Posted on 08/25/2013 10:25:47 AM PDT by FlJoePa
"HELLO AGAIN EVERYONE, I'm Howard Cosell. We're delighted to be able to bring you this very, very quaint, unique event."
On Thursday night, Sept. 20, 1973, 50 million Americans, fatigued by Vietnam and Watergate, tuned in to see whether a woman could defeat a man on a tennis court. Dubbed "The Battle of the Sexes," the match pitted Billie Jean King, the 29-year-old champion of that summer's Wimbledon and a crusader for the women's liberation movement, against Bobby Riggs, the 55-year-old gambler, hustler and long-ago tennis champ who had willingly become America's bespectacled caricature of male chauvinism.
Before 30,472 at the Houston Astrodome, still the largest crowd to watch tennis in the United States, the spectacle felt like a cross between a heavyweight championship bout and an old-time tent revival. Flanked by bikini-clad young women, Riggs, in a canary yellow Sugar Daddy warm-up jacket, was imperiously carted into the Astrodome aboard a gilded rickshaw. Not to be outdone, King, wearing a blue-and-white sequined tennis dress, sat like Cleopatra in a chariot delivered courtside by bare-chested, muscle-ripped young men. Moments before the first serve, King presented Riggs with a squealing, squirming piglet. "Look at that male chauvinist pig," Cosell told viewers. "That symbolizes what Bobby Riggs is holding up. ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Yeah, it was kind of interesting at the time given Riggs had blasted Margaret Court off the court in the prior match.
I wonder if the match with King was fixed, never know for sure I guess. Still, I think Riggs was almost 25 years or more her senior which does not quite spell an even match as she was at her prime and Riggs was at best in his twilight.
The match was fixed before it began.
Riggs was limited to hitting a narrow court, while King was allowed the complete doubles court.
This was at the time that Cher was provided dialogue to upbraid Sonny each week, and Archie Bunker was portrayed to represent the views of Riggs generation. This was just the beginning of what has since expanded to a wider media campaign of “dhimmizing” the white male.
That’s now accurate. The doubles court was used for Navratilova vs. Connors, but not in the Riggs/King match. Urban legend.
Should read “not accurate” obviously.
I wonder who Riggs's, or his "friends'" money was on?
I think you have it correct, it was the beginning of a trend which has continued to this day is frankly POs me to no end.
5-2 is good odds, good money.
Having played the game for over 50 years, I remember the match well. Watched it live on TV that day. Billie Jean kicked Rigg's ass to a frazzle...BUT given Rigg's past actions, performances, associations, and life-style, nobody who knows the game would doubt Riggs "tanked".
Yes, but so was Margaret Court-Smith. I saw both matches. Riggs looked like he was dumping the match against King. It's one thing to lose, but he looked like he wasn't trying against King. Given Riggs's association with gamblers, it isn't hard for me to believe he threw the King match.
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