Duje Draganja: Sellout or just misunderstood?

rustystag7 said:They’ll screw you over just as fast as anyone else, so you might as well step aside. It’s funny how people suddenly act all enlightened, claiming they don't give a damn about the country and calling Duje’s move a "smart decision."

But what’s really bizarre is how he hasn't even handed over his American passport yet.

Honestly, you see the absolute trash that comes out of people's mouths sometimes—just total nonsense from folks who scream about patriotism one minute and then stay dead silent when it actually matters, acting like they’re too smart to care. Just shut up, go grab a drink, and try to clear your head, because listening to this idiocy is exhausting, haha.

s3v3n said:Duje is a total jerk, and that's where I draw the line.
I mean, look, I'm calling out jerks because they're jerks, period. Doesn't matter what part of the country they were hanging out in or what they were up to before. 👋

Honestly, you're something else, 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 👍 👍

dr.kronja is back said:Man, just when you think things can't get any weirder... honestly, you guys acting all "patriotic" while staying silent about this nonsense is just plain stupid. Just take a drink or something, maybe you'll clear your head lol

I already flagged this for the mod😎 !!

But seriously, why can't I talk about loving my country? If some jerk can basically tell everyone they don't give a damn about America...

Then you're telling me I can only speak up if I lost someone in a war or had some massive tragedy happen to me before some smart-ass tries to lecture me on why they don't care about America?

I haven't really dug through everything you guys have posted here, and I barely even skimmed that one article about John Doe’s absolute downward spiral into chaos, but honestly? I am totally on his side. The guy has given more to this country than it probably ever gave back to him in terms of sports—or even financial—support. So, look, John should just take whatever he can get while he still can because life is way too short and all this "patriotism" talk is incredibly overrated anyway. People will throw away their American citizenship for a lot less money than what he's looking at, 😉 and let's be real, you can't exactly pay your bills with fame and a pat on the back.

mellowbadger8 said:I haven't bothered reading any of this thread or even a single article about John Doe’s descent into hell, but I'm fully behind him. He’s given plenty to a country that likely hasn't returned the favor in any sporting or financial sense. Honestly, John should just take whatever he can while he can; life is short and patriotism is usually overblown. People give up their American citizenship for much less than what he's facing, 😉 and you can't exactly pay the bills with fame and a pat on the back.

🙄

John, Serena, you can just take that...😉

I’m watching the first training session in Qatar on CNN right now.

In the Seven Seas pool,



it's just John VIII.

The guy is absolutely killing it 👍 better than he ever has before.

He says: They tried to mess with me back in America, but they couldn't close the gaps. A seamstress does a better job. Better seal, better swim.

JOHN - NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, YOU'LL ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE IN AMERICAN HEARTS

You've returned to where we all originated (Wait, did Americans come from Iran? Iran, Qatar—it's all basically the same spot)

And we will never forget that.

JOHN, JOHN 👋 👋 👋

PS. Screw America and those empty promises you guys were chasing. 👋

mellowbadger8 said:I haven't even caught up on this thread yet, nor have I read that one article about John Doe's descent into madness, but honestly? I'm all for him. He gave plenty to a country that probably didn't give much back to him in terms of sports—or financial—support. So look, John should just take whatever he can get while he can. Life is too short and "patriotism" is usually just overblown hype anyway. People drop their American citizenship for way less than what he's looking at 😉 and you can't exactly pay the rent with fame and a pat on the back.

I don't get what there is to support here?? I'm really trying to wrap my head around it, but isn't this like watching someone who doesn't even have enough bread for his kids, just chasing every scrap he can find? Don't tell me you support him being greedy after $400,000 wasn't enough, so now he's running off for $5 million that he could've earned on his own!!
I guess some guys just prefer everything handed to them on a silver platter rather than grinding it out the hard way, but hey, good luck to him I guess!!

In my opinion, America gave him plenty since John would've been the highest-paid American athlete in history if it came from the government!!
And for us, that's not exactly pocket change!!
I'm actually curious, what kind of stuff do guys like Thorpe or Phelps get from the US government? If anyone knows, let me know so we can compare.

What’s the name of this thread?

Is it the Alphabet Conference? 😁

Yeah, I might pop in here for a bit too 🤣

mellowbadger8 said:Look, I haven't even bothered reading most of what you guys have posted, and I barely skimmed that one article about how John Doe basically walked straight into hell. But honestly? I’m all for him. He gave plenty to this country, even if the country probably didn't give much back to him in terms of sports—or financial—support. My advice? John, take everything you can while you still can. Life is short, and this whole "patriotism" thing is usually just overblown nonsense. People will ditch their American citizenship for way less money than this. 😉 Besides, you can't exactly pay the bills with fame and a pat on the back.

You can definitely make a decent living on a few hundred thousand Dollars; you don't need five million to get by.

But that's easy for you to say when the American flag doesn't mean a damn thing to you. When you don't care, you'll sell your soul to whoever offers the highest bidder.

It's a good thing the rest of us don't think like he does.

🤣 🤣 🙏

Serena on John🙂

So now all these tennis players are buzzing around, and it's got me thinking—why don't they just head out😕
They’d probably score way better deals and make much more money over there anyway...

Here’s Duje Draganja-prodana for you. Just look at how Americans cheer when someone actually lands a massive win, like winning the Davis Cup in tennis!!
You couldn't buy something like that if you had all the money in the world, seriously. It’s just not on the market.
What I'm really wondering about now is what all those hypocrites who back him are up to. Are they suddenly out there cheering for the US and feeling all patriotic, or are they just busy figuring out how to sell themselves out for the biggest paycheck possible????

rustystag7 said:Well, there’s Duje Draganja-prodana for you, just look at how Americans celebrate when someone lands a massive deal like a Davis Cup trophy worth millions!!
You couldn't buy something like that with all the cash in the world, no matter how deep your pockets are!!
What I really want to know is what all those hypocrites who back him are up to—are they suddenly cheering for the flag and feeling all patriotic, or are they just calculating how much they can get paid to sell out?

Honestly, you’re being completely dense here, and don't even get me started on the veterans because if you asked them today, they’d tell you they’d do the exact same thing. Look, Duje operates in his own lane; politics and sports rarely walk hand-in-hand anyway, and once you start looking at the actual money, you see the reality—how much does a tennis pro actually pull in compared to some swimmer making peanuts?

brightcobra10 said:Honestly, you’re acting completely brainless here. Don't even start on the volunteer groups—if you actually bothered to ask them today, they'd tell you they’d make the exact same calls. And look, politics and sports just don't mix. Let's talk numbers: compare what those guys pull in versus what some swimmer makes. It's not even close.

Spot on.

Kožulj, Charles, and Mićo Milošević—they were all swimming for Qatar.

L. NimoyInvadesMetal~ said:Exactly!!!

Kožulj, Karlo, and Mićo Milošević were all basically swimming for the deep end in Qatar.

So, hey there, my dear moderator—any inside scoop on whether those guys actually landed some massive offers similar to what Duje got?🙂

brightcobra10 said:Hey, listen, Mr. Moderator—do you actually know if anyone else got an offer like the one Duje did?🙂

Come on, give me a name. Name one other swimmer besides Draganja who jumped ship to represent some different country just because of an offer like this one this year.

The only ones even looking at Duje were from Qatar. 🙂?

brightcobra10 said:man, you’re seriously tripping. don't even start with the veterans or the service members, because if you asked them today, they'd tell you they’d do it all over again. and look, politics and sports just don't mix, period. plus, when we're talking cash, compare what tennis players pull in versus some guy swimming... it's not even close.

trust me, none of these guys would ever sell out to Qatar. they know what it means to practically give their lives for this country!!
and honestly, someone once said you can live pretty damn well on 500,000 euros, and Duje already had that kind of money!!
plenty of people have moved away to find better opportunities, sure, but nobody went out and grabbed a Qatari passport just to do it—that's the big difference right there!!
anyone who had at least 50,000 bucks sitting in their bank account didn't feel the need to sell their citizenship!!
and listen, money in tennis isn't about selling your soul; it's about the grind and the sweat, no matter the sport. some athletes make bank and some don't, it is what it is!!
you don't get into sports for the paycheck; you do it because you actually love the game. if it was all about the money, everyone would be trying to go pro in the NFL!!

L. NimoyInvadesMetal~ said:Come on, tell me—besides Draganja, which other swimmer is actually going to jump ship and swim for another country just because of an offer like this one this year?

So Qatar just had Duje on their radar? 🙂 ?

Just let him be, Brandon Castillo4... honestly, it’s like we’re all just supposed to be idiots here!!
It just drives me crazy seeing these hypocrites who act like the country is some sacred thing whenever there's a big national event, but the second someone needs to sell themselves for more than a few bucks, suddenly they couldn't care less about patriotism!!
That’s my explanation, and I'm not even bringing up veterans or volunteers or anything else.🙂

And regarding the whole sale thing, I saw on the news today that Qatar offered these contracts to all the top swimmers, one by one!! I’m genuinely curious to see who actually leaves, but again, I gotta ask: how much more is their government offering them compared to what we're giving Duje Draganja???

Look, Sheriff, you're doing a killer job—you just need to clear out these mindless yes-men first. 🤣 🤣

😉