I don’t write about myself that much. But this year I’m making some exceptions. The AC “A” Board announced that I’ll be inducted into the Austin College Hall of Honor in the summer of 2025. My sport is tennis, and Legends Weekend 2025 is igniting a bunch of Marc tennis stories. Here’s one:
This May 22, 1988, front page of the Bryan/College Station Eagle tells a lot about Marc, Austin College, and AC rival Trinity.
Trinity University is Austin College’s historic Presbyterian rival. These two elder statesmen institutions (AC – 1849, Trinity – 1869) were practically north Texas siblings until the end of World War II. But then Trinity relocated to the south and AC developed rivalries with Texas schools in the north. Marc was not even aware of the historic relationship until he started writing Roo Tales.
But there’s another reason why I was in the dark. Tennis! After World War II, Trinity transformed itself into the best tennis school in the nation. The Tiger men & women were elite, winning NCAA D1 national championships and competing at the same level as SMU, Texas, & Texas A&M. When I was a kid in College Station, I’d often watch Trinity beat Texas A&M in Aggieland.
And in 1988 in College Station, I got to spend time with one of those Trinity stars: Bill Scanlon.
The Brazos Valley Open was held in B/CS every May and attracted big names from across the State. In 1988, Bill Scanlon competed as the #1 seed in the Men’s Championship Division. He was a former professional and a big draw for those at the tournament. Bill Scanlon was a name, because he had shocked the tennis world in 1983.
Scanlon was an NCAA champion for Trinity in 1976, and left San Antonio for the pros. His professional career had ups and down over the next six years but peaked in 1983 on the biggest stage: the U.S. Open. In the fourth round, Scanlon faced #1 seed John McEnroe.
McEnroe, the best player in the world, was untouchable. He had just won Wimbledon without dropping a single set. And New Yorker John McEnroe OWNED the U.S. Open in New York; he was 26-1 at the Open from 1979 to 1982, dropping just a single match to World #2 Ivan Lendl.
But then came Bill Scanlon. Scanlon, who began the year ranked #70 in the world, came out of nowhere to defeat McEnroe in four sets. McEnroe rarely lost; and when he did it was to someone in the Top 10. Scanlon’s upset made him a household name in the tennis world in 1983. See the comments for that upset (6:35 mark of the video). Scanlon’s US Open run ended in the semifinals against Jimmy Connors.
Five years later I found myself competing alongside Bill Scanlon at the Brazos Open. My junior ranking in Texas that year (#73) was like Scanlon’s professional ranking in the world (#70), so I had Scanlon-like dreams of a few upsets. Like Scanlon in 1983, I had a good run to the semifinals in the Championship Boys 18 Singles draw. But like Scanlon in 1983, that run ended in a loss to Eric Villareal, a Top 20 player in Texas.
After that loss, I woke up on May 22, 1988, grabbed the Eagle newspaper, and headed to the Texas A&M Courts. My day would consist of (1) watching Villareal in the Championship Boys 18 finals, (2) watching Bill Scanlon in the Men’s Championship Finals, and then (3) attending a free tennis clinic run by Bill Scanlon himself. The highlight of the clinic was listening to Scanlon field questions about his win over John McEnroe.
Imagine then my delight that morning when I picked up my local paper, turned to the front page of the Sports section, and learned that I had received top billing over Bill Scanlon. Hey, that’s the local Bryan/College Station media for you.
Not surprisingly, Scanlon won the Men’s Championship division at the Brazos Open. Not surprisingly to me, Villareal won Championship Boys 18. One month later, Scanlon lost in the first round of Wimbledon. Three months later, I was in a car headed for my freshman year at Austin College to play tennis for the Kangaroos. While writing this story, I learned that Scanlon had sadly passed in 2021.
As a tennis player at that time, the idea that Austin College & Trinity were historic rivals sounded crazy. But then the Roo Tales arrived 10 years ago, and I made up for that 1988 oversight. I wrote a story about Austin College, Trinity University, and the amazing period that was Tiger tennis after World War II. That Roo Tale (in the comments) of course mentions the Trinity great who upset the World #1 on the biggest stage: Mr. Bill Scanlon.
