Since my column written for Suite101.com back in the day is no
longer archived there, I am presenting a few of the articles here at A Line A Day. Many of them were time sensitive so I’ll pass
on taking a stroll down memory lane with those.
But a few stand up pretty good in reprint despite the passage of years since they were written. I have
reprinted IMAGINE here because athletes being busted for taking performance
enhancing drugs continues to be a plague on sports. More recently I reprinted THE BLACK ATHLETE in response to the 2013-14
NFL season beginning with a record 9 African American men taking the field as starting
quarterback for their respective teams.
I happened to attend a game that featured two of them, with Geno Smith
of my beloved New York Jets earning victory over Josh Freeman of the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers by the slimmest of margins. In
that post I also included a snippet from an article I wrote about the young
Michael Vick long before his legal difficulties and eventual comeback led me to write
about him a couple more times. The
article I am reprinting below was written about the Williams
sisters back in 2001 during the US Open. As I
predicted might happen, Venus ended up defending her title by defeating her
younger sister Serena. Fast forward
twelve years and once again the US Open champion is a Williams, only this time
around Serena was the victor and she did not need to go through any family
members to earn it. Serena merely had to
get over the fact that at age 31, her talent level is supposed to be in sharp decline. Instead she has never looked better on the
court. She’s looking pretty good off it
as well. So I decided to reprint this
article in her honor, and if a decade down the line she somehow is STILL
winning Majors, I’ll reprint it yet again.
Take a bow, Serena. You too,
Venus, even though your prime now appears to be in the rear view mirror. And shout out to Richard Williams who has been
keeping a relatively low profile of late, and has recently become a father
again in his 70’s. Will a third Williams
be hoisting up championship tennis trophies some day? I wouldn't bet against it.
Once upon a
time. No, let me be more precise. On June 11, 1978 an event took place that
would end up transforming the world of tennis, though not for many years to
come. It was on this day that Virginia Ruzici won the French Open women's
singles championship. A man who resided in California
was watching on television and he found himself amazed not so much by the skill
and effort displayed by Virginia
Why then has the extraordinary success of Venus and Serena been routinely accompanied by controversy and flat out resentment? Why are these talented, intelligent, attractive young ladies the least popular players on the tour? Was Venus' sudden withdrawal before a match sufficient cause for Serena to be subjected to a cascade of jeering rather than cheering as she earned a championship at Indian Wells earlier this year? And even if the circumstances of that day were somewhat suspicious, why was it reported that words far more offensive than "boo" were yelled at Serena?
Some would blame the perceived "unladylike" arrogance of the Williams sisters, demonstrated by the fact that they rarely credit losses to superior play by their opponents, and the audacity they showed in turning down lucrative endorsements until the stakes grew sufficiently lofty. Others would cite envy of Venus and Serena, who seem less dedicated than those they routinely annihilate because they play in considerably less tournaments than their top ten peers. There are those who are convinced that the outcome of matches between Venus and Serena are fixed, depending on whose turn it has been determined to be the victor. A few people probably had a problem with the beads once worn in their hair, or the colorful form fitting outfits they don to better exhibit their tall, lean, muscular physiques. Would someone be playing the so called race card in claiming that the brown skin of Venus and Serena is at the root of the troubles they find, or simply stating the obvious? There do happen to be folks on the professional tennis circuit who have predominantly positive comments to make about the Williams sisters. There actually are players who do not form competitive alliances against them, such as was admittedly done by Lindsey Davenport and Martina Hingis during last year's US Open. But even the majority of these people cease to compliment and start expressing disapproval towards the architect of the Williams master plan - Papa Williams.
When Richard Williams encounters racism, such as he said he did at Indian Wells, he is not shy about bringing it up and shouting it down. When he merely suspects that he detects it, such as when Irina Spirlea bumped into Venus during a changeover, he does not hesitate to brand her "a big, tall, white turkey", nor to contend that the incident was motivated by a broader racist attitude on the tour. He did later apologize for insulting Spirlea, but he is never apologetic about exposing racism, nor about exhibiting excessive pride to the point of gloating over his daughters' accomplishments. Richard Williams has been blamed for and accused of many things, but subtlety is not one of them. This is a man who has attended matches sporting signs that read "It couldn't have happened to a nicer family" and "I told you so". This is a man who once went on to the court and performed a celebratory dance on behalf of Venus while her vanquished opponent stormed off. Richard Williams has not chosen to hold his tongue about additional fees he feels his daughters should receive due to the greatly expanded fan base they are wholly responsible for bringing to tennis, much as Tiger Woods has done in golf. Speaking of Tiger, it is natural to compare his feats and impact to that of Venus and Serena. They do after all share the ability to win virtually at will and often with great ease; a plethora of lucrative endorsements; a Jackie Robinson like effect on the formerly lily white sports they have come to dominate; and unique names that match the flair of their playing styles. Yet even Earl Woods, father of Tiger, has been critical about the antics of Richard Williams and how Venus and Serena's behavior reflects poorly on their upbringing.
The more Richard Williams shouts to be given his due, to have the near miracle he has accomplished be properly acknowledged, the more scorn and derision he invites. And some of it inevitably spills over on to his daughters whether they deserve it or not. Instead of the genius who managed to put two of his children simultaneously in the upper echelons of tennis, enabling them to earn fortune and fame, he is cast in the villainous role of detriment to their brilliant and apparently limitless careers. There will probably be no end to the stream of conspiracy theorists and Martinas like Navratilova and Hingis who claim that rather than being held down by race, Richard takes advantage of it in a politically correct climate to get away with what others would be crucified for. And they probably do make some valid points, even while mostly missing the point.
Being who he is, and his relationship with the media being what it is, even with his lower profile Richard Williams still manages to steal headlines away from his daughters from time to time. For example...
FIRST LOOK: @Nike debuts outstanding ad using home video of nine-year-old @serenawilliams with father Richard from August 29, 1991 pic.twitter.com/EQRKE6Xka6
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 27, 2018
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