FOOTBALL WRITER SLAMS TENNIS

The N.Y. Times muffs a field goal

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE U.S. OPEN – It's sometimes refreshing for sports fans to be able to pick up their favorite daily paper or surf through their favored web site and read a non-beat writer taking on another sport. But the New York Times' decision to run NFL writer Mike Freeman's ludicrous, factually challenged and logistically flawed column "Tennis Neglects Urban Pipeline at Its Peril" was a poorly-thought-out decision. Given how many excellent tennis writers the Times has in its stable – Selena Roberts, Chris Clarey and Liz Robbins – how this piece ever saw the light of day without serious editing is beyond me.

First, he blasts the men's game and its players for being boring and backs that up by quoting a Long Island couple who not only said they are put to sleep by the personalities, but that the players are not that talented. Compared to what era? Recall that all-time great Jimmy Connors, who is frequently lauded for his geriatric run to the semis here in 1991, was crushed by Jim Courier in the semis. Remember then that Courier was drummed out of the game by a legion of clay court-bred play-alikes who hit a bigger ball than he did, and one of those men – Carlos Moya – was smoked by Jan-Michael Gambill the other day. You can't argue with a fan who isn't turned on by a personality, but the talent argument has no basis is reality.

Freeman the goes on to say that "most of the top men on the tour are faceless, Costa, Canas, Ferrero and Moya sound like a law firm in Spain, but they are four of the top six money winners this year. Ever heard of them?"

WRITER DOESN'T SAY CAÑAS IS AN ARGENTINE
First off, Cañas is an Argentine and secondly, even marginal tennis fans have heard of Moya and Costa, both who won Roland Garros and one, Moya, who has played a large role at the U.S. Open in two different years. It's highly unlikely that the few million fans in the States who watched either Moya's semifinal run in 1998 or his dramatic five-set loss to Todd Martin in 2000 haven't a clue what the Spanish Samson looks like.

Freeman says the same for fan recognition of Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin and then says "no sport has done so poor a job at promoting itself or engineering new blood as men's tennis, which is surrounded by the smell of insignificance. The men's side of the sport is so invisible to the American fan that it's in danger of becoming as relevant as – gasp – soccer." He cites no poll data, nor TV ratings, nor attendance figures to back this up. It's merely a gut feeling from someone who spends at least half the year trying to convince people that Jeremy Shockey is a household name and that Kurt Warner is as entertaining as David Lettermen.

Here's a crucial, simple point that so many folks writing about tennis miss: It is an international sport and wants to stay that way. Unlike the NFL, tennis is played all over the globe by competitors from the world over. It needs to keep its zesty, international flavor to prosper on the world stage. It does not need, or nor does it want, a top-50 that contains 25 Americans, who outside of Agassi, Sampras and Chang, are not that well known in countries like Spain. It needs Moya, Ferrero and Corretja around so that Spanish tournament organizers can fill seats. Adding another Vince Spadea or Mardy Fish to the draw in Mallorca isn't going to make anyone rich or draw in any more fans. Tennis is a very popular sport globally and in many countries, it is the number two sport. Tennis flourishes in England, France and Australia, while the NFL does not. Tennis does not have home teams, nor is it played in the U.S. for five consecutive months. It is an individual sport that should and occasionally does sell itself on having individual personalities from diverse backgrounds and different counties.

If Freeman sat down with Safin for more than 20 minutes and didn't come away laughing and impressed with his wit, then maybe I have delusions about how great it is to interact with people whose knowledge of the world goes beyond playing knowing the top five Nintendo titles and the meaning of the Nickel Defense.

NO UNDERSTANDING OF MINORITY REACH
Here's where Freeman really falls off his chair: the day that he sat and watched the remarkably dramatic five-setter between Lleyton Hewitt and James Blake, he argues that the young stars "lack flavor" and that "Andre Agassi seems so 1980s, so Culture Club." The fiery Hewitt and the articulate Blake lack flavor? Compared to who? Roger Clemens and Bernie Williams? Kerry Collins and Ron Dayne? Please.
Agassi as Boy George? Maybe in those circles who imagine him as a cross-dresser, but if Freeman can find any athlete in any sport as insightful, interesting and as beloved as Andre is, please ring us up.

Then Freeman paddles into deep waters when he takes the sport to task for not channeling a mass of urban talent, like the NFL and NBA do in the inner city and MLB does in Latin America. He says tennis fails there because of its "country club elitist attitude … where minority playing in or attending tournaments can at times get those are-you-here-to-valet park my-car attitude from other players." There is some validity to this argument, but it's pure guesswork. A quick look at the U.S Open draw sheet reveals that out of the four top American-born women, three are African-American – Venus and Serena Williams and Chanda Rubin. It also reveals that only two of the top 10 men come from more than middle-class origins. It reveals that seven of the seeded players are Latin America and that five men left in the draw are from South America - Guga, Chela, Gonzalez, Coria and Massu. It reveals that of the 15 women remaining, only two are Anglo-American: Amy Frazier and Lindsay Davenport. It reveals that boys' wild card Prakash Amritraj is Indian-American, that wild card Alex Kim and Michael Chang are Asia-Americans, as are direct draw entries Lilia Osterloh and Melein Tu.

Moreover, anyone who follows U.S. junior tennis – especially in California, where most of the great players are – knows that the majority of top juniors are people of color, although many of them have Asian or Hispanic origins.

The challenge of U.S. men's tennis is attracting more African-American boys to play, which is a huge problem considering how few public tennis courts there are in the inner city given the available population. But if Blake makes it as a big-time player, there is a very good chance that more Africa-American boys will pick up rackets instead of football helmets, because tennis offers a lifetime of playing opportunities that football never will. Any 40-year-olds for tackle football today?