#4: Serena, Serena

I love women's tennis.

However, I am no fan of the USA's Serena Williams.

For the better part of 10 years, Serena, and her sister Venus, have been the best representatives from the United States in the women's half of the sport in terms of winning matches and championships.

As such, I feel that most American tennis fans (either dedicated or casual) support the Williamses mainly out of feeling patriotic: "I'm an American, so I root for Americans."

Except this isn't the Olympics.

And even if it were, pride in your fellow countrymen (and women) should only extend so far as their humility.

Some would argue that without the kind of competitive spark that led Serena to suggest shoving a ball down a line judge's throat, she would not be the regular contender that she is, hence there's sort of a trade-off.

I would argue that sportsmanship is paramount, especially on so large of a stage as the US Open, and that there are better ways of disagreeing with the judgment of an official.

As it is, Serena exploded after the line judge's call of a foot fault made it Double Match Point in favor of her opponent, Belgium's Kim Clijsters. The misconduct penalty that followed awarded that final point to Clijsters without her having to play for it.

The sequence of events involving Serena Williams is what the late John Lennon refers to as "Instant Karma".

And it got her.

What's worse is that at the ensuing press conference, and for a couple days afterward (wherein a $10,000 fine was levied against her), there was no hint of regret.

On Monday, a form-letter-sounding apology was issued and posted to her blog.

Still, the damage has been done. More people will remember her outburst, rather than her apology (the sincerity of which can still be free debated).

As the top women's tennis player in the US (and #2 in the world), Serena has to be conscious that there are those who look up to her, who aspire to be her.

While Serena and Venus (the world #3 who seems to be much better at checking her emotions) are the two best players the United States has to offer, there may be another American waiting in the wings for tomorrow's tennis players (and fans) to look up to.

She remained humble, despite dispatching three championship caliber opponents from Russia in consecutive fashion as the 70th ranked player in the world. And, when given the chance to speak after losing to then-ranked #8 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark (a rare on-court interview of a match's loser), she held back tears as she thanked the partisan crowd for their support through her remarkable run, while crediting Wozniacki on her game.

She is soon-to-be 18-year old Melanie Oudin.

Now ranked #44 (a jump of 36 places).

Let's hope that as she gets more accustomed to winning on bigger stages, she is able to stay down to earth.

Melanie Oudin (l) of the United States meets Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the net following her 2-6, 2-6 defeat at the U.S. Open.

#3: "Kanye" Believe This?

I'm still not convinced this wasn't a stunt.

I didn't watch this live, or even recorded, but I've been hearing about it all day (and you probably have, too).

Teen country starlet Taylor Swift (the attractive lady in the picture) won the award for "Best Female Video" at the MTV Video Music Awards. While she was on stage to give her acceptance speech, hip-hop artist Kanye West (not the attractive lady in the picture) gets up on stage, takes the microphone from her and says, "Taylor, I'm really happy for you. I'll let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time ... one of the best videos of all time!"

Where to start with this one...

It is reported that alcohol was involved, so that would explain it to some degree if true. But West would not qualify as the first person to have had a few before and/or during an awards show.

West is probably also not the first person to be disappointed in a particular result.

So, why this?

I find nothing defensible about this, but I'll try:

At least he wasn't throwing a tantrum about losing this particular award for himself...it was for someone else. Since he's not a female, I think that would go without saying, though, so, no dice...

And at least he tried to temper the blow with his introduction to his opinion. Still, raising a little hell during Swift's moment, rather than saying something later to reporters (as he apparently did in 2004 after the American Music awards when he was "snubbed" for Best New Artist...oddly enough in favor of another country artist, Gretchen Wilson).

I almost expect this event to spawn a series of copycats that we'll see reported about in the "Odd News" section of Yahoo! News or the like for various (and far-lower profile) award ceremonies, banquets, pageants, etc, where someone will try to steal someone else's thunder thusly.

It's gotten to a point, apparently, where not even your friends can lose gracefully.

Ah, but that is the upside.

For as little class as West showed during the ceremony, it was Beyonce herself that truly stole the show, upon winning "Video of the Year" (which is like "Best Picture" at the Oscars, to my understanding).

Instead of heaping praise upon those who made her winning project possible, Beyonce showed humility, compassion, and grace.

I remember being 17-years-old, up for my first MTV Award with Destiny’s Child and it was one of the most exciting moments in my life. So I’d like Taylor to come out and have her moment.

I find it a little suspicious that Swift and Beyonce were both wearing red dresses at that point, and that Swift had emerged from backstage - with a microphone, no less - but a lesson can still be taught.

Even if this was a well-executed publicity stunt (wherein certain people would have had to know who was winning what and when), this is still the point when all cameras and microphones should be off of West for a while, and directed squarely upon Beyonce.

It is a prime opportunity for show business to finally focus on a true example where the triumph trumps the controversy.

#2: Turnabout is Not Fair Play

I am a firm pro-choice advocate, but absolutely no victory was won Friday in the debate to maintain women's rights.

Outspoken pro-life advocate Jim Pouillon (pictured in red) was killed Friday (in front of a host of schoolchildren, no less) by a man who is also accused of killing another man earlier in the day. Police seem to believe that Pouillon was a deliberate target, though there is no known connection between the victims.

This post isn't to score points about when life begins, where women's rights end, how abstinance is/isn't attainable among the unmarried, how far activists on each side are warranted to go in their respective crusades, or what have you.

I want to concentrate on a facet of this story that will no doubt be eclipsed by the tragedy at large. It concerns a comment made by a 16-year old boy to a reporter.

“I can see someone spitting on him or punching him, but shooting him is pretty stupid."

There was a time when I couldn't have seen any of these things. Where all of these actions would be "stupid". Yet, here is a teenager who can "see" other forms of disrespect being more...appropriate?... and seem to be somewhat nonchalant about the suggestion.

Could this comment have been made for this particular case only (because the issue surrounding the crime is so divisive)? Or is this more of a blanket statement because youth are accustomed to seeing disputes resolved through physical assaults?

Without speaking for the teen, I think it is more the latter. Too often, issues that are supported and opposed by proportional segments of the population (i.e. abortion, 2nd amendment rights), are perceived as "all or nothing" by each side.

To me, this is similar to why some people go to message boards and pollute threads with hatred, threats of violence, and inappropriate/insensitive comments - they are distant from those they're addressing.

With two sides so far apart, it's as if they don't know each other, and are, therefore, less likely to be sympathtic to the other's views.

My observations lead me to believe that people are more likely to respectfully disagree with someone (as opposed to verbally and physically assault someone) they know reasonably well (family, neighbor, coworker) than when they meet on opposite sides of a picket line.

And with youth being more likely to learn things they are shown rather than things they are told, we may be setting them down a more precarious path than we ourselves travelled.

Suffice it to say, there is more than one sad story coming from Mr. Pouillon's death.

What are your thoughts?

#1: Introduction

Hello, and thank you for stopping by.

I have created this weblog primarily to give myself a place to vent my frustrations with the world, as the levels of respect for each other - as nations, as communities, and as human beings - continues to plummet.

Secondarily, this blog exists so that any readers who happen by can also express their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions for how we can realistically change things for the better.

Ultimately, it is my hope that you are reading the electronic document that will ultimately save the world.

=================

My name is Mike, I live in the northeastern portion of the United States. Much of my writing contains a flair for either the satirical or the sarcastic. I believe it's easy to tell the difference, but I hope it is clear to you whether my statement is literal or if it's humorously twisted to make a point. I also have a tendency to use parentheses.

That said, it my observation that the world's main problem (and particularly this nation) is that very few people respect those whom they don't already know (and sometimes not even then).

People are far more quick to anger than they were even 20 years ago. They've forgotten how to lose, if they ever even knew in the first place. This applies to arguments, sporting events, getting cut off in traffic...

It seems that virtually every disappointment an individual suffers is a grievous affront that most be avenged.

Why has it come to this?

My thoughts on this are far from solid, but they're organized in three categories (and I'm serious about all of them, by the way).

Things that are not responsible: movies/TV, video games, the internet, porn, President Barack Obama

Things that may or may not be responsible, in whole or in part: religion (or lack thereof), celebrity influence, air conditioning (seriously)

Things that strongly contribute to the downward spiral: A genuine sense of entitlement, disregard for authority (see: sense of entitlement), an inconstant series of consequences, lowered standards


What do you think?

To begin, comments will be not be moderated. However, if trolling ensues, or if people START SHOUTING (instead please use -this method- as a way to stress a point, you know...with the dashes), I will begin moderating and/or deleting comments.

I do not like censorship. When politicians talk about censoring the internet, etc, I am far less inclined to vote for them.

Still, as the point of this blog is to promote respect, comments seen as crossing the line from "disagreement" to "disrespectful" are not welcomed.

If something you read here offends you or otherwise evokes strong feelings, think of your response as an exercise in composure. Yelling, swearing and similar behavior generally weakens an argument, anyway.

We're not all going to agree. Some people will disagree more often than not.

And that's the way it should be.