Can we call a moratorium on the bizarre tennis practice of kissing hardware?
When people receive a trophy or a plate or a cup signifying success at an event, no one's first, second or third thought is: "Wow, I really want to kiss this chunk of metal."
Yet we cannot get past the conclusion of a tennis event, men's or women's, without the apparently obligatory photographs of the champion's lips on said trophy.
Much of the blame must be shouldered by photographers, who encourage - nay, demand - that the champion of anything from Wimbledon to the Kremlin Cup buss the cup/plate/trophy.
Watch the aftermath of the silverware presentation, the awkward "posing for a few snaps" portion of the proceedings. You actually can see the folks with cameras insisting on the kiss-the-metal shot. Typically the winner awkwardly holds the pose for far too many seconds, gives it a break, then is urged to do it again by the three fellows who were using the wrong lens.
I can see the utility of having the face of the winner and his/her hardware in the same frame, but isn't the effect the same if the champion simply holds the silverware next to his or her ear?
What we need is someone with a strong personality, a Roger Federer or Venus Williams, to Just Say No. "Not kissing any trophy. I am not that fond of it. Don't know where it's been."
Could set a tongue-firmly-in-cheek sports precedent.
