The OTher Thread (OT)

Well, it's been some go 'round on equal prize money at Wimbledon, and the only thing I feel pretty certain about is that the issues informing this debate seem more substantial and debate-worthy than the fact that Wimbledon has made a slight adjustment to fully equalize the payout at this year's tournament.

I had a pretty good chat with Larry Scott, CEO of the WTA Tour, last night, regarding the WTA's Roadmap for 2008 and beyond.

This is still a fast-moving and somewhat amorphous story, so I'm going to hold off on giving it the full treatment until I get back from vacation. The WTA is still negotiating with a variety of stalkeholders in the women's game, from the USTA to players to promoters in "emerging markets" who are hoping to get a slice of whatever pie the WTA cooks up.

Right now, the clear and narrow problems I want to focus on is withdrawals and the calendar, because it seems to me that the WTA's pro-active engagement of those thorny issues is something the men's tour ought to be looking at closely.

It may also stimulate the ATP suits to stop sitting on their hands and coming up with cures that may be worse than the disease (can you say "round robin"?)

Scott is deeply concerned about the credibility issue the WTA is facing because of withdrawals, and he's taking what could be called a good-cop,bad-cop approach to the subject. First, he says the players are "overtaxed." Tennis has the longest season in sports (and one predicated on frequent international travel, which poses special challenges), and great commitment demands. So he's proposing a shorter season (read: fewer tournaments), a reduction in commitments (mandatory particpation in 11 events, down two from the current 13) and a more logically structured calendar.

Here's the bad cop part. He said, "If I can get those goals accomplished, I can look every player in the eye and say, You can do this. So we can hold you to a higher standard.

Translation: A better, tighter calendar will make the WTA will feel justified in instituting a tough policy that will include suspensions for players who fail to meet their obligations. I think it's admirable that Scott has taken this particular bull by the horns, and while I can't get into the entire backstory here, the naked truth is that the WTA ladies have been out-of-control and living in a dreamworld utterly lacking in the kind of accountability required by even a basic standard of professionalism.

The clock is ticking and I need to close up shop soon, but today I also received this email from regular reader Blake Edwards:

Well, that's just about it for me, everyone. Stay tuned here at TW. Regular poster Codepoke has written a highly amusing Battlefield Report that Steggy will put up, probably tomorrow. And then we'll have a variety of other features while I'm out of reach of computer, cell phone, and collection agencies. I'll miss you all, have a great week!