Look, we don’t have to be best friends – I obviously didn’t get into sportswriting because I thought I would get to know you and hang out with you at the mall and stuff. You can think I am pure evil if you want.
But is it THAT fucking hard to hide, for the precious few minutes that I sit down with you, just how amazingly, monumentally BORED you are at the prospect of being interviewed, how incredibly EXASPERATED you are that I have stolen a couple GODDAMN minutes of your precious day to ask you some simple questions about your match?
What’s your hurry? Are there some other reporters waiting for the opportunity for you to be rude to them? No, probably not – YOU LOST YOUR MATCH TODAY. You’ll lose tomorrow, too. You’re not even in the top half of the players in this tournament. I doubt anyone would give a shit about you if you didn’t used to attend this university.
If Venus Williams wants to be a prima donna, I can live with that – she’s earned the right with a couple of MAJOR TOURNAMENT VICTORIES!!! When you’ve got something better on your resume than a victory at the Bumfuck Open, that’s when you earn the right, too. But not now. You’ve won as many big tournaments AS I HAVE!!!
I doubt I’ll ever be in a position to interview you again, and that at least makes me happy.
Secondly, I’ll note that I’ve no idea if Venus is a prima donna or not; I’m barely aware she’s involved in the tennis world. However, I’m lately more and more curious about this kind of line of thought–that being accomplished at something magically grants a “Licensed To Be A Jerk” badge.
Way I see it, a jerk is simply a jerk, they’re that way by choice. How good they are at whatever is a wholly separate issue.
I guess I implied something I didn’t mean to imply. I have no idea if Venus Williams is a prima donna or not; I’ve never spoken to her. I just wanted to use a big name as an example.
I guess it is a little curious the way people hand out “Licensed To Be A Jerk” badges to the extremely talented. I guess the admiration of someone who reaches the pinnacle of his or her field is enough to offset personal slights.
Perhaps this person is extremely shy and uncomfortable with getting this kind of attention? Perhaps you misread his/her body lanquage, mistaking nervousness for contempt?
I couldn’t disgree with you more. Having read your O.P. very carefully, it seems that this person is a MINOR player. No indeed, you’ve no idea if Ms. Williams is a diva or not. Nor do I. However, the amount of near-celebs and true celebs I’ve shot lead me to posit this theory:
Not always, but it sure does seem to work that way a hell of a lot. The wanna-bes and hangers-on seem to have immense heads, in inverse ratio to their talent/ celebrity. ( The two are rarely at the same level eh? ).
People who really get to the top of their game, whatever that game may be, are rarely assholes. I’ve met some who are, but the great majority are actually extremely hard working people who are grateful that somehow they’ve reached that rarified height.
You want to meet real class? Meet a star who WAS HUGE, fell from grace into obscurity, then has had a second bout of attention/fame. Now, there’s a humble person. I can think of a few that I’ve worked with, but Jerry Orbach leaps to mind. I’ve no doubt but that the man was a complete gentleman in his FIRST incarnation as the major star of Broadway that he once was. Now, as a re-risen star on “Law & Order”, he’s a gem. AND funny. Very aware of the vagaries of celebrity…
This dickwad sounds like second string, and always will. I’m sorry you even had to waste your time on him. I think he’s not star material, IMHO
