I am an American guy, and like many an American guy I watch a lot of sports. I like baseball, football, and basketball. In early summer I can't get enough of the Tour de France bike race. I even like tennis. I'm American enough that soccer matches bore me, even though I was taken to a live Pro Soccer match once by a Croatian friend and it was intriguing to watch the crowd. Rugby has a certain fascination. Hey, I know what a scrum is. Couldn't watch it regularly, though. Forget cricket. Way too British for me. Do know what a wicket is, however.
Anyway, as an American guy, I can discuss sports I don't even watch, simply it's a guy thing to do. To relate to other guys at work, you talk about sports. Didn't watch it. Read the digest version in the sports page and fake it. Grew up in the South and never been to a hockey match in my life. I always know where the Blackhawks stand, though. I even know enough to tout the minor league Wolves from the suburbs for those serious hockey fan friends.
Most of these typical American sports, baseball, football, basketball, and hockey can get a bit rough from time to time. Baseball has its bench-clearing brawls. The old standard joke about hockey is "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." Football, by its very nature, is just brutal. I have seen a few fights break out on an NBA court, and the swearing, threatening, and trash-talking there is elevated to heights that have to be seen to be believed.
Yet I really like tennis. Tennis is genteel. Tennis has always been a sport that descended from pastimes of the aristocracy. There are dress codes. There is expected genteel behavior. Kind of cool, even if Andy Roddick does send serves at other people at 135 mph. People are expected to be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat. People don't punch each other out and threaten and trash talk. It's tennis.
This brings us to the ignominious debacle that was Serena Williams's defeat in the Semifinals of the U.S. Open this past weekend. She was clearly losing, and was not accustomed to losing. After dropping the first set she smashed her racket on the court. I'm not talking about just throwing her racket down. I'm talking about a major temper tantrum that resulted in that poor racket being totally bent and broken. Priced a serious racket recently?
Then when Ms. Williams was on the verge of losing the second set, and thus the match, a line judge called her for a foot fault. Williams erupted with an ugly tirade of profanity and threats. "I'd like to shove this f*****g ball down your f*****g throat, etc., etc., etc." She was wielding a racket (Remember the dismembered racket from the previous set?) and waving it in the face of the line judge while engaging in the tirade. The small and mousy-looking little line judge appeared terrified. She reported what was said. She reported what happened. Williams had already received and unsportsmanlike conduct warning for the racket destruction tirade. For a second infraction it results in a one point penalty. It was match point and she lost.
I have no doubt that Serena Williams would have lost anyway. However, being penalized the point that sealed the deal was what she deserved for such behavior. She was fined $10,000 for the incident. That was peanuts. She should be suspended from the pro tennis tour for a while to think it over. Her behavior was unacceptable. This is tennis. Want to act like a low-class bully? Go to the NBA or one of those other pugnacious pro athlete venues. There are some things that are genteel and should remain that way.
Brande Martin posts:
ReplyDeleteYou obviously didn't watch much tennis in the past -- US pro tennis -- genteel -- not quite -- how quickly our minds forget and only recall the most recent images that we see -- time moves on -- memories fade -- hum... what about John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Andre Agassi? -- all tennis hotheads -- cursing, flailing arms in disgust at the umpires, throwing and breaking racquets. All, including Serena, fit into US pro tennis history -- all illustrating terrible behavior.
Should she be suspended from the circuit? She could be used as an example and then maybe alert future players that they need to keep their tempers in control. Should she be suspended from playing a few upcoming grand slam tournaments, such as next US Open? She could still be used as an example to set the tone that such behavior carries a more significant penalty than a fine that is not really a big deal for a top player to pay.
What do I think? Overall, I think a suspension from a few of the grand slam tournaments, such as next US Open, would be suitable to send the message to all tour tennis players, including Serena, that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. And, it would then affect the rankings as well.
And, I'm sure my opinion will be considered tainted because I'm African American -- hopefully, you won't choose to go there -- I'm just thinking of US tennis history and how the others weren't suspended for their erratic, unprofessional behavior -- actually, they were "championed" for being hotheads. Not that these previous behaviors make it acceptable now, but as far as I know, this was her first major incident, so I guess I'm being a moderate in my approach. First offense -- suspend her for next US Open, in particular. Potential second offense, no tolerance -- you're out.
As for what Serena said to lines woman as being the reason to kick her out, possibly reason enough she should be suspended, but I'd have to analyze what the others had said in their outbursts before making final determination.
Do I agree with that "romanticized" view of McEnroe, et al? Not at all. They embarrassed me -- I was an Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker fan, although both had their hothead moments as well, but my favorite player was Steffi Graf -- crisp, precise, level-headed, no-nonsense tennis player. And, then there is the tennis maestro -- Federer... what more do I have to say about him. :-)
Ironically, just days before Serena's outburst, a clip was shown from one of the first night games at US Open in maybe the late 70s -- one of the players, not from US, was angry with a call, basically knocked the hat off of the head of the lines person who he felt made a bad call. The player held up match by refusing to continue play -- crowd got rowdy and threw items onto the court.
Tennis genteel -- well, that is its perceived reputation -- British aristocracy -- then US country club elite. But, as the history shows, particularly for US professional tennis history, it has not necessarily been the reputation in terms of US tennis elite players.
It will be interesting to see how Serena's reputation transforms after this incident.
The most disappointing aspect was that the incident did somewhat overshadow Clijsters come-back win... tennis games can always unexpectedly change course, but it seemed likely that even if Serena would not have had her outburst, Clijsters would have won. And, most competitors want to win because they earned it and not be given a point. Nonetheless, Clijsters has always been a great player so it is sweet that she had such a lovely come-back!
It is altogether possible that you have watched more tennis than I, however I have watched quite a lot of tennis as well. I do remember John McEnroe's temper tantrums. Boris Becker had a reputation as a brat. I don't remember much of it escalating to the extent of threatening line judges as did the tirade the other day. Perhaps I'm wrong. I did read that Roger Federer had an outburst yesterday that he directed at a line judge when he was losing. I didn't see it and I can't comment on that. As for race, that is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. Such conduct shouldn't be tolerated by anyone in tennis, regardless of race, nationality, or sex.
ReplyDeleteFrom the larger perspective, I suspect some people are more shocked by Serena Williams's outbursts because women, as a whole, are generally better behaved than men. In that respect, we need to hold men to the same standard. If McEnroe and some of the above-mentioned players behaved as badly as Ms. Williams did, perhaps they too should have been suspended from competition for a while to think it over. Swearing at oneself for missing a shot one thought they should have made is one thing. Swearing and menacing line judges is quite another.
As for Serena Williams's reputation changing, public perception of her changing after this, I suspect a few people will be outraged for a couple of days and then their outrage will find a new target with the new news cycle. This is Amereica. I do suspect that Clijsters would have won the match anyway, but it is terribly sad that it had to be overshadowed by the fit of temper and subsequent to-do in the news. Always interested in insights and comments. Thanks. RD
I agree with you both. The debacle overshadowed Clijsters likely win. Too bad. Luckily she went on to win the final. American tennis, genteel? Not.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I think McEnroe should have been thrown out a few times. (my hero is Bjorn Borg)
Personally, I just hate unsportsmanlike conduct, period. Serena should have apologized sooner than she did (I suspect Nike got involved on that one). Tempers flare when there are bad calls, and that one was a bad call. A foot fault at match point? come on. But berating and threatening-- way out of line-now, back in the day, or ever. And then not immediately apologizing and "moving on" instead. Bad call again.
I think it says a lot about our culture--American, in-your-face culture--that it is the US Open where historically this stuff happens. (Or maybe it's NY culture :) Kidding. It's just so much more enjoyable to watch a gracious loser.
David Brooks-- who I usually don't care for--had a column today about how we've lost our humility as a country. He may have a point. Self-effacement has been replaced with bombast and self-esteem. And it's not just Serena. Our loss, if you ask me.
Brande Martin posted:
ReplyDeleteRex, when I wrote my posting, I didn't know about Federer's ranting... I think that overall, everyone has gone mad... hahaha.
So many folks last week having their outbursts or erratic behavior -- Joe Wilson, Serena, Kayne West, Federer -- I happened to catch a bit of Jay Leno, and he said the answer is duct tape to put on all of their mouths.
And, Barb, I agree -- there is no humility anymore nor is there any decorum. I am all for standing up for a cause, rebelling, & speaking one's mind, but I wish folks still had a clue about decorum.
If only more folks would listen to Rex, Barb, and Brande... :-)