She is not playin’, sports fans, even when she’s playin’. That’s what I have come to love about Serena Williams. She’s been one of the top five athletes in the world for years now, but she has never stopped being Serena. If you haven’t heard about the U.S. Open Women’s Final from Saturday in Flushing Meadows, it’s okay, you’ve got the highlights.
Have you ever been accused of “losing your mind,” or “having a meltdown,” or “throwing a nutty?” When I was coaching my son’s 11-year-old youth basketball team years ago, and I went sideways about a ref’s “unjust” call, I was gently pulled aside by my assistant coach and told that I was having a meltdown. He actually went all Galatians 5, “Fruits of the Spirit” on me: “Bro, God has given us a spirit of self-control.” Those words stung in that instant, a lot. No one wants a mid-game admonishment. However, those words also calmed me down and probably kept me from getting kicked out of the game. I thanked him afterward.
On Saturday, my favorite athlete of all-time (hands down) Serena Williams, didn’t have the benefit of a teammate with (well intended, slightly misinterpreted) Bible verses. It strikes me here that Serena was left to fight alone, in a sea of millions. It was just her and the umpire, mano-a-mano, and the boom microphone on Center Court caught everything she said. The people present there who love her the most–her coach, family, and friends–could not come to her aid without creating a bigger scene. They had to sit and watch.
That puts all of this in a different light for me. When I’m “competing,” I’m not thinking about being relational and gracious. I’m thinking about winning. That’s not noble necessarily, but it is how I’m wired, and how Serena’s wired, I think. She wears her heart on the ragged edge of her sleeve–and she always wears sleeves! It’s her style, which is so cool. And in a Grand Slam Final, in which she was hoping to set an all-time record, of course the ante is upped all the more.
This is where I think that Serena’s critics are missing the point. They argue she should’ve exhibited more decorum, more respect for the historical venue, more grace to her opponent in that moment. But how can anyone turn down the intensity in the middle of a championship, especially after a very poor call was just levied against her? As I’ve watched the replays here, I think she’s probably more upset about how bad the actual “call” was. Regardless, competition isn’t the place in the garden that cultivates the fruits of the Spirit, at least not in my life. I would call the umpire a “thief,” too. Have you seen John McEnroe go off on a tennis umpire at Center Court? Did you hear Richard Sherman describe his own inner-competitor at the end of a particularly memorable NFC Championship?
So, I was on Team Serena on Saturday. I pulled for her to pull it together. She didn’t. The moment got the better of her, and she lost. Please though, don’t tell me that it was because her meltdown cost her her composure. She’s a competitor. Competitors do that! Who knows it better than us? We do it all the time. Sometimes we reel it back in, but then again, we’re not on live television, nor are we Serena Williams.
Serena Williams hasn’t been the media’s darling, which, in my world, actually makes her more virtuous. She has always been herself. I’d argue that she has continued to do that whilst also having to bear up under the imposing “thou shalts” of a champion. My heart broke a little for Serena on Saturday. (I know she’ll be fine. I don’t have to worry about her.) Truth be told, my heart was actually breaking for me, because what if that was me out there, in that moment, speaking up alone in front of millions of judges? I know I’d do no better.
Of course, the hope for Christians lies elsewhere, in a friend (and not a competitor) who wasn’t in it to win at all. And while he stood before the crowd, misunderstood, he still “didn’t say a mumbling word.” I know that’s divine justice. But if I’m being honest, justice Serena style is justice as I would have it, too.
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13 responses to “Justice, Serena Style”
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YES
Thank you St. Howie!
Rev. Howie E. for the win!
I’ll agree with you on one thing. Serena acted exactly the way we all act pretty much every day all the time. Including the part where she called the person meting out penalties a thief. We all do it.
It’s easy to for me imagine that Serena was just standing out there doing her job when the reality that everyone in the stands was judging her and treating her differently than John McEnroe because they were sexist racists overwhelmed her. And the fact that she hasn’t been a media darling and her family was sitting RIGHT THERE and couldn’t come down help her. And ALL SHE WAS DOING WAS TRYING TO WIN! So she exploded and threw a massive fit in which she called people names and then demanded an apology.
It’s easy to imagine this because I did the same thing in staff meeting on Monday morning.
We are so lucky we rarely get the justice we want. We are far better for it, even Serena.
A Monday for Jim, a Tuesday for me!, and we can all fill in that day, moment, or time when that has happened to us …. cheers Mr. Moore!
Forgive me, for not jumping on the Serena bandwagon here.
The one I felt badly for in this match was her opponent, Naomi Osaka. This win (the first by a Japanese player in a Grand Slam event) should have been a joyous moment for her. Instead, in ended up being all about Serena, and her arguments with the official.
I don’t like it, when prominent people (whether in sports, or business, or whatever) appear to get excused for acting in public, like a two-year-old having a tantrum. And one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.
And Serena didn’t have it on that day.
Please believe me: I’m not wanting to start an argument. It is just what I feel.
My teeny two cents.
Hey Patricia – you have the majority opinion here I think. So you’re in excellent company. I’ve got the minority view, and that’s ok. My push back would only be that there is a delicate balance between “to whom much is given, much is required” and “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” … so my question became “where do I fall here, with Serena in this moment, with no coach, no trainer, no teammate, no friend to put a gentle arm around her, and calm her down?”
She is spewing, and it’s not pretty, for sure. But she also is just on the other side of a high risk pregnancy/delivery in February, and came back to the US Open Final 7 months later. When i pull that into the equation, along with her not having a confidant in that moment, I lean Serena. Plus, I don’t think I can think of an iconic professional athlete who has poured more emotion out onto their canvas than Serena….maybe Ali? – but he’s controversial too. I suppose that I tend to view tennis more like boxing than golf. It’s less about decorum and pulling it together, and more about getting the most punches in.
So I’m not disagreeing with you at all. This one just hit me differently.
Thank you, Howie, for your reply.
And it’s good to hear both sides of the discussion.
I have to disagree. Serena wanted to be treated “other than the rules” and even challenged the judges integrity and truthfulness and threatened his livelihood. Not filled with grace! She should apologize and not hide behind feminism. She made a mistake.
I agree, Israel.
And when she brought up sexism–well, she lost me.
And I am a woman!
Do we really have to defend Serena in order to point to Christ?
Fair question….I was giving Serena some love so that I could point to me, and my need for Christ….that may not have come across as intended.
Thanks Howie. Please know that I’m not posting hereon in order to side against Serena specifically. If anything, I’m simply noting our tendency to jump into the fray and render our own judgment.
When we downplay the crime, rationalize the circumstances and / or critique the rendered sentence, the view towards the Cross is blurred. We don’t need to grade Serena on a curve, we instead need to remember that her F has been nailed to that Cross, as has mine.
Plus, someone’s gotta speak up for the poor umpires! 🙂