Not sure where to post this...Serena Williams rant at US Open

[jpro]

Maybe this belongs in the Tailgate section or the politics section, but I'm not sure. Mods, please feel free to move it if you think it goes somewhere else. It is only loosely related to tennis and politics, so I'm dumping it here. LOL

Serena Williams was getting beaten soundly in the US Open final on Saturday when she lost her cool, and the media/talking heads lining up to defend her has made me sick. On Saturday, after dropping the first set to her opponent, the second set was closely contested. She received a warning for coaching, as it looked like her coach was sending messages via hand signals. It is a dumb rule, but it is a rule nonetheless...NO COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR COACH DURING THE MATCH. Again, she received a warning. After losing a point, she was frustrated, as defeat was eminent. She slammed her racket down and was assessed a penalty, which is consistent and common. She then verbally attacked the official (who has a history of fair officiating). She claimed that she wasn't communicating with her coach, that she doesn't need to cheat to win, and that she felt she was being singled out. She then called the official a thief for "stealing" a point from her and demanded an apology. She then doubled down and called him sexist, saying that men players get away with much more than calling an official a thief. She even reiterated this in her post-match press conference. In the end, she was punished with a point and a game, and ended up losing to a young, first-time US Open Champion...but the Champs glory, fair play, and first major win was overshadowed by Williams' temper tantrum.

What bothers me is that so many in the media are rushing to back Williams. She broke a rule, was assessed a warning for it, slammed her racket, received a deduction, then flipped out and received another, harsher deduction. Her rationale is that men's players act that way and much worse (without penalty). This rationale is disgusting and what is even more disgusting is the support she is receiving from mainstream media. She was getting soundly beaten and threw a fit, then tried to justify her behavior by basically saying "well, others do it, why can't I?"

As the father of two kids, I would never condone this behavior. Furthermore, I'll be damned if I let my kids justify their actions by saying "others do it, so can I." Williams, and anyone who backs her behavior, are disgusting.

We are seeing so many people and politicians, specifically on the left, employ the same tactics with the media, and the media are so ready to encourage them. We have seen that when Trump does something that is "unpresidential" like tweeting something controversial or immature, the left acts out with nonsense and then uses the excuse that Trump is evil and misbehaving. How does that help matters? If you disagree with him, so be it. If you do not condone his behavior, I think there are many (on the left and right) who would align with you. However, to use Trump's inappropriate behavior to justify your own ridiculousness is not ok. Its disgusting.

I just don't know why people use other's poor behavior to justify their own; and why is this practice widely accepted and encouraged in today's world? What the hell is going on here?!?!?

I know...TL;DR. LOL

/rant

 

[03Sssnake]

She’s one ugly, crazy bitch....

 

[Zemedici]

She’s one ugly, crazy bitch....

View attachment 1514712

Not to mention been playing professionally for 200 years.

Maybe someone younger is better? Crazy concept

 

[04MysticCobra]

She is too full of herself and basically ruined the NY Open final win for Naomi Osaka. I always take pleasure when Serena loses....almost as much as when the PATS lose......lol.

 

[VegasMichael]

She also stated: “And I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. And for me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark."

Did she mean equal rights with men in tennis or in the country? And all refs are different. Some will call you out on things, others won't. Same in a lot of sports.

 

[FJohnny]

Lol. Funny how people can watch the same stuff on tv and come out with compeltely different interpretations.

I watched the series of incidents and was impressed at the time with how calm and with what grace Serena Williams confronted what appeared to be excessive insertion by the ump of himself into the game. I'm sure you know that the difference between the winner's pay and the runner up is 2 million dollars. This is definitely reason enough for the umps to let the racquets decide an outcome. But add to this the fact that a win was to put Serena into the most majors record book and it becomes more than money. Not claiming she was on her way to winning, but look how many matches appear lost only to have a champion rally and turn them around.

The announcers quickly assembled a montage of men in this year's same tournament actually ranting, not calmly like Serena, and bashing racquets about with not a single penalty or warning given. So, it appeared correct that she was not treated the same as other players. Some might actually find that quite frustrating. I think I would, anyway.

The initial 'infraction', it was noted, is done by every coach and player and is only brought up if it is audible, repetitive and after issuing a private warning to the player during a switch first. Seems reasonable.

I guess as a father of three girls I hope they would get treated fairly. But, if they felt with good reason that they weren't I would hope they would calmly stand up for themselves with a similar grace and dignity.

I agree with you that the president should act a bit more appropriately and that we can not use his behavior to justify our own. Let's all try to be more presidential.

All the best.

 

[Zemedici]

Lol. Funny how people can watch the same stuff on tv and come out with compeltely different interpretations.

I watched the series of incidents and was impressed at the time with how calm and with what grace Serena Williams confronted what appeared to be excessive insertion by the ump of himself into the game. I'm sure you know that the difference between the winner's pay and the runner up is 2 million dollars. This is definitely reason enough for the umps to let the racquets decide an outcome. But add to this the fact that a win was to put Serena into the most majors record book and it becomes more than money. Not claiming she was on her way to winning, but look how many matches appear lost only to have a champion rally and turn them around.

The announcers quickly assembled a montage of men in this year's same tournament actually ranting, not calmly like Serena, and bashing racquets about with not a single penalty or warning given. So, it appeared correct that she was not treated the same as other players. Some might actually find that quite frustrating. I think I would, anyway.

The initial 'infraction', it was noted, is done by every coach and player and is only brought up if it is audible, repetitive and after issuing a private warning to the player during a switch first. Seems reasonable.

I guess as a father of three girls I hope they would get treated fairly. But, if they felt with good reason that they weren't I would hope they would calmly stand up for themselves with a similar grace and dignity.

I agree with you that the president should act a bit more appropriately and that we can not use his behavior to justify our own. Let's all try to be more presidential.

All the best.

Throwing hissy fits is hardly a solution to any problem.

 

[Smooth]

Who let her outta the ****in' kitchen?

 

[BlckBox04]

society empowers these athletes and movie stars, thus they feel like they can do whatever they want and get away with it.

 

[7998]

"Athlete loses and gets caught cheating then throws hissy fit" = Non story

 

[Coiled03]

I've said this in several other places. After being involved with tennis for over 30 years, now, I'd like to think I have some insight.

The coaching call was bad. I'll grant her that much. What her coach was doing happens at virtually every match on tour. Every. Single. One.

OK - fine. So, that's a warning. But, everything that happened after that is on her. Smashing a raquet (entirely her choice, regardless of emotions), I believe, is a code violation. As such, the umpire was required to give her a second warning. Add that to the first, and the umpire was compelled to give her a point penalty. It's just the rules.

And calling an ump a thief would result in some kind of penalty, no matter where she was on the scale. I don't know how anyone could expect a ref to tolerate that with no response.

To summarize, the coaching call was bad. Everything after that was on her. She had the option to bite her tongue and move on. She didn't.

As far as men having done it in the past, yes, McEnroe was terrible. So was Jimmy Connor, and several others. But, we've grown as a society in the last 30 - 40 years. Men on tour today don't do that. And if they do, the know once they get a point penalty, it's time to get control. All of that aside, the bottom line is two wrongs don't make a right. There's no justification for how she behaved. And the umpire's response DAMN sure wasn't sexist.

 

[jpro]

Lol. Funny how people can watch the same stuff on tv and come out with compeltely different interpretations.

I watched the series of incidents and was impressed at the time with how calm and with what grace Serena Williams confronted what appeared to be excessive insertion by the ump of himself into the game. I'm sure you know that the difference between the winner's pay and the runner up is 2 million dollars. This is definitely reason enough for the umps to let the racquets decide an outcome. But add to this the fact that a win was to put Serena into the most majors record book and it becomes more than money. Not claiming she was on her way to winning, but look how many matches appear lost only to have a champion rally and turn them around.

The announcers quickly assembled a montage of men in this year's same tournament actually ranting, not calmly like Serena, and bashing racquets about with not a single penalty or warning given. So, it appeared correct that she was not treated the same as other players. Some might actually find that quite frustrating. I think I would, anyway.

The initial 'infraction', it was noted, is done by every coach and player and is only brought up if it is audible, repetitive and after issuing a private warning to the player during a switch first. Seems reasonable.

I guess as a father of three girls I hope they would get treated fairly. But, if they felt with good reason that they weren't I would hope they would calmly stand up for themselves with a similar grace and dignity.

I agree with you that the president should act a bit more appropriately and that we can not use his behavior to justify our own. Let's all try to be more presidential.

All the best.

I don't see this as calm, at least not the first ten seconds:


And again, she resorted to name calling. So to be clear, she was not calm (initially), name called, and claimed sexism. And, she was not gracious in defeat. I would hope you wouldn't tell your kids to yell at an official (which she clearly does), call him a name, and blame it on sexism while not being gracious in defeat. I find it difficult to believe you would condone this behavior if it was one of your kids, whether it was T-ball or the Super Bowl. Everyone wants to be treated fairly, but I find it difficult to accept that a person should use the excuse of others getting away with something allows you to do it too. Does it sound like a double standard? Somewhat, but if you act with integrity, you have nothing to be ashamed of. She didn't act with integrity. Period. She embarrassed herself and the media doesn't want to call her on it. Then after the match she talks about fighting for equality and women's rights? I don't get it...was she playing against a man? No, she's just playing the victim.

 

[earico]

 

[_Snake_]

I agree with you that the president should act a bit more appropriately and that we can not use his behavior to justify our own. Let's all try to be more presidential.

Wtf are you talking about?

 

[HudsonFalcon]

I like it when they grunt. It makes me happy in pants. Not her though, she scary.

But seriously.......

For someone who is apparently a new soldier in the ficticious "war on women" she sure did steal Naomi's thunder.

She really could've made this about passing the torch gracefully to a new generation but instead she made it about an "issue" and herself.

Sound familiar?

 

[SolarYellow]

The media is running on her defense because she's black. Period.

 

[Coiled03]

Lol. Funny how people can watch the same stuff on tv and come out with compeltely different interpretations.

I watched the series of incidents and was impressed at the time with how calm and with what grace Serena Williams confronted what appeared to be excessive insertion by the ump of himself into the game.

There was nothing calm, or graceful about how she behaved. She smashed a raquet, and accused an umpire - one with an outstanding record, I might add - of being a thief.

I'm sure you know that the difference between the winner's pay and the runner up is 2 million dollars.

So, the umpire should overlook the rules because there's a big pay day on the line?

This is definitely reason enough for the umps to let the racquets decide an outcome. But add to this the fact that a win was to put Serena into the most majors record book and it becomes more than money.

Now the umpire is supposed to ignore the rules so Serena can make history? Pretty sure her place in the record books is safe, no matter what happens from here on. Nobody owes her any help.

The announcers quickly assembled a montage of men in this year's same tournament actually ranting, not calmly like Serena, and bashing racquets about with not a single penalty or warning given. So, it appeared correct that she was not treated the same as other players. Some might actually find that quite frustrating. I think I would, anyway.

Happens at every tournament. Gets over looked at every tournament. At the discretion of the umpire. They're free to issue penalties if they want. Regardless, the "everyone else is doing it" defense is pathetic. We don't let children get away with that. Why would we let a grown woman do it? Do you want me to put together a compilation of Serena smashing raquets, and also physically threatening a lines person with no penalty? How's that sound?

The fact is, she lost her shit, and realized it was going to cost her a major championship. She assumed if she bitched enough, the tournament directors would make an exception.

 

[jpro]

My computer keeps freezing, but the cartoon posted by earico is racist in the eyes of many. Whether you think it is or is not, don't let that detract from the fact that Williams needs to be held accountable for her actions. Many will pull the race/gender card because they know a lot of people won't touch it. Regardless of race or gender, you should be held accountable for your behavior and actions, and using the excuse that someone else got away with it in the past does not justify acting out.

 

[EatonEggbeater]

While 'she' was on this self-righteous estrogen fueled diatribe, I wonder if it's occurred to anyone (Williams, or her supporters) that she's playing another woman? A woman who wasn't at all penalized when she failed to have a tantrum and break things?

 

[Coiled03]

While 'she' was on this self-righteous estrogen fueled diatribe, I wonder if it's occurred to anyone (Williams, or her supporters) that she's playing another woman? A woman who wasn't at all penalized when she failed to have a tantrum and break things?

Naomi was winning. She had no reason to throw a tantrum. But, she could've easily been distracted by what was happening, especially considering she was probably already feeling overwhelmed in her first major final. All credit to her for maintaining focus, and winning the match.

She handled herself with grace, class, and dignity. It's just a damn shame the occasion of her first major title was ruined by what happened. It should've been a day to celebrate, and enjoy. Instead, she and everyone else will always remember it as the day Serena had a melt down, or was a "victim" of sexism.