Okay, so I just thought I would let you all know that I am writing this while watching the Packer Viking game. It is very distracting, but here I go anyway. The YouTube video above is pretty much self-explanatory, but it does not give my opinion.
Last year at the US Open, Serena Williams had an outburst during her semi-final match against the Belgian Kim Clijsters. Nothing was addressed at Clijsters, and if I remember correctly, Williams apologized to her that she had to see something like that.
The whole argument was directed at a line judge who made a crucial foot fault call against Williams a point before match point. I found this whole outburst a big surprising. I never expected her to do something so blatantly threatening. In the YouTube clip, you can hear Williams creating a fuss and yelling and threatening the line judge. I do not know if the line judge was correct in her call, but even she should be treated with some respect. Williams should have handled the situation more calmly and reasonably. What she should have done was politely asked the judge if she did indeed foot fault or not. If she was not satisfied with that answer, she could have gone to the chair umpire.
There is no excuse for her behavior, but I believe that her punishment was a bit harsh. She lost the next point which handed the match to Clijsters, and she was fined an outrageous $82,500 according to usatoday.com. I mean honestly people make threats all the time to others, but do they get fined that much money or at all? I think not.
Was Johnny McEnroe ever fined? He was notorious for making a ruckus at his tennis matches. I do not recall ever hearing about him being fined an outrageous amount. Men in tennis get away with it all the time. According to nydailynews.com, Andre Agassi once smacked a 120 mph serve at a lineswoman and questioned her sexuality only eight years earlier at Wimbledon. This was an outrageous outburst, but was he fined?
Whatever the case, Serena Williams did act badly. She should have expressed her displeasure in a different, healthier way. She should definitely not have threatened someone’s life. One point is not worth another person’s life. Serena Williams was certainly in the wrong, but she should have not been punished so severely.
Last year at the US Open, Serena Williams had an outburst during her semi-final match against the Belgian Kim Clijsters. Nothing was addressed at Clijsters, and if I remember correctly, Williams apologized to her that she had to see something like that.
The whole argument was directed at a line judge who made a crucial foot fault call against Williams a point before match point. I found this whole outburst a big surprising. I never expected her to do something so blatantly threatening. In the YouTube clip, you can hear Williams creating a fuss and yelling and threatening the line judge. I do not know if the line judge was correct in her call, but even she should be treated with some respect. Williams should have handled the situation more calmly and reasonably. What she should have done was politely asked the judge if she did indeed foot fault or not. If she was not satisfied with that answer, she could have gone to the chair umpire.
There is no excuse for her behavior, but I believe that her punishment was a bit harsh. She lost the next point which handed the match to Clijsters, and she was fined an outrageous $82,500 according to usatoday.com. I mean honestly people make threats all the time to others, but do they get fined that much money or at all? I think not.
Was Johnny McEnroe ever fined? He was notorious for making a ruckus at his tennis matches. I do not recall ever hearing about him being fined an outrageous amount. Men in tennis get away with it all the time. According to nydailynews.com, Andre Agassi once smacked a 120 mph serve at a lineswoman and questioned her sexuality only eight years earlier at Wimbledon. This was an outrageous outburst, but was he fined?
Whatever the case, Serena Williams did act badly. She should have expressed her displeasure in a different, healthier way. She should definitely not have threatened someone’s life. One point is not worth another person’s life. Serena Williams was certainly in the wrong, but she should have not been punished so severely.
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