Serena's meltdown

The acronym GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) has certainly got a lot of use in the sports world lately. Many have referred to Tom Brady as the GOAT of NFL quarterbacks. Michael Jordan/Lebron James, take your pick, regarding NBA players. Tiger Woods was well on his way to being the GOAT of the PGA tour, until he became a, well, goat, a few years back. Not much talk of a GOAT in Major League Baseball. Too many variables.

Roger Federer, Wayne Gretzky, or Richard Petty, anyone?

And now it's Serena Williams of ladies tennis.

To be sure, she's had a very impressive career. But is she the GOAT?

Not so fast.

Aussie Margaret Court of old still has one more "major" win than Serena. Martina Navratilova has scads more overall championships when one figures in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles contests.

Yet there was Serena, poised to tie Court for the all-time "major" record of 24 at this year's U.S. Open in New York..

Until the meltdown happened.

After cruising through her first six matches, only 20 year old Japanese phenom Naomi Osaka stood in the way. Yours truly never did check out how the odds-makers perceived it, but I'd be willing to bet (excuse the pun) that Ms. Williams was a heavy favorite going in.

Just one problem. Evidently Ms. Osaka didn't get the memo.

Not only did she defeat Serena, she blistered her. A good old-fashioned trip to the proverbial wood shed. The match was far more lop-sided than the 6-2, 6-4 straight set victory would appear.

Did I mention beat-down?

Serena has become used to clobbering inferior opponents and taking it in stride. But when the shoe was on the other foot this time, and it was her getting drubbed on national TV, she appeared to go off the deep end. Lose it. Bonkers.

First, her coach in the stands got caught giving her hand signals. This is prohibited. And she stewed.

Then, after yet another bone-headed shot, she threw her racket down, breaking it. And was rightfully penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct. Tennis is supposed to be a ladies' and gentlemen's game, not a playground pick-up get-together, replete with temper tantrums.

And then the coupe de grace. Thwarted at every turn on the court by a clearly superior opponent, Williams finally went berserk with the official refereeing the match. She would berate him several times, including calling him a "thief".

For this she got a game penalty, also rightfully deserved.

At that point, she probably should have been forced to forfeit the rest of the match for conduct grossly unbecoming a professional tennis player.

No doubt, the official was aware that had he done that, it wouldn't have sat very well with her fans, let alone those who had paid big bucks to be in attendance. To boot, it would have given Williams yet another excuse after a loss. The powers that be (wisely?) let the match go to its conclusion. Shortly thereafter, to the surprise of few, Osaka polished her off fair and square.

So far, no word from Williams offering up the usual assortment of excuses. As in -- my knee/ankle/hip/back/neck/toenails hurt. I had heartburn/indigestion/tummy ache/migraine/cramps, etc. It was solar flares, global warming, a massive right/left-wing conspiracy, Russian hacking, or that pesky Donald/Hillary's fault for distracting me. With Serena, after a loss, it's always "something". She's never been able to just admit she got beat by a superior player on that particular day.

Don't be surprised if she comes up with that "something" in the next day or two.

The question now becomes -- should the tennis federation that oversees these tournaments take another look at her actions to determine if further discipline is warranted?

In most any other sport, a player that behaved as she did might very well wind up being suspended for a few games or weeks/months. You can't just go nuts on an official merely trying to do his job and not expect there to be consequences. It sets a very bad precedent. If one is allowed to "skate" on this, it could embolden other players to do similar things in the future.

Chances of that happening? Probably none, because it's Serena. A very famous sports figure and a "double minority" (female/black) as well. Had some young relatively unknown white young man done the same thing, would anybody object if he was suspended for a few tournaments? Probably not.

So it is what it is, and life/tennis will go on.

But Serena Williams' words and actions on the court during this US Open final were grossly offensive to any self-respecting sports fan.

The only thing that could have been worse would have been if she'd found a way to actually win the match. But then, if she was winning, this probably wouldn't have happened at all.

Can you spell s-o-r-e  l-o-s-e-r?

Turns out, maybe Ms. Williams is the GOAT, or is that goat?, after all.