A Long Beach sports legend will have her day in the sun this weekend, when ESPN airs tennis great Billie Jean King as the subject of “Homecoming With Rick Reilly” this Saturday at 4:00pm.
The show will follow King as she revisits her Long Beach roots, answers questions on the tennis court that bears her name and even plays Reilly in a game of Wii Tennis at Legends on 2nd Street. The LBPOSTSports.com actually caught some sneak footage of that Wii match back in April, and Reilly hammed it up by donning the jersey of Bobby Riggs from the famous Battle of the Sexes match in 1973.
King claimed victory on that day and almost single-handedly sparked a resurgence in women’s athletics. Her victory in that match and ensuring on-court success is widely credited with the institution of Title IX.
With 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 US titles, 4 French titles and 2 Australian titles, King is one of the most decorated athletes ever, male or female. “Homecoming” is King’s chance to explain how it all started, and Long Beach figures to play a prominent role in that story. Tune in on Saturday to find out how a local star changed the world of sports forever.