Matt Barrett:
A Memorial
John Yandell
Tennisplayer has lost a founding member of our team with the unexpected passing of our friend and technical editor, Matt Barrett.
Matt was there at the beginning, working in the filming and editing of the pro footage which became one of the hallmarks of Tennisplayer.
He was part of a core group of unique guys who combined a deep love and understanding the sport with the hybrid technical skills that turned our vision into reality.
There was a camaraderie and an awe we all shared in that enterprise. And a lot of laughter. That was the thing that probably ran through it the most, the laughter. That was one of the great things about Matt, his sense of irony and his complete inability to tolerate phoniness and pretense.
I remember a joke he told when we were all up at my family house at Mt. Lassen, a place Matt loved and came often.
We were at the dinner table and Matt asked us all if we had heard the joke about the two Sasquatches, which we had not.
One sasquatch says to the other “Guess what I saw my reflection in the stream the other day”
And other one says “How was that for you?”
And the first one says “Well, mixed.”
And the other says, “Well what do you mean by that?”
And the first one says, “It’s good to know what I look like.”
“The bad part is I’m a sasquatch.”
My friendship with Matt was about a lot more than tennis. We recorded music together. More than once he helped me make the béarnaise sauce. When a couple of people needed to be sued, he put on his black clothes and black hat and served the papers.
So Matt thanks for that and thanks for everything. Thanks for all those 7 point drop and hit backcourt games. Thanks for hitting on the clay courts at the Olympic Club in San Francisco when you become a member and for the all you can eat prime rib buffet afterwards. We’re gonna remember you.
