Hide Article Text (OCR)
Battle of the Sexes:King Smashes RiggsHOUSTON (AP) - Bobby Riggs’ next big spectacle may be a leap off Suicide Bridge in Pasadena, Calif., while Billie Jean King is just happy to have made a spectacle of the 55-year-old hustler and to have won $200,000 to boot.Screaming, delirious women-slibbers lit up more brightly than the rocket-shooting Astrodome scoreboard Thursday night when Mrs. King showed the devastating swiftness that won her five Wimbledon titles in defeating self-proclaimed male chauvinist Riggs, 6-4, 6-3, 3 in the internationally televised battle of the sexes tennis extravaganza.“Bobby Riggs has just been flushed down the toilet,” shouted women’s pro tour member Madeliene Regal of Sweden after Mrs. King’s straight sets victory before 30,-472 Astrodome fans and millions more TV viewers.Mrs. King, one of the most decorated warriors for equal women’s rights on the pro tennis circuit, said she had waited 18 years for this match.“Ever since the day when I was 11 years old and wasn’t allowed in a photo because I didn’t have a tennis skirt on, I knew then that I wanted tochange the sport,“ the 29-year-old Mrs. King said.Riggs, who claimed he would set women’s tennis back 20 years against Billie Jean, looked every bit his age after the match. Riggs appeared to tire as early as the first set and had trouble getting his first serve going.Nor could Riggs, the aging 1939 Wimbledon singles champion, match Mrs. King’s continual strong ground shots, which never let up.Riggs was so sure of victory', he had vowed he would jump off the Pasadena Bridge or the London Bridge in Arizona if he lost.Despite his constant barrage of criticism against women’s tennis, Riggs was a gracious loser.Willie Mays RetiresNEW YORK (AP) - As it must for all men, age has caught up at last with Willie Mays.In a press conference that wasn’t as emotional as he thought it would be, Mays announced Thursday that hewould end his active playing career at the conclusion of this season. “You just can’t play at 42 the way you did at 20,” he admitted.At 20, Mays was a fleet center fielder who often outran fly balls and set a standard offielding and hitting that has rarely been matched. At 42, he has struggled through his final season, troubled by a series of nagging injuries and limping along with a distinctly unMays-like .211 batting average.“I’ve had a love affair with baseball,” said Mays. It was an affair that started on the sand-lots of Fairfield, Alabama, de-
Newspaper Details
Rhinelander Daily News
Rhinelander, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Sep 21, 1973
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison P.
WI, USA 08 Jan 2024
Other Publications Near Rhinelander, Wisconsin
The Northwoods River News
Rhinelander Daily News and the New North
Rhinelander Northern Lakes Advertiser
Rhinelander Daily News
Rhinelander New North
