Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for June 15, 2021

Heh. I wager that not one tennis fan in a thousand watches press conferences of the players.

Pro sports is entertainment. People are paid to entertain; no one is going to pay you to hit a ball over a net. Don’t become a pro athlete if you don’t want the full job. It includes press conferences.

Press conferences are part of the contract … if you refuse to do them, then don’t sign the contract and don’t participate. In all sports, publicity is a huge part of raising the money which is handed out as prizes or salaries, and press conferences contribute to that. This very comic strip exists because of the ‘buzz’ surrounding sports. It’s always amazing to me how celebrities feel entitled to large compensation while feeling free to stomp on contractual obligations - they get away with this because the governing bodies have no backbone. If you treat them like the rest of humanity — i.e. tossing them out on the street for failure to do their jobs — then things might differ.

Pressers help humanize the game, otherwise it’s just a couple of people hitting a ball. People will relate more to someone they can see talking about what is was like out there.

He’s got you there, reporters.

With the possible exception of Tank, Most of the questions that sports press ask are so stupid, they are not worth the time.

I’d get the season pass to the pressers if I could ask questions.

I hate, hate, hate, hate the concept of post-game interviews. These folks are TIRED, ya’ll. Just say “hey, good job winning!” and let them say “hey, thank you very much!” and let them go relax! And I mean, do they ever actually say anything? “Yeah, we went out there and did what we intensively train to do seven days a week and managed to just do it better than the other team and so we won.” The end.

Well played, Tank, well played!

If I had to choose, I would pick the game/competition and gladly give up the presser. Elite athletes are fun to watch at their sport. It’s genius in motion when it’s really good. If they don’t want to talk after, I don’t think that they should be forced to. Especially if it’s straining their mental health. The competitions and being on the road most of the year is already very stressful

I’d gladly watch nothing but Mike Tomlin press conferences. I don’t have to spend 3 hours watching a game when 10 minutes will tell me that Ben Roethlisberger is a quarterback, a football game is 60 minutes long, and that Mike doesn’t drive carts (or things of that nature).

I don’t understand the pressers. Last thing I want is to hear athletes talk.

Well I don’t think it’s right that athletes have to do press conferences and the president and vice president don’t have to.

The sole purpose of the press conference is obtain hours of audio so a 30 sec sound byte that can be used to promote the event afterwards.

I don’t know if she owes the fans, but she signed a contract to do the interviews, which basically means she gave her word. It’s the only honorable thing to do.

For the kind of money professional athletes make, they better tell me something to keep me watching.