Serena Williams and taming the tongue
by Vivian
I’m a tennis fan, and I expected last Saturday’s US Open women’s semifinal between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters to be a great match. However, the result was not anything I anticipated. Serena had a verbal encounter with a linesperson that ended up costing her the match without another ball being played.
(Somehow something got disconnected, so when I watched my tape, all I got was video. What a time to not be able to hear what was said!)
Over the next couple of days Serena released statements, eventually including an apology, but in my mind she was at least a day late and a dollar short. Her outburst had a lasting impression I would not expect from one of “the most prominent female Christian athletes of all.”
(Some would argue that Serena got treated unfairly since Roger Federer cursed at the chair umpire and wasn’t similarly penalized, but he was sitting in his chair, not menacing a linesperson with a tennis racket.)
Thinking on speech-related issues reminds me of the criticism House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received when she and House Majority leader Steny Hoyer wrote, “Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.” Apparently some people think the 1st Amendment gives them the freedom to speak in such a way that deprives others of the freedom to speak. Go figure.
Our Summer Group discussed James and taming the tongue. Obviously this is a hard lesson, but James 1:19-20 has much wisdom for situations like these:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
How would things be different if we were more eager to listen to others rather than ourselves?
Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Serena Williams, taming the tongue, un-American
September 15th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Great post, great question, and a really great picture!
There is a difference in the rules of tennis for what a player says to an umpire or line judge and what a players says about them while resting between games. Or at least there was back in the day when I was umpiring, and I’ve been yelled at and “talked about” in my hearing by some of the best.
But a different standard of behavior depending on relationship to an umpire is perhaps not so much the point here as a different standard that might be held by Ms. Williams compared to Mr. Federer. He has never (that I know of) claimed to be a Christian, just the best male tennis player of his time. If Ms. Williams does claim to be a Christian, as well as one of the best female tennis players of her time, she — like all of us who are her brothers and sister — should strive to hold herself to a higher standard.
In addition to being a former umpire, though, I’m also a former player of sorts, and I know from both of those how emotionally charged a tennis match can become. It is definitely a crucible at times, and the pressure to misbehave, both in language and action, often got the best of me. Perhaps that made me more sympathetic as an umpire or line judge, and it makes me somewhat sympathetic to Williams and Federer.
I’m also reminded of a time when Andre Agassi, also a Christian, was challenged by a reporter after one match for his on-court behavior, given his beliefs. Agassi, who had already apologized for his actions, replied that he was a Christian, not Christ, and that in his efforts to become like Christ he sometimes failed. But he kept making the effort.
May we all, including Serena, do the same.