Derek Sedam
Assistant Online Editor
During the summer, I covered a wide range of sports interning at the Daily News in Los Angeles. I took advantage of press boxes throughout Southern California, and was able to see games from the professional’s scope.
Although I mainly kept to box scores and dined on free press food, I still had the opportunity to see the players after the game for reactions and questions.
David Beckham? His good looks and my high-pitched girl squeal botched my only question to him about his Olympic plans in Beijing.
Jeff Kent? A salty, mustached old man like everyone says he is, with penchant for calling out the one and only Vin Scully, our graduation speaker last year, blaming him for Manny getting all the love.
For all the random places I went this summer for work (ever heard of the 3BA? Exactly.) and all the prima donnas I had to put up with, there was no place a reporter or columnist would have rather been than in Malibu, watching one of the gutsiest showings of courage I have seen in a long time.
May 10 was a day to remember for all in attendance at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, but not for the picturesque blue skies that opened up right before the match, or for the smell of spring that rolled through with a gentle breeze. This was a day that Pepperdine tennis fans in attendance were used to, expecting a quick and easy victory against the Stanford Cardinal, as the Waves had been cruising through the second half of the season.
But out stepped Andre Begemann, two-time WCC Player of the Year and three-time All-American, holding the title of most decorated Waves tennis player ever.
He looked tired, frustrated and depressed. Everyone watching his warm-ups noticed right away. The leader on this perfect day had clouds rolling with him.
Despite the easy victory and upbeat attitude I witnessed the day before, Begemann had gray skies for a long time back home in his native Germany. His family, who had been so proud of his accomplishments in America, was succumbing to the inevitable.
Begemann’s mother became very sick the day before the first round of the NCAA tournament a few days prior, her battle with cancer taking place more than 6,000 miles away from her son.
“It was tough talking to her,” Begemann said. “We spoke early Saturday morning before the match against Hawaii, and she was very sick. She wanted me to stay.”
So he stayed, head held down, with no one knowing the pain he and his family were going through. To myself, reporting on the matches that weekend, it was Begemann being Begemann, taking care of business like he had always done come postseason time, when his game was at its best.
But, Sunday spelled a different time for the Waves. With more than 200 fans looking on and ready to go, Begemann was not. His mother passed away just a few hours before, with Begemann on the phone hearing the news from his father until the purple skies of dawn rose over the ocean. Begemann didn’t want his tradegy to rub off on his teammates, though.
“Even though the team knew his mom was severely sick, Andre did not want me to say anything,” said Head Coach Adam Steinberg.
So, the news was kept to just a few, while the huge crowd looked to one of the best teams in the nation to take care of business against Stanford. The Cardinal looked like a well-oiled machine in the doubles matches, taking two games so quickly that the third couldn’t even reach the finish.
Begemann was on the No.-1 doubles team with Omar Altmann, and it was clear the duo was collapsed even before the match started. The team had looked to its leader, but its leader didn’t look back.
During the break, with the Waves down but not out, something clicked when I saw the team coming out of the locker room. There was the leader, warming up, the stroke of his fluid forehands quicker and stronger with each snap of the wrist.
“It was the best match I’ve seen him play,” Steinberg said. “He never lost his focus throughout the day and stayed strong. His win was a huge momentum switch for us.”
Begemann’s opponent, Alex Clayton — ranked No. 7 in the country — didn’t even stand a chance. His matched finished almost before it began, in one of the single-most displays of domination I had ever seen on the court. And, as the Waves looked to their leader yet again, they too fed off his emotion, one after the other, defeating their opponents.
Many used the phrase “coming back with a vengeance” to describe Begemann’s blowout win on that day. I think Andre was reaching for something higher. His mother didn’t tell him to stay with his head held down at the finish. And, as Begemann rushed the court after teammate Rikus de Villiers clinched the victory, everything was left out on the tennis courts.
As the sun set on Pepperdine, now with the information coming out about Begemann’s loss, it made his triumphs that May 10 something that those 200 fans, players and I will never see again. Begemann missed the next match against Georgia, and the Waves’ season was over. And I’m ok with that.
For all the Beckham’s and Kent’s I will put up with in my lifetime, I will always remember the display of heart, leadership and determination that Andre Begemann left on the court that day.
09-18-2008
