Golf or F1?
Why am I playing this game..?
F1 poss
Golf is massive in Korea, especially the women's game. They have 2 dedicated golf channels on free to air TV
The Generic Tennis Thread
- Thread starter belboid
- Start date
F1 poss
Golf is massive in Korea, especially the women's game. They have 2 dedicated golf channels on free to air TV
It's part of the deal in the contract for entering the competition. They're contracted commitments. We all have parts of our jobs we hate. If I could tell my boss that doing my timesheets was making me depressed I refuse to do them I can predict the result.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Actually, to a certain extent you can do that - reasonable adjustments for the health and wellbeing of an employee. Employers stretch or outright break the parameters of contracts all the bloody time.
Anyway, this is one way things change: refuse to do something, get the conversation started, hopefully negotiate an alternative agreement. It's basically just industrial action, nothing new there.
She knew the deal. She doesn't seem to suffer from stage fright when she's on set for Nike commercials. Press conferences are beneath her perceived status. So fine. Change job. They've offered her therapy if it's affecting her mental health. She's not even replied. Again, if I treated my employer like that I suspect I know what the response would be.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
It's not stage fright
They're not "beneath her perceived status", they are damaging to an athlete's mental health because they're conducted at a very vulnerable or low moment, and often journalists are more interested in getting a reaction and a story rather than having any genuine interest in the human being.
"She knew the deal" reads an awful lot like "can't change anything, just accept what the boss gives you and be thankful for that".
It also goes to just what athletes "owe" us. Most of us watch for the sport, not the bollix around it.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
With respect, and without knowing your personal situation, she arguably has more power with her employer than you do yours. If you could influence your employer to provide better working conditions, are you saying you wouldn't?
Well you're right. I'm not earning millions. But I don't believe I'm being asked to do anything unreasonable. I'm not keen on public speaking, but brace myself and do it when I have to. If she doesn't like it then choose a different career. Spending 15 minutes being asked about her struggles on clay (because let's face it the fact she's not great on it and those questions were sure to come is at the heart of this) in amongst far less 'stressful' questions can't be that difficult.
I'm sure her mental health will be fine by the time she beats all and sundry on the hard court in NYC.
You're discrediting a persons claim to be suffering mental health issues
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
See, just feel like that's quite an extreme reaction. "If you don't like this one aspect, jack it all in".
I'm pretty sure this isn't just about her, or the French Open specifically, and there are any number of examples of the impact it can have on athletes. And even if it's not devastating, it's arguably not inherently necessary, either.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
You really have zero understanding of the issues involved which is why you’re coming out with such reactionary drivel.
Her stand isn’t just about her, it’s about the general tone of many of the questions from journos immediately after a match. She doesn’t want them entirely abolished, she has simply called for more time between the end of a match and having to fulfil that obligation, as well as marking the cards of said journos to stop acting like shits. One of the main cases she has talked about was the treatment of Johanna Konta, ie, not herself. More power to her and those others who are in a position to use their status to support those who would be completely screwed by making a similar stance.
Cool, understood. I'm gonna start 'marking the cards' of clients who occasionally question whether I hit their brief. Fact is, her game doesnt suit clay, she knows it, she doesn't like losing and yes - she'll be back in front of those mics after cleaning up in NYC. If you want to bet on that I'm in. I've watched her press conferences. It's not exactly Frost/Nixon.
I agree they should give them more time to unwind after the match, that's a valid point but from what I've read she just doesn't want to do them at all.
And FWIW, yes I do have understanding of mental health issues. She's signed up for this career though and media duties are part of it, that's why she gets paid so fucking much.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Again, that just seems bizarrely defeatist to me; "she signed up for this career, so no point trying to change it".
She signed up for this career, and became successful enough to have enough power to maybe do something about improving it.
I just don't buy into this apparent idea that she has to accept it all wholesale.
she gets paid so much because she is an exceptional athlete who has devoted her life to the game, and is at the top. And as an aside she has frequently been outspoken regarding social and racial issues. Your Frost/Nixon comment was a tad nauseating, mate.
1927
Funnier than he thinks he is.
She gets paid so much because she’s good at a sport that receives millions in broadcast revenue, broadcasters that expect access to the stars they turned into multi millionaires!
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
"they turned into"? Pretty sure they profit off of the athletes, given the athletes are the ones people want to watch. People would find a way to watch athletes (or any other entertainment) if those broadcasters didn't exist. Meanwhile, what would the broadcasters broadcast if the athletes didn't exist?
Sure, the athletes benefit from the wider exposure, but let's not get confused about who is creating the demand and who is exploiting it.
Also, they can "expect" all they like, the question is is that expectation reasonable?
1927
Funnier than he thinks he is.
I take your point, they’d be good at tennis anyway, but they wouldn’t enjoy the wealth that broadcasters bring to the table!
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
Most of the income of top players come from sponsorship and advertising. I don't think it is too out of order for players to be expected to honour their contract when they sign up for a tournament. As I said above Losers should be given more time before being expected to face the press.
Mental health of players who spend a large part of the year on tour should be at the top of the list for the tournament organisers. On the other hand players are not likely to get much sponsorship or advertising contracts if they do not get the exposure of the TV companies covering the tennis.
Mental health of players who spend a large part of the year on tour should be at the top of the list for the tournament organisers. On the other hand players are not likely to get much sponsorship or advertising contracts if they do not get the exposure of the TV companies covering the tennis.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Oh sure, of course not, but the broadcasters only bring that wealth to the table because they've earned it off of other peoples' talent.
And again, it's just a question of what that wealth entitles them to. Fair enough if some people think it entitles them to ask the sorts of questions in the sorts of situations Osaka is objecting to. Osaka clearly disagrees, and is using the power afforded to her to change that.
Because, again, take all the money out of it and it's still her that has (or, at least, should) have the power. She is the reason people watch, the reason the broadcasters have something to broadcast, so personally I think it's reasonable that she and her fellow athletes set the large portion of the terms.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Minor sidenote, but it wasn't until it was pointed out to me a few years ago that athletes in sports based largely around tournaments (so tennis, snooker... um... darts?
) basically have to deal with being knocked out of tournaments for a large portion of their career, if not all of it.Obviously all sports contain losses, but it does feel different when it's a tournament, when you don't know how long you're going to compete for and it's basically "one (loss) and done", no chance to bounce back or regain some pride until the next tournament.
Have always thought it would be interesting for someone to write a book about the different psychology involved/required for different sports. Team sports v individual, sports where you play your opponent directly v sports where you take turns, etc.
I find cricket a weird one in that way, as when batting, it's just you and your mate surrounded by opposition players, and even then you only get to chat in between balls/overs, and you ultimately you still face the ball alone.
Ok, that turned into not quite the minor sidenote I started out thinking it would be. Apologies, as you were...
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
The relationship between athletes and the media/business side of any game is a symbiotic one - nowadays one can't happen without the other.
My view is that while Osaka has a valid point (I remember seeing a very emotional Murray being interviewed after losing the Wimbledon final, and thinking that was a bit much) she has gone about it in the wrong way. It's something that needs to come from players collectively rather than in this one-person half-hearted media boycott. I say half-hearted because apparently she was quite happy to be interviewed after her win yesterday.
I know everyone's different, but after seeing Thiem* being interviewed after his pretty shocking loss yesterday, I find her attitude rather petulant. I know sometimes interviewers ask stupid or insensitive questions - I think Heather Watson was asked about whether she'd let her country down or something similarly bone-headed - but there's the chance to say a firm but polite 'Sorry, I'm not going to answer that'.
*not especially a fan of Thiem, BTW - he's been quite snidey about lower ranked players and about Evans, who I'm also not an especial fan of but who served his drugs ban and has made a great comeback.
1927
Funnier than he thinks he is.
Each sport needs broadcasters more than the broadcasters need tats port tho, so maybe they should have more say. If tv pulled out of football tmrw, players would earn a pittance, Skyy will find and even create another blockbuster sport to replace it.
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
Do you ever watch any of them?
If no-one watched then there would be no advertising for the ad breaks or those that sponsor the tournaments.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
I stream them illegally on principle. Even if they’re on the bbc
1927
Funnier than he thinks he is.
Most sport would cease to exist if the broadcasters pulled out tomorrow.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
They'd still need people to play it. So again, broadcasters still need the athletes first.
Simply disagree. If you took away all the broadcasting and sponsorship money, athletes lives would be very different, absolutely, but they could still make money off their talent. Again, take away the athletes, and what are broadcasters left with? To exist, to make money, they first have to have something to broadcast.
Broadcasters simply amplify the earning potential that already exists for athletes, but they have little to no ability to earn anything on their own, without the talent to broadcast.
Aye, fair enough. This all started with me questioning quite what broadcasters have the right to expect of athletes, rather than the specific merits of Osaka's case in particular.
I didn't see yesterday, but did she do the press conference, or the post-match on-court interview? Can argue whether it's splitting hairs or not, but they are different things, and I believe her point is more about the former.
At the risk of making too much out of a single sentence, I think the bolded bit rather simplifies the situation, and also the nature of mental health. To say no always requires a certain degree of mental strength, which is only heightened the more pressure there is, the more people are watching, and with differing power balances.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Would cease to exist as they are now. The idea they'd cease to exist entirely is patently ridiculous, otherwise live sport, and fuck it, buskers, wouldn't be a thing.
People would still pay to watch talented people do their thing well.
Similar threads
