I told you non-tennis folks would weigh in on The Incident and make it more complicated than it was. I told you they would claim that Serena was treated worse than John McEnroe and that everyone would conveniently forget that McEnroe was defaulted for similar conduct after tennis decided that it would no longer tolerate terrible behavior.
Now Kate Harding, the feminist writer behind the blog Shapely Prose, has decided that It’s Time to Forgive Serena. Oh really? Harding knows nothing about tennis, its history and its movement away from the McEnroe temper tantrums. She relies on her memories of McEnroe and borrows from a ridiculous column by Filip Bondy in the New York Daily News. Harding and Bondy are projecting their own agendas onto what remains a very simple thing: Serena violated the code of conduct and was appropriately booted.
Filip Bondy is a Tool
Bondy’s columns on this are probably going to win the award for Worst Column of the Year. He’s all over the place, reminding everyone that Eliot Spitzer and Bill Clinton were at the US Open and they also made errors in judgment. (So freaking what?) He also wrote an asinine column after Serena’s loss that included this instant classic and surefire candidate for Dumbest Sentence of the Year:
Here’s the trouble with rooting against Serena, which was not an uncommon occurrence Saturday night at the National Tennis Center: You end up with two women in the final who must be explained to the American public, at the biggest U.S. tournament.
Two women who must be explained to the American public? Explain as in...
- Explain why women who aren’t American citizens are allowed to participate in the US Open?
- Explain how Serena losing meant one of dem feriners gets to be in the final?
- Explain how Wozniacki was allowed to beat Melanie Oudin?
- Oh noes! Howz didz that happenz to poor Amerca?? Somebody call Glenn Beck! We wants our country back!!!!!!!!
But I digress.
Filip also made the ridiculous claim that “We condemn Serena and Venus for juggling business interests, while applauding Clijsters for quitting the game completely to have a baby.” (Is this the royal we? Don’t include me in your sexist fantasy.)
Facts please Filip! Where are these alleged slams on the Williams sisters for having business interests? Everyone gave them great credit, appropriately, for buying into the Miami Dolphins ownership group. I’ve always given Venus mad props for designing and running her own clothing line – wholly independent from an established clothing manufacturer.
Look: I’m a feminist, I’m a lawyer. I know these stereotypes and preferences exist, but these writers are straining to find bias without citing any evidence.
Bondy slammed Dick Enberg for making Serena “a villain.” His proof? Enberg said that’s not how champions act. That’s an inflamatory statement? Really? In reality, CBS was quite tepid and deferential to Serena in the immediate aftermath of The Incident. Enberg’s statement was about as above the fray as it could be. Yes, Filip, other champions have acted like assholes. It degrades the game, though, and is not conduct that should be defended or rewarded no matter which player acts like an ass.
A Feminist Breakthrough?
Harding quotes Bondy with approval because they both consider Serena’s meltdown a feminist breakthrough:
Serena’s poor sportsmanship is a sort of breakthrough, proof that women athletes can behave every bit as irrationally as men. And because of that, it would be a mistake to punish Williams more than a man for the same actions.” Of course, that’s already happened. Not only did she lose a big game on a technicality, but her fine — and the threat of suspension — far exceed what Bondy describes as “the customary penalty: a tut-tut and a $1,000 fine.”
I predicted this would be described as a “technicality,” but I’m disappointed that someone as astute as Harding be the one to do it. Gender roles are absolutely at play in sports. The court of public opinion employs a more stringent code to judge women athletes. We just discussed this last week when Oudin’s parents’ divorce became gossip fodder. But as a civil rights lawyer who sues people for sex and race discrimination, I must say that the Serena Incident is not the best test case for that issue. Her hypothetical comparators were only fined $1,000 to $1,500? Cry me a river. (And bring me names and facts). The fines are ridiculous, I can assure you Serena spends more than that on her average shopping trip on 5th Avenue.
And She’s Not Sorry
Harding thinks it’s great that Serena didn’t apologize:
Personally, I think it’s refreshing that Williams is refusing to play along with the expected script here. We’ve all heard a thousand empty apologies from celebrities and athletes who have been caught acting like jerks…She hasn’t groveled for forgiveness — in fact, she’s confidently expressed an expectation that she’ll get it from reasonable people, because she’s human, she messed up, and it’s over. And you know what? She’s right. She’ll be forgiven by anyone who actually gives a damn about tennis, because she’s a phenomenal player with a long history of good sportsmanship.
Personally, Kate, I don’t give a damn if Serena apologizes to me, a fan. And I feel no obligation to “forgive.” The issue for most of us is that other F word – Forget. The next time Serena plays masterful tennis, I’ll call it masterful tennis. But whenever I’m discussing things outside the white lines, of course I’m going to remember this incident. I won’t forget this, anymore than I won’t forget that Andre Agassi once spit on an umpire. That was also deplorable conduct that is not befitting a champion.
Although I agree that women are judged differently in athletics, we must be careful not to overstate the case. Roberto Alomar was pilloried for spitting on an umpire and saying the ump was “bitter” because of the death of his 8 year old son. He received a five game suspension and paid $50,000 to a research group on behalf of the umpire’s late son. Despite his apology, contrite behavior and what amounted to a 50 k fine, Alomar was dogged by press and fans for years. And Agassi got off scot free for treating the umpire like a spitoon. That’s also inequitable, right? Serena’s conduct is at least as bad as Alomar’s.
Serena’s Character, Neither Black Nor White
As for Harding’s allegation that Serena has a long history of good sportsmanship… what’s her source on that? Serena has a maddening history of being both incredibly positive and incredibly denigrating to her opponents, especially after a loss. That is fact and every tennis fan knows it. (Also noteworthy but not forgotten by yours truly was the lawsuit against Serena and Richard Williams from a few years ago – where they essentially perjured themselves by lying to the Court and the IRS.) See what happens when we presume someone’s character is all good or all bad? Serena has many marks on both sides of the ledger. Many of us do. And when we cross the line, we pay.
Harding concludes that this whole brouhaha is inextricably linked to Serena’s race – because when Serena shook her racket, anyone who was threatened by that was really reacting because of their fear of a rich, powerful black woman. (If you said, “Because she’s a rich, powerful black woman who needs to be put in her place,” I think you might just be onto something.)
Harding is right: a racist, sexist, classist undercurrent does indeed pervade our entire society. Black women are always dumped on. I have written about this before, particularly after the Williams sisters were banished to minor courts at Wimbledon. (“I suspect racism here as well. White women are pretty, black women aren’t, isn’t that what they’re implying? Because no other tennis players are bigger ratings stars and worldwide celebrities than the Williams sisters…”)
I have no doubt that some people with race issues viewed Serena’s actions through that prism. But the bigotry of others doesn’t shield, excuse or minimize her conduct.
Rules Are Rules, When They’re Broken, There Are Consequences
For Harding and Bondy, The Incident is not about the words Serena spoke. Harding does not even bother to quote them – she says only that Serena said she wanted to shove the ball down the line judge’s throat. Unbelievably, Harding questions whether the kill threat even happened because… well… it doesn’t fit with her narrative of Serena’s prosecution at the hands of a racist, sexist media and world. Check the tape Kate- Serena made the kill threat.
Here’s one final quote from Harding that shows total ignorance of the rules:
It could happen to anyone. It has happened to many other players. (And you might notice that pretty much every time it does, the player in question waves a racket “threateningly,” because hello, they’re already holding rackets. It’s not like Williams stopped to pick up a deadly weapon on her way over to the judge.)
So Serena was inappropriately penalized because she used the instrument that happened to be in her hand rather than say, a knife? But when other players waive their rackets they are similarly penalized. Every player knows that you don’t approach the linesperson to challenge a call. You go to the umpire. It’s a rule. Who should we trust on this – Jimmy Connors, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Carillo, Martina Navratilova, Darren Cahill, Pam Shriver, Cliff Drysdale and Mary Jo Fernandez – or writers who don’t follow tennis?
The lineswoman reported the Fuck phrases because that is what they are instructed to do when they hear an audible obscenity. The reason for that rule is to protect the linespeople from the kind of verbal abuse heaped on them by McEnroe, Nastase and Connors.
This went beyond the normal racket shaking because Serena went directly to the lineswoman at least three times. Many people, Harding included, reject the word “threat” – okay, so when the lineswoman went back to her position after talking to the umire, Serena walked up to her and talked loudly while shaking her racket, which happened to be in her hand because she’s a tennis player. Does that make it all better? As Darren Cahill pointed out, Serena would’ve been defaulted on the first point of the match had she done the same thing in the first set. It’s clearly unsportsmanlike conduct.
This subject is getting exhausting, but I think it has legs. We’re going to be hearing about it all week. I can’t wait until the Richard Williams interview.
Passing Shots 
Posted on September 14, 2009
0