by Jim Plautz
Scholarship offers came in from a dozen schools after Pete’s Orange Bowl win. It didn’t hurt that he scored in the 98th percentile on his SAT and ACT college entrance exams. Stanford was in the running, but offered only a ½ scholarship. Trinity College in Texas, another national power, called and offered him an opportunity to walk on and earn a scholarship. I told Pete that money shouldn’t be a concern, but I know he wanted to carry his own weight. Getting a full tennis scholarship was a matter of pride and a reward for the five years of work and dedication. Pete decided on the University of Florida.
We were pleased with his decision. Gainesville is only 90 miles north of Tampa up I-75, which meant Mary and I could see him play. A contributing factor was that Florida’s Fisher School of Accounting was one of the best in the nation. They offered a 150-hour, 5-year program that would allow Pete to graduate with a combined Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Masters degree in accounting. Upon graduation, Pete would be eligible to sit for the Florida’ CPA exam. It’s every father’s dream to see his son follow in his footsteps and I was proud that he had decided on a business major.
The Fall tennis season had already started for the Gators with a small invitational tournament in Athens, Georgia hosted by the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. This tradition-rich conference boasted a long list of famous alumni including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Morehouse College) plus a long list of professional athletes including such notables as Althea Gibson (Florida A. and M.) Shannon Sharpe of the Denver Broncos and Bob “Hurricane” Hayes of the Dallas Cowboys. Florida had a good team with four returning lettermen including the #1 and #2 singles players.
Pete opened the season at #3 singles and easily won his four singles matches against the #3 players from Tuskegee University, Kentucky State, Lane College and Auburn University in the championship match. Auburn won the tournament by splitting the six singles matches, and then winning 2 of the 3 doubles matches to earn the deciding point. Pete had teamed with Chad Bunting, the #4 player, to win their doubles match 10-5 for Florida’s only doubles win.
More importantly, Pete also won the individual singles and doubles titles for his flight, consisting of the #3, #4 players from each team. His closest match was a 6-3, 6-2 win in the semi finals against a player from Valdosta State. The Auburn #1 player won the championship flight beating John Peterson from the Gators, 7-5, 6-4. Florida’s #2 singles player lost in the 2nd round.
This week was the Gator Invitational with a much stronger field. Pete moved up to #2 singles on the strength of last week’s performance although he was still slotted to play #2 doubles. Mary and I made the 100-mile drive from Tampa up to see the 3-day tournament and get a taste of the college life. Fortunately, the football team was away this weekend or it would have been impossible to get a room in Gainesville at the last minute. We were treated to some high quality tennis. Florida lost 4-2 in the semi finals to Baylor, a perennial powerhouse in college tennis. They didn’t play the doubles matches. Colleges frequently play the doubles matches only if the teams split their six singles matches, and the doubles point is necessary to break the tie.
Pete and the #6 singles player earned the only two points for Florida. Pete also made it to the finals of the individual singles, beating players ranked #56 and #14 along the way. Pete was down a set and a break to Baylor’s #1 singles player, ranked #7 in the NCAA, before he rallied to win 7-5 in the third set.
“This was more fun than watching Pete play the juniors,” Mary gushed.
“I know what you mean. Tennis seems so much more exciting in a team environment with kids cheering for their teammates when their own matches are completed. It’s another example of why so many people like college sports more than pro sports.”
“Seeing Pete’s teammates pulling for him gave me goose bumps.”
We were proud parents as we made the two-hour drive back to Tampa.
The construction team had eight months to get the stadium ready for next year’s French Open. Bouygues had the primary responsibility for ensuring that structural damage was repaired and the grandstands were safe for spectators. Long-term renovations to the Stadium’s façade had begun. Bouygues also had responsibility for the two-year upgrading of the transportation system servicing Roland Garros, including roads, bridges and expansion of the Marta subway system. Bouygues would have their hands full.
On paper, they were well qualified to perform these tasks. I had done my homework prior to my initial meeting with Carl Lindner of Hunt Construction. Paul Gutreau had made it clear that Bouygues must play a major role in this project, and I needed to know whom I was sleeping with. I discovered that they were extremely capable.
Bouygues Construction is a world leader with operations in 60 countries on five continents. Their core business activities are building construction, bridges and civil engineering with projects ranging from constructing the James Bay Dam over the La Grande River in Quebec, Canada to construction of the Superdome, Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Center for the Sydney Olympics. Business outside France tripled in the past ten years. In 2006, international projects represented almost half of the company’s total sales. This expansion was achieved by managing complex major projects, forming partnerships with local companies, allowing Bouygues to move into new regions including the Caribbean and Latin America.
I was somewhat familiar with Bouygues from my days with Arthur Anderson. We were auditors for a company called Blount Construction out of Montgomery, Alabama that was a 49% joint venture partner with Bouygues to build King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I was only a staff accountant at the time and had little access to important information, but it was clear that the four billion dollar project was profitable. Profit margins were over 30%, which more than compensated for the risk of doing business in the Far East.
Bouygues Construction is composed of subsidiaries throughout the world. I learned we would be working with a group called “Bouygues Enterprises, France-Europe,” a network of large regional subsidiaries headquartered in France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Bouygues project manager was Paul Bruno.
“Marco, tell me what you know about Bruno, he is the guy you will be dealing with.”
“Paul Bruno, you’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t believe that jerk is still around.”
“Let’s hear it,” I said, fearing the worst. It was obvious that Bruno and Marco had a history.
Marco took a moment before answering. “Bruno is competent, but difficult to work with. The clients don’t like him. I worked with him on a couple jobs. We did Rouen’s 6th bridge over the Seine, the largest lifting bridge in Europe. We were co-project managers on a project in Eastern France to build a high-speed TGV rail link in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Both times he ran roughshod over the clients. Bruno does things his way. But, I will say this, he gets the job done.”
“Can you work with him?”
“Sure, I can work with anyone on a project like this. Just be prepared for some problems along the way. I may need your support when we start butting heads.”
“Don’t forget to wear your hardhat,” Ken suggested.
Agbu had missed a golden opportunity, but he knew there would be others. Simpson would be coming to France many times in the next two years. Next time he would not miss.
Pete thoroughly enjoyed his freshman year at Florida. Football season came and went with another disappointing 8-4 season that did not meet alumni expectations. The alumni and student body had been spoiled during the Steve Spurrier era. There was renewed hope with the hiring of Urban Meyer who had been so successful at Utah, but so far the results weren’t good enough to satisfy Gator fans.
Pete attended just two football games due to conflicts with the abbreviated fall tennis schedule. His tennis continued to improve, and he soon was promoted to #1 singles and doubles. His 14-2 singles record was marred only by losses at Georgia and Clemson to players with NCAA rankings in the top 30. Pete finished the Fall season ranked #37 in the NCAA.
The team continued to work on conditioning during the winter off-season, but it seemed almost like a vacation from tennis after Pete’s two years at Saddlebrook. Billy Donavan’s basketball team won the NCAA tournament and made Gator fans almost forget about the disappointing football season. It was ironic that the flamboyant son of former French Open champion, Yanik Noah was the star of the basketball team.
Pete dated Carole for three months until he met Susan, a petite blond in his freshman geology lab. Somewhere he found time to study and finished with a 3.6 GPA the first semester. Pete was ready when the Spring tennis season began. The team recruited a promising freshman who started mid-semester and was slotted to play #4. The team would be strong and was expected to win the SEC and make it to the year-ending NCAA tournament in College Station, Texas.
The Gators opened the spring season with a convincing win at the SEC Indoors and proceeded to build an impressive 12-1 match play record in dual meets, their lone loss being to UCLA at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor tournament in Chicago. Pete’s was 26-2 for the season and ranked #3 in collegiate tennis.
The SEC Outdoor Tournament was held in Athens, GA and Mary and I decided to make the trip. Athens is only 80 miles from Augusta, home of the Masters Golf Tournament and my Saddlebrook connections provided me a contact and an invitation to play. The course was in beautiful condition, and is much hillier than it appears on TV. I managed to shoot 78 from the back tees and can only imagine what I would have shot if the rough was up and the greens were cut to the speed played by the pros.
My host treated me to a beer after the round and gave me a little insight into the changes that tournament officials will make before next month’s Masters. “Greens are playing at a stump-meter speed of about 10 today, but next month the pros will be playing to a 13 or 14. You can’t imagine the difference that makes, not only in putting, but in trying to hold the greens on your approach shots,” he pointed out. “They move the tees way back, adding another 450 yards, and short hitters are forced to hit three-woods into greens designed to hold a seven or eight iron. It’s tough.”
“Five shot difference?” I asked.
“At least,” he replied thoughtfully, making me realize he wasn’t exaggerating.
I was in a good mood as I headed to Athens hoping to catch some of Florida’s opening match against Vanderbilt. About 20 miles outside of town it started to rain and I wondered if they had been able to play. It was still sprinkling as I pulled into the University of Georgia parking lot just as an ambulance was pulling out with its siren flashing. I had a foreboding that something had happened to Pete, a feeling that was confirmed when I saw Mary racing towards my car.
“Pete tore up his knee,” she shouted while she was still 20 feet from my car. I could see she had been crying.
“What happened?” I asked, not knowing what else to say. “Was that him in the ambulance?”
“Yes, let’s follow them to University Hospital and I’ll tell you on the way,” she said as she hopped into the passenger’s seat.
“Pete was leading 6-1, 4-0 when it started to sprinkle. They decided to try and finish the match and Pete slipped on the sideline trying to hit a running forehand; you could hear his knee pop from the stands. It was awful.”
We saw Pete briefly when we arrived, but were exiled to the waiting room as an orthopedic surgeon examined him. He was in a lot of pain. It seemed like hours as we waited for the news. We were finally invited into the doctor’s office.
“Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, I’m afraid I have some bad news. We won’t be able to tell for sure until the swelling goes down, but I can tell you know it’s a serious. I believe there is major cartilage and ligament damage.”
Two weeks later his diagnosis was confirmed. Both the medial and lateral meniscus are torn together with extensive damage to the anterior cruciate ligaments and surrounding tendons. “This is as bad as it gets,” he said with a grimace.
“Will he ever play tennis again?” Mary asked.
“Sure, many people recover from this type of injury and play tennis into their 60’s. Pete is young and that is a point in his favor.”
“I think Mary was asking if Pete can ever play at a professional level?” I asked, knowing the answer we would likely get.
“That’s another question,” the doctor said diplomatically. “It all depends upon how hard he is willing to work. Nothing’s impossible.”
“But not likely,” Mary added, finishing the doctor’s thought.
Chapter 30
Ambre Returns to Saddlebrook