Frank Thomas

Walcott Notable Sports Figures
took a job as a parole officer for juvenile offenders. He
later had a brief stint as a boxing referee, officiating at
the second match between Cassius Clay (before changing
his name to Muhammad Ali) and Sonny Liston. He was
widely criticized for his handling of the match. In the
early 1980s, Walcott was appointed chairman of the New
Jersey State Athletic Commission. During the course of
his time on the commission, charges surfaced that Walcott
had accepted bribes from undercover agents.
Walcott died at the age of 80 on February 25, 1994,
in Camden, N.J. In one of his last public appearances,
Walcott traveled across the Delaware River to Philadelphia
in 1992 to attend the first outdoor professional boxing
show since the 1950s. Speaking haltingly to the
assembled crowd, Walcott said, “I tried to be a champion
for everybody. I did my best. I tried to make a way
for our young people.” The deafening applause was
proof that in the minds of the spectators anyway Walcott
had succeeded.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Books
“Ezzard Mark Charles.” Dictionary of American Biography:
Supplement 9: 1971-1975. New York: Scribner,
1994.
“Joe Walcott.” Almanac of Famous People, 6th edition.
Detroit: Gale Group, 1998.
Periodicals
Davis, Samuel. “Jersey Joe Walcott Is Remembered.”
Philadelphia Tribune (March 4, 1994).
Jefferies, Eddie. “Ex-Heavyweight Champ’s Calling
Card Was Perseverance: Walcott Dead at 80.” New
Pittsburgh Gazette (March 2, 1994).
Matthews, Wallace. “No Champion Out of Ring.” Newsday
(February 27, 1994): 18.
Mee, Bob. “Obituary: Jersey Joe Walcott.” Independent
(February 28, 1994).
Other
“Enshrinees: Jersey Joe Walcott.” International Boxing
Hall of Fame. http://www.ibhof.com/walcott.htm
(October 25, 2002).
“Jersey Joe Walcott.” New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.
http://www.njboxinghof.org/cgi-bin/henryseehof.pl?
286 (October 25, 2002).
“Jersey Joe Walcott: 1914-1994.” Kelta’s Kavern. http://
www.cyberenet.net/~kelta/jerseyjoe.html (October
25, 2002).
“Jersey Joe Walcott: The Improbable Champion.” The
History of the Sweet Science. http://www.game
masteronline.com/Archive/SweetScience/Jersey
JoeWalcott.shtml (October 26, 2002).
1704
“Time Tunnel: Jersey Joe Walcott; The Long, Long
Journey.” East Side Boxing. http://www.eastside
boxing.com/news/Jersey-Joe-Walcott.php (October
26, 2002).
Jan Ove Waldner
1965-
Swedish table tennis player
Sketch by Don Amerman
Jan Ove Waldner has been called the “Mozart of table
tennis” because of his ability to play many different
compositions on the table. If not Mozart, Waldner is certainly
the Michael Jordan of his sport. His domination
and nearly mythical status among the sport’s players and
fans is unprecedented in the history of the game. Although
table tennis doesn’t enjoy the respect reserved
for the world’s more recognized sports, Waldner, in
countries that take the sport seriously, is widely recognized
as the best player of all time. He is one of two
players in the sport’s history to win all three major titles—at
the World Championships, the Olympics and
the World Cup. He is also known for possessing the
finest serve technique in the European game.
Born October 3, 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden, Waldner
quickly became interested in the sport to which he
would ultimately devote his life. At the age of six, he
asked his parents if he and his brother could participate
in a small local tournament. With the encouragement of
his parents, Waldner would go on from there to become
the Swedish champion for his age group by the time he
was nine years old. He turned professional at the age of
fifteen and won his first tournament, and a Porsche, at
the age of sixteen.
Pride and Prejudice
While Waldner enjoys a faithful fan base in Sweden,
table tennis hasn’t been given the respect its players and
fans believe it deserves. In China, the sport’s other
powerhouse, the sport is played by the masses. The
Chinese play in clubs and schools and even on cement
slabs in the park. In the United States, however, the
game is largely recreational and usually called Ping-
Pong, a name given to the game when Parker Brothers
first manufactured a set of equipment more than fifty
years ago. Although in some corners of the world the
game is wildly popular and highly competitive, it has
never risen above its recreational reputation in much of
the Western world.