[Vision2020] No More Mr. Nice Guy (Rick Reilly)

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Rick Reilly's "Life of Reilly" column in today's (April 6, 2007)
Sports Illustrated -

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No More Mr. Nice Guy!
By Rick Reilly

FEDERER LOSES used to be a headline you'd read about as often as LION
STARVES or CLOONEY WEDS.

But the world's greatest tennis player lost in the fourth round of the Sony
Ericsson Open last week in Miami, the second tournament in a row he didn't
win.  Just like that, he's gone from being the tornado to be the trailer.
The Federer Express seems to have forgotten how to deliver..

And, the thing is, I know why.

Roger Federer is decent, humble, and kinder than Aunt Bee.  He is constantly
saying, "I'm just a normal guy."  All his winning shots were just "lucky."
Well, finally, opponents are starting to take his word for it.

Do you realize this man, whom most experts say is the greatest tennis player
to ever live, actually goes to restaurants and sometimes waits in line?

He doesn't have a full-time coach.  Has no tattoos.  His entourage is a
joke.  His publicity agent, his scheduler, his hitting partner, and his
girlfriend are all the same person.  And she's not even a lingerie model!
Just an ordinary, very nice Swiss miss named Mirka.  Derek Jeter has more
babes than belts!

Federer flies commercial.  Doesn't own a jet.  Here's a guy who has
dominated his sport far more than Tiger Woods has over the last three years,
yet Tiger has a 155-foot yacht and Federer doesn't even own a dinghy.

Federer made an estimated $28 million last year, yet he doesn't own a house,
just two "flats," he says.  He won four ATP honors in one day last week -
Player of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, Fans' Favorite and the
Sportsmanship Award for 2006 - yet he has no trophy room.  The hardware just
piles up on his dining room table.

At 25 Federer has won 10 Grand Slam events yet still stays in the same hotel
as the tour schmoes.  Roger, you're an immortal!  Rent a mansion!  Do you
realize that when Tiger played at a tournament in Tucson in February he not
only rented a house, but he also had all the furniture removed and had his
own brought in, so he could be more comfortable?  Wake up and smell the
indulgence.

"I don't want to overlive," Federer says, "I don't need to be too big.  It's
got to feel right when you go to bed at night."

Arrrggh!

Get this:  You can send an autograph request to his parents' house - their
address is on his website - and within a month you'll get a photo
hand-signed by Roger.  "Well, if I were a child," he says, "I wouldn't want
to wait two years for a picture of my hero, would you?"  Dam, son, at least
get one of those signing machines like everybody else!

Tell you what a sucker Federer is, when he's done practicing, he picks up
his own bench area.  "Not many guys on tour do that, " says Federer's best
friend, Yves Allegro.  "In fact, most don't do that."

That's the other thing - this guy Allegro.  Federer plays doubles with him a
few times a year just to put some folding money in his friend's pocket.
Nowadays your average tennis superstar would rather join the Elks club than
play doubles.  But not Federer.  Even if the doubles comes right after his
singles match, he plays.  It would be like Tiger playing the Sheboygan
Ladies Par 3 Annual after winning the Masters.  "How can I pay him back?"
Allegro says.  "He won't even let me buy him dinner."

You have to be who you are, Rog, and you are a heavenly body.  Start acting
like it!  "I tell him all the time," says his agent, IMG Tony Godsick,
"Your'e too nice."

Too Nice Example No. 1:  Federer sometimes throws pizza parties for the ball
boys at tournaments because he was one himself.  And he attends!

Too Nice No. 2:  The other day he was in L.A. and called Pete Sampras out of
the blue to see if he wanted to hit..  No, no, no, Roger!  He calls you!
And you put him off for a week before you call him back!

Too Nice No. 3:  I sent an e-mail to Godsick on Monday morning at eight,
asking for a one-on-one interview.  By four I was sitting across from
Federer.  Eight hours?  Barry Bonds will put a reporter off for eight years!

There were two chairs in the interview room.  A large, cushy one with
armrests and a plain straight-backed one.  He looked at me sheepishly and
said, "Would you mind very much if I took the larger chair?  I am very tired
from my match."

Hello?  Roger?  Monster sports Goliaths don't ask.  Monster sports Goliaths
plop down in the big one, then put their feet up on the smaller one.

Then they examine their fingernails, sniff once and go, "Make it quick.  My
exfoliator is waiting."

You're a tennis star, Roger.  Go out there and get some faults!

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.

- Author Unknown
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