Is Serena Williams The Classiest Most Inspirational Person In Sports?

[Blackhat]

Scary how the media can distort any situation to fit a social agenda.   The crowd booed them because of unprofessional behavior during matches/pulling out of events, not because she was black.

[WarriorInNYC]

Yeah, I saw the title to this thread and it really surprised me.

The Williams' sisters are two of the most unsportsmanlike athletes that are out there. 

[reinko]

Yeah, I saw the title to this thread and it really surprised me.

The Williams' sisters are two of the most unsportsmanlike athletes that are out there. 

How so?  I can easily name 10 tennis players more unsportsmanlike, but apparently, these two are weirdly are at the top of your list.  Can't imagine why.

[Golden Avalanche]

How so?  I can easily name 10 tennis players more unsportsmanlike, but apparently, these two are weirdly are at the top of your list.  Can't imagine why.

It's not weird for a Williams to be atop an unsportsmanlike list. Both of them have conspired to feign injury and withdraw from matches where they were paired together, whether on orders from their father when they were young or by their own cunning when they were older. It is unsportsmanlike to disrespect the competition so as to fix the match in this way.

Serena much more than Venus has a terrible disposition on the court (as evidenced by my words earlier in the thread about her violently threatening the life of a line judge who called her for a foot fault) and she is downright assholic in the post match conference when she never says a word of praise for a player who has beaten her but rather has chalked all her losses up to her "not having it that day" or her opponent "hitting every ball back like she never has before".

Don't be a clown and throw $hit like racism into this discussion. Be better than that.

[reinko]

It's not weird for a Williams to be atop an unsportsmanlike list. Both of them have conspired to feign injury and withdraw from matches where they were paired together, whether on orders from their father when they were young or by their own cunning when they were older. It is unsportsmanlike to disrespect the competition so as to fix the match in this way.

Serena much more than Venus has a terrible disposition on the court (as evidenced by my words earlier in the thread about her violently threatening the life of a line judge who called her for a foot fault) and she is downright assholic in the post match conference when she never says a word of praise for a player who has beaten her but rather has chalked all her losses up to her "not having it that day" or her opponent "hitting every ball back like she never has before".

Don't be a clown and throw $hit like racism into this discussion. Be better than that.

Watch high level tennis and you see much of this same behavior from tennis players, but again it's the Williams sister that draw your ire.  John McEnroe was revered for his badboy style, Agassi routinely berated linesman, Thomas Muster, Gerg Rusdeski, Jimmy Conners, Azarenka, Llyeton Hewitt and on and on.  And yes, I would put Serena on this list too, her behavior @ times is very unsportsmanlike, I am not excusing it.  But why the focus on her? 

Weird.

[warriorchick]

Watch high level tennis and you see much of this same behavior from tennis players, but again it's the Williams sister that draw your ire.  John McEnroe was revered for his badboy style, Agassi routinely berated linesman, Thomas Muster, Gerg Rusdeski, Jimmy Conners, Azarenka, Llyeton Hewitt and on and on.  And yes, I would put Serena on this list too, her behavior @ times is very unsportsmanlike, I am not excusing it.  But why the focus on her? 

Weird.

Perhaps because they are both a) currently active pros and b) household names.  There is no one on your list to which both of these criteria apply.

I am sure there are some little a-holes in Junior Tennis who are worse then the Williams sisters as well.

[reinko]

Perhaps because they are both a) currently active pros and b) household names.  There is no one on your list to which both of these criteria apply.

I am sure there are some little a-holes in Junior Tennis who are worse then the Williams sisters as well.

I will buy part of that.  But to deny completely that in the historically lily white sport of tennis, and the fact they are twin AA girls from Compton, CA that race has not to with how they are viewed is disingenuous @ best.

[warriorchick]

I will buy part of that.  But to deny completely that in the historically lily white sport of tennis, and the fact they are twin AA girls from Compton, CA that race has not to with how they are viewed is disingenuous @ best.

I recall Arthur Ashe being painted as a complete jerk as well.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

If you think they are targeted based on their race, I don't see any way to interpret your comment as anything other than racist. If it were anyone else, you wouldn't hold them to a different standard. But apparently you think that of these two black athletes.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I recall Arthur Ashe being painted as a complete jerk as well.

Billy Jean King, upset over Ashe's reluctance to take a hard stand on many social issues once said, "Don't talk to me about Arthur Ashe.  Christ, I'm more black than Arthur Ashe."

[Blackhat]

I'd hate to have to be apart of group think because of my color.   I guess Arthur wasn't liberal enough. 

[Warriorfish]

Watch high level tennis and you see much of this same behavior from tennis players, but again it's the Williams sister that draw your ire.  John McEnroe was revered for his badboy style, Agassi routinely berated linesman, Thomas Muster, Gerg Rusdeski, Jimmy Conners, Azarenka, Llyeton Hewitt and on and on.  And yes, I would put Serena on this list too, her behavior @ times is very unsportsmanlike, I am not excusing it.  But why the focus on her? 

Weird.

Azarenka is a very emotional player and does complain about calls, but I don't ever recall her threatening a linesperson.

The focus in on Serena because she's exhibited this behavior for a long time now.

And the "racism" angle is ridiculous.  Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens are both popular with tennis fans and among those on the tour.

[Golden Avalanche]

Watch high level tennis and you see much of this same behavior from tennis players, but again it's the Williams sister that draw your ire.  John McEnroe was revered for his badboy style, Agassi routinely berated linesman, Thomas Muster, Gerg Rusdeski, Jimmy Conners, Azarenka, Llyeton Hewitt and on and on.  And yes, I would put Serena on this list too, her behavior @ times is very unsportsmanlike, I am not excusing it.  But why the focus on her? 

Weird.

Just a total clown show you are with regard to this. The thread topic is titled on Serena Williams. That's why Serena Williams is being discussed. Weird you'd have a problem with Scoopers staying on topic as opposed to the usual wild tangent conversations. Again, the thread title is on Serena Williams and Serena Williams is being discussed. We are on topic here.

My final point on this with regard to you is whether you are black, white, asian, mestizo, etc. if you threaten the life of an official in your sport or fake injury so as not to play an opponent or consistently refuse to praise (however much of a facade it is) an opponent to whom you've lost you very much lack sportsmanship.

[MU82]

When I saw the title of the OP, I thought it was something Donald Trump said.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

She's never played here in New Haven.  Venus has played several times and won.

[Golden Avalanche]

Serena Williams withdrew from Indian Wells moments before she was to play Halep. She cited a knee injury suffered during practice a few days prior to last night's scheduled Semi-Final match.

[keefe]

Billy Jean King, upset over Ashe's reluctance to take a hard stand on many social issues once said, "Don't talk to me about Arthur Ashe.  Christ, I'm more black than Arthur Ashe."

Billie Jean King?? Arthur Ashe was a true gentleman. We did a project with Philip Morris in Asia so I had to go to Richmond a few times. The PM guys took me to their club, Commonwealth, which is located on the Avenue of Heroes which is a series of statues of Confederate generals. The members were in an uproar over the Arthur Ashe statue that had just gone up. (They were also upset that the club was being forced to add minority members...) I was never so embarrassed as I was to listen to that conversation.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Billie Jean King?? Arthur Ashe was a true gentleman.

There was a potential boycott in the late early 70's regarding female tennis players who wanted competitive pay.

In 1970, Ashe told Time, "Men are playing tennis for a living now.  They have families, and they don't want to give up money just to have girls play.  Only three or four women draw fans anyhow, so why do we have to split our money with them?"