tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4016827071090546963.post3492204544489607127..comments2023-10-19T07:09:13.641-07:00Comments on The Tennis Prof Chronicles: "Are you watching Indian Wells?"The Tennis Prof Chronicleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13839741108504821211noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4016827071090546963.post-12601804975373873842015-03-22T13:42:46.816-07:002015-03-22T13:42:46.816-07:00Serena Williams and her father Richard Williams h...Serena Williams and her father Richard Williams have displayed numerous unprofessional behaviors over the years. Anytime they are criticized for their behavior, it is deemed racist. Serena's specific threats of bodily injury to umpires and line people are inappropriate no matter what your race is. Richard's repeatedly dancing the jig on the roof of cordoned off private property and holding up poster boards to confront the crowd is not professional behavior for a manager and coach -- it's an in-your-face action. Unsurprisingly, these types of behaviors engender a reaction the crowd. To act as if comments and commentary about the Williams' family's disrespect for the tennis community is all racially motivated is disrespectful to those of us who appreciate a modicum of professionalism in a sport that still esteems such values. Let's not pretend the Williams family's provocative behavior is blame- free.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01580162358945418029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4016827071090546963.post-49187930997327430972014-12-07T15:00:30.184-08:002014-12-07T15:00:30.184-08:00I believe this blog is proof positive about uhow p...I believe this blog is proof positive about uhow people's behavior can be unfairly portrayed or demonized to fit a social agenda.<br /><br />First, to address the ridiculous "racism" calls from Richard Williams....well even the liberal media, and this blogger seem willing to ignore that unsupported call. Richard WIlliams has proven himself to be extremely racist over the years, and certainly somebody who perception of events is often not accurate.<br /><br />As to the crowd, they had every right to "boo", yes, it was completely predictable - all of us as serious fans knew that would happen, and it was discussed online. It would not matter who the player was, if they had a similar history of shenanigans, and then pulled out in that manner, people would be both suspicious, and displeased - and again, yes, the sports fan will let you know what they think.<br /><br />The Williams of course, knew this as well, but were more than willing to face that crowd, shake fists, and flaunt their actions - with no heartfelt, genuine attempt to convince people otherwise.<br /><br />As to the Williams, they did this behavior (which in best case simply looks very bad, and in worst case was another unprofessional move, causing fans and the tournament to be ripped-off), and it is up to them to decide if they come back. Frankly, if I were Pasarell, though I would be hurt by the lack of their star-power, I would not want them back. The tournament, and more importantly, the SPORT, needs PROFESSIONAL players, who show up, and give 100% effort day in, and day out. That certainly was not the Williams sisters. <br /><br />In fact, subsequent events - later in Serena's career have shown that even a decade later, she isn't above ugly behavior eg. ugly threats against lines-people.<br /> <br /> There is no controversy here. The Williams had a history of unsportsmanlike antics - any serious player/coach who saw their earlier matches knows FULL WELL that those matches were not properly competitive - that can't be proven, but again....they were nearly as obviously fixed as the old King-Riggs match, and certainly far more fixed than the majority of exhibition matches. Even the Williams have had to acknowledge that in retrospect - though they tend to claim that was a result of mental problems in the psychology of sibling rivalry. Bottom line: they pulled out in an inappropriate and highly suspicious way (given their history), and people lost the hard-earned money they paid to see what should have been PROFESSIONAL tennis. The Williams either underestimated the fans displeasure, or did not take it seriously. For the young sisters, it was probably a matter of both, for Richard, well he has always come across as an arrogant attention-seeking man, and my personal suspicion is that he reveled in the controversy and his power to create it.<br /><br />The fans had every right to boo them, and they have every right to not come back. <br /><br />And let me reiterate, racism is a kludge that Richard Williams added on. It isn't even necessary to explain the incident. I am a visible minority as are many of the die-hard fans who discussed this online. Many of us, dare I say the majority, were in agreement with the booing fans...we certainly psychologically jeered them, for their behavior. If one needs racism to explain this reaction, one either does not understand the situation (or the previous ones leading up to this), or one is disingenuously stretching the incident to match their own social agenda.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065854996378746400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4016827071090546963.post-63095966805055698472014-05-03T14:24:01.164-07:002014-05-03T14:24:01.164-07:00Hi Engineer,
Sorry I did not reply to your messag...Hi Engineer,<br /><br />Sorry I did not reply to your message earlier, but I just came across it. It has been a most interesting subject to talk about in classes. Many times in Sport Management, we have a tendency to glorify sports. And yet, I believe if we are to make sport better, we need to address the negative events that happen. Yet, even those who are avid tennis fans may not have been aware of what happened at Indian Wells in 2001. I study tennis more closely than any other sport since it has been my lifelong passion. And yet, I did not know about the details of Venus' injury until Serena's autobiography came out in 2009. I wondered why all of that information had been obscured until now. I agree with you that we have gotten a very skewed sense of what happened.<br />Thanks for sharing your insights. The Tennis Prof Chronicleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13839741108504821211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4016827071090546963.post-22529727669680300222013-03-18T05:44:35.890-07:002013-03-18T05:44:35.890-07:00I think it is interesting that this event is taugh...I think it is interesting that this event is taught in colleges. Another aspect is how the media covered it at the time and how it still slants the coverage to paint the Williams family as at fault. The Drucker article that you linked to is a good example. While getting his facts straight, he ignores other facts like Venus's claim that she called attention to her injury the evening before the semi-final match, that there were no calls for restraint during the final from the tournament director or that numerous fan testimonials since the tournament have backed up the Williams's account of what was said in the crowd. Even the recent SI article suggesting the sisters should return to Indian Wells featured photos of Richard Williams and made very little reference to the ugly crowd verbally assulting a 19 year old in the final. Sounds like you have an interesting topic to teach on and it just keeps growing.engineerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15313324530434806287noreply@blogger.com