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-- Serena Williams flips out....
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i might be missing something here, but how do any of you know she threatened to kill her? has anyone seen that actually attributed to her in print, backed up by a real, official witness? everything i have read has said something along the lines of wanting to shove the f_cking ball down the judges f_cking throat...nothing about killing anyone...

the more important question that needs to be asked is why the frig do tennis matches need human line judges anyway? they have digital imaging which can tell if a 155 mph roddick serve is in or out...why have a fallible human being, WITH GLASSES YET, making calls like this?

it makes no sense..

ps- i agree with the people in here saying people need to buck up. anyone trying to take a case like this to court for some sort of psych damage should be kicked out of whichever profession theyre in, be it legal or medical.

quote:

Originally posted by The Ear ... If you can't take a verbal barrage, don't become an official in a multi-million dollar sport, and stay the hell away from positions in life where confrontation is to be expected.

I don't think that's fair to say...

in sport, there isn't supposed to really be 'interaction' (let alone confrontation) with officials. they are there to enforce the rules of the game, period.

in any major pro sport, if a player were to say that they were going to shove the ball/puck/whatever down an officials throat or otherwise intimidate them, they'd immediately be thrown out of the game and probably fined, if not suspended, by the league after a review.

hell, the NBA players get technical fouls for staring too long at a ref after a call/non-call and MLB players are tossed if they argue a called strike/ball, lol.

Which is why the NBA & MLB are still mocked for their softness. Officials should be held to the same standards as the athletes, as even though they're not paid what the competitors are paid, they're still on average paid exorbitant amounts of money and therefore should grow a pair.

McEnroe has paid literally over a $150,000 in fines due to misconduct during his entire career.
Now that may put some perspective on the tolerance of ill-mannered behavior on the court. However, I haven't been able to find (in my research, which may be lacking) a SINGLE event that has faulted McEnroe, or any other player with comparable behavior, for 10 grand in a single match itself.

Furthermore, in the male finals today there was a decidedly potent moment where, after continuous disagreements, Federer approached the umpire and actually SWORE, repeatedly against the judgment, as was acknowledged by the commentators during the live broadcast. It was regarding the validity of his opponent's last shot and the amount of time Del took to challenge it. Fed was of course, not penalized in any way.

Granted Federer never lost his cool, which is very admirable... I may just be wrong, but sadly it feels as though Serena questioning a situation like that would, and did result in far graver repercussions than what her counterparts may have received.

^^^ did any of those cases involve direct threatening of an official? (I'm asking...I honestly don't know)

I don't doubt there's somewhat of a double standard, with women being expected to keep their composure more so than men and I don't think it's gone unnoticed that it was a "big black woman" vs. a "small Asian woman", lol...but I don't think either of those issues is terribly relevant.

I think there's simply a qualitative difference between swearing at someone, calling them names, whatever...and making an *overt threat*, however unlikely or ridiculous it sounds, as clearly (one would hope) Serena wasn't going to literally attempt to shove a ball down her throat or kill her, lol.

her actions are indefensible and her penalty was in step with what others receive after previous warnings. I don't think she needs to be suspended or fined further.

quote:

Originally posted by The Ear Which is why the NBA & MLB are still mocked for their softness. Officials should be held to the same standards as the athletes, as even though they're not paid what the competitors are paid, they're still on average paid exorbitant amounts of money and therefore should grow a pair.

officials are paid well...but it's far from "exorbitant". from various online sources, 100-300k for MLB and NBA (with the high end reserved for long service) and under 100k for NFL (less games). top tennis umpires make under 100k, with most making half that and lines-people making less. you think that's a lot for people who are working at the very top of their profession?

officials are held to a standard...off the top of my head, Joey Crawford being suspended and fined $25k for his altercation with Tim Duncan. that was a significant portion of his annual salary vs. the typically weak fines that athletes realize.

I think it's ridiculous to suggest that officials ought to have to tolerate threats or significant abuse as 'part of their job'...which seems to be what you are saying.

quote:

Originally posted by bARTovsky Furthermore, in the male finals today there was a decidedly potent moment where, after continuous disagreements, Federer approached the umpire and actually SWORE, repeatedly against the judgment, as was acknowledged by the commentators during the live broadcast. It was regarding the validity of his opponent's last shot and the amount of time Del took to challenge it. Fed was of course, not penalized in any way. Granted Federer never lost his cool, which is very admirable... I may just be wrong, but sadly it feels as though Serena questioning a situation like that would, and did result in far graver repercussions than what her counterparts may have received.

I think partly the difference about Roger's beef though is that he was basically suggesting that the 'rules' weren't being enforced (or a double standard at least in terms of how much time players were being allotted to challenge a call), whereas Serena was getting ticked at the opposite, at someone 'doing their job', which she acknowledged in her post-match interview. And probably she was also extra pissy because she got numerous foot fault calls throughout the tournament, including the doubles match she played before the semifinals, so it just got to her finally.

I was a bit surprised at Roger's reaction as well, but he seemed fairly composed about it like you mentioned and the only swear word I heard was 'sh*t' and it was not directed at the umpire (not like he called him a sh*thead or whatever). Had Serena reacted in a similar fashion she probably would have gotten away with it (not the foot fault but the penalty), I think anyway.

Did you know that pro athletes get to write off fines???

I didn't know that.

I'm surprised that option exists under tax law. if it does, I would suspect it exists outside of pro sports, no? (e.g. fines permitted under a collective agreement between a union and a company)

quote:

Originally posted by VDub Did you know that pro athletes get to write off fines???

its a charitable donation to the teams that don't make any money

quote:

Originally posted by bcope wanting to shove the f_cking ball down the judges f_cking throat...nothing about killing anyone...

hey hey, what the h_ck man, gosh

well waddyaknow.. Roger got fined $1500 for his 'outburst'.
And $31,000 of fines were issued to players during the US Open, a Canadian doubles player - Daniel Nestor, got a $5000 slap for actions/words towards a spectator. Really sucks for him, that's practically how much the doubles players make (each) for getting to the third round.

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