Roddick Boycotts Dubai – Will Not Defend Title

Andy Roddick telling Serena to put down her drink and think

Way to go Andy Roddick.

He just withdrew from Dubai to protest the treatment of Isreali Shahar Peer. Andy did not have to make this stand. He could hide behind the decision to allow Andy Ram to play in the men’s event. He could point to the fact that without defending his title – which was one of his finest performances in 08, where he beat Nadal – he is sure to take a hit in the rankings (Players must defend all their points from prior events or they lose ground). He is also giving up a certain guaranteed money just for showing up, since both Nadal and Roger are out due to injury and the tournament is desperate for stars. Way to go Andy, hit ’em where it hurts.

Roddick praised the people of Dubai and Abu Dhabi for being outstanding every time he played there, whether in the tournament or as part of lucrative exhibitions. But…

“I think a big part of it is I didn’t really agree with what went on over there…It’s just disappointing that that reflects a tournament which probably didn’t have much to do with the decision. Nevertheless, I just don’t feel like there’s need for that in a sporting event. I don’t think you make political statements through sports.”

Except, Andy – you just made one. The players who decided to play all paid lip service to the idea that sports and politics don’t mix, so did Roddick. Difference being, that I think what he meant by that is that politics cannot be allowed to trump international athletic competition. That’s probably what the rest of them meant too, but the question is, what to do when the political forces decide not to honor that ethic.

Roddick is the first and only current player not to act cowardly. I did not expect him to take a stand. On the other hand, I have defended Roddick from bashers for years because I believe he is a fundamentally decent guy. He really is not the frat boy the bashers try to make him out to be. He never was. Sure he looks like he should be posing for an Abercrombie catalogue – but so what? (There once was a commercial…don’t hate me because I’m beautiful). Roddick stepped up early in his career with charitable endeavors – when he was 19 to be exact. He’s always been more self-possessed off court than on it.

I’ve never been a person who accepts the “politics and sport don’t mix” or “politics and movies don’t mix.” That’s because an early nugget of feminist theory is correct:  the personal is the political. This phrase has come to mean different things to different people. I suggest it does not mean that every act and every breath we take must be political. It simply recognizes that what we do (& who we are) is shaped by the political realm – and we in turn shape it. 

And We Shape It

The players never recognized that they have the power – not the sponsor, not Dubai. If all or even a handful of women refused to take the court for their matches Monday at 11:00 a.m., what do you think would’ve happened? The country would’ve handed over a visa to Peer forthwith. If not, they would have angry fans and sponsors. The worst that would have happened is that the top players – the truly wealthy who jet around via private planes – would get an extra week off and tons of great publicity for taking a stand. Even from a purely crass POV, aka the typical publicist/agent one, it would turn into a net gain for women’s tennis, not a loss. All this bullshit we’re still hearing about the sponsors is just that – BS. Sponsors pulled out of that tournament because of what happened. We’ve all been reminded of how tough it is on sport to attract necessary business right now. Want proof – look at NASCAR. But you can’t be led around by the nose by fear.

If anything, my initial response to this controversy was too easy on the women’s tour. I say that as one who bashes the tour freely all the time… I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt here, since I realize they are young, insulated, wealthy young women. But none of that should be a hindrance. They need to learn what to do, and paying lip service is simply not it.

What really angers me here is the claim by some fans that they’re upset by this, but they’re also upset about the plight of the Palestinians…Well yeah, so am I. I will go on record right now as condemning what happened in Gaza, with no qualifications on that statement. So what? There’s a bunch of stuff my own government is doing right now that I don’t like. There’s a bunch of stuff the Middle Eastern countries are doing that I don’t like. If any players from the US, or India, or Palestine, or Jordan or anywhere else were subjected to this treatment I’d feel the same way. You challenge the things you don’t like in a variety of ways, including protesting your own government, speaking your mind if you are lucky enough to live where speaking it won’t land you in jail (not the UAE), and above all else by voting if you live in a democracy…

(Somehow no matter how hard I try, it always comes back to the Williams sisters refusal to vote that they were so proud of back at the Australian Open. I’d have rather had them vote for John McCain than not vote at all since that makes no sense – the time for throwing your religion up as a shield has long passed – not that the religion excuse ever made any sense to begin with…It is after all one of the things that got Peer banned from the UAE – the country denounces the Jewish religion and refuses Israel’s right to exist)

Posted in: politik, Roddick