AFP via Yahoo! News/Timothy A. Clary
Serena Williams may lose more than the U.S. Open women's semi-final match to Kim Clijsters because she lost it following a line judge's double-fault call. Convinced she didn't step on the line, Serena had some choice, bleep-able words for the line judge, and, it seems, some more words that could be taken as a threat. The immediate result: a penalty, which cost her the point, which happened to be match point, delivering the win to the returning, unseeded Clijsters.
Since that match-changing moment, Williams was fined $10,000 by the U.S. Open for unsportsmanlike conduct, and a $500 fine for racket abuse. Now, Yahoo! Sports reports that the Grand Slam Committee is investigating whether to ban Williams from future Grand Slam tournaments--she is the defending champion of the Australian Open and Wimbledon--and take away the $350,000 prize for this U.S. Open.
Wow, that's an untimely, foul-mouthed outburst that makes Rep. Joe Wilson's two-word outburst look tame, despite the setting. Either way, it seems some pretty high-profile types are losing it on the job lately when the world is watching, and we're wondering if it's a Twitter trend or people are just hepped up on stress.
We've been having a bit of a debate here on Shine about whether Serena is being held to a different standard because she is a woman (and her words were caught on audio and video), but looking back at past on-court tantrums it seems she may have been the first to threaten a line judge.
It's been a week for outbursts, to be sure. But can you identify at least a little bit with Serena? Have you ever lost it at work with a colleague or, to hell with the consequences, your boss?
