On the Olympics Polls by Ferez S. Nallaseth, Ph.D. July 5, 2015
- Olympics: the polls from the non Squash World are saying exactly what
such things have said for the past 60 years! How should the Squash
World prepare for the post 2020 age?
I saw the article in the Daily Squash Report on the polls in the Wall
Street Journal. There have been some vigorous exertions by Squash
Players on LinkedIn Squash Groups and elsewhere. However the basic
points that will give them what they (and I) want are completely
ignored - which is in striking contrast to the renowned adaptability
and media savvy of the Squash community!
The key problem is communicating the game by elevating its televisual
dimensions. This cannot be done by a jerry rigged application of
current TV technology (e.g. tennis TV or Squash TV) but only by orders
of magnitude (massive qualitative and quantitative) enhancement of
televisual capability with frontline science. The application of those
methods will generate the scheduling of Squash on commercial TV which
will generate the revenue and the clout which not only will get Squash
into the Olympics, but of more importance, keep it there! Without those
changes we will repeat the disappointments of the last 60 years of
failure while more recent arrivals in sports leave us behind - all the
other stuff is necessary but insufficient!
These Wall Street Journal polls are saying the same thing that we and
others have been saying e.g. in the links below for decades, the only
difference being that they have better numbers. The significance of all
of this is of most importance to those who are most concerned and seem
the least interested -the players, coaches and those in charge of the
game - which is why a re-run of these articles might help. There is
nothing in the ongoing events that is not a repetition of the past
decades that Squash applied for inclusion in the Olympics!
It is also important to prepare the community for what seems
increasingly likely to be inevitable! Although I personally would
prefer to be dead wrong, I fear otherwise and so perhaps this time we
will get a responsible response from the Squash community. Towards
preparing for this eventuality and which end I would like to submit
this email as a re-run.
