Some people say that sports and politics don't mix.
But when you're talking about Americans playing tennis in France, how can you not discuss the international atmosphere?
There are a number of conclusions, both sports-related and non-sports-related, that one can draw from the dismal first round in which Andy Roddick, James Blake, and six other members of Team USA said bon voyage to Roland Garros. And there are also a lot of things to say about the waning state of the sport in this hemisphere.
Let's run down the list:
1. The French swallowed their pride when they elected Nicolas Sarkozy. So maybe that's why it feels good when we do the same.
For those who didn't follow the massively important French election, let me catch you up on what happened: They picked a pro-American candidate to lead their country into the future.
This is quite a big deal, especially given the huge spat that developed over Iraq. Their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, loves the United States... something which did not sit easy with a people who felt that they were completely right about those mysterious weapons of mass destruction.
But they picked him anyway.
They swallowed their pride, and that's not easy.
As a huge U.S. tennis fan, I have long maintained that this decade of our subpar play is an aberration. Sure, we still have two of the world's ten best men, but they aren't exactly McEnroe, Sampras, Agassi, or Connors. Andy Roddick doesn't even hold a candle to Jim Courier.
For years, I've called the new millennium a "transition period."
It's not.
Americans need to admit that we've lost a step. We are not as competitive as we used to be. We have utterly conceded the clay surface, on which three recent Americans have hoisted the trophy...and it's simply because we stink. We let our best young talents focus on higher-paying sports like football and basketball, and we've failed to let pioneers like Arthur Ashe bring diversity to the court (at least in the Men's tennis game).
We blew it. Plain and simple. And our friends in Europe have every right to criticize our performance on their stage.
2. Before we get too critical, let's remember that this isn't about them, it's about us.
Whenever America underperforms on the international stage, people denounce our country as xenophobic or closed-minded. They claim that our ambassador athletes prove only how little we care about international competition.
I'm starting to hear people make this argument with regard to tennis.
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about 1 year ago
Bravo, d'avoir conclu le article.
In an seriousness, I loved this article. Thanks for a good read.
about 1 year ago
Excellent article Bryan. One thing however: Americans do like tennis--its not too high scoring and the characters don't HAVE to be boring. On the contrary, Americans seem to enjoy the struggle and or dominance of the individual (Tiger Woods in golf comes to mind immediately). Perhaps we do lose interest when our natives are not winning but that is not the fault of the sport. The problem, as you stated, is that our talent/personalities ARE lacking and this is why no one pays attention.
Another point of order: The US Open is far from "on life support". People love to watch a night match on center court--althought it is far more enjoyable when Americas best is puking after each serve.........
about 1 year ago
and Tiger Woods (American) coincided with the decline in tennis. The American stars with personality and success were beginning to wrap up the primes of their careers as Tiger and a slew of other American golfers began to dominate the golf scene. Add to this fact that each of these sports draws upon a similar fan base and the shift began. Also add to this fact that the relative career lengths of tennis players are some of the shortest and golfers are perhaps the longest. If there isn't a constant influx of the "next-generation" Americans ready to step in, there's likely going to be a decline.
about 1 year ago
Great job!
The French do deserve a lot more credit then we give them, Bill Mahr did a great monologue on his show about that. They do what the American people as a whole can't do, they separate pride (and religion) from politics. How else do you explain poor working bible belters voting Republican when the Republican party likes poor working class Americans about as much as they like France.
Your article just gave me an idea for kind of a companion piece, about why Americans don't like tennis, but should.
about 1 year ago
I'm normally not the biggest Francophile, but I think that our humbling performance was appropriate given the great strides that France has made recently. I'm looking forward to a new era in US-French relations, even if our tennis players fail to be the ambassadors we would normally hope for.
about 1 year ago
Um, sorry, but your article is so way off base about everything I don't even know where to begin. Awful stuff and poorly written opinion. You obviously know nothing about tennis.
about 1 year ago
Bryan, I must disagree with the previous poster and concede that you do, in fact, know some things about tennis.
But this caught my eye: "College students have started to bring Arsenal and FC Barcelona posters home from their semesters abroad..."
Yes, at long last! The game of soccer has finally impacted the American masses......of smug, educated, over-privileged newly-"cultured" college students! Soccer ain't there yet in America, but I agree it's on the right, painfully slow track.
Tennis, on the other hand, is speeding in the opposite direction. It's not because we're xenophobic or close-minded, it's because Americans like to see Americans win.
As the growth of soccer among younger generations continues to take hold, we'll see more and more talent on the Americans side, and more and more popularity. Unfortunately, young people aren't interested in tennis, and the inverse effect seems to be occurring as time goes on. Tennis as a major sport in America is certainly in great peril.
about 1 year ago
Umm...excuse me but did you really say that Andy Roddick doesn't hold a candle to Jim Courier. That is truly absurd and inaccurate. Look up the facts! He won 23 titles in his career. Thats only two more than Roddick has now. Look at the fact that Roddick plays in Federer's era. If it wasn't for Fed Andy would have at least Four majors by now betweeen the US open and Wimbledon. Courier was a marginal talent who over achieved because he was the hardest worker. Get your facts straight!!
about 1 year ago
So wait, just because the Americans can't play on clay that suddenly makes them bad ambassadors? Sorry, but from what I've seen of the Americans they don't behave nearly as badly as the Europeans do. Roddick and Blake have always coported themselves nicely overseas, which is in stark contrast to the French who do nothing but get drunk and boo everybody and get all high and mighty and smug when the Americans lose on their precious clay.
I'll repeat: you wrote a terrible article that makes no sense and it's clear you're not even a tennis fan. Politics has NOTHING to do with tennis. And who cares about soccer anyway? In the us, soccer might as well be tennis in terms of its popularity.
about 1 year ago
Not a word to the best of my knowledge - "acted" might have been a nice substitute.
The article does have something to do with tennis...did you read it?
The author didn't accuse U.S. tennis players of representing their country in an ill-found way. He argued that the lack of star power is turning off American fans. He then commended the French for sticking with a game in which they historically haven't had a lot of success.
I normally stay pretty positive with comments, but yours was off-base. It sounds like you didn't read carefully and you heard what you wanted to.
about 1 year ago
pronounced: co-por-teh
obviously you know nothing about tennis... or french.
about 1 year ago
I must comment on your point that when Americans don't perform well, or show an interest in a sport that is popular on an international scale we are viewed as close minded or xenophobic. As a huge soccer fan who spent the duration of the 2006 world cup in Italy, I was on the receiving end of an abundance of heckling every time I wore my USA jersey while watching matches at bars (not just U.S games). The most popular comment was that U.S soccer "sucked", this of course coming after the U.S made it to the final eight in Japan and tied Italy in 2006. I don't think it would matter if Americans were world cup champions, most people would find a way to categorize it as a fluke or provide some other demeaning response. Therefore, it doesn't matter how popular the sport is in the U.S or how well the U.S performs, they will view us as xenophobic or close minded because we are Americans and will never acknowledge when we do perform well.
7 months ago
Bryan I think you made an error ! As you know i'm french and if our president likes the way you trade this doesn't mean we appreciate the way the things turned in Irak, because we keep rejecting that intervention. Moreover, French people love the US but as you said we're orguellous and we're not going to node at all of the actions of your government, as you recently saw with the NATO issue.
Take care.
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