Arthur Ashe

Aug. 1, 1963--Becomes the first black to be named to a U.S. Davis Cup team. June 21, 1965--Leads UCLA to the NCAA tennis championship. Nov. 7, 1965--Becomes the first American to win Queensland Lawn championship. Aug. 25, 1968--Becomes the first black to win U.S. men's singles championships by beating Bob Lutz. Sept. 9, 1968--Wins the first U.S. Open title by beating Tom Okker. Dec. 12, 1968--Is ranked No. 1 by the men's ranking committee of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn.

  This is anything but a slam-dunk. Heck, it's not even a sky hook. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wants to be the next UCLA basketball coach. The former Bruins star, appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Tuesday night, said, “I would certainly be interested in being the coach of the team. It would be great to have the opportunity to restore the program to what it was. Not necessarily in terms of winning, but having the guys get their degrees and learn about the game of basketball.” Abdul-Jabbar has a better chance of riding the winner in the Kentucky Derby.

First those egotists at USA Today built oversized newsstands. Now they have invaded Arthur Ashe's privacy. They simply explained, "If Arthur Ashe has AIDS, that's news." If may be "news" to some, but to me it's an insensitive revelation of Ashe's private life. I wish Ashe well, for now he must deal with not only the disease, but with the senseless stigma that goes with it. KURT HAGIHARA North Hollywood

Robin Roberts, host of "Good Morning America" and one of the first female anchors for ESPN, will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2013 ESPYs on July 17 in Los Angeles. Roberts has twice been stricken by serious illness in recent years and just returned to the air last month after being treated for a rare blood disorder. "Robin brings an amazing amount of energy, compassion and determination to everything she does," said ESPN President John Skipper in a statement announcing the award.

* Aug. 1, 1963--Becomes the first black to be named to a U.S. Davis Cup team. * June 21, 1965--Leads UCLA to the NCAA tennis championship. * Nov. 7, 1965--Becomes the first American to win Queensland Lawn championship. * Aug. 25, 1968--Becomes the first black to win U.S. men's singles championships by beating Bob Lutz. * Sept. 9, 1968--Wins the first U.S. Open title by beating Tom Okker. * Dec. 12, 1968--Is ranked No. 1 by the men's ranking committee of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn.

Arthur Ashe, truly a man for all seasons. RODNEY K. BOSWELL Los Angeles

UCLA dedicated its new health center Wednesday in honor of Arthur Ashe, the late tennis great and UCLA alumnus. The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center is a four-story, 36,000-square-foot outpatient clinic with 59 examining rooms, labs, a pharmacy and radiology unit, said Dan Page, a university spokesman. Jeanne Moutousammy Ashe, Ashe's widow, was present at the ceremony.

The new student health and wellness center under construction at UCLA will be named in honor of the late tennis star Arthur Ashe. The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center will replace the current facility housed at the Center for Health Sciences. The 36,000-square-foot building in the center of campus is scheduled to be completed in two years. Ashe, who was captain of the UCLA tennis team in 1965, died of AIDS in February, 1993.

U.S. Open featured matches Seedings in parentheses; all times PDT. ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM Beginning at 8 a.m.: Anabel Medina Garrigues vs. Vera Zvonareva (2); Flavia Pennetta (26) vs. Maria Sharapova (3); Nicolas Mahut vs. Rafael Nadal (2). Beginning at 4 p.m.: Christina McHale vs. Maria Kirilenko (25); Andy Roddick (21) vs. Jack Sock. LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM Beginning at 10 a.m.: Robby Ginepri vs. John Isner (28); Robin Haase vs. Andy Murray (4)

For many years, Andre Agassi stole the show at the U.S. Open. Now, three years out of the tennis game, he's doing it in coat and tie. Monday was opening day. They played 56 matches. Defending champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams won handily. There was drama on the back courts, great play on the grandstand, exceptional effort everywhere. And then, Monday night, the bald guy from Las Vegas walked to the microphone and one-upped everything. He was there as part of a ceremony honoring "athletes who have given back."

Kurt Streeter's July 4 piece on the career trajectory of the Williams sisters was excellent. In this age of Obama post-discrimination mythology, Streeter's insights into the racism that the sisters have faced within the lily-white niche of professional tennis was timely. Those who point to Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters as examples that elite sports such as golf and tennis have desegregated would benefit from an education on the paltry recreation budgets of most "inner city" communities in the U.S. where park space -- much less putting greens and tennis courts -- can be virtually nonexistent.

On Monday, Benjamin Kohlloeffel became the 10th NCAA singles champion from UCLA. The others: Jack Tidball (1933), Herbert Flam (1950), Larry Nagler (1960), Allen Fox (1961), Arthur Ashe (1965), Charlie Pasarell (1966) Jeff Borowiak (1970), Jimmy Connors (1971) and Billy Martin (1975).

Charlie Pasarell thinks of Arthur Ashe every day. We all should. Pasarell thinks about Ashe -- his best friend, his touchstone, a man that today, 10 years after Ashe died of complications of AIDS, Pasarell says is a "hero" and "role model" -- and Pasarell cries a little. We all should. Ashe is missed by Pasarell. We all should miss Ashe. Ashe is missed every day for his intelligence and thoughtfulness, for his grace under pressure and his willingness to take strong stands.

What: "SportsCentury: Arthur Ashe" Where: ESPN Classic, tonight, 5 and 8 This profile of Arthur Ashe, first televised by ESPN Classic Feb. 19, shows why, besides being a tennis star, he was considered to be one of the most important sports figures of the 20th century. It also shows why he was considered so infinitely good and pure. Adversity followed Ashe throughout his life. He lost his mother at a young age. Heart trouble forced him to retire from competitive tennis at 36.

Why is it not surprising that a sportswriter would want to dumb down the notion of what Arthur Ashe embodied by critiquing a sculpture? In describing the sculpture of Ashe at the U.S. National Tennis Center as offensive, perplexing, beautiful and ineffective, J.A. Adande [Aug. 30] never states what he thinks the mission of the artwork or the commemorative garden is in the first place. When he quotes the viewer whining about having to go into a long explanation to kids about what the sculpture "means," I couldn't help but think that artist Eric Fischl had done his job well.

You can't fault the intent to honor Arthur Ashe in as many ways as possible. The United States Tennis Assn. already holds an Arthur Ashe Kids' Day here in Arthur Ashe Stadium each year before the U.S. Open. And now the USTA has added something to the U.S. National Tennis Center: the Arthur Ashe Commemorative Garden. Its centerpiece is a 14-foot statue of a man--not Ashe--tossing a tennis ball, about to serve. Except there is no ball. There is no racket. And there are no clothes.