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Monday, December 18, 2023

Shake Him Off?

Umm, so this is good news... right?



Well, after a year (or so) of mismanagement, virtual forest fires of PR errors-bordering-on-catastrophes, a complicated combo of self-serving pats-on-the-back *and* ultimately hypocritical moralizing (hint: follow the money), and a slew of decisions both nonsensical and disrespectful to the very athletes and notions that the WTA claims to represent (in its 50th anniversary season, no less), the long-awaited denouement finally came about this past week.

It was announced that Steve Simon would no longer hold the CEO position for the WTA tour (additionally, President Micky Lawler would be leaving, with her position eliminated). A new CEO, "preferably" a female, will be appointed soon. But lest anyone think that Simon and the tour were never, ever, ever getting back together... well, one would be wrong on that account.

Fittingly for an organization that’ll often stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror, it was also announced that Simon -- after a season-plus (mostly post-pandemic) of recent leadership that has often made the WTA, the world’s most visible and successful women’s sports organization, look as if the boardroom meetings of the Powers That Be took place only after a parade of clowns had exited a tiny car that had just pulled up outside the corporate offices in St.Petersburg, Florida -- wouldn’t necessarily be going anywhere. In fact, he’d next occupy the "position" of Executive Chairman, still collecting checks along with a newly installed CEO that will be named after what will (surely -- wink, wink) be an “extensive search” for his successor.

Of course, some reports say that the new CEO will “report” to Simon, which would essentially only make he/she a “figurehead” and a chess piece in a purely PR move as transparent as a pane of glass. Many questions remain to be answered, and most likely won’t be known until there *is* a new CEO and decisions begin to be made after that date.

So, essentially, after calls from many corners for all WTA leadership to resign in disgrace following the latest (can you say, “WTA Finals Cancun,” hopefully without choking in horror?) in a long string of management disasters ("the rumors are terrible and cruel, but honey, most of them are true," don't you know), Simon is the latest in the corporate world to “fail upward.”

Thus, the WTA seems set to kick the proverbial can down the road, hoping that a new name will somehow make things different while likely “guiding” (possibly from the passenger seat) the tour while it follows the same backward directions that led it down so many blind and dark alleys in recent seasons. Of course, a truly *strong* CEO with a clear vision and decision-making abilities could be the dawn of a new and better future for the WTA. But what are the chances that the behind-the-scenes powers will allow such an individual to come to the fore?

via GIPHY



Yes, the women’s tennis tour has long been “crazy” (ask Li Na), unpredictable (see Alona and others), overly dramatic (and true!), messy and, often against all odds (or maybe because of them?) “the most interesting tour in the world.”

“I’m a mess, but I’m the mess that you wanted.”

It has long been the WTA’s uniquely brilliant and, yes, “simply irresistible” brand. Not that the tour knows how to market it. (See the laughable and identically sleep-inducing -- cough! -- #ItTakes and #FortheGame "marketing campaigns.")

"I’m the only one of me; Baby, that’s the fun of me!"

Of course, one has to wonder when/if the players of the WTA tour might “revolt” against such an oft-rudderless ship. We surely saw signs of such in 2023, when things got so bad that even the ever-understated Elena Rybakina was outraged enough to employ clown emojis when calling out the tour executive branch.

Imagine if the *real* talkers (and leaders, hopefully someone other than *just* the world #1) could ever rally behind an idea that would benefit *all* players (no matter what flag they may have, or not have, by their name). Such thinking helped to create the WTA tour, and it may ultimately take something close to that to correctly reestablish the entity’s course if we continue to see “more of the same” in 2024.

At what stage do the athletes grow tired enough of being akin to a penny left out in the rain to put not just their virtual, but literal and collective foot down? What is the breaking point? No points for a slam, being scheduled into the ground, a lack of institutional support, potentially dangerous playing conditions and a failure to be aware of individual needs have so far proven to be enough to anger but not (yet) truly nudge feelings into action. Might Saudi Arabia be the (no pun intended, sorta) line in the sand?

(Probably not... but what if it is?)

Of course, those same athletes are still what gives the tour its backbone and personality (sometimes serene, sometimes delightfully chaotic) while providing the on-court competition of women's tennis with its unique drama.

"You drive me crazy half the time;
The other half I’m only tryin’
To let you know that what I feel is true."




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* - special mention to the likes of a pair of interesting little corners of the web -- My Favorite Lyric from Every Taylor Swift Song and Taylor Swift Scholar -- for a nudge in the right direction for this particular post


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Some good fun (see thread)...




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One more...






P.S. - Amarissa Kiara Toth won another singles challenger title this weekend (and took home the doubles crown, too), her third this season, and ends 2023 on a 10-match winning streak. Even better, this week France's Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah (18-year old Oklahoma Univ. signee) *won* her own singles title (#2), too.

To be continued...
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