Mystery Chart No 12 Revealed
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:18 am
This, I?m afraid will be short and sweet and I am going away for a few days and did not want to leave before at least giving some biographical details. I?ll let others note the astrology, all of which was, as usual, very good. Our native is tennis champion James Scott ?Jimmy? Connors. Now I may have missed this in the posts, but I don?t recall seeing mentioned the one part of the native?s personality for which he is best known, among tennis fans at least ? his fierce will to win and inability to give up on himself even in a hopeless situation. Famed boxing manager Angelo Dundee once said, while watching Connors play on TV, ?What a fighter I could have made him.? When asked how he could make a tennis player a fighter when he probably didn?t know the first thing about boxing, Dundee replied, ?I can teach him to box, but look at that killer instinct. You can?t teach that.?
Killer instinct was correct. Connors mercilessly pummeled aging Australian star Ken Rosewall in the Wimbeldon Final in 1974 and in the US Open Final the same year. He would also, until this year, hold the record for remaining the No. 1 player for the most consecutive weeks of any player since the ranking system began. Connors suffered a wrist injury late in his career and it was thought he was through. But a doctor watching him play saw him after a match and suggested a particular type of surgery. Connors listened and consulted his own physician about it. His wrist was subsequently rebuilt and Connors enjoyed a few more good years. His last hurrah came in 1991, where he played a spectacular, but excruciating match in the French Open losing to a much younger former French Open champion, Michael Chang (?Chang has two good things going for him,? Connors would later say, ?His legs.?) But he saved is best that year for the US Open. Although he would lose in the semi finals to Jim Courier, he played one spectacular match after another. The most thrilling was his come from behind victory against Aaron Krickstein in a match that literally brought the entire US Tennis Center to a standstill. Everyone at the tennis center who couldn?t get into Stadium Court stood outside watching the match on TV. Ladies? champion Steffi Graf wouldn?t start her match until she saw the outcome of Connors - Krickstein. Your humble servant recalls refusing to leave his chair in front of the TV for the nearly five hours it took to play the match.
While the tennis insiders might best remember Connors for his game, the general public best remembers him for his mouth. Connors could be just plain mean on the court, when he wasn?t being vulgar. His slightly younger contemporary and equal in the childishness department, John McEnroe, rarely sunk to Connors lowest levels of behavior, although at times he came close. A young Connors also could do some seriously stupid things like in 1977 the centennial of the Wimbledon tournament, he refused to join the parade of former champions assembled to celebrate the most illustrious of tennis tournaments, preferring to practice instead.
Connors turned pro at age 19 (summer of 1972). He quickly established himself as a maverick by refusing to join the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). He joined a rival organization and because of that in 1974 he was refused entry into the French Open. He won the other three majors that year and if allowed to play, had he won the tournament (something he would never do), he would have been the first man since Rod Laver to win all four majors in a single year. The feat has still not been accomplished since Laver did it (for the second time) in 1969. The following year, 1975, he would be runner up in the same three tournaments that he won losing a memorable final to then 32-year-old Arthur Ashe at Wimbledon. Ironically Connors was engaged in a lawsuit against Ashe at the time of their match stemming from the refusal of entry into the French open the previous year. Ashe was the head of the ATP.
At the personal level Connors was once engaged to American tennis star Chris Everett, but it was broken off. He had a stormy marriage that is still intact as a result of a persevering wife and perhaps his finally growing up.
Connors was taught the game and was coached for the longest time by his mother Gloria who passed away in January 2007. I have no idea what happened to his father.
Currently Jimmy has recently undergone hip replacement surgery and lives with his wife Patti. He has two children. His personality is what it is, and what it is, isn?t or wasn?t pretty. But he was a once in a generation, maybe a once in a lifetime athlete who wouldn?t quit, wouldn?t accept defeat, and never stopped trying to improve. Those are the qualities he best embodied and the ones people should attempt to emulate.
Killer instinct was correct. Connors mercilessly pummeled aging Australian star Ken Rosewall in the Wimbeldon Final in 1974 and in the US Open Final the same year. He would also, until this year, hold the record for remaining the No. 1 player for the most consecutive weeks of any player since the ranking system began. Connors suffered a wrist injury late in his career and it was thought he was through. But a doctor watching him play saw him after a match and suggested a particular type of surgery. Connors listened and consulted his own physician about it. His wrist was subsequently rebuilt and Connors enjoyed a few more good years. His last hurrah came in 1991, where he played a spectacular, but excruciating match in the French Open losing to a much younger former French Open champion, Michael Chang (?Chang has two good things going for him,? Connors would later say, ?His legs.?) But he saved is best that year for the US Open. Although he would lose in the semi finals to Jim Courier, he played one spectacular match after another. The most thrilling was his come from behind victory against Aaron Krickstein in a match that literally brought the entire US Tennis Center to a standstill. Everyone at the tennis center who couldn?t get into Stadium Court stood outside watching the match on TV. Ladies? champion Steffi Graf wouldn?t start her match until she saw the outcome of Connors - Krickstein. Your humble servant recalls refusing to leave his chair in front of the TV for the nearly five hours it took to play the match.
While the tennis insiders might best remember Connors for his game, the general public best remembers him for his mouth. Connors could be just plain mean on the court, when he wasn?t being vulgar. His slightly younger contemporary and equal in the childishness department, John McEnroe, rarely sunk to Connors lowest levels of behavior, although at times he came close. A young Connors also could do some seriously stupid things like in 1977 the centennial of the Wimbledon tournament, he refused to join the parade of former champions assembled to celebrate the most illustrious of tennis tournaments, preferring to practice instead.
Connors turned pro at age 19 (summer of 1972). He quickly established himself as a maverick by refusing to join the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). He joined a rival organization and because of that in 1974 he was refused entry into the French Open. He won the other three majors that year and if allowed to play, had he won the tournament (something he would never do), he would have been the first man since Rod Laver to win all four majors in a single year. The feat has still not been accomplished since Laver did it (for the second time) in 1969. The following year, 1975, he would be runner up in the same three tournaments that he won losing a memorable final to then 32-year-old Arthur Ashe at Wimbledon. Ironically Connors was engaged in a lawsuit against Ashe at the time of their match stemming from the refusal of entry into the French open the previous year. Ashe was the head of the ATP.
At the personal level Connors was once engaged to American tennis star Chris Everett, but it was broken off. He had a stormy marriage that is still intact as a result of a persevering wife and perhaps his finally growing up.
Connors was taught the game and was coached for the longest time by his mother Gloria who passed away in January 2007. I have no idea what happened to his father.
Currently Jimmy has recently undergone hip replacement surgery and lives with his wife Patti. He has two children. His personality is what it is, and what it is, isn?t or wasn?t pretty. But he was a once in a generation, maybe a once in a lifetime athlete who wouldn?t quit, wouldn?t accept defeat, and never stopped trying to improve. Those are the qualities he best embodied and the ones people should attempt to emulate.
? I wish I had seen tennis! When I made the ?strong interaction, spar or volley" comment about his ?L7 Mars in 2nd house trine MC and Mercury/Node in 10th by sign?, I was not thinking athlete exclusively. I was still considering athlete against a wide range of other possibilities for ?verbal volley? or strategic tactician such as a lawyer, debater, political activist, military, or talk show host hyping people to extremes. For example, I was somewhat weighing Martin Luther King who also has L7 Mars in the 2nd trine Merucry in 10th. My words were mere sports metaphors for all kinds of life activities. Keeping my eye on the ball (Moon?s nodes), per Tom?s initial post, I had not shot very far along on the profession. Even so, I?m not sure I would have ever wagered tennis. What a fabulous leap for you.