Essay by Paul Fein and Christopher Noble
Copyright April 28 2006
Why Player Challenges are a bad call:
Player Challenges criteria:
Entertainment, the Human Element, the Solution
ENTERTAINMENT
"If we are really going to grow the sport, we will do what is
best for television," averred Arlen Kantarian, USTA chief executive
of professional tennis and a fervent advocate of instant replay
and player challenges, in Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.
Like the immortal General Motors saying, Kantarian's credo could
be paraphrased as "What's best for television is what's best for
tennis." And since television is the greatest vehicle for entertainment
in human history, his conclusion is that Player Challenges, even
though they are distracting and result in inaccurate and thus
unfair line calls, should win the day.
However, as Carillo rightly argues, "The powers that be at the
networks don't trust that the sport is compelling enough. They'll
do anything to trick it up because they don't understand and appreciate
its beauty, its subtleties, its very nature. And please, no gimmickry.
If you so believe in the need for electronic line calls, extend
that logic and use it all the time."
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
The crux of Kantarian's entertainment thesis is the proverbial
"human element." But what exactly does "the human element" mean?
It includes anything from player banter with spectators to emotional
meltdowns to displays of exuberance to mild protests to raging,
profane altercations between players and officials. Some aficionados
relish that conflict; others find it disgusting and distracting;
while most of us like it as long as it's not too raucous and time-consuming.
The end of line-calling rhubarbs, though, won't result in the
death of the human element in tennis by any means. Disputes will
always arise over rule infractions, such as foot-faults, double
bounces, touching and crossing over the net, illegal coaching,
etc. And wherever fiercely competitive players give their all
for fame, fortune, titles and pride, they'll glare, swear and
trash talk. They'll smash and throw rackets. They'll stall, fake
injuries, and bend and break rules, such as when Nicolas Kiefer
tossed his racket to distract Sebastien Grosjean during their
contentious 2006 Australian Open quarterfinal.
The human element and the excessive attention paid to officiating
in a sport with an extraordinary imbalance of 13 officials for
only two or four players was perceptively noted by Tennis Week
publisher and former world No. 11 Gene Scott, just before his
recent death. "The human element should be the two players on
the court, not the officials," Scott told FOXSports.com.
"The best officials are the ones you never notice. The nature
of the game made officials too noticeable a part."
THE SOLUTION
Keep Hawk-Eye, instant replay, and the indispensable linespeople.
Get rid of unfair and gimmicky Player Challenges. Armed with a
court-side computer monitor displaying Hawk-Eye's results, the
chair umpire could immediately overrule errors by linespeople
and click a button that instantly puts Hawk-Eye's image of the
correct call on the stadium video board. When a line call is correct
but a player protests — in the traditional manner — the umpire
also displays Hawk-Eye on the video board. If tennis fans yearn
for even more Hawk-Eye, tournaments could display it whenever
balls land within 3 (or 4 or 5) inches of the outer edge of the
lines.
Used smartly as a means for accurate line-calling, Hawk-Eye will
improve our sport. Misused alongside Player Challenges, Hawk-Eye
will give tennis a black eye.
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About the authors
Award-winning tennis writer Paul Fein's book, Tennis
Confidential: Today's Greatest Players, Matches, and Controversies,
published by Brassey's, Inc., was listed No. 1 among tennis books
by Amazon.com and BN.com. His second book, You Can Quote Me on
That: Greatest Tennis Quips, Insights, and Zingers, was published
by Potomac Books, Inc. (formerly Brassey's, Inc.) in February 2005
and listed No. 1 among tennis books by BN.com. For more information,
visit www.tennisquotes.com.
Christopher Noble is a founder and the CEO of Ultimate Balance,
Inc. (www.ultimatebalance.com),
a technology company that is applying electronic motion sensing
and audio feedback to athlete training in tennis and other sports.
He has had a 27-year career in the development and application of
technology to a wide range of consumer and industrial applications.
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