Bud Collins, a columnist and sportscaster who lived in MA, died Friday at the age of 86.
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Said the BOSTON GLOBE in its obituary: “COLLINS provided the sport with its most authoritative voice”, authoring a tennis encyclopedia and a history of the game. Collins worked for 35 years for NBC before moving to ESPN, and was one of the first print reporters to make the transition to announcing on TV. In 1968, Collins provided tennis commentary for CBS Sports, but switching to NBC four years later. He was known for wearing colorful clothing during “Breakfast at Wimbledon” telecasts.
“You could see what NBC was doing, they were sending me over there and if it was successful, I’d be the announcer”, Enberg said.
He said he received his first tennis writing assignment because the sport was unpopular with his colleagues.
Bud Collins, the passionate, often irreverent face of tennis for almost half a century in his Wimbledon broadcasts and his newspaper and magazine columns, died Friday at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
He made one of his final public appearances last September in NY, when the media center at the U.S. Open was dedicated in his honor.
“Few people have had the historical significance, the lasting impact and the unqualified love for tennis as Bud Collins”, said tennis champ Billie Jean King.
Former tennis great Janet Hopps Adkisson, who was paired with Collins when they won the national indoor mixed doubles at Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline in 1961, told the Herald she will always remember Collins for winning the tournament while playing barefoot.
He is survived by his wife, Anita Ruthling Klaussen; his, daughter, Suzanna Mathews; his son, Rob Lacy; six stepchildren from previous marriages; and 11 grandchildren. Collins was also an inductee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
“He was the best friend tennis ever had”, Mike Lupica wrote in the New York Daily News.
Mr. Collins also was a writer and senior editor at World Tennis magazine.
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A native of Ohio, Collins came to Boston as a graduate student, attending Boston University upon the completion of his service in the U.S. Army. He also coached tennis at BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, where ABBIE HOFFMAN was among his players.
