Biggest Tool in World Sport
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@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Siam If he was really brave in secure in himself he would quit the job he doesn't like - as it is he's just a shitty contractor with a poor work effort to go go with being a twat.
Why should he quit though? He earns a lot of money by doing hardly any work. I doubt he would enjoy another job anymore. Kyrgios has to maintain certain performance standards in order to have a career and he does maintain those standards. If he can maintain those standards while putting in no effort, I can't blame him for continuing to do that. Tennis fans can hate him if they want but I don't think Kyrgios cares about that.
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@mariner4life said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
I read an article from his former coach that implied he's practicing less than an hour a day. And now he's out in the 2nd round of his home Open, losing to a lesser opponent. If we must compare sport to normal jobs, that's insufficient effort leading to failing to meet expectations, and that would normally involve some sort of discipline.
The discipline is that he receives a lower amount of prize money. It is the same punishment Djokovic received.
It's not comparable to a normal job. In a normal job, if you are paid 100k, you are expected to do that amount and quality of work. Kyrgios is paid nothing because nothing is expected of him. He only receives money when he performs not based on expectations of performance.
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If his sponsors like Nike and Yonex drop him he'll need to change his attitude as Kyrgios will then be relying on prize money to make a living. Kyrgios has said numerous times that he doesn't enjoy tennis so we can assume it's mainly about the $$$ at this stage of his career.
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I'm with Siam.
I watched him up close at an exhibition match in Sydney recently, and I like him. He's genuine. He's entertaining. He's talented.
Yes he's a brat too, but FFS he's 21 and been training as a tennis player since he was very young. I'm not surprised he's a bit fucked up. But from people who know him, he's a genuinely good kid just trying to work out what he wants. And I don't think he's well advised or supported.
Bernard Tomic is a legitimate tool, who gets in trouble with the cops and is clearly an arrogant fuckwad. I don't think Kyrgios is the same at all. I see a kid grappling with his own identity in the most public of settings, and I have a bit of sympathy.
And I love watching him play. Through both the good and the bad he's incredibly watchable. That counts for a lot IMO.
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@barbarian people say exactly the same about Mundine. At what point are we allowed to only judge the public persona.
I get the "getting by with minimal effort thing" it's almost my personal mantra FFS. And if he's cool with it, then good on the lad, fill your boots.
Maybe i am guilty of projecting my own values on to him, as wasted talent pisses me off. I had to work extra hard for anything i ever "achieved" in sport, and to see someone with natural ability just cruising and appearing to not give a fuck about any of it gets to me.
I'm not going to forgive him quitting in the middle of matches or mouthing off at the crowd though, genuine or not, that's piston wristed gibbon behaviour.
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@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Siam If he was really brave in secure in himself he would quit the job he doesn't like - as it is he's just a shitty contractor with a poor work effort to go go with being a twat.
Why should he quit though? He earns a lot of money by doing hardly any work. I doubt he would enjoy another job anymore. Kyrgios has to maintain certain performance standards in order to have a career and he does maintain those standards. If he can maintain those standards while putting in no effort, I can't blame him for continuing to do that. Tennis fans can hate him if they want but I don't think Kyrgios cares about that.
I don't care if he stays or goes, but don't cry about how you hate the game all the time if you stay.
Clearly he doesn't maintain his standards which is why he's been suspended in the past.
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@mariner4life said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@barbarian people say exactly the same about Mundine. At what point are we allowed to only judge the public persona.
I don't know if that's the best comparison. Mundine went out of his way to make provocative comments (selectors don't pick me because I'm black, America deserved 9/11 etc) where Kyrgios only seems to respond in self-defence when provoked. It doesn't make that OK, but I think he's better than Mundine.
Mundine craved headlines, where it seems to me that Kyrgios would be very happy if no-one ever spoke about him again.
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@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Siam If he was really brave in secure in himself he would quit the job he doesn't like - as it is he's just a shitty contractor with a poor work effort to go go with being a twat.
Why should he quit though? He earns a lot of money by doing hardly any work. I doubt he would enjoy another job anymore. Kyrgios has to maintain certain performance standards in order to have a career and he does maintain those standards. If he can maintain those standards while putting in no effort, I can't blame him for continuing to do that. Tennis fans can hate him if they want but I don't think Kyrgios cares about that.
I don't care if he stays or goes, but don't cry about how you hate the game all the time if you stay.
Clearly he doesn't maintain his standards which is why he's been suspended in the past.
He gets asked the question in a press conference though. He was asked why he lost and he said he didn't prepare well enough. He was asked why he didn't prepare well enough and he said he preferred to play basketball. Kyrgios seems to me like he doesn't want to do any media at all but if he doesn't show up he will get lambasted in the press (and will be fined more). I don't know what Kyrgios was meant to say? Should he have lied about how much preparation he did? If Kyrgios is asked whether or not he enjoys tennis, I would rather he answers that question honestly.
Kyrgios has been suspended in the past but he is still the number 13 in the world and he is compensated accordingly. The most important part of his job is to win and he is terrific at that.
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plenty of people out there 'trudge' through their routine in a job they don't like, but knowing they simply must do it, but I'd wager the vast majority of them toe the line or say what they think people want to hear when asked about their performance and the like.
This guy, at least he could try being funny about it (which maybe he was with the 'ask McInroe' comments) but it comes across like a 'meh I don't give a shit type of attitude', but not in the way that can be admired.
His comment about basketball could have been better by saying I wasn't well prepared...but the answer he gave to be is not about being honest, its about making a comment to antagonize or be controversial.
I've cruised through most of my life doing only as much as I needed to do, I don't hate my job, but I damn well would rather I didn't have to work at all, or could have played a sport for a living (like many of us I expect)
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@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Siam If he was really brave in secure in himself he would quit the job he doesn't like - as it is he's just a shitty contractor with a poor work effort to go go with being a twat.
Why should he quit though? He earns a lot of money by doing hardly any work. I doubt he would enjoy another job anymore. Kyrgios has to maintain certain performance standards in order to have a career and he does maintain those standards. If he can maintain those standards while putting in no effort, I can't blame him for continuing to do that. Tennis fans can hate him if they want but I don't think Kyrgios cares about that.
I don't care if he stays or goes, but don't cry about how you hate the game all the time if you stay.
Clearly he doesn't maintain his standards which is why he's been suspended in the past.
He gets asked the question in a press conference though. He was asked why he lost and he said he didn't prepare well enough. He was asked why he didn't prepare well enough and he said he preferred to play basketball. Kyrgios seems to me like he doesn't want to do any media at all but if he doesn't show up he will get lambasted in the press (and will be fined more). I don't know what Kyrgios was meant to say? Should he have lied about how much preparation he did? If Kyrgios is asked whether or not he enjoys tennis, I would rather he answers that question honestly.
Kyrgios has been suspended in the past but he is still the number 13 in the world and he is compensated accordingly. The most important part of his job is to win and he is terrific at that.
Imagine anyone else being interviewed in the press on their day job after a loss/something going wrong and saying they'd prefer to play basketball rather than doing whatever it is that the person ultimately paying the bills for them pays them to do. It could very well be an honest answer, but I know for one I'd be out of job in a big hurry...
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@mariner4life said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@barbarian people say exactly the same about Mundine. At what point are we allowed to only judge the public persona.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it's not a public persona; that's him.
I get the "getting by with minimal effort thing" it's almost my personal mantra FFS. And if he's cool with it, then good on the lad, fill your boots.
Maybe i am guilty of projecting my own values on to him, as wasted talent pisses me off. I had to work extra hard for anything i ever "achieved" in sport, and to see someone with natural ability just cruising and appearing to not give a fuck about any of it gets to me.
I judge people harshly by how they face adversity; what do you do when it gets hard?
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Might be a high bar but I always apply the Allblack test to sportsmen, i.e. how I would view them if they were an Allblack. I think it's fair to say that a piston wristed gibbon with an attitude like Kyrgios wouldn't get near selection. Just because he's open about being a cockhead isn't something to admire or "a breath of fresh air" and I can never get my head around those defending him for this.
I heard an interview with former French tennis star Henry Leconte and he said that Kyrgios will regret this later in life because time goes so fast and your career will be over before you know it.
He's literally holding a lotto ticket and he claims it bores him. Maybe the dickhead should spend some time in an office or a factory at the pay level most 21 year olds get. Then he might discover that his awful boring existence isn't so bad after all. Twat.
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@mariner4life said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Virgil i understand about the interview stuff, but the Auckland thing is a bit rough, she even said the other day in an unrelated presser at the Open how disappointed she was not to get to play in Auckland, she really wanted to.
She's always been a bit prickly, this is nothing new really.
The Auckland stuff was blown out of proportion (see what I did there...). She said she enjoyed her stay but found the windy conditions the most difficult she had ever experienced. Which I'm sure is true. Hardly controversial.
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@Donsteppa said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Nepia said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Siam If he was really brave in secure in himself he would quit the job he doesn't like - as it is he's just a shitty contractor with a poor work effort to go go with being a twat.
Why should he quit though? He earns a lot of money by doing hardly any work. I doubt he would enjoy another job anymore. Kyrgios has to maintain certain performance standards in order to have a career and he does maintain those standards. If he can maintain those standards while putting in no effort, I can't blame him for continuing to do that. Tennis fans can hate him if they want but I don't think Kyrgios cares about that.
I don't care if he stays or goes, but don't cry about how you hate the game all the time if you stay.
Clearly he doesn't maintain his standards which is why he's been suspended in the past.
He gets asked the question in a press conference though. He was asked why he lost and he said he didn't prepare well enough. He was asked why he didn't prepare well enough and he said he preferred to play basketball. Kyrgios seems to me like he doesn't want to do any media at all but if he doesn't show up he will get lambasted in the press (and will be fined more). I don't know what Kyrgios was meant to say? Should he have lied about how much preparation he did? If Kyrgios is asked whether or not he enjoys tennis, I would rather he answers that question honestly.
Kyrgios has been suspended in the past but he is still the number 13 in the world and he is compensated accordingly. The most important part of his job is to win and he is terrific at that.
Imagine anyone else being interviewed in the press on their day job after a loss/something going wrong and saying they'd prefer to play basketball rather than doing whatever it is that the person ultimately paying the bills for them pays them to do. It could very well be an honest answer, but I know for one I'd be out of job in a big hurry...
But that's my point. Kyrgios only gets paid for winning. He isn't a salaried professional as you presumably are. Kyrgios lost in the second round because he didn't prepare well enough and because he didn't prepare well enough he only got paid $80,000. If Kyrgios put in the effort and won the tournament, he could have got 3.7 million. That seems like an adequate punishment for ill-preparedness.
You get paid a certain amount because your boss expects you to perform at that level. Take a salaried professional like Julian Savea. He gets paid what he gets paid because he is expected to be fit and score tries. If he doesn't meet those expectations, he earns almost the exact same amount of money. If he acted like Kyrgios, it would be unacceptable because he has signed a contract and is expected to meet standards.
Kyrgios isn't representing anyone. He doesn't receive a salary to play tennis well. The Aussie Open pays out the same amount of money regardless of who wins.
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Don't players get paid appearance fees?
No doubt Serena would have been paid just as much if not more then the eventual winner of the Auckland tournament.
So if K is paid money to appear at a tournament, occasionally as the top seed doesn't he have a responsibility to perform to his best and actually give a shit? -
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
Might be a high bar but I always apply the Allblack test to sportsmen, i.e. how I would view them if they were an Allblack. I think it's fair to say that a piston wristed gibbon with an attitude like Kyrgios wouldn't get near selection. Just because he's open about being a cockhead isn't something to admire or "a breath of fresh air" and I can never get my head around those defending him for this.
I heard an interview with former French tennis star Henry Leconte and he said that Kyrgios will regret this later in life because time goes so fast and your career will be over before you know it.
He's literally holding a lotto ticket and he claims it bores him. Maybe the dickhead should spend some time in an office or a factory at the pay level most 21 year olds get. Then he might discover that his awful boring existence isn't so bad after all. Twat.
But he isn't an All Black. He is an individual representing himself. He doesn't have teammates or a history to live up to. He just has his name and he can do with that as he wishes. He is a contractor and not an employee. I presume only the grandslams are forced to invite him?
Has Kyrgios actually said that he has an awful, boring existence? I just think he has said he doesn't particularly like doing tennis training. I never hear any "woe is me" from Kyrgios. I don't follow everything he says admittedly.
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@Virgil said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
Don't players get paid appearance fees?
No doubt Serena would have been paid just as much if not more then the eventual winner of the Auckland tournament.
So if K is paid money to appear at a tournament, occasionally as the top seed doesn't he have a responsibility to perform to his best and actually give a shit?That would depend on the contract. If you give Kyrgios an appearance fee, you do so at your own risk. If any tennis tournament think that Kyrgios has breached his contract, they can go through the court system or just not invite him back.
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@hydro11 said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Biggest Tool in World Sport:
Might be a high bar but I always apply the Allblack test to sportsmen, i.e. how I would view them if they were an Allblack. I think it's fair to say that a piston wristed gibbon with an attitude like Kyrgios wouldn't get near selection. Just because he's open about being a cockhead isn't something to admire or "a breath of fresh air" and I can never get my head around those defending him for this.
I heard an interview with former French tennis star Henry Leconte and he said that Kyrgios will regret this later in life because time goes so fast and your career will be over before you know it.
He's literally holding a lotto ticket and he claims it bores him. Maybe the dickhead should spend some time in an office or a factory at the pay level most 21 year olds get. Then he might discover that his awful boring existence isn't so bad after all. Twat.
But he isn't an All Black. He is an individual representing himself. He doesn't have teammates or a history to live up to. He just has his name and he can do with that as he wishes. He is a contractor and not an employee. I presume only the grandslams are forced to invite him?
Has Kyrgios actually said that he has an awful, boring existence? I just think he has said he doesn't particularly like doing tennis training. I never hear any "woe is me" from Kyrgios. I don't follow everything he says admittedly.
No shit Hydro. I used that as a (high) benchmark for how I would like sportsmen to conduct themselves. I never said K couldn't do what he wants or the lotto ticket wasn't his to piss away. That doesn't make him less of a twat or, inexplicably, someone to be admired.
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He does get provoked by the media a bit. He showed his bad side early in his career and the media know if they ask him some hard questions they'll get a reaction. Compared to say Federer who gets very light questions by comparison. Not excusing his behavior but the media love him for that reason which is why we hear about him a lot.
