Serena redefines arrogance

Much has been said and written about Serena Williams' absolutely disgusting behaviour in her US Open semi final at the weekend.

Her ghetto guttermouth outburst at a line judge, while reprehensible for an athlete of her age and experience, was nothing compared to the arrogant, ignorant and sad show she put on in the hours and days afterwards.

The pathetic debacle that saw her issue a PR statement via a publicist only to 'forget' to do the one thing that might have saved her from a lasting legacy surrounding this mess - apologise - was laughable. The desperate second apology statement was then a very little, a lot late.

Did she really think she could get away with the "I don't remember line"?

Maybe she didn't remember everything that happened in the heat of the battle - we have all been fired up in situations where we later couldn't recall exactly what we've said. But surely she could have thrown in an apology around the amnesia!

"I can't remember exactly what I said but I know it was horribly wrong and I am sincerely sorry" ..... or something to that affect??? Or maybe even suck it up and leave out the "I can't remember".

My friend and fellow blogger at www.sportdownunder.com.au explains it well in his latest post entitled "How Not To Apologise".

This is arrogance to a T.

Or a S for Serena actually and I for one am not surprised that this has happened.
For many years now this brat has talked down to opponents, treating other obviously less talented players with all the humility and grace of...well...of Serena Williams.

Put simply she is a bad sport whose vain attempts to add humour to press conferences often end up with a room full of cringe. And wouldn't it be nice for once in her decorated career if Serena was to commend an opponent when she has been beaten fair and square? No excuses, no disrespect.

Serena now wants us all to learn from this and move on. I bet she does.

Now it's up to the Grand Slam Committee to show her some respect. As in, show her how to respect match officials, her opponents and most of all our intelligence. As in Grand Slam suspension respect.

I for one will be appalled if she shows up back in Australia next January at all, let alone if it's out of shape and full of BS excuses if she gets her sizable booty kicked.

I don't care about your kid Kim

I received an email today from my buddy Morgo who had written to a newspaper's letters section about a topic I had considered blogging about.

Now that he has put it so well I am going to (with his permission) just post his thoughts with my full support.

Over to you Morgo:

"Kim Clijsters bringing her daughter onto the court after her remarkable US Open win finally motivated me to put finger to keyboard on this issue. It is becoming increasingly common for sports stars to include their children in post game/match/event celebrations, and I find it abhorrent.

Firstly, I think it is arrogant of the sports-parent to think that the public are interested in seeing their children when they have come to see the sports-parent (and team-mates where relevant) perform, celebrate and be rewarded for their achievements. Secondly, and even more importantly, I believe allowing the children to share in this privileged experience is doing the wrong thing by them, especially when they are permitted to be part of any presentation in front of large crowds. What lesson might this teach the child about hard work and rewards, and how may it impact upon their enjoyment of far lesser achievements as they grow up? If the sports-parent wants to share their success with their children let them do it away from the public eye, for the sake of the spectators and the children.

And if it’s OK for children to be involved where will it stop; what about Mum or Dad, or Grandma or Uncle Joe, or the faithful family dog?"

Couldn't have said it better myself. Or should I start on the Hewitt's bringing the kid they hide from general news media onto the stage at the Logies??

It's a great time to be alive

If you're an Australian sports fan with a love for American sports this time of year is always awesome. It's probably my favourite.

Here at home we have the NRL & AFL finals starting up, the Tri-Nations rugby is still on, the Spring Racing Carnival is not far off and the A-League is gathering some momentum.

Across the Pacific it's even more packed with the US Open Tennis, the start of the College Football season (ouch Oklahoma!!!), NFL, MLB pennant races happening and playoffs approaching, and NBA and NHL on the horizon. How good!!

The only pain in the ass is the time difference, but then again, if the time zones were all the same there wouldn't be enough time to take it all in.

So who is going to win??

That is something I am asked often by my sports loving brethren so I thought I'd have a crack - as much to get your thoughts and as much to see how stupid I might look down the track when everything is decided for another year. Although, I probably don't need to stick my neck out there too look stupid!

So here goes (with personal bias firmly in place):

Tri-Nations - The Springboks (pretty much already lifted the trophy)

NRL - Manly

AFL - Geelong

Cox Plate - Maldivian

Melbourne Cup - Profound Beauty

A-League - Sydney FC

MLB - Yankees

NCAA Football - Florida

NFL - New Orleans

NBA - Cleveland

NHL - Flyers

All this is without bringing into play the end of the various motor racing seasons, the Premier League in the UK and the myriad of exciting European football competitions. Damn work, can't someone just pay me to watch all of this stuff!

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.