TEN MINUTES WITH ME IN A USTA BOARD MEETING

By Javier Palenque

Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response, fleeing the threat, or blocking the threat (like the leadership of the USTA does to me and my articles).

Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself (self-preservation). The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to a confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis. I think we can all agree that the USTA board and executives fear accountability and the exposure to fair and reasonable questions that they wish were never formulated, much less in the public forum.

What I will uncover in a meeting will prove how they act on behalf of the sport. They do not care about the sport; they say they do but the asset allocation says they do not. So, you do not have to like me or believe me, all you got to do is “follow the money”.

They primarily fear being exposed to the reality of their constant poor decisions that go against their stated mission. This of course would be a national embarrassment in front of the press, the sponsors, the Wall Street types, and the media in general. The tool they love to use to make sure that what is said and done at the USTA is never in the public domain is called an NDA. Non-disclosure agreement that they exchange for silence and of course using the money that does not belong to them, but to the mission. Where I come from it is not called NDA it is called buying silence with our kids’ money (the mission’s). Disgusting if you are a decent human, an adult, and can read and think.

In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia. I think it is fair to say that the USTA board and executives have accountability phobia don’t you think? And of course, it is…