http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/09/serena-williams-outburst-video-.html
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/tar_wars_EVDlCu3Z8vWdRv5xn8mMCP
Serena William’s outburst at the U.S. Open Semifinals cost her the game, and a fine of $10,500. A foot-fault call by a lineswoman that gave her a double fault and put her a point away from losing the match caused Serena to yell obscenities and verbally attack the lineswoman. In this article by Kurt Streeter, his opinion is that she should have been suspended and not play for the rest of the season. The fine of $10,500 was a little too minimal for Streeter.
It’s a little funny though, that this is the end result of her outburst, because when you compare George Brett’s Pine Tar Incident outburst back in 1984 while he played for the Kansas City Royals, Serena’s fine seems so much more strict. George Brett hit a two run home run but there was a problem that arose for him having too much tar on his baseball bat. From the dugout, he told his teammates that if he were to get called out for the tar, that he would “run out there and kill one of those sons of bitches.” He in fact did get called out and enraged, he charged out onto the field from the dugout to yell at the umpire. He did get ejected but there was no suspension, no fine, and in the end, his home runs were reviewed and counted, allowing the Royals to win the game.
Doesn’t make sense for Serena to lose the game, pay a fine, and possibly face suspension…Does it?
Marie Y. Kin 338i Tu/Th 9:30-10:45
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2 comments:
I agree much with what you have to say. I feel like it is an automatic and natural reaction for any person to react the way that that columnist did over Serena William's outbrst. When men verbally attack a referee or official, it is due to their "competitive drive and want for their team to succeed." But if a woman outbursts, she is seen as "unlady-like, obscene and inappropriate."
This "image" of a woman does come natural to our society, I even see myslef falling into these profiles without even realizing it. I disagree with the columnist completely as well have all seen male coaches and players outburst on the regular and are usually not suspended, just as the example of George Brett that you gave.
What I do find very interesting, kind of as a follow-up of the Serena Williams outbust story is the cover of the ESPN magazine for this month. Above I typed in the url that shows you the cover of the magazine. Now this may be an indirect follow-up of her incident, but I find it typical for our society. The cover is a picture of Serena Williams with no clothes on.
I find this cover ironic in the way that she messes up and then it seems as if she is atempting for society to reaccpt her by posign nude for the cover of a magazine; playing the gender role of females.
Which brings up much of what we have talked about in class; gender roles and the media attempting to make athletic women sexy instead of masculine.
I feel that Serena posing for this magazine sets her a few steps back in our fight for equal rights for women. She is one female athlete who has proven her talent throught her skills alone. Posing for this magazine was a mistake and I believe that she should not have done so.
I also was following various articles on Serena Williams outburst but in contrast, feel that all of the penalties she received were justified. While they may be harsh a professional athlete male or female should not get away with this kind of behavior and should act appropriate when they are in the public eye. I believe also male or female all athletes are held at a higher standard,they are looked at as role models so we expect them to act as such and few outbursts go unnoticed. Also Marie compared this behavior to an incident in 1984 and I think that this time gap should be considered and the differences between these two incidents are not just gender related. I read an article from a maybe less than credible source on aol news and this was the first I had heard of Serena's behavior. While I do not have the link available it proves that its not the punishment of her behavior that was unfair or unequal but the coverage of the event that showed how gender effects women in sport. In the aol article the author, Chris Sesno states that Serena "has to be able to keep her cool and keep her emotions in check" this is where I disagree. I don't think that this comment would have ever been made in regards to a male athlete and that its the media that weighed Serena's behaviors unequal to that of men. Most recent outbursts from men are punished with some kind of suspension and usually paired with a fine. Also in an unrelated comment poor Kim Clijsters had to win the match by default this must have been so frustrating for her.
c.lisk kin 338I.S6
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