Those of a certain ideological bent might disagree, but there are some lines media types remain loathe to cross. We might ask a politician when he stopped beating his wife, but no one is comfy with asking a tennis player about why the hell he's spending so much time in the bathroom.
"Pee or poo?", it seems, is a question reserved for Marge Schott -- and then only about her St. Bernard, Schottzie.
But how else do you approach the kinda-sorta controversy Stefanos Tsitsipas has created for himself at the U.S. Open?
For the second straight match, Tsitsipas took an inordinately long toilet break at a suspiciously opportune time, and, yes, people are now wondering what the hell he's doing in there. Tsitsipas spent eight minutes in the loo immediately after losing a set to Adrian Mannarino, a couple of nights after taking multiple bathroom breaks -- including one that lasted seven minutes -- during his win over Andy Murray.
The eight-minute epic against Mannarino seemed especially fishy, and indeed Tsitsipas emerged to bagel Mannarino in the next set and wrap up the match, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-0. So it was logical to deduce Tsitsipas used the lengthy break to get his head back together, and play head games with Mannarino.
Either that or there's a heck of a stash of reading material in that bathroom.
In any case, folks are wondering now if he's abusing the privilege, and also what the guy is eating. And it surely makes for some squirmy moments for media types more accustomed to more, um, customary questions.
"Getting enough roughage, Stefanos?" is not a question, after all, you hear every day. Even if no one's asked it so far.
So would the Blob ask it?
Nah. Movie buff that I am, I'd more likely ask Tsitsipas how the process of taking a mid-match break works, hoping against hope it would be the way it worked in "Cool Hand Luke."
"Bathroom break, boss?" ...
After which Tsitsipas locks himself in the bathroom and shakes the bush every so often to let 'em know he's still there.
Awesome.
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