June 30, 2009
Wimbledon Woe
To say that some of the elite athletes in the sporting world are pampered should not be a surprise to most folks. In addition, the thought that an elite athlete might be in a situation where they were not allowed to do as they please and that situation might be annoying to that athlete should not be a surprise. Nonetheless, when one sees an example, it still causes one to shake one’s head.
At Wimbledon this year, they have a new rule. I have no idea why they made such a rule, but the folks running the tournament made it. Players may not bring food into the locker room. Oh, the horror of it all… Fruit and health bars are available to the players but no “outside food” in the locker rooms. Serena Williams called the rule “unfair”, which seems like a very strange characterization to me. If the rule is applied to everyone, then how might it be “unfair”. In her blog, Serena Williams also wrote:
“Like, do they really expect me or any other player to actually walk outside all the way to the player’s lounge? That is time not spent well, and I value my time.”
Much of adulthood is about adapting to circumstances and making choices relative to one’s actions. If the way to get food to nibble on means walking “all the way to the player’s lounge” then indeed that is what “they” expect the players to do - - assuming that the players choose to eat some food. The alternative choice is to stay in the locker room and do whatever other things one might accomplish there with the player’s valuable time. But that means choosing not to eat some food. I suspect the tournament organizers recognize this situation for what it is and that they think it serves some constructive purpose from their standpoint.
As I said, I have no idea why they made such a rule; it may or may not be a necessary one; I don’t know. I do know that the rule is absolutely fair in the sense that it applies equally to everyone. Moreover, I now know that even the most minor imposition - - such as this one - - can cause an elite athlete to complain; thereby showing how coddled they are.
Recently, a report on Yahoo said that Rangers’ outfielder, Marlon Byrd, was taking nutritional supplements on the advice of Victor Conte and has been for more than a year. Byrd confirmed that report. At first blush, you would have to think that this situation has far too many ways to go south for Byrd and for the Rangers. However, Byrd fleshed out the story saying that Conte is advising him on what he needs to eat and what he needs to use as nutritional supplements and that all of the supplements are approved by the National Sanitation Foundation, which is designated by MLB to provide the list of banned substances. Byrd told the Dallas press:
“I’m tired of going in GNC and taking chances. That’s not fair to us. Everything is approved by MLB. Everything has to be NSF-approved for us to take. Everything I take, he [Conte] sends to MLB.”
Indeed, if that is the whole story, Marlon Byrd is doing a very smart thing here. Unfortunately for Byrd, Victor Conte’s name will forever conjure up steroid use by baseball players.
The Cubs are an underachieving bunch. As of this morning, they are a game under .500 and sit in fourth place in a mediocre NL Central Division. Stress is building in Cubbie-land. Recently, manager Lou Piniella told outfielder Milton Bradley to take off his uniform and go home in the midst of a game. As “Sweet Lou” followed Bradley to the locker room, there are reports he called Bradley a “piece of [excrement]”. Carlos Zambrano screwed up a pitchout; threw the ball past the catcher and allowed a run to score from third base. He reacted to his own screw up by throwing at the next batter almost igniting a brawl. Is the ever-volatile Lou Piniella really the guy to get this train back on the track? Here is Steve Rosenbloom’s assessment in the Rosenblog on the Chicago Tribune website:
“The Cubs are in chaos. They look abysmal. They can’t play baseball. Forget the distractions of a manager kicking his own player out of the park with a pottymouth insult and the whining about visiting clubhouse leaks. It wouldn’t happen or matter if they could play baseball. But they can’t play baseball right now.
“This has surpassed messy, hit atrocious and is headed for disaster.”
Looking at the baseball standings as of this morning, the Florida Marlins are at .500 and are in second place in the floundering NL East. That is good news. Looking at baseball attendance figures for 2009, the Marlins’ attendance is up 22.2% compared to last year. That too is good news. However, even with that increase in attendance this year, the Florida Marlins have the lowest attendance in all of MLB; they play at home to an average crowd this year of only 17,603. The politicos in Miami and Florida approved a new stadium for the Marlins; but with that kind of attendance/fan interest, you really have to ponder the long-term viability of a franchise there.
Scott Ostler obviously heard reports of Evander Holyfield’s financial woes and offered this analysis in the SF Chronicle:
“Holyfield is so desperate, he might have to fight José Canseco.
As of January 2011, the Rose Bowl game will leave network TV and migrate to ESPN. The network also has rights to other BCS bowl games starting in 2011. A network executive explained how happy ESPN is to acquire the rights to all these games and said:
“Fans will welcome ESPN’s all-encompassing approach, and the additional opportunities and value resulting from our multi-platform presentation will benefit the college football community and our business partners.”
Allow me to translate that one for you:
“ESPN will promote and cross-promote these games so much that fans teeth will begin to itch every time a football bowl game is mentioned. The benefits to the college football community come from the fans expenditures on products that sponsor these games; the benefits to the ESPN business partners comes from the fans expenditures on products that sponsor these games; the fans are paying the bills for the massive hype-job that will be coming their way.”
Finally, an observation from Greg Cote in the Miami Herald, which provides us with yet another insight into the mind and the life of an elite athlete:
“Immediately after the reports of Michael Jackson’s death, Bengal Chad OchoCinco, on Twitter, called it ‘just as sad as 9/11.’ I’m not saying we abolish Twitter. I’m saying we ban Chad Ocho Cinco.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…
