I have been a sports lover since I was in my Mother’s womb. It was destined to happen, coming from a sports mad family.
I have followed a multitude of sports in my 53 years on this earth, in particular, Tennis, Rugby, Cricket, Golf, Athletics and Soccer, to name a few.
Over the years, I have enjoyed listening to great commentators relaying the ins and outs of the games, especially when there was no television in the room and we had to listen to radio commentary.
We more often than not, felt as though we were the players or part of the team! The quality was great!
I have also enjoyed listening to great questions being asked in the post match interviews, obviously enjoying them more when my team or player was victorious, and feeling their disappointment when they lost!
But, as Tom Hanks said during his Actors Roundtable discussion, “This too shall pass”, and in the past few years, the level of reporting, and in particular Tennis, is on a downward spiral.
It has been going on for years, but took a forerunner in Naomi Osaka to get the conversation going, and unfortunately, very often, going in the wrong direction.
We’ve gone from Mental Health issues, to Covid-19 to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and in order to sell some extra newspapers or magazines, or to gain some extra followers on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, the journalists relentlessly fixate on asking the players their opinions about everything else other than Tennis, or what their opponents are up to.
Very rarely do we hear them compliment the players on a great game, whether they won or lost, or ask the players about their favourite hobbies or hidden talents.
The post match press conferences should be fun for the players, and for those who lost, who really don’t feel like attending them, at least leave with a smile on their faces.
Then some journalists, who have either not done their research before going to the interview or have not even watched the match, ask even more pathetic and irrelevant questions, with a rinse and repeat at most tournaments.
The big events like Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open and French Open (and other Top Tier tournaments) should really lay down the law before sending the journalists to the post match press conferences.
If a journalist is going to hammer on a Russian or Belarusian player about the war, then they should be banned! The players don’t need to be subjected to this.
Do the journalists actually realise how much the players and their families have sacrificed to get to where they are today?
Most have not had normal childhoods!
They have spent the majority of their young lives travelling from one tournament to the next, practising for hours on end to prepare, going on court with a result that may or may not end in their favour, only to be bombarded by stupid questions afterwards.
Really!!!! Has life become so meaningless that sensation must be the main order of the day!
Some of the commentators also need to be wrapped over the knuckles!
Listening to a former player commentating on the Djokovic/Ruud French Open final this year was painful to say the least!
If we heard his biased opinion once about how great Djokovic is, we heard it about 50 times during the match.
It got so bad that my cousin, who is also an avid Tennis lover, muted the commentary on her television set.
Luckily, the same commentator appears more “watered down” during today’s Wimbledon final between Djokovic and Alcaraz!
One of the biggest injustices in this world was the creation of the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) label!
There have, are and will still be many great and inspiring role models that will cross our paths. No one leader, sportsperson or anyone else is greater or better than the next! There are those that excel, but there is no ultimate G.O.A.T.
It is time to get back to basics and make the sports that we love, enjoyable and memorable for all!