Comments on: Mary Joe Fernandez to Replace Zina Garrison in 2009, Joins Fed Cup Team as Coach http://www.onthebaseline.com/2007/12/17/mary-joe-fernandez-to-replace-zina-garrison-in-2009-joins-fed-cup-team-as-coach/ Women's Professional Tennis News, Results, and Commentary Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:59:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Will.I.AM http://www.onthebaseline.com/2007/12/17/mary-joe-fernandez-to-replace-zina-garrison-in-2009-joins-fed-cup-team-as-coach/comment-page-1/#comment-20874 Will.I.AM Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:21:40 +0000 http://www.onthebaseline.com/2007/12/17/mary-joe-fernandez-to-replace-zina-garrison-in-2009-joins-fed-cup-team-as-coach/#comment-20874 Yes! Yes! Yes! I am Mary Jo's biggest fan, and this is a perfect fit for her! Listening to her commentary all these years, I get the feeling that she has great interpersonal skills and knowledge of the game. I have a couple of concerns however. First thing, Mary Jo doesn't command the respect that Zina Garrison does, at least with the Williams sisters. I have ready many qoutes from Venus and Serena where they said "Zina really convinced me to play" or something to that effect. Zina is a living legend to African Americans in the tennis community. I'm afraid Mary Jo doesn't have that clout, but hopefully Venus and Serena will respect her as a great person and a great coach. The other issue is (I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way), but I don't think the Fed cup or Davis Cup captains should be allowed to commentate at all. It's a big distraction because I believe their opinions are biased because everyone who isn't American is their competition, so how could they give a fair assessment? I think Patrick McEnroe does an ok job dealing with this, but it's still a distraction for me. I'm always saying to myself "He must be biting his tounge!". Patrick tries so hard to be politically correct that it becomes a distraction. With that being said, Mary Jo is my favorite commentator and I don't care how biased she is, I could listen to her all day. Congrats Mary Jo! Yes! Yes! Yes! I am Mary Jo’s biggest fan, and this is a perfect fit for her! Listening to her commentary all these years, I get the feeling that she has great interpersonal skills and knowledge of the game.

I have a couple of concerns however. First thing, Mary Jo doesn’t command the respect that Zina Garrison does, at least with the Williams sisters. I have ready many qoutes from Venus and Serena where they said “Zina really convinced me to play” or something to that effect. Zina is a living legend to African Americans in the tennis community. I’m afraid Mary Jo doesn’t have that clout, but hopefully Venus and Serena will respect her as a great person and a great coach.

The other issue is (I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels this way), but I don’t think the Fed cup or Davis Cup captains should be allowed to commentate at all. It’s a big distraction because I believe their opinions are biased because everyone who isn’t American is their competition, so how could they give a fair assessment? I think Patrick McEnroe does an ok job dealing with this, but it’s still a distraction for me. I’m always saying to myself “He must be biting his tounge!”. Patrick tries so hard to be politically correct that it becomes a distraction.

With that being said, Mary Jo is my favorite commentator and I don’t care how biased she is, I could listen to her all day. Congrats Mary Jo!

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