Wednesday, November 4, 2009 10:23 AM
Finally, some respect for the scribes
Tom Tebbutt
From the ink-stained wretches of forty years ago to the keyboard-tapping zombies of the modern era, there has been an impressive stream of sports reporters through the press box at Jarry Park stadium in Montreal.
They covered the beloved Expos baseball team from 1969 through 1976, but since 1980 it has been tennis that been played out below the creaky crescent-shaped balcony atop the west end of what is now known as Uniprix Stadium.
Anyone curious about the working conditions of Montreal baseball writers way back in 1969 need only take at look at the current quarters used by reporters covering tennis. They are almost unchanged – and there’s the rub. The old Jarry Park press box is clumsy, cramped and crowded, and in need of a serious makeover.
About 10 years ago, the ATP tour threatened Tennis Canada with losing the sanction for its men’s event in Toronto if the York University facility there was not brought up to the standards of other North American Masters Series events – i.e. Cincinnati, Miami and Indian Wells, Calif.
Tennis reporters at the Montreal tournaments don’t have that kind of leverage but would surely like to not have to contort their bodies just to get into their seat, trying to find a position that is suitable for working once they are wedged into rickety chairs in the front row or perched on awkward bar stools in the second row.
Prominent names in Canadian sports journalism, and man-sized guys to boot, Rejean Tremblay, Pat Hickey and Mario Brisebois will be happy to learn that change is finally on the horizon.
Tennis Canada hopes to rebuild the press box as part of a $12-million renovation that could begin as soon as after the women’s Rogers Cup event next August.
There was a presentation made to Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay in March, and the plan is to have the project financed with $1.6-million from Tennis Canada, $1.6-million from the City of Montreal as well as $4.3-million from both the federal and Quebec governments.
Included in the overall construction plans are the building of four clay courts, a restaurant/storage area at one end of the Banque National Court showcourt, a photographers’ pit in Uniprix Stadium and other renovations including an upgrading of the main stadium’s luxury suites.
But there remains one thing that reporters do not want to see changed – namely the longstanding practice of having the press-box fridge stocked with beer at about 6 p.m. every day. It’s a pick-me-up that doubles as a camaraderie booster for the hard-slogging members of the fourth estate .
Sadly, the tradition has never been copied in the media centre at the tournament in Toronto.
Vive la difference.
And furthermore
It was a streak – four losses in a row – unbecoming of a man, Daniel Nestor, who is co-No. 1 in the ATP’s individual doubles ranking. It ended on Tuesday at the ATP 500 event in Basel, Switzerland, when Nestor and co-No. 1 Nenad Zimonjic defeated Lucas Arnold Ker and Fernando Gonzalez 4-6, 6-3, [10-5].
Since the changes (except for Grand Slam events and Davis Cup) in doubles to no-ad game scoring, and a champions tiebreak instead of a third set, Nestor has often said he finds the game has become much more of a crapshoot.
Oakland-based tennis writer Matt Cronin reports that Maria Sharapova, 22 and 6-foot-2, has a new boyfriend. He is Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic of Slovenia, 25 and six foot seven.
Sharapova apparently has moved on from film business type Charlie Ebersol, son of Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports.
