FedEx grounded in United States
Rarely a day goes by that we don't see Tiger Woods' face plastered on something, whether it his own video game produced by EA Sports or a magazine advertisement for Buick. He's everywhere. That's what happens when you are a cut above the rest in your sport. You become very marketable, and companies want you to be their pitch man.
But if that really is the true, then why isn't tennis maestro Roger Federer receiving the endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has? Why isn't he more of a household name in this country?
Federer is every bit as dominant as Woods is. On Saturday, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open final to win his 10th Grand Slam championship. He didn't drop a set during the entire tournament — the first time that has been accomplished at a major event in 27 years. Even more remarkable is the fact that Federer is 99-5 since the start of 2006. Oh yeah, one more thing. He's only 25.
Federer, though, still flies under the radar. His name only pops up when one of the four Grand Slam tournaments come around.
But what if Roger Federer was American? Would people in this country gather around a television set and watch him play tennis like they do when Tiger Woods tees it up on Sundays? I think so.
When you strip our nation's psyche down the core, it's easy to come to the conclusion that this country's people are generally very parochial and chauvinistic. Not surprisingly, Americans like to see their own do well, especially in individual sports. When tennis was a relatively popular sport in the U.S. 25 years ago, we cheered on the flamboyant and petulant John McEnroe when he faced the stoic and unassuming Bjorn Borg. We loved seeing Carl Lewis win the gold the 100 meters. We cheered when Rocky Balboa defeated Ivan Drago in a movie featuring fictional characters.
But Federer? He's Swiss. He's not one of us. So he is not as worthy of our time. Instead we've tried to prop up one of our countrymen, Andy Roddick. For the last few years, we've wanted to convince ourselves that Roddick is Federer's equal. He's anything but. That was proven again last week when Federer spanked America's great hope and sent him packing.
Roddick isn't Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Federer, however, may be the new and improved version of both players. Too bad he isn't American or people here might actually care. They might even buy a video game with his name on it.
But if that really is the true, then why isn't tennis maestro Roger Federer receiving the endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has? Why isn't he more of a household name in this country?
Federer is every bit as dominant as Woods is. On Saturday, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open final to win his 10th Grand Slam championship. He didn't drop a set during the entire tournament — the first time that has been accomplished at a major event in 27 years. Even more remarkable is the fact that Federer is 99-5 since the start of 2006. Oh yeah, one more thing. He's only 25.
Federer, though, still flies under the radar. His name only pops up when one of the four Grand Slam tournaments come around.
But what if Roger Federer was American? Would people in this country gather around a television set and watch him play tennis like they do when Tiger Woods tees it up on Sundays? I think so.
When you strip our nation's psyche down the core, it's easy to come to the conclusion that this country's people are generally very parochial and chauvinistic. Not surprisingly, Americans like to see their own do well, especially in individual sports. When tennis was a relatively popular sport in the U.S. 25 years ago, we cheered on the flamboyant and petulant John McEnroe when he faced the stoic and unassuming Bjorn Borg. We loved seeing Carl Lewis win the gold the 100 meters. We cheered when Rocky Balboa defeated Ivan Drago in a movie featuring fictional characters.
But Federer? He's Swiss. He's not one of us. So he is not as worthy of our time. Instead we've tried to prop up one of our countrymen, Andy Roddick. For the last few years, we've wanted to convince ourselves that Roddick is Federer's equal. He's anything but. That was proven again last week when Federer spanked America's great hope and sent him packing.
Roddick isn't Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Federer, however, may be the new and improved version of both players. Too bad he isn't American or people here might actually care. They might even buy a video game with his name on it.
posted by Rainer Sabin @ 1:04 AM
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