Introduction

From time to time, I call Ben to talk to him about this web site.  Ben and I agreed it would be fun for me to jot down notes from our phone calls and post them here on his web site, and so I’ve created this blog.  Over time, I’ll add new posts to the top – as you scroll down, you’ll see older postings.  I hope you like this!  You can use the Feedback Form on this site to send me your questions for Ben or your ideas for future blog postings.

                             Jane

                             Webmistress for the Official Ben Murphy Web Site

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Lots happening in Ben's life right now. Tomorrow he begins another tennis tournament, this one in Irvine California. Following the week-long tournament, Ben will be going to Arkansas to continue sorting through his mother's things. (Ben's mother lived in Arkansas, before she passed away last year.) 

Did you know that Ben is a landlord?  He has rented out a portion of his house to various roommates over the years. His last tenant just left so last week Ben was interviewing applicants for the space. He selected a retired military man who, Ben noted, will be his first tenant who is close to Ben in age.

The Lakers game was just about to come on so we ended our phone call. Ben was off to exercise in his garage while watching the game, then he'd be having his supper during half time. 

Wenesday,  April  9, 2008

I’ve just returned from my trip to New Orleans where a group of Ben’s fans had gathered for a dinner with Ben on April 7.  Ben was in New Orleans playing in a tennis tournament, and we had set up a casual dinner with his fans in the area.  Here are my memories of the trip:

On Sunday night, a group of fans had already arrived at the hotel in New Orleans.   Ben had told me where he would be staying and suggested we all try to stay in the same hotel; he said it would be fun for all of us to see each other in the halls and lobby of the hotel during our stay in New Orleans.  We were sitting out on the front patio of the hotel at about 9:00 that night, enjoying the warm summer night air, when Ben came striding up the sidewalk, pulling his suitcase behind him.  He smiled and said a quick hello, then told us he needed to get checked in.  We came in and waited in the lobby, and Ben soon came back down to talk to us a bit longer. 

A bit later, I had a moment alone with Ben to brief him on the details of the dinner scheduled for the next evening.  I had spent the afternoon checking out restaurants in the area (with the help of another fan).  I told Ben about our choices and he perked right up when he heard about a restaurant we had liked that was within walking distance of the hotel.  He loved the idea of walking to and from the restaurant.  With that settled,  next I asked him if he would pose for a photo alone with each person at the start of the dinner, so everyone would be sure to get a photo with Ben before time got away from us.  Ben agreed and even suggested we take the photos as we walked along to the restaurant.  He suggested we look for nice trees or houses as we walked along, to use as a backdrop for our photos.  And that’s exactly what we would do the next night.

Oh, I almost forgot.  A fan had sent me a very rare magazine clipping with a photo of Ben as a young child.  I had never seen this photo before, on any of Internet sites or on eBay, and I must admit I wondered if it was really Ben.  I mean, I completely believed the fan who sent it to me, but I wondered if the magazine that had printed the photo many years ago had confirmed that the photo really was of Ben.  So, before posting this new contribution to Ben’s site, I decided to ask him about the photo when I saw him in New Orleans.  While I was talking to Ben on Sunday night, I pulled out the photo, intending to ask Ben if this was really him.  But before I even said a word, Ben looked at the photo and said, “Oh, that’s me.”  It was fun to watch his reaction to suddenly seeing a photo of himself at 4-years-old.  I’ve posted this photo in the photo gallery section of this site.

At 6:00 on Monday, we all gathered in the lobby of our hotel.  One of our group was an excellent photographer, and he volunteered to take our photos.   We all stepped out on the front patio for the group photo.  Our photographer’s skill was amazing as he knew just how to use the light and get us all set up in for a terrific group photo.  Then we set off down the road, talking and laughing as we stopped for our individual photos with Ben. 

(Note: I will not be posting the group photo on this web site, and I’ve asked the people who attended the event not to post anyone else’s photo on any message boards.  Attendees may post their own photo with Ben, if they wish, but they should not post a photo that contains anyone other than Ben and themselves, or Ben alone.)

When we got to the restaurant, we had a large table in a quiet corner so we could all hear and see each other.  We ordered appetizers for the table and passed them around.  Then everyone ordered their meal, except for Ben.  He didn’t order anything for himself, as he planned to spend the time talking with everyone.  After 15- 20 minutes in one chair, talking to the fans on each side of him, Ben would get up and move his chair to sit with others and talk to them.  He also took some food off just about everyone’s plate as he went (sweet potato French fries, especially), so by the time he got around the entire table, he had basically had a meal after all! 

Ben told a funny story about the day he was supposed to move into his home in Malibu.  But rather than relaying it here (I could never do it justice), I’ll ask Ben to tell you all in his next phone interview. 

Toward the end of the meal, people passed items to Ben for him to sign.  In addition to the usual requests to autograph the Alias Smith and Jones DVD case or something like that, Ben was also asked to sign the yearbook of the 10-year-old daughter of one of the men in our group.  Some people had purchased postcards of New Orleans for Ben to sign, and some people had Ben sign their menu, so they went home with souvenirs that would remind them of Ben and also of their trip to New Orleans. 

Speaking of souvenirs, one very generous lady in our group had brought everyone a little stuffed bear or dog (a dog for Ben, of course) wearing T shirts with letter M patches on them.  So we were all members of Team Murphy that night.  Here's a picture of our souvenirs:

The dinner ended as we caught the last few minutes of the NCAA final game on the TV in the restaurant.  Well, actually by that time the restaurant staff wanted to go home.  We lingered so long we were the last ones there. You know you need to leave when the waitress comes around to ask if she can clear the glasses so the dishwasher can go home!  We wound up congregating with Ben once again in the lobby of the hotel to watch the end of the game on the TV there.  Then it was time for good-byes.  Some people were leaving that night, others the next day and still others were staying in New Orleans for a few more days.

The next day I got to walk around New Orleans with some of the other members of our group.  Ben, of course, was playing in his tennis tournament.   As you’ll know if you watch the scores on the USTA web site, Ben did not win his matches that day.  That night at the hotel, I had the opportunity to see Ben again, along with two other fans who were still staying in the hotel.  Ben told us that he was “despondent” (his word) over his losses and that he was about ready to just give up playing tennis altogether.  We all gasped, but Ben quickly added that he always feels this way after a loss.  Just give him some time and he’ll get his spirit back, he said.  Later, when the conversation again returned to tennis, Ben sighed and repeated that maybe he should give up tennis.  He said maybe he’d return to acting. We all didn’t know what to say to that, because we’d like to see Ben in more performances, too.  But then Ben said no, he just needed to work through this despondency and then he’d be back on the court.  He explained that when he does something, he wants to do it perfectly.  If he’s playing tennis, he wants to win. 

By the way, he said all this with a smile on his face.  I don’t know – maybe he didn’t want us to see him down, always being “up” for his fans, or maybe his despondency was lurking undernea his usual positive outlook on life. 

Changing the subject, trying to cheer Ben up, we were talking about jokes.  I couldn’t think of a joke, but I did remember an interesting number riddle, so I decided to ask the group.  Here’s the riddle.  See if you can get it right, but you have to answer quickly. 

A builder has built 100 new houses on a street.  He hires a painter to paint the numbers on the houses – house #1, house #2, and so on.  How many times will the painter paint the number 9? 

Some of the people in the group responded 10 times?  11?  12?   Ben thought for a few seconds and then he said, “20”.  And he’s right.  My jaw just fell open because I’ve never known ANYONE to get this right, and I must have asked at least 50 people this question in the past.   (If you didn’t get 20 for your answer, you probably weren’t thinking about house # 98, #97, #96, etc.) 

I asked Ben how in the world he had gotten this right?  Ben explained that as soon as I asked the question, he pictured a grid of numbers in his head, 10 rows of 10 numbers, and then he just mentally scanned the grid.  This was amazing to me.  (By the way, I myself got this wrong the first time I heard it.  I thought the answer was 11.) 

And on that note, we all said good bye and my wonderful time in New Orleans ended as I flew home this morning. 

Dec. 31, 2007

Listen to our recorded phone call.

Nov. 18, 2007

As messages come in to this web site for Ben, I hold them until I have about 25-50 messages and then I send them in bunches to Ben.  Tonight I asked Ben how this is working out for him and he said he enjoys it very much.  He keeps the stack of messages on the counter and look through a few each day.  So keep the messages to Ben coming! 

Christmas is coming up and -- this will come as no surprise to most of us -- Ben really doesn't celebrate Christmas.  He hates how commercialized it is, and would rather give people gifts when he wants to, not because of a date on the calendar. 

A few nights ago, Ben was watching C-SPAN, which is basically his favorite TV channel.  He got so interested in a documentary about the Vietnam war that he stayed up until 4:00am to watch the whole thing.  The documentary focused on a man who was a high ranking officer during the war, and another man who had been a student protestor of the war.  Ben said he had great respect for both perspectives.  I asked Ben if the documentary brought back memories of his life during the Vietnam war, and he recalled how he had managed to avoid the draft by staying in college and getting a student deferment.  It would have been awful if he had been drafted, I thought, but Ben surprised me by saying no, it might have been good.  Who knows how his life would have turned out, he wondered, if he had been in the army?  Maybe better, maybe worse, life is the sum of our experiences and what we make of them.

OK, on to tennis.  Many of you have noticed that Ben had to withdraw from a tournament recently.  This is because Ben sustained a groin injury during a match.  He had to leave in the middle of the tournament, and then stayed home for 8 days straight because of the injury.  He is better now, able to do some exercising and even play some games so long as he doesn't run around too much.  He's spending the time refining parts of his game, "working on the subtleties" is how he phrased it.  But he is not going to play any tournaments for the next month or so while he waits for the injury to completely heal.

Last month I recorded my phone call to Ben so that fans could hear how he was doing following the wild fires in California.  This went very well, judging by all the feedback I received to the site, so I asked Ben if we could do this again sometime.  Ben agreed and suggested we plan to have a recorded call in early January.  So send me your questions or suggestions for this phone call and be looking out for a newsletter announcing the call sometime after the holidays. 

Oct. 25, 2007

Listen to our recorded phone call.

Sept. 20, 2007

Tonight I asked Ben about the ace bandage that can be seen on his right thigh in the pictures from his last tennis tournament.  Ben explained that in the past he has hurt this muscle in his leg, but it hasn't been bothering him lately.  He just wraps his leg now so he doesn't have problems with the muscle again.

Then I asked Ben how he felt about his last tournament.  I was a little nervous to bring this up, considering that Ben didn't win his first regular match and played the rest of his matches in the consolation round.  But Ben doesn't seem to mind when people ask what's on their minds so I took a deep breath and forged ahead.  Ben said he doesn't know why he's not winning more, that he really should be winning more matches based on his skill level.  He said he needs to work on his mental game as much as his physical game.  I asked what he meant by that and Ben gave the example of opponents talking to each other between sets.  Ben said he's learned to hear what they say to him and to respond courteously, but he's working on getting less engaged with his opponents, person to person, until after the match is over.  Because, he said, it's harder to make your friend lose.  (In other words, Ben's too nice a guy!)

Sept. 5, 2007

After a day of tennis, Ben met a group of fans for dinner at the Salt Creek Grille restaurant in Rumson, NJ.  During the dinner, Ben shared some stories with us. 

One of the fans at the dinner is a teacher, which got Ben to reminiscing about his school days. He attended many different parochial schools and had to wear school uniforms which were usually slacks, button-down shirt and a tie.  He recalled that his favorite teacher was his 5th grade teacher, Sister Perpetua.  He liked her because she was a relatively young teacher with lots of enthusiasm.  Years later, when Sister Perpetua saw Ben on TV, she called him up to say hello.

We asked Ben why he doesn't ski anymore.  Ben said he used to ski a lot, but mostly because he loved the speed.  The more he skied, the faster he wanted to go. One day in 1974, standing at the top of a mountain ready to ski down, he realized he didn't want to do this anymore.  He was happier on the tennis court, and at the rate he was going, it was only a matter of time before he seriously injured himself racing down the mountains. He turned to his date (Jeanie, who he later married) and said, "Let's get out of here."  And just like that, his skiing days were over. 

Ben had competed in a tennis tournament the afternoon before our dinner.  This was a grass court tournament, and was the first time Ben had competed on grass.  He said he found the "bounce" very different from hard courts and it was something he had to adapt to during the game. 

Ben told us he preferred telephone conversations over mail or e-mail because of the human contact.  But also that he uses phone calls mainly as a means of gathering information.  He doesn't like to make small talk.  He uses his cell phone for emergencies only.  The conversation moved to a discussion of getting to the airport on time for flights.  Ben commented on how people seem to be afraid of alone time or down time, and as soon as they have a free minute, they whip out their cell phones.  He said he's never used a GPS system and prefers paper maps -- something he can hold onto and review. 

Another fan had brought her son, a young man named Brian, to the dinner.  When Ben arrived, he had to learn everyone's names quickly, and somehow he got Brian's name mixed up and thought this young man's name was really Robert.  Ben called him Robert a couple of times, and we all smiled among ourselves.  We decided not to correct Ben, because after all it must be hard for Ben to remember the names of all the fans he meets.  Brian gamely agreed to be "Robert" for the rest of the night. But later, Ben overheard someone calling him "Brian" and asked, "Is your name Brian?"  From then on, Ben called him Brian.  But truthfully, I think Brian wouldn't have minded either way. 

Some of the fans had brought items for Ben to sign, and then we all stepped outside for photos with Ben.  It was a beautiful summer night and we all hated to see the evening end.  

Aug. 27, 2007

When I called Ben tonight, he was reading the newspaper and feeling a little "housebound" because the person he had planned to play tennis with earlier today had to cancel.  Ben said he would have felt more energetic if he'd been able to play tennis today.

I asked Ben if he's ever had tennis elbow and he replied that he's e had it once.  He got tennis elbow when he was trying a "crazy" new move to try to improve his serve.  But all it did was wreck his elbow.  He had to stop playing for a while to let his elbow heal, and now he is much more careful not to try things like that again. 

I've always wondered what Ben's house looks like so I asked him about it tonight.  He said it's a 2-story house that looks a bit like a cabin.  It looks out over the ocean and is surrounded by trees.  Ben said if you went to an Internet site where you can type in an address and see a satellite view of that location, you wouldn't be able to see his house because of all of the trees.

Aug. 10, 2007

Ben recently finished a tennis tournament in San Francisco and now is looking forward to his next tournament in New Jersey, starting Sept. 4.  He said he's been "working hard, both on the courts and off" and is feeling very excited about his tennis game right now. 

About that computer -- Ben's decided to get an Apple computer.  But he's going to wait until the Fall when some new Apple models will be available.

A lot of people have been sending comments or messages to Ben via the "Feedback Form" on his web site.  I've been printing these out and faxing them to Ben.  (He has a fax machine in his house.)  I asked Ben is he minded me faxing so much to him and he said no, he enjoys getting them.  In fact, Ben said that if people want to send questions or comments to him this way -- via his web site's feedback form -- he may sometimes write a brief response on the page and fax it back to me.  Then I'll either post his response here on his blog or e-mail his response directly to the person who sent the feedback -- whichever Ben feels is appropriate for each situation.  So feel free to send your questions and comments to Ben via the Feedback Form on this site, and be sure to include your e-mail address in case I need to send a response back to you directly. 

Here's an example -- a fan recently sent in a question via the site's Feedback Form, asking how it was possible that some of Ben's tennis scores had numbers up to 10.  The fan was under the impression that it takes only 6 sets to win a tennis match.  So I asked Ben about this.  He explained that in some matches, it's necessary to go on to a tie-breaker and that's where you'll see the higher numbers in score results.  A regular tie-breaker is won by the first player to reach 7 points, with at least a 2 point lead.  A "super" tie-breaker is won by the first player to reach 10 points, with at least a 2-point lead. 

July 27, 2007

Ben is getting ready for his next tennis tournament which starts in three days.  He has a few small injuries right now (I didn’t pry for details), so he’s taking it easy for 48 hours to rest up.

A web site visitor had sent in a message, using the Feedback Form on Ben’s site, describing a memory she had of meeting Ben when he was in Australia filming Sidecar Racers in the ‘70s.  I read the message to Ben over the phone.  The writer said that she had seen Ben in a restaurant there and had shown him how to eat a dish called Sydney Mud Crab.  This led Ben to reminiscing about his time in Australia.  He really liked it there, said he “never met an Aussie I didn’t like.”  He’d like to go back someday.  

We chatted a bit about Ben's tentative plans to come to New Jersey in September for another tennis tournament.  As explained in the last newsletter, Ben has said that he would be happy to meet fans who live in the area for a casual dinner one night while he is in New Jersey.  Well, I warned Ben that we may need to go to two nights because so many people have expressed an interest in attending the dinner.  Ben said that's fine, he'll make time for everyone.  But he did remind me that his plans aren't finalized yet, and he won't know for sure if he's coming to New Jersey until mid-August. 

July 12, 2007

I called Ben tonight to find out if he’d watched Wimbledon (he had not) and if he is planning to play in the National Championship tennis tournament in San Francisco later this month (he is.)  When I reached Ben on the phone, he was reading Tennis magazine and smoking a cigar.  I didn’t realize Ben smoked cigars, other than those we’ve seen him smoke as part of a scene on TV.  Ben explained that he smokes a cigar occasionally, and he called it his “treat.” 

Then Ben brought up a subject that’s been on his mind lately.  He’s considering buying a computer!  Yes, the man we thought would never have a computer is now debating the virtues of Windows vs. Mac. You may be thinking that once Ben gets a computer, he’ll browse this web site and other sites related to his career, but that’s not the reason behind Ben’s new interest in the Internet.  Ben wants a computer so he can register for his tennis tournaments, check out other players’ scores before he meets them on the court, and generally keep up with the on-line tennis community.