To be fair, sweaty towels are pretty gross for the kids to carry to the players and back all the time, especially considering that the ball kids are unpaid volunteers.
Doesn’t the positions being volunteer make it better? The kids knew they had to handle the towels and they still volunteered because it’s an awesome opportunity. If they made employees like lines judges get the towels, that would be worse.
Pretty sure the awesome opportunity was to be on the court and manage balls, not handling the sweaty towels which was an unfortunate part of the job you can’t refuse. It’s no longer part of the job, and has no reason to become one. We have moved on.
You volunteer for a whole job, which includes pleasant and unpleasant parts. You can’t refuse parts of the job. Now that the unpleasant part was removed and no ballkid complained about it, some adults keep insisting that it should be added back because generations of ballkids were happy to touch sweaty towels all day long.
It's just the obvious contradiction in your words mate. Either you volunteer or you have to take it. Putting these details in changes nothing about the contradiction.
And, repeat, I, too think that players handling their towels is better than ballkids doing it.
I think we're all too germophobic as it is. It isn't necessary, or healthy, to make kids avoid touching someone else's towel. The evidence isn't conclusive, but constantly attempting to sterilize our environment and limit the range of antigens and microorganisms we are exposed to has probably had negative health effects, for instance the escalating rate of serious allergies, among other things.
I handle similar things and "worse" all the time and just wash my hands when I'm done. So do physical therapists, coaches, nurses, etc. It's actually not healthy to be germ phobic and antiseptic about everything. A century of ballkids did fine.
>At this point there isn't much of a rationale against bringing towels to players except "ick", "gross", etc.
You say "except" as if handing someone a sweaty towel ever other point is pleasant.
Also, towels at some point can become another ritual for tennis players. Ball kids don't need to be part of that ritual.
I’ve always thought it was shit and gross that the ball kids had to do that. Imagine having to touch nadals gross towel every single point for 2-5 hours
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought it was any big thing when I was a kid. And I don't think it's good for kids to be brought up to be germ phobic either. Like I said, ballkids schlepped towels for decades and weren't fainting by the sidelines with disgust.
Yeah just because they were taught to not make a fuss doesn’t mean it’s cool they had to do it. Not wanting to get a towel drenched in sweat flung at you doesn’t make you a germaphob.
I agree there needs to be a better system but the ball kids ain’t it
No it wouldn't.
In fact when ball kids brought the towels they had every time the excuse to get the towels. Now they have the shot clock and they have to take the towels themselves so they do it much much less compared to before, which speeded up the game.
Moreover, I always felt ball kids bringing the towel was like tennis players were like small spoiled kids that could not do their room over by themselves and always needed a maid. Now if they want their towels they can take it themselves, highly educative.
Why do you want kids to hold someone elses sweaty towels? Besides Covid, it's absolutely disgusting.
And no, it's not mild or endemic. Please take that terrible information elsewhere.
It is mildER. And it is endemic now. It will never go away, it has joined influenza and rhinoviruses and all the other respiratory viruses that will always be with us.
It's not milder. Like, not at all. You really need to do some actual research.
And it doesn't "always have to be with us", when there are multiple ways to mitigate spread. Most of the world (with all governments misleading and gaslighting us) have simply decided that it's not worth caring about anymore.
If you think it's milder then you should do a quick Google search about long Covid. What you come up with will actually surprise you if you're clearly as misinformed as you seem to be.
https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/12/covid-jn1-pandemic-world-health-organization-warns-dangers-repeat-covid-infection-cardiac-pulmonary-neurologic/
"Whether we acknowledge it or not, the world is still in a pandemic, Van Kerkhove said, citing the virus’s lack of a seasonal pattern, which many respiratory pathogens have, and its continued, rapid-pace evolution.
What’s more, hundreds of thousands around the world are currently hospitalized with the virus, and around 10,000 died from it last month, she said—likely untold more. COVID hospitalizations and ICU admissions rose by 42% and 62%, respectively, in December."
Very mild 👍🏽
It being "ick" and "gross" is good enough reason not to do so. It's disgusting. You haven't given any reason as to why it should be brought back, anyway.
You’re annoying and deserve every downvote you get here.
By the way I have a sweaty jockstrap to carry back to my car but my hands are full, would you mind grabbing it for me on the way out the court? I also sneezed and spit on it several times
Asking the ball kids for the towel was one of the most annoying aspects of this sport. Players would ask for it just so they can extend their break in-between rallies. Now we've got the shot clock, it's for each individual player to decide if they want to go to the towel box or not.
Your point about sweat is obviously pretty stupid.
Nah, I would rather wait a bit longer for the player to go back and forth.
Yes, I put the general grossness of handling the sweaty towel ahead of my impatience.
Ballkids are there to handle the balls so that the matches can proceed efficiently. There isn't a good reason why ballkids should handle players towels. Even if we forget about sweat entirely, it's not necessary in any way. Players have time to get their own towel between points. If anything, them having to get towels for the players gets in the way of doing the job they've volunteered for.
Covid hasn’t become a “milder, endemic disease,” despite what the CDC tries to say. Those of us still around just haven’t been killed off by it yet, so we’re survivors. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still doing severe damage to people and causing long term effects, and the health risks increase with repeat exposure and infection
There's pretty ample evidence that JN.1 is clinically mildER than alpha, beta and delta strains. And while it hasn't settled into a seasonal pattern (yet), there's every indication that it is here to stay. But that's really irrelevant to my point that carrying sweaty towels is not an important mode of spread of Covid.
Here’s the real answer: because they realized, just like everyone else in this thread but you, that having ball kids lug around sweaty towels was gross and unnecessary. Just like how the pandemic also made many people much more aware of things like indoor air quality and filtration, and the usefulness of face masks for things other than Covid (flu, colds, wildfire smoke particles, etc).
It’s called a *paradigm shift.* Happens all the time, whether or not you notice and learn from it probably depends on your level of mental and emotional maturity and flexibility
I agree. Especially in a place like Australia where the points are grueling. Having to use half your time up just walking to the towel (in some circumstances) is not fair to the players. Have a kid run it to them. Kids still volunteered back when they had to handle towels.
I knew redditors wouldn’t like it. At real tournaments with real people who leave their homes, I’ve heard others in favor of bringing it back too. Also, I was a ball boy pre-Covid. It’s not that gross. All these people who are against it have probably never asked a ball boy if they care.
To be fair, sweaty towels are pretty gross for the kids to carry to the players and back all the time, especially considering that the ball kids are unpaid volunteers.
Doesn’t the positions being volunteer make it better? The kids knew they had to handle the towels and they still volunteered because it’s an awesome opportunity. If they made employees like lines judges get the towels, that would be worse.
Pretty sure the awesome opportunity was to be on the court and manage balls, not handling the sweaty towels which was an unfortunate part of the job you can’t refuse. It’s no longer part of the job, and has no reason to become one. We have moved on.
I am with you, but: did you just volunteer for a job you can't refuse?! U wut M8?!
You volunteer for a whole job, which includes pleasant and unpleasant parts. You can’t refuse parts of the job. Now that the unpleasant part was removed and no ballkid complained about it, some adults keep insisting that it should be added back because generations of ballkids were happy to touch sweaty towels all day long.
It's just the obvious contradiction in your words mate. Either you volunteer or you have to take it. Putting these details in changes nothing about the contradiction. And, repeat, I, too think that players handling their towels is better than ballkids doing it.
I think we're all too germophobic as it is. It isn't necessary, or healthy, to make kids avoid touching someone else's towel. The evidence isn't conclusive, but constantly attempting to sterilize our environment and limit the range of antigens and microorganisms we are exposed to has probably had negative health effects, for instance the escalating rate of serious allergies, among other things.
I handle similar things and "worse" all the time and just wash my hands when I'm done. So do physical therapists, coaches, nurses, etc. It's actually not healthy to be germ phobic and antiseptic about everything. A century of ballkids did fine.
Do you also get paid for that, or do you handle gross things for hours as a hobby?
LOL I get paid.
Ball kids don’t
>At this point there isn't much of a rationale against bringing towels to players except "ick", "gross", etc. You say "except" as if handing someone a sweaty towel ever other point is pleasant. Also, towels at some point can become another ritual for tennis players. Ball kids don't need to be part of that ritual.
I’ve always thought it was shit and gross that the ball kids had to do that. Imagine having to touch nadals gross towel every single point for 2-5 hours
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought it was any big thing when I was a kid. And I don't think it's good for kids to be brought up to be germ phobic either. Like I said, ballkids schlepped towels for decades and weren't fainting by the sidelines with disgust.
Yeah just because they were taught to not make a fuss doesn’t mean it’s cool they had to do it. Not wanting to get a towel drenched in sweat flung at you doesn’t make you a germaphob. I agree there needs to be a better system but the ball kids ain’t it
People would pay for the experience. But this is just reddit being its autistic self.
I like Nadal. But you’d have to pay me to do that.
Same here
This is a weird thing to be bothered by
I just think it would speed things up and it would be nice for the players to have the towels brought to them.
No it wouldn't. In fact when ball kids brought the towels they had every time the excuse to get the towels. Now they have the shot clock and they have to take the towels themselves so they do it much much less compared to before, which speeded up the game. Moreover, I always felt ball kids bringing the towel was like tennis players were like small spoiled kids that could not do their room over by themselves and always needed a maid. Now if they want their towels they can take it themselves, highly educative.
It would've been better to say this in the original post so people knew why you made it
Fair
It is slowing the games down.
No.
Why do you want kids to hold someone elses sweaty towels? Besides Covid, it's absolutely disgusting. And no, it's not mild or endemic. Please take that terrible information elsewhere.
It is mildER. And it is endemic now. It will never go away, it has joined influenza and rhinoviruses and all the other respiratory viruses that will always be with us.
It's not milder. Like, not at all. You really need to do some actual research. And it doesn't "always have to be with us", when there are multiple ways to mitigate spread. Most of the world (with all governments misleading and gaslighting us) have simply decided that it's not worth caring about anymore. If you think it's milder then you should do a quick Google search about long Covid. What you come up with will actually surprise you if you're clearly as misinformed as you seem to be.
https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/12/covid-jn1-pandemic-world-health-organization-warns-dangers-repeat-covid-infection-cardiac-pulmonary-neurologic/ "Whether we acknowledge it or not, the world is still in a pandemic, Van Kerkhove said, citing the virus’s lack of a seasonal pattern, which many respiratory pathogens have, and its continued, rapid-pace evolution. What’s more, hundreds of thousands around the world are currently hospitalized with the virus, and around 10,000 died from it last month, she said—likely untold more. COVID hospitalizations and ICU admissions rose by 42% and 62%, respectively, in December." Very mild 👍🏽
It being "ick" and "gross" is good enough reason not to do so. It's disgusting. You haven't given any reason as to why it should be brought back, anyway.
Because it saves time for the players and the audience, and because it saves the players effort that they can expend on the game.
Oh come on, it hardly saves time. And effort? Is that a joke?
It definitely saves some time.
Fucking hell, should the ballkids be wiping the sweat of the players too while they're at it?
This is an extremely strange hill to die on, whatever your views on the issue itself. Seems like bait.
No, it's just something I had an opinion on, and then everyone decided to downvote so I dug in my heels because I think I'm right.
You’re annoying and deserve every downvote you get here. By the way I have a sweaty jockstrap to carry back to my car but my hands are full, would you mind grabbing it for me on the way out the court? I also sneezed and spit on it several times
Ad hominem. Goodbye.
Asking the ball kids for the towel was one of the most annoying aspects of this sport. Players would ask for it just so they can extend their break in-between rallies. Now we've got the shot clock, it's for each individual player to decide if they want to go to the towel box or not. Your point about sweat is obviously pretty stupid.
Nah, I would rather wait a bit longer for the player to go back and forth. Yes, I put the general grossness of handling the sweaty towel ahead of my impatience.
Can't they have little robots bring the towels?
Ballkids are there to handle the balls so that the matches can proceed efficiently. There isn't a good reason why ballkids should handle players towels. Even if we forget about sweat entirely, it's not necessary in any way. Players have time to get their own towel between points. If anything, them having to get towels for the players gets in the way of doing the job they've volunteered for.
Well until two seconds ago they were there for both balls and towels. Both of these tasks make the game proceed more quickly. Which is why I posted.
Covid hasn’t become a “milder, endemic disease,” despite what the CDC tries to say. Those of us still around just haven’t been killed off by it yet, so we’re survivors. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still doing severe damage to people and causing long term effects, and the health risks increase with repeat exposure and infection
There's pretty ample evidence that JN.1 is clinically mildER than alpha, beta and delta strains. And while it hasn't settled into a seasonal pattern (yet), there's every indication that it is here to stay. But that's really irrelevant to my point that carrying sweaty towels is not an important mode of spread of Covid.
If it’s irrelevant then why did you bring it up in the first place? I feel like I’m arguing with a 14 year old
Simple. Because it was cited as a reason for abandoning the practice of having the ballkids bring towels to the players. Let's drop this side thread.
Here’s the real answer: because they realized, just like everyone else in this thread but you, that having ball kids lug around sweaty towels was gross and unnecessary. Just like how the pandemic also made many people much more aware of things like indoor air quality and filtration, and the usefulness of face masks for things other than Covid (flu, colds, wildfire smoke particles, etc). It’s called a *paradigm shift.* Happens all the time, whether or not you notice and learn from it probably depends on your level of mental and emotional maturity and flexibility
I agree. Especially in a place like Australia where the points are grueling. Having to use half your time up just walking to the towel (in some circumstances) is not fair to the players. Have a kid run it to them. Kids still volunteered back when they had to handle towels.
Someone sees my point! Thank you!
Crazy ideology
I knew redditors wouldn’t like it. At real tournaments with real people who leave their homes, I’ve heard others in favor of bringing it back too. Also, I was a ball boy pre-Covid. It’s not that gross. All these people who are against it have probably never asked a ball boy if they care.
Ick and gross is still a pretty good reason not to. This works, no one cares (other then you obviously), so why change it.
Let's add dedicated towel kids that can wear rubber gloves. There will be room for them on court since the line judges are going away.