Random Jim IV Stories

1) The genius didn’t believe that people could tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. Jim and I insisted we could. So the taste contest was on. The genius bought a can of each and put them in glasses for us to try.

I went first. I failed. Of course, my protestations that I always drank diet drinks fell on deaf ears. I will forever go down in history as failing the Coke-Pepsi taste test.

Then it was Jim’s turn. He decided to add a different twist to his part. He would tell by sniffing, not tasting! It was too much for the genius – he wanted to place a bet on that one. The wager was $5.00 (a lot for a teenaged boy), and so the stage was set.

Out came the two glasses of identical dark liquid. Without hesitation Jim sniffed the first and said, “Pepsi.” Then the second and said, “Coke.” Then he turned to his father and said, “The easiest $5.00 I ever made.” And he was right!

2) Jim is 23 months younger than his sister Ashley. Like any typical older sibling, she held the upper hand and usually got her way with him. He was not nor is he now a violent person, so he left her alone. But that all ended when he was ten.

They were playing at a friend’s house about 3 blocks from home when Ashley said something to him that set him off. He hauled off and hit her smack in the stomach and that was that. He was free at last. They didn’t tell me about it until much later, but they both agree that it was definitely a defining moment in their relationship.

3) Jim was nine years old when he played in his first Southern tennis tournament in Atlanta. He did pretty well his first matches, considering that most of his opponents were one year older (he was playing in the ten and unders). But then he came up against a seeded player in the round of sixteen.

The two boys were very even and had a close first set, which Jim lost 6-4. They were on the center court right in front of the club house and had drawn quite a crowd.

Jim’s opponent had not been the best sport up to this point, and when he became pretty flagrant about his poor line calls, Jim asked for a line judge. The tide began to turn ever so slightly in Jim’s favor after that and he finally won the second set 7-6. The other boy had gotten more and more out of control and when the second set was over, he threw his racket across the net. With that, the tournament director came out on the court and defaulted him.

The rest of that story came a year later. The Southern Tennis Association because of that match voted to discontinue the tens for ranking.