Tag Archives: Bryans

Kings of the Castle in Doubles

by Woody

Woody’s award-winning novel “The Butterfly Tree” is available at Amazon (click here), other online retailers, and orderable at all bookshops.

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This Saturday, in Newport, Rhode Island, Mike and Bob Bryan will be formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, so it seems fitting to share this column five summers past from my archives…

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“Don’t tell me about your dreams of a castle,” Wayne Bryan likes to say, “show me the stones you laid today.”

When Wayne and wife Kathy’s identical twin sons, Mike and Bob, were eight years old they taped an image of their dream castle on the Camarillo family’s refrigerator door: “Become the No. 1-ranked doubles team in the tennis world!”

They then laid the stones, day after week, month after year after decade, until they had erected a castle that surpassed their wildest dreams. Indeed, when Mike and Bob retired at age 42 their career looked like Camelot.

Together, Mike and Bob have singularly been Mikeandbob – a two-headed monster with four arms and four legs, standing 12 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing 370 pounds. Even Hercules could not slay Bobandmike on a tennis court.

Their final stat line as a pro tandem: 16 Grand Slam doubles championships and 119 overall titles, both all-time records by a mile, plus Olympic gold and bronze medals for good measure. As for their wild-eyed boyhood goal, they were ranked No. 1 in the world for 438 weeks during 22 years on the ATP Tour.

Mikeandbob also authored one of the greatest goodbye statements in sports history, rivaling Lou Gehrig’s famous “Luckiest Man” speech. It reads like an award-winning children’s book, yet is inspiring for adults too:

“Many years ago, two brothers left home and embarked on a journey up a tall mountain. With knowledge from their parents and fueled by boundless passion, they moved up the mountain together, their eyes fixated on a peak they could see on the distant horizon.

“They lifted each other over boulders, pulled each other up steep cliffs, and kept each other warm when storms battered the mountain. If one boy became weary, the other pushed harder and when one boy had doubts, the other fearlessly pressed on. They often slipped and were bruised but loved their fight against the stubborn mountain.

“After years of climbing, the boys finally reached the top. The view was beautiful but not what they expected. They saw a vast landscape filled with endless ranges of even taller peaks. Without looking back, they continued on.

“The trail eventually disappeared but the boys kept going, clearing their own path and exploring undiscovered lands they never knew existed. No matter the direction, they stayed together, for they knew their journey was impossible alone.

“And when their bodies could carry them no further, they turned around and gazed upon the world they had travelled. They looked at each other, smiled proudly, and headed home shoulder to shoulder, with a newfound peace and a bond stronger than ever.”

Along their fantastical journey, Mikeandbob behaved like chivalrous knights in shining armor. For example, they gave a match-used racket to a 10-year-old boy in Japan who was fighting cancer. More special, they stayed in touch. When they later learned he was on his deathbed, they expressed a final package of gifts to him.

A small thing? The young fan passed away wearing a shirt autographed by his twin heroes.

One more example of thousands: For a young girl fan who was in the hospital after attempting suicide, Bobandmike sent a video message complete with a musical performance – Bob on keyboard, Mike on drums – of an original song they wrote specifically for her.

Back when the kid Bryan Brothers first posted their lofty castle dream on the refrigerator, their mom Kathy told them: “It’s far more important who you are as people than who you are as athletes.”

Remarkably, Mikeandbob climbed that Mount Everest, too.

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn

Woody’s new novel “The Butterfly Tree” is now available in paperback and eBook at Amazon (click here), other online bookstores, and is orderable at all bookshops.

Changing Diapers, Doing Laundry

by Woody

Woody’s new novel “The Butterfly Tree” is available at Amazon (click here), other online retailers, and orderable at all bookshops.

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More than a few memories did Bryan Brothers-like Chest Bumps inside my mind the other day when it was announced Mike and Bob have been voted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Maria Sharapova in the Class of 2025 next August in Newport, Rhode Island.

My earliest flashback was playing Monopoly on a rainy day at the Bryan family’s home in Camarillo. Wayne, the identical twins’ father and the teaching pro at nearby Cabrillo Racquet Club, had brought a handful of junior players, myself included, to his house since the courts were flooded.

Mike and Bob were in another room, napping in their shared crib, and were the reason the game was extra spirited: the stakes were that the Monopoly loser had to change their diapers when they woke up. Even then, as I recall, Mikeandbob—two names as one, singular—were in such perfect synchronization that two of us kids were actually needed at once for doody duty.

Mikeandbob were barely out of diapers when they won their first doubles title at age 6 (in the 10-and-under division) and proceeded to grow into a two-headed monster standing 12 feet, 6 inches tall, with four arms and four legs, that devoured the tennis world by winning 16 Grand Slam doubles championships and 119 overall titles, both all-time records by a mile, plus Olympic gold and bronze medals, and helped Team USA win the Davis Cup. Too, they were ranked No. 1 in the world for 438 weeks during 22 years on the ATP Tour.

When I texted Wayne to congratulate him and Kathy for officially being Hall-of-Fame parents, he responded with a surprising off-the-court Mikeandbob memory involving my son, Greg, who was maybe 12 at the time.

As Wayne recalled in his text: “After 13 years competing all over the country in the juniors, two years at Stanford, and 22 years all over the world in the pros, you have a moving van full of memorable days. But on my personal Top Ten List is the day you and Greggie came by and I said, ‘Hey, the Bros. are back in town from the 13-week clay court season in Europe with a humungous load of dirty clothes and I gotta go to the local Camarillo Coin Op Laundry and get it done.

“ ‘Okay,’ Greggie says. ‘Let’s go do it!’

“You and Greggie had no idea what you had volunteered for and funny how I remember this, but we did a world-record 13 washer loads and 13 dryer loads that day and it took some two and a half hours and well over $50 worth of coins.

“But Greggie had a smile on his face the whole time and we shared some laughs and he did a beautiful job and it was a day I’ll never forget just hanging with him.”

My son was smiling because Wayne made it so much FUN!—all capitals with exclamation mark—by turning it into a series of games: guessing which washers and dryers would finish first; seeing who could match sock pairs the quickest; who could fold tennis shirts the best.

That afternoon in the laundromat was, in essence, how Mikeandbob became Hall of Famers—Wayne and Kathy always made tennis FUN! for their twin sons. Mikeandbob never needed to be told to practice; rather, the battle was pulling them off the court.

“Ha. Ha,” Wayne concluded in his text. “If there is ever a movie made on the Bros. journey, that laundromat scene has gotta be in it!”

A spirited game of Monopoly scene has gotta be in it, too!

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn

Woody’s new novel “The Butterfly Tree” is now available in paperback and eBook at Amazon (click here), other online bookstores, and is orderable at all bookshops.

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Woody writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn.

The Celebrated Jumping Princes of Tennis

by Woody

Woody’s new novel “The Butterfly Tree” is available at Amazon (click here) and orderable at all bookshops.

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Some people favor “The Frog Prince” fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm while others more greatly applaud “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mr. Twain, but a different frog tale is my favorite – but let me not get ahead of myself.

When I am asked, as still happens from time to time, who is my favorite athlete from my three decades as a sports columnist, my mind instantly fastbreaks to Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali, and Arnold Palmer because they treated me with a grace and kindness that surpassed their athletic prowess.

Familiar pose: Bob and Mike holding a championship trophy.

A dozen more superstars earn hues in my rainbow of favorite athletes, but wisdom from John Wooden proves decisive in settling the matter. Asked once to describe his ideal basketball player, Coach Wooden replied: “I would have the player be a good student, polite, courteous, a good team player, a good defensive player and rebounder, a good inside player and outside shooter. Why not just take Jamaal Wilkes and let it go at that.”

Thusly, this description of my favorite athlete: “I would have him or her be a good role model, polite, courteous to fellow competitors, umpires, fans and media, a good teammate, sign every last autograph for kids, be good at every facet of their sport with no weakness, clutch under pressure, and possess charisma by the bucketful. Why not leave it at Mike and Bob Bryan and let it go at that.”

Actually, ever since I first started writing about them when they were barely taller than a net post, I have referred to these identical twins from Camarillo as Mikeandbob, singularly. This proved prophetic because in tandem as a single force they authored a singular career as the undisputed all-time greatest doubles team in tennis history.

Their resume of doubles championships, each punctuated with their trademark Bryan Bros. Leaping Chest Bump, is longer than Abraham Lincoln’s inseam but here is a Gettysburg Address-like summary of their greatness: Four score years ago, at age 6, Mikeandbob won their first doubles title – in a 10-and-under(!) event; dominated the juniors at the national level soon thereafter; won the NCAA doubles crown at Stanford; won a record 119 professional titles together and 1,107 matches overall; won a record 16 Grand Slam titles together; were ranked No. 1 in the world a record 438 weeks; named ATP Doubles Team of the Decade for 2000-2009 and 2010-2019; won an Olympic gold medal and bronze, too; and helped Team USA capture the Davis Cup.

For good reason Mikeandbob have been named Tournament Honorees for the upcoming 122nd edition of The Ojai Tennis Tournament and on April 26, three days before their 46th birthday, will be feted at a special dinner at the Ojai Valley Museum. (Tickets are available at www.theojai.net/events.)

When Mikeabdbob were 5 years old, their father Wayne took them to The Ojai for the first time and retells: “The Center Court is in a majestic park with huge oak and sycamore trees. When the stands are packed it is an incredibly inspiring setting. When Mike and Bob first gazed upon the scene they were breathless for what seemed like five minutes. Their eyes got big and you could almost hear their little minds thinking, ‘Wow. I want to play here someday.’ ”

Wayne laughs and continues: “It only lasted a short time, however, and the next thing I knew the boys had raced off to the nearby creek in the park to catch frogs.”

But the magic had already happened. The frog catchers would one day become “The Celebrated Jumping Twin Princes of Tennis.”

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Woody’s new novel “The Butterfly Tree” is now available in paperback and eBook at Amazon (click here), other online bookstores, and is orderable at all bookshops.

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn