I tuned into a World Team Tennis match last week just to see Gimelslob's demeanor. Here's how he came off: a guy who knew the whole world was looking at him, judging him, and in some circles, hating him, and he was in damage control. He was business-like in his play and his demeanor. That's all fine, but here's what I was hoping I'd see: contriteness; humility; apology. But all I saw was a guy who was trying to save his public persona and thereby, his career.
Oh, poor Justin. Sports Illustrated took away his blog. Poor Justin had to give some money to the Women's Sports Foundation. Poor Justin got suspended by World Team Tennis for ONE GAME (and let me tell you, after watching his performance last week, his suspension isn't hurting anyone).
What was alarming was in ‘05 when he
claimed that women on the WTA Tour live in a “bizarro” world, with more
and more skimpy outfits. Soon he predicted that that tennis “courts
will resemble volleyball courts with g-strings and bikinis.” He
suggested that the women were in competition with the supermodel types
who often date or marry ATP players because they “have to share the
players lounge with the 1 percent most beautiful creatures in the
world.” Then he claimed, “If you look like a beached whale, keep your
clothes on.”
But when he was told his remarks were demeaning, he bristled and
offered a tin ear. In denial, he didn’t get how inappropriate his words
were. Similarly, his friend Lindsay Davenport noted, “I’m always
curious about what the fascination is with men and how they have to
judge women constantly, what they wear, who they hang out with, what
they look like.” Davenport told him, “You can’t really represent all
men?” But Justin insisted, “I do.” So Lindsay just said “Okay” and
walked away.
...
But nothing in tennis’ male-chauvinist Hall of Shame came close to the
demeaning rant ‘n ramble he spewed forth on “The Junkies” — a low-brow,
morning zoo Washington D.C. radio show. Here we heard far more than
just a harmless stray comment. Any caring person had to be stunned by
his mean-spirited string of mindless and abusive comments. He warmed up
by saying that Nicole Vaidisova was a “well-developed young lady” who
was, along with Alize Cornet “a sexpot.” He contended, “There are fewer
lesbians now because they’re all Russian chicks,” and claimed female
players “lack social skills. They don’t go to high school, they don’t
go to parties.”
Then he went off on Anna Kournikova. Sure, the problematic ex-phenom
(who once said, “I’m not Venus. I’m not Serena. I’m feminine. I don’t
want to look the way they do”) is an inviting target. But it can be
argued that, with her astounding success, she inspired more female
players than anyone East of Billie Jean King. All this didn’t deter
Justin.
“She’s a *****,” he said. “We’re going to kick her a—,” and added that
he planned to heckle the 27-year-old when her St. Louis Aces visit his
Washington Kastles on July 23. “If she’s not crying by the time she
walks off that court then I did not do my job,” he said. Ouch!
“I just despise her to the maximum level, right below hate,” he added.
“She falls into the Marcelo Rios ‘scumbag’ category...She’s gonna be
serving 40 miles an hour and I’m going to be just plugging it down her
throat...I’ll mock her, make fun...[and] just make her know she’s
stupid...She’ll rue the day that she has to come here and actually
share space with me.” Cruel.
Gimelstob added that Anna might not even be smart enough to read the
league schedule and, as if turning his racket into an assault weapon,
said “I’m going to just serve it right into the body, about 128 mph
right into the midriff” and added, “I have no attraction to her,
because she’s such a douche.”
Then, if those venomous comments weren’t enough, he seemed to condone
the unthinkable, saying, “I wouldn’t mind having my younger brother,
who’s kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits of that.”
Despite many stunning advances, tennis remains a massively macho game.
Yet even within this context, the response to Gimelstob’s outrageous
blast and the (“God forbid we stick out our neck and show some spine”)
lack of appropriate accountability - was almost as disgraceful as the
abusive comments themselves. Many players were silent, but there were a
few brief flares of outrage. Martina Navratilova called Justin’s
comments “moronic,” but said she didn’t want to get involved.
An outraged Chanda Rubin, the daughter of a judge, allegedly considered resigning from the Tennis Channel, but stayed on.
Kournikova herself refused to retaliate, saying, “I’m going to take the
high road,” while Serena, Gimelstob’s teammate on the Kastles, said the
comments were “totally uncalled for. Being pro-women’s rights, I just
think we’ve come farther than to be referred to like this.” And
Justin’s former mixed dubs partner, Venus, chose to ream him in private.
To their credit, Sport Illustrated quietly took away Justin’s blog as
Gimelstob and the many institutions he’s come to be involved with went
into damage control, complete with a flurry of mea culpa commentaries.
Justin, who announced he would be making an unspecified cash
contribution to the Women’s Sports Foundation, said “There is no excuse
for my actions, and I am extremely disappointed in myself...My hurtful
remarks do not reflect the genuine and deep respect I have for
women...Nothing but time and positive actions can take back my
misguided words...I know I have learned a great deal from this.”
So many in sports have lost their jobs for just a single comment or
two. Dodger exec Al Campanis, who asserted blacks were not smart enough
to manage in baseball’s big leagues; CBS broadcaster Jimmy the Greek,
who claimed blacks were good athletes because of their breeding; and of
course, Imus, who said the Rutgers basketball team were a bunch of
“nappy-headed hos,” were all promptly dismissed.
...
Any bonafide journalist who made a similar string of comments would be
gone in a flash. For instance, the Golf Channel suspended broadcaster
Kelly Tilghman (who could point to a notable body of work) for a month
for her wretched — but perhaps inadvertent — comment that younger
golfers might do well to lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley. So did the
Tennis Channel step up and suspend Gimelstob for his vastly worse
behavior for a year, a month, a week, a day? No, except for the usual
suspects statement, he got nothing.
Worst of all was World TeamTennis. After all, this is the mother church
of the voices for equal opportunity in sports; the epicenter of those
whose sage and shrill calls for gender equality and (“c’mon, we can do
this the right way”) humanity have been sounding for decades. So is
Gimelstob promptly kicked out of the league or, if not, at least
suspended for a year?
No — we get another “heartfelt remorse” statement and he is benched for
a single match and — get this — it won’t even be the match against
Kournikova’s Aces, which now will be transformed into a three-ring PR
circus and (“cha-ching”) marketing bonanza.
When I spoke to Justin himself, he said, “I was wrong and out of line.
It’s all in the statement. I’m contrite. I was fully out of line. It’s
all in the statement.”
“Have you actually contacted Anna,” I asked.
Twitchy, uncomfortable and avoiding eye contact, he repeated his
mantra: “It’s all in the statement.” Likewise, when I tried to ask more
in-depth questions, the answer was the same. Finally, in frustration, I
asked, “Isn’t it ironic that a man like you — who makes his living by
getting interviews — will not give an interview.” His response: “It’s
all in the statement.”
....
At a time of equal prize money, in the 35th anniversary year of “The
Battle of the Sexes,” when bonanza contracts swell the coffers of the
women’s game and scintillating storylines abound, tennis was burdened
with the most crude, expletive-laden rant in American sports history, a
callous, indulgent meltdown that makes “you are the pits of the world”
seem like a modest civil complaint.
At Wimbledon, my van driver claimed, “It’s impossible to row back from
comments like that. Behavior like that just can’t be re-habilitated.
That fellow’s not fit to be in public life ever again.”
I disagree. And, like most others, I don’t want to be punitive or
vindictive to an engaging man who has the potential to give so much
more. But, certainly, Justin shouldn’t have broadcast Wimbledon for the
Tennis Channel. He should have been suspended from the ATP board for at
least six months and sidelined, at least for the season, by World
TeamTennis. Instead, the elders of the game didn’t seem to get what
horrific messages he’s sent, nor did they grasp the importance of
accountability. In the end, tennis‘ incredibly timid response was
simply to be found, as Justin said, “all in the statement.”
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