Well, well, that's was an interesting discussion I just read over in the Comments section of the Uncle Toni post, and during my morning run (before I read the Comments), I contemplated the way I had considered leaving the "religion" question out of the post, for fear of inciting a free-for-all. It was interesting to me mostly because my own hesitations and doubts represented an urge to censorship - not just because I found Toni's views on religion and marriage personally disappointing (I'm not going into it here, the Comments in the previous thread cover most of the territory), but also because I didn't want to unleash a whirlwind on controversy. I want to thank you all (or most of you) for conducting that dialogue in such a civilized, temperate way. Once again, I feel it was a risk worth taking.
I found it interesting that some people were surprised that we asked Toni about religion (in a tennis interview!). For the record, to me, whether or not God exists (and all the questions either answer opens up) is not just an interesting issue - it's the only issue. And I find the way people address it fascinating. And personally, the things I've been most interested in when it comes to interviews with players is their feelings about religion and politics. Often, our discussion of those subjects remain off the record (by request), but I still try to get the opinions. Sometimes it's discouraging to see how reluctant people are to express their views in public, but that's a discussion for another time and place. We've got tennis going on today, so have at it, and try to stay on-topic until most of the smoke has cleared from the netted battlefield!
Have a good day, everyone - red-meat post on Mats Wilander coming soon. . .
- Pete