When a Career Hits the Wall : McEnroe Fades . . . to Bo? It Must Be in Hollywood

For almost four years, John McEnroe stood in front of the Brooklyn Bridge and looked out over Hollywood Boulevard.

He wore a leather jacket with the collar turned up. His right hand was stuck in the pocket of his faded jeans, and he held a wooden tennis racket with his left. He looked neither to the left or to the right, but stared straight ahead from his vantage point, high up on the outside wall of the Hollywood Equitable building on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

McEnroe was 60 feet wide and 100 feet long, which meant that he was very, very big at the time. He was No. 1 in the world when Nike, the sports shoe and apparel company, painted a mural of him in April, 1984.

“That mural had a really incredible life,” said Kevin Brown, Nike’s director of corporate communications.

Now that life is over. McEnroe is off the wall. Bo Jackson, the newest Nike star, has replaced him, appearing in his very own painted mural.

That’s the way it is in the sports business. One day they paint over you.

McEnroe, who hasn’t played since the Stakes Match in November, is now only the 15th-ranked player in the world, which can’t be too good for the shoe business. Much has changed in the four years since McEnroe first appeared in mural form. For one thing, he doesn’t look the same. Besides that, Nike figures it will be better in the long run to go with Bo.

“Bo (is) bigger than John now?--that’s apples and oranges,” Brown said. “Bo will play, how many road games for the Royals in Los Angeles and how many home games for the Raiders? That’s a lot more than the matches in L.A. that John will play.”

As part of a new marketing campaign, McEnroe is not getting a total brushoff. He’ll be put on a billboard, but his mural days are finished.

“Let’s face it,” Brown said. “John McEnroe in 1988 is different than 1984 anyway. He was No. 1 in 1984. What is he, 10 or 11 now? Things change. His hair’s a lot shorter, now, too. I think he and his father recognize that.”

Indeed, John P. McEnroe Sr., quickly recognized the hair issue once it was raised.

“I don’t think he looks much different--well, maybe a little less hair now,” said McEnroe Sr. “That’s an old wooden racket, too.”

McEnroe’s father is an attorney who also conducts some business on his son’s behalf. The elder McEnroe does not believe in sports symbolism as it pertains to murals of his son. What is the connection between being painted as No. 1 and painted over as No. 15? None, according to the elder McEnroe. There is no cover-up involved here, he said.

“I think it is totally unrelated to anything,” said McEnroe Sr. “Not as far as I know, anyway. I was unaware of the fact it was being taken down. I can’t ever recall John and I talking about the mural at any time. I think this is pretty much a non-issue, and I say that in a very low-key way. I can only assume that they know what they are doing.”

What Nike is doing is giving Bo some, well, exposure. Jackson is wearing football pants, shoulder pads and rests a baseball bat behind his head, across his shoulders. He wears no shirt, nor apparently anything else.

“Nothing but a pair of very large biceps,” Brown said.

Jackson’s reaction to all this was somewhat mixed. Bo found it somewhat bo ring. Reached at the Royals’ training camp in Florida, Jackson was unaware of his new mural or his new status.

King of Hollywood Bo ulevard?

“I heard they were going to do something,” Jackson said. “Maybe I can get back to L.A. sometime this year and see it.”

If everything goes according to plan, then Bo will probably paint the town, all right. The Royals will make their first visit June 10, when they play the Angels.

Hopefully, Bo will make the trip. Right now, he’s locked in a battle with rookie Gary Thurman for the starting left-field job. He can use that bat he’s holding in the mural. Then when the Raiders get started, Bo can put those shoulder pads to use. Too bad we can’t see his feet.

“We may have to paint a pair of basketball shoes on him,” Brown said.

There is room. Bo’s mural is 30 feet shorter than McEnroe’s was.

“I don’t know what that means,” Brown said.

It’s easy. They have less of Bo to paint over for the new guy.