15 August 2015

I'm sorry Nick, you've just lost me

| Marcus Paul
Join the conversation
25
kyrgios

A Sydney radio station was this morning forced to pull an interview with Canberra tennis star Nick Kyrgios’ brother Christos about the Stan Wawrinka sledging controversy. It’s the final straw for Marcus Paul.

Earlier this week Nick Kyrgios was fined $10,000 USD after on-court microphones caught him telling Stan Wawrinka that “Kokkanakis [Australian Davis Cup teammate] banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate.”

Really, Nick? Really?

After so many of us here in the Canberra media have stuck our necks out to support you, this happens? I’m sorry (and I’m sure you couldn’t care less), but you’ve lost me.

These comments have made you an embarrassment. What’s more, you’ve embarrassed so many of us here in Canberra who have supported you, made excuses for you, and defended your past indescretions.

From time to time I’ve spoken to your mum, your sister, and brother – all of whom no doubt love and support you. But I also feel you might just have let them down too.

Well… maybe not your brother, who placed the blame elsewhere while talking to a colleague of mine this morning on Sydney radio.

Whether they were meant to be funny or not, Christos Kyrgios’ comments on Triple M Sydney this morning were simply beyond the pale. Christos suggested that the woman at the centre of the sledging scandal, Donna Vekic, “likes the Kokk”.

Though the interview was dumped and didn’t make it to air, Christos then boasted about it on social media:

“So just did a media interview for Nick. Said Donna obviously loved the “Kokk” they cut my interview and said it’s the worst thing they have ever heard on air. Ah cheers.”

Friends posted messages laughing at the comment, and Christos’ response is too vulgar to publish here. He went on to suggest there was an altercation between Wawrinka and Nick in the locker room after the match.

“The p**** is lucky I wasn’t there or he would have been withdrawing from the next few tournaments,” he wrote.

This is the same man who told Triple M radio earlier that day that his younger brother’s comments needed to be taken in context. Rubbish, Christos.

There is no excuse. Not for Nick, and not for Christos. Neither has given any consideration to other parties involved in this affair – including Thanasi Kokkinakis, and more importantly, Donna Vekic.

My fellow radio mates certainly agree with me when I say the apple mustn’t fall far from the tree. I can just imagine how Nill Kyrgios, the boys’ mother, feels about all of this.

Marcus Paul is the host of Canberra Live 3pm weekdays on 2CC.

(Photo: Facebook)

Join the conversation

25
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
batmantrilogy7:41 pm 29 Oct 15

just needs someone who can show him the right and potential path . Lad surely has good talent !

zllauh said :

The lad is just 20 . All the fame and money is taking over him. He needs a good mentor .

….and a good hairdresser.

was stan supposed to have done something to have brought on nick’s opprobrium in the first place? i missed that, perhaps someone on nick’s side here could elucidate. unless nothing of stan brought it about, in which case it is a vile slur that deserves the vilification it is receiving.

no, money cannot buy class. or manners. thank god we can boast jason day.

Narcobear said :

i am truly astonished at the vitriolic judgement being levelled at this kid

i really think it was a funny joke.

why cant we just appreciate a good jibe for what its worth? the amount of huff and puff over this itself is hilarious.

It’s just sledging, but now everyone is in on the act. We’re all just partaking in the same ‘friendly’ jibing. Where’s your sense of humour?

The lad is just 20 . All the fame and money is taking over him. He needs a good mentor .

Queue outrage at “your mumma jokes”.

Narcobear said :

JIBE

noun: jibe; plural noun: jibes; noun: gibe; plural noun: gibes
1.
an insulting or mocking remark; a taunt.

i believe it was a good jibe given the impact

jeez, political correctness gone too far? he’s not trading women into sexual slavery – it was a joke/taunt which had its intended effect. Have those concepts been erased from modern australian english?

and if he gets called a ‘greasy wog’, Nick would probably wear the slur with more sportsmanship than the cry babies crying foul.

people need to get their priorities straight – sports are for entertainment, they are not the sunday sermon in moral behaviour.

Kokkanakis banged your boyfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate.

JIBE

noun: jibe; plural noun: jibes; noun: gibe; plural noun: gibes
1.
an insulting or mocking remark; a taunt.

i believe it was a good jibe given the impact

jeez, political correctness gone too far? he’s not trading women into sexual slavery – it was a joke/taunt which had its intended effect. Have those concepts been erased from modern australian english?

and if he gets called a ‘greasy wog’, Nick would probably wear the slur with more sportsmanship than the cry babies crying foul.

people need to get their priorities straight – sports are for entertainment, they are not the sunday sermon in moral behaviour.

house_husband6:33 am 17 Aug 15

Narcobear said :

why cant we just appreciate a good jibe for what its worth?

Probably because it wasn’t a good jibe. It was a nasty vitriolic slur that unnecessarily involved a mate of Kyrgios’ and demeaned a young female player by suggesting she was effectively no more than property.

What if Wawrinka started in on Kyrgios’ family or ethnicity? Where does it end? I have no problem with a bit of banter in the heat of a sporting contest that is directed solely at the other player(s) but family and friends are off limits for a reason.

Tennis would be better off if Kyrgios was given a suspension until the end of the year (including Davis Cup) by which time he can decide if he is grown up enough to control his behaviour.

i am truly astonished at the vitriolic judgement being levelled at this kid

i really think it was a funny joke.

why cant we just appreciate a good jibe for what its worth? the amount of huff and puff over this itself is hilarious.

fabforty said :

HenryBG said :

Ghettosmurf87 said :

As usual, money doesn’t buy class.

And this is what it is all about.
Basic manners are out of fashion, so socially-backward plebs who would have spent their lives trotting after garbage trucks are permitted to join lucrative enterprises such as international sporting teams.

If you want your sportsmen to not embarrass you, then you’re going to have to do something about schools failing to teach manners and discipline.

Unfortunately you are right. It is now up to the schools to teach manners as so many parents seem unable. Something for Kyrgios’ mum to consider, especially when his brother seems equally as arrogant. Maybe less doting and more teaching ?

I am tired of seeing this kind of unacceptable behaviour being excused because it came from a young sportsperson. That is no excuse.

We seem to be forgiving all sorts of appalling actions and behaviour in sportspeople; drugs, alcohol, violence, verbal abuse etc. Apparently it is all OK as long as they can kick a football or hit a ball. It’s pathetic.

Until Nick Kyrgios can behave like a true sportsman I do not want him representing Australia.

Professionals in sport do not represent a country; they represent their sponsors and their egos.
The only time sports-people represented their country were in the days when they were amateurs.
Oh for those days to return

Tennis Australia should have dealt with his behaviour more sternly by now. And his family are clearly a***holes.

HenryBG said :

Ghettosmurf87 said :

As usual, money doesn’t buy class.

And this is what it is all about.
Basic manners are out of fashion, so socially-backward plebs who would have spent their lives trotting after garbage trucks are permitted to join lucrative enterprises such as international sporting teams.

If you want your sportsmen to not embarrass you, then you’re going to have to do something about schools failing to teach manners and discipline.

Unfortunately you are right. It is now up to the schools to teach manners as so many parents seem unable. Something for Kyrgios’ mum to consider, especially when his brother seems equally as arrogant. Maybe less doting and more teaching ?

I am tired of seeing this kind of unacceptable behaviour being excused because it came from a young sportsperson. That is no excuse.

We seem to be forgiving all sorts of appalling actions and behaviour in sportspeople; drugs, alcohol, violence, verbal abuse etc. Apparently it is all OK as long as they can kick a football or hit a ball. It’s pathetic.

Until Nick Kyrgios can behave like a true sportsman I do not want him representing Australia.

HenryBG said :

Ghettosmurf87 said :

As usual, money doesn’t buy class.

And this is what it is all about.
Basic manners are out of fashion, so socially-backward plebs who would have spent their lives trotting after garbage trucks are permitted to join lucrative enterprises such as international sporting teams.

If you want your sportsmen to not embarrass you, then you’re going to have to do something about schools failing to teach manners and discipline.

I must find out which school he attended because I certainly wouldn’t want my grandchildren to go there as well!

How long before the sledging spreads to the genteel world of golf? Lining up a putt and your opponent is doing a Michael Jackson moonwalk on the other side of the hole. During a backswing, another player mentions the questionable parentage of your wife. Actually, this might golf a bit more of a spectator sport * …….. * The above is a joke. There is no excuse for Nick’s behaviour and I am also at a loss why the media is giving his brother air time

Why are they interviewing his brother in the first place?

u legend nick, and props to Christos for having your brother’s back.

i am a 100% a fan of this type of sledging, its boys on the sports field/in the locker room – if there isn’t space for boys to be boys then what has this world come to?

he’s not committed domestic violence, wasted tax payer money or cried boo-hoo and made a scene Adam Goode’s style.

He even made the token apology on camera to settle down the sponsors/ATF, and he has copped all the MSM criticism on the chin, LIKE A MAN

Nick, sledge on bro! Its just entertainment, and u are a class act.

(and a big middle finger to the prudes and wowsers on here having a go at him.)

grunge_hippy said :

i reckon he will find the public are going to turn on him big time now. He might be S%$t hot on the tennis court but he isn’t going to win any more fans with that attitude. It also seems that his family enable his behaviour, hence why him and his brother seem to think that can speak that way and try and justify it.

not to mention his pathetic attitude to women, and in particular warinkas girlfriend.

All he has to do to redeem himself is buy and wear one of those F…Tony Abbott tee shirts and everyone will love him again.

Ghettosmurf87 said :

As usual, money doesn’t buy class.

And this is what it is all about.
Basic manners are out of fashion, so socially-backward plebs who would have spent their lives trotting after garbage trucks are permitted to join lucrative enterprises such as international sporting teams.

If you want your sportsmen to not embarrass you, then you’re going to have to do something about schools failing to teach manners and discipline.

I’m glad to see Nick’s (and Christos’) true colours exposed. I grew up playing high level sport against similar brats, in Canberra, who got away with this kind of thing from early teenage years. Their mean-spirited attitude and ego will never change.

Plus, it’s pathetic Nick’s mum and brother are his default PR team. The world is full of 20 year sporting prodigies – but Nick is the only one whose mum is in the paper every time he mucks up.

grunge_hippy9:11 pm 14 Aug 15

i reckon he will find the public are going to turn on him big time now. He might be S%$t hot on the tennis court but he isn’t going to win any more fans with that attitude. It also seems that his family enable his behaviour, hence why him and his brother seem to think that can speak that way and try and justify it.

not to mention his pathetic attitude to women, and in particular warinkas girlfriend.

If for no other reason, surely acting civilly would improve his rating with the public, and therefore improve his saleability (and income) with the commercial sector. As it is now, how unattractive would a product appear with him wearing/advertising it with his present behaviour, as against if he grew up and behaved himself. A lot of different appeal. His behaviour also shows his limitation with business sense.
If he were the face behind a product, it would possibly turn me off buying it, because of association, and to not encourage the commercial sector to give him money until he stops behaving like a spoilt childish brat.

Ghettosmurf873:43 pm 14 Aug 15

Solidarity said :

He’s 20 with all of the money he could ever want, doing what he loves.

I don’t think he cares too much, somehow.

The classic “I’m rich, so the general constructs and expectations of society don’t apply to me” attitude.

As usual, money doesn’t buy class.

Congratulations, he’s rich. He’s also got very little respect within Australian and the wider international society. He may be too sure of himself to care now, but eventually that will get to him and he will either whinge and complain that everyone is against him, or grow up and learn to be part of society, rather than operating outside it.

He may not care, but I think he might start caring when (not if) he ends up with bigger fines, bans from the circuit or from representative tennis, or even lawsuits from whomever he decides to slander or insult next.

Sure he’s only 20 but he needs to grow up. If he was in the regular workplace and he’d made those sort of comments, he’d be shown the door quick smart. Just because he’s a sportsman with some talent does not mean that he has the right to do and say whatever he wants whenever he wants. The rules apply to all regardless of your position in life.

As for his brother, he’s just a hanger on’er – only known as “the brother of Nick”, nothing more.

He’s 20 with all of the money he could ever want, doing what he loves.

I don’t think he cares too much, somehow.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.