The game of tennis has come a long way since British major Walter Clopton Wingfield invented it in 1873. During the early years and into the twentieth century, tennis was a game played by the ruling elite, seeking a proper alternative to the brutish games played by the proletariate.

The 1930’s saw the emergence of working-class hero Jack Kramer and tennis gained new appeal with the widespread public.

The 1970’s was infused with comedy and farce and the hijinx of John McEnroe. This too inspired a new generation of fans and was the breeding grounds for fans of the imminent arrival of pro-wrestling.

In the 80’s the focus shifted indoors, to the dark basements of pre-pubescent children disenchanted with the hardships of growing up under Reagannomics, who idled the hours away playing Atari Pong while the dominant, faceless European players of the day played to near empty stadiums.

The 90’s to present day have been a revitalization for tennis as it is now played by supermodels, camera spokesmen, and Pomona College Beer Leaguers.

Members of Pomona-Pitzer’s tennis team traded in their libations and gloves for Gatorade and rackets this past weekend at the ITA Championships, hosted this year by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. More than half the teams in the Western Region (extending from Washington to Texas) sent their best players to this prestigious tournament to determine preseason rankings.

The seedings were based on last year’s results. J.R. Hall ’04 was Pomona-Pitzer’s top contender, ranking second in the tournament. He fought his way through the toughest Division III competition this side of the Mississippi, but fell in the semi-finals to eventual champion Brian Kasey from UC Santa Cruz.

On the doubles circuit, Hall teamed up with Samir Vora ’03 as the number four seed and played all the way to the semifinals where they barely lost to a nationally ranked UCSC team. Each plays for rival beer league teams; however, they left their ill-will towards each other at the door and showed the Western Region that they will be a doubles team to be reckoned with come the regular season, which starts in the spring.

The honor, however, lay not so much in the results as it did in simply playing in this tournament. Entrants had to apply and be accepted by the ITA based upon nominations from coaches and past performances. Rounding out Pomona-Pitzer’s group were Nate Pealer ’05, Mike Benaroya ’03, and Chris Croxton ’04.

The real story, however, seemed to be the unprecedented canceling of the weekly beer league baseball game. This action left many beer leaguers faced with the difficult task of finding meaning in their weekends outside of beer league and also raised questions of authority and protocol.

The controversial decision to cancel play was made because Vora and Hall comprise nearly half of the governing body. Hall also owns the only bat used in play. Hall’s monopoly over equipment and loyalty to the league were the major topics of debate over the weekend.

"I was a little league washout and was forced to chose tennis over baseball in eighth grade when my coach told me I had no future in baseball. But boy do I prove him wrong every Saturday afternoon," Vora said during an exclusive interview.

His teammate, Hall, remains loyal to tennis, though. He will be the number one ranked player in the SCIAC this season and is no more than a light-hitting utility man in beer league.

Despite Vora’s reluctance to play tennis, the Pomona-Pitzer men proved over the weekend that it is never too early to start preparing for the season. To those that don’t know them, they are the hardest working men in sports. To those that do, they love Anna Kournikova workout videos, early Andre Agassi ads, and playing baseball while inebriated. While the video game playing will remain a staple of any good athlete’s training regimen, tennis has a rapidly changing face. Pomona-Pitzer players don’t even wear matching uniforms anymore and the fans are the most boisterous in decades. Sagehen tennis, folks, like it or hate it, they were doing more than we were this weekend.