Bill Maher: Martina Navratilova is protesting

[question everything]

what about me? In response to the news about the first major sports player admitting that he is gay.

Good for Maher to point this out.

[kelliekat44]

1. No Martina, what about Billie Jean King?

[FourScore]

2. BJK had retired when she came out.

Martina was still in the game.

[TDale313]

10. Can I ask a clarification?

Didn't see the segment. Was Maher responding to something Martina had said, or was he just joking that "hey, remember her?" I follow Martina on twitter, have seen pretty supportive and "this is a big thing" kinda comments from her about this.

[question everything]

24. Sorry. Martina did not say anything, as far as I know

this was Maher biting satire. I should have clarified that.

[TDale313]

26. Oh, no prob :-)

Had a feeling, but wanted to check. Thanks.

[geckosfeet]

3. I wondered about that.. I guess tennis is not a major sport.

You know. One of those sports played exclusively by men.

[FourScore]

4. Exactly, it's not a "jock" sport. n/t

[HiPointDem]

14. how about swimming? not jock enough?

[jberryhill]

6. Neither is figure skating, I guess

[TDale313]

9. Individual, not team.

[elleng]

5. Good, but very sorry she feels the need.

The 'boys will be boys' thing gets us every time.

[question everything]

18. I probably should have posted it differently

She really did not complain. At least, I am not aware of it. It was Maher way of a biting satire.

Sorry.

[elleng]

19. Gotcha. Thanks.

Yes, he does that, and she doesn't; a REAL champ.

[sibelian]

7. She isn't male. Also there's a substantial chunk of Czech.

So, you know, it's okay for her to be gay because she's already a bit weird. I guess....

[TDale313]

8. It's true, but...

it's been pointed out that when people mention him being a first, we're talking a male active player in a major team sport. The active part applied to Martina, but individual sports are different than team, and there is still, unfortunately, more homophobia directed towards gay men than lesbians. It's kinda shocking it took decades after her coming out for someone like Jason Collins to be able to.

[Boomerproud]

11. Didn't she admit at the time that her sexuality cost her endorsements?

n/t

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

12. Tennis isn't a *major* sport, and Martina said nothing of the sort (it was just a joke)

If she said anything, it wasn't close to Maher's joke.

[justiceischeap]

21. I bet tennis players would disagree that it isn't a major sport

A major sport gets its grand slam tournaments aired on broadcast television. Hell, even the Kentucky Derby is considered a "major" sport.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

22. lol you pick the wrong person to debate tennis

No, they absolutely would not consider tennis a major sport. Talk about the 1% and other 99%. 99% of tennis players don't make diddly poo, they don't have sponsors (no Nike, no Adidas, no Wilson). They're on the hook for their own travel expenses. Even players in the top 100 play small Challenger (minor league) tournaments and stay with host families. For many, it's breakeven, for most it's just a dream that doesn't pay their expenses.

[justiceischeap]

23. Um... we're talking pro tennis players, right?

Roger Federer reclaimed his number one ranking on the court after his July Wimbledon win, which was his record 17th grand slam title. His ace sponsor roster includes Credit Suisse, Gillette, Mercedes-Benz, Nike and Rolex.

On court: $9.3 million
Off court: $45 million
Total earnings: $54.3 million

Maria Sharapova
On court: $5.1 million
Off court: $22 million
Total earnings: $27.1 million

Sharapova completed a career Grand Slam with her French Open title in June. Her eight-year Nike deal should top $70 million, including royalties.

Serena Williams
On court: $5.3 million
Off court: $11 million
Total earnings: $16.3 million

Her $38 million in career prize money is tops among women and fifth highest all-time, including men. Williams has been part of the Nike family since 2003.

Andy Murray
On court: $5 million
Off court: $7 million
Total earnings: $12 million

The Olympic gold medalist has endorsement deals with Adidas, Head, Rado watches and Royal Bank of Scotland (Murray is Scottish).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/08/24/roger-federer-tops-list-of-the-worlds-highest-paid-tennis-players/

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

31. Try reading (like actually reading) my post.

...you'll learn a shit load of information that Forbes doesn't even know.

Why isn't Sergiy Stakhovsky on your list? He's usually ranked inside the top 100. A truly amazing accomplishment alone.

Here's what he would tell Forbes if they asked:

On prize money tennis:

I’m in the negative after the IW and Miami Masters. About five thousand. And that’s while reaching the second round in Indian Wells.
…
This year I’ve been flying economy. From London to Dubai and back I flew for 1200 Euros. And we can’t order tickets in advance. In addition, you can’t give up the cheap tickets. Often, we buy the tickets on the day of departure. And those are completely different numbers.
…
In a year, I spend 170 thousand Euros on the “game expenses” category. Last year, only the tickets cost me 85 thousand. I earned $428 thousand. Take out 30%, on average, for taxes.
…
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray – that’s simply another world. … We simply don’t exist in comparison with them.

Players who aren’t inside the top-20, don’t have any money, except for the prize money. Contracts, clothes – that’s all for the top-5 or top-10 players.

http://www.letsecondserve.com/2012/04/translated-interview-with-sergiy.html


That's pretty much what I told you.

[Recursion]

13. The barrier was a major male team sport

Football, baseball, or basketball, ie, the sports that make a lot of money in the US. Individual athletes have been out for years.

[dsc]

15. To clarify, Martina has been very supportive of Jason and admits to there being a big difference

Martina couldn't be barred from playing tennis while a team sport athlete can be fired for being gay. She had her base of income from tennis which was untouchable so she merely lost endorsements and not her whole career.

[LuvNewcastle]

16. Martina has a lot of class.

I can't imagine her being in a huff about this.

[question everything]

25. She is - a classy lady

and she is not - making a huff. It was Maher satirical comment. I should have clarified it.

Sorry.

[mucifer]

30. you could edit your original post. But, no big deal if you don't.

[okwmember]

29. Exactly.

She also has said she may have come out sooner except at the time being gay could disqualify her from receiving her US citizenship. She has said when asked about it during her INS interview, she hedged and told them she was bisexual.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Admitting? What sort of editorial spin does that word try to play?

Bill is a homophobe, he had that Snoop Bigotty Bigot on recently and the two of them went full sexist homophobe ignorant and that's the last I will watch that scuzzy fucker.

[Shankapotomus]

20. This may complicate things:

http://bit.ly/11FuRAO

[question everything]

27. Interesting. Thanks (nt)

[rurallib]

28. for that matter, what about Brittney Griner?

Team sport - she will be a major star in that sport (already is really) came out a month ago.