Serena Williams Punished; Other Top Sports Outbursts

At the semi-finals at the U.S Open in September 2009, Serena Williams was given a foot fault that made her crazy. She pointed her finger at a line judge and started yelling. According to Yahoo Sports, this tirade of screaming resulted in her getting a $82,500 fine and a two-year probation at major Grand Slam events. She has to avoid a 'major offense' at her next eight events otherwise she'll be fined $175,000 and be barred from the following U.S. Open.

For years there have been sports stars making big stinks when something doesn't go their way. If we take a look at some of the others, they are just as bad.

John McEnroe and the 1981 Wimbledon

Take John McEnroe for instance, another tennis player who has had some outbursts in his day that he is quite famous for. One of his first and biggest was at Wimbledon in 1981. He was fined $1,500 and almost thrown out of the game when he told umpire Ted James he was "the pits of the world" and then swore at referee Fred Hoyles. Had he done this now, he probably would have gotten a higher fine and probably thrown out of the game.

George Brett's Pine Tar Game

Another legendary sports tirade happened in 1983 which is known as the 'Pine Tar Incident'. The Royals were batting against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in New York. The Royals were leading after George Brett hit a homer that scored two runs. Yankees Manager Billy Martin had a long conversation with the umpires. Once the conversation was concluded, the umpires measured the amount of pine tar on the bat, which was used to help with gripping the bat. The umpire concluded that there was too much pine tar on the bat and declared Brett out. Brett stormed out of the dugout and had to be held back by his teammates and was eventually thrown out of the game. The game continued two weeks later after the President of American League declared the Royals to have won the appeal.

Dennis Rodman's Head Butt

Basketball's bad boy Dennis Rodman was always making outbursts during his career. One particular nasty one was during a game in New Jersey in 1996. Rodman proceeded to head-butt referee Ted Bernhardt in the head during a game. He was fined a mere $20,000 which local press was considered to be lenient. If that had happened in this day he would have fined a lot more. One thing that Serena Williams didn't do was touch the line judge. Had she head butted the line judge, she would most likely have been thrown out and fined way more than the $82,500 she was.

It seems that as times change people that lose their cool during a sporting event tend to get punished greater than in the past. It can be a good thing as it helps promote non-violence. And with all the war and crap of the world, ridding sports of violence is necessary. These are just a few of many outrageous moments when athletes lose their cool. Who can blame them really? Nobody is perfect.

Chris Chase, Serena Williams earns fine, probation for U.S. Open outburst, Yahoo Sports,
George Brett (Baseball), Wikipedia
John McEnroe, Wikipedia
Dennis Rodman, Wikipedia