"Paris is worth a mass", reads the famous sentence uttered by Henri IV, before he would fulfill the last condition to become the king of France - converting to Catholicism.
A saying Paris vaut bien una messe became famous, although some claim that it was apocryphal, but, if he had not been able to say that sentence (with all its moral questionability), Henri would have remained just one of the many great men who are still unknown today. This sentence "qualified" him as a king, and not an insignificant one, which in principle most kings are. He will be the king, the progenitor of the Bourbon dynasty, but, above all, significant for the passing of the Edict of Nantes (1598), a law that established tolerance and guaranteed religious freedom to Protestants/Huguenots.
Novak Djokovic, the best tennis player today, who persistently refuses to be vaccinated, is in hotel quarantine at Melbourne airport. Allegedly, someone from his team filled out the visa application incorrectly or whatever, and the authorities there show no desire to "do" to the famous athlete. It doesn't work like that everywhere.
Media interpretations of the event went in incredible directions. As expected, the great tennis player immediately became a "hero" of the anti-vaxxer community. That's why he dawned overnight as - Novax.
However, the most imaginative interpretations of this entire Australian soap opera undoubtedly belong to Djokovic's father. His discursive focus was adapted to the rhetoric of a time when a world revolution was expected. Listen to this: "My son is in captivity... Novak has become a symbol and leader of the free world, the world of poor and oppressed countries and peoples..."
Wait, this is how they talked about Stalin in what kolkhoz in 1947, the "Leader of the Free World"? Will the "poor" come too? A tennis player weighing over 200 million dollars?
The father continues: "Novak is the Spartak of the new world who does not tolerate colonialism and hypocrisy, but fights for the equality of all people on the planet" (and you thought he plays tennis? Don't be naive...) In the end, as befits, he goes a bit of prophesying the global outcome: "On one side will be the greedy and arrogant members of the world oligarchy, and on the other the whole libertarian and proud world that still believes in justice, truth..."
And all on the occasion of one vaccine. Which the tennis player refuses even though he comes to a country where it is mandatory.
The great tennis player would have to find a way to silence his father. Which, for sure, is never easy for anyone. If there is no need to ask him to "reduce the experience", the situation is even worse... This kind of losing hysteria (and civilizational frustration that screams from what has been said) does not belong to someone who is a proven winner.
Although sometimes you get the impression that even Novak, at least in recent years, lightly veers into some topics that he simply does not know how to deal with. His talk about "spirituality" (or "moral ethics") is the level of little Perica from jokes.
He would have to be aware of something else. He created everything he is and has thanks to tennis. And his responsibility towards the game itself should be unquestionable. He doesn't really exist outside of tennis and his impressive talent and skill for that game and no other. He may be a humanitarian who helps many (including the Australian bushfires, at one time), but that too is thanks to tennis and what the game has brought him.
The money he earned, Bach or Shakespeare, Dante or Kant could not even imagine, let alone earn in their lifetime. The experience of the pandemic and the suspension of popular social rituals has shown that the world can easily do without tennis, basketball or football. So, what did we do? Read Kant and Shakespeare or listen to Bach. They "worked" even then. And magnificent, as always.
That's why I think that athletes like Djokovic (or Kyrie Irving), with their attitude towards vaccination, don't show enough respect for the games that made them who they are. And outside of which they, in fact, do not exist.
In short, Djokovic, I guess before and better than anyone, would have to know that - Melbourne is worth a vaccine...
Bonus video:
