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The Tao of Serena Williams
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All those F words at the U.S. Open? Taboo in the tennis queen's new memoir, On the Line. Read 14 hilarious Serena quotes about staying zen.
To be true is to stay inside the line
“I didn’t cheat on the lines. If my shot was out, I called it out. If her shot was in, I called it in.”
Strength is restraint, retaliation is weakness
“If someone hurls an untruth in your direction, it doesn’t always pay to swat back. Sometimes the thing to do is to just let it hang there, unanswered, and wait for it to disperse.”
They admire me; I admire me
“I have a responsibility to those little girls who look up to me, just as I have a responsibility to myself.”
Don’t follow the leader; be the leader to follow
“All I have to do is set a positive example. Piece of cake, right?”
When anger rises, find prayer and peace
On the Line. By Serena Williams with Danie Paisner. 272 Pages. Grand Central. $26.
“People are always asking me why I don’t go crazy over bad calls, or get all emotional when a match tilts the wrong way, and it’s because I try to carry myself in a certain way. I don’t want to give my religion a bad name—and I never lose sight of this when I’m out on the court.”
She who conquers herself is the fiercest of fighters
“I couldn’t control the umpires or the line judges any more than I could control my opponent. The only person I could control on the court was me.”
Turn cheek before giving lip
“It wasn’t like me to mouth off to an official.”
To foul is to be human
“Every official misses a call from time to time; but you’re only supposed to miss the close ones, right?”
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Uh, it's less her voice than her ghost writer's and her publicist's. She's a good player, and she deserves the accolades based on her talent, but don't be naive that this book reflects her true voice or her real self. She showed a part of her real self when she was in a temper the other night, and subsequently when she refused to offer an unequivocal apology for several days.
Apparently, you have never in your life won at even the checkout line race that's so ignorant. There isn't a human alive who's never exploded, but apparently it's OK for men- women athletes daren't act like warriors in full heat, might offend the Puppy.
Get a grip. Elite sports is so much harder, so far past any crucible any of you will ever step into you can't possibly judge Serena Williams. And to cuss a bit once in a long carreer and have the vultures out just means Glenn Beck's been too thorough in the race baiting game. White MacEnroe never got this kind of shit, with a quarter the talent.
Worst thing for Serena? She'll go home and count her money and know she can kick your ass, slave boy.
missbike? Your an idiot.
She is so Over.!!!As a tennis star, no one can take away her talent.And there is no explanation,for a talent like her,to have used that language,and she is an intimidating figure. As a person,human being,class,and role model,people saw the true Serena.,and she demolished her image.Her apology was very full of herself,not someone genuinly remorsed.Nada.!!So out.
You said it all. Nothing to add. This ugly episode will remain forever in the minds of tennis fans. Serena is toast among the cognoscenti.
Woh !!!
Calm down. Give the girl a break.
Although, some made it seem she was ejected. Not true.
She was justly penalized a SINGLE point, which happened to be match point.
Serena's a sweet girl, she just had a meltdown. Haven't most of us at one time, excluding the verbal "shoving the ball down someone's throat" part.
Nobody cares but the same crybabies who got undone about another elite Olympic champion partying like a regular college student. After doing something you can't!
Tennis quit being genteel when money came in, the stakes are exhorbitant, and you have no clue what the world of the pro Athlete is like; Don't criticize unless you've made the same sacrifices and suffered the way athletes do. Win a Grand Slam and then you can comment.
Did I mention nobody cares?
Quit judging people lest you be judged, too. Hypocrites.
Serena rocks and always will....despite the hypocritical idiots that are so offended. What I'm so over is this false indignation over comments from sports stars and singers and nothing when more visceral tripe is spewed by our politicians.
Her ugly behavior will be remembered. She acted like a bully and a bad loser. Breaking her racquet, and then waving it and intimidating the line gal with repeated threats and vulgarity was awful. Serena has talent but diva behavior and a sense of entitlement wasn't what we paid to see.
She apologized because she had to. Were this basketball or soccer, etc., she'd face suspension.
Frustration is a part of competition. You paid for a seat, not a scripted theatre production. Sorry you aren't in touch with the human anymore, must be lonely....
Not one of us can know what was going on in her on that given day. Which one of us practices what we preach all the time? I'm not condoning her behavior and I'm also not condemning her for the rest of her life. Look at yourselves and take care of yourselves and others.
Dear Very,
You don't know what was bugging Serena? She was losing and it was all but over. She's responsible for her own behavior no matter what. The pressure of losing to Kim C. unhinged her, and what we saw and heard was awful.
Yeah, so was Macenroes behavior, but he never caught this kind of crap from people with no clue. Is it the woman, or the black, that people are being so down on?
Athletes aren't like us. That's why we pay to see them. So don't criticize when they behave differently across the board instead of just what amuses you morris.
Serena, along with her sister, has been the face of American women's tennis for more than a decade. She has come back from match points down to win big matches at least half a dozen times, and we have heralded her for it. She has been treated horribly by judges in big matches at least half a dozen times, and she was calm and understanding about it.
Did she lose it when Justine lied about asking for more time during Serena's service at the semi-finals of Roland Garros? No. Did she lose it when Mariana Alves overruled that shot at the US Open 2004 in favor of Capriati? Nope. She has had so many bad calls go against her that we actually have Serena to thank for the implementation of the entire challenge system.
What Serena did was terrible. No doubt. But all things considered, give her a break. More than a decade upholding American women's tennis, more than a decade of time to throw tantrums on court, and this is her first one. Judge not....
serena acted badly, true and she was penalized for it. if people will still hold it against her, fine. she cant undo what she has done. but people, it is not the end of serena and you know that. let's just hope she'll get some real good lessons from it and mellow. one ugly action do not make a man a beast. let's be forgiving. they are so exposed to pressure that we ordinary viewers are not used to. forcing themselves to smile even at the point of losing is very hard to do. dont we even fight amongst us fans when our bet is on the verge of losing? how much more the player? remember they are human beings too. amaen.
The negative: Serena had an ugly meltdown.
The positive: A meltdown is OUT OF character for Serena.
The truth: It doesn't make her a hypocrite. It makes her human.
i totally agree; methinks that now that she has let off some steam, she'll pipe down a get back to the ol fashioned "tough" tennis that her father always encouraged her to play. watch out for the new, moral minded serena as she goes thru her humility phase.usa produces some good products!
Has anyone said 'Steroid Rage' yet ??
Tennis players don't use steroids, informed one. They have no effect that's useful. If anything Tennis is an aerobic endurance sport. And she doesn't pack that kind of muscle, she's just really well trained and toned. There are women on the street that ripped under the clothes from dance classes after work..
The last thing a tennis player wants is unnecessary muscle weight to drag around. Think before you libel.
She is a big fat loser.
Let's see you beat her before you say stupid things like that.
Every word I've heard Serene say is in synch with the book. As was mentioned above she's been a model of sportsmanship for years but one bad day and who's crying even uglier insults? All of you are probably jealous, and there's a misogynistic undertone as well.
The worst is that the ugly racist poison unleashed by the GOP and mouthpieces is probably behind these spiteful and uncalled for comments. You all are too quick to throw stones and the later comments are the Me, Too sort of mob acceleration. That's not the behavior of an American. Show some reasoned judgment .
Wanna witch burning? Try the foul, spiteful behavior of the so called "news" people who urge out the worst in you. Serena will come back stronger; she's the warrior quoted above. But a lot of you get pettier and meaner by making nasty remarks. You've been urged on in old and ugly ways by politicians owned by Big Corporate and this is just more from FOX News.
Why don't you scream "Teabag her!"?
Shame on you!!!
Thank you.
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