clubs and golf clubs and private clubs and so on. And Title IX became a part of college athletics. And high schools started fielding girls teams. But the "Battle of the Sexes" was the first event that gained national (actually international) recognition, and of course Billie Jean kicked Bobby's you know what.

This is important to me for 2 reasons. First, my middle child Mia graduated high school early, and left home at the age of 17 to move to San Francisco to pursue a career as a high-fashion model. So it is really important to me that my daughter Mia can be treated as an equal to all other men and women and children on this planet, and in her profession, and in her community.

Second, I am co-founder of the Move Your Feet Before You Eat Foundation, which sponsors 2 large North County of San Diego running events: The Oceanside Turkey Trot and the Vista Strawberry Festival 5k. Our motto is "Move Your Feet Before You Eat."

I helped create this Foundation in appreciation for what running has meant to me (and by the way, I used to compete as a tennis player gaining a # 1 ranking in San Diego County in 1997 in the 4.5 division), because I only became a runner at the age of 46~ after taking up running to get my body back in shape after going blind at the age of 43 and thus being inactive for about a year and a half while I had 6 eye surgeries).

Our Foundation was created with the general purpose of promoting health and well-being through incorporating regular physical fitness into daily life, utilizing education, special events, and instructive coaching. But it became abundantly clear, given the locations of our 2 running events, swzq3aS@~athat our efforts should especially focus on children up through grade 12. And then it became even more clear that girls and young women from 6th through 12th grades were the population in most need of our resources. And that is because in the communities where we hold events, there is a long history of teenage pregnancy and unmarried mothers. And the effect of this on women, and men, and children, and communities is undeniably not positive in the aggregate.

Our Foundation has since created the video "Dream Big" in both English and Spanish, which is an inspirational video that features 6 unique, happy, healthy and accomplished women who have used running to help them reach their goals and become extremely productive members of their communities. You can view "Dream Big" at www.kinaneevents.com.

So in looking for words to put this story, which covers 37 years, into some meaningful place and context, I was struggling with my conclusion. And as so often happens, fortune smiled and a friend sent me an email about the work that the Buffet family is doing through their NoVo Foundation, which article's headline is "Peter Buffett's Foundation Gives Millions to Girls." And this quote says it better than I ever could muster, so here is what all of this has to do with tennis, running, life and being productive in one's community. From Jennifer Buffett:

If you empower adolescent girls who are the mother of every child yet to be born - if they have more resources, better health, more empowerment, more of a role in their communities, decision making, they can delay marriage and become better educated - they have so much more to offer their sons and their daughters in that next generation.

I cannot top that: I can only hope to help somehow. So pass me if you can (And Move Your Feet Before You Eat)!