osmigo@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (osmigo) (10/08/85)
I think one possible solution to the McEnroe Syndrome might be to give point penalties instead of monetary fines. In football, teams lose yardage for illegalities; they don't fine the offending player $XXX. Other sports have similar rules, and why not do the same in tennis? An obscene gesture such as Connor's masturbating his racket handle could cost him the point or even the game. Another tactic might be to give players a certain amount of time before serving, say, 1 minute or so. One problem here is that many of the problems are somewhat fuzzily defined; we're talking about penalizing players for "bad" or "unsportsmanlike" behavior. These are nebulous concepts, unlike football's "offsides" or "holding." Just where should we draw the line? A player has every right in the world to be upset over a faulty line call that might cost him 1000's of bucks. But HOW upset? Ron Morgan (ut-ngp .UTEXAS) *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
cccallan@ucdavis.UUCP (Allan McKillop) (10/08/85)
> > I think one possible solution to the McEnroe Syndrome might be to give point > penalties instead of monetary fines. > Another tactic might be to give players a certain amount of time before > serving, say, 1 minute or so. One problem here is that many of the problems > are somewhat fuzzily defined; we're talking about penalizing players for > "bad" or "unsportsmanlike" behavior. There are already such rules (supposedly) enforced on the pro tour. If a player does a no-no (in the eyes of the umpire), he/she first gets a warning, then next time, a point penalty, then a game penalty the the offending player is defaulted on his/her 4th outburst. So the groundwork is there, but why hasn't it worked? As has been already said, who pays the umpires? The tournament promoters, and do they want their #1 star attraction bounced out in the first round because of his bad behavior? No way. Until there comes a time when the umpires are paid by people other than the tournament directors, tennis is going to continue to have these problems. My major gripe about the rules as they stand is the "30 seconds between points" rule. I think I could count the number of times I have actually seen this rule ENFORCED (not just threatened) on one hand, but the pro players constantly take more the the allotted time. The reason? Umpires (in their infinite wisdom) have decided that bouncing a tennis ball just before you start to serve is part of a point. Thus, Jimmy Connors can take 30 seconds and then bounce the ball for another 30 seconds, and never be penalized. I don't think that the rules is the problem in pro-tennis, the enforcement of the rules is. -- Allan McKillop (...ucbvax!ucdavis!deneb!cccallan) "Where there's a will, there's a relative..."
jsl@princeton.UUCP (Jong Lee) (10/10/85)
> > I think one possible solution to the McEnroe Syndrome might be to give point > penalties instead of monetary fines. In football, teams lose yardage for > illegalities; they don't fine the offending player $XXX. Other sports have > similar rules, and why not do the same in tennis? An obscene gesture such as > Connor's masturbating his racket handle could cost him the point or even the > game. Another tactic might be to give players a certain amount of time before > serving, say, 1 minute or so. One problem here is that many of the problems > are somewhat fuzzily defined; we're talking about penalizing players for > "bad" or "unsportsmanlike" behavior. These are nebulous concepts, unlike > football's "offsides" or "holding." Just where should we draw the line? A > player has every right in the world to be upset over a faulty line call that > might cost him 1000's of bucks. But HOW upset? > > Where have you been?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!! Point penalties have been "in effect" for eons! These rules aren't worth diddly squat anyway. If a point penalty causes the #1 or #2 or etc. seed to be upset, will the game benefit? I mean, will Princess Di, Tatum O'Neil, and Harold Milquetoaste pay $xxxx to watch Shlomo Glickstein battle Hans Schwaier in the (....) finals? You bet your sweet @&& they won't. So if you are offended by these clowns gestures, don't watch (at least not the replays, live action is hard to censor, I admit), avoid certain players whom you think may act up, etc. Or be like the French and enjoy the bozos make a fool of themselves and embarrass their friends and relatives. a game, which "may" (this > Ron Morgan (ut-ngp .UTEXAS) > *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***