On urban travel: Philadelphia Faces

The Signer / Commemorates the spirits and 
deeds of all who devoted their lives
 to the cause of American freedom. 

In October 1682, the Quaker William Penn founded the city of Philadelphia between the banks of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers in the English Crown Province of Pennsylvania. Within a century, Penn’s “greene countrie town” in eastern Pennsylvania became one of the largest cities in the British Empire with 25,000 inhabitants. By 1790, the year in which the federal capital moved to Philadelphia, the city’s population exceeded 44,000.

Second Bank of the U.S.

Among the positives of Philadelphia’s rapid 18th century growth, which included the creation of many broad avenues and large city blocks, one need only look at the addition of many languages and cultures to the city’s streets (north-south streets are numbered while east-west streets are named). I learned through a recent visit to the Portrait Gallery at the Second Bank of the U.S. in Philadelphia’s historic Old City district that Europeans throughout the Western world arrived here “to be able to worship freely, to lobby political leaders,” and “to pursue economic gain.” Also, “other cultures brought by free blacks from the Caribbean and enslaved Africans transported across the Atlantic added to Philadelphia’s cosmopolitan character and bustling economy.”

Meanwhile, Philadelphians also experienced many of the same challenges that a young American nation faced, too. As a city, Philadelphia was trying to transform from being a colonial outpost into an independent nation. “Personal experience with the political, economic, and cultural changes sweeping America after the Revolution made life for Philadelphians a mixture of tradition and innovation.”

Benjamin Franklin

Walk about the city – especially in Independence National Historic Park (which includes the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall) and in the Old City – and you’ll see that Philadelphia is Benjamin Franklin’s city. He was the city’s favorite son as well as an innovator and a difference maker.

Franklin’s likeness is found on banners and especially in paintings and sculptures. Beyond, the football stadium on the Ivy League campus of the University of Pennsylvania is named Franklin Field.

Franklin (1706-1790), I learned, was a “true son of the Enlightenment – a self-educated, runaway apprentice who translated his skill as a printer into a prosperous business.”

Although Franklin portrayed himself as a self-made man, in truth he benefited from the assists of many en route to achieving prosperity. In return, Franklin founded many organizations, including the Leather Apron Club and the Library Company of Philadelphia to benefit others. “His civic contributions improved safety, education, and health care in Philadelphia.”

Walking in Rittenhouse Square

During our brief stay in Philadelphia, we enjoyed a pre-dinner stroll through Rittenhouse Square, which at 7 o’clock on a Friday evening was lively with a mixture of millennials, families with dogs, and tourists snapping photographs of the many sculptures that dot the landscape. Of note, on the western side of the square is the Romanesque-style Church of the Holy Trinity, an Episcopal church designed by the Scottish architect John Notman. The first service was held there on March 27, 1859. Afterward, we enjoyed a sausage pizza and glass of wine at Pietro’s (1714 Walnut St.) that was followed by dessert at Capogiro Gelato Artisans (117 S. 20th St.).

On Saturday, we walked from the Hotel Palomar (117 S. 17th St.) to the lively Reading Terminal Market (corner of Market and N. 12th St.) for breakfast crepes at Profi’s Crêperie and a sinfully delicious maple bacon doughnut from Beiler’s Bakery followed by a walk around Independence Square. Later, we rode the Broad Street SEPTA train to Citizens Bank Ballpark to enjoy an afternoon Phillies-Mets baseball game. A quiet Saturday evening dinner at Le Pain Quotidien (1425 Walnut St.), a favorite of ours wherever we travel, was a nice way to relax after the ballgame. A steady, Sunday morning rain after breakfast kept us inside our hotel until it was time to return to the 30th Street Amtrak Station for our trip home.

Citizens Bank Ballpark

Today, the “city of Brotherly Love” (and sisterly affection) is an exceptional cultural and business center, easily accessible by Amtrak train (about two hours north of Washington, D.C., and 1.5 hours south from New York City’s Penn Station).

From Fairmount Park, home to major museums and sculpture gardens, the Philadelphia Zoo and 215 miles of biking and jogging paths, to South Philly, home to Philadelphia’s professional sports teams at Citizens Bank Ballpark (Phillies), Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) and Well Fargo Center (76ers and Flyers), Philadelphia is a city where independent thinking – and free expression – is both revered and celebrated.

Photos: By Michael Dickens © 2018.

A few minutes with Ted Robinson: "Sometimes, winning is measured by giving everything you have at 3 a.m. ..."

Ted Robinson

Ted Robinson calls a variety of sports each year, including American professional and collegiate football and college basketball, on both cable and network TV and on radio. Every two years, he serves as an NBC Sports Olympics play-by-play broadcaster, commenting on a variety of sports such as short-track speed skating, springboard and platform diving, tennis and baseball. However, for many American sports fans on a national level, he’s most identified for his body of work as a tennis play-by-play commentator.

Since 2000, Robinson has anchored NBC’s tennis coverage. He’s called every French Open final alongside John McEnroe and Mary Carrillo since 2000, as well as the Wimbledon Championships from 2000-11. He was also the prime time host of the U.S. Open on USA Network for 22 years.

Robinson, 61, a New York native who resides near San Francisco, also anchors tennis broadcasts for Tennis Channel throughout the year, a position he’s held since 2007. It was in this capacity of hosting Tennis Channel’s night-time coverage of the recent ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington, D.C., televised to a mostly North American audience, that Robinson found himself perched inside the Stadium court broadcast booth at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in the early hours of August 3, commenting on Andy Murray’s third-round match against Darius Copil. He shared the call of the match with Hall of Famer Jim Courier.

Because of heavy rain, which delayed play on Stadium court by more than four hours, the Murray-Copil match didn’t begin until nearly midnight on Thursday, August 2. It was just Murray’s third competition since beginning his comeback from January hip surgery and his third Citi Open match in four days – and, as it happened, the Murray-Copil match didn’t end until 3:01 a.m. early Friday morning after three hard-fought sets by both players. Robinson remained focused throughout the broadcast and stayed on the air with Courier until after both players had exited the Stadium court to the applause of a hundred or so spectators who stayed to the very end, too.

Two days later, an hour before it was time for Robinson to call the Citi Open final between Alexander Zverev and Alex De Minaur, he sat down with me in the players’ dining hall for a 20-minute conversation. Robinson re-lived commenting on Murray’s emotional match and how he handled the complexity of the moment by remaining silent for a solid 90 seconds once Murray began sobbing tears into a towel while seated at his bench after he won, letting the pictures and sound tell the story. Robinson also shared with me how he got his start in tennis broadcasting and what his relationship with tennis great and broadcast sidekick John McEnroe has meant to him. He described why the epic Federer-Nadal Wimbledon 2008 final remains the best tennis match he’s ever called 10 years after it was played. Finally, Robinson spoke about how Tennis Channel is changing the landscape of tennis broadcasting in the U.S. as it attempts to reach larger audiences.

What do you remember most about Andy Murray’s match against Darius Copil that started at midnight on a Thursday night and lasted until 3:01 a.m. Friday morning?

“I’m used to late nights from all of my years at the U.S. Open, but this late? Never. I think the only time a match that we know of that had finished later than this one was at the (2008) Australian Open (between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis) that lasted until (nearly) 5 a.m. It was quite a match.

“Honestly, it got to the point where I wasn’t really thinking about the hour as much as I was of the dynamic of Murray having not played much and coming back from his injury and his surgery – and how having to play yet another long match, coming from behind and, probably, mostly in the third set, it amazed me that he was putting the effort out. He could have easily, after losing a 5-0 lead, drop the first-set tie-break. I thought, OK, he could put out an effort in the second set, just cash it in, and move on to Toronto. The fact that he didn’t do that, just to me, is admirable.

“It is a lot of what we saw during the years of great late night matches at the Open. There’s something about that environment that’s unusual. To play that late at night brings out a special competitiveness in players. That’s what we saw, why Murray’s a champ. He didn’t pack it in at all, and of course, the emotion at the end was unprecedented. I’ve never seen that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in any sport, and it’s a point to really what the genesis of that reaction was. Everyone was asking. Everyone has theories. Andy is the only one who can know for sure.”

As a broadcaster, do you just sit back and let the pictures tell the story? You maintained quiet for 90 seconds after Murray sat down and began crying into his towel before you broke your silence.

“Yes, I think all of my years of training probably paid off, in being taught by people – most notably Dick Ebersol (former chairman of NBC Sports) – about how to handle those kind of moments. We don’t speculate; we’re not mind readers. We don’t speculate about injuries and health; we’re not doctors. ... I’ll talk about or report, if it’s radio, what I see – but not what I think. So, the scenario here, everyone could see what was happening to Murray. But why? We could not even imagine to guess. I know we punctuated it. I said to Jim Courier that ‘winning is more than just being measured by championships. It’s about putting your heart out there at 3 a.m. in the third round of a regular tour match.’ And Jim said, ‘winning is not just getting back on court.’ I think the blend of those two thoughts was the proper way to catch the moment. I’m sure, everyone has all kinds of theories about why he broke down. Maybe, some day I’m sure, Andy will talk to the BBC and address the moment.”

How did this rank with some of the other tennis broadcast moments you’ve done? After all, you called many Wimbledon and French Open finals, including Federer-Nadal in 2008, from which the book and documentary “Strokes of Genius” were written and produced?

“This was different because it wasn’t as much about tennis as it was about the human condition. It was a third-round match in a regular-season tour event. It wasn’t a championship match. Andy’s reaction compels us to put the moment in a much higher plateau. That’s what we’re all wondering about. So, the last question to it is: There were tears, and it was tears of ‘blank.’ Were they tears of joy? Were they tears of exhaustion? Were they tears of satisfaction? Were they tears of reality? Honestly, I don’t know. That’s why I won’t go there (to speculate). That’s really like playing the old ‘Match Game’ with Gene Rayburn. ‘Andy Murray broke down in his chair and he cried tears of blank.’ We just don’t know what the ‘blank’ is.”

I found it interesting that Murray said during one of his Citi Open press conferences that he’s more interested and concerned with his health now than his world ranking. Why do you think this is?

“I think anyone who has young kids would agree. He wants to be able to play with his kids. He wants to hit tennis balls with his kids, kick some soccer balls. I’m sure that’s what he’s thinking.

“It’s going to be a moment that will be re-lived and I hope Tennis Channel re-lives it for a long time. It’s a very powerful moment and it speaks to ... you needed to be there at 3 a.m. to experience it.”

Speaking of the Federer-Nadal 2008 Wimbledon final, is that the best or most compelling match you’ve ever called?

“Yes, it inspired ‘Strokes of Genius’ (both the book by Jon Wertheim and the Tennis Channel documentary film). It will never be replicated for rivalry, stakes, drama and setting. There were multiple rain delays, darkness, looming curfew ... all on the sport’s greatest stage.”

Robinson also noted some runners-up that he’s called: Venus Williams-Lindsay Davenport, Wimbledon final 2005; Andre Agassi-Pete Sampras, U.S. Open quarterfinals 2001, “four tie-break sets and (the) Ashe (Stadium crowd) gave them a standing ‘O’ before the fourth-set tie-break began; Jennifer Capriati-Justine-Justine Henin, U.S. Open semifinals 2003.

You’ve broadcast a variety of sports, including baseball, basketball, football, the Olympic Games. How did you get started broadcasting tennis?

“When Dick Enberg (longtime NBC tennis commentator) decided to move to CBS, NBC’s tennis producer reached out to gauge my interest. He had watched the U.S. Open frequently. And to further my cause, John McEnroe went to bat for me with Dick Ebersol. That’s a debt I can never repay!

“I started with NBC in 2000, worked Wimbledon through 2011, and just finished my 19th French Open for them.

“Tennis Channel started through a connection with Larry Meyers, their executive producer. I began on some Davis Cup ties and then some Legends/Seniors events. As I had left baseball, my availability for Tennis Channel increased. They have welcome me with more work each year. No surprise – they are essential for the sport!”

How does commenting on live matches on site, such as the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., compare with sitting in Tennis Channel’s Los Angeles studios doing “live” broadcasts remotely?

“The number of events that we go to and do live presentations is what we’re all doing this for. To come and spend a week here and be able to interact with the players, the coaches, the officials, the trainers ... that’s what’s important. At some point, we will reduce that. That will be the one trade off. The reality is that finances will dictate not just Tennis Channel but many channels that broadcast sports. Tennis Channel was actually at the front end of this.

“My 11-or-so years of working for Tennis Channel, we’ve been calling matches from our studios in Los Angeles quite a bit because it’s financially reasonable. It’s already bled into other sports on other networks – and it will continue. But this is the thing ... you can’t replace the personal touch and interaction, being here where the players see you, the players know you, they come sit at the desk with Justin (Gimelstob) all week – and Justin knows them. We do it here, we do it in Charleston (South Carolina), Houston, Indian Wells and, of course, the four majors.”

How so you interact with each of your tennis partners, such as John McEnroe and Mary Carrillo and Jim Courier? Do you prepare differently based upon who you are paired with?

“Everybody knows it’s no secret that John McEnroe has been the most important part of my tennis broadcasting career. I wouldn’t have had the chance to call Wimbledon or the French Open for NBC without his support. Gosh, I’ve called tennis 25 years with him – and John’s a friend. He’s a friend. He knows my family, I know his family. I’ve been to his home, he’s been to my home. That’s special. I have a different level of appreciation for him.

“John is simply one of the great analysts across any sport that I’ve worked in. Without question, he ranks up with the best. We’ve had a special relationship. I say this a lot, but I really mean it – and all of the names you’ve mentioned are all champions. Jim (Courier), Lindsay (Davenport), Chrissie (Evert), Martina (Navratilova), Tracy (Austin). I worked with Chrissie my first three years with NBC. Martina, Tracy and Lindsay here (with Tennis Channel) and Jim at USA Network and Tennis Channel. There’s no other sport where the greatest champions who played the sport ... almost all of them are commentators. That’s extraordinary! John has a special place because of the length of time we’ve been together and our friendship. That can’t be duplicated.”

Now that NBC no longer has the contract to broadcast Wimbledon, do you miss it?

“I went back to Wimbledon with Tennis Channel this year for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics, and I understood how much I missed it, how great it is. It’s very special. When you go back, you recognize it’s the one place that everyone has played the sport; the championship everyone dreams of winning no matter where they grew up or what surface they learned to play on. They want to win Wimbledon. The surface is now the outlier. There’s few tournaments played on grass, there’s fewer grass courts in America. I’ve never played on a grass court, have you?”

How did Tennis Channel approach its Wimbledon coverage differently from ESPN’s, aside from the fact that all of the matches it aired were on tape?

“A lot of the matches Tennis Channel was airing from Wimbledon were in the hours that people could watch them – and that was our strength. If you missed the live presentation on ESPN, you have a chance to watch it on Tennis Channel in more human hours. Tennis Channel just started doing this last year and I think it’s a very good service for the viewer, especially if you live in California, where live tennis is over by noon. Now, I get home at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and I didn’t see the Nadal match today ... put on Tennis Channel and there’s a pretty good shot we’re going to have it on.”

Will you go to the U.S. Open this year?

“No, I don’t go to the Open any longer because of my broadcast commitments with football. (Robinson is the radio play-by-play voice of the San Francisco 49ers.) Also, the way that television has changed there. Tennis Channel doesn’t call matches there any longer at the U.S. Open. I went back there a couple of years ago for Tennis Channel during the middle weekend, when ESPN would do its Bowling Green-Southern Mississippi football game (on Saturday night) instead of the Open. Those days are over.”

In addition to calling tennis, you also have broadcast baseball, basketball, football and Olympic sports such as springboard and platform diving and short-track speed skating. Do you have a favorite?

“That answer has changed a lot over the years. I used to think baseball, but I would say more now that I really appreciate the Olympics. The more I’ve done the Olympics, the more that I appreciate it. There’s something special about the Olympics. As corny as it sounds, having the world come together in relative peace every other year for two weeks is special. Wimbledon is special and I do love the atmosphere around college football. I enjoy going to stadiums. I enjoy the atmosphere of college football, the passion. College sports comes from the heart, whereas pro sports is more often from the head.”

Photo: By Michael Dickens © 2018.

On tennis: A few minutes with Sascha Zverev

In art and poetry, the German writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, personality is everything. Perhaps, after watching Alexander Zverev last week, tennis should be added to that list, too.

The 21-year-old from Germany, born to Russian parents, with the rockstar appeal, sandy-blonde mop-top hair, and (as I learned from interviewing him) a wry sense of humor, is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, two of the best that the sport of tennis has ever produced. Once again, he’s picking up right where he left off last summer, as one of hottest hard-court players on the ATP World Tour with his sights focused on winning the U.S. Open later this month. The young and mature tennis wunderkind, affectionately known as Sascha, plays with great confidence and authority – not to mention possessing a powerful serve – and, always, with a keen instinct that’s well beyond his years. Although his play at times looks effortless, it’s always entertaining.

On Sunday, Zverev added his second career ATP 500 series championship to his C.V. (which also includes three Masters 1000 trophies) as he successfully defended his Citi Open crown with a straight-set victory over 19-year-old Australian upstart Alex de Minaur, 6-2, 6-4, in Washington, D.C. It was his 41st tour win of the season. Zverev dropped just one set in his five matches, and played with plenty of confidence and authority as he moved about the hard-court surface on the Stadium court at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, where he was well liked by fans. In the final, Zverev took control of de Minaur from the outset, breaking his opponent in his first two service games. It prompted this comment from de Minaur afterward: “Today, he came out blazing and sort of was too good for me.”

The Citi Open title was the third tour-level title this year for the versatile Zverev to go with trophies he lifted earlier in Madrid and Munich on clay. He’s won nine ATP titles overall, but is still looking for his first Grand Slam triumph.

From observing him during the week against Malek Jaziri, his older brother Mischa, Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas and, finally, de Minaur, I couldn’t help but think that every time the tall (6-feet-6-inch, 1.98 m) and lean (189-pound, 86 kg) Zverev walked on the court, he painted word pictures with his tennis racquet while conquering all who came in his path. It’s worth noting that his ballet-like artistry on the tennis court was simply a thing of beauty that’s worth appreciating. Along with Tsitsipas and de Minaur, Zverev represents the future of men’s tennis.

As Zverev readies to defend his Masters 1000 Rogers Cup title in Toronto this week, beginning with a second-round matchup against the 116th-ranked Bradley Klahn of the United States, one thing that impressed me about him during his week-long stay in the nation’s capital city was how he handled himself during his daily press conferences. Sascha came across as both relaxed and charming – even showing a keen instinct like he does on the tennis court by being quick with his responses to reporter’s questions – and, he exuded a playful side of himself that not many get to witness. I sensed that Zverev enjoyed answering the media’s questions every day as he sat front and center on a raised platform before us, no matter how straight-forward, serious or light-hearted the questions might be. Each time, I came away feeling I learned something new about both sides of Zverev’s persona, as a highly successful tennis athlete and as someone whom many throughout the sporting world idolize.

Here’s a sampling of some of Zverev’s responses and witticisms:

• Asked about his pursuit of Nadal and Federer, the world’s No.1 and No. 2-ranked players: "I don’t think Roger’s too concerned about it. I think he’s somewhere in Switzerland right now enjoying, I don’t know, milk from his cow. From his own cow. ... I’ve said it a few times – Roger and Rafa are still the best out there right now. They are still winning Grand Slams. They are still winning the biggest titles. ... Saying that I’m at their level is something that wouldn’t be fair to them.”

• On handling the pressure of being the defending champion at the Citi Open and being ranked in the Top 5 in the world: “It’s means you come here, you know you have a few points to defend, and you still come out here to win. It’s feels great. It shows, I think, mental strength as well. I think it shows a little bit of maturity. ... It was a fantastic week for me.

“Last year was all just the beginning. This year I’m proving that I’m actually at this level, that I’m playing pretty consistent.”

• Asked after the semifinals, when it was pointed out by a reporter that at age 21 he was the “adult” on the court against the 19-year-old Tsitsipas, and the age of the other semifinalists were 19 and 20, he spit out: “I’m the only one who’s allowed to buy a drink here in the U.S., right?”

• When asked what it’s like being a role model, Zverev quipped: “Am I a role model for you? Well, you can grow a full beard and I can’t, so.”

• On playing his older brother Mischa, Sascha reflected: “I enjoyed the moment. We played great tennis. I think we both played close to our best. I just enjoyed it out there ... as much as I could. I hope everyone else did as well.

“I think knowing each other, that’s why the level was so high. You kind of knew an easy shot, he’s going to go there, I’m going to go there. ... We just had to enjoy the moment as much as we can and the level was pretty high. I played well, and I think Mischa played pretty well also. For us, it was more enjoyment.”

• On who might replace the Big Four of Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, an obvious but necessary question to ask the young World No. 3, Zverev didn’t hesitate when he said: “I think it’s natural that the higher you get in the rankings, the more people look at you, and the more people kind of want to play you and they want to play you at your best, and they want to beat you, no matter what.”

• On being surprised by the success he’s enjoyed at this early stage of his career, Zverev said: “I have put in a lot of work into becoming the player I am. I still am. Of course, I am happy every time I win, but I also know what it takes to be where I am.”

Photo: By Michael Dickens © 2018.