Imagine you just watched an unbelievable baseball game and the pitcher just struck out three batters in extra innings for the win. Reporters come from everywhere to interview the player with the stellar performance on the mound to lead your favorite team to a huge win. They begin to ask him questions about the game and how he prepared and executed such a great performance. He begins to explain but you cant understand one word he is saying, how frustrating is that?
In my own opinion if you are going to come to the U.S and play a professional sport in a huge media spotlight you should have to be able to communicate in english. This sounds a little harsh but U.S citizens are pretty much paying your paycheck, they are almost all of the people in the stands who paid $50 for a ticket to watch you play, they are buying your jerseys and voting you into the All-Star game. Don't you think you would owe them the littlest thing as to be able to communicate with them?
The LPGA is a tour that is almost completely taken over by foreign players finally decided to take action back in 2008. This article goes more in depth with the problem and how they plan to solve this. http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3553888
LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens says that by the end of 2009, all players who have been on the tour for two years must pass an oral evaluation of their English skills or face a membership suspension. Do you agree with this? Should other professional leagues begin with this type of action?
I totally agree with the frustration part. I am a huge Tiger fan, and during a post game interview of the ALCS, our superstar Miguel Cabrera was speaking. I was trying to concentrate on listening, but still couldn't figure out what he was saying!! It upset me because it totally defeated the purpose of the interview, as his thoughts were not audible. The english language is hard to master, (as we still often have grammar errors)and I'm sure foreign baseball players try to improve on their english daily. I would not put the total blame on the players, but also on the MLB organization. They should provide translators or put subtitles in situations where the interview is after such an important event and not audible. After all, if you cant understand what the athlete is saying, it defeats the purpose of putting the interview on the air!
ReplyDeleteTorey,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is frustrating when you cannot understand someone who is being interviewed after a sports event. It is certainly valuable for an athlete to have top-notch athletic skill and be personable when interviewed by the media. However, are these athletes pursued to play professional sports because of their athletic abilities or are chosen as a spokesperson for the team? I do agree that as part of the players’ on-boarding plan when they come to the United States to play ball, the team’s organization should include English lessons as a top priority. That way the players would become equipped to confidently talk to the media after a big win. I do not think we can expect players to fully acclimate to living and playing in the U.S. if we do not provide the right tools for them to be successful. I could support leagues implementing rules where the players must be able to communicate effectively IF leagues also require that teams provide training/education for the players to properly learn the language.