A couple weeks ago, I was reading “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart” from David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster, and I couldn’t get over his explanation of why sports stars’ autobiographies are generally so dissatisfying:
Of course, neither Austin nor her book is unique. It’s hard not to notice the way this same air of robotic banality suffuses not only the sports-memoir genre but also the media rituals in which a top athlete is asked to describe the content or meaning of his technê … The baritones in network blazers keep coming up after games, demanding of physical geniuses these recombinant strings of dead clichés, strings that after a while start to sound like a strange kind of lullaby, and which of course no network would solicit and broadcast again and again if there weren’t a large and serious audience out here who finds the banalities right and good.
As soon as I read those words, I immediately thought back to a 2003 Primetime segment (but more relevantly a 2009 YouTube video) where Cynthia McFadden interviewed John Mayer:
CM: So do you have a girlfriend?
JM: See, here’s the thing … I’ve noticed that in this question, when somebody doesn’t have a girlfriend, they go, “I don’t, I’m single (looking into the camera with open arms).” And when they do, they go, “I’d like to keep my personal life personal.”
CM: So I take it you’re not going to answer my question…
JM: Well the answer is “I’m not answering,” but I want you to know that could mean either way.
…
CM: Whenever it gets too serious, you make a joke …
JM: Really? … I am avoiding the cliché.
I loathe post-game (and even moreso during-game) interviews simply because they are essentially scripted: “We need to play better in the second half.” “We faced a great team tonight, and we gave 110% … We’re hard to beat when we all work together.”
Every now and then, an interviewee breaks the mold.
And people pay attention.
They get outraged or confused or excited … they react. Ask John Mayer about the controversy sparked by his “outrageous” remarks in Playboy. Ask Ron Artest about … being crazy.
I’m not sure if I’m alone here, but I’m a fan of the unexpected. I appreciate the folks who rock the boat.
Keep rocking.
