Noah vs The World
Yannick Noah has always been a maverick, someone who walks, sometimes dances, to the beat of a different drum. He was a fun-loving, flashy figure on the tennis court and remains just as vibrant off of it. In 1981, Noah infamously admitted to using marijuana, while insisting that amphetamines were the real culprit because they are actually performance enhancing.
A week ago, Noah rattled the proverbial hornet’s nest when he expressed some controversial sentiments to the French paper Le Monde about the relatively recent successes of Spanish players.
Their "overnight" successes in the sport seemed to baffle Noah. He felt that some of them maybe had access to that Hogwarts cabinet with the "magic potions" that enhanced their powers.
In tragic comparison, the French were "dwarfed" by these enhanced southwestern neighbors. Now at this particular anecdote, one can’t help but crack a slight smile because it’s hard to see how someone, anyone, could “dwarf" hulking French superhumans like Tsonga or Monfils.
Soon after these Noah comments were made, one high-profile and irate Spaniard,Rafael Nadal, responded, lambasting him for "stupidity". Later, David Ferrer joined the fray and most of the media seemed to dismiss Noah just as quickly.
People pointed out that certain isolated problems do not justify the entirety of Noah’s comments. That his words were offered without thought about the majority of non-conspirators, or so the argument goes. Were Yannick Noah’s comments in poor taste?
The problem often pointed out is that a sweeping generalization can stigmatize an entire nation. We may, in poor taste, say that one particular nation seems too adept at exporting terror and radicalism.
But what of the many innocents in that nation who do not want to be a part of that?
It seems unfair to those people who aren’t involved. This is all true, and still, the author here will argue that Noah has an underlying point and that we must defend his push for greater transparency.
After the knee-jerk reaction from the crowd, Yannick Noah had to clarify his latent intentions yesterday, in making those earlier comments. He wishes, in inexact words, that the relevant bodies such as World Anti-Doping Agency and International Tennis Federation would step up their game.
He's also not apologetic for his strong words to Nadal, Spain, the United Nations, whoever else—the world be damned—and that's vintage Noah.
And it’s hard not to sympathize with Noah for several reasons. Little over a year ago, WADA general director David Howman praised certain countries such as the United States and suggested that some others, such as Brazil and Russia, leave much to be desired.
Prior to baseball superstar Mark McGwire’s fall from grace, many people as quickly dismissed allegations of his various enhancements as a sort of jealous lunacy. Only members on the fringes of good society would make such unfounded, inappropriate claims.
My boundless energy comes from a healthy dose of, I mean diet of fish. Yeah, and Yannick Noah is stupid! Grrrrargh somebody shut that baby up! No, no, I'm calm, I'm calm.
Sound familiar?
Yet, it turned out that baseball wasn’t squeaky clean after all. There are numerous more examples stretching across many sports such as swimming, American football, soccer, even golf. And now this holy bovine, tennis, is under scrutiny.
But aren’t the authorities doing enough?
Arguably some nations have stricter, more consistent, controls than others, this even WADA can attest to. But also, the tests themselves leave a little to be desired. Perhaps a urine sample isn’t enough. Clean urine is easy to store away after all.
Furthermore, short-acting steroid stacks do not, as the name implies, stay in the system for very long. Custom-made regimens given at strategic times in a player’s schedule, like at a calculated amount of time prior to a tournament, can help too. This wouldn’t be completely inconceivable.
Tennis has had its own shady examples like Andre Agassi and Greg Rusedski.
Isn’t it high time the governing bodies of this sport applied more thorough testing?
Do we really want a Mark McGwire or a Barry Bonds of tennis?
Or are we afraid and protective (maybe) because the deck is too stacked at this point?
What happens when the fissures grow too wide and the whole thing falls apart then?
Perhaps in this sense, Noah’s underlying call for greater transparency and passion for his sport’s cleanliness is admirable and should be defended in good conscience.
We can see where Yannick Noah had good intentions though he lacked the precise rhetoric needed to dress them for an international, politically-sensitive audience.
On one hand, the author disagrees with Nadal’s painfully silly call for the media to gag Noah. That particular comment of Nadal’s is irresponsible and, frankly, stupid.
On the other hand, one must agree with the majority in that to paint an entire nation in one brushstroke is not smart.
But to be oblivious to the many professionals in the field who have voiced concerns about this issue; to ignore some of the ATP's sordid history with the likes of Agassi. What do we call this, a symptom of modern brainpower or good old boy politics?
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