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'Bud Collins' series premieres

LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel will celebrate the remarkable life and career of Hall of Fame tennis journalist, broadcaster, personality and historian Bud Collins with Signature Series: Bud Collins during the network’s coverage of the 2013 US Open. The latest installment of the channel’s exclusive, original Signature Series documentary line will debut Monday, Sept, 2, at 6 p.m. ET. A complete schedule of episode airdates can be found on Tennis Channel’s Web site at www.tennischannel.com/schedule.

Signature Series: Bud Collins is narrated by the 84-year-old Collins, who has been America’s pre-eminent voice of tennis for the past half century. Viewers will also get to hear from many of the players Collins covered and journalists and broadcasters he helped influence, including: Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Dick Enberg, Don Ohlmeyer, Donald Dell, Mike Lupica, Lesley Visser, Dan Shaughnessy, Frank Deford and several others.

“Tennis Channel’s Signature Series: Bud Collins captures the life of a man who is truly the story of tennis in America today,” said Laura Hockridge, vice president, original programming, Tennis Channel. “Bud is the voice behind the growth of tennis from a country club pastime shared by a relatively small community to a multimillion-dollar, major television sport enjoyed by people throughout the United States.”

Here are a few of the scenes in the unparalleled life Bud Collins:

• The plot hatched by Bud, Don Ohlmeyer, and Donald Dell in 1979 to stall the start of the first-ever televised Wimbledon final
• The story of the birth of Bud’s signature colorful slacks, first donned at the 1966 Davis Cup competition in Cleveland, and the deal he struck with tailor Charlie Davidson
• The origin of the nickname Bud, and family member behind it
• How the 1968 Arthur Ashe-Bob Lutz U.S. Amateur Championship was a breakthrough in televised tennis and the impetus for Bud’s broadcasting career
• Bud’s tragic but remarkable personal life, in which two wives passed away from brain tumors, and his efforts to raise one of their children as he traveled the world
• Bud’s first tournament as a young tennis player, and the unique method behind his entry into the competition

“He was an educator… he took a country that knew little about tennis and said, come on I’ll tell you all about it… He had the ability to make people believe that they were his friend… he had been everywhere, knew everyone and hadn’t forgotten anything.” - Mike Lupica

“I know they say clothes make the man, but in this case, the man made the clothes… He was the Mark Twin of our era.” - Lesley Visser

“He was the premier historian, premier writer for the Boston Globe and… also the leading guy on television… He was the outstanding promoter of Open tennis going into pro tennis.” - Donald Dell

Signature Series: Bud Collins is the seventh edition in Tennis Channel’s exclusive, original Signature Series line, which debuted in 2009. Other tennis personalities and subjects have included Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Rene Lacoste, Vitas Gerulaitis, Rod Laver and the sport’s centuries-old origins.

Posted on August 29, 2013
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