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Japanese version

Legg Mason Tennis Classic Report #3, July 1997 (by YK's mom)

July l8 continued...
Daddy entered the front gate after work and ran right into B full of smiles with two other program kids with her. She told Daddy that they walked right up (in uniforms) to Michael and asked for his autograph when he came through the entrance. She said that unless we were paid to work here they should not apply such strict rules on us and that we shouldn't be obligated to follow them.
Michael's interview after winning this match: He enjoyed going to different countries for competitions which enables him to visit new places.....that Hong Kong has great food....but the biggest fans are in Washington DC (surprised?)....he did a doubles match with his brother Carl at Legg Mason back in '90 (you were in Russia at that time)....Carl couldn't return the ball but ended up tapping it with the edge of his racket....the ball then bounced off and sliced the top of the net and landed on the other side....that's how they won the match.

July l9: 5:00-9:30 PM
The people really dressed up for this match. They also brought in gourmet food! I wonder how the men can stand wearing two-piece suits in 95 degree heat! I don't understand the mentality of this. There were lots of freebies at the entrance (sun visors, sunscreen lotion, granola bars, coupons, etc.). So long as there are giveaways, people do not want to purchase programs. Our business picked up as soon as the free samples ran out. And people were extremely late coming in that night (some were 45 minutes late!) We stayed at our post almost till the end of the match.
WH [Wade-Hahn, YK's bro], armed with your "Chang Dynasty" [Tennis Week] and another magazine with Carl's article, really wanted to get into the act and get the autographs himself. So I went back to the tent to gather some more programs--we were told to make sales during intermission before the doubles match, when people are out (tons of them did) buying food.
An older woman, who had one of the box seats and was one of the former Legg Mason board members, approached me. She was upset to see all these badly behaved little kids running around selling programs. She's also upset that this year's programs were so poorly put together. I took down her name and phone number to turn over to Charles, who's in charge of B & Em (who does the afternoon shift). Everyone agreed that the programs are bad. One lady skimmed through the program, burst out laughing and said to WH, "There's nothing in it!" They even put Saturday down on Sunday's drawsheet!
I met WH when the doubles started. He looked bewildered and could hardly bring himself to talk about the signing. Carl seemed to be in a foul mood and didn't want to sign. Then a kid jumped on WH just as he was about to reach Michael. The entire page of the "Chang Dynasty" almost got torn off! Fortunately, the tear was near the edge and I was able to tape it back. WH was so upset that he vowed never to seek another autograph again. You see, he was trying to do this just to please you. I tried to explain to him that this is all part of the game for the fans. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don't. And that he shouldn't take it so seriously.
It didn't make him feel better that we couldn't stay to finish the Jensen brothers (whom WH's really fond of) doubles match--and they were good and also fun to watch! We were still at the Legg Mason at l0:30 PM--the time that Daddy's supposed to pick us up at the Vienna station!

July 20: 2:30 - End
Just don't know why people would come in late for the finals, which starts at 4:00 PM. To make matters worse, the match started right on time. Forget buying programs when you are in a hurry, especially at the back entrance where we were posted! A handsome young umpire tried to make a purchase with a $50 bill, which sent us scrambling for change. He's not working for the Legg Mason matches but his mother lives here and he's been coming back to watch for the past l5 years (which had two other locations before the current one). WH and I decided to call it quits at 4:30 so that we can watch Michael's match with Petr Korda.

The place was really packed. We managed to find a seat with the sun shining on our backs...only to find the Jesus look-alike guy two rows down in front of us! Does this guy ever change his clothes? He must be wearing the same outfit through the week! There he goes again, shouting "Petr". Wait a minute! I thought he was a Scott (Draper) fan! He can't be anti-Asian because he had two Korean friends with him! Oh, I get it! He's anti-Michael!! But the Michael fans were prepared for him this time. For each "Petr" he yelled out, he would get five or six "Michaels" shouting back at him.

This was a less exciting match than the one we watched on the l8th. Korda overexerted himself to win the first set. He lost the 2nd and 3rd sets and was exhausted. We noticed the umpire who bought a program from us was sitting in front of the Jesus look-alike guy. A very nice fellow. I wonder if you know him. I should have asked for his autograph for you. Meantime, WH had separated from me during the match in search for a better seat. I looked across the stadium and spotted Charlie [a friend from our DC church], WAITING FOR HIS TURN (a no-no from my experience) fighting through the crowd to get M's autograph! On the other end was someone who looked like Glen [another friend from church], stretching his arm as far as he can with a tennis ball. Well, neither one of them succeeded because M had to clear the court for the doubles final.

Suddenly, WH's happy face showed up right in front of me. Carl had autographed his article. M really wanted to autograph the cover of the "Chang Dynasty" but the silver ink pen didn't work on the dark background! He ended up signing on the inside cover which is too bad because I bought the pen just for this purpose. A kid saw this and try to punch WH in the face. WH pulled back before he could do any damage to the magazine. Well, the kid didn't end up getting M's autograph.

We went back to the court to finish watching the doubles, which the Jensens won. One of them started to sing the American national anthem during the award ceremony. He went way off key on the 3rd or 4th sentence which was drawing big laughs.

The following are some other highlights to fill you in:

....the best time to catch players is between l0-l0:30 AM at the front entrance when they come in for their morning practice. That's the time when everybody's setting up shop and have no time to pay attention to them. I certainly ran into but missed them completely because I don't know them. I didn't catch on until the third day. I did recognize Michael and Carl during my two morning posts. In the evening it's usually a couple of hours before the match. WH was trying to sell a program to this elderly couple when they told him their son was defeated in both the singles and doubles match. WH asked who their son was and they pointed to the red-head guy next to them. It was Geoff Grant! I asked him to autograph a drawsheet with your name on it. I also asked another volunteer to take a picture of me with him in it. Then I remember you had also taken a picture like it which was printed in your zine! He's real nice kid!

....The Washington (morning) Post, Sunday, July 20, l997. This is an article by a reporter named Jennifer Frey....."Chang has never fully embraced by the U.S. public the way other top players have been...he slipped in and out of the tournament grounds with barely an autograph seeker to be found....because he's rarely flashy....a bit dull...much like his tennis." Jennifer was either making up her own words or she was only there during the morning hours, where almost every player walks in without being noticed. Also, why would people pay to watch his "dull" tennis? Of all the days I work there, I would run into people (Caucasians) saying, "Did you get "HIS" autograph?" Or they would say, "I've got "HIS" autograph!" I had no clue who it was until they told me "HE" means Michael Chang!

Hey, thanks Mom! I never thought I would say this, but after reading your report, I actually did miss being at this year's tournament. I can't believe my lil' bro almost got beat up. Tough is the word. The Jensens rules. It's so cool that they won the title this year, because they deserve it. And a picture with Geoff Grant?! Wow! Fancy running into him! Okay, enough from me...

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