Today, she rides ShortBus.
I've been venting on social media over this for a couple of days, but it's not really conducive to getting a long rant off. So I'm bringing my opinion on this here. Full disclosure: I don't like Serena Williams. The antics from her, her sister, and her father totally rubbed me the wrong way early in their careers. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and they blew it with me. And I never got over it. I also don't just root for the Americans when it comes to tennis. I root for the players whose game and personalities I like. (And for the women, I have other considerations as well, which I won't get into.)
But there's no denying greatness. She's won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any man or woman in the Open Era. And she just rebounded from a life-threatening pregnancy and, in short order, made it to the Final at Wimbledon. She's a role model for anyone who would ever feel the need to choose one.
This past weekend, she was in the Final of the U.S. Open against Naomi Osaka. Osaka was looking to become the first Japanese player to ever win a Slam. Williams was going for #24.
And things just went to hell.
Now, it should be pointed out -- most people who pay attention to tennis think this is absolutely stupid. Coaching goes on all the time, at every match, for every player. It's like travelling in the NBA. Happens frequently, called rarely. So why the ump felt the need to go there now, especially in such an important match, remains a mystery.
Serena wasn't having it. She let the umpire know (starting at about :30 into the video) that she was absolutely not receiving coaching. "I'd rather lose than cheat." I actually don't mind her sticking up for herself here. (It should be noted that her coach absolutely admitted that he WAS coaching here. He didn't even try to deny it. He just said that it goes on all the time, and it's just accepted.)
For non-tennis people, one code violation during a match is simply a warning. There's no practical penalty. So rightly or wrongly, this isn't a big deal. And it would have stayed that way had it not gone any further.
Unfortunately for Serena, when she had her service broken to make it 3-2 in the second set, she smashed her racquet to bits (1:38 in the video). That's an automatic code violation. And the second violation in the match equals a point penalty.
Once the penalty was assessed, the Greatest Player of All Time lost her damn mind.
She started screaming at the chair that she's not a cheater. She started demanding an announcement be made that she didn't receive coaching. She threatened that he would never work another one of her matches, and demanded an apology -- none of which happened.
After her serve was broken again, and she trailed 4-3 in the set, she tore into the chair again during the crossover break. (starting around 4:00 in the vid) She berated him again, this time using words like "liar" and "thief" in her description. At that point, the umpire slapped her with a THIRD violation, which results in a very harsh game penalty. That made the score 5-3, and put Osaka on the brink of winning the match.
Serena Williams called for the tournament referee to come down and pled her case to her. She was claiming sexism, double standards, unfair treatment -- I think she even tweeted something about #MeToo before the next point. She threw out something about having a daughter and teaching her right, like that was some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card.
Once the dust settled, Naomi Osaka won the match 6-2, 6-4. Claiming her first major title, defeating the greatest player of all time -- and receiving no credit for a dominating performance, because it's all been overshadowed by Serena's meltdown.
OK, so you're all probably wondering by now why I'm blogging about a tennis match. Normally, I wouldn't be. I like tennis, but I'm not a fanatic. I didn't even watch this match when it was happening, because I was watching Ohio State's riveting clash with Rutgers. But I saw everyone lining up to defend Serena Williams' conduct, and it just hit my hot button.
Every sports fan has principles that they stick to. For some, it's sportsmanship above all else. For others, it's do whatever it takes to win, and if you're not cheating, you're not trying. It can be "give maximum effort." "Play to the whistle." "Respect the game." Pick whichever one applies to you. Mine has always been that I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone who gets in trouble for disrespecting the officials. None. Zero. Zilch.
Everyone was blaming Carlos Ramos, chair umpire, for handing out punishment for Serena's deplorable behavior. But even if the initial code violation for the coaching was heavy-handed, everything that happened after that was completely within her control. No one forced her to destroy a racquet while already having one violation on the board. And certainly no one forced her to scream down the chair umpire when staring at a possible third.
How does a 23-time Grand Slam champion (more than that when you factor in doubles and mixed doubles) lose all concept of time, score and situation like that? Everyone shredded J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers for not realizing game situation when he dribbled out the clock at the end of regulation in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The argument being, you have to be aware of those details in such a crucial situation. How does Serena Williams not realize that this behavior serves no purpose except to hurt her in the Championship match of the U.S. Open?
I refereed soccer for a few years. Just youth games; I didn't stay with it longer than that because there was too much proctology involved in the job. I got my fair share of verbal abuse. Most of the time I just brushed it off as frustration. And because referees have bad days and make mistakes, too. I would let a player argue calls with me as long as it didn't get ridiculous. I would even let fans yell that I sucked as a ref -- hey, there were days where that was true. But the one thing I absolutely would not listen to was when a player, coach, or spectator insulted my integrity. When someone suggested I was cheating or rigging a match, or deliberately favoring somone. There's no greater insult you can give a sports official than that. I'd rather be sworn at than be accused of cheating. The one time someone did actually say that to me (how much are they paying you, ref?), I had him kicked out of the game.
Serena freaked out because she thought the umpire was accusing her of cheating. Well, Serena, when you throw out words like "liar" and "cheat" and "thief" and "you stole from me", what exactly do you think YOU'RE doing? You're accusing him of exactly what you're getting riled up about. You're insulting the integrity of the impartial observer charged with keeping everything fair. There's nothing that can damage a professional official's reputation more than that. And the guy who did it to me didn't do it on worldwide TV, either.
Sometimes, part of an official's job when he's working a sporting event IS TO DECIDE IF A PLAYER IS CHEATING. Professional sports involves referees, umpires and judges. If you don't want to be judged, you picked the wrong damn profession. But accusing the judges of corruption is a much more serious accusation.
One of the arguments she made after the fact was that she was fighting for women's rights. Sister, please. You ain't Rosa Parks. You ain't Billie Jean King. You're fighting for your right to act like a jackass and not get called on it. She was insinuating that men get away with far worse. Well, first, there are plenty of examples of guys getting code violations (they're just smart enough to know when enough's enough), and second, "I screamed at you because I thought I would get away with it" isn't a sympathetic defense, either.
She's been fined $17,000 for her conduct, by the way. So having a couple days to reflect hasn't convinced the officials, either.
Despite what I think of Serena Williams in terms of fandom, I always respected her. I hate seeing one of the greatest athletes of my generation act in such a despicable manner in such a high-profile situation. This will be a black eye on a spectacular career. It's a crying shame. But one person made a chintzy call in a sporting event; the other accused an official of cheating. One is clearly worse than the other.
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