Wednesday, July 28th, 1977, Mercersburg, P.A.

I slept well, Mark slept well and when morning broke we were up and at 'em. The first thing we did was count the balls and we found that we're way ahead of last session in our ball count. We didn't get all the balls back from counselors last night so we'll get 'em this morning.

I heard Mr. B whistling first thing this morning and smelled the coffee from his his apartment so I knew he was up early. He took the 280 Z down to the gym and hit for a half hour behind the gym. He loves the routine and it keeps the groundies sharp.

We had Breakfast in the dining hall which was amazing as usual then headed for the courts. It's fun to show up a few minutes early and hit and many kids were already there and eager to burn off breakfast. Mr. B. showed up on the clay about 8:15 to watch us hit and he said he likes the new loop forehand. Im doing real well with it and have noticed more more depth and accuracy.

The lecture today was about out chocking in a match. Mr. B says its natural to be nervous its how you handle the pressure. FXB thinks its best to redirect all that energy into the match and into the moment not about the past or the future--just the moment. He says most of the chocking comes from the dialogues we have in our minds specifically after the match, what people are going to say if you lose, FXB says keep it present and keep it now and you'll do fine. If your opponet can beat you so be it.

He told us about going to Wimbledon with Billie and seeing the Kipling quote in the tunnel on the way out to Centre Court. "IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you..." He talked about how important 'If' is... It was a wonderful talk about triumph not only over the opponet but one's self, and how you a person has so many things to overcome, but if you can keep your head and adjust to change you can triumph. He talked about BJK's first Wimbledon when she was a teen and how she and Karen just showed up every day and played doubles. They didn't look too far ahead and they didnt read about themselves in the paper, they just played and had a ball. There wasn't a sound during the lecture, all kids were fixed on FXB, as if we were all tuned into the same movie of the mind, then FXB, I dont know how he did it but he began to recite the 'If" poem.

"IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise...

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools..."

He built it to a crescendo with the last paragraph from memory:

"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! "

He finished with a great life lecture, that tennis is just a run through for the big game and that one day we must treat treat triumph and disaster the same. You could have heard a pin drop, Mr. B. played it like a great shakespearean actor...he let the silence linger and then told us to get on with the day, and our lives.

Goose bumps...what impact, you could feel the excitement, I doubt a Barrymore ever had a moment like this on stage. Mr. B on his good days was just about unbeatable, I doubt John Wooden could have beaten him today and he was beaming afterwards, he knew he hit this one out of the park. Who knows how many ships he launched into the business world, or medicine, or tennis?

Im sitting in the lounge of Fowle Hall now, Im on dorm duty and Im writing all this in my journal. Mr. B just came out of the apartment still on cloud 9. He looked at me and then my Journal and said "Jake a writer?, Christ, I should have known, I hope you got all that down this morning!"

I did Mr. B; and now its with us forever.