This is what sports are really about.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget they aren’t about domestic violence and multi-millionaires and lawyers and all of the ugliness that’s infiltrated our games.
The essence of sports was on display at Wimbledon this week when Englishman Marcus Willis, a 25-year-old qualifier who makes $40 an hour giving tennis lessons at a boat club, advanced to the second round to face Roger Federer.
It was David and Goliath. It was Ali and Wepner. But more accurately, it was a real-life, modern-day mash-up of “Rudy” and “Happy Gilmore” with some “Rocky” sprinkled in, as a regular guy who still lives with his parents, struggles with his weight and is nicknamed “Cartman,” got his 15 minutes of fame and, boy, did he run with it.
Willis embraced his moment in the sun so much that he arrived dressed as Federer, with his signature headband and all, for their match.
For crying out loud, he’s a Nike commercial waiting to happen.
“If he plays it properly, to include remaining authentic and a breath of fresh air, his 15 minutes of fame can be extended,” David Carter, principal with the Sports Business Group and executive director of the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute, told the Daily News.
“He has the opportunity to be an aspirational figure, and some brands may feel that is compelling in terms of utilizing him in their marketing campaigns.”
Gimmicks aside, what we got was the best men’s tennis story in years, maybe even decades, as this everyman got a shot at stardom and, during what’s been an excruciating week in British sports and politics, Willis captured the hearts and imaginations of so many, if but for a moment.
Ironically, Willis’s financial gains may be encumbered by the very Brexit news he helped his countrymen forget for a few days.
“Unfortunately what has happened in the British market the last week, it is possible that some of the largest British brands will be cutting their marketing budgets rather than expanding them” said sports business and law expert Marc Edelman, a professor at Baruch College..
“So while this is 15 minutes of fame that someone such as Willis might ordinarily be able to capitalize on, based upon the recent events in England, it remains to be seen whether some of the larger packaged goods brands still have the same budgets for last-minute promotions that they might otherwise have in a different economic setting.”
At the very least, maybe Willis can move out of his parents’ house.
This year, Willis made $292 on the court, but his winnings at Wimbledon in his short stay surpassed $66,000. With more hard work and dedication to his sport, perhaps Willis can parlay this into something more substantial.
“On the one hand, he might be marketable because England is moving into a more independent mode of operations, someone that is seen as being uniquely British might be especially desirable,” Edelman said. “And the success of England in something might be desirable among the people. However, that needs to be balanced against the reality that the British stock market did not have a very good week.”
Stories like this in sports are few and far between. It seems especially so these days when we are drawn to the underside of sports and unsavory news items that makes us question our allegiances more than reinforce them. The Willis story is really what sports are all about and should be about.
Earlier this year, Willis was going to walk away from his dreams of a pro tennis career and take a coaching job in Philadelphia. But his girlfriend, Jennifer Bate, convinced him to stick it out. He qualified for Wimbledon through the wildcard draw and became an overnight sensation in his brief Grand Slam appearance.
To make it to the grass courts at Wimbledon as a wildcard, Willis had to survive six qualifying matches and then get by 54th-ranked Ricardas Berankis in the opening round.
When Willis beat the Lithuanian in three sets on Monday, he became the lowest-ranked British man to ever win a singles match at Wimbledon. That was three days removed from the world-shaking Brexit vote and the same day England lost to Iceland in one of the country’s most disappointing soccer defeats ever.
The crowd at Wimbledon, like the rest of us, was nuts for its hometown hero.
Willis, the 772nd ranked player in the world was eliminated in straight sets in the second round against Federer Wednesday, but in just a few days, Willis transformed his life and spiked the emotions of a nation.
How much he stands to gain, financially, from that, is unknown. In a different time and in a different place, he could have made a lot more from it.
Edelman points to the impact Brandi Chastain had in the United States from her 15 minutes, or some pitchers in baseball after throwing a no-hitter or a perfect game.
“They often are able to parlay their accomplishments into some kind of endorsement,” he said. “Even if the overall scope of their career is not dominant.”
Wherever his road leads from here, we’ll always have these 15 minutes with Willis. And that’s what sports are all about.