You meet a lot of interesting people and characters in tennis but I have to say playing on Longboat Key, Florida the last few years has taken it to another new level.
One of my doubles group friends told me he played with George Soros in Boston many years ago. Soros, the infamous financier, would hire a very strong college player to make up for his deficiencies of where there was no lack of abundance of. He was not a very nice person on the court, or off it.
Today my friend Jim dropped another bombshell – he played with Bill Cosby.
It happened in the 1970s in the Bahamas. Jim was done playing and was approached by none other than Sidney Poitier who was looking to set up a doubles match the following morning. Jim agreed and was surprised to see who was on the other side of the court with Poitier – Bill Cosby.
The match was on but it was not contested in good humor or friendly terms.
It turned out the match between two well-to-do blacks vs. two successful whites was a negative experience.
The standout memory of the match? “Bill Cosby was an ass****. He kept trying to hit me. I was good so he wasn’t able to hit me but he kept trying. He was nasty.”
Jim was and still is a very good player. In his heyday, the retired Wall Streeter with Bear Stearns was a USTA Eastern no. 1 ranked doubles player in the 35s.
One may surmise, Cosby realized he was out of his league and decided to be a headhunter. Today the once admired entertainer and actor is in jail for numerous sexual assaults on women.
The match may have been a disappointment, but maybe after the conversations over post match beers with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier was a bit more entertaning.
Photo by Henk Abbink.
Check out Scoop’s books Facing Federer, Nadal, McEnroe, Hewitt, Sampras on amazon!
Duke Carnoustie · April 29, 2018 at 2:35 am
Cosby is a real piece of work. Won’t admit any guilt at all after drugging 60 women. Just a piece of trash and now he’s a jerk on the tennis court to boot. Yet he made millions because NBC needed a black TV show and he became a star. Horrible story.
Scoop malinowski · April 29, 2018 at 6:37 am
Just imagine if Clint Eastwod or Mel Gibson did what Cosby did. The media attack machine would never stop. I encountered Cosby once at the Millrose Games at Madison Square garden In the late 90s and he was a sour faced unapproachable jerk. Opposite the character he portrayed on tv.
dan markowitz · April 30, 2018 at 6:55 am
Scoop, Duke,
You guys got a president who had multiple affairs with porn stars and Playboy bunnies, impregnated a few, and he’s never admitted to it either even though it’s been proven that his lawyer paid off at least one of these women. Please, try not to be so obvious with your double standards.
Mel Gibson was/is and absolute heel. You guys just love to take an example of a black man exhibiting bad behavior and crushing him. Cosby is obviously a bad guy. So is Trump. So is Gibson. Guess what that proves. Men both white and black can exhibit bad behavior. Why don’t you take examples of men like James Blake, Yannick Noah and Obama and also admit that there are black men who are paragons of society too.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 8:12 am
Dan, Bill Clinton is a rapist and the media attacked his rape victims. Trump is a great guy and he’s making America GREAT AGAIN. All the great things he’s doing – economy, stopping Korean war, beating Isis, jobs – and the media wants to talk about Stormy Daniels and fabricate Russian collusion. The democrats are spending millions to try to find any evidence of Trump doing bad while there is plenty of evidence of Hillary and Obama corruption and it’s ignored. And you want to talk about double standards. Nuts. Trump, Gibson are nothing compared to that scumbag Harvey Weinstein. How can you forget to mention Harvey Weinstein as the ultimate scumbag?
Dan Markowitz · April 30, 2018 at 9:02 am
Scoop,
I’m not going to get into a debate with you about Trump. If you think he’s doing a great job all I can suggest to you is the bumper sticker which I think sums up the Trump White House, “If you elect a clown, don’t be surprised when a circus breaks out.”
And yes, Weinstein’s a scumbag, and that’s my point, why single out Cosby when there’s been plenty of white men who have done equally reprehensible acts? And Bill Clinton never raped anyone. That was never proven. He might’ve had numerous extra-marital affairs, but he never had kids out of wedlock with another woman–while he was married–as Trump has done at least twice with Marla Maples and then this other woman. So please get your facts right and don’t blame everything on the media. Who’s version do you want to hear on matters? Trump’s who an inveterate liar or a trained journalist who has to substantiate with facts what she/he writes?
catherine · April 30, 2018 at 9:13 am
I thought we’d decided to stay off politics here.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 9:56 am
#MAGA
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 10:13 am
Interesting quote by G.K. Chesteron: I never discuss anything except politics and religion. There is nothing else to discuss.
catherine · April 30, 2018 at 12:13 pm
Scoop – I was brought up to obey the Golden Rule: Never discuss politics or religion at the dinner table or massive rows and acute indigestion will surely follow.
Chesterton probably made sure that no one other than himself had a chance to speak 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 12:52 pm
True Catherine, just don’t like to see double standard attack smear campaigns about our President who is making America great again despite non stop two years attacks and witch hunts by the media jackals. The deep state cabal is terrified of losing control. They fear Trump has the evidence of their crimes and betrayals of America.
Dan Markowitz · April 30, 2018 at 3:46 pm
Scoop,
I admire you. You live in a reality of your own design. The stock market has dropped precipitously recently with Trump’s utter incompetence in hiring Cabinet appointees and his policies on immigration, massive defense buildup, and fouling up clean air advancements, and the Paris Global Climate Accord along with the Iran nuclear arms suspension deal has been an embarrassment. His personal life, of course, is also a disgrace.
Now when it comes to tennis, Spadea once told me Trump although he thought he was a fine player, was also a klutz on the court.
Duke Carnoustie · April 30, 2018 at 5:03 pm
Good job Scoop on here. Keep at it. We will not be silenced.
Cosby, Weinstein and Bill Clinton are all terrible people. Hillary too by extension.
Trump doing a pretty good job but yes, some mistakes here and there but that’s OK since hes not a career politician and needs time to understand its dynamics. Still you can’t deny his greatness – they just had a rally in Michigan with thousands of people supporting him so he has plenty of support. I don’t care if he sleeps with porn stars in the white house, the important thing is the country is in good hands now and no more Obamacares and government programs being forced on the public with lower tax rates.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 8:26 pm
Dan we live in a world of truth vs propaganda – and you get your info from the most biased anti Trump media in world history. The lying crooked fake media has tried and failed to demonize and destroy Trump. The vast majority of American people no longer trust the fake media and Trump’s popularity and approval rating are higher than ever. Kanye West is breaking away from the lunatic left fringe and supporting his boy Donald Trump.
Scoop Malinowski · April 30, 2018 at 8:29 pm
Thanks Duke, for always having my back, much appreciated. Trump is a great leader, honest, blunt and tough. Shania Twain even came out and supported him but the rabid media jackals bullied her for her opinion and forced her to apologize. The rabid left wing media jackals can’t handle different opinions.
Dan Markowitz · April 30, 2018 at 8:30 pm
Let’s see what happens in the November mid-term elections. Paul Ryan resigns. The Republicans could be heading for a big fall.
Scoop Malinowski · May 1, 2018 at 8:44 am
Hewitt and Deminaur win over Venus/Klassen 64 64. Hewitt can be top 5 in doubles and win a major this year. Deminaur with an easy singles win yesterday.
Duke Carnoustie · May 1, 2018 at 11:23 am
Also one more political note that Trump may win the Nobel Prize for peace between the Koreas. He really is an amazing leader.
Duke Carnoustie · May 1, 2018 at 11:30 am
I never heard of Kanye West before but nice to see people leave the lunatic left.
Dan Markowitz · May 1, 2018 at 12:19 pm
Lets see what happens first, Duke, Trump gets the Nobel Peace Prize or he gets impeached. It seems with this interview Mueller wants to stage with Trump, which of course he won’t do after he said in the past he will do a sit-down interview with Muller, that Muller has Trump on both counts, collusion with the Russians to meddle with the elections and obstruction of justice.
Let’s see, almost every Trump appointee has either been indicted, resigned or fired by Trump. What a poor boss! He treats people like meat, especially all his ex-wives and Melania. He’s an embarrassment as a human being and especially as a president. He’s as corrupt as any Mafia boss and you can’t trust a word he says because everything he says is either a complete fabrication or blasphemous.
Nobel Peace Prize my left petunia! Go back to talking about tennis, Duke, at least you know something about that subject.
Duke Carnoustie · May 1, 2018 at 1:23 pm
Ouch I am insulted by the left! Par for the course from them. Why don’t you look up what the leader of Korea said about Trump and that he should win the Nobel Prize. Even the MSM has been reporting it yet you don’t know it Dan?
Trump has pushed all the right buttons on North Korea and the dear leader there is scared out of his wits. Now he wants to reconcile with the south. You have to credit the genius of Trump – too bad the left never thought of that idea of confronting our enemies. They were too busy protesting cops or organizing a gay rights rally to come up with an idea to thwart a nuclear power.
The United States is clearly safer today because of Trump. That is beyond dispute.
Dan Markowitz · May 1, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Don’t buy it Duke. North Korea will not give up their nuclear bomb program and it isn’t Trump who has made N Korea come to the bargaining table its decades of economic sanctions that have made its country bankrupt. Who was president when 9/11 occurred? Not a Democrat of Leftist. Trump has made this country more unsafe because he doesn’t have the backbone to do something about the tremendous gun problem in the US. There’s been more attacks in our schools since Trump became president than when Obama was int the WH. Trump has fostered discontent and violence inside our own borders while he rails against the Mexicans.
Scoop Malinowski · May 1, 2018 at 2:50 pm
Dan, when will Israel let inspectors see their nuclear arsenal? When will Israel give up their nukes? To demand Iran give up their nukes while Israel has hundreds of nukes is the height of hypocrisy. But that’s what you’re dealing with.
Scoop Malinowski · May 1, 2018 at 2:54 pm
Zero proof Trump doing anything with Russia but tons of evidence of Hillary and Obama colluding to rig the election against Trump but they still lost. Now the deep state is on a witch hunt to try to find anything on Trump while ignoring all the evidence on Hillary and Obama. Media manipulation works. How about the media ignoring the Allison Mack child trafficking sex cult based in Albany linked to Hollywood and DC, proving pizzagate pedofilia is real and a blackmail operation. Media ignores that and still focused on trying to destroy Trump. Wake up!
Scoop Malinowski · May 1, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Every single mass gun shooting is a staged operation by the evil left to try to take away guns. When the Vegas official narrative began to show holes the media wept it under the run. The lil bastard David Hogg was caught on one video screwing up his scripted lines. All inside jobs
Duke Carnoustie · May 1, 2018 at 3:38 pm
That’s right Scoop. The media has not to this day covered the child trafficking story and how Hillary is behind it.
If you don’t believe how biased the media is, look at this woman who insulted everyone at this White House dinner. That’s the real face of the left.
David Hogg is a proven fraud who the left tries to hold up who wasn’t even in the school. The good news is that gun sales go up with these staged shootings and the left will never take our guns away, try as they might.
Scoop how about the Nobel talk for Trump? Something else the left denies somehow.
Scoop Malinowski · May 1, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Duke, Trump could force world peace and force Israel to embrace Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and the media jackals would still crucify Trump and find ways to demonize him. The media is a weapon of the deep state cabal which has lost power and control to Trump who they do not fully control like they did Obama and would have Hillary. That’s the nutshell. Yes of course Trump should win the Nobel PP but the manipulators will rig it so he doesn’t win and give it to some other political puppet that spouts the new world order agenda.
Duke Carnoustie · May 2, 2018 at 12:33 am
Kanye West is really starting to understand. He said that slavery was a choice and the left is in another uproar. They think the can control every black person and Kanye is proving otherwise with free throught. An interesting development.
catherine · May 2, 2018 at 2:20 am
This is really funny – seems you 3 will go on shouting at each other until the end of time.
BTW – what you call the ‘left’ would be comfortably ‘right’ in the UK and many other countries 🙂
dan markowitz · May 2, 2018 at 5:47 am
Geez, in Scoop and Duke, we’re dealing with a couple of absolute crazies. Let me get this straight because I’m having a hard time with this, the Left stages these gun shootings in places like Las Vegas and Florida and kills hundreds of innocent people to try and take away the guns from good ol’ law-abiding citizens??!!
I guess Obama and Hilary and why don’t we throw in Barney Frank too while we’re at it to really indict all the Leftists, were in that hotel room in Vegas and the school in Florida shooting away and killing all those concert-goers and students??!!
Holy Batman! We’ve got a couple of crazies here coming up with these ridiculous conspiracy theories like Hilary is actually a child-molester!!?? Keep spinning your outrageous tales. Thank God, Bill Cosby came around and Duke loves to point out Donald Young’s failures too, to validate your racist and xenophobic cuckoo ideas.
Scoop malinowski · May 2, 2018 at 7:01 am
We have a history of false flag and black psy-operations and inside jobs to push an agenda. Look up the has Liberty. The left has an insane desire to disarm the public and will do anything to accomplish that end. The official narratives of all these mass shootings fall apart when you look at all the evidences. Dan you only look at what the fake news media wants you to see. Do some independent research.
Dan Markowitz · May 2, 2018 at 9:30 am
Where should I do this, Scoop, on alt-right web sites, anti-Israel web sites, and pro-white web sites? Nah, I’ll stick with the good ole New York Times, that failing rag as Trump loves to tell us even as he runs to do interviews with him. I know the reporters for the Times all are educated reporters and not crackpot big-bellied foul-smelling good ole boys living in a trailer somewhere. But thanks for doing that independent research for all of us Scoop and coming back and telling us that these mass-murder sprees in casinos and schools are all perpetrated by those bad Leftists.
Scoop Malinowski · May 2, 2018 at 10:31 am
All suspect. Independent investigators showed inconsistencies and gaping holes in the official narratives in each of the mass shootings. At one time I believed the media but a two hour doc on Sandy Hook woke me up. It’s on You tube. The motive and agenda are there and obvious for the left to do these events. They want to disarm the public. Do your research, dont’ trust the crooked fake media which told you Hillary was going twin the election. Trump has proven how biased and sinister the mainstream media is. The media has lost control of public thought in this country. A lot of people are awakened and a lot more are awakening.
Duke Carnoustie · May 2, 2018 at 2:06 pm
Me and Scoop are the only ones who really understand what is going on in the world on this site, methinks.
catherine · May 2, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Scoop/Dan
T-P is a good, interesting site and different from most of the others around but I admit I have a feeling that it’s in danger of disappearing. Not many people seem to come here regularly, and when we do, more and more it’s to find the kind of bilious conversation above. As I’ve said before, this stuff has little interest for those outside the US, and maybe also for those in the US who want to get away from endless exchange of contentious views. Seems no end to it.
There’s plenty in tennis to write about, and argue about and contributors here who are extremely knowledgeable.
Maybe when there’s more activity in the tournament world things will pick up. In the meantime I’ll keep looking in, hoping there’ll be some good stories and interesting comment.
Dan Markowitz · May 2, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Catherine,
I can understand your views. I don’t really want to engage in politics, but I just find some of the remarks made about Cosby here and Donald Young are offensive when Tennys Sandgren is considered a paragon of good virtue. I just can’t let it sit without commenting otherwise because is what Trump does, he spews lie after lie, and portrays it as the truth because of course, Trump has never done anything wrong, and I feel unless it’s addressed and contended, people begin to think what Trump says or Scoop or Duke say, is the truth when it’s usually bizarre.
I don’t post about these issues, but I will comment if I think Scoop has gone too far which he always does. He can’t help himself.
catherine · May 2, 2018 at 4:56 pm
Dan – I appreciate what you’re saying. I would respond to Scoop’s comments myself because they seem to me so outlandish and downright offensive, but I don’t want to add fuel to the flames and I’d like to steer clear of the whole political topic anyway. I’m concerned that other people will avoid the site because they might not feel happy with some of the stuff they read and won’t return. And T-P would just die. Which would be a pity.
Scoop Malinowski · May 2, 2018 at 7:04 pm
ATP pro on Trump on a Facebook Post about Trump deserving the Nobel Peace Prize: Michael-Ray Pallares I totally agree (Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize for how he handled the Korea situation)! As I travel abroad most of the year, I really try to explain to people how great Trump has been and not to rely on fake news the media portrays him to be. Really great to see how many people think like us.
Duke Carnoustie · May 2, 2018 at 10:50 pm
If this site disappears because it has the truth, it means the left has really taken over. Dan is trying to say that Scoop and me have been unfair to DY. It has been proven that DY falsified racism claims – that is becoming the norm these days. Yet there has been no outrage about it.
He is lucky the tennis tour did not suspend him because you can be damn sure if Harrison said something remotely considered racist, he would face a 6-month ban. Harrison was lucky there were witnesses.
All me and Scoop have done is call out DY and pointed out that Cosby is a piece of trash. There is a debate about this?
Dan Markowitz · May 3, 2018 at 12:12 am
Uh, you guys have said a lot more than just what you’ve spewed about Cosby and DY. Sccop is on a crusade it seems to spew all his political views on this web site and it’s not a political web site, it’s a tennis web site. Scoop and I started writing for Tennis Week Magazine and then their web site, and I can just imagine how much of a leash Gene Scott would give Scoop if he voiced what he’s voicing here on Tennis-Prose. A lot of people, not only myself, I’m sure find it unappealing downright ugly and I think we should all steer clear of it.
I’m not a big DY fan, never have been, but I’m not about to crucify him the Harry situation because in the heat of battle, things get misconstrued. I don’t hear Harry going around saying he’s still peeved over the DY situation so I think we should basically drop it too.
Scoop Malinowski · May 3, 2018 at 8:26 am
These arguments happen in the comments. We have a nasty battle in USA right now between the lying left and the right. It’s a bitter struggle for power. They want to take the country away from us and take it in their own direction but Trump winning shows it’s gonna be a fight. I would prefer we didn’t open the can of worms here on this site but America is such a powder keg right now, it’s very easy to ignite a firestorm with one false comment which needs to be countered so that lies don’t rule the land over the truth. Truth vs propaganda, fight to the death, I’m willing to fight to the death for what I believe in. Dan we haven’t even gone down a few steps down the rabbithole. There’s so much more that can be discussed regarding politics religion. Hopefully it won’t got there. Thank the good Lord Trump won, it surely was an act of divine intervention. God is Great.
Scoop Malinowski · May 3, 2018 at 8:33 am
For Young to lie about false racial accusation by Harrison is one of the most contemptible things that ever happened in pro tennis. And he has still not come clean on it. Look at how Hewitt was crucified by the leftist media for merely challenging what he thought was a black linesman cheating him to help Blake. Hewitt justifiably thought he was being cheated and challenged it, he did not use any racial slurs and insults. Yet the media crucified him for a long time for that. I remember CBS Jenna Wolf tried to hurt Hewitt in an on court interview on Ashe the following year by mentioning the incident, she tried to instigate racial discord one year later. Fans still brand Hewitt as a racist. Yet Young’s lies are all but forgotten now and never talked about by the media and they never will talk about it again. Free pass, black privilege?
catherine · May 3, 2018 at 9:14 am
Scoop, if you would prefer not to open cans of worms on this site, then don’t do it, or you will end up just talking to yourself and maybe a two or three likeminded souls. And where’s the fun in that ? What’s the purpose of preaching to the converted ?
I would guess no one will come flocking to T-P to discuss politics and religion. You’ll be shutting down comment, you won’t be talking to tennis followers and you’ll have to market your books, which are interesting and original, to an audience, if you have one, which won’t be remotely concerned with any of them.
Is that what you really want ?
Scoop Malinowski · May 3, 2018 at 9:29 am
Catherine, thank you. I wish we could all get along and we do. I like Dan but we ram heads on this for years. Tennis is important and we all love it. Sometimes things are more important. Wish we could draw a boundary and build a wall to keep out the divisive political talk but it keeps invading the site. We need to build a better and bigger wall to keep out the political talk? 🙂
Duke Carnoustie · May 3, 2018 at 12:09 pm
I suggest everyone read Scoop’s comments at 8:26 and 8:33 above because I could not have expressed myself more eloquently. I applaud Scoop for his work on helping others see the truth.
If you can’t understand what he is saying, I can’t help you. It’s there in plain English.
Thank you Scoop.
catherine · May 3, 2018 at 12:14 pm
Well, it’s different when you’re talking to people you know in person, who are friends who know you,and you can have a combative but friendly argument.
On a public website we don’t know each other, the interaction is different, and we have to be a bit more careful about how things might sound to someone else out there.
I started following tennis by accident and kept on because I found it a distraction from the state of the world, even when the game became a job. The best players do that which is why I like some more than others I suppose. So that’s a wall for me. Just sticking to the game.
catherine · May 3, 2018 at 12:17 pm
My above comment is a reply to Scoop, by the way. And my last words on this subject.
Scoop Malinowski · May 3, 2018 at 7:26 pm
Thank you Duke. We’ve only just begun to fight.