The IP Weekly
Yesterday, tennis great Roger Federer announced his retirement from professional tennis. This announcement was not much of a surprise, Fed (as he is often referred to by those close to him) has struggled with injuries the past few years and he is 41 years old, an advanced age for any athlete really. Still, I had been hoping for one more opportunity to see him play on the biggest of stages, one more opportunity to see his elegance dance across the court, one more opportunity to watch his effortless play always looking at the end of even the longest of matches as he did at the start.
Yes, I am a Federer fan, a devotee. He is not just my favorite tennis player he is, as I explained yesterday to my son, one of my favorite athletes of all-time. I have long admired his greatness, the beauty of his play, his devotion to his family and the way he comported himself on and off the court. Critics, over the years, would decry his kindness with his opponents ever hoping for the apparent hatred rivals had for each other in a previous era. Fed and I connected on a deep level (I’m not sure he knows) the way we all feel connected to the famous athletes we grow attached to. I spent some time thinking about the other athletes on my personal Mount Rushmore to look for similarities. All of them, Fed, Jordan, Piazza, Bossy (the list is longer, but I limited myself to 4) exhibited great class while they played and demonstrated, as best I could tell, a deep burning desire to win at all costs.
My son asked me yesterday who I would root for now in tennis. I explained that Fed is more than the player I wanted to win matches. Sure there will be other players that I will enjoy, others that I will pull for and others I want to lose, but this is different. I can’t say for sure that there will ever be a player in any sport who will rise to Fed status and that makes me sad. Fed was the last of my Rushmore athletes to be active in his sport (Bossy passed away earlier this year). I can remember a time when I felt connected to those athletes because we were the same age, roughly, or I could look up to them as something I could aspire to in my own life — greatness in my own career.
At the US Open this year I watched a 19 year old player who I like win the tournament. How am I to feel connected to him, admire him? It is clear to me that, like my favorite athletes, I am no longer of an age where those connections can exist. Sports remain important to me, but I am looking for something else in the athletes I root for and it may be that I will never find it again. This feeling has nothing to do with generational gaps. I don’t feel as if I don’t understand the athletes of today or that none of them play with style and grace I am looking for, I see it in so many players. And while I see their greatness I don’t feel the emotional connection to them.
I am well aware of my own age, yet I don’t feel old. Fed’s retirement does not make me visit my own mortality, it is a realization that this part of my life, however, may be over. For others they may not be able to relate to athletes, maybe it’s about actors or singers (James Taylor is on a different Mount Rushmore for me) or writers. While their careers may be longer than professional athletes it’s easy to imagine the last time you’ll see them perform or read their words. Find your Mount Rushmore…if you can see them perform again go as fast as possible. They will move on one day leaving us with video footage of a time gone by and leaving us looking, wondering if there are new heroes to find.
