Re: Serena Williams
Originally Posted by
havanablast21
I saw the entire outburst (after the fact).
It wasn't so much Serena had to admit that she received coaching. She may of had no idea whatsoever. But the Coach admitted on camera that he was, in fact, trying to coach her. In a case like this, it is the player that receives the penalty for the coaches actions. Doesn't matter if Serena admitted she saw it or admitted she saw it. In her mind, she didn't get coached but the coach's actions suggested he was trying to coach her and his words clearly stated he was. Whether or not others are called for it is irrelevant in my opinion. He called something that HE SAW and what the coach admitted to doing. Serena got the warning... she chatted with the Ref and could have moved on.
But if anyone expected the Ref to change his call just because Serena said "I wasn't receiving coaching" is a little ridiculous. Once the call is made it's made. There was no video review and even if there was, it would have shown Serena's coach flashing signals. Video review can't confirm or disprove if Serena caught the signals or not.
But back to Serena... she got the warning and could have/should have moved on. I SEE NOTHING that could suggest Sexist action here. It's not like she was playing a man and this call favored the guy. No... 2 women playing. Once got called for her coach flashing signals. Deal with it. (Cops can't pull every speeder over... but if the one they do is female... is that sexist? )
had she moved passed the issue which she herself said "I can understand how you would have thought that"... (again... how can a ref go back on his call just because she said that. Pandora's Box for him in the future)... the rest of the event is 100% the result of Serena's outburst and inability to manage her game and her temper.
Slamming down her racket. Did he have to call that? no, but he was well within his rights to do so as the rules state and support the call.
Is he sexist for calling it on Serena? Not sure how anyone but the Ref can truly state that. But her opponent was also a female, so why would sexism come into play? What if the ref was a woman and made the same calls?
Then her inability to exercise class and decorum and endless chirping at the ref, threats (and she did threaten him, threaten his job "You'll never work another one of my matches") and eventual personal attack in calling him a Theif.. I would have done the very same thing. She was taking control of the match for all the wrong reasons. He had just as much responsibility to support Serena's opponent (again...a female) and maintain control of the match.
Serena... any players for that matter... have duty to respect the Ref's in any sport. Choose not to (whether you think your justified or not) comes with consequence. That's how I see it. She acted in a way that warranted consequences for the betterment of the match. Did that alter the outcome? Who knows... but letting Serena continue to throw a temper tantrum could have exposed her opponent to stresses of her own that should not be warranted or supported or experienced by her opponent.
Rules mean little when not enforced evenly and consistently. This train derailed when coaching penalty called during a grand slam final. Only reason he was coaching was because it is usually not called. A warning would have been more appropriate. Let the players play. Don't interfere.
10 Owner Keepers. Keep 8
Positions----C:3 LW:3 RW:3 D:6 G:2
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Kootenay League
C: Draisaitl(c,l), Zibanejad, Beniers, Nelson
RW:Meier(l,r), Kyrou, Tippett, D.Stome(c,r), Stone
LW: Tkachuk(l,r), Panarin, McCann(c,l), Marchessault(l,r),
D: Josi, McAvoy, Morrissey, Montour, Toews, Hronek, Severson, Orlov
G: Gustavsson, Kuemper, Gibson