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Fort Lauderdale, Florida • July 3-7, 2002

Homer's Odyssey: 34 Consecutive U.S. Opens

By Larry Hodges

It was the summer of 1969 that 20-year-old Homer Brown hopped into his car and drove from St. Louis to San Francisco, something like 1500 miles - for his first U.S. Open. Richard Nixon had just been elected president of the United States, Watergate was a hotel, and the powerful Baltimore Orioles were about to lose baseball's World Series to the upstart New York Mets. 

In 1971, Nixon was running for re-election, the Vietnam War was at full blast, the U.S. Table Tennis Team toured China, and Homer won Men's Consolation at his third U.S. Open.

In 1974, Nixon resigned the presidency, world #1 players Wang Liqin and Wang Nan hadn't been born yet, and Homer won Men's Class "A" Doubles and Mixed Class "A" Doubles at his sixth U.S. Open ... for the second year in a row.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan was nearing the end of his presidency, and Homer made the final of Hardbat Singles at his 19th U.S. Open, losing to Houshang Bozorgzadeh. 

In 1989, George Bush was the new U.S. President, the U.S. still was friends with Iraq, and Homer's son, Adam, age 8, won Under 10 Boys' Singles at Homer's 21st U.S. Open.

In 2002, 53-year-old Homer Brown made the semifinals of Under 2000 Hardbat Singles in his 34th consecutive U.S. Open. 

Homer is the owner of Bumpernets, and has been a Butterfly dealer for 37 consecutive years, longer than any other U.S. distributor.

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