Barbara Youel | Towpath Member | Contributor
The Outsider: A Memoir
by Jimmy Connors (HarperCollins, 2013)
Book rating:
A reader may wonder if behind Connors’ bad-boy outsider persona
is the underpinning for the tiresome and sometimes gratuitous expletives that
frequent these pages. Having said that
however, how can you not like a guy who loves his family, fierce competition
and yes, loves, really loves dogs? It is
no secret that Jimmy Connors came to tennis on the public courts of East St.
Louis, IL in the early sixties, a place and time which apparently shaped
his dogged (pun intended) determination to beat the odds of breaking into the
professional tennis world as an “outsider.”
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| Connors at the 1978 ABN Tennis Tournament holding his Wilson T2000 steel racket. |
The Outsider Image is Not New
Ancient Greek myths and other world literature give us
numerous examples of the plight of an outsider, one who is excluded or detached
from a particular group or community. This sense of exclusion (whether real or perceived) can have mixed
effects on not only the outsider, but on those around him (yes, males tend to
dominate this archetype). Think of Ponyboy in S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (1967) or Jay Gatsby from
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby
(1925) to name just two. This outsider attitude seems to be a life-long impetus
for Connors, as he endures tragedies and disappointments, yet prevails in the
end.
Mom and Two-Mom
Much of his ability to prevail both on and off the court he
credits to his mother Gloria, arguably the driving force behind Jimmy’s game,
and his grandmother, called Two-Mom.
“All my life she taught me - made me a world champion,” Connors said
upon his mother’s death at age 82 in 2007. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/sports/tennis/13connors.html?_r=0)
Gloria, a tennis pro in her own right, not only played the
game, but coached Hollywood celebrities Mickey Rooney and Errol Flynn. She also
taught regular youngsters from the East St. Louis neighborhoods. Pictures of Mom, Two-Mom, other family
members, coaches, competitors, and yes, those dogs Connors’ calls his
“shrinks,” considerably enhance this read.
Gambling, OCD, and other Dark Days
Connors spares no details and relates (amazingly so)
conversations held years ago surrounding his
compulsive gambling, his obsessive compulsive disorder (such as checking
multiple times if the house is locked for the night) and his admitted
womanizing while married to former Playboy
Playmate Patti McGuire and the near-loss of his family. To mixed reviews, Connors
seems to be forthright about both the happy and sad times with Chrissie Evert
“America’s Sweetheart.” Their brief
engagement in 1974 was called off, and details too personal and private should
simply stay that way and are therefore my choice not to fuel a painful matter.
“The Bad Boys of Tennis” et al.
What this memoir does fuel are his memories of battles with
the likes of John McEnroe, Arthur Ashe, Ivan Lendl, and Rod Laver, tennis
giants all, plus some entertaining experiences with “irrepressible
co-conspirators” Ilie Nastase and Vitas Gerulaitis. Connors relives many of these
classic encounters with characteristic passion and humor. Readers who enjoy the
details of these famous matches will not be disappointed. The reader feels the
young Connors’ utter drive to entertain and excel on court, yet sympathizes
with his current longings to be part of the game in some way. What’s a man in
his sixties to do?
Words to Play By
Who would argue with Connors, a former Number One in the
world, winner of 10 Grand Slams and 109 men’s singles titles? These are words we have heard before, but reinforced
by one of tennis’ best. Sound familiar?
1. The two key ingredients to tennis are preparation and
footwork.
2. “Confidence, aggression, strategy.” (from Mom and Pancho
Segura)
3. “Always expect the ball to come back, Jimmy,” said his
mom.
4. Practice like you play, play like you practice.
5. Keep your eyes on the ball.
Another early influence, Pop (Jimmy’s grandfather) conveyed
an important lesson:
“…no matter how prepared you are, there will always be
something going on, either on or off the court, that will take your mind off
your game. How I deal with that is down to me.”
These were surely words to live
by as Connors intersperses the drama of his matches with the drama of his off-court
life.
Inside/Outside
My sense is that most of us have been on the “outside” of something
from time to time. We may have experienced real or perceived feelings of not
quite belonging to a group whose recognition and approval we dearly craved.
This may be an unintended consequence of Connors’ memoir, to look inside
ourselves for our own “outsider” and how we manage those shifting boundaries. I’m
not sure how much of an outsider Connors really is, but for this memoir, the
metaphor works.
The Outsider: A Memoir is available at local
bookstores, public libraries, and online.
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