US journalist and sportscaster (1929?2016)
Bud Collins
|
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Collins in May 2008
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Born
| Arthur Worth Collins Jr.
(
1929-06-17
)
June 17, 1929
|
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Died
| March 4, 2016
(2016-03-04)
(aged 86)
|
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Occupation(s)
| Sports
columnist
TV commentator
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Arthur Worth
"
Bud
"
Collins Jr.
(June 17, 1929 ? March 4, 2016) was an American
journalist
and television
sportscaster
, best known for his
tennis
commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen.
Education
[
edit
]
Collins was born on June 17, 1929, in
Lima, Ohio
, and was raised in the
Cleveland
suburb of
Berea, Ohio
,
[1]
where he graduated from
Berea High School
in 1947. Collins graduated from
Baldwin-Wallace College
, where he was a member of the
Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity. After his
U.S. Army
service, Collins attended graduate school at
Boston University
. He drove the 700 miles from Lima to Boston with "The mission: convince Boston University to let him study journalism. The promise: if accepted, he would be an excellent student." However, Collins did not graduate from the
College of Communications
until 2009.
[2]
From 1959 to 1963, Collins served as tennis coach at
Brandeis University
, where one of his players was future political activist
Abbie Hoffman
. Collins said about Hoffman: "We didn't like each other, but he was a good competitor. He also had a better car than I did."
[3]
At the time of Collins' death in 2016, the 1959 team was the only undefeated tennis team in Brandeis history.
Career as a journalist
[
edit
]
Collins began writing for the
Boston Herald
as a sportswriter while a student at Boston University. In 1963, he moved to
The Boston Globe
and began providing tennis commentary for
Boston's
Public Broadcasting Service
outlet
WGBH
.
[4]
From 1968 to 1972, he worked for
CBS Sports
during its coverage of the
US Open
tournament, moving to
NBC Sports
in 1972 in time for its
Wimbledon
coverage. He also teamed with
Donald Dell
to call tennis matches for PBS television from 1974 to 1977.
Collins covered numerous sports, athletes and teams for
The Boston Globe
, including the
Boston Red Sox
during their
"Impossible Dream" 1967 season
.
[5]
During Collins' years with
The Boston Globe
, he was a general and political columnist and also wrote for the paper's travel section. In 1967, he became a candidate for the office of mayor of Boston.
During the
2007 Wimbledon
tournament, Collins announced that NBC had declined to renew his contract after 35 years with the network.
[6]
He insisted that did not plan to retire and would continue to cover tennis for
The Boston Globe
.
[7]
Fellow
Boston Globe
sportswriter
Bob Ryan
ridiculed NBC's decision on ESPN's
The Sports Reporters
. Ryan said that the 78-year-old Collins "still has his fastball" and praised the
Boston
Globe
for retaining Collins.
Collins was hired by
ESPN
on August 7, 2007. He teamed with former NBC partner
Dick Enberg
on the
network's
Wimbledon, US Open,
French Open
and
Australian Open
coverage.
[8]
He also covered the US Open for
XM Satellite Radio
.
In 1999, Collins received the
Red Smith Award
, the nation's most prestigious sportswriting honor, awarded by
Associated Press
Sports Editors.
Collins was inducted in the
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame
in 2002.
Collins is credited with popularizing the term '
Bagel
', referring to a set in tennis that ends with a score of 6?0, after it was coined by
Harold Solomon
.
[9]
Playing career
[
edit
]
Although Collins described himself as a "hacker," he was an accomplished tennis player. He won the U.S. indoor mixed-doubles championship (with
Janet Hopps
) in 1961, and was a finalist in the French senior doubles (with
Jack Crawford
) in 1975.
Other activities
[
edit
]
Collins authored several books, including
The Education of a Tennis Player
(with
Rod Laver
, 1971),
Evonne! On the Move
(with
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
, 1974) and a memoir,
My Life With the Pros
(1989). He also produced several tennis encyclopedias, including
The Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis
, the
Bud Collins Tennis Encyclopedia
and
Total Tennis
.
In 1992, Collins hosted the 116th annual
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
on the
USA Network
.
[10]
In 1994, Collins was elected to the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
.
Collins' trademark unusual bowties and pants were custom-made from unique fabrics that he collected during his travels. According to Collins' website, all of his pants were fashioned by tailor Charlie Davidson at the Andover Shop in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
. In 2006, he made a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "
Spellingg Bee
" for the television show
Psych
.
His papers and manuscripts are housed currently at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at
Boston University
.
[11]
In September 2015, in recognition of his years of service to tennis, the media center at the US Open Tennis Center was named the Bud Collins Media Center.
[12]
Death
[
edit
]
Collins died on March 4, 2016, at age 86 in his home in
Brookline, Massachusetts
.
[13]
On the news of his death, fellow journalists praised Collins.
Boston Globe
columnist
Dan Shaughnessy
wrote: "If you ever met Bud, you know he was brilliant, clever, generous, funny, knowledgeable, and irreverent. If you never met Bud...I am so sorry. You missed out."
[5]
USA Today
columnist
Christine Brennan
, who had covered numerous tennis events with Collins, said: "He loved events, he loved people, he just loved everything. There wasn't a better journalist, there wasn't a nicer guy, and there wasn't a better friend than Bud Collins."
[13]
Many in the tennis world spoke of Collins' impact on the game.
John McEnroe
said: "He was certainly a character, and in a sport like ours, it's pretty evident that we need more of those these days. He was someone who loved tennis, lived and breathed it, and we don't have enough of those people, either."
[13]
Billie Jean King
remarked: "Few people have had the historical significance, the lasting impact, and the unqualified love for tennis as Bud Collins. He was an outstanding journalist, an entertaining broadcaster, and as our historian he never let us forget or take for granted the rich history of our sport."
[13]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Laver, Rod
; Bud Collins (1971).
The Education of a Tennis Player
.
Simon & Schuster
.
ISBN
0-671-20902-7
.
- Collins, Bud; Rod Laver (1973).
Rod Laver's Tennis Digest
. Follett.
ISBN
0-695-80387-5
.
- Goolagong, Evonne
; Bud Collins (1975).
Evonne! On the Move
. Dutton.
ISBN
0-525-10115-2
.
- Collins, Bud;
Zander Hollander
(1980).
Bud Collins' Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis
.
Doubleday
.
ISBN
0-385-13093-7
.
- Collins, Bud (1989).
My Life with the Pros
. E.P. Dutton.
ISBN
0-525-24659-2
.
- Collins, Bud; Zander Hollander (1994).
Bud Collins' Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis
. Gale Research.
ISBN
0-8103-8988-6
.
- Collins, Bud; Zander Hollander (1997).
Bud Collins' Tennis Encyclopedia
(3rd ed.). Visible Ink Press.
ISBN
1-57859-000-0
.
- Collins, Bud; Zander Hollander (1998).
Bud Collins' Tennis Encyclopedia
. Gale.
ISBN
1-57859-086-8
.
- Collins, Bud (2003).
Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia
. Sports Media Pub.
ISBN
0-9731443-4-3
.
- Collins, Bud (2008).
History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopaedia and Record Book
. New Chapter Press.
ISBN
978-0942257700
.
- Collins, Bud (2010).
The Bud Collins History of Tennis
(2nd ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press.
ISBN
978-0942257700
.
- Collins, Bud (2016).
The Bud Collins History of Tennis
(3rd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press.
ISBN
978-1-937559-38-0
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Schudel, Matt (2016-03-04).
"Bud Collins, colorful Hall of Fame tennis commentator, dies at 86"
.
The Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
2016-03-05
.
- ^
For Bud Collins, Tennis Is a Love Game A journalist now synonymous with the game is honored tonight
, Boston University.
- ^
Jackson, Donald Dale. "Bald Facts from the Boston Hacker,"
Sports Illustrated
, April 5, 1976 (article begins on page 40).
Retrieved December 17, 2020
- ^
Bud Collins Speaking at BU Tonight
- ^
a
b
Shaughnessy, Dan (2016-03-05). "Beloved Collins wrote the book".
The Boston Globe
. pp. 1, Sports.
- ^
Michael Hiestand (July 5, 2007).
"Collins will call final Wimbledon for NBC"
.
USA Today
.
- ^
Larry Stewart (July 9, 2007).
"Collins makes exit from NBC"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
"Collins and reunited with Enberg on ESPN's tennis coverage"
.
ESPN.com
. August 7, 2007.
- ^
Bodo, Peter.
"Bagel, Anyone?"
.
Tennis.com
. Retrieved
4 September
2022
.
- ^
"Search Results"
. February 10, 1992.
- ^
Contemporary Collections
Archived
October 13, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"U.S. Open media center to be named in honor of Bud Collins"
.
ESPN
. August 5, 2015.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Whitmer, Michael (2016-03-05). "Loss mourned by tennis world".
The Boston Globe
. pp. 1, Sports.
External links
[
edit
]
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