WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT TENNIS ( ON TV)
I see tennis and boxing in the same light, two individual sports where the object is to do what you are suppose to do, while stopping your opponent from doing what he's supposed to do. In boxing, you punch and stop or avoid his punches, in tennis, you hit the ball over the net and try to put the ball in a spot where he can not make a return or does so out of bounds.
I'm an avid tennis fan, but why do I fall asleep when watching it on TV? If I fall asleep, how can anyone else who is not as big of a fan as I am, stay awake? With that in mind, I decided to write down some things that I don't like about the sport of tennis on TV.
Feel free to remove or add or some to the list, let me know what you think. Here are some of the things that make watching tennis boring.
They (players) warm up together
Imagine boxers or track stars warming up together before a fight or race, "hey Charlie, throw me a left jab, I want to practice my head movement".
They apologize to each other when something lucky happens.
The idea is to win, it's what competition is all about, you are on a world stage, you're not playing your boss, you won't get fired if you show emotion and joy when something weird goes your way.
They inform the other player when new balls are in play
Oh by the way, just in case you were not paying attention, and did not realize that it's time to change the balls and that the umpire has just yelled out "new balls", I'm holding them up as a friendly reminder, I don't want you to think that I'm trying to sneak an ace by you with a new ball.
They don't deliberately hit the ball at the opponent when at net (even though it is one of the best ways to win a point)
A tennis ball will not kill, it may sting, baseball players who use a ball that will break bones or even stop you from breathing are constantly throwing at each other, in tennis the guy who comes to the net is telling you, "here I am, I'm taking it you, I dare you to pass me" and his opponent most of the time tries to accommodate this request by trying to create outrageous angles that are not there. One of the best ways to take care of a net rusher is to send him a message of your own that will let him know that if you come in, beware because I will hit you whenever I get the chance. Remember Ivan Lendl that was part of aura and they say he was boring.
If they hit the opponent with the ball, they have to apologize
To make matters worse, they don't even mean it! If you hit someone in the heat of the battle and the guy is still standing, CPR does not have to administered, stand by it, don't say "sorry mate"!
The crowd has to be quiet during play
Have you ever turned on a sporting event and you hear the crowd going wild, you want to hang around and hear why they are so in to it. But at a tennis match, not only are the seats within the range of the camera empty, (they belong to non-fans who never show up but have plenty of money) the live bodies there are busy trying save their vocal chords.
The crowd can not physically move when the ball is in play (they have to wait for the next change-over\odd game)
They've relaxed that rule a bit, now if you are in the nose bleed section you can move, but if you are close by, maintain the paralyzed state during play. Nothing is worse than watching a still muted crowd, it makes me fall asleep even faster.
The players can request that a lines person be removed
Ok, this linesman has made calls that I don't like, get rid of him, imagine that in any other sport. A player saying "I won't play until you get rid of that guy" and the powers that be grants him his wish. The call that you think was bad is done, deal with it!
The players have ball people hold umbrellas over their heads during rest periods
Yes, it's hot, but what about the people in the stand who are just sitting there? You are an athlete, deal with the heat, it's part of your profession. I would much prefer a shaded area for the players during changeover instead of some guy with a parasol over his head.
They request a towel to wipe the sweat off their faces before each point.
Put the clock on the players, you are an athlete, you are competing, you are moving around, you are suppose to sweat. It's repulsive watching Greg Rusedski serve an ace, asks the ball person for a towel, serves another ace and then asks for the towel again. How much sweating can one do serving an ace - indoors?
The crowd does not boo
Stop being polite, you plaid your money, you want to be entertained, if a guy double faults two times in a row let him have it, if he makes a silly error let him have it, if you think he is not trying hard enough let him have it. Then again the crowd can't get involved, the rules will not let them.
The crowd has traveled on the Q.E.2
I'm sorry but the QE2 crowd, the champagne and caviar, the show up to be seen crowd can not make noise, they can't add to the atmosphere. We need hecklers in tennis
The announcers don't criticize the players
Most of the announcers are former players, they know when a player is not trying, they know when a shot should not have been missed, they know when a player's form and preparation is not up too par. They should let the players have it. We need a John Madden, Johnnie Mac comes close, but most of the time he overshadows the actual matches, he's more interesting than the event, I would like him to enhance the match, not take it over.
The players have no personality off the court
They may do, but we never hear it. The ATP and their respective agents do a very poor job putting the players in atmospheres outside their tennis cocoon. They don't have nice sounds bites, they don't self promote, it's the same, "I hope I play well", "It was unbelievable". The ATP should ban the players from using cliché words, the announcers should be good enough to dissect and bring to life the personalities of the players.
They have no personalities on the court
I can't bare watching when a player makes a mistake and just walks away like nothing happened and proceeds to make another silly error, and yes same reaction. After a while we may see them dropping their racquets, shaking their heads side to side, but by then it's too late, the match is gone, and I'm waking up from my third nap.
They have no true rivalries\controversies
I hate to have to come back to John McEnroe, I hated his antics, but he let the whole world know that he hated Lendl. I remember when Ivan was working on his American citizenship and people asked him about the personality of playing Davis Cup for the U.S., Mac's reply, "over my dead body". Enough with the love in.
They can argue long after the score has been called
The chair umpire calls the score it's over, it can't be changed, there's a rule about continuous play, and there's a clock, enforce the rule, start the clock as soon as you call the score. One can't stop time, except on the ATP and WTA tours.
They show no respect for the umpire and lines people
You can argue, but there's got to be a limit to the intensity of your argument, the umpires must commend respect. It would be exciting to know that a player will get tossed if he gets out of line.
Matches are too long
A good match is never too long, but the climaxing points are too far apart. I love the scoring system and do not think it should be messed with. The director should have a backup match live or on tape to go to during boring times in a match, come back to it, if a break point happens or something dramatic happens to liven things up.
They don't put the best match-ups on TV
The tennis producers are too obsessed with putting recognizable names on TV, what we most often get are predictable results. We should get the match with the most promise of good competitive tennis.
They use too much tape delay
Because of time constraints we now move to the third set. Whatever!
The camera angles are inconsistent
The best camera angles are the ones from behind and low to the ground, too often a match is on TV and you get some crazy stale angle that does not properly show the action, the players movement and most important, the ball!
The chair umpires are barely alive
15-love, 15-15, 30-15, 40-15, game Mr. Sampras. There should be a play by play guy on the loud speaker who yells out ace or screams with excitement when a player hits a passing shot etc. let's liven things up, no other major sport expects the action and only the action on the playing field to entertain, they all have other intangibles, tennis needs to incorporate little gimmicks to make every match an event not just a cure for insomniacs.
(c) copyright 1stserve