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Anyone for Tennis - Djokovic situation discussion time ?

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Dan S
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Vanallard Vanallard
Top athletes are held to the highest standard and are the ones most often criticized.

Sorry, but this is total BS IMO. Top athletes get away with unbelievably bad behavior constantly. Excuses are made for them, and they are given chance after chance, when equivalent behavior in any other sphere of life would not be tolerated. Moreover, it's extremely rare to find other athletes publicly criticizing the top athletes in their sport (for obvious reasons), even when the behavior crosses way over the line.
 
gbesq
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Evitzee Evitzee
The government has to show its authority over citizens and visitors even though he presents minimal danger to anyone by their own admission, and even if it doesn't line up with current health knowledge and guidelines. But governments aren't known to be rational. Australia has abused its citizens the last two years and people are fed up, who could blame them? This Covid fear porn will end when the citizens say they have had enough, they are at that point now, but governments hate to let go of their power and control. Australia looks foolish in this affair, it's a black eye, but their choice. Hopefully they can get their act together for the F1 in April, but nothing is assured with this gang who can't seem to shoot straight.
What a patently ridiculous comment. Djokovic got exactly what he deserved. It would be refreshing to see this kind of backbone from most members of the U.S. Congress. Good for you, Australia. Much respect.
 
Omegafanman
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gbesq gbesq
What a patently ridiculous comment. Djokovic got exactly what he deserved. It would be refreshing to see this kind of backbone from most members of the U.S. Congress. Good for you, Australia. Much respect.

I hear you but I don’t think minimal danger is a patently ridiculous comment as he must have had negative tests.

Otherwise .......
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But by Apollo 17 they had relaxed the protocols and I am not sure how much was for the photo opportunity originally.
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gbesq
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Omegafanman Omegafanman
I hear you but I don’t think minimal danger is a patently ridiculous comment as he must have had negative tests.

Otherwise .......
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But by Apollo 17 they had relaxed the protocols and I am not sure how much was for the photo opportunity originally.
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My apologies if I came out a little too strong with my comment. But I stand by the substance of it. Djokovic broke the rules and he was disingenous. He's not entitled to any special treatment. Could this have been better handled? Sure, but the end result should have been exactly the same.
 
Archer
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Dan S Dan S
Sorry, but this is total BS IMO. Top athletes get away with unbelievably bad behavior constantly. Excuses are made for them, and they are given chance after chance, when equivalent behavior in any other sphere of life would not be tolerated.

Agreed. If we look at this case specifically, under the rules of the Australian Open that were sent to all the players, the deadline to submit medical exemptions was December 10th. This was well known in tennis circles and I was watching to see if there would be word on Novak by then, because after that he was technically out.

He didn't get his positive test result (the entire reasoning behind his attempt at an exemption) until 6 days after the deadline, and yet TA granted him their "exemption" anyway at the end of the month. If they had followed their own procedures, he would have been out of luck by December 10th.

Having competed internationally in another sport, I can tell you tournament deadlines are typically pretty hard and fast, with no exceptions - if you miss the deadline you don't go. But I was never the #1 archer in the world...
 
Observer
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gbesq gbesq
What a patently ridiculous comment. Djokovic got exactly what he deserved. It would be refreshing to see this kind of backbone from most members of the U.S. Congress. Good for you, Australia. Much respect.
It was spot on. Not sure why you’re comparing our legislature to Australian border control, but keep watching. The US Congress is expected to change dramatically after November’s elections precisely because they’ve been abusing their fellow citizens much as Australia has.
 
Vanallard
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Dan S Dan S
Sorry, but this is total BS IMO. Top athletes get away with unbelievably bad behavior constantly. Excuses are made for them, and they are given chance after chance, when equivalent behavior in any other sphere of life would not be tolerated. Moreover, it's extremely rare to find other athletes publicly criticizing the top athletes in their sport (for obvious reasons), even when the behavior crosses way over the line.

I agree with the top half of your comment, but it has nothing to do with second half and your original comment. The best athletes in the world attract the most attention and scrutiny. That is a fact. When they make a mistake, they are called out by other athletes. That is a fact. Look at A Rodgers and K Irving, who were called out by other football and basketball players (respectively) for not being vaccinated, or Lebron for not taking a firmer stance on the importance of vaccination. Those are examples from just the past month.
 
gbesq
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Observer Observer
It was spot on. Not sure why you’re comparing our legislature to Australian border control, but keep watching. The US Congress is expected to change dramatically after November’s elections precisely because they’ve been abusing their fellow citizens much as Australia has.
Since we're both Americans, I trust that you would agree that we're both entitled to our respective opinions.
 
dsio
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Going to end it here as there are people getting all aggro and trying to drag US politics into this when it’s not even remotely related.