Editor's note:
When Robert Kahn '92 leafed through the spring 2004 issue of the Binghamton Alumni Journal, the story about Michael Fiur '81 caught his eye -- not many months before, he had interviewed Fiur for a story in Newsday, but hadn't known he was a fellow Binghamton alumnus! We asked, and obtained, permission from both Kahn and Newsday to reprint Kahn's story about Fiur. Here it is!

Players Pump Up the Volume; Personally chosen songs set the tone
By Robert Kahn, Newsday staff writer
Original date of publication in Newsday: September 2, 2003

Hum the theme from "Rocky" as you read this and you'll understand why the right music can energize an athlete.

"When there's a heavy song, it makes you push yourself a little bit more," Thai phenom Paradorn Srichaphan explained yesterday at the U.S. Open, using "heavy" as a synonym for "way cool."

Adrenaline-pumping tunes are blasted from the loudspeakers at Arthur Ashe Stadium as tennis players are introduced, during changeovers and set breaks, and between matches.

When athletes register at the Open (think "first day of school," but with whiter clothing and more at stake) they're asked to fill out a yellow 3-by-5 "My Tunes!" card on which they list their musical preferences.

For those who don't list their favorites, officials rely on bits of information they've gleaned from player profiles to match songs to youthful personalities.

" We want songs that will appeal to fans from the very top row down to courtside, to the people in the President's Club and to the players," said U.S. Open entertainment director Michael Fiur.

Players who've been on the tour a long time have a signature sound. Newly retired Pete Sampras always wanted Pearl Jam tunes on the speaker for his walk-ons. Kim Clijsters likes Destiny's Child. Andre Agassi never told U.S. Tennis Association types what song he wanted to hear before a match, so Fiur and his colleagues play "Viva Las Vegas" before he takes the court. When the Williams sisters return to the tour, the USTA will be ready with their favorites: Serena likes (no big surprise here) Nelly's "#1." And sister Venus has a thing for Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name."

"We had to find a parentally acceptable version of that to play in the house," Fiur said.

Of course, it's most helpful when the players keep the entertainment staff constantly updated with requests.

The night of his first-round match against Tim Henman, Andy Roddick left a handwritten note for Fiur on a yellow Post-It note.

Roddick, known as a fan of hardcore sounds, wanted to hear Metallica's "Enter Sandman," because he knew two Metallica band members were in the audience.

He had similar requests for his birthday night match against Croat Ivan Ljubicic, but as the entertainment operatives were working their 3,800-song digitizer, the machine jammed up.

Music director Dan Beach "just went with whatever he could get the machine to play," Fiur explained. In this case, that was the un-Roddick-like Loverboy tune "The Kid is Hot Tonite."

"Andy comes off the match after 3 hours and 10 minutes, skips the locker room and comes right up to us," Fiur recalled. "All he could say was 'Michael, what was up with that?'"