Angry White Man

I just got done finished posting about how impressed by Maria Sharapova's play in Wimbledon today. Don't let the rant you are about to read make you think I'm contradicting myself. I loved watching her play today. The rant you are about to read is more about how she, so far, has received a free pass from the media, for some pretty selfish, prima donna-type, behavior.

So, on with my rant.

First off, there are somethng like seven young Russian women tennis players (like Sharapova) who are ranked in the world's top 25, and it's refreshing that they are not famous just for their looks (Anna Kournikova's 15 minutes should have expired long ago). Ironically, Miss Kournikova has been called the inspiration for this upswing in Russian women tennis players.

And my point is just that: I enjoyed watching Sharapova because of how good she was today. She was groomed to be a tennis star at age six, and she is a packaged commodity just like any other movie, rock, or sports star. I am too cynical to get into how charming she is, how close to her father she is, or how her family had to flee Chernobyl. I don't know what to believe and what not to believe when it comes to those kind of stories, so I stick to what I know. She and Serena played some amazing tennis this morning, and anything beyond that could be fact or fiction.

{START RANT HERE}

When Joe Horn grabbed a cell phone and made a phone call after scoring a touchdown, he was fined $30,000.00 and turned into a villian the instant it happened, and for months after, in the newspapers, on radio and TV sports shows.

Joe Horn was grandstanding and his behavior obnoxious, and he needs to live with the negative publicity he received.

But this morning (or afternoon, in London), after winning Wimbledon and running into to the stands to hug her dad, Miss Sharapova then returned to Centre Court and motioned for her dad to pass down a cell phone. Then she tried her call her mom while Serena had to sit there and watch, along with the rest of the crowd and the TV audience. She held up the awards ceremony with this stunt, and played to the cowd, pantomiming frustration because she couldn't get a signal.

The crowd laughed and the announcers joked about it too.

Damn, Click here and read the AP story. I like the part that says,

After the match, Sharapova was giddy and giggly, fumbling with a cell phone while trying to call Mom, just like any 17-year-old at a suburban mall on Saturday afternoon.

I don't recall any AP story that talked about how "giddy and giggly" Joe Horn was when he made his call. Cripes...

How in the hell is this different from what Joe Horn did?

Emily said it was different because the match was over, while Horn pulled his stunt mid-game. I also think an argument can be made that Joe Horn was a member of 45 man team, 10 of whom were on the field when he scored the touchdown that lead to his phone call. Meanwhile, Miss Sharapova just won Wimbledon so the spotlight was on her already, so what she did wasn't as selfish.

BUT I'M NOT BUYING IT!!!!

Here's a bigger difference between the two episodes: Call #1 was made by an African-American man, playing a very violent sport that is full of poster-children for selfish, overpaid athletes, while call #2 was made by a cute, white, innocent girl (or at least one who has been coached just to play that part). Whether or not her call was pre-meditated like Joe Horn's was, isn't important. What is important is that Sharapova's cell phone was a classic act of grandstanding and a typical selfish act by an athlete that usually gets villified. So where are the angry commentators?

Maybe she will receive some backlash in the next few days. If she doesn't, there is a definite double-standard between the way the press and public opinion treat a cute 17 year-old and how it treats a grown man, even though Sharapova has been groomed on how to act for the last 11 years.

In the meantime I will continue to watch tennis stars like Sharapova and football players like Joe Horn. I value how they perform on the field, even if I don't approve of how they celebrate. But it would be nice if we treated the goose and the gander equally.

{END RANT HERE}