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Nobody loves Nick Kyrgios
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We haven’t seen the last of crowds booing players and I’m
okay with that.
Having made a strong statement that I didn’t like the booing of Adam Goodes, I might surprise people when I say I actually didn’t have a problem with the crowd’s treatment of Nick Kyrgios at Montreal. The player’s on and off-court antics have obviously got to a point where tennis fans have had enough of it and people wanted to make their feelings known.
I will only have a problem with it, if the jeering continues to follow Kyrgios in following tournaments. The young guy has apologised for his behaviour, has copped a fairly miniscule (for a professional athlete anyway- I won’t be chipping in for it) fine from the ATP and faces the potential of a more significant penalty to come. He has also done himself no favours in the eyes of future sponsors. Probably time everyone moves on.
I find Nick Krygios’ behaviour as boorish as the next person, but I was surprised by the tennis world’s savage reaction to his sledging of opponent, Stanislav Wawrinka. Made me wonder, does no one sledge in tennis or was this an issue of sledging taken too far?
Sledging appears to be an accepted part of other sports such as cricket and football, which I suggest is deliberately played on by the media to create the illusion of greater tension between players. Yet media response to Kyrgios’ actions was fast and unequivocal in its condemnation. I hadn’t thought about it much, but somehow the sport of tennis seems to have largely maintained a tradition of treating your opponent with respect, even during a match. Perhaps the presence of an umpire right next to the players during their breaks and the separation during points allows little opportunity for sledging, or perhaps it is just the tradition. Whatever it is, I like it. I have said here that I strongly disagree with the statement, “Whatever happens on the field stays on the field,” because I think that is just an excuse for behaviour we would consider unacceptable anywhere else and a sports field is not a more stressful workplace than an emergency ward, a police station or many other places where people are able to refrain from such behaviour.
For all I know, sledging occurs in tennis as well, but Kyrgios crossed a line with his choice of words. I have always been a little troubled by the arbitrary line drawn about what is acceptable sledging and what isn’t in the professional sports that do allow it. All sorts of offensive statements appear to be deemed fair as long as they don’t mention race, religion or sexuality. This doesn’t sit that well with me. I am completely against discrimination or persecution based on these factors, but I am not sure that makes qualitatively worse than many other sledges that seem to be considered fair game.
Sledging is an action designed to upset/distract people so that they play worse. Using their race, religion or sexuality as a means to do so is obviously a pretty low act, but other acts of sledging are not much better in my view. If they are intended to upset someone, then they should be used with care, if at all. I have explained in this article that we don’t know the impact our words can have on their targets, but they can be much greater than we think. I remember cringing with embarrassment at the Australian media’s portrayal of Jonathon Trott’s withdrawal from the 2013-14 Ashes series citing stress. This pointed to potential mental illness, which can be tragedy for those affected, but the Australian press celebrated the effectiveness of Australian sledging.
I haven’t got an answer to this- if it needs one. I am not naively calling for penalties for all sledgers across all sports, although I wish the media would at least stop revelling in it. I realise some sports would be impossible to divorce from their culture of disrespecting an opponent. I just wanted to highlight the inconsistency the sporting world has towards sledging in different sports and choice of words used for it.
Having made a strong statement that I didn’t like the booing of Adam Goodes, I might surprise people when I say I actually didn’t have a problem with the crowd’s treatment of Nick Kyrgios at Montreal. The player’s on and off-court antics have obviously got to a point where tennis fans have had enough of it and people wanted to make their feelings known.
I will only have a problem with it, if the jeering continues to follow Kyrgios in following tournaments. The young guy has apologised for his behaviour, has copped a fairly miniscule (for a professional athlete anyway- I won’t be chipping in for it) fine from the ATP and faces the potential of a more significant penalty to come. He has also done himself no favours in the eyes of future sponsors. Probably time everyone moves on.
I find Nick Krygios’ behaviour as boorish as the next person, but I was surprised by the tennis world’s savage reaction to his sledging of opponent, Stanislav Wawrinka. Made me wonder, does no one sledge in tennis or was this an issue of sledging taken too far?
Sledging appears to be an accepted part of other sports such as cricket and football, which I suggest is deliberately played on by the media to create the illusion of greater tension between players. Yet media response to Kyrgios’ actions was fast and unequivocal in its condemnation. I hadn’t thought about it much, but somehow the sport of tennis seems to have largely maintained a tradition of treating your opponent with respect, even during a match. Perhaps the presence of an umpire right next to the players during their breaks and the separation during points allows little opportunity for sledging, or perhaps it is just the tradition. Whatever it is, I like it. I have said here that I strongly disagree with the statement, “Whatever happens on the field stays on the field,” because I think that is just an excuse for behaviour we would consider unacceptable anywhere else and a sports field is not a more stressful workplace than an emergency ward, a police station or many other places where people are able to refrain from such behaviour.
For all I know, sledging occurs in tennis as well, but Kyrgios crossed a line with his choice of words. I have always been a little troubled by the arbitrary line drawn about what is acceptable sledging and what isn’t in the professional sports that do allow it. All sorts of offensive statements appear to be deemed fair as long as they don’t mention race, religion or sexuality. This doesn’t sit that well with me. I am completely against discrimination or persecution based on these factors, but I am not sure that makes qualitatively worse than many other sledges that seem to be considered fair game.
Sledging is an action designed to upset/distract people so that they play worse. Using their race, religion or sexuality as a means to do so is obviously a pretty low act, but other acts of sledging are not much better in my view. If they are intended to upset someone, then they should be used with care, if at all. I have explained in this article that we don’t know the impact our words can have on their targets, but they can be much greater than we think. I remember cringing with embarrassment at the Australian media’s portrayal of Jonathon Trott’s withdrawal from the 2013-14 Ashes series citing stress. This pointed to potential mental illness, which can be tragedy for those affected, but the Australian press celebrated the effectiveness of Australian sledging.
I haven’t got an answer to this- if it needs one. I am not naively calling for penalties for all sledgers across all sports, although I wish the media would at least stop revelling in it. I realise some sports would be impossible to divorce from their culture of disrespecting an opponent. I just wanted to highlight the inconsistency the sporting world has towards sledging in different sports and choice of words used for it.