Throwing Tantrums and Rackets 101

Now that John McEnroe is opening a tennis academy in New York, I think we should all remember that, despite all of his talent, he was, for most of his career, a bad example on the court, due to his rude and disrespectful behavior all over the world.  McEnroe's performance was too often punctuated with tirades against umpires with whom he disagreed.  He was loud and outrageous in his insults, constantly complaining about everything when things didn't go his way.  He was never graceful in defeat.  I remember one time, towards the end of his career, when frustrated by the fact that Ivan Lendl was the dominant player in the world, he remarked that he had more talent in his little finger than the whole of Lendl.

If this is what he's going to teach his pupils at the academy, we can expect nothing good to come out of it.  I'm afraid that age hasn't give him any wisdom.  He has said that he sees himself as a Vince Lombardi figure.  You know, the guy who said that "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

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