Chicago 1982 Michelob - Connors vs McEnroe flare-up

It's January 1982 and a tennis war is being staged in Chicago in the Michelob light exhibition match between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. This match had everything including a red -hot Jimmy walking over the net to confront John.

Connors eventually winning, 6-7,7-5,6-7,7-5,6-4 in 4 hours and 40 minutes.

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[blueguitarblue]

I think Johhny was scared if Jimmy. He didn't fight back until there were people/buffers between them. :) This is Legend!

[tenniscollector]

@blueguitarblue NO i don't believe he was. He just stood his ground and wanted to play tennis.

[theatlantean3]

Not sure what was going on here, but Jimmy was one of the few who could stand up to him. I was hitting some balls with Jeff Borowiak down in Mexico years ago, and asked him about his matches with Borg, Connors, Mac, etc. He had Mac on the ropes in Cincinnati (1984), up a set & a break.Mac went nuts (out of nowhere) for about 15 minutes, completely "icing" Jeff. I asked him why he didn't say anything when Mac went on his tangent. "Well, it was John McEnroe. What was I going to say?".Good point:-)

[tenniscollector]

@theatlantean3 Great Post. As someone who watched him since 1979 I think for the most part his "tangent" as you put it was genuine but after 1986 (when he come back at the US Open after a 7 month lay-off) they become more calculating aimed at disrupting his opponent's momentum. They worked most of the time except against Lendl

[johnnyjayramone]

This is great. Some emotions in the game. Better than watching fucking mindless drones hitting the ball back and forth like we have to nowadays.

[tenniscollector]

@johnnyjayramone Yeah I know what you mean. I believe another era will come along and we'll see players -Men and Women -getting to the net more.

[altfratuben]

I think the only one John Mcenroe ever respected was Bjorn Borg.

[time7152005]

One of the best era s in tennis, Borg, Connors, McEnroe Lendel and more. Federer is awesome, but he would not have this much success if the talent pool was as deep as it was with the 1980's.

[theriokid]

Connors liked to intimidate his opponenets, which was part of his success. But as you can see, McEnroe wasn't having any part of it.

[domirules28]

jimmy connors > john mcenroe

[blueguitarblue]

@tenniscollector Lendl is scariful: he's like an anorexic terminator with terrible teeth.

[kljMN2]

It's only an exhibition and they're acting like this?

[blueguitarblue]

@amck72 Goodness. I was a teen when these giants were playing and it's loving and thrilling that the "tenniscollector" posted these moments. I think they are harmelss and hilarious and passionate about the game. I don't believe that either of these men were pricks. Self-inflated, but basically good guys.

[amck72]

@blueguitarblue In no way was John scared of Jimmy, John pushed Jimmy away and stood his ground and carried on talking shit in his face...Jimmy was just as much as a prick as John was....

[nysdgiants]

@ThePuppi3000 like i said tennis sheeple. he fed off your claps and hoorahs and i'm glad you found the fist pumping entertaining. sheeples don't know the difference between entertainment and talent. people will clap and stand up when ozzie or britney steps off the stage but you know what they do the same when clapton and cobain steps off too. keep watching x-factor and american idol like all the sheeples.

[ThePuppi3000]

@nysdgiants I don't care about their private lives. I'm talking about the way they behaved on court. McEnroe was the douche. Connors was an entertainer. Nuff said.