Serena Williams, class act?

She "allegedly" threatened to ram a tennis ball down a line judge's throat. Now, there was one seemingly bad call, but Serena was losing badly to Clijsters that it didn't make a difference. There is arguing and then there is going over the line. She cursed and swore and seemingly threatened the line judge. John McEnroe did a lot of questionable things that I thought crossed the line, but he never was that out of control. He never threatened a line judge (allegedly).

No. Telling an official, "I'm going to ram the ball down your fucking throat." isn't a borderline infraction. She deserved to be penalized, regardless of whether the original call was right or not. We have enough jocks and other celebs thinking they're above normal standards of behavior as it is.

It was a bit surreal. Serena smashed a racket in the first set so you know she was off her game that night. Maybe she was PMS-ing. I have never seen anything like that in tennis before. I've seen arguing and shouting but never did I think the player might become violent (other than destroying their own racket). This isn't the first incident by Serena and it won't be the last. Venus used to do some questionable things 10 years ago, but she's matured since then. Serena hasn't.

Maybe it's the steroids getting to her???

I was just reading the story on espn's website and it doesn't sound like she's truly sorry. I thought they should have suspended her from the double's final. She was fined $10,000 and could be further disciplined, but they'll probably chicken out and let her play the next tournament. I think she should face a suspension for the rest of the season. Her comments directly after the match suggested she wasn't sorry at all. Her manager probably told her exactly what to say to make it seem like she was sorry when it appears she wasn't.

jamesr wrote:
I've been saying this for years. She could take Urlacher's spot at middle linebacker for the Bears if she wanted.

I dont think its such a big deal. She looked embarrassed by it all in the end, everyone has or has had a moment of madness. What the Williams sisters have given and taken (won) from tennis is amazing. If anything they should have better Grandslam records.

The big deal is tennis players are on thier own (usually), its not expected unlike other sports, e.g, football. And a NY baseball player was screaming at a ref on telly just the other day.

Yelling at an umpire is one thing, but if a baseball player threatened to ram a baseball down the umpire's throat, they'd get a 10 game suspension for that (at the bare minimum). Same with Tennis. There have been a few blow ups (mostly John McEnroe), but I don't recall any other tennis player threatening an official.

My 2 cents... If it were my call..

Instant Ban, 1 Year and $50.000 fine!

Example set. She will think twice before doing it again next time.

NM8 wrote:
That's a little bit of overkill and 50K isn't consistent with your year ban.

@DYasha
Remember Jimmy Connors & Ilie Nastase? They were a couple of firey competetors

No, I'm not that old. Let me make it clear I didn't like John McEnroe's antics of the past or that Tarango guy (whatever his name was) and what he did at Wimbledon a few years ago. That being said, what Serena did was well beyond yell and shouting profanity. I think she needs some serious punishment as a warning to other players. Arguing a call is one thing, but threatening an official goes well beyond what is acceptable. Maybe she should be suspended for the Australian Open. She'll think twice before doing something like that again.

Don`t know about the rules of tennis association, cause normaly for those you would be punished from an sports-tribunal.

If you menace an referee this kind in other sports, there remit an realy high fine for (not that lousy 10K) and also an lifetime ban...

First off, I loved McEnroe as a k1d. His outbursts were ****ish, but were great theater and also served an important function: to beat back some of the stale-ness and blue-blooded-ness that ruled tennis for 100 years. The tennis that we see today, with wild outfits, grunting (which can go too far at times) athletes who don't apologize for being athletes, even the ladies, etc. is IMHO, a direct outflow of McEnroe talking back and challenging the staid establishment. Heck, even his hair was a break from tennis tradition.

All that being said, there is no greater boor and a-hole in tennis than Serena Williams. There is no "allegedly" when her actions were broadcast on live network TV. Physically threatening an official 1/2 your size while walking into their personal space as a further threat is not just bad sportsmanship, it falls under the legal heading of "assault." She should be prosecuted. She has always been an a-hole, and this was just the latest attempt by her psychotic mind to find someone to blame for the fact that she was getting wiped off the court by someone who just pulled her feet out of the stirrups after giving birth (naturally, I exaggerate).

Her compulsion to never give credit to opponents and always find excuses (injuries, line calls) for her own poor performances is a frightening sign of psychosis, and she should both seek psychiatric help and also stop taking the HGH and whatever other hormones she is on. As the case of the poor South African runner who has found out through the media that she is actually a hermaphrodite, female bodies just don't look like that without hormonal explanations. So either Serena has hidden testes too, or she is taking some sort of undetectable coctail. That outburst was so like roid-rage that I am leaning towards performance enhancers.

And actually, the timing works as further circumstantial evidence. Serena dominated tennis until the whole Balco scandal erupted and the world became aware of several undetectable designer steroids that athletes were using. Suddenly Serena disappeared from tennis and gained a lot of weight. Then a few years went by, and there are now (reportedly) several new designer steroids on the market that the doping authorities can not yet detect. And suddenly Serena is back, having lost a lot of weight and bulked up again. Other explanations? Sure. But bizarre, psychotic outbursts like she just performed on national TV force you to look seriously at questions of chemistry.

I'd BAN all of you from Tennis period, for all your silly comments

And Mac, lil Mac had to do what he did because he wasnt the greatest player about. It put the other players off, problem was it put him off too!

I don't know if anyone noticed but Serena (and a lot of the ladies out there), are FAR too concerned with their appearance on the court rather than their play. Several times in the 1st set she had to adjust those huge, wild hoop earrings and after a commercial break (she was losing), she decided to get serious and took them off. Now, I'm not saying there should be uniforms, but dressing up to go out to 'da club' is not the way an athlete should dress.

As far as punishment goes I think it's easy - forfeiture of your tournament winnings regarless of which round and - depending on the severity of the infraction - tournament bans.

I loved Johnny Mac too. He and Jimmy were a breath of life in comparasion to Lendl. Tennis was hugely popular 25 years ago when they were in their prime.