Posted on 04/10/2020 6:48:32 AM PDT by Libloather
“The day of the match, you might feel a slight sting.”
It had to be rigged from early on.
Riggs had destroyed Margaret Court in the first match. There is no way that Billie Jean King would have agreed to be embarrassed by Riggs if she didn’t know the outcome.
BTW, Court was ranked ahead of King at the time. I have a book by Rod Laver. In it he states flat out that the matvh was rigged.
Having said that, being able to hit to your opponents doubles court is such an advantage that it really could have been a fair game, but it wasn’t.
Surprisingly there were lots of bets on the outcome.
I can’t believe people were that dumb, it was fixed from the start, they might have well been betting on pro-wrestling.
Tennis played with a Pro Wrestling Script. Entertainment. ESPN is getting desperate for content. Expect a retrospective report on David v Goliath soon.
Of course it was a racket, it was tennis after all...
No need to become unstrung.
I have a low-grade case of nausea that flares up every time someone mentions this sideshow as some great, seminal moment in women’s athletics.
Even Billie Jean King herself has jumped onboard the ‘Title IX Big Bang’ Bandwagon and pretends it’s anything more than what it was - a farce. A circus. A spectacle. A vintage 70s distraction on a par with Evel Knievel and All-Star Anything Goes.
Unfortunately, it still makes those PC lists favored by ESPN and others in which Jackie Robinson gets mentioned for the 8,204,389th time.
Speaking of which, the look-at-me Carlos and Smyth in 1968 also get feted as pioneers instead of punks. They could have announced their ‘principles’ any time at all leading up to the Olympics but took the coward’s way out.
AND on the same subject, Megan Rapinoe may merit a place on the women’s national team due to ability but the captaincy is a purely ceremonial, honorary role. Has anyone asked the national coach why someone who refuses to participate in the ceremony and has no honor was ever chosen captain?
The hilarious part of Riggs v King is that they’ve got nothing else, because women can’t beat men at sports. So this one gets recycled endlessly.
USA beating USSR in hockey; that’s iconic.
“The Catch”, Kirk Gibson’s Home Run (both called by Vin Sculley, BTW) are iconic.
And Riggs rigging a match helped him how? He became a nobody after that match.
Riggs agreed to that handicap- it was never a straight up match.
Not a betting man, are you?
Wasn’t there some heavy betting on the outcome that resulted in some guy name Vito telling Riggs it would be healthier to throw the match?
“I thought this has been common knowledge for years.”
The reason why it has never been repeated.
He was a nobody before that match.
After the match, he became a frequent guest star on tv shows, like "The Odd Couple."
Ever heard of someone getting paid to take a dive?
Because he would dance
On the floor
In the round
Bad-a-bing!
The sad legacy of this is that it ultimately led to another “Battle of the Sexes”, one that would result in tragedy: Foolish Pleasure vs Ruffian.
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