Ignorance in Tennis Media Nominee: NBC Sports

Today’s nominee is NBC. The Peacock network, the former gold standard for tennis coverage, which has been in freefall for a decade, has now entered a phase of steep decline. (Does it have anything to do with firing Bud Collins last summer?) 

Now the coverage is all but unwatchable. ESPN and The Tennis Network are garnering more coverage hours and more praise. ESPN was once in the wilderness in tennis, speaking for endless hours about Americans and only showing American matches, or matches featuring popular players. But starting about four years ago the four-letter left the jingoism behind and showed an acceptable variety of players and matches. But NBC is a horror show.  That was obvious this past Sunday when they inexplicably showed Nadal v. Verdasco in its entirety. With no Americans left to show and the beauty queens not playing, NBC chose to showcase Nadal. That would have been fine if the match lived up to the hype, but it didn't. 

It was a total beat down, it was hard to tell if Verdasco was on a tennis court or home with his feet up watching tv. The coverage was so rotten that Ted Robinson (criminally overrated), John McEnroe and Mary Carillo spent hours chattering about Nadal eating just the tops off of several bananas (insert joke here), having blisters on his feet, calling the trainer, getting mysterious tennis bags dropped off during the changeovers and chaging racquets.

What’s next, a discourse on the ways Nadal picks his wedge?

I know the action was sparse in the rain-filled first week but there were plenty of matches the network could have featured that would have shown us high quality tennis. This was a waste of time and what's worse, the match was tape-delayed, so the network knew it was a turkey and went with it anyway. That is just giving up, so I gave up on their coverage.

Compare NBC’s lackluster (and now mostly taped) tennis coverage to the slobbering it does over the US Open of golf and it’s nauseating. I told you that bumping off Bud Collins and installing Resident Hobbit and Golf Gnome Jimmy Roberts in his place would sound the death knell for NBC tennis. And so it has come to pass.

Dear Over-Tanned ESPN Anchor: You Are Dumb

Not to be outdone, some random ESPN-anchor bonehead wearing too much makeup over his fake tan came up with this gem yesterday: The French Open has never been kind to the Americans.

Actually, that’s a flat-out lie and it only reinforces the whiny-baby attitude that our current US players adopt every time they’re forced to show up at the French. “We hate clay!” they cry. “It’s so European!” they scream. “It’s too slow!” they bawl. Enough already. Our players aren’t setting the world on fire, but they are good enough to win a few rounds at the French. They just aren’t mentally tough enough to figure it out.

As for the historical statement that the French Open has “never” been kind to Americans, that simply sells the Americans short. They haven’t dominated the way they did at Wimbledon, but no player won more most singles championships in the modern era than Chris Evert-7. American. In fact, since 1925, the America ladies have racked up 27 championships. Impressive, non?

It’s true that the American men have had several long droughts at the French.  Non-French players rarely participated in the French Championships before 1925. After ’25, Frank Parker won twice (’48-’49), followed by Budge Patty in ’50 and Tony Trabert in ’54-55. Then there was a long wait until Michael Chang broke through in 1989. Two years later he was joined by back-to-back winner Jim Courier (1991-92). In 1999, Andre Agassi won. Although that represents just four championships in the open era (1968-present), that’s three more than the French men got during the same period.

Even more significant is the number of runner-up appearances notched by the American men in the Open era. They are: Harold Solomon (’76), Brian Gottfried (’77), Vitas Guerilitas (’80), John McEnroe (’84), Andre Agassi (’91 losing to Jim Courier), Jim Couier (’93), Michael Chang (1995). That’s seven appearances, including an all-American final.

If ESPN wants to argue that the American men have stunk up the joint on clay in recent years, I will readily agree. These years have produced a record number of clay-court specialists. But even given the number of experienced clay courters, there is no excuse for American men (and now women) losing unceremoniously in the first two rounds. 

This is just another example of totally ignorant US media. It has been so bad this year that at the end of the French, Cyclops shall bestow an award for Ignorance in Tennis Media.