I’m sure a lot of people saw Serena Williams blow up on the line judge at the U.S. Open. However, after being called for a foot fault on a second serve and match point, Serena said to the line judge in a harsh way, “I swear to God I will shove this ball down your throat.” Once she threatened the judge, the judge went and told the referee and Serena denied it happened. Obviously this really hurts the good image Serena had for herself. She is known for her crazy talent as a tennis player, and then goes out and does this.
Honestly, I would be afraid of Serena Williams if she was walking in my direction and started to scream this line while pointing at me. She was a good role model in the tennis industry and well respected. Nonetheless, she made herself look really bad Saturday night. What does she do from here? Will anyone forgive her for this unnecessary action?
Personally, I believe Serena owes an enormous apology to all sports fans. I say all sports fans because this clip was shown all over ESPN and millions of people heard what she said. I also believe she will have a hard time gaining respect and forgiveness from many people. I’m sure just about everyone realizes this was crossing the line and completely uncalled for and she only hurt herself and her imagine as an outstanding tennis player. With that said best of luck to Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki as they square off in the finals tonight.
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I definitely do not agree with your last paragraph. An enormous apology? Just because the clip was shown on ESPN, doesn't mean she told them to show it so she doesn't owe sports fans anything. She actually did apologize because Serena is classy, but did she really owe the apology to everyone or just the line judge to whom she was speaking? If this were baseball and a pitcher and a batter got into a fight over a bad pitch do you think sports fans everywhere would expect an apology from them? No. I would be very surprised to even see any time of apology from outbursts that occur all the time on the baseball field, football field, or even other tennis players that have made comments to line judges before.
ReplyDeleteSerena for sure owes an apology, but I can just as easily see her side of the situation. She wanted to win that tournament and she was projected to win that tournament and while the match is basically on the line she gets called for a foul that is questionable. To say that I would not have been ticked off would be wrong of me to say because I would have. No i would not have wanted to shove a ball down her throat, but I would have probably made some comment to her to get my point accross.
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ReplyDeleteI think Serena Williams was in the wrong for what she said and could of handles the situation better. I don’t blame her for getting mad about the call but on the other hand she shouldn’t have acted the way she did. There have been times where I have received a bad call and in a crucial moment in the game and just had to live with it. Once the call was made there is really nothing you can do about it. When Serena blew up it just exposed her to criticism from fans and the media.
ReplyDeleteI had a talk about the incident with one of my friends and he said what if she acted the way she did to cover up the fact that she was losing.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Serena does owe her fans and sports followers an apology. Children and young tennis players look up to her and that way no way to act. Serena is an amazing athlete and dominant at her sport. This is just simply who Serena is. She is one of the most competitive women in the world and if a man did this it would be no surprise. I do disagree with you on one thing. I believe she will easily gain her respect back and this incident will be forgotten shortly. In sports winning cures everything and since she wins so much this matter will soon be resolved.
Otis brought up a good point about Serena possibly doing this to obscure the fact that she was losing. I have heard others speculate about that, but I don't think that was it. I think there was a lot riding on that match and Clijsters had been one of the darlings of the tournament because of her comeback. Maybe that bothered her. Since then, Serena has appeared on everything from Martha Stewart, to Conan O'Brien, to Jimmy Kimmel. So, I guess someone has forgiven her!
ReplyDeleteSports are competitive and sometimes people lose there cool, it happens. In this instance it happened to one of the best and I think because she was female it was blown out of proportion. We talk about women having to show femininity but this was more of a masculine kind of thing and caught a lot of peoples attention. The whole role model issue comes into play and yes she lost her cool and said some regrettable things on the court, but anyone who has competed in sports and lost knows how frustrating it can be and I think people understand where the aggression came from.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Serena owes a huge apology to that line judge. It is good to have an aggressive side in sports, but no one should ever be threatened. It is just a game. If Serena came at me like that I would be intimidated too, she is a pretty intimidating woman.
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