Matra1
Mentor
An article at Pajamas Media points out that despite this being a golden age with Federer and Nadal the sport of tennis has declined in the US. For the first time since the early 70s there are no American men in the ATP top 10. In the late 70s Wimbledon finals got between 7 and 9 million viewers - today it is just a couple of million at best.
Why have Americans lost interest in tennis?
Some of the replies are intelligent. Some are just plain stupid. Some examples:
I'm a dude. Men should not play sports that women can be equally good at. Tennis is a chick sport. Leave such an effete sport to the chicks. Same with soccer. Chicks can play as well as the dudes. Give me American Football. There's a reason girls don't play real football.
The same person says BJ King beating Bobby Riggs proved women could play as well as men.
Most Americans like democracy when it comes to politics"¦but when it comes to sports, we want to see the elite play: the biggest, strongest, fastest and toughest. Tennis players are great athletes"¦but it is still viewed as elitist, too prissy and will always seem like a sport for rich country club types. Moreover, the two best female players"¦the Williams sisters"¦look more like guys, and with the dress code seemingly gone (what could be sexier than a white mini-skirt?), the glamor is gone too. Another factor is that the same people are always playing. Soccer/European football on the other hand, is too democratic and can/is played by everyone everywhere. Besides, watching a bunch of girls"¦or a bunch of skinny and regular looking guys play a sport where they kick a ball around for what seems like forever without scoring, is just boring. Rugby, American football, basketball"¦and certainly boxing, require specialized physiques in addition to talent.
Any sport carrying a score of "love"Â just sounds too effete for real men: ie., Americans, unless they are Europhiles or have been exposed to it from early youth.
The past "heroes"Â of tennis I also considered to be somewhat less than inspiring. Bobby Riggs? John McEnroe? They practically invented the "bad boy"Â act that is now considered de rigueur in the NBA.
There you have it. A couple of white guys are to blame for the behaviour of NBA players!
Tennis is the best sport in the world because of the combination of athleticism, power and geometry. American football is for weak-minded fools who need their fill of big hits and touchdown celebrations. Leave tennis for the higher-brained folk.
I stopped watching tennis pretty much for the same reason I stopped watching golf . . . it got to the point that no matter what was happening the media had a few "love affairs"Â going with a few selected players such that the only thing that they ever talked about was those players. For example, even when Tiger was way back in the pack, far off leader board, all we heard and saw in TV was "When Tiger is going to make his Big Move"Â and put in the winning shot. Take the Williams Sisters for example in tennis, the same thing. We got to watch them and of course their IDIOT father setting in the stands looking like a fool.
No board would be complete without a DWF comment:
The reason Americans have lost interest in tennis is that it is unbelievably boring to watch or play. And though the players have to be technically proficient at this very peculiar skill set (admittedly achieved thru years of practice) you really don't need to be much of an athlete or have a physical presence. I'm guessing either of the Williams sisters could take Federer two out of three falls. Tennis seems to be the perfect sport for the 19th century. At least with golf you can play drunk and still rack up a reasonable score.
Brat McEnroe turned me off to tennis, not to even mention the poise of the sport, w/ the whites and manners; as in fencing (my personal sport) -gone the grace, poise, form as one kills the enemy- much harder presenting a smaller target and using skill in the offense/defense. Now, no need for the Foil or Epee- might as well use a 2X4. I recently saw the pix of one of the Williams steroidal gargantuas playing in what the PMSNPC anchor called "flesh coloured tights- yet bare-ass was what the pix showed. I surfed to find the truth and, even though someone blacked in some panties, the rest of the pix showed, clearly, hairless female genitalia. Really? Have we become so oppressed to the point of self-censorship by the skin colour ‘pass' that the obvious is quickly redefined, as though we are blind?
Great article but the author misses the point. All the great players today (both men and women) are European. But why is that? Author doesn't seem to recognize that the Euros are in much better shape than we are as a group of peopleâ€"thinner and much more disciplined in very aspect of their lives. We are fat and lazy as everyone knows. Until we wake up our kids and tell them yes you need to run in the outodors today for five miles when it is 90 degrees (instead of coddling them) we will never be good in any sport again. Has anyone seen the Asian teams destroy us in the Little League World series. Same storyâ€"fat Americans gains thin , disciplined Asians. Stop coddling and start pushing our kidns out of their house and into the real world of competition.
But keep in mind, the decrease in popularity (as measured by TV viewership) has affected ALL sports. For hockey and horse racing (especially the latter, which has not had a triple crown winner in 32+ years), it has been particularly devastating...They have all been devastated by the vast choices in electronic entertainment â€" beyond broadcast/basic cable, you know have expanded cable, satellite TV, video games/Nintendo/EA Sports, internet, DVDs, fantasy sports, etc.
Who ruined the women's tennis for me was the William's sisters. And when one of the idiot sister's recently decided it was hip to wear a thong for the bottom half, it pushed me over the edge. I'd as soon as stared at a horse's ass for two hours. For thee, but not for me.
So even from Americans there isn't much love for the Williams sisters.
I glanced at a few other message boards around the net and one of the most common answers for the decline of tennis is that it is too white. Courts are in the suburbs and "inner city folk" are closed out due to how expensive it is. Another common answer is that tennis players don't look like "real athletes" (muscle-bound steroid monkeys?). If you can't sell Federer and Nadal to the public (perhaps the media haven't made the effort?) is there any hope for tennis?Edited by: Matra1
Why have Americans lost interest in tennis?
Some of the replies are intelligent. Some are just plain stupid. Some examples:
I'm a dude. Men should not play sports that women can be equally good at. Tennis is a chick sport. Leave such an effete sport to the chicks. Same with soccer. Chicks can play as well as the dudes. Give me American Football. There's a reason girls don't play real football.
The same person says BJ King beating Bobby Riggs proved women could play as well as men.
Most Americans like democracy when it comes to politics"¦but when it comes to sports, we want to see the elite play: the biggest, strongest, fastest and toughest. Tennis players are great athletes"¦but it is still viewed as elitist, too prissy and will always seem like a sport for rich country club types. Moreover, the two best female players"¦the Williams sisters"¦look more like guys, and with the dress code seemingly gone (what could be sexier than a white mini-skirt?), the glamor is gone too. Another factor is that the same people are always playing. Soccer/European football on the other hand, is too democratic and can/is played by everyone everywhere. Besides, watching a bunch of girls"¦or a bunch of skinny and regular looking guys play a sport where they kick a ball around for what seems like forever without scoring, is just boring. Rugby, American football, basketball"¦and certainly boxing, require specialized physiques in addition to talent.
Any sport carrying a score of "love"Â just sounds too effete for real men: ie., Americans, unless they are Europhiles or have been exposed to it from early youth.
The past "heroes"Â of tennis I also considered to be somewhat less than inspiring. Bobby Riggs? John McEnroe? They practically invented the "bad boy"Â act that is now considered de rigueur in the NBA.
There you have it. A couple of white guys are to blame for the behaviour of NBA players!
Tennis is the best sport in the world because of the combination of athleticism, power and geometry. American football is for weak-minded fools who need their fill of big hits and touchdown celebrations. Leave tennis for the higher-brained folk.
I stopped watching tennis pretty much for the same reason I stopped watching golf . . . it got to the point that no matter what was happening the media had a few "love affairs"Â going with a few selected players such that the only thing that they ever talked about was those players. For example, even when Tiger was way back in the pack, far off leader board, all we heard and saw in TV was "When Tiger is going to make his Big Move"Â and put in the winning shot. Take the Williams Sisters for example in tennis, the same thing. We got to watch them and of course their IDIOT father setting in the stands looking like a fool.
No board would be complete without a DWF comment:
The reason Americans have lost interest in tennis is that it is unbelievably boring to watch or play. And though the players have to be technically proficient at this very peculiar skill set (admittedly achieved thru years of practice) you really don't need to be much of an athlete or have a physical presence. I'm guessing either of the Williams sisters could take Federer two out of three falls. Tennis seems to be the perfect sport for the 19th century. At least with golf you can play drunk and still rack up a reasonable score.
Brat McEnroe turned me off to tennis, not to even mention the poise of the sport, w/ the whites and manners; as in fencing (my personal sport) -gone the grace, poise, form as one kills the enemy- much harder presenting a smaller target and using skill in the offense/defense. Now, no need for the Foil or Epee- might as well use a 2X4. I recently saw the pix of one of the Williams steroidal gargantuas playing in what the PMSNPC anchor called "flesh coloured tights- yet bare-ass was what the pix showed. I surfed to find the truth and, even though someone blacked in some panties, the rest of the pix showed, clearly, hairless female genitalia. Really? Have we become so oppressed to the point of self-censorship by the skin colour ‘pass' that the obvious is quickly redefined, as though we are blind?
Great article but the author misses the point. All the great players today (both men and women) are European. But why is that? Author doesn't seem to recognize that the Euros are in much better shape than we are as a group of peopleâ€"thinner and much more disciplined in very aspect of their lives. We are fat and lazy as everyone knows. Until we wake up our kids and tell them yes you need to run in the outodors today for five miles when it is 90 degrees (instead of coddling them) we will never be good in any sport again. Has anyone seen the Asian teams destroy us in the Little League World series. Same storyâ€"fat Americans gains thin , disciplined Asians. Stop coddling and start pushing our kidns out of their house and into the real world of competition.
But keep in mind, the decrease in popularity (as measured by TV viewership) has affected ALL sports. For hockey and horse racing (especially the latter, which has not had a triple crown winner in 32+ years), it has been particularly devastating...They have all been devastated by the vast choices in electronic entertainment â€" beyond broadcast/basic cable, you know have expanded cable, satellite TV, video games/Nintendo/EA Sports, internet, DVDs, fantasy sports, etc.
Who ruined the women's tennis for me was the William's sisters. And when one of the idiot sister's recently decided it was hip to wear a thong for the bottom half, it pushed me over the edge. I'd as soon as stared at a horse's ass for two hours. For thee, but not for me.
So even from Americans there isn't much love for the Williams sisters.
I glanced at a few other message boards around the net and one of the most common answers for the decline of tennis is that it is too white. Courts are in the suburbs and "inner city folk" are closed out due to how expensive it is. Another common answer is that tennis players don't look like "real athletes" (muscle-bound steroid monkeys?). If you can't sell Federer and Nadal to the public (perhaps the media haven't made the effort?) is there any hope for tennis?Edited by: Matra1