Blog

Knocking Woods

November 22, 2014

The single most interesting thing about Tiger Woods is that his ex-wife once took one of his golf clubs to him.

And the reason that’s the single most interesting about him is that character is destiny.

That the ex-Mrs. Woods took a golf club to his car as he tried to speed away from her five years ago this Thanksgiving after his infidelity came to light says much more about his character than it ever would about hers.

Woods cheated on his then-wife, Elin Nordegren, with a bunch of other women, each of whom, unbelievably, thought she was the only other one. (Ladies, ladies, you know the old saying: If he cheats on his wife with you, what makes you think he won’t cheat on you? And by the way, I have a bridge to sell you.)

At first glance, it’s hard to understand what they saw in him. His is not “the face that launch’d a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium.”

But then, as Elizabeth Taylor once shrewdly observed, “there’s no deodorant in life like success.” And few have been more successful than Woods, hitting all those little white balls around all those greens over all those years for all those millions, donning all those green jackets and afterward answering all those questions with responses that promised much and delivered nothing. ...

In sports, sexism knows no bounds

November 19, 2014

Boy, no sooner had Andy Murray bombed out against Roger Federer in the disastrous ATP World Tour Finals and Mirka Federer kicked up a firestorm by calling Stan Wawrinka a “crybaby” as he played her husband, than the misogynists were out in force.

First came the suggestions that Andy should quit coach Amélie Mauresmo for a male coach who would be more compatible.

That was mild compared to the epithets hurled at Mirka, who was called everything from a cow to the pants in the family to Lady Macbeth to, well, rhymes with “rich.”

I don’t believe in heckling or booing people as it’s a reflection on me. But there is equally no reason to call her a shrew.

Then came word from Rafael Nadal, who was critical of Spanish Davis Cup team captain Gala León for allegedly fanning the flames after Rafa coach Uncle Toni suggested that the team needed a male captain.

For years, men have coached, captained, trained, shepherded and generally led women. And for years, women have borne men’s verbal and physical abuse. ...

Men’s tennis at a crossroads?

November 16, 2014

Had an interesting conversation with a saleswoman the other day regarding watches. I remarked that it’s intriguing that so many watch manufacturers have tennis players for pitch men – and women. You don’t see as many NFL players representing watches.

That might seem counterintuitive since tennis isn’t played against a clock – although it certainly records the time of each match, whereas football is played in four 15-minute intervals, albeit with lots of timeouts and a halftime. Shouldn’t Peyton Manning be the spokesman for Piaget?

But a watch – a gift of time – is a classy thing, she said. Tennis players are classy, she added. By implication, football players are not.

It’s always dangerous to generalize, of course, but there is some truth in what she said, as I myself have pointed out in this blog. Tennis has prescribed rules for deportment and an intimate, relatively quieter setting – though it can get pretty loud – that underscores infractions. When Novak Djokovic sarcastically applauded the crowd as it applauded his double-fault in a semifinal against Kei Nishikori at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals in London Nov. 15, he was quick to blame himself for letting the crowd get to him and losing his concentration.

Football: America’s new pastime. But for how long?

November 5, 2014

Interesting article in the Nov. 4 edition of The New York Times by David Leonhardt, “The Upshot” columnist, about the decline of youth football among liberal, well-educated families.

Leonhardt points to boxing and horse racing – once household sports – as well as to smoking and seatbelts as examples of how public opinion can change culture.

Technology can change sports and culture, too. In the 1970s and ’80s, tennis was dominated by teenagers. Then the rackets became larger and graphite and tennis turned from a touch serve-and-volley game to a power baseline one played by adults.

Football changed, too. Improvements in the helmets and padding meant that the body could withstand greater hits. The problem is that the brain can’t, with concussions and sub-concussive experiences leading to early on-set dementia and no doubt playing a role in the NFL’s domestic violence crisis.

The neuroscience on football has also spurred parents to say “not my child." And if enough parents say that, experts note, the sport is dead. ...

Serbian sun: The rise of Novak Djokovic

October 15, 2014

“The Sporting Statesman: Novak Djokovic and the Rise of Serbia” – Chris Bowers’ flawed though still admirable new biography – attempts what few sports bios do, to place its subject in a geopolitical context. But then, few athletes require that context the way Nole does.

Djokovic (pronounced “JOCK oh vic,” not “JOKE oh vic”) is first, last and always a son – and sun – of Serbia, which took a huge public relations hit during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s that resulted in and from the dismantling of Yugoslavia, even though we now know there was enough blame to go around. The oldest of three boys born to a modest, traditionally patriarchal family of Belgrade restaurateurs, Nole (No lay) was also a child of those wars – an experience that has, according to Bowers’ book (John Blake Publishing Ltd.), turned him into something of an oxymoron, a tough pacifist, fighting for embattled children through his work with UNICEF, clothing sponsor Uniqlo and his own Novak Djokovic Foundation, administered by his bride, Jelena Ristic.

“We were always told that once we go out of the country, there will be a lot of stereotypes attached to us because we come from Serbia,” Nole says in this “independent biography.” (Translation: Djokovic, who plans on writing a memoir some day, limited Bowers’ access to his circle.) “We are the ambassadors of our families and our country, and we need to always show the best in us. So I carry this responsibility with big respect and honour, and I hope that I am managing to portray my country in the best possible light.”

Though Bowers – who is described as having contributed the first English-language biography of Roger Federer – does a thorough job of tracing the history that led to the Balkan Wars, you get the sense that even a history buff such as myself will skim those alternating chapters to concentrate on the more personal story of the Djokovic family, which reads like a cross between Dickens and Dostoevsky. ...

To have and have not: Roger Federer – a (grudging) appreciation

September 23, 2014

All biography – Alí, one of the tennis players in my new novel “Water Music,” notes – is selective history. And all history is selective truth.

The accomplishments of those we love shine brighter than the achievements of those we don’t. Yet there is a common, middle ground in which we can assess those we dislike, or at least there should be.

So I’ve come not to bury but to praise Roger Federer, subject of a glowing cover profile in October Town & Country and, in analyzing him, to understand something of myself.

The subtitle of the article by Ed Caesar is “The Romantic Comedy Life of the World’s Greatest Tennis Player.” (Really, Ed? Greater than Rafael Nadal, who dethroned him? Or Novak Djokovic, who beat both to become No. 1?) Understand that Town & Country is a luxury magazine. Luxury magazines are in the business of selling luxury. The interview took place “in the high-ceilinged Directoire drawing room of Moët & Chandon, for whom (Federer) works as a brand ambassador.” Enough said.

The picture that emerges...

A blue Monday in the sports world

September 9, 2014

Well, it was a depressing sports day, wasn’t it? Let’s start with the least offensive aspect – the US Open men’s final. I didn’t see it, but then, I work for a living like many other people, so I wasn’t home for the 5 p.m. start and wasn’t about to distract myself at the office. By the time I got home, it was all over but the shouting – Marin Čilić defeating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. An even bigger loser than Niskikori – CBS Sports, which must’ve been kicking itself over its star-less final. (Hey, the 5 p.m. start doesn’t help the ratings either, CBS.)

Perhaps the Eye Network can blame Novak Djokovic. I can’t help but think that this was his tournament to lose.

I can see Roger Federer – who is, after all, 33 – going down to the big, hard-serving Čilić. But as good as Nishikori may be, you expect more from the No. 1-ranked player in the world. Maybe it’s just me. But no matter my mood or what’s happening personally in my life or even how I feel physically, I’ve never allowed anything to interfere with my writing or my work. I know that everyone says at the end of your life, you won’t wish you wrote one more article but rather that you spent more time with your loved ones.

But here’s the way I see it: Not everyone can be a writer. Not everyone can win Wimbledon. Obituaries aren’t written about relationships. They’re written about accomplishments.

You have to look at Nole’s opportunities at most of the Slams since 2011 and wonder if he hasn’t squandered them, because of – well, what? We’ll get into that when we explore Chris Bowers’ new book, “The Sporting Statesman: Novak Djokovic and the Rise of Serbia” in an upcoming post. ...