Running U.S. Open discussion

[BTExpress]

She and her sister are two self-centered, pompous, self-absorbed witches with a B on wheels and she embarassed herself.

A few years ago Venus was horribly screwed by the chair umpire who GOT THE SCORE WRONG IN A TIEBREAK at Wimbledon.

Venus handled that with more class than any other player would have.

Always pressing the Easy Button and lumping Venus together with Serena at every opportunity is terribly misguided.

 

[Small Town Guy]

If the USTA doesn't suspend Serena -- a true suspension, like default the sisters from their doubles final Sunday, not some wussy she can't play during a time where there are no tournaments -- then the organization has no balls.

There's no excuse for what she did.

And, leave it to Bad Boy McEnroe to defend her saying "You don't make that call at that point." WRONG! What is this the NBA when refs are told to sawllow their whistles the last 10 seconds?

I interviewed a veteran linesman years ago who called finals from the chair at Grand Slams. He told me something about rules that I never forgot. He said "What if you're at the final at Wimbledon, fifth set, 30-40 match point, second serve, and the server foot faults? You call "foot fault." That's the rule."

So Mac, you've got no credibility for upholding the integrity of the game, as if you ever did as a player. Neither does Serena.

Suspend her and fine her. Hard. Today. And tennis writers should join in that call and hold the USTA's feet to the fire or they're wrongly protecting a meal ticket.

I'm saying that linesman you talked to has more courage while talking about a hypothetical than he would during an actual grand slam final.

I'm going to guess that there has been a grand slam final at some point in history - male or female - where a player committed a foot fault on championship point. Yet I don't remember any grand slam final ending with a foot fault being called. They swallow their whistles, so to speak. And rightfully so. This wasn't like ignoring a foul in the closing seconds of an NBA game; this was like calling three seconds in the lane with two seconds to go, right before the guy's going for the shot with his team down by 1. In Game 7 of the playoffs.

The outburst was horrendous, but it was still a bad call.

 

[nafselon]

Last time I remember a player losing a crucial late-round slam match, more or less, because of a code violation was Part 3 of the Rafter-Agassi semifinal series at Wimbeldon (It was the year Ivanesivic won).

Agassi made an unforced error and cursed at himself (I think). One of the linespeople told the chair umpire and that made the match 40-15. Rafter won match point and Agassi whisked a ball by the girl. Close enough to get her attention, but definitely not close enough to hit her.

The girl who ran to the chair ump was panned by the TNT broadcast team. Now I'm pretty sure Agassi was cursing at himself.

Hell I remember Boris Becker throwing an incredible tantrum during his final against Michael Stich many years ago. Luckily he was cursing in German.

 

[Big Circus]

The video posted on Deadspin implied that Serena used the word "gook" to the line judge...did that happen?

Are you sure?

No, not at all. That's why I asked. Someone put up captions to the video that they used and it said that. Then I googled "Serena Williams gook" and got a result to a tennis message board talking about last night's meltdown. So there are at least a couple of people that either heard it somehow or made it up.

 

[hondo]

Whether she used the words gook or kill or whatever, it was in appropriate. Then she tried to lie her way out of it. Then she compounds it in the post-match interview by being insolent and condenscending. And I love the part where she says,"I used to have a worse temper." Oh, so that excuses this display of temper because you used to be worse?

 

[imjustagirl]

The video posted on Deadspin implied that Serena used the word "gook" to the line judge...did that happen?

Are you sure?

No, not at all. That's why I asked. Someone put up captions to the video that they used and it said that. Then I googled "Serena Williams gook" and got a result to a tennis message board talking about last night's meltdown. So there are at least a couple of people that either heard it somehow or made it up.

The deadspin one is just a link to a youtube video. The people who post stuff to youtube can add captions. The person who posted that one tried to be humorous, but failed miserably. NOthing in that caption was close to what was said.

 

[hondo]

Venus is not that way at all, hondo.

Oh, really. I remember her beating someone pretty one-sided in a match, then telling the opponent at the net "You beat my sister ... I owed you." For having the audicity to win a tennis match? That's 1987 Miami Hurricane crap. The family has no class, starting with Dad.

Gee, a fairly toothless anecdote with no date, time, or link attached to it. Not even an opponent, in fact. Just something filed away in the hondo memory bank, I guess. I believe you completely!

Dad is crazy. I don't think anyone disputes that. Serena is a sore loser and a brat. Mom will defend her daughters even when they're wrong, stubborn to the end. But Venus is, all in all, a pretty nice person. Most of the writers who cover tennis will tell you that. For someone who constantly gargles Tiger Woods' balls every time people who don't cover golf insist he's a prick, you sure do hold fast to some uninformed opinions about people you don't cover.

Tiger Woods has never, NEVER, had an incident on the course that comes anywhere close to what Serena did Saturday. When he loses it, he's mad at himself, cusses himself, and sometimes, people are within earshot. But he's never verbally mistreated a rules official, a tournament official, a volunteer or a fan in the way Serena did that line judge. And the worse thing Woods does to the media is not talk on occasion.

 

[Low Battery]

I was swamped with football last night and didn't know anything about this until a little while ago. Holy ****.

Meanwhile, del Potro takes the first set and is up an early break against Nadal.

 

[spnited]

Wow, Rafa getting clocked...6-2, 6-2. Stunning performance so far by Del Potro

 

[sportschick]

Del Potro is one of those rare creatures -- a hard court specialist. It's weird. I love his game.

For the record (before anybody jumps all over me), I'm very disappointed in Serena. She should be fined at the very least, and if she did threaten to kill the linesman, she should be suspended for the WTA Championships. And hondo's full of **** on Venus. Everybody I know who covers tennis says she's one of the nicest women on tour, which I think somebody else has already said.

 

[KVV]

Venus is not that way at all, hondo.

Oh, really. I remember her beating someone pretty one-sided in a match, then telling the opponent at the net "You beat my sister ... I owed you." For having the audicity to win a tennis match? That's 1987 Miami Hurricane crap. The family has no class, starting with Dad.

Gee, a fairly toothless anecdote with no date, time, or link attached to it. Not even an opponent, in fact. Just something filed away in the hondo memory bank, I guess. I believe you completely!

Dad is crazy. I don't think anyone disputes that. Serena is a sore loser and a brat. Mom will defend her daughters even when they're wrong, stubborn to the end. But Venus is, all in all, a pretty nice person. Most of the writers who cover tennis will tell you that. For someone who constantly gargles Tiger Woods' balls every time people who don't cover golf insist he's a prick, you sure do hold fast to some uninformed opinions about people you don't cover.

Tiger Woods has never, NEVER, had an incident on the course that comes anywhere close to what Serena did Saturday. When he loses it, he's mad at himself, cusses himself, and sometimes, people are within earshot. But he's never verbally mistreated a rules official, a tournament official, a volunteer or a fan in the way Serena did that line judge. And the worse thing Woods does to the media is not talk on occasion.

You miss the point entirely. I've seen 1,000 people on here say that Woods is a prick, most of them who have never been in the same room, much less the same zip code, as Tiger. And because you have covered a considerable amount of golf, you often contend that this is bull****, that the people on tour love Tiger, that he's generally a good guy, nothing compared to the dickhead the Mickelson allegedly is, even though he puts on the nice guy act on television.

So now we have the inverse situation. I'm quite confident you've never had a single conversation with Venus Williams and that you know nothing about her outside the this fuzzy anecdotes you remember from seeing her on television. Oh, and that she's Serena's sister.

So what I'm telling you is that calling Venus Williams a spoiled brat with a sense of entitlement, and holding on to this foolish position even when people who actually know and cover tennis -- the same way you claim to know golf -- consider it to be well off the mark, it is the epitome of the very laziness you rail against.

 

[spnited]

Del Potro, 2-2-2. Great performance.

 

[tapintoamerica]

AP-TEN--US Open, KILL
STORY REMOVED: TEN--US Open
Editor's Comments: BULLETIN KILL. Do NOT use BC-TEN--US Open. A kill is mandatory. Moving on general news and sports services.

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about the Serena Williams-Kim Clijsters semifinal at the U.S. Open.

It cannot be confirmed that Williams used the word kill while speaking to the line judge.

The AP

“If I could, I would take this ****ing kill bulletin and shove it down your ****ing throat and kill you."

Probably said by some desks that already ran with the quote and closed the edition.

That is truly brilliant. A nominee for Post of the Year.

 

[sportschick]

But can he hang with Fed? He did at the French, IIRC.

 

[spnited]

He should have beaten Fed at the French. I think he was up 2 sets to 1.

But Fed in Flushing is untouchable.

 

[D-3 Fan]

Venus is not that way at all, hondo.

Oh, really. I remember her beating someone pretty one-sided in a match, then telling the opponent at the net "You beat my sister ... I owed you." For having the audicity to win a tennis match? That's 1987 Miami Hurricane crap. The family has no class, starting with Dad.

Gee, a fairly toothless anecdote with no date, time, or link attached to it. Not even an opponent, in fact. Just something filed away in the hondo memory bank, I guess. I believe you completely!

Dad is crazy. I don't think anyone disputes that. Serena is a sore loser and a brat. Mom will defend her daughters even when they're wrong, stubborn to the end. But Venus is, all in all, a pretty nice person. Most of the writers who cover tennis will tell you that. For someone who constantly gargles Tiger Woods' balls every time people who don't cover golf insist he's a prick, you sure do hold fast to some uninformed opinions about people you don't cover.

Tiger Woods has never, NEVER, had an incident on the course that comes anywhere close to what Serena did Saturday. When he loses it, he's mad at himself, cusses himself, and sometimes, people are within earshot. But he's never verbally mistreated a rules official, a tournament official, a volunteer or a fan in the way Serena did that line judge. And the worse thing Woods does to the media is not talk on occasion.

You miss the point entirely. I've seen 1,000 people on here say that Woods is a prick, most of them who have never been in the same room, much less the same zip code, as Tiger. And because you have covered a considerable amount of golf, you often contend that this is bull****, that the people on tour love Tiger, that he's generally a good guy, nothing compared to the dickhead the Mickelson allegedly is, even though he puts on the nice guy act on television.

So now we have the inverse situation. I'm quite confident you've never had a single conversation with Venus Williams and that you know nothing about her outside the this fuzzy anecdotes you remember from seeing her on television. Oh, and that she's Serena's sister.

So what I'm telling you is that calling Venus Williams a spoiled brat with a sense of entitlement, and holding on to this foolish position even when people who actually know and cover tennis -- the same way you claim to know golf -- consider it to be well off the mark, it is the epitome of the very laziness you rail against.

Alright. I think you made your point clear, KVV. It behooves me to ask why would even get in a pissing match with hondo anyway?

An Average Joe can clearly see the difference between Venus and Serena. Yeah, they have a history of rubbing people the wrong way, most of it from the aggression of their old man. It's simply the "us vs. the world" mentality.

For many people, they will not absolve Venus in any way, because they will invoke the 'guilt by association' card on her because of Serena's act last night. It's not fair, but she is joined at the hip as her sister. Take the good with the bad.

As a big sister, Venus should take Serena off to the side today, and get on her ass for not checking herself and losing it.

 

[heyabbott]

Apparently she told the line judge “I swear to God, If I could, I would take this ****ing ball and shove it down your ****ing throat,”

“Sorry, but there are a lot of people who’ve said way worse,” Serena said

you stay classy, Serena

 

[BTExpress]

As a big sister, Venus should take Serena off to the side today, and get on her ass for not checking herself and losing it.

That would be a little out of character. If anything, Venus has been too deferential to Serena, going out of her way to let "little sister" have her way. Any ass chewing Venus could/should do should have been done a few years ago.

 

[Second Thoughts]

You cannot be serious.

Nicely played.

So you don't think that an NBA player or a MLB player or an NFL player does that to an official that they don't get a fine and suspension? Why should tennis be different?

 

[John]

You cannot be serious.

Nicely played.

So you don't think that an NBA player or a MLB player or an NFL player does that to an official that they don't get a fine and suspension? Why should tennis be different?

I believe he was just doing the McEnroe line, not making an argument.

Federer with a perfect between-the-legs passing shot late in his straight-set win over Novak, who didn't seem to into the match near the end.