Late Night Videos: My tribute to the late, great tennis journalist Bud Collins who has died at 86

Bud Collins died earlier today at the age of 86 and it has made me more sad than I could have imagined it would.

For those of you who don’t follow tennis, Bud was the voice of the pro game for so many years – from Borg verses McEnroe and Chris versus Martina through to Sampras, Graf, Seles and the Williams sisters.

There really was no one else like him – his way with words, his colorful clothes and his absolute complete knowledge of tennis and its history. He is one of the reasons why I fell in love with the game and it was such a big part of my life when I was younger.

I’d wake up at 6 am to watch the Wimbledon finals every year when Bud was commentating – usually with Dick Enberg – and plenty of French Opens too although those were usually shown on tape delay. I always looked forward to Bud’s post-match interviews with the greatest players of all time – both winner and runner up – at both those majors and it was clear the players respected him and felt comfortable with him.

Then there was his writing – it was wonderful and witty and insightful. He used to write for the tennis magazines and I loved his features and I even routinely hit the library the day after a big grand slam final to look for Bud’s Boston Globe articles (pre-Internet days!).

I met Bud once at Indian Wells – maybe 10 years ago- and was able to thank him for writing the amazing The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. I cherish that book. What a gift to us all.

In all, Bud covered 44 Wimbledon championships and so many other major and smaller tournaments. He had his first Globe byline on Dec. 22, 1963.

Billie Jean King tweeted today: “Few people have had the historical significance, the lasting impact, and the unqualified love for tennis as Bud Collins. He was an outstanding journalist, an entertaining broadcaster, and as our historian he never let us forget or take for granted the rich history of our sport.’’

Martina Navratilova tweeted: ‘RIP Bud Collins- Dear Bud- you proved you can be a great human, a great humanitarian & a world class reporter at the same time- much love…’

Chris Evert remembered her first US Open press conference at age 16 and said Friday: “Bud broke the ice. I don’t remember what he said, but I remember I was laughing, and I had been petrified. Right away he put me at ease. Tennis was very lucky to have him. His life commitment was to the sport of tennis, and his writing was witty. He made the players come alive with his writing. I just loved him.’

I think what I will remember most are those post-Wimbledon final interviews Bud did all those years and all the legends he chatted up during their happiest or most disappointing moments. Here is a sampling: