Sportsmen Crying?

[Kinoulton]

Apparently Andy Murray "earned a lot of new fans" after blubbing at his post defeat interview.

Really? Personally I preferred Becker's "I lost a tennis match. I didn't lose a war. Nobody died. I just lost a tennis match."

Call me old fashioned, but I preferred the Beckers, Boycotts, Biddlecombes, Beaumonts, Banks etc, who dealt with defeat by bouncing back quietly and stoically and not sharing their misery with 2 million weeping British housewives.

[kingol22]

Don't think there is anything wrong with showing your emotions after a match. For a tennis player they have worked for that moment for most of their lives and it is just them on court with no one else to turn to if things go wrong so the feeling that your just not good enough at the end must be very difficult to handle. Add the fact that it is his home Grand Slam and the amount of support he has had it is understandable that he broke down like he did.

I am sure he would of preferred not to do so in front of the cameras but then they don't get much chance to gather themselves before a microphone is shoved in front of him. I very much doubt he won any new fans because of it but then the majority of British people support him anyway.

[Rizzo]

It seems some people are having a go at him for being emotional, and others have a go because they said in the past he's been unemotional and stone faced. I guess the instantaneous media response of "You've just lost the final, the whole country was watching you, how do you feel?" with the microphone almost up the nose didn't give the chap chance to gather himself.

Plus, hadn't you noticed? not just sportsmen but everyone seems to cry all over the place at the drop of a hat, especially on TV, and often with the wailing etc thrown in. Whatever happened to the stiff upper lip?

Personally if I cry, I do it in private, preferably on my own. But then I've not just felt the weight of the nation's expectations on my shoulders. One of the tabloid headlines on Sunday said "We're praying for you, Andy!" - my daughter said "He's playing a tennis game, he's not dying!".

[Kinoulton]

I agree that having a microphone shoved up your nose after a match is not ideal.

But we are starting to make a virtue of crying in public.

It started with that wannabe kid who cocked up her song on XFactor, being consoled by Ant & Dec and the tears flowed, before shining knight Sir Simon of Cowell came to her rescue.

I've never had a problem with Murray lacking emotion. He does a damned good job and that's it.

[BJ.]

Andy Murray might not be the champion of Wimbledon but perhaps now he might be the champion of peoples' hearts.

[Kinoulton]

Ha!

It is such a lot of nonsense isn't it?

He's 4th best in the World. It's good to be fouth best in the World at almost anything.

That's it though. I don't want to cry for him, twitter him, have a commemorative mug of him, or read about him.

"Very Good Tennis Player"

That's it.

[byrontiger]

Who noticed Simon Fuller sitting next to his mum?

Now, Simon Fuller is no Max Clifford but surely the crying is good PR for Andy.
Just wait for the Kleenex and hay fever adverts.

Only seen a Rado advert compared to Federer's Rolex advert.

PS Federer made sure he put his watch on as soon as the game was over (maximum exposure).

[CJ]

yeah byrontiger, I noticed Federer putting his watch on as well. He's the consummate professional!

[byrontiger]

Pretty smooth.

Let's not forget that Federer is back to No 1.

Murray has a lot to learn... He may have to settle for No 4,which is no bad thing,but to get the real money he needs 'an image' that is better than the dour Scot.

[Kinoulton]

Stuart Pearce was dour... hence the Ford clearing windscreen ad.

Maybe Murray should cultivate the sulky grim Scottish look (at which he is very good) rather than trying to be vulnerable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd90m3xKfl8

Not The 9 O'Clock News anyone?

[cornish tigress]

I am not surprised that sportsmen and women shed a tear at the end of a tense contest if they have lost - or won for that matter. It is an emotional moment you have hopefully put you heart and soul into. What annoys me are the people with the mikes trying to MAKE them get emotional so they have tears for the telly ratings.

[Kinoulton]

I do wonder at why so called professional commentators have weeks to think about how they are going to interview the winners and losers of events and then come up with nothing better than: "How do you feel after that defeat? What did you make of the support you got? What will you do to unwind tonight? What's next for you now?"

With such inane questions it's no wonder most of them resort to cliches and thanks to everyone from the shoe manufacturer to the family dog.