One of the things I truly loved about covering sports for The Associated Press was the variety it offered.

I grew up playing baseball, basketball and football and I started playing golf and bowling when I was about 10 years old. So those were the sports that held my interest.

The pictures I cut out of magazines and taped to my bedroom walls were of stars in those sports _ Stan Musial and Eddie Mathews in baseball, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson in basketball, Jim Brown and Bart Starr in football, Arnold Palmer in golf and Don Carter and Steve Nagy (who reminded me of my dad) in bowling. That was my Hall of Fame or Mount Rushmore when I was a teenager.

It was the AP that gave me the opportunity to discover so many other sports and to delve much more deeply. Over the years I got to cover Olympics and Super Bowls and Indy and Daytona 500s and much more. But, besides the major events, I got to cover some things like lawn bowling at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada. And every event I got to cover, I also got the opportunity to meet and talk with people who I never would have known otherwise.

Some even became friends.

My five years in Indianapolis were a wondrous time of discovery, covering sports that I had only read about or seen on TV. I was introduced to the "Wonderful World of Sports" in person.

The first golf tournament I covered was the 1972 Girls' U.S. Amateur. The contestants were all under the age of 18 and the big name coming into the tournament was 14-year-old Nancy Lopez.

Initially, I wasn't very excited about watching a bunch of young girls teeing it up. But then I met Nancy.

She was mature and funny beyond her age and the world revolved around her. At least at the golf course, it did.

The first day of the tournament, I mostly stayed in the clubhouse, watching the scoreboard and waiting for the officials to bring the leaders in for their interviews. Nancy was the first-round leader and her interview was so much fun I decided to walk the course with her on the second round.

She had a group of young fans following her and after every shot, they would holler and wave, calling out her nickname, "Cha Cha." But Nancy was all business on the course. Other than smiling at the posse occasionally, she concentrated on her game.

At the end of the round, as she walked toward the clubhouse to sign her card, I moved up beside her, introduced myself and asked how she stayed so focused with all that was going on around her.

She flashed the beautiful smile that became her trademark during her Hall of Fame pro career, and said, "Golf is my business. I take it seriously. There's enough time to have fun when I'm done with business."

This coming from a 14-year-old.

Of course, she won the tournament and I got several great stories that week, although they probably didn't get that much play around the country, since it was a junior girls' event. Still, it was a great experience.

Another golf tournament I covered during my time in Indianapolis was the USGA Amateur Public Links Championship in 1974.

I hit it off with one of the top competitors on the first day, laughing and joking with him after he finished his round. It turned out he was about my age, Jewish and a long way from his California home. He reminded me of my college friend Steve Scheckter and I invited him to join Judy and me for dinner.

It may have been a bit of a conflict of interest, but we just enjoyed each other's company. He spent more time with us during the week and wound up finishing in the top 10 in the tournament. On the last day, I offered him a ride to the airport.

As he collected his suitcase and golf clubs from the trunk, he said, "By the way, are you and Judy doing anything tomorrow night?"

When I said we were free, he reached in his pocket and handed me an envelope, saying, "One of the tournament people gave these to me and I can't use them. You guys have fun."

As he walked into the terminal, I opened the envelope and found two tickets to the next night's performance of The Rolling Stones, part of  their latest U.S. tour. We eventually lost touch with that young man, but we'll never forget him or that performance by The Stones and their opening act, Stevie Wonder.

Another event that turned personal was the first combined Men's and Women's U.S. Clay Courts Tennis Championships in 1974. The men had been playing in Indianapolis for years, but this was the first time for the ladies at the same event.

The big story at the time was the romance between Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors, two of the biggest stars in the tennis world. Everybody wanted to know more about the pairing, of course, but they were being as secretive as they could be while playing under the public eye.

The day before the tournament began, I drove over to the country club to get some advance material and the first person I talked to was Julie Heldman, one of the top players on the women's side. She was cute, friendly and we wound up talking for quite a while, comparing backgrounds and careers.

Again, I invited her to join Judy and me for dinner.

Julie was very friendly with Chris Evert, but she was reluctant to talk about Chris' personal life to a reporter, even someone who was becoming a friend. I didn't push.

The tournament began and I watched and reported on some amazing tennis. I didn't talk to Julie, though I did watch her win her first singles match. At the lunch break, I was sitting in the shade munching on a sandwich when Julie came up to say hi.

"I wonder if you could do me a favor?" she asked. "Could I borrow your car for about an hour?"

Though I thought it an odd request, I wasn't going anywhere for a while. I gave her my keys and told her where the car was parked. I didn't even ask where she was going, since I figured it was probably a personal errand for someone who was constantly on the road.

As I was finishing up my writing that evening, I suddenly realized she hadn't returned my keys. I got up to look for Julie and saw her heading in my direction with a big smile on her face.

"Hope you got your errand done okay," I said. She grinned and said, "I didn't use the car. It was Chrissie who wanted it. She and Jimmy needed to get away from here for a bit. They both say thanks
and they owe you."

So my two-year-old Oldmobile Cutlass was used for a tryst by two of the most famous athletes in the world. Interesting, especially since I hadn't met either of them, yet.

That night, the promoters held a cocktail party. The competitors were required to make an appearance, so Judy and I did, too. I was hoping to introduce myself to the happy couple.

Judy, as I've mentioned before, has never been comfortable meeting celebrities, so we were keeping a low profile as people swarmed around the crowded room. I spotted Chris and Jimmy, surrounded by well-wishers and fans and decided not to be pushy about talking to them,

I handed Judy her usual diet soda and, as she turned to walk away, she bumped into Bjorn Borg, stepping on his foot and spilling part of her drink. Both of them were apologizing and Borg started laughing.

I introduced myself and Judy and Borg said, "Oh, you're the journalist who lent his car to Chris and Jimmy. They want to meet you."

He walked us over to the happy couple and they thanked me politely, not wanting to talk too much about where they went or what they did in my Olds. Chris blushed and Jimmy grinned as we chatted. Unfortunately, the relationship didn't work out and they broke up soon after.

In the end, Connors beat Borg and Evert beat Gail Chanfreau for the singles titles and our new friend Julie combined with Chanfreau to beat Chris and sister Jeanne Evert in the women's doubles. Connors and Ilie Nastase teamed up to beat a couple of German players in the men's doubles.

Billie Jean King, who I had met earlier at a promotional event for the tournament, joined the conversation at the cocktail party as the talk turned to tennis and competition. My relationship with Billie Jean was very helpful later on in Cleveland when I was covering World Team Tennis, the league she and then husband Larry King started.

She was invaluable in helping me get hold of Martina Navratilova and Borg, who both played for the Cleveland Nets during my time in Ohio.

As much fun as covering sports was, getting to meet the people involved was often the best part throughout my career.