Levels+of+the+Game+BD

Brittany Douthwright--Reflection- Levels of the Game I

Some might read this article and expect it to be about tennis, and in fact they would be partially correct. This story begins with a tennis match between two men named Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner. While the tennis match is intense, and as you keep reading, you learn more and more about the game itself, I think McPhee's intent was to actually use the game to get to know these two characters.

As I have read McPhee's profiles before, they are very interesting and straightforward, but this one in particular is different in context and form. In this article, it is hard not to notice the way McPhee goes from describing the intense game between the two, back over to the characters themselves. Some might find this confusing, others (like me) might find this engaging for many reasons.

McPhee uses this game to display the characteristics of these two people. Arthur Ashe is a colored man. His game is a lot more agressive, and he often wins against Clark Graebner, who is a white man. These men are the exact opposites of each other. Because he is black, Ashe has to live through many hardships Graebaner hasn't and perhaps this has something to do with his agressiveness and determination in his game, and McPhee makes this clear.

"With his poor, liberal, Democratic background, he has to be always striving to get ahead, striving for recognition, and he is achieving something daily through his tennis conquests."

"He plays the game with lacksadaisical, haphazard mannerisms of a liberal. He's an underprivileged type who worked his way up. His family are fine people. He's an average Negro from Richmond, Virginia. There's something about him that is swashbuckling, loose. He plays the way he thinks."

"When things get tough, he has control. His latent confidence-his cool-works in his favor. Even in very tight moments, other players think he is toying with them. They can't tell is he's angry. It is maddening, sometimes, to play against him. He has said what he likes best about himself on a tennis court is his demeanor. "'I strive to cultivate it. It's a conversation point. It's a selling point. "'He's icy and he's elegant. Imperturbable.' What it is is controlled cool, in a way. Always have the situation under control, even it losing."

Clark Graebner on the other hand, is portrayed very differently.

"Clark is tall, strong, white, Protestant, middle-class, conservative. After a while, the adjectives fall away and he's just Clark."

"There is not much variety in Clark's game. It is steady, accurate, and conservative. He makes few errors. He plays stiff, compact, Republican tennis. He's a damned smart player, a good thinker, but not a limber and fexlible thinker."

So, what we have here are two very opposite people, living completely different lives, but McPhee brings them together with the game of tennis.

"Ashe and Clark Graebner have long since entered the danger zone where any major mistake can mean the loss of the set."

"Dell is captain of the United States Davis Cup Team, of which Ashe and Graebner are members."

"Graebner serves wide. Ashe stretches to hit a crosscourt backhand. Graebner volleys from his own back hand-a deep, heavy ball. Ashe flips a lob into the air. Both players now make tactical errors."

"Ashe and Graebner are both extraordinarily conscious of the stock market, and each thinks he is a shrewd investor."

"As amateurs, Ashe and Graebner qualify for none of the prize money that is available to professionals in this tournament."

What I found most interesting about these two people, is how different they live from one another, and also their experiences are so different, but yet,this game of tennis brings them together. I found a surprise in this article; it is not about tennis at all, but two people who enjoy the game, and it brings them together, regardless of their political beliefs, or the color of their skin.

One thing that is also different about this profile from his others, is how McPhee relies on their view of each other. Often times instead of McPhee writing down his observations about the people, he is allowing them to state their observations about each other; so Graebner is often describing Ashe and vice versa. Also, the only observations McPhee really makes, is regarding the tennis game itself. It is almost as if he was watching the game between these two people, but noticed an interesting topic which is completely separate from the game.

"Ashe lifts the ball and hits to Graebner's forehand. Graebner answers down the line."

"Running flat out, Graebner hits a superb hard backhand that surprises Ashe and slants past him to win the point."

"Ashe, on his way to the net, picks up the chip and hits it without exceptional force or placement to Graebner's forehand."

Unlike his other profiles, McPhee is completely removed from this story, which is very interesting, and still intriguing. It seems the point of this story is how this intense game brings these two opposites together, but someone might get the impression at first that this article is about the game only. This article did not make me interested in the game of tennis what so ever, but it did make me think about sports in general, and how it eliminates barriers between people.

Another difference I noticed in the context of the article is how McPhee used less unfamiliar words then in his other articles, which made for an easier read. I found myself reading through with an easy flow, instead of looking up terms I do not understand.