Always on the alert for stories highlighting the ridiculous in the world of sports, the following headline immediately grabbed my attention, although maybe not anyone else's, unless you're a tennis fan, or perhaps a gambling nut.
Here's the Associated Press headline that I found so interesting: "ATP fines Davydenko for not trying hard."
Now, my first thought upon seeing this headline was undoubtedly the same as yours - Thank God Manny Ramirez doesn't play tennis. Even a twenty million dollar a year contract wouldn't be sufficient to provide Manny with a living wage if he had to pay a fine every time it appeared it wasn't trying hard.Hit a 400-foot laser off the top of the right field wall and end up standing at first base? Cha-ching! $10,000 fine! Stand at home plate for ten seconds admiring your latest moon-shot home run? Cha-ching! Another $10,000!
Anyway, once I got past my appreciation for Manny's incredible good fortune, I decided to research the story, and here's where it gets really messy. Nikolay Davydenko, the ATP professional in question, was leading his match in the St. Petersburg Open 6-1 after one set, but then lost the last two sets 7-5 and 6-1, largely by double-faulting four times in the second set and six times in the third.
It was so ovious he was tanking that chair umpire (What a great job that is, you get to sit in a chair while you ump the match. Haven't MLB umps gotten wind of this yet?) Jean-Philippe Dercq rebuked Davydenko in the middle of the match for not trying.
Again, I couldn't help thinking how fortunate Manny Ramirez is that he chose baseball over tennis, but here's the point. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body in pro tennis, fined Davydenko $2000 for his devil-may-care attitude toward his match.
Now, I don't know about you, a $2000 fine would certainly get my attention, but for a professional athlete in this day and age, that sounded a little skimpy to me, especially when I checked out Davydenko's career statistics. The guy is 26 years old and has been playing professionally for eight years. In that time, he has earned $6,629,256 in prize mony, or an average of $828,657 per year on the professional tennis circuit. In other words, a $2000 fine isn't going to do much but lower the tip for his next call girl.
And it gets better. This isn't the first time Davydenko has been suspected of cheating or worse. He is currently under investigation by, you guessed it, the ATP, for possible involvement in a betting scandal. During a different tournament earlier this year, in a match he was leading 6-2 after one set, Davydenko withdrew citing a foot injury while an online gambling company, Betfair, was receiving a heavy amount of action on Davydenko's opponent. Betfair notified the ATP of the gambling irregularities - most people don't tend to put large sums of money on a guy who's losing - and the investigation was launched shorty thereafter.
So there you have it. You NBA fans can take heart in the knowledge that your sport isn't the only one suffering some credibility problems. Nikolay Davyenko is "Donaghy-ing" his was to infamy in the world of tennis, which apparently is a little murkier than it might appear at first glance. I'm just glad I decided not to put all my innate athletic ability to use. It's scary out there.
Hey everyone, I know it must seem like I've dropped off the face of the earth, but it's nothing like that.
I've been busy writing - two full-length novels so far, plus over a dozen short stories - and working hard to try to get an agent. If you are curious and have a few minutes, check out my website, www.allanleve rone.com.
If you're a literary agent or if you know one, by all means contact me! In the meantime, I'll be here when I can - love this forum - and as always, thank you for checking out my blog, especially considering how many great ones you could be reading instead....
