Booing Donald Trump at the U.S. Open?  | The American Spectator

President Donald Trump is expected to watch the men’s singles final of the U.S. Open, played at the Billie Jean King National tennis Center’s Ashe Stadium in the American president’s native Queens. There is nothing extraordinary about this, seeing as how presidents long have been known to attend sporting events, and Mr. Trump himself was a regular fan of many years at New York’s major tennis tournament prior to his first presidency. This will, however, be his first visit since 2015.

The tournament owner, the USTA, took the precaution of advising broadcast media not to show negative audience reactions to the president, whose image is likely to be on the big screen that is regularly used to show celebrities watching the show, as well as unsuspecting normal fans, who almost always react, when they see themselves, with a mix of fist pumps and dance moves as well as broad smiles and excited waves.

“With respect to broadcast coverage, the President will be shown on the World Feed and the Ashe Court Feed during the opening anthem ceremony,” the USTA memo sent to attending broadcast media reads, referring to the video feeds for use in reporting.  “We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions  in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity, including ENG [electronic news gathering] coverage.”

This does not apply to TAS, still in the pencil-and-notebook age. We did receive a message that, additional to “regular screening at the gates there will be TSA-style security screening for all individuals as they enter Ashe Stadium. Every bag and piece of equipment,” etc. etc. and “you should also expect some delays moving around in some public areas,” etc.

In other words, they would prefer not to have malcontents shown yelling mean words at the president of the United States, and there is heightened security, which seems uncontroversial considering that the president has been targeted by assassins. He is not the first one, either, and also there have been cases in recent memory, not only in the U.S., of deranged individuals attacking fans and spectators at large sporting and music events.

The request to refrain from reporting boos is a somewhat different matter, but is not counter to what was once understood USTA policy about noise during the matches and the ceremonies and introductions before play. At the finals, there is always a military honor guard unfurling a oversized flag, there is usually a USAF fly over, and there is always a rendition of the national anthem, either by a well-known vocalist or, I seem to recall, a special guest, typically a child who has shown remarkable talent or exceptional courage, fighting an illness for example. Do not quote me on the latter, I am a patsy for that sort of thing, but it would not be outside the USTA custom.

Which is not to say insisting on spiking the boos is a particularly wise idea. Most people respect, or want to respect, the presidential office and the individual occupying it; it is a normal and natural extension of their faith in their country’s institutions. To be sure, the American political class does its best to undercut the respect and trust of the people it allegedly works for, but that is not news, and if it is true there is no point in hiding it.

Still, many fans would agree with Carlos Alcaraz — one of the players they are watching in the finals — when he says it is an honor to himself, to his opponent and friend Jannik Sinner, and to the sport of tennis, to have a head of state in attendance at a major event.  True, as a Spaniard, his attitude may be shaped by his country’s monarchial traditions.  But even in a democratic republic based on the principle that government does not exist to restrict liberty but to let it thrive, it does seem reasonable to expect a show of courtesy that would imply leaving politics outside the grounds of the tennis center.

However, the USTA helped bring on this matter, and in this regard the organization is holding up a mirror to much of what is wrong with American mores these days. There would be no need to ask the broadcast media to engage in self-censorship if, first of all, the media were responsible and decent. But apart from that — which is by no means a lost cause — the USTA allowed its own behavior rules to deteriorate.

It was always understood that at tennis matches, unlike in such sports as baseball and football, the spectators remain quiet during play. By extension, if a fan is late, he must wait at the gate to take his seat except when the competitors take a minute or two to change sides. These ordinary rules of behavior have been allowed to lapse, with the result that players are annoyed and distracted, which annoys and distracts fans who are behaving, which in turn, but you get my point.

And this is nothing next to the inordinate amount of alcohol that flows during the matches. People come to the U.S. Open, and in particular to the big matches at the large stadia (20 thousand capacity at Ashe, 15 thousand at Armstrong), to drink, talk on their cell phones, yak with their friends, and see themselves on those big screens. Apparently this is good for business.

Also good for business, at least in the short term, are skyrocketing ticket prices that many sports fans cannot afford, which means the venues are filled with the very rich who, to assuage their guilt — did they really earn the money they have? — assail the president of the U.S. as a racist bully, which is sort of hypocritical when you know how these people treat their maids and chauffeurs, who may well be illegals. Note that this is a remark based on anecdotal observation, not reporting, so don’t quote me. Still, you know what I mean.

The tennis players are as talented as ever, athletes who have worked extremely hard to reach the top ranks of a difficult and beautiful sport that requires years of dedication to even begin to master. They are well compensated, and no one can begrudge them their earnings. But their rewards, which contribute, as in other sports, to the higher prices of tickets, are unavoidable symptoms, no less than the way the well-heeled fans behave, of a society that is overvaluing money because it undervalues virtue.

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