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Lou Noritz Loves “Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew”
10 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
So I get to the grounds of the Newport Hall of Fame on Wednesday and I run into Greg and Fabrizio of the ATP, we’re chatting on the path between the stadium and outer courts and Lou Noritz is waving his arm trying to call me over. I can’t leave just yet to talk with Lou who then joins us. Turns out Lou is trying to tell me he loves my Rios book which he bought the day before…
Noritz, a super fan of tennis who attends US Open qualies and the Newport event for a few days every year, had this to say about the book: “The topic is perfect. The title is perfect. Rios was one of the most unique players in the history of sport. A man we barely knew. You want to know why we barely knew him, you read this book. This book is history. This book is unique. And this book is about a player who is so unique, from the past, for the future, that you will never probably ever see again. And Scoop got the right scoop because he got his information from the horse’s mouth – players, coaches, fans – of something that is incredibly unique. From a player that had the talent of a John McEnroe and Roger Federer. But he got injured a lot to cut his career short which is good because that’s what he deserved. And all the ATP players should read it because they take long, boring flights. Rios is part of the history of tennis. He was a unique situation that Scoop really dug into deep. Way to go Scoop!”
Lou also suggested that the ATP should promote the book.
"Rios was one of the most unique players in history"
Eelco · July 13, 2012 at 8:53 pm
In my humble opinion Miloslav Mecir was even more unique.
Scoop Malinowski · July 14, 2012 at 12:40 am
How so Eelco? Mecir was before my time of following tennis. The you tube clips I’ve seen of him reminds of Karel Kucera, kind of robotic and mechanical, Rios seemed more fluid and artistic. Plus the personality of Rios was very very interesting and different )
Michael · July 14, 2012 at 5:18 am
Being a nasty douchebag is not really that interesting or even by itself a personality. It’s just being a nasty douchebag.
Jeff Tarango had an interesting personality. Do you mention in your book the time Tarango beat Rios on the Grandstand and then gave a hearty FY finger to the Rios cheering section. Because that was a great Rios tennis moment. And it’s not even his moment.
Dan Markowitz · July 14, 2012 at 10:20 am
Now that does sound interesting. Were you there, Michael? How does the great Rios lose to an also-ran at the USO in the grandstands. How did Tarango take Rios down? Tell more…
Scoop Malinowski · July 14, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Yes I interviewed Jeff Tarango for the book and he actually said that match vs. Rios on grandstand was the best he ever played in his life. He said it was even one set each and he was down in the third then he decided if I want to win this match I have to start bombing second serve aces – and that’s just what happened, everything he served was 100% and they went in. And he just got in a zone. And won the match in four sets. He said after the match he and Rios kind of bonded. Great story. Tarango said tennis is funny like that how it can bring two fierce competitors together like that. Tarango said Rios was the sort of guy who picked his friends, you only became friends with him if he picked you.
Michael · July 15, 2012 at 3:28 am
Yes, I was there.
But Scoop could tell you more than I at least JTs recollections.
I do remember the charged atmosphere. They used to schedule JT late in the day because though you may think him an “also-ran” he could draw a decent USO crowd due to his rep at the time of being “colorful.” Plus Rios. So that match was played on the Grandstand which was the #2 court back then.
The crowd had a small but very vocal Chilean chanting, annoying the heck out of Tarango section. And after he won Tarango let them know what he thought of their behavior. Made an impression on me.
Tarango had a bit of JMac in him and seemed to be one of those players that could play better when angry at something or someone.
Scoop Malinowski · July 15, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Michael I’m going to copy and post Tarango’s words about this match and Rios later. By the way, Tarango won this first meeting with Rios but Rios won all four of their future meetings. )
Dan markowitz · July 15, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I was going to say, if Crazy T beat Rios in a big match on grandstand, how good could Rios be. Good to see Rios righted that wrong.
I have a good Tarango, Johnny Mac, Coomors story. I was working on a Mac Connors piece a while back and Tarango, who was on his last legs on tout, challenged Mac to a 50,000 winner take all match. When I told Connors about the proposed match, he said, “I’ve got 50,000 laying around the house. I’ll take on the winner.”
Andrew Miller · July 15, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Mecir was great – great tactician. Rios more up tempo – he could really do anything. Such a huge serve for a player on the small side.
Tarango – man, I saw him play Courier in person in Miami, 1994. Tarango killed him in set 1, so much so that my relatives thought man, this Tarango guy could go all the way! He was serving bombs and all over the net, picking on Courier’s backhand “mercilessly”. Even made me think sheesh, Courier really HAS NO BACKHAND!
Another in the category of brilliant lefties with not much to show for it. Lefties just aren’t doing well on tour, at all. Verdasco, FLopez – that’s it (Nadal aint no lefty).
Scoop Malinowski · July 16, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Interesting insights on that Tarango-Courier match Andrew. Add Ruben Bemelmans as another talented lefty who hasn’t yet distinguished himself on the ATP tour. We all met him up in Newport where he played and impressed us by taking Harrison to 64 or 75 in the third set. I saw him play last year. Plays similar to Lopez. Nice game, we all loved it. Nice guy too I did his Biofile up there and will post it this week. He’s in Atlanta now and he won two quali matches, needs one more to make main draw.