It’s housekeeping time at TW, and the first item on the agenda is a dispiriting one. In the course of a private correspondence with someone who accused me of posting an abusive reply to a third party’s comment, I realized that the comment in question (under my post, "The Little Backhand That Quit") was written and posted by an imposter.
This kind of thing can’t be avoided, I guess. It's all part of the open forum of a blog. Also, I can’t really stay on top of policing comments, especially when they've been up for a day or two and we've moved on. So, please, if you ever notice a comment by me (or anyone else) that is beyond the pale of civility, please alert me—preferably via the e-mail link you can get from the “Contact” bar at the top of the home page.
Keep in mind though, that there’s a big difference between sharp and abusive. The former is OK, the latter is not. I also will delete any comments that contain filthy language.
I have meetings here at TENNIS most of the day and mail and expense forms to file, so blogging will be light or nonexistent today and tomorrow. I am, however, sending off this e-mail to Bob Verbeeck, Organizing Director of the upcoming Proximus Diamond Games tournament, just to follow up on an issue that we raised a few days ago.
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Dear Mr. Verbeeck:
Many readers at my weblog and TENNIS magazine are most curious about the champagne giveaway Kim Clijsters has promised to ticket holders who attend your event on semifinal day. To that end, can you please answer a few questions for me?
1 – Does the champagne maker Infini, or wine merchant Mampaey, have a sponsorship deal with the tournament?
2 – Who, if anyone, is actually paying for the free bottles of champagne that will be distributed (or is it part of a sponsorship deal)?
3 – How much of a discount will the purchaser receive off the quoted price of $36 (USD) per bottle?
4 – Ms. Clijsters is presumably receiving an appearance fee for her participation in the tournament. Is she also getting a percentage of the ticket sales?
5 – Is Ms. Clijsters receiving a promotional fee from Infini, or Mampaey?
6 – Does the tournament and/or Ms. Clijsters have liability insurance to cover any mishap that may occur as a result of the champagne giveaway (intoxicated fan falls on the stairs and breaks his neck, that kind of thing)?
Thanking you in advance for your reply, with best wishes:
Peter Bodo, Senior Editor, Tennis magazine, USA
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It will be interesting to see what Mr. Verbeeck has to say.
I am not, by the way, going to make a big deal out of this—one way or the other (unless I learn Kim really is paying a quarter-of-a-million dollars, out of pocket, as one report suggested).
Whatever the details of the giveaway, it’s unlikely to be anything untoward or surprising. This is the commercial era in tennis; this is the professional, Open game and the era of the plastic player. We don’t even really know what kind of taste anyone has because sponsors largely dictate what players wear and pay the players to do it.
As far as I’m concerned, we’ve taken a sufficiently close look at Clijsters for now, but I did promise to follow up on this specific subject and feel the need to cover my back. If I don’t, some Clijsters fans will accuse me of making false, bombastic claims.
Beyond that, though, it's also occurred to me that at a weblog that stimulates such heated, impassioned discussion, this kind of exercise can be fun, and enlightening for all concerned. And there’s a potential here for the kind of exciting, genuine transparency that you simply cannot get in a newspaper, magazine, or less fluid blog or website.
I will post Verbeeck’s reply verbatim. Promise.