U.S. Open
This year's number one major tennis tournament played last weekend at Flushing Meadows, NY, will unfortunately go down in history for all the wrong reasons. The huge controversy in the women's final between American veteran Serena Williams, desperately seeking her 24th major, and Naomi Osaka, the 20-year-old sensation from Japan, should never have occurred, but it did and the fallout has and will continue to send shock waves throughout the tennis world.
Women in and out of the WTA (World Tennis Association) are declaring, and rightfully so, that once again sexism and a double standard in equality issues has reared its ugly head in their sport.
Recap: Serena was given three warnings for various violations, some justified, some not, with each one incrementally increasing in severity. (First one was a warning, the second one took a point away while the third one took a game away from her). The first one was the one that really "lit the fuse" and led to all the crap hitting the fan. The violation was for "coaching" (from her coach in the stands, which is supposed to be a no-no), which she vehemently denied, over and over again, while the last one was for verbal abuse of an official.
As far as coaching is concerned, most coaches do it but it's rarely called. The sexism point comes from the fact that many men have expressed themselves both verbally and physically (foul language and temper tantrums) much worse than what Serena did on the court and have not been punished for their actions. Many would like to know, why the double standard? Equality should exist in the sporting world but it doesn't!
Sadly, what was lost in all of this kerfuffle was the sensational play of the rookie from Japan who out hit, outran and outdid everything Serena had to offer to win her first but probably not her last major of her rising career. It was the first time that any Japanese player had ever won a tennis major.
It was also very honourable that Serena begged the loud, raucous, whistling fans to stop behaving so poorly during the trophy presentation, something she could have helped to prevent by not crossing the "poor conduct" line with her inappropriate behaviour towards the judge.
PGA
The BMW Championship, the last one leading up to the FedEx Cup final (Tour Championship) that will be held in two weeks at East Lake, Georgia, featuring the top 30 golfers in the world. It was a classic duel that carried over to Monday due to inclement weather and it saw Keegan Bradley edge out Justin Rose in a playoff. As a consolation prize, Rose now becomes the No. 1 ranked player in the world.
NFL
A few quick comments from week one action: Brady (ho-hum) wins again, Rodgers’ (Packers) incredible comeback win over Da Bears, SB Champs (Eagles) win over Falcons, Bucs "Brees" by Saints, Jets tame Lions, Ravens destroy hapless Bills, Seahawks' woes continue, America's team stumbles and believe it or not, Cleveland didn't lose (they didn't win either).
CFL
The Blue Bombers tried their best versus the Jolly Green Giants from Saskatchewan in the annual Banjo Bowl but an anemic offence let them down at the most inopportune times, squandering a much needed victory. They'll take a week off before trying to get their act together and get back into the win column when they host the Alouettes a week from today, no doubt a must-win situation.
RMFL
The VCI Golden Bears football team got off to a great start in their season when they blew out the host Parkwest Outlaws 43-0 in the annual Tundra Bowl.
A well balanced offence lead by Coach Doug Roach had their opponents on their heels all game long while Coach Mark Wakely's defence gave up very little on the gridiron, producing numerous negative plays that resulted in their first goose egg in a long time.
Until next time....
