I have been a huge fan of men's tennis since 1978. But just this year I have really gotten into the women's side of the sport. This picture makes my heart soar. I wonder how soon we may see one of these girls in a Grand Slam.
I am even thinking of taking tennis lessons at park & rec. Oh lord, help us all! Last time I tried to play I sent my friend to the ER with an eye injury. #sonyericssonchampionships
@morninggloria: Well, to be honest, there have been (and are) many great non-blonde women in tennis (Arantxa Sanchez, Monica Seles, Williams sisters, etc etc)
But I get your point, the media seems to pay a lot of attention to the blonde ones, especially those who aren't really that good... #sonyericssonchampionships
@morninggloria: Thank goodness she doesn't get as many ads anymore.
(Though I have to admit that if Shrieka hadn't promoted the Nike technology in the Cole Haan shoes, there's no way I would ever have gone near them, even though I have 'superiors' after me all too frequently to wear more heels at work.) #sonyericssonchampionships
@curiousgeorgiana: I wish I could come up with more puns, there's such a racquet in here, I can't even here my own thoughts. Please don't (grand) slam me for that. #sonyericssonchampionships
Serena apologized twice at her post-doubles championship press conference and was fined $10K.
Roger was fined $1500 for swearing at the chair umpire during his championship final, but never apologized.
(Also, his "outburst" was not brought up again -- particularly in light of his assisting the Swiss team in sweeping to victory over the Italian team in the Davis Cup this weekend.)
Jimmy Connors was not fined for his 5-minute rant at the chair umpire in the 1991 USO the weekend of his 40th birthday.
So hopefully we can all get over it now and celebrate the sisters' relationship and their great tennis (although more core work may be in order if they want to beat Kim Clijsters again now that she's back on the pro tour).
The Williams sisters are a shining example in the world of sports. They both have such good heads on their shoulders and consistently show grace under pressure. What happened at the US Open was a freak incident; worse behaviour has been displayed and TOLERATED. The media went out of their way to paint their father as a buffoon but unlike many other tennis parents he was never abusive or took advantage of his daughters emotionally or financially. The proof is in the pudding and I am euphoric that the Williams family is having the last laugh.
Everyone's apologizing for something so if I do something bad will I get a pass by publicly apologizing and clarifying my apologies by apologizing again?
Wait. It depends. Are you female and well-muscled? Do you have a significant amount of melanin in your epidermis? If so, you may be put on probation for an unspecified amount of time. Please check with your local forgiveness provider for more details.
She's a very physically intimidating person -- in size, not in *color* -- and she got up in the face of a much smaller person and threatened her with physical violence... "I want to shove this ball down your f'ing throat." I think she's getting off fairly lightly.
Oh, for the love of Zeus! Serena Williams was not reprimanded or fined for being a woman or for being black. She was docked points and fined because she acted out, mouthed off to an undeserving line judge and frankly, did not seem the least bit sorry in her press conference afterwards. To retroactively claim sexism or racism as her interview implies, and as commenters have outright mentioned on this site only denigrates instances where both of those forms of bigotry are actually at play.
@Tchotchke: For the love of Mike, nobody is saying that the punishment she received was either unmerited or motivated by race or gender. The question was over the media flare-up of this, and why such disproportionate attention was focused on Serena's mistake. And I'm sorry, but race and gender were big factors in that coverage.
@Tchotchke: I haven't seen her interview but she might be referring to the media blitz put on her bad behavior. Yes, men and women receive the same types of penalties but Serena is receiving the media/public backlash, sometimes based on race or her gender, when the same type of behavior by men in the sport is often overlooked, e.g. Federer's expletive laced rant to the chair umpire last night which I haven't seen in any headlines.
@Tchotchke: I didn't think that she was blaming sexism for the docked points or the fine (which were both justified). I think she was referring to the uproar that followed as people acted like they had never seen a tennis player, or athlete for that matter, lose it on the court. I do think people made a bigger deal about it because of WHO she is (half of the Williams sisters) and WHAT she is (a black woman). Just because she was dead wrong, doesn't mean that her race and gender don't influence the way people react to her. Either way, she has apologized for her terrible behavior multiple times...what else can she do?
@Tchotchke: I don't think you understand how subversive racism and sexism can be. Of course she was not reprimanded for being black or being a woman, we're talking about the reaction from the media and general population.
@DexterHaven: Yeah, that or the fact that she is arguably one of the biggest athletes of the last decade, that her tirade may have cost her another title, and that it was the first huge temper tantrum by a tennis star of her stature since McEnroe and Sampras were breaking rackets and making foul comments to the judges. And yes, I have read and heard plenty of comments that her punishment was due to her gender and race. There were plenty of people asserting that a white man would not have lost points or money for this behavior in previous threads.
@Penny: Please don't assert that I am unaware of how pervasive and subversive racism and sexism(or any other breed of bigotry) are. A differing opinion on this issue does not mean that I am naive or poorly versed on those issues. It's really patronizing.
@Tchotchke: Please don't claim that a black woman is blaming her race/gender on her punishment. I will assert that you seem unaware of it, because your initial statement pretty much screams that you are. Or are choosing to be.
@Tchotchke: What is patronising is that you seem to think you are the arbiter of what is racist or sexist and that anyone else's interpretation of it is not only incorrect but detrimental to the causes of anti-racism and anti-sexism.
The Summer of Death is transitioning obnoxiously into the Fall of Rude Outbursts, which will lead to the Winter of Public Vomiting and the Spring of Divorce. To everything there is a season.
It is times like these that I am glad I am not in the public eye. I have definitely had moments when I have snapped and lashed out people while completely stressed out. There is no excuse for it of course, but it happens to the best of us- you apologize, promise to do better next time, and move on. Serena apologized, so let's move on.
@confusedforahotsecond is a sodemombeech!: I saw it too, although at least he was sitting down and not approaching the ump, I suppose. Tensions are high, and there's quite the history in sports of getting in the faces of umps/refs/line judges and/or swearing. I don't understand why people act like Serena Williams is the first person to ever do so.
@Wit is periodically disensouled: It's because she's a lady, silly! And ladies are s'posed to be demure and soft-spoken, no matter the circumstance. It's basically the boys-will-be-boys thing, which means showing anger is acceptable-and even expected-in guys, but for a woman to show her emotions is just not ok.
Oh! I forgot to say: I don't think it's ever ok to threaten someone, but I am a hypocrite, because I've done it myself when angry. See: Driving.
@confusedforahotsecond is a sodemombeech!: well thats odd...all week I have been told that tennis is the one sport that is refined and dignified and that Serena's outburst was a besmirch-ment on this sport of kings.
@sassyredhead: Yes, indeed he did. And I was struck by how not-so-outraged the commentators were. But I was glad it happened - it brought balance to the whole deal.
@bluebears: I think people just want an excuse to use the word besmirch. I mean, can football ever be besmirched?
Besmirch makes me think of smudged lipstick.
She apologized, right? And everyone, including Serena, agreed that this was unacceptable, unsports(wo)man-like conduct, right? And she's admitted that she was extremely frustrated with the timing of the call and while that doesn't excuse her reaction, it makes sense. Because she's a human being. And human beings can get really riled up when involved in a competition. I don't like how she conducted herself, no, but I HATE how this is being made into such a big fucking deal when there are male sports figures who've acted the same (or worse) without receiving such a public spanking. She apologized, now let's move on, k?
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I am even thinking of taking tennis lessons at park & rec. Oh lord, help us all! Last time I tried to play I sent my friend to the ER with an eye injury. #sonyericssonchampionships
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But I get your point, the media seems to pay a lot of attention to the blonde ones, especially those who aren't really that good... #sonyericssonchampionships
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PS. I almost forgot Gabriela Sabatini in the first group #sonyericssonchampionships
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(Though I have to admit that if Shrieka hadn't promoted the Nike technology in the Cole Haan shoes, there's no way I would ever have gone near them, even though I have 'superiors' after me all too frequently to wear more heels at work.) #sonyericssonchampionships
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Roger was fined $1500 for swearing at the chair umpire during his championship final, but never apologized.
(Also, his "outburst" was not brought up again -- particularly in light of his assisting the Swiss team in sweeping to victory over the Italian team in the Davis Cup this weekend.)
Jimmy Connors was not fined for his 5-minute rant at the chair umpire in the 1991 USO the weekend of his 40th birthday.
So hopefully we can all get over it now and celebrate the sisters' relationship and their great tennis (although more core work may be in order if they want to beat Kim Clijsters again now that she's back on the pro tour).
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Wait. It depends. Are you female and well-muscled? Do you have a significant amount of melanin in your epidermis? If so, you may be put on probation for an unspecified amount of time. Please check with your local forgiveness provider for more details.
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I also think it's wonderful that she has apologised.
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@morninggloria: On that note...
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Serena apologized, so let's move on.
I should clarify that is a criticism of the media outrage, not Jezebel. :)
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Maybe the outbursts are due to something in the water out in Queens...
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Oh! I forgot to say: I don't think it's ever ok to threaten someone, but I am a hypocrite, because I've done it myself when angry. See: Driving.
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They like us to think it's all dignified. But it's just a boxing match with rackets and a ball.
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Besmirch makes me think of smudged lipstick.
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