Sign of the times...

[gzhpcu]

This is how tennis is marketed nowadays: yelling, screaming.

Whatever happened to sportsmanship?

Above the entryway to Centre Court at the Wimbledon Championships there is an inscription that reads
"If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same"
from Kipling.

Yeah, I know, I am behind the times....

[GeoffWilliams]

Yelling and screaming are what makes athletes interesting. Makes them more normal, like you and I. Emotional outburst applied to a higher level of play makes matches more powerful to watch.

[gzhpcu]

Yelling and screaming are what makes athletes interesting. Makes them more normal, like you and I. Emotional outburst applied to a higher level of play makes matches more powerful to watch.

Guess I am not normal... I don't scream...

[stotty]

Guess I am not normal... I don't scream...

Me neither...

[don_budge]

Canned Emotions versus The Real Thing

This is how tennis is marketed nowadays: yelling, screaming.

Whatever happened to sportsmanship?

Above the entryway to Centre Court at the Wimbledon Championships there is an inscription that reads
"If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same"
from Kipling.

Yeah, I know, I am behind the times....

There is room in the game within the game for spontaneous reactions...even volatile emotions. But this nonsense is so "canned" it is sickening. Is it a marketing ploy...the baring of the teeth. The "primal" screams and such. It all looks so phony compared to the "spontaneous" outbursts from the past. Modern tennis is having some serious problems...really serious problems.

The powers that be are huddled as I type trying to come up with a new formula. As with many problems in "modern" times...the problems are too big to have any viable solutions. Tennis again...plays a rather good metaphor for life. The whole paradigm has gone the way of other professional sports with the entertainment and politically correct aspects...it is going to tough (read impossible) to reverse the trends.

We are stuck with the screaming and canned behavior...get used to it. Or start by sticking your head out of your window and screaming yourself. Wait until you see what is next. I have a few comments about the screaming...coming up in the 2014 French Open thread.

What ever happened to sportsmanship? Sold out and down the river. With a lot of other traditionally valued stuff.