The Media Drop

While I don’t expect everyone in the media to pronounce everyone’s name correctly 100% of the time, it gets a little frustrating when 100% of the people in the media are pronouncing one athlete’s name wrong 100% of the time. This is the case with this past year’s media darling from the tennis world, Maria Sharapova.

On Wednesday (or was it Thursday - who can tell when they’re in Australia), Sharapova lost her match to Serena Williams after taking the first set 6-2. Strangely enough, she probably would have gotten less coverage today if she had won, but since Serena had lost her last two bouts with the Russian-Floridian star, it was a big deal. Hence my complaint. One would have imagined that since she won Wimbledon last summer that her name would be clear by now. I’d heard it correctly used once or twice when she was making the morning-show-mania rounds for a week or two, but not at all since. So let’s just clarify this - mind you, there is a BOOK for this type of thing that is given to those who cover tennis live - it’s SHArapova. The first two a’s are long sounds. My pal Notorious MiG clarifies that they should be pronounced like the second “a” in “alpha.”

Think Sha Na Na, not Share A Pova.

Now back to our regularly scheduled TMD.