Billie Jean defeated Bobby Riggs
In the Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets.
You could do your own little battle of the sexes: put the girls in the middle and call a bunch of stuff, and then put the boys in the middle. Encourage a competitive attitude. Or maybe have men form one square and women form another square.
Why isn’t it mentioned anywhere that Bobby Riggs played with a handicapp. He had only one serve for each point and played on a doubles court while Billie-Jean had two serves and played on a singles court. That’s a big advantage, especially for a 55 year old person. Can you refer me to a source for this info. I have a bet with a woman friend.
I wonder how big a difference that made? Here’s a site that mentions it: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/columnists/gary_peterson/5928327.htm; that handicap isn’t mentioned most places that I could find.
You have to keep in mind that a second serve is 10-15 MPH slower. So to have to always serve a second serve not only hurts in that every fault is a point lost, but every single return is going to be easy for BJK. And the doubles alleys was an even bigger handicapp.
Personally, I don’t mind people tlaking about it and saying how he talked trash and lost. But when female celebrities talk about how “She kicked his butt all over the court” they don’t seem to care that without those handicaps, she probably would not have won. Billie Jean King KNEW this. Otherwise she wouldn’t have accepted this handicap advantage.