Indian Wells CEO Comments on the WTA

[WuDrWu]

Here's the best I could find on a quick search.



If you've heard about it 2nd hand or read a commentary only, I encourage you to find the entire live audio or video of Mr. Moore's "speech" and listen to it first.


Then let's talk about it.

[wufan]

A lot of attractive WTA players linked in that article.

[jdshock]

Here's the best I could find on a quick search.



If you've heard about it 2nd hand or read a commentary only, I encourage you to find the entire live audio or video of Mr. Moore's "speech" and listen to it first.


Then let's talk about it.

I read the transcripts of the "coattails" answers and then the "attractive" answers, so if there are other portions to listen to, I have missed them.

I don't know if I think he's right or if I think he's wrong. On the one hand, the Williams sisters were (and really still are) absolutely huge in their prime. I bet a lot of people watched women's tennis because of them. And in general, I'm not sure I really buy that people watch women's tennis because they like Federer. Who watches the WNBA because they're a fan of LeBron? On the other hand, I would bet Nadal v Federer finals were significantly more popular than any women's final, and the overall interest in tennis helped boost women's numbers. I'm just not sure.

I do feel confident that it was a really dumb thing for a man in his position to say. Further, when given the opportunity to cop out and say he meant the women's players were attractive candidates for success, why did he double-down and say he meant physically too?

[WuDrWu]

It's just my opinion, but I think you have to listen to him say it, versus reading it.

I get some won't care, and frankly, I really don't think it's that big a deal. Even taken at face value, there's a lot of truth in what he said, whether it's politically correct or not.

But listening to it, completely, I don't believe he intended as much, I don't know, denigration, as people are saying. Just my opinion. I also think it's a touch of a language barrier.

And, just to be clear, I'm fully ready to accept that he's a sexist pig, if in fact the way most people are taking what he said as being exactly how he meant it.

[WuShock16]

One of my best friends is a tennis coach, so I defer a lot of my tennis knowledge to him.

Personally, I actually feel that women's tennis is easier to watch (at least at the highest levels). First of all, the men's game seems to be such a power game, and there seem to be a lot of aces served. Kinda like volleyball when a team can usually slam it on the first receive after the serve, that's not too intriguing to me. With women's tennis, getting a good rally going seems more interesting. Also, because the men's major are best-of-5 matches, a five-setter is can be a marathon. Now, I am not a tennis guy, so my opinion doesn't matter too much, but my coach buddy has even said that if he sees a match tied after two sets, he'll turn it off for an hour and come back to it later. A three-set women's match that can wrap up in a couple hours. Very rarely does it ever push to three hours. If I ever found myself wanting to attend a pro tennis event (especially a major), I would watch the women's matches, not the men's.

Again, not claiming to be Tennis Guy, these are just my simple thoughts...

[wu_shizzle]

[MoValley John]

I don't watch tennis, men's or women's.

I tried to play it once.



Once.

[jdshock]

It's just my opinion, but I think you have to listen to him say it, versus reading it.

I get some won't care, and frankly, I really don't think it's that big a deal. Even taken at face value, there's a lot of truth in what he said, whether it's politically correct or not.

But listening to it, completely, I don't believe he intended as much, I don't know, denigration, as people are saying. Just my opinion. I also think it's a touch of a language barrier.

And, just to be clear, I'm fully ready to accept that he's a sexist pig, if in fact the way most people are taking what he said as being exactly how he meant it.

I watched the video, and I think you're right that it comes off differently in his tone. I think it's clear he's fairly light-hearted about the whole ordeal. I do think he probably still believes some of the stuff he is saying, but (in my opinion) he was making a joke where the grain of truth was that men's tennis has benefited women's tennis and he told a joke about it. Oddly, I think the attractive comment is maybe wholly resolved for me after watching the video. It came across as him starting to say "not physically attractive, I mean attractive candidates to top the WTA" or something and then he decided to make a joke/light-hearted comment and say "both!" And culturally (I have no knowledge one way or the other) it might even have been viewed as a joke that functioned as a compliment. In many other cultures it isn't seen as rude to talk about women's attractiveness more bluntly, so it's possible that saying both was just a way to say they are all around great candidates.

All of that said, I still think it was a poor decision on his part to make those jokes, assuming they were jokes. I'm still not willing to say he is a sexist pig or anything like that, and even less so than I was earlier. I do still think it was a bad idea to make those statements to the public. It just gives people room to jump on the statements.

[RoyalShock]

One of my best friends is a tennis coach, so I defer a lot of my tennis knowledge to him.

Personally, I actually feel that women's tennis is easier to watch (at least at the highest levels). First of all, the men's game seems to be such a power game, and there seem to be a lot of aces served. Kinda like volleyball when a team can usually slam it on the first receive after the serve, that's not too intriguing to me. With women's tennis, getting a good rally going seems more interesting. Also, because the men's major are best-of-5 matches, a five-setter is can be a marathon. Now, I am not a tennis guy, so my opinion doesn't matter too much, but my coach buddy has even said that if he sees a match tied after two sets, he'll turn it off for an hour and come back to it later. A three-set women's match that can wrap up in a couple hours. Very rarely does it ever push to three hours. If I ever found myself wanting to attend a pro tennis event (especially a major), I would watch the women's matches, not the men's.

Again, not claiming to be Tennis Guy, these are just my simple thoughts...

I played tennis in high school, off and on after that, and again now that my son plays. I've watched a fair bit of tennis over the years and would largely agree with your impression of watching a men's match and women's match. Many times the women's game is a better watch due to the somewhat slower speed of the game. Sometimes faster or more powerful does not make for a better viewing experience. I feel the same way about volleyball. I'd rather watch the longer women's rallies than the quick, power-filled men's game.

That said, I would also admit that if not for the higher interest in men's tennis, mainly during the slams, I wouldn't watch as much women's tennis.

[wsushox1]

Agreed with @WuShock16:

I enjoy watching women's tennis more than men's tennis. The game just seems better to me.

[wufan]

Agreed with @WuShock16:

I enjoy watching women's tennis more than men's tennis. The game just seems better to me.

Also the grunting is better.

[wsushox1]

Also the grunting is better.

I like my women's grunts primal.

[WuDrWu]

He gone.