A match worth watching?

Malaysians treated them like kings.

Bjorn Borg.
John McEnroe.
Roger Federer.
James Blake.

People were wooing, shouting, screaming their 'kings' names out of their lungs.
Ran after them for precious autographs, quick kisses and admiring glances.

Fans were still be fans.
There's nothing wrong with that.
I've done it over enthusiastically last year.
Watching Federer swoops his racquet right in front of my eyes were just surreal.

But not anymore.
Not this year or in the years to come.
Not unless I step foot in any of the Grand Slams' tennis arenas.

I wonder why Malaysians are so proud of them. Instead of nurturing young Malaysians guns to some tennis monsters, we would prefer to celebrate those famous ones than our own.

Once a year.
And they played a warm-up game, I tell you.
1 set aje?
You got to be kidding me.

We were like puppets, worshiping something that is not worth worshiping.

The umpire was not serious at all.
He can't answer McEnroe's inquiries.
The linesmen were making false calls.
McEnroe 'exploded' a few times.
The ballboys were even way too slow to pick and throw those balls.
Blake was kind enough to give some help.

It's more to humiliation to Malaysia's level of sporting action, rather then being a fan for those great names in the world of tennis.

They earned almost USD3million that night alone, yet, we embarrassed ourselves with some traditional-costume-clad girls. And those players didn't even look at them.

And never in any tennis championship history that a stadium was filled by these kind of entertainment (or exhibition or a fashion parade, I have no idea) as a way to promote one's unique culture.

In Dubai Open, the organiser actually made these players wear their traditional long dress and have a photo shoot session for their tourism-boosting purposes.

So so unlike us.

It's very frustrating.

Sports are no longer cherished as competitive events where the adrenaline rush was so high, the blood may have gone out of our brain.

Instead, it's just an entertainment that we paid handsomely for.
At least for Malaysians.

Which reminded me a similar occasion when Chelsea FC came to Shah Alam for a friendly match last July.
I was there.
The stadium was almost packed.
And most of the people were supporting Chelsea instead of Malaysia.
None of that I care about.
I might as well supported MU if they are here for a match.
It's the support Malaysians show for our local sports/groups/teams.
In any local league match, the attendance of fans that surprisingly high is totally questionable, probably impossible.

We Malaysians expect the best of everything.
Yet, we always fail to deliver on our own.


[I wrote this article last week, but only managed to publish it today. Expect me to post multiple entries in these few days time. I'm still recovering from chikungunya :( ]