ABC’s broadcast booth was a ‘Battle of the Sexes,’ too
“You can’t duplicate the ’70s, what we were fighting for and the history that came from that, what women’s tennis became.” ROSIE CASALS, TENNIS PLAYER
Billie Jean King won on the tennis court that night in Houston 44 Septembers ago, beating Bobby Riggs in straight sets in an event that captured world attention and inspired the movie, “Battle of the Sexes.”
The movie, which opens in theaters Friday, stars Emma Stone as King and Steve Carell as Riggs.
But circuses often feature more than one ring, and while one was unfolding on the Astrodome floor, another was being carried on live television to a domestic audience of 50 million or so, with a battle-of-the-sexes vibe of its own.
It was there that Rosie Casals, then a 25-yearold elite player herself and a friend of King’s — and a fellow crusader for the rights of women players — found herself cast as a color analyst, working with Howard Cosell.
“I certainly did not enjoy myself,” she said in an interview to promote the film. “I would have much preferred to be on the floor watching it.”
In a neat technical trick, the real Cosell in the original footage is seen putting his arm around Natalie Morales, the actress who plays Casals, just as he did on the air in 1973. But that only was the start of Casals’ unpleasant evening.
Casals recalled Cosell as a “know-it-all,” and said even though he was known to be difficult in working with everyone, his treatment of her surely was colored by having a young woman on the broadcast team.
“Absolutely,” she said. “I was battling. I’d say my peace and I would interject when I felt I should … I didn’t care. I was never going to work with him again anyway.”
The behind-thescenes battle over ABC’s crew is covered in the movie, with Stone as King threatening to quit if longtime nemesis Jack Kramer was assigned as an analyst.
Kramer eventually withdrew, leaving Gene Scott to replace him and ruining the battle of the sexes producers had envisioned on the broadcast between Kramer and Casals.
“Even though it was supposed to be the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ on and off the court, it didn’t come off that way,” she said. “I think I came off as the harshest, tough(expletive) person. The fact that (Riggs) lost, that made it worse. It was not a good experience for me in my television career.”
But Casals thought the match was important then, and still thinks so.
“You can’t duplicate the ’70s, what we were fighting for and the history that came from that, what women’s tennis became,” Casals said. “... I look back and say, well, I didn’t make the money the players make today but boy, the legacy of all those players who put their necks out and risked their careers to be part of all of that, I wouldn’t trade it for the world that we were the pioneers and part of history.”