Tennis Training

Before there was Serena Williams, we had another female tennis icon that seemed to have an endless amount of energy and an inability to say "no thank you" when an opportunity came along. I'm talking about Billie Jean King, of course. Her itinerary is always full of activities and appearances, however random some may be. On Monday, she was on hand at one of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" PR events in Washington. This one was for an announcement that the International Health, Racquet and Sports Club Association was offering free membership to military families. OK, that wasn't so random because King's all into fitness and whatnot. But on Sunday, she appeared on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice. I tuned into the episode midway through its hour, and caught a glimpse of King in the audience at a comedy club. Why was she there? Well, according to New York magazine, Meat Loaf was the project manager who brought in Billie Jean. (The two celebrity teams were battling in a make-money-for-charity challenge that involved putting together a stand-up comic show.) I'll let New York magazine's show recapper, Tom Scharpling, explain the rest: "Meat Loaf was working the phones pretty hard for his charity and after a slow start the calls start coming in, with Billie Jean King and Herb Alpert checking in to donate. Billie Jean King and Herb Alpert? Where were they calling from, a pay phone on the set of The Merv Griffin Show in 1974?" Glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was pretty random.