This Post Brought To You By Lexus
Posted by gauloises1 on September 16, 2009
So after the widespread criticism of Dick Enberg’s handling of the trophy presentation on Monday night, and in particular his initial refusal of JMDP’s polite request to speak to his fans in Spanish, CBS have – sort of – responded:
“[Senior vice president for communications at CBS] Wade called the awkwardness “unfortunate” but said Enberg was obligated by the United States Tennis Association contract to get the sponsor presentation on the national broadcast. He had a producer speaking into his earphone, she said, “and what he was saying was what still had to be done in a short period of time.”
The U.S.T.A. confirmed the sponsor presentation was part of its agreement with CBS. The process, however, has been streamlined from past years, when the sponsor’s representative was given a chance to speak during the ceremony. On Monday night, the Lexus executive simply handed del Potro a set of keys.
Wade said Enberg was simply caught in a tough situation.
“Anybody who knows Dick Enberg knows he celebrates champions better than anyone,” she said. “Those are his kind of moments.”
Hmmm. I’m a little unconvinced by this really. I can’t understand what kind of scheduling constraints they were under exactly that meant they couldn’t spare 30 seconds. And if Roger had won, are you seriously telling me that Enberg would have cut off, interrupted or tried to hurry up his acceptance speech? I could be wrong but I don’t see it. Something tells me there would have been time for a “16″ montage, or at least a “6″. It kind of reminded me of the woman presenting the trophy mangling Safin’s name back in 2000. I don’t think these people do well when they get a surprise result.
Anyway, I’m going to brighten up this post with my favourite post-final photo of JMDP so far.
UPDATED: Oh god, I don’t know what’s wrong with me today!
Ahem. Meant to say in the original post that I loved how SI.com gave Elf the chance to say his piece uninterrupted via their website. Kudos.
Mlle. Marseillaise (a.k.a Joan) said
What they did to him was crap, the poor guy was left standing there like a confused puppy. I will however admit that as annoying as Dick-dude-it-may-be-time-to-retire-but-I-still-love-you-because-you’re-like-that-grandpa-who-calls-you-Jenny-even-though-you’ve-told-him-your-name-a-million-times-and-gives-you-lemonade-and-tells-you-about-the-good-ole-days-during-the-war Enberg can be at times, he really does celebrate the champions quite well. His exuberance and joy are really the only reason why I put up with Captain Poetic Justice.
Also, I absolutely HATE it when sponsors get in the way of the beauty and joy of the game like how Sony Ericsson take any opportunity possible no matter how awkward it is to pimp their phones.
Saoirse said
I hear ya sis… Bleedin’ Dick (as in Enberg) would not, repeat, NOT have interrupted Roger ‘The Magician from Basel’ had he won. I am also fairly certain that a lot of people there (as in the USTA) were disappointed by the result as they (most probably) had plan some sort of celebration for Roger’s record breaking/making victory. ‘Bring out the former winners and let’s resuscitate that guy who won 6 in a row back in the eighteen hundredth!!’
Or maybe this fiction is in my head.
Lovely pic of Elf, though.
Saoirse said
Anyone else noticed how his shorts are kinda running high on his beautiful, sexy, muscular tennisman thighs??
Excuse me while I wipe my mouth clean.
gauloises1 said
Joan – the sad thing is that when I needed a new phone, I deliberately chose a Sony Ericsson one just because I was convinced that somehow, my money would end up in Momo’s wine cellar.
In the form of wine obviously. Not just like mouldering in a corner.
ptenisnet said
Whoever that stupid sponsor would have gotten plenty more mileage from letting Del Po speak in Spanish than by showing off the stupid car. Honestly.
AmyLu said
So I completely missed live that Enberg wouldn’t let the Elf speak in Spanish (JJ noticed it — I think I was too deliriously happy). I just noticed Enberg butchering the sponsor portion, and then the Elf asking to speak in Spanish when they tried to give him the trophy (I thought that was the first time he asked). I’ve always complained about the USO trophy ceremony. It’s just too ridiculously corporate and really doesn’t seem to celebrate the players. Now, after seeing it live, I think it’s even more atrocious. Even with missing the snub of the Elf, I thought the whole thing was shambolic and underwhelming. It’s rushed and abbreviated. There was so much emotion in the stadium, and I felt like the presentation didn’t really give us a chance to show it. Those of us who were Elf fans stayed after the ceremony and chanted, which was amazing, but I love how the most magical moments of the celebration to me are after the whole thing was over.
Oh, and major fail to the Roger fans next to me who stormed out when he lost and refused to stay for the ceremony. I mean I can understand being upset your player lost — I would have been crushed if the Elf had lost that match. But I sure as hell would have stayed, if for no other reason, than to applaud his valiant effort in a loss. And, even if you can’t be gracious and celebrate the Elf’s win, I’d think you could show a little support for your guy who battled for four hours out there.
gauloises1 said
AmyLu – it’s mad to me that a Roger fan would leave. I mean, even at Wimbledon when I was starving hungry and in desperate need of more booze and had the world’s most mammoth hangover, you couldn’t have prised me out of there with a crowbar until every last drop of the ceremony was concluded. And I was rooting for Roddick, but I still stayed to cheer Roger until he left. It’s just what you do, to be part of the moment.
And I totally agree on how dissatisfying the whole trophy ceremony is. It just seems rushed – and at the same time interminable in some respects – and emotionless. The focus is so much on the pageantry and above all the sponsorship and not on the players at all. It’s mad to me. And I know I have a huuuuge Wimbledon bias – I will always think that Wimbledon simply does things right – but at least at the French Open they give the players the microphone and let them talk. Australia, too.
Oh – I switched computers so I don’t look like myself right now. But I am me. You can tell by the verbosity.
Mlle. Marseillaise (a.k.a Joan) said
I don’t believe you. If you truly are Gaul, what size underwear does Elf wear? (Answer: none if I have anything to say about it.
)
Yeah, that ceremony blew. My favorite, I must say, is the French Open ceremony mostly because of the former champions. The highlight of this years’ ladies’ trophy ceremony was Steffi Graf and I LOVED having Andre hand the trophy to Roger because of the way history has united them. I don’t know how long I squealed at Steffi being there.
irefusetotellyou said
I don’t have anything new to add to the Spanishgate and/or Dickgate conversation …
but that photo is truly hilarious and amazing.
And is that a WINE (champagne?) BOTTLE I see on the edge of that there bench?
Arun said
exactly, ptenis.
SA said
I like how there’s Gatorade right next to the champagne. That’s gotta be a disgusting combination. But consider Elf is 20 year old boy I’m sure he loves it.
Tennis said
The bottle is on half empty, but must be – empty!
rulin said
SA, I was just going to mention the combination of drinks. And disgusting was my reaction too.
And Saoirse, my eyes were instantly drawn to the muscle on his left thigh. Hot.
Are there more locker room photos around? *Thinks back to the video of him showering….*
As for the whole incident, I don’t blame Enberg, I blame CBS. Sure, the match went long but that’s all the more reason to celebrate at the end. They were only showing reruns after anyway.
Fedophiliac said
First time poster! Love the blog!
I just saw that the Charlie Rose interview with Delpo was posted on their website: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10605#frame_top . You can download the video from there, and they also have a text transcript of it.
Roger will always be my #1, but the adorable beefilicious Tower of Tandil has captured by heart, thanks in no small part to you!
harini said
I definitely think if it was Roger, then there wouldn’t have been a quick wrap up to the ceremony. Definitely not and I think that’s what aggravated me too, just thinking if the scenario was different.
And OK, time constraints, got to name the sponsors, fine. What’s an extra minute or two going to do to the viewers at home? As someone said above, it was all reruns and I’m sure people would want to see the champion a little longer than some show.
It’s interesting because in the women’s final trophy ceremony, Wozniacki got to say a few words in English, Polish and Danish. Soooo…not cool, CBS/Dick Enberg/whoever.
Mom2KidsDog said
Why was the old woman allowed to read from her note cards ad nauseum? Why was Roger allowed all of his say! Why was Enberg rambling on about nothing? Why was everyone else allowed to have their say, essentially wasting precious time that could’ve been spent on EL CAMPEON! HEY! CBS PRODUCERS! If you’re running short on time, tell everyone from the get go to keep it short so that EL CAMPEON has the most time possible! Unbelievable they they would slight him like that!
All of the above notwithstanding, the corporate sponsors pay the bills and allow us more time to view the many sparkling facets of EL CAMPEON, thighs and all!