Re: Tennis fans deserve better than John McEnroe
Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post
Please, someone in American television, break the McEnroe grip on tennis microphones. Belching up words is not broadcasting, a craft John McEnroe never learned. Johnny Mac has become an entitled air quaffer, a lapsed past master turned trifler who refuses to work at it. Witness how he tends to butcher the names of anyone not ranked in the top five. As for younger brother Patrick, he burps out banalities with the same offbeat affect as his bro, apparently believing it passes for alert observation. You need Pepto after listening to them for two hours.[…] Coupled in the ESPN broadcast booth at Wimbledon this week, they have given the viewer about as much information as a couple of air compressors, complete with the irritating hissing
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There is a raft of truly talented voices out there who apply themselves and enhance the audiovisual medium with real insight. Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Jimmy Arias, Chris Evert, Andre Agassi, Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo and Lindsay Davenport are far more steeped in this beautiful game than the McEnroes, more aware of rising young players from around the world, more alert to tactics and technique, and more articulate.[…] That was Agassi in his virtuoso performance at the French Open, where he deconstructed the stroke adjustment on tape — Alcaraz taking the racket back with a straight right arm — and described how much control it has given him. “They don’t know if he is going to hold and pull across, or if he is going to hold and just go inside off-line. And he can just leave his opponent with their jockstrap on the ground,” Agassi said. “I mean, look at this: He can go either direction with it. Because, in tennis, power and control comes from time spent on racket with the ball. … You’ve got more power, you’ve got more control, and you’ve got more deception.” The McEnroes show none of this acumen[…]
There was a time when I was really into tennis. These days, I’m mostly just a casual TV watcher. I caught Agassi’s commentary during this year’s French Open—it was captivating. I have to agree with this article: it’s time for John McEnroe to go. There are too many other great options out there.