John McEnroe. Yes, the John McEnroe, along with Chris Evert did a conference call for the media this week, previewing ESPN’s coverage of the entire Wimbledon tournament. Play begins in London Monday, and runs for a fortnight- ending July 6th.
On the call, the World Cup was discussed. Of course, because the World Cup overshadows everything, and it led into an interesting story about how McEnroe met soccer legend Pele.
“He’s one of these guys that makes you feel good about everything. He just has this smile…. The way he played, he was like the Roger Federer on a soccer field. He was like the most beautiful guy that combined this joie de vivre, and played the way he played…He’s just a wonderful man. He’s one of those guys that will say something nice about you before he expects you to say something nice about him.” — John McEnroe
Chris Evert also mentioned her experience meeting Pele:
“He was my idol growing up….I loved his attitude. He had such a sweetness about him, but he was still a killer out there. I loved everything about him growing up. I just thought he was a great role model as far as being an athlete both on and off the field. He’s always been really special. And I did meet him once and it was very special to me, too.”
The topic of Pele came up again, and here’s a transcript of the more in-depth discussion from John McEnroe:
Q. John, I was asking you about your meeting with Pele. What was that like for you and how did that compare to other great meetings?
McENROE: Pele…I met a number of times. He’s one of these guys that makes you feel good about everything. He just has this smile. Certainly, I don’t speak Portuguese obviously. He didn’t speak English where it was easy to have a conversation. It was just to be around his field was magical the way you could feel the beauty of this man. The way he played, he was like the Roger Federer on a soccer field. He was like the most beautiful guy that combined this joie de vivre, and played the way he played. Brazil, it means so much for them obviously. To have someone like that represent their country in a sport that they love so much, I mean, he’s like Wayne Gretzky in hockey. He’s just a wonderful man. He’s one of those guys that will say something nice about you before he expects you to say something nice about him.
Q. There’s another Brazilian like that, which is Guga.
McENROE: That’s so true. Absolutely true. This guy got totally gypped. Every time I see the guy smile, I feel bad because he deserved so much better.
During the conference call I asked John McEnroe about the Wimbledon chances of Daniela Hantuchova, as well as the chances of Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic. Click their names where highlighted to see what he had to say about their prospects of winning.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk radio stations across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, the Washington Times, NBC and The History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)