I received this photo in a group text with some college tennis friends this week. What memories!
This is from the spring of 1982, my sophomore year in college. Why are our sweatsuits cream and blue? I have no idea — the school colors are orange and black (tiger stripes, get it?). By my senior year, we had the appropriately menacing black sweats with orange stripes.
Front row, from left: Matt Pendo, Ken Katz, Me.
Second Row: Julie Munoz, team manager, future wife of guy of front row, Chris Robertson, Kevin Dowdell, Steve Feinberg, Coach David Benjamin
Third Row: Leland Putterman, Ted Farnsworth, Michael Bodden, Bob Frei, Bill Dwight
In most ways, this was my most rewarding tennis year. My senior year had some more euphoric highs but those were coupled withe more painful lows.
Why was this sophomore year uniquely rewarding 38 years ago?
Some highlights, though not necessarily in order of importance …
- Played #3 singles (behind the tall guys on back row, Farnsworth and Bodden) and went 7-1 in the Ivy League, only losing on clay (of course) to Columbia;
- Played #1 doubles with Steve Feinberg. We were an unlikely combination but an effective one, and we qualified for the NCAA Championships in Athens, Georgia, where we lost to a team from Duke;
- Met and fell in love with team manager Julie and by the end of the year realized we’d probably get married.