2018 U. S. Open Championships...ATP 2000...New York, New York U. S. A.

[bottle]

Oh, that one, not the other one. I think of him as something pinched, a white raisin or very small prune. For best perspective, avoid the clowns altogether and go to John McEnroe. The referees should stay out of it and let the players play. Or to rephrase a Hungarian proverb, God should keep his big brass-studded cock out of it.

[arturohernandez]

I had written a much less coherent version of what the column down below states.

The US Open should have been smarter about who they put in the umpire's chair. After all that had happened, they should have known better. It should have been a woman and ideally an African American woman in the chair that night.

I know that most of us would like to think that color and race don't matter on the tennis court. But they ultimately do in some way.

In any case, this column captures the entire context the best for me. You could also watch the OJ series on ESPN which I think is equally fascinating.

Was OJ innocent or guilty? It really depends on who you ask and that depends on their perceptions about justice.

Saturday night was just another case of this unfortunate reality in the US.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/serena-williams-us-open-final-umpire-naomi-osaka-flushing-meadows-a8529611.html

[stotty]

I had written a much less coherent version of what the column down below states.

The US Open should have been smarter about who they put in the umpire's chair. After all that had happened, they should have known better. It should have been a woman and ideally an African American woman in the chair that night.

Why African American? Why pander to Serena's needs? Why not Japanese American? I would have opted for a Swiss umpire and had done with it.

[stroke]

Serena has done a great job of rewriting the narrative about what happened out there, but pandering(thanks stotty) to her is not the answer. That was done in her post match press conference.

[tennis_chiro]

I think they should revise the Code of Conduct. If you are going to continue to penalize coaching, it should be separate from the penalty schedule for obscenity and temper tantrums/racket abuse. The first warning in the new separate coaching penalty schedule should go to both the player and the coach (believe me, the coach will feel those penalties a lot more). Second instance should be point to player and threat of suspension for coach. Third instance should be game and removal of coach from view of court. As well as possible suspension like technical foul accumulation in the NBA. So a player could get a coaching warning and a racket abuse warning and still not incurr a point penalty.

don

[bottle]

Favorite Phrase from the Independent Article

"fraction of a man."

Applies to so many people, most of whom appear to be males of the type who constantly pander one to another.

[bottle]

I really felt sorry for humble, young Osaka. Her big moment was spoiled by Serenas outbursts. Oskaka earned the win. She played a number of devastating matches to reach the final. She is only 20. A breath of fresh air.

I do not dislike Serena. She has also been the target of attacks and had no easy time growing up.

Now I can accept this one. Because of the sentence "I do not dislike Serena." Some of the other comments by other people however are totally unacceptable, particularly when someone, a real hater, has been inveighing against Serena in this forum for years and years. I'm sure my late step-father would have too. And one of my two sisters-- I was shocked-- used to say the overly predictable things about the Williamses but I think unlike the posters here I find so objectionable finally outgrew it. That would be, "They're both men." Of course these "critics" would never point out that the body types of the two women are completely different. And I can't imagine how they rationalize Serena having a baby. Virgin birth? Immaculate conception? Liberals carried a baby into the hospital after recovering it from a mother they murdered?

They wouldn't make any kind of distinctions about anything having to do with these two amazing sisters and their genius father. What it really boils down to is they are jealous haters, and without love, one shouldn't criticize anyone or anything.

I'm not kidding. If you don't have something nice to say, then say nothing at all. I've never heard a positive word about Serena or Venus or Richard from any of these skinflints. They can't find ANYTHING to like? Serena's serve? The backswing on her ground strokes? No they can't, and so, to me at least they have no credibility whatsoever. A good example of my point is the late James Agee, the film person. He used to write devastating reviews of awful movies, and after one of them I don't think the movie survived. The reason he had so much power is that he always found SOMETHING to like.

Sorry now, but this is about tennis players, and I feel compelled to go one step further (many of you will say "deeper"). When a guy says that he is a lousy writer, the first thing that comes to my mind is that he is a lousy reader, too. And if I were Georgia Tech University, he is the last person I would ever want to be represented by. When he finds wonderful writing which gratuitously discusses Serena Williams' "smell," he might as well be a World War II German member of the Wehrmacht talking about "stinking Jews" without ever mentioning of course the smell of blood on his own hands. This dude is right that strong smell can be an ingredient of great writing as in JOURNEY TO THE WHITE SEA by James Dickey. There, an American aviator downed in wartime Japan hides in a Tokyo sewer and the smell of it is part of what makes the book so great. There's another small novel called DAS PARFUM, which also uses smells to produce written magic. But when somebody in this forum for no reason starts talking about how Serena Williams smells, with him knowing absolutely nothing about the subject, IT CANNOT GO UNANSWERED.

Is this too strong for this little forum? No it is not.

[seano]

2 well written articles by Cindy Shmerler on Tennis.com and an Op Ed in the New York Times by Martina Navratilova.

[don_budge]

Serena's rewrite Does Not Fly with rational, sane or otherwise "Credible Adults"...

Serena has done a great job of rewriting the narrative about what happened out there, but pandering(thanks stotty) to her is not the answer. That was done in her post match press conference.

That's right stroke...the "rewrite" is the "Essence of Serena". Never mind all of the past injustices in her life. We all have our crosses to bear. Her current cross is one of having too much money and fame. She is no longer in contact with reality. Is it her fault? I leave that up to others to decide.

stroke...I wouldn't underestimate yourself as a writer. You have a knack for saying a lot in very few words. The exact opposite as Barrack Obama for instance who can drone on and on and never get to a single substantial point. All pie in the sky. 10splayer is also someone who can say something very directly and make his point. I, on the other hand...well at some point the reader has to be the judge.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2018/0...pen-final.html

"Had I behaved like that on a tennis court, I would have expected to get everything that happened to Serena," Navratilova told Times reporter Juliet Macur in a separate story. "It should've ended ... with the point warning, but Serena just couldnt let it go."

"At her very best and she is very often at her very best I respect and admire Serena beyond measure," Carillo told MSNBC on Monday. "...But at her very worst, as she was on [Saturday] night, she acts like a bully."

She's a bully alright. Look up the word in the dictionary and you are bound to see Serena's picture under the word. Serena Williams has been bullying the women on the Ladies Tour for what seems like forever.

[don_budge]

Tennis Etiquette...and all things Serena Williams (R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y)

Sadly...Serena Williams' meltdown right in front of a full house ironically named after a great American Sportsman Arthur Ashe, the 2018 U. S. Open is a tribute to all things Serena. As far as I am concerned it is all on the table. I wouldn't be afraid to discuss any of it in front of anyone.

To be clear this is all about taking responsibility and should not be confused with a false narrative or false assumption that this monster of an ego is championing any causes other than her very own. But let's take a look at my major premise...it is all about taking responsibility. Where does the individual learn to take responsibility? It's a simple answer and my hope is that everyone will come up with a very simple answer. The individual learns to take responsibility in the home. Assuming that this is a given then we have to look at the home of Serena Williams. It is hard to begin to understand what actually took place in that home but one thing is for certain...the head of the house was a man by the name of Richard Williams. Much less is known about the female influence...the mother's.

Just what exactly did he teach his two girls. Richard is a rather bizarre character in his own right and it appears that the fruit has not fallen a great distance from the tree. Mr. Williams has pretty much disappeared from the scene and it is probably better as with advancing age he is probably not going to come off any better in the public eye. For whatever reason.

But obviously there is a problem with the child. A child who never grew up in some respects. One sees this quite often nowadays in particular when these sports celebrities think of themselves that they can do no wrong. One has to accept and seek responsibility in life if you are going to make heads or tails of it. It is the meaning of life...from the human perspective. Accepting responsibility and doing your best under any and all circumstances. It's a shame that a person such as the ilk of Serena Williams is cast into the spotlight as role model because of one reason...she has not learned to accept responsibility for her actions and behaviour. Pure and simple.

If you care to interject race into this particular issue that is well and good but then you will have to face some hard facts in that regard and in this modern society there will be a lot of finger pointing and use of the modern "N" word. Nazi. No longer is the "N" word nigger...it has been surpassed. This particular subject has absolutely nothing to do with race in the big picture but if you care to dip into the microcosm it may just come as a surprise what this really reveals. I suggest we leave this one alone here on the forum and stick with a discussion with personal responsibility and where the individual learns this concept.

In the final analysis this event is about one thing in particular and Martina Navratilova touched on this in her NYT op-ed. It is about tennis etiquette. Never do anything to gain unfair advantage or belittle your opponent. Williams is trying to bully everyone involved. The umpire, men in general, her opponents. The whole, entire shebang. The only one that she give a free pass to is herself. The self righteous bully. Sad commentary on a sad situation. It's a war on men and every thing is on the table. It's push back time. Time to take responsibility.

[stroke]

db, so spot on. Taking responsibility with a side of self-awareness and maybe a little humility could do wonders, all lost on Serena. On a side note, the NY fan reaction to the Serena shenanigans was not encouraging.

On another note, I miss 10splayer on the board, He really understood the biomechanics of tennis, and had a very no nonsense astute take on a lot of stuff

[bottle]

Paternalism from insecure males who want to keep the darkies down. Why, feeling the way they do, can't they be happy with the referee's decision? No they have to jump on. She's not only black, after all, but a woman (though they try to deny that-- totally ridiculous). I tell you, little TennisPlayer posters, given your past record on all things Serena, you should have stayed out. And Navrattleova, whom I usually adore, spent too much time in another culture where nobody knows nuthin about blacks.

As for 10splayer, and I was going to say this before without the benefit of these recent posts, may make a reappearance here now, and if he does, may be ugly or charming-- who knows? Up till now, however, he has NOT appeared. That is because, at times, he can be a very fine man.

[bottle]

stroke...I wouldn't underestimate yourself as a writer.

He's right. Because if ANYONE says he is a lousy writer, people will believe him.

[bottle]

"These darkies have got to learn responsibility."

[QUOTE=don_budge;n73826]Time to take responsibility./QUOTE]

Serena Williams wasn't doing anything but playing tennis. And then the Sunday school teachers decided to interfere.

[bottle]

Tennis Etiquette

The last refuge of scoundrels?