Sunday, July 31st, 1977

We woke up to dead silence, there were no kids, no doors slamming, no running in the hallway. I heard Mr. and Mrs. Brennan up early packing the car. I heard Mr. B's whistling, he is a very good whistler, he gets a lot of practice because he whistles every morning...I like it, its my FXB warning system and he doesn't whistle when he's mad or upset; so when he is whistling he's happy.

We are resuming our counselor tournament, we have matches all day. I'm playing my second round match, I beat Andy Greenspan in the first round. I'm playing Bobbie Dickinson and I talked to Mr. B about the match. His advise was simple, hit deep down the middle, keep it to his backhand and cut off the topspin by coming inside the baseline...Dickinson and I played challenge matches at ISU and I could stay with him till about 3-3 and then he always pulls away by hitting angles to the outside, getting me off the court and forcing defensive lobs. I had a 6-4 match with him on clay...by the time I figured it out it was too late.

I'm now getting ready to man the check in desk at Fowle, We have 88 kids coming in...that's down 20 than the previous three sessions, it should be a cakewalk. I am on duty with Bevin, Marc Solomon, Feinberg, X and Pat Roundtree...so it should be fun. Solomon and Feinberg have a dry sense of humor and they keep me laughing.

It's 10:30 now, we got all the new campers in bed and got them through lights out. Roger Mudd from CBS news brought his son Jonathan to camp, I got to talk to them and what a family. Mr. Mudd has a booming cheerful voice and Jonathan is funny. Mrs. Mudd is the classic Virginia mom...doting, cheerful, with wonderful southern manners. I've been a big news watcher since 1st grade and cant count the number of times Ive seen Mr. Mudd on TV. The most memorable I think was the 1964 Democratic convention, he anchored that one replacing Walter Cronkite. He's amazing on the air with a smooth confident way about him. I want to work in news one day...when Mr. Mudd comes back Ill ask him about it. I'm taking journalism and news writing classes now.

Mr. B came and watched my match. I don't think anyone has ever showed just to watch me play not even the parents. The advise worked, rather than play behind the baseline I played inside the baseline and stole set up time from him...meaning I was taking the ball on the rise and hitting deep back in the court before he had time to set up. On the backhand side I made him look bad because he couldn't get the racket back soon enough and I forced a lot of errors. We played even until 3-3 and then he broke me by hitting deep to the baseline on the return which forces a short shot...he angled the short balls and it was all over. I started running around his forehand and I had to change my game. I went to a high ball strategy to eliminate the short angles that played into his strength--the moon ball and I lost the second 6-1. Mr. B said that this was the wrong type of player for me. He says I'm a counter puncher and that's not a great thing to be on clay. He said he liked what I did in the first and should have kept at it...he said the unforced errors killed me and is right. Mr. B says I need to own the middle of the court, I need to mix it up and I have to be able to hit deep 10 or 15 times in a row. He had some great advise and said I'm not far from a break through. That made me feel good...He said I need to initiate and dictate play and everything else will fall into place.

Mr. B. said he had a great weekend with Mrs. B and was sad to see her go. He said they went out to dinner and had a great time, but said its all downhill from here. He said the corn is just about 'eye high to an elephant,' when its eye high, he says its time to head to the Jersey shore.

He said he and Mrs. made all the final plans for the shore. Its sounds like they have a ball because all the kids come and go and there's barbeque's and dinners with their friends, he says its his favorite time of the year. Then he says its just a few weeks from the U.S. Open, and the big tournaments in Mahwa and Orange.

I have to get some sleep, Mondays are huge, they are so tiring and the day seems to last a week.

Mr. B came by a while ago and wants me to help with the video taping. I get to feed balls. Mr. B stands on the gym balcony with his bull horn and comments on camper groundstrokes...its incredibly hard work for everyone. We are so good at taping that we can will run all 88 kids through the chute by noon...then the kids will watch the tape in the afternoon.