Roll Tide Everyone!

Back from a rare weekend off and now packed for a return trip to Montgomery, Alabama, for the 69th playing of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. Best event, start to finish, on our schedule and we can’t wait to get down there for a full weekend of tennis matches and fun activities. This year the tournament returned to an 8-team format for both men and women (16 teams total for all of you math majors). The men’s teams (and conference in parentheses) competing include Alabama/Auburn/South Carolina (SEC), Boise State (Mountain West), Princeton (Ivy), Rice (Conference USA), Texas Tech (Big 12) and Virginia Tech (ACC), A very solid field with South Carolina slotted as the #1 seed and Rice #2. The format this year is a little bit different from previous Blue Grays. There will be 1.5 matches played on Friday and Saturday. Meaning, on Friday morning, a full dual match will take place (doubles & singles). Later that afternoon, doubles of the second match will commence. On Saturday morning, singles of match #2 will be played, and then another full, dual match to close out play. So, all in all, three matches in two days. A great opportunity for us to play against a solid field of teams, outdoors, and at our home-away-from-home, Lagoon Park.

For over 60 years, some of the finest tennis players in the world have come to Montgomery to battle. How did this city come to host one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country? The answer lies in Montgomery’s “Mr. Tennis”– Jack Bushman. In 1949, Mr. Bushman, was the President of the Southern Lawn Tennis Association. He wanted to tie-in a world class tennis tournament to the prestigious Blue Gray football classic. He envisioned starting an event similar to the world renowned Sugar Bowl junior tennis tournament that is played in conjunction with the Sugar Bowl football game. He decided, however, the tournament should feature top college players rather than juniors.

Mr. Bushman was the captain of his tennis team at Louisiana State University. His memories of the excitement and color of college tennis was no doubt rooted in his decision to feature college players. For the first 30 years, the Blue Gray tournament was an individual contest rather than the present day team competition. It was also held at The Montgomery Country Club. In 1969, the site was moved to Huntingdon College for a few years until it was moved to the present locations of Lagoon Park and O’Conner Tennis Center.

During this time of individual competition, many of the finest college players in the country came to Montgomery to play the Blue Gray. Many of these players went on to become some of the top professional players in the world. A brief list of names include Stan Smith, Tony Trabert, Barry McKay, Chuck McKinley, Charlie Pasarell, Tim and Tom Gullickson, Kevin Curren, Steve Denton and Vince Van Patten. The tournament also featured exhibition matches by Pancho Gonzalez, Frankie Parker, Jack Kramer, and Bobby Riggs.

In 1983, Mr. Bushman went to the NCAA Championships and approached top college coaches about the possibility of changing the event to a team competition. They liked the idea as schools did not compete in any team events prior to the NCAA Championships. Thus, the tournament was reborn as a team event and remains so today. The BG has featured top programs as USC, Pepperdine (Coach Robbie Weiss participated at Blue Gray), Notre Dame, Harvard, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, as well as in-state favorites Alabama and Auburn.

The most unique feature of the Blue Gray is the southern hospitality it offers. Tennis fans across Montgomery open up their homes to all of the players. Life long friendships have developed between players/teams and host families which has been invaluable. The Crimson Tide are so grateful for the amount of time and effort these families provide each year. This support has also extended beyond Montgomery city limits and worked its way to Tuscaloosa as we have seen many of the families at our matches or tournaments throughout the year. As a result, Mr. Bushman’s legacy and spirit continue to live on at this great sporting event.

We will kick off the BG on Friday at 9am against the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Like us, “Va Tech” is a young team so the match should be very exciting. The Hokies leader, Jim Thompson, began his college coaching career at Alabama as a women’s assistant before embarking on his 25+ year career. He’s a super guy that I’ve enjoyed competing against, and quite frankly, simply just great hanging out with him and talking shop. This will be a regular dual match with the ‘clinch-clinch’ format in place. Once a team gets four points, the match will be halted. Following a break for lunch, we will then play half a dual match in the afternoon (opponent TBD). This ‘half’ will only entail the doubles portion of a match. The following morning on Saturday, we will complete the second dual match with six singles matches. We will then conclude the tournament with a third dual in the afternoon consisting of doubles to start and singles to finish. So, all in all, three matches over two days.

We challenge our faithful to get out their shakers, crimson and white clothing, vocal chords, face paint, body paint and a healthy dose of Bama pride and passion for a full weekend of outstanding tennis action. Come on down to Lagoon Park or stay tuned with the latest results by visiting www.rolltide.com or www.bluegraytennis.com.

See you in Montgomery and…

Roll Tide,

George