U.S. Open Tennis ...
 

I have absolutely no knowledge about tennis rules, but if a basketball coach ever called me “a liar” and “a thief for stealing a point” he would be sitting on a cold bus in the parking lot in a New York minute.

Not if that coach was Serena Williams, lol.

Speak for yourself.

No coach is above getting a technical foul from me. And the only time “thief” wouldn’t get penalized would be if I didn’t hear it.

Also, Serena is a sore loser, and always has been. Her history at the USO shows this. But, this is a basketball forum, so that’s as far as I’ll go.

All penalties assigned match the violations and procedures within the rules.

The controversy here comes from the same place as it does in all sports, consistent application of the rule. Whether its the catch or leading with the helmet in football, what the crew last week let kids wear or how the game was called by other officials when we show up in basketball, etc etc. If there is a rule that is not consistently applied then people feel hard done by when it is applied. We would generally prefer more freedom and latitude then less.

Full Disclosure: I actually think she has a point, though its not one being made. I agree that pro athletes particularly the high paid male athletes/coaches get way too much latitude in terms of how they talk to each other, officials and represent their teams and brands. I don't think the sexism is her being penalized and think its every time we don't penalize for similar behaviour in any sport when men do it. I don't want her able to act out and get away with more of that behaviour I want the men to be able to get away with less. I'm ok with her being penalized and I would like everyone penalized more. I will now go back to yelling at kids to stay off my lawn.

Take away for officials:

- Your sport has a rule book, your assignor has expectations, you are always in Rome. These do not always align. Be sure you organize your decision making in accordance with the ones you feel are the priority to you.

- In the social media age, rhetoric and outrage are the norm. You being right or defensible is not going to be as important to discussion publically afterwards. Who is going to care or be upset should not influence a call or decision, but you need to accept the fact that your call might not just be boo'd in the gym but put online, super slow mo'd, recorded with your comments, and framed to prove someone else's point. While you might not be wrong , that won't always be the public story or perception even if you are supported internally by leagues, associations, assignors etc.

This same umpire has a reputation for being a "by the book" umpire, but also being very consistent about issuing code violations. He's sanctioned Andy Murray for saying "stupid umpiring," something that I think we all would agree is less egregious than Serena's "thief" remark. So her "sexist" rant is just balderdash as it relates to this situation; she has experienced real discrimination in her career, but this wasn't anywhere close to that. The only reason this is being discussed is because she was getting outplayed and the umpire was a male.

Sounds to me like Serena thought she was going to be able to bully Ramos into pandering to her, and he was having none of it and took care of business.

Basketball officials that won't give warranted T's could learn something from this.

Can we merge threads?

Commonwealth English ...
 

Pantherdreams: I love it when you speak Canadian.

Some members on this thread just dont like a Black woman standing up to a man.

Your posting history speaks for itself.

troll alert.

If this had a "Like" button I would not click on it.

Just My Two Cents ...
 

If Serena was purple, and if the official was green, Serena was still wrong, and she should have been penalized as she was.

Sitting here at my computer with my male white privilege on full display, along with my white Irish guilt, I believe that race, and/or gender, had very little to do with the situation.

"Soft warning"? Sounds like the equivalent of our stop sign, I'll let the tennis guys deal with that.

If she had pulled that stunt on a basketball court, she would receive one technical foul for calling me a thief, and for the demand that I apologize, SEE, YOU, LATER. I don't care that she's black and female, if she was a white man or a fa'afafine (a Samoan man who believes that he is a woman and acts like one) she would be getting the same treatment from me for acting like a jerk and questioning my integrity.

Thief ...
 

"Liar" by itself, just a technical foul, no ejection (subject to an "upgrade" based on context, tone, volume, etc.).

"Thief for stealing a point", by itself, he, she, black, white, brown, gay, straight, Irish, Italian, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Indian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, tall, short: all would be sitting on the cold bus in the parking lot.

https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.7...=0&w=291&h=195

"Apologize". Ejection? No way. It's a throw away comment, so I would simply walk away. I would walk away mad, but I would just walk away (with apologies to the Three Stooges).

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.4...=0&w=325&h=171

And chances are, when you walk away from a stupid comment like that, the coach is going to make such a scene that a T will call itself, anyway.