Never said they are deeply arrogant and disrespectful, just that is how their mannerisms come off and I hate watching it. It's a cultural mismatch, those common French mannerisms just come off like that. The video of Gauzy complaining about a let that wasn't called sickens me, but I am sure in France that is just how they complain and see nothing wrong with it. I find the mannerisms of Lebruns, and French soccer players as arrogant too, hence why it seems to be a French thing that doesn't mesh.
It's like the Chinese having a common word in their language that is very offensive in America. Nothing wrong with how the Chinese use it, but I still don't like to hear it. It's a mismatch.
It's like playing soccer in South America where it is perfectly acceptable to exaggerate injuries. As an American who played American football, I will never understand why you want to admit to an enemy that they can hurt you but the South American's see no problem. I am aware enough that it is a cultural mismatch.
Wow again. This guy just doubled down on his inappropriate and inaccurate comments..Shameful !!
He wrote "these common French mannerisms". Furthermore, he just wrote "but I am sure that in France that is just how they complain and see nothing wrong with it". More overgeneralizations.
it would be like me writing "Jeffery comes across like a huge bigot and racist" and then come up with a not-so-good excuse claiming that all I said was that he commonly comes across that way.
How can you be SURE (as you claim) that in France that is how they complain and that it's normal? How many official league table tennis matches and official tournament matches have you played in France that makes you so sure? Probably ZERO !! (pls feel free to correct me if that is incorrect). You have probably watched some matches on the internet involving some French players and feel that is enough to generalize about how French players "come across" and behave.
On the other hand, I have played hundreds of league and tournament matches in France as well as hundreds of tournament matches in the USA over the years. I have homes in both the USA and France (both wonderful countries) and bounce back and forth for months at a time. In general, the high level of sportsmanship displayed on a regular basis in the French table tennis leagues is amazing. It's quite common for a French opponent to compliment you on a great shot or rally in the middle of a match. In fact, I have seen many times when the opponents' coach and entire team stood up and applauded a play by the opposing player. The vast majority of the times, edge ball discussions/arguments are not adversarial and one player will quite quickly say "I thought the ball might have hit/missed, but you were closer to the ball than me and whatever you say is OK with me".
So, instead of doing the "open mouth and insert foot" thing, maybe you should simply say that you are not very educated on this particular topic and you simply misspoke. Happens to all of us at times.
If you don't like Simon Gauzy for whatever reason, that is your choice. Not everybody has to like everybody. However, broad brush strokes don't work well in these situations. Incidentally, I can tell you that based on one to one conversations and interactions with Monsieur Gauzy, he is a very nice guy, very pleasant, articulate and not arrogant or disrespectful at all.
On a side note, it's awesome to see Simon playing so well recently and regaining his form. He definitely belongs in the top 20 in the world !! It would be great to see him in the top 10 once again, but that is a very difficult road to travel even though he is such a huge talent.
All the best to you!! I hope you do not make a habit of overgeneralizing based on not a lot of info and that you are indeed not a bigot nor a racist.
