Fastbackss wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 11:23 am
I heard a podcast with Andy Roddick about this topic (in general not about Pegula specifically). He (as always) had some poignant thoughts on it. Here were a couple:
- coming from means takes some of the "worry" and allows for focus. There are plenty of examples of relatively indigent players making it, but the means provides ancillary support that gives a larger safety net. But he pushed back on the notion that should be discredited if coming from significant means.
- ultimately it's the "fight" of the player, regardless of means. He or she has to be singularly focused to push through, like the pain, deal with the solitude, etc.
- he also opined further on how many with means get burned out because they are pushed so hard by the parent and it has to be innate self-drive. They have to want it as well.
I personally find most defenses of Pegula's "means" to be offbase when judging what I'm talking about. Ernest Gulbis and Emma Navarro come from similar means as Pegula. Neither of their parents can provide them access to fitness and physio staffs of a professional sports team. Unless and until they do, I find comparisons of those with means to be insufficient to what Jessie has taken advantage of.
Something which, from what I can tell, might I add, she doesn't appear to talk about much anymore because I'm guessing it doesn't go over that well, because it hardly seems fair. It's like trying to find MAGA-esque comments and likes from certain tennis players, it's largely been scrubbed because it doesn't help their profile. But I remember her talking about it, remember the commentators on her matches on the Tennis Channel mentioning it more than once. She got out of her unending cycle of injuries that hampered her career for years and to her current health and fitness level by using the fitness and physio staffs of her parents' teams. Although I seem to remember it being the Sabres' staff she utilized more than the Bills.
I have been plenty vocal about the Fracking Princess and the real source of her family's money. I still can't stand her family and their team ownership is basically sportswashing. But I'm truly just stating a fact here that she once talked about. Having access to a crap ton of money and owning major league sports teams in the US and having access to their staff and facilities are truly apples and orange comparisons to me. I have personally seen what college and pro football teams' facilities consist of and who they have on their staffs. My mind is not going to be changed that all things being equal, this is all about "fight."