The Noah Bomb
Most of you know Yannick Noah. He was the first Frenchman to win his nation's title (and one of the four pre-eminent Grand Slam events) in 37 years, and the only one to do it thus far in the Open era. That was just a launching pad for Noah, who went on—improbably, as such things go—to be an authentic pop star.
If you have any doubts that Noah has become a transcendant celebrity, just look that the remarks he made a few days ago about doping in tennis. They were so speculative and irresponsible that only a bona fide celebrity could have gotten a platform for making them, along with the subsequent attention. You can read his ruminations on how "magic potion(s)" have helped Spain become dominant in a variety of sports, most notably tennis, by clicking on the above link.
The most striking thing about Noah's comments was his absolute lack of evidence or knowledge of the situation, despite the reference to the disturbing Fuentes case, which is by now pretty old news. But hey, the guy's a pop star. Why should he have to keep up with the game the way a Mats Wilander, John McEnroe, or even Guy Forget has done? All he knows is that when he was playing, the Frenchmen were pushing those wimpy little Spanish dudes all over the court. Ergo, Spain is EPO Nation.
I just don't know why Noah suddenly decided to run with this issue. It's almost like he went to hang out at a sports bar (see the reference in the linked story) and got all fired up when he heard some barflys express dark suspicions about Nadal and company. Noah shouted "Eureka!" and ran to Le Monde and told the editors of that newspaper that he wanted, in the words used by all amateurs, "to put in an article!"
Being part of the opportunistic media, Le Monde must have been all too happy to publish such sensational and controversy-generating remarks. The effect could be ruined if you had to, say, subject Noah to the same standard the paper might have applied if it were said disgruntled French sports bar habitues who wanted to broadcast their views on doping in Spain in one of France's leading newspapers. I don't know if tennis has a doping problem or not; I do know that leaping to conclusions about it based on the appearance or competitive superiority of a player is insulting and deeply unfair. And that publishing such speculative clap-trap is just a provocation.
Here's something else that's hard to understand. How could Noah make such a sweeping generalization about the entire body of Spanish players? Are David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal both dopers (after all, both of them are ranked higher than any Frenchman)? If so, Ferrer is certainly getting less bang for the buck; the guy looks positively weedy. How about Feliciano Lopez? Fernando Verdasco—yeah! Have you seen the guns on him? But if that's the case, how come Feli and 'Nando are both ranked well below presumably clean Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga? Isn't there some kind of "money-back guarantee" on that EPO stuff?
Well, you can have a lot of fun with this one, which is what I wish the Spanish players had done. All they had to do is roll their eyes and sigh: Poor Yannick, he's really out of touch . . . Or, Wow, I can't believe a guy so popular and successful could be so dumb! Taking the high road would have made Noah, who really is a good guy when he's not doing this kind of stuff, look absurd.
Instead, former Wimbledon champ Manolo Santana, seemingly unaware or unmindful of the fact that Noah is already famous, said: "When people want fame, the only way to have it's messing with a person or an entity as large as Spain in sport." Ferrer got a little personal, noting, "Your son [Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls] plays in the NBA, where there are no doping controls. This is not the best person to talk. . ." And Rafa Nadal even suggested that Noah should be banned from commentating in the media.
Those reactions were altogether too hurty and defensive, if understandable. But perhaps the best and most appropriate reaction/rebuttal of all was the one issued by one of the leading French players, Michael Llodra. He apologized to Nadal and his coach/uncle, Toni Nadal. According to Spanish radio station COPE, Llodra said Noah is "stupid" and suggested with a hand gesture that perhaps the French star and former Davis and Fed Cup captain had been drinking.
Ouch.
Either that, or perhaps Noah was just exercising his unwritten right to take advantage of his celebrity and pop off with no regard for the import or potential repercussions of his words—words that I'll bet Noah himself now wishes he'd never uttered. But they won't go away, and that's the flip-side of being a celebrity and letting your opinion rip.