Should athletes be compelled to talk to the media?

[Banquet_Bear]

@Whack-a-Mole

The thing is, it is entirely reasonable for the French Open to tell its players they need to talk to the press for 10 minutes.

…it is entirely reasonable for employers to ask their employees to do lots of things.

But there are exceptions. And in those exceptional cases sometimes things that seem entirely reasonable under most circumstances become unreasonable, and the employers should look for ways to accommodate them.

In this case Osaka has stated that the press conferences are causing her mental distress. The reasonable thing for the tournament to do here is to try to find a way to accommodate her.

@Whack-a-Mole

Someone not able to do that has some issues they need to deal with.

And she is dealing with it. She has withdrawn from this tournament. And the next. And likely the one after that. A situation that might have been avoided if the tournaments had opted to try and accommodate her rather than threaten to ban her.

@Whack-a-Mole

We know Osaka can do this. She has done those pressers a lot in her career.

Irrelevant. Those pressers in her career may have been causing her significant emotional distress. That she endured them in the past doesn’t obligate her to endure them in the future.

@Whack-a-Mole

If she has become mentally unstable enough that she can no longer do them then fine. She can seek the help she needs.

Can you just stop with this please? She isn’t “mentally unstable.” She has bouts of depression, she suffers from social anxiety. This doesn’t make her “unstable.” “Getting the help that she needs” isn’t going to “cure her.” That really isn’t how it works. You can be getting the help that you need and still need accommodation in the workplace. They aren’t independent of each other.

@Whack-a-Mole

She also should not enter tournaments where this is a requirement. She knows going in that she cannot meet the conditions of the contract she agreed to. Instead, she gamed the system.

Looking after your mental health isn’t “gaming the system.”

@Magiver

If she isn’t capable of doing a 10 minute press conference then the promoters should be concerned with her ability to handle a stressful high-stakes tournament along with possibly thousands of people booing her. That’s a reasonable concern on their part.

Doing a 10 minute press conference isn’t the same thing as playing a game of tennis. I’ve photographed some of the most famous people in NZ in a studio no problems at all, I supervised the State Banquet for HM the Queen managing 30 waiters and looking after 300 guests. But I can’t reply to a comment on Facebook. You shouldn’t judge my ability to do one thing by the fact that I struggle to do another. Osaka has shown time and time again that she can handle a stressful high-stakes tournament. This isn’t something the tournament needs to concern itself with.

@Mijin

All I have said is that it is not as simple as that.

Nobody has argued that it is as simple as that.

@Mijin

I would condemn them for all those things too (apart from “events of last week” depending on what thing you’re alluding to). Now, back on topic shall we?

I’m on topic. All three of these things intersect on the topic of why “athletes should be compelled to speak to the media.” Especially the conduct of the press at press conferences.

@Mijin

You’d be condemning the majority of employers worldwide, certainly in the US.

Ummmm, yes? Yes I am? If the majority of employers in the US are not making reasonable accommodation for disability or mental health for their employees then I do condemn them. I have no idea how true that is though. I do know that in NZ employers are compelled to do this by the law.

@Mijin

But that’s not the same as condemning an employer for acting the same as most others.

Nah. I’ll condemn them for what they’ve done, and if they are doing the same as everyone else then I’ll condemn everyone else as well.

[Whack-a-Mole]

@Banquet_Bear

In this case Osaka has stated that the press conferences are causing her mental distress. The reasonable thing for the tournament to do here is to try to find a way to accommodate her.

Did Osaka approach the French Open executives and plead her case and seek to find some accommodation they could all be happy with?

[Banquet_Bear]

@Whack-a-Mole

Did Osaka approach the French Open executives and plead her case and seek to find some accommodation they could all be happy with?

…I don’t know. Did she?

[Whack-a-Mole]

Pretty sure the answer is, “No.” If not we’d have had an earful telling us about it.

But I do not know for sure.

[TroutMan]

@Whack-a-Mole

We know Osaka can do this. She has done those pressers a lot in her career.

If she has become mentally unstable enough that she can no longer do them then fine. She can seek the help she needs.

I know it’s not intentional, but this line of argument shows a lack of understanding of mental illness, and is quite offensive to those of us who suffer or have loved ones who do.

You are suggesting a binary world where she is either well enough to participate in pressers, or she must withdraw entirely from her job while she “seeks help.” This is the world too often faced by people who suffer - either they are told to just get over it, just deal, or they are told to hide away until they are fully functioning.

These aren’t problems that are somehow fixed. They are problems that typically people deal with life long, by finding techniques to manage them. For Osaka, the desired management technique was skipping pressers.

Her trouble with them started after her victory over Serena at the US Open, when Serena was arguing with the umpire and the crowd started booing Osaka for no reason except that Serena was the fan favorite. At the presser after that match, journalists asked her how it felt to be booed. She has said the boos and questions messed with her confidence and she has struggled with them since then.

I can’t tell if you are arguing that the tournament is doing the right thing by threatening her with suspension and kicking her out of future tournaments, or if your argument is only that they can contractually do so. I take no position on the latter, but I strongly oppose the former.

[Whack-a-Mole]

@TroutMan

I know it’s not intentional, but this line of argument shows a lack of understanding of mental illness, and is quite offensive to those of us who suffer or have loved ones who do.

I’m tired of this shit.

I suffer. Have most of my life.

I do not need you or others lecturing me.

[Banquet_Bear]

@Whack-a-Mole

Pretty sure the answer is, “No.” If not we’d have had an earful otherwise.

…but it could have been “yes.” And she may have sought accommodation in the past and been refused, which might be why she didn’t bother to try this time. Regardless, we are where we are right now.

[Whack-a-Mole]

I think that would have made the news if it were “yes.”

[Magiver]

@Banquet_Bear

Osaka has shown time and time again that she can handle a stressful high-stakes tournament. This isn’t something the tournament needs to concern itself with.

And she’s shown time and time again she can handle a press conference. If she now can’t then her mental stability is in question.

[Banquet_Bear]

@Whack-a-Mole

I think that would have made the news if it were “yes.”

…all we have from the Osaka camp are a couple of personal statements issued on Twitter. The news isn’t omnipotent.

@Magiver

And she’s shown time and time again she can handle a press conference. If she now can’t then her mental stability is in question.

There is no reason to question her “mental stability.” She suffers from bouts of depression and social anxiety. This is entirely normal. Millions of people suffer from depression and social anxiety worldwide. We shouldn’t be questioning the mental stability of people who open up and tell us that they have depression. Instead, we should be finding ways of offering our support.

[Whack-a-Mole]

@Banquet_Bear

There is no reason to question her “mental stability.” She suffers from bouts of depression and social anxiety. This is entirely normal. Millions of people suffer from depression and social anxiety worldwide. We shouldn’t be questioning the mental stability of people who open up and tell us that they have depression. Instead, we should be finding ways of offering our support.

When your ability to function normally is compromised to the extent that you cannot continue in your life as usual then your mental stability is absolutely in question.

No two ways about it.

Certainly we can be compassionate and lend our support but that doesn’t change the facts.

[TroutMan]

@Whack-a-Mole

Certainly we can be compassionate and lend our support.

What support are you offering? What compassion are you showing? You seem clear in your stance that the tournament should not offer any concessions. “Please go away and solve your mental health problems on your own” is not support.

[Banquet_Bear]

@Whack-a-Mole

When your ability to function normally is compromised to the extent that you cannot continue in your life as usual then your mental stability is absolutely in question.

No two ways about it.

…no it isn’t. I don’t do things all the time that compromise my mental health. That doesn’t mean that my “mental stability” is in question.

[Whack-a-Mole]

Yeah. It is absolutely not the French Open’s place to deal with tennis players’ mental issues. Or any health issues.

Tennis players are not employees. The French Open has no obligation to them whatsoever. The French Open is not their employer. They can spout some PR bullshit about how they care, make a token donation but that’s about it.

What responsibility do you think the French Open has here?

[Pleonast]

@Whack-a-Mole

What responsibility do you think the French Open has here?

The French Open has the responsibility to have a world-class tennis tournament. Because of their and Osaka’s failures to accommodate each other’s needs, the tournament is not world class this year.

[Whack-a-Mole]

The French Open did their part.

Osaka signed up.

Then Osaka changed the script.

Perhaps the French Open could have managed it better but it was not their doing.

[Pleonast]

@Whack-a-Mole

Then Osaka changed the script.

No, she didn’t. She exercised one of her options in the contract. An option that both parties agreed to.

[Whack-a-Mole]

She gamed the system.

The French Open never contemplated someone saying they would not participate at all in any press interviews.

Osaka exploited a loophole. One I would bet a lot of French Open lawyers are already working on closing. Osaka has made it worse for every tennis player in the future because those new contracts will be far more rigorous and restrictive.

I have never said Osaka broke any laws or her contract.

[RickJay]

@Whack-a-Mole

Osaka exploited a loophole.

This is stretching the term “loophole” beyond any reasonable approximation of its real meaning. The deal said if she didn’t do a presser, she would have pay up to twenty grand. She didn’t do a presser and paid up as ordered. There is nothing ambiguous or broken about the rule. It’s not a loophole.

In three posts you have claimed she exploited a “loophole” but she didn’t, said she “Gamed the system” in some way so far unexplained, and claimed she “changed the script” despite following the rules to the letter. None of those things are true as I understand what those terms mean. The contract was followed.

Let’s be honest; had the French Open organizers shrugged their shoulders about the skipped presser, quietly asked her to pay, she’d have kept playing, no one would have much remembered a few skipped interviews, and they’d be a zillion times better off.

[Pleonast]

@Whack-a-Mole

I have never said Osaka broke any laws or her contract.

I’m not understanding you, then:

@Whack-a-Mole

She knows going in that she cannot meet the conditions of the contract she agreed to.

She met the conditions of the contract. The French Open was upset about the way she choose to do so. They made threats to her (not in the contract). She withdrew (another option in the contract).

They both failed, but only the French Open has acted unethically.