The Roger Federer Effect

Written by: Jason Whittington on 10th August 2011

The Roger Federer Effect

Roger Federer of Switzerland takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France during their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2011. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

theFEDEREReffect

So I’m standing with my plastic cup of Negro Modelo waiting to go to my seat in the box seating area at the Farmer’s Tennis Open in Los Angeles Friday night. As I wait I’m watching Del Potro take a surprisingly thorough beating from Gulbis when a women tapped me on the shoulder and ask “how many colors do you have that Roger Federer hat in?” slightly buzzed I first had to remember that I was wearing a hat, then the color (this one happens to the French Open red clay version), I casually play it cool and replied 6 or 7 as if it’s perfectly normal. Then she tugged on sleeve of jacket (matching French Open red clay limited Federer jacket) and ask “how many of these do you own?” now I’m starting to sober up knowing I’m sitting on 9 and not all of them were easily obtainable, as I turn to tell her I realize I also wearing a 2009 RF French Open polo from my collection of 10, my sobering up is now morphing into a panic and I feel like I just got emotionally busted.

So what is it about?… this almost obsessive drive to own a piece of RF emblazoned commerce history? It’s a couple of things, first, I have a deep and passionate appreciation for creative and engineered excellence. Roger Federer represents both at the absolute highest level ever seen. If you’ve seen Federer live you know he’s really not a big guy, in fact he’s looks a little slight in stature, yet his ability to generate sizzling pace with laser like accuracy without any visible signs of effort is pure creative and innate engineering excellence. I enjoy the game as a spectator and love the game as a player, as a player this appreciation takes on a whole new level. The feeling one gets when executing a backhand passing shot to the best of ones ability must be like chasing a high to an addict, it’s almost euphoric. Now imagine your most euphoric moment to a Federer miss-hit, there’s no comparison, a miss-hit by Federer is still a 1000 times more ascetically pleasing to what you think you thought was your greatest shot…even in slow motion. Why? because some people were put on this planet to show you what it means to go beyond the measuring stick of performance. Anyone can practice 8 hours a day and improve the engineered mechanics of the game. You CAN’T manufacture or develop pure CREATIVE ARTISTRY, it’s a very rarified air in any field and reserved only for few of history’s greatest.

So the good news, he’s in the here and now. The bad news, not forever. So for me…grab some historical commerce before it’s history, and look…he’s got a couple of news kids…he can use the extra scratch.