If you watched the US Open the last couple weeks and are just a casual fan, the biggest story you may have heard was of the Serena Williams “debacle” during the Women’s Final. In short, she screamed (nothing new) after hitting a forehand winner but the umpire gave the point to her opponent, Samantha Stosur, on grounds that Williams yelled too early and this distracted Stosur. Now, I am not here to argue whether Williams did wrong or not; I have read conflicting views on this. However, what followed has caused all the stir. Serena proceeded to yell at the chair umpire then had more choice words for her in between games. By giving the point to Stosur, Williams was broken in the first game of the second set, and there was really no coming back from it.
I am not taking anything away from Stosur; she definitely outplayed Serena and deserves the title she won. Serena has a bad history with US Open officials; in 2009, she berated a line judge for calling a foot fault and ended up being fined $82,500 and placed on probation for two years. In comparison, for her “incident” this year, she was fined a whopping total of $2,000 (don’t worry, I refused to lend her the money).
So, what is my point, you ask? The official in Sunday’s match made a questionable call in the US Open Final. This is the highest level of sports in the world, and these are the best athletes in the world. Anytime any athlete yells at an official, the athlete is forced to apologize and pay a fine; on the other hand, when an official makes a mistake, he is simply just banned for the tournament or makes an apology through the respective referee association. After all, referees are human beings; like players, they can and will make mistakes. Taking the passion away takes away the ability to be a complete competitor.
Sports associations (i.e. MLB, NFL, USTA) have gone so far to regulate athletes for various reasons; they are considered role models, etc. but they are not allowed to be themselves. And in a country that strives to promote individuality, limiting how an athlete can behave and react only suffocates this notion. By fining athletes/coaches whenever they “talk back” to referees or even league officials, children are being taught not to question authority whatsoever and to abandon all spirit. If these athletes are allowed to shine, we can only hope that professional sports in this country, which have taken such a hard hit over the last decade or so, can finally help us make a return to normalcy.
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