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UNDER REVIEW
Pete McEntegart
February 10, 2003
Too Much Richard, Too Much Bob
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February 10, 2003

Under Review

Too Much Richard, Too Much Bob

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?Just when it seemed Richard Williams had mercifully taken a backseat to his tennis-playing daughters, Venus and Serena, the DVD Raising Tennis Aces: The Williams Story (Xenon Pictures) reminds fans of the bluster they had scarcely missed. The just-released documentary has some nice moments, particularly home movies of the preteen sisters practicing at night on a public court in Compton, Calif., and cavorting at a family barbecue. But Aces is, unfortunately, the Richard Williams Show. The filmmakers have chosen to show Daddy uncorking such gems as, "I think people look up to me wherever I go," "I think [people] have meetings on how to beat Richard Williams out," and "I feel I'm the greatest father on Earth." The narration is equally grating about the "so-called controversial father," proclaiming, "his influence is something Venus and Serena have never questioned." Not surprisingly, the DVD's executive producer is Leland Hardy, the family's business adviser and a longtime confidant of Richard's.

?While ESPN2 generally gave the UConn-Duke women's hoops showdown the big-game treatment it deserved, the network showed too much respect for the General. It was smart to cut to the end of the Texas Tech- Texas A&M game, where Bob Knight was shooting for his 800th win, but ESPN2 stayed away from the women's game too long. Even after Kevin Turner hit two free throws to put A&M up six points with 0:13 left, the network showed the uneventful closing seconds—more than 2:30 in real time-before returning to UConn-Duke. All that while the Blue Devils were in a rally that would cut a 28-point deficit to six. ESPN2 didn't seem to realize where the real action was.

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