New ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Trailer Solves Childhood Mystery

Billie Jean King VS. Bobby Riggs, a tennis match that transcended both sports and gender equality issues and thrilled the entire world in the process, happened a mere ten days before I was born September 20, 1973. Not until I saw the trailer for the movie starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, that I solved a lifelong childhood mystery.

By 1978 I was in first grade and obsessed with selling as many subscriptions as possible so I could cash in for the glorious mountain of prizes that were promised to those who made a killing in the unforgiving, cutthroat environment of 'The Magazine Drive'.

When it was all totaled, only my folks and grandparents bought in and my 'mountain of prizes' ended up being  a 'weepul' and a 'Super Sized Sugar Daddy'.

It was nowhere near as gigantic as the one Bobby Riggs is holding in the picture above, but IT DID have a picture of Bobby Riggs on it.

Honestly, I had no clue who he was at the time and it wasn't until I saw the trailer that I realized it was him on the Sugar Daddy box so many, many years ago.

When I got home, I remember tearing the box open and throwing it away, smashed the 'Daddy' into several pieces with a hammer so I could enjoy it over time.

I'm almost afraid to check eBay and see how much one is worth now on the collectibles market. The movie starring Emma Stone and Steve Carrell is happening in September and I'm sure the market price of a Bobby Riggs model SSD will only climb higher and higher by then.

It WAS a mountain of prizes after all!