Fame - by Infamy !

The media loves nothing better than a Tennis Brat kicking up a fuss on court.  All sorts of " experts " crawl out of the woodwork and try to explain the reasons and the player quickly gains a love/hate relationship with the viewing audience.  That plays to the notion that any sort of publicity - is good publicity.

Even people with no interest in tennis will certainly be very familiar with the name - John McEnroe ! Decades ago the audience held it's breath any time he walked onto a court.  He was famous for his tantrums and was well known for dishing out furious tirades at the umpires, heatedly disputing line calls and using play tactics to intimidate opponents.

He was also a very good tennis player and his earnings reached astronomical proportions, and sponsors lined up to throw money at him to back their products.  John McEnroe became a household name on a world wide basis, far in excess of what he might have achieved had he been a mild mannered " gentleman " on the courts.   That was a lesson a lot of people learned - to their advantage !

The sixty-four dollar question is whether Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios is simply an ill mannered buffoon who is incapable of behaving sensibly on court, or if he is following a carefully managed script to gain fame by using reverse psychology - by way of the path of infamy ?

Rarely does he seem to play a match without incidents.  The slur he directed at Stan Warwrinka was a bit below the belt and didn't go down well with most people, but it certainly gathered media headlines - and perhaps that was the main intent.   Kyrgios is fast gaining a reputation as a cranky player who may entertain the audience with some sort of outburst - and is therefore worth following.   He was soundly booed when he performed in Canada after that Warwrinka incident and as a consequence he hogged the limelight to the exclusion of most other players.

He lost the game, but the media hype far outplayed whoever won that contest.   It seems that infamy brings rewards that are denied to those who play by the rules, and yet there is a fine line between what is acceptable - and when a player brings shame on his country of origin - and brings a cringe mentality to it's citizens.

The world of sport has the capability to discipline for bad behaviour, but they choose not to use it.  That same infamy that makes a contestant noticeable is often the reason fans pay money to buy tickets and put bums on seats to watch to see what will happen this time around.  Many go to games purely  for the expectation that there will be fireworks worth viewing.

Sports people using that tactic need to use the " Goldilocks " measure.  It needs to be " not too rude " and " not too often " to fall into the "  just right " category.   The opportunity for redemption must always be on the horizon, and of course there will inevitably be supporters who condone and explain why this bad behaviour is happening.

Both audiences and the media can be fickle followers.  If this is a carefully crafted scenario for fame it will need to be carefully balanced to hit the " sweet spot  ".    The objective would be to achieve the " good guy " image John McEnroe has held in public minds - many years after he ceased playing tennis !