Like a good buddy movie

看板US_Army作者longgame (恢復元氣中^^)時間21年前 (2004/04/11 21:13)推噓2(2推 0噓 0→)

留言2則, 2人參與討論串1/1

BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN Miami Herald Riiiinnnngggg. It's a spring afternoon in 1999. School's out at Boca Prep High. Andy Roddick hops into his Chevy Blazer. Mardy Fish slides into his Ford Mustang. Ready, set, go! Whoever gets to the Roddick residence first wins. Loser buys lunch the next day. Roddick weaves his way through Glades Avenue. Fish opts for Palmetto Park. It's a daily ritual. Somehow, they manage to avoid speeding tickets. Inevitably, they reach the driveway within two minutes of each other. And then they laugh. Like brothers. Like best friends, punching each other's arms as they enter the house. ''We could have easily driven to school together, but this way was more fun,'' Fish said. Fish was living with Roddick's family at the time, the two boys skyrocketing through the junior tennis circuit. Fish had moved from Vero Beach to train with Roddick's coach, Stanford Boster, whose stable also included Bo Hodge, and David and Chris Martin, all of whom went on to college tennis success. Their practice sessions on the courts at Boster's townhouse complex were as intense as anything going on at the more famous Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton. The boys pushed each other -- sometimes to the point of exchanging blows -- and dreamed of turning pro. Never in their wildest dreams, though, would Roddick and Fish have predicted that five years later they would be ranked No. 2 and No. 18 in the world and playing for the U.S. Davis Cup team in a quarterfinal tie against Sweden at the Delray Beach Tennis Center: Fish plays Jonas Bjorkman today at 2 p.m., and Roddick follows against Thomas Enqvist. SEPARATE PATHS ''I don't remember us ever talking about something this big,'' Roddick said. ``The thing we joked about -- not just me and Mardy but a couple of the other guys, too -- was we should all take full scholarships to, like, Montana State and go win a national championship.'' Said Fish: ``We talked more about movies and dates than we did about tennis. Of course, we dreamed about turning pro, but we didn't really think this far ahead. No way would I have thought Andy would reach No. 1 and I'd be top 20 this soon. It's amazing, really.'' Hodge, a senior All-American at the University of Georgia, remains close to Roddick and Fish. He follows their careers through television, the newspaper and the Internet. And, he admits, he sometimes regrets not following their path. 'Of course I say, `What if?' But at the time, I felt college was the right choice for me,'' Hodge said. ``Still, I'm happy two of the five of us made it. I feel like the hard work we all put in those years helped Andy and Mardy, so we had some part in their success. I've won a national title and got an education, but their bank accounts are a little bigger than mine right now.'' While Roddick and Fish play against Sweden this weekend, Hodge will be in Knoxville, playing against the University of Tennessee. If the U.S. team has not clinched by the end of Saturday's doubles match, Hodge said he will fly down Sunday morning and catch the final matches. ''It doesn't really surprise me that Andy is where he is because, as competitive as we all were, Andy was the most competitive,'' Hodge said. ``He really, really hated to lose. He was very intense, in your face, just like he is now. None of us wanted to go to school. We talked about winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, being like Pete [Sampras] and Andre [Agassi].'' BASKETBALL BOND The five boys attended Boca Prep, and when they had time, they would suit up for the school's basketball team. They played about a dozen games together. ''Andy sat on the bench a lot,'' Fish said. ``When he got in, he missed layups.'' Roddick sheepishly admits Fish's recollection is accurate. ''I got so tight when I got in a game, it was a joke,'' Roddick said. ``One on one, I was fine. I could handle most people. Right up off the bench, I'd stone a couple. It's the reason I'm playing tennis right now.'' The one time the five boys competed for the school tennis team, they beat then-state No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons 7-0. When Roddick and Fish weren't battling on the tennis or basketball court, they engaged in marathon Ping-Pong matches at the Roddick home. They also fought over the sports page, Jerry Roddick's tacos and Blanche Roddick's potato side dish. ''Every morning, I'd put two sports pages on the table, and we put cable in the kitchen so the boys could watch ESPN while they got ready for school,'' Blanche Roddick, Andy's mother, said. 'But my most vivid memory of that year was the boys fighting over my `rock potatoes.' That was Andy's favorite dish, and Mardy came to love it, too. So, when I made it, I'd have to make one 9-by-11 pan for Andy and Mardy and another one for the rest of the family.'' Her other recollection is of the training sessions with Boster. She would watch her son battle the other four teens and wonder what would become of them. ''You could just tell there was so much talent out there,'' she said. ``It was great for Andy to practice against kids that good, and they all got better because of it. But the nicest part is that they are all still so close -- no jealousy. They all support each other and are proud of each other, and I know when I see Andy and Mardy out there during the national anthem, I'll get goose bumps and bawl my eyes out.'' -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 是一篇很不錯的好文阿! 不過也有一種不勝唏噓的感覺.... 內容提到當初和Mardy Andy一起在Boca Prep上學訓練的朋友共有五個 Bo Hodge, David and Chris Martin加上Andy跟Mrady 當他們畢業後選擇了不同的道路 Andy跟Mardy轉職業而其他的人則拿了大學獎學金去唸大學了在經過幾年後 Andy跟Mardy的成績有目共睹其他的人則在打全美大學的比賽.... Hodge承認他有時候會後悔沒有跟Andy Mardy走一樣的路他說在當時看來唸大學對他來說是比較好的抉擇雖然如此他現在仍為他昔日的同窗好友感到高興 Hodge開玩笑的說: I've won a national title and got an education, but their bank accounts are a little bigger than mine right now.'' 之前的文章Andy有不斷的提到在他青少年的時期網球對他來說好像只是用來保送進入大學的工具他跟本想都沒想過他可以走到今天這一步而Mardy也對自己這麼快進入前20感到驚訝我覺得對網球選手來說要真正把網球當成一個職業來看待時需要很大的勇氣看看有多少人一輩子就在衛星賽挑戰賽載浮載沉當選手在面臨抉擇的時候能否闖出一份天完全是未知數當選手仍敢走上這條不知道未來會怎樣的路時真是該為所有的選手鼓掌! 至於其他的部分還真的很搞笑包括Andy的籃球很糟常坐冷板凳(好像不只一次被說了XDD) 根據Andy自己的澄清是說一對一他ok 可是一到正式比賽他就緊張到不行所以現在他打網球XDDDD 還有Andy跟Mardy搶Andy媽媽煮的一道rock potatoes 每天都在搶報紙的體育版:p (超生動就像我小時後會跟我姊搶影劇版^^") 阿真是好朋友阿....... -- 總覺得用這篇文章似乎就可以拍成一部勵志型的網球電影了~~~ 只是不知道除了我以外的人有沒有人要看就是了XD -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.184.162.179