She needs to relax. Now she faces some fines, may possibly have her prize money taken away and not be allowed to play in future Grand Slam tournaments:
I thought tennis was supposed to be a fairly civilized game.
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SoldierHawk
Moderator
Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 6085
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 04:44 pm
Ouch. I almost feel bad for her (as bad as I can feel for a multi-bazillionare, insanely talented superstar.) I know I have trouble keeping my temper in check in moments like that. Pretty harsh to have that kind of episode in front of a ton of people.
That said, the DQ and penalty is just. Whether you can help it or not, that kind of behavior is a no-go.
William Shakespeare wrote:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
username
Title: owner of a lonely heart
Joined: Jul 06 2007
Location: phoenix, az usa
Posts: 16123
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 04:54 pm
this is nothing compared to McEnroe
Klimbatize wrote:
I'll eat a turkey sandwich while blowing my load
Kubo
Joined: Aug 24 2005
Location: Mount Holly, NJ
Posts: 1062
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 04:56 pm
Serena Williams is a baby. This is just the most vocal and explicit manifestation of that. If I'm that line judge, and she says "I'm going to shove this ball down your fucking throat," I'd beg her to come do it. Please, attack me, multimillionaire. Cause me physical harm. Knock out teeth. Break a bone. Go ahead... destroy me. I'd be laughing all the way to the bank.
Or Serena, who clearly foot-faulted, can stop acting like a child who got her toy taken away when the official was just enforcing the rules.
Don't want to be penalized on match point in the U.S. Open? Easy. Don't foot-fault on match point in the U.S. Open.
Thou, because I am wroth, be not dismayed, for I shall win the strife, whoever circle round within for the defence. This their insolence is not new, for of old they used it at a less secret gate, which still is found without a bolt. Above it thou didst see the dead inscription; and already on this side of it
descends the steep, passing without escort through the circles,
One such that by him the city shall be opened to us.
UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 06:22 pm
Okay, I'll be honest, that didn't seem like that big of a deal.
She made a mistake, she got penalized, she yelled at the referee, she got tossed out. She leaves promptly and even shakes her opponent's hand first. She gets a fine and reprimand. I don't see why prize money DQ or a ban from the sport is even being considered. This kind of thing happens all the time in sports, and in some sports (baseball), it's even considered a celebrated tradition and a part of the game. It's not that big of a deal.
There are cases where further action is warranted (physical assault, continuing a tantrum after being ejected, having a long history of this sort of behavior), but here, I don't see a need for it.
She threatened an official. That's a step above throwing a tantrum. I think they're talking about fining her and taking away all winnings from the US Open without suspension, which seems about right to me.
Also, as a purely personal opinion, I don't care what sport one plays... bitching at the ref, ump, official is Mickey Mouse.
Thou, because I am wroth, be not dismayed, for I shall win the strife, whoever circle round within for the defence. This their insolence is not new, for of old they used it at a less secret gate, which still is found without a bolt. Above it thou didst see the dead inscription; and already on this side of it
descends the steep, passing without escort through the circles,
One such that by him the city shall be opened to us.
lavalarva
2011 SNES Champ
Joined: Dec 04 2006
Posts: 1929
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 09:26 pm
She got pissed off because line judges rarely ever call foot faults at such important times in a match. That official had the guts to call it,
and she gets threatened. I don't think many officials will want to referee any of her match ever again.
Apparently, the line judge considered Serena's fit as a death threat. She said something like "I'm gonna shove this fucking ball down your fucking throat",
which the judge interpreted as "I will choke you". And if someone said that while yelling at me for 3 minutes, I'd fear for my life too.
Also, kids watch the US Open both in the stadium and on TV, so they can't really let that kind of crap go unpunished.
UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
Posted:
Sep 14 2009 10:24 pm
Kubo wrote:
She threatened an official. That's a step above throwing a tantrum. I think they're talking about fining her and taking away all winnings from the US Open without suspension, which seems about right to me.
Sticks and stones and all that. Still, I think that sounds about right. She's already been handed the maximum fine.
It's banning her from Open events that I think is too much.
Quote:
Also, as a purely personal opinion, I don't care what sport one plays... bitching at the ref, ump, official is Mickey Mouse.
I agree here too. It's completely bush league. But it happens. And sometimes for a good reason.
My father manages a baseball team, and he's been thrown out of a couple games. He says that if a player gets pissed about a bad call, it's his job to get his ass out there and "rescue" his player by keeping him from jawing with the ump and getting ejected. However, he also says it's part of his job to keep his player's argument going for him and possibly get ejected himself. If you don't think the umpire is being fair, you gotta stand up for, and sometimes take one for, the team. It makes a difference for team morale.
My father has not (to my knowledge) threatened to shove a baseball bat up the umpire's ass. At least not within earshot of the umpire. But there's a time, place, and reason for arguing with an official.
Internet video doesn't really allow me to see if the call was legit or not. Either way she got tossed out of the game which is enough.
As for the threat, it wasn't very clear on the audio what exactly she said. Does anyone know exactly what she said? And I'm not talking about when she is arguing about what she didn't say.
Rydog
Title: Dragon Slayer
Joined: Aug 11 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 1511
Posted:
Sep 15 2009 09:54 am
GPFontaine wrote:
Internet video doesn't really allow me to see if the call was legit or not. Either way she got tossed out of the game which is enough.
As for the threat, it wasn't very clear on the audio what exactly she said. Does anyone know exactly what she said? And I'm not talking about when she is arguing about what she didn't say.
It was a bogus call, and I don't think she was tossed from the match, my understanding is she was penalized one point and Clijsters only needed one point to win, so the match ended. And I don't know what she said, but she was denying saying she was going to "kill the judge", which witnesses confirmed she had threatened the judge, supposedly. What makes this such a big deal is that it ended the game, tennis players wine and bitch and bark at judges all the time, every competitive person gets pissed off when they think they are wronged. I can't imagine suspending one of the top players when this will just blow over in a few days. Taking the Williams Sisters out of women's tennis is like taking Tiger out of golf, no one in America will care to watch.
