Bud Collins, Trailblazing Tennis Legend, Dies at 86

By Dan Libon

BROOKLINE, MA - Bud Collins, whose trademark, thousand-watt, plaid pants with "matching" pastel shirts were only slightly less colorful than the beautifully styled sports writing that propelled him to journalism fame covering tennis both in print and broadcast, died Friday at his home in Brookline. He was 86.

A native of Ohio, Collins came to Boston as a graduate student, attending Boston University after serving in the U.S. Army. As a student, he began writing for the Boston Herald before moving to the Globe and providing tennis commentary for WGBH.

In a tribute to the legend, Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim compared Collins' personality to his "loud and sometimes hideous pants." Like the owner, they were "fun and quirky and generous in spirit," Wertheim wrote.

In addition to his newspaper work, Collins was a mainstay on TV, covering the US Open for CBS from 1968 to 1972 and Wimbledon on NBC from 1972 to 2007. Following his departure from NBC, Collins was hired by ESPN. Collins returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2015 with his wife after being absent for several years due to his health.

“He was the best friend tennis ever had in this country, as a writer and as a broadcaster,” Mike Lupica wrote in the New York Daily News in September.

On the court, Collins coached at Brandeis from 1959 to 1963. He won the 1961 US Indoor Mixed Doubles Championship with Janis Hoppes in 1961 and was a finalist in the 1975 French Senior Doubles tournament.

Noted as the first sports columnist to make the transition from print to television, Collins' influence on tennis and sports is undeniable. In September, the U.S. Tennis Association named their press room the Bud Collins US Open Media Center. His plaque reads, "Journalist, Commentator, Historian, Mentor, Friend." Historian was a title apt for the legend, who wrote several books on the sport, including, "The Bud Collins History of Tennis."

In 1994, Collins was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Image by sdluvingit via Flickr Creative Commons