[tennisbiz] Re: Etiquette, prejudice and line calling

Bob, I think there is only one thing you can try to pass on to the players
in addition to telling them to call them like they see them. And that is
that life is not about the calls someone else makes but about the calls you
make. Bad things happen, sometimes as a result of the actions of another
person, sometimes for reasons we don't know. We can't control those things
but we can control how we respond.

The Jewish kid got screwed over, but it gave him lots of opportunities. He
might have come back the next year better than before. He might have
decided to play tennis for enjoyment the rest of his life, but to devote
his energies in High School to some other activity that has enriched his
life. And he might have learned to hold his head high, glad that he never
has to remember and regret being a low-life. Of course, maybe none of
these things happened, but he had some chances.
Looking back, it's not so much the bad things that happened to me that I
regret, or the good things that happened to me that I am happy about. It's
the things I did or didn't do when I had the chance. Teach the kids to
make the right calls and look at everything as an opportunity.



 
Received on Mon May 05 2003 - 20:15:26 CDT