TENNIS TUESDAY: Federer, Lopez, Kvitova, Win On Grass; Djokovic-Agassi Duo Set For Wimby; McEnroe Puts Foot In Mouth (Again)

GRASS COURT SEASON CONTINUES WITH FEDERER, KVITOVA, LOPEZ WINNING TITLES
The 2017 grass court season (all 3 weeks of it!) continued into its 2nd week and ended with some people with strong grass court credentials doing quite well. 7-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer reached his 11th final at Halle and won his 9th title, defeating Sacha Zverev in two humiliating sets 6-1 6-3. A 2-time Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova, playing in only her second tournament after suffering a violent home invasion which led to her left hand being stabbed with a knife and a 6-month hiatus from tennis. Kvitova defeated Ash Barty in the finals of Birmingham 4-6 6-3, 6-2. However, the performance of the week was provided by 35-year-old Spanish hunk Feliciano Lopez, who saved match points in not one but two different contests on the way to  winning the Queen's Club tournament. The best was saved for last, with Lopez beating 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in dramatic fashion. 3 year ago, Lopez had lost the final to Grigor Dimitrov after holding a match point.

AGASSI TO RETURN TO COACH DJOKOVIC AGAIN, THIS TIME AT WIMBLEDON
And they said it wouldn't last. 8-time major champion Andre Agassi will return to the coaching box for the second consecutive major tournament to provide advice and support to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, it was announced this week. And this time Agassi will be able to be in attendance for all 7 matches, if the 3-time Wimbledon champion gets that far. (Djokovic lost in the 3rd round against Sam Querrey last year, signalling a sharp change of fortune for someone who at the time was the reigning champion of all 4 major tournaments.)

MCENROE ATTEMPTS TO SELL BOOKS BY DENIGRATING SERENA WILLIAMS
John Mcenroe has a new edition of his memoir coming out and is doing a media tour. Unfortunately, he was asked about Serena Williams by NPR and while he acknowledged that she is "no question" the "best female player ever" he also raised hackles by saying this: "Well because if she was in, if she played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world." Lots of Serena fans thought this was disrespectful, although Serena herself has said that men's tennis and women's tennis are completely different sports, she hit back at McEnrroe by saying "Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based." I think htat's the equivalent of saying "Bless your heart" in the South!

SATURDAY POLITICS: Partisan Difference In Views On Discrimination Prevalence

I previously blogged about the difference in attitudes towards LGBT discrimination by various religious denominationt, as reported by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

Today I want to discuss how perceptions of the prevalence of discrimination against various groups changes with partisan identification. The PRRI summarizes their findings by discussing how Republicans and Democrats view discro,omayopmthis way:

Discrimination Against Gay and Lesbian, Transgender People
More than six in ten Americans say gay and lesbian people (61%) and transgender people (64%) face a lot of discrimination in the U.S. today. 

However, there are sharp partisan differences on this question. Democrats are roughly twice as likely as Republicans to say gay and lesbian people face a lot of discrimination in the country today (79% vs. 40%, respectively). Notably, a majority (57%) of Republicans do not believe gay and lesbian people face a lot of discrimination. Independents largely reflect the views of the public overall. An identical number (79%) of Democrats believe transgender people face a lot of discrimination, while fewer than half (48%) of Republicans agree. Again, the views of independents generally align with Americans overall. 

Discrimination Against Whites vs. Blacks
Nearly six in ten (58%) Americans say blacks face a lot of discrimination in American society today, while only three in ten (30%) say the same of whites. More Americans now say blacks face a considerable degree of discrimination in U.S. society than in 2013 when slightly more than half (52%) of the public expressed this view.² 

Notably, Republicans are significantly more likely to say that whites, rather than blacks, experience a lot of discrimination in the U.S. today (43% vs. 27%, respectively). Democrats and independents are far more likely to say blacks experience a lot of discrimination than to say the same about whites (82% vs. 19% and 59% vs. 30%, respectively). The partisan gap in perceptions of discrimination against blacks has increased substantially over the last four years, driven primarily by shifts among Democrats. In 2013, about two-thirds (66%) of Democrats compared to roughly one-third (32%) of Republicans expressed the view that discrimination against blacks in the U.S. is common. Notably, white and nonwhite Democrats recorded nearly identical changes in opinion. 

Discrimination Against Christians vs. MuslimsA similar pattern emerges in views of the relative amount of discrimination faced by Muslims and Christians in American society. Americans are twice as likely to say Muslims face a lot of discrimination as to say the same of Christians (66% vs. 33%, respectively). Again, there are sizable differences by party affiliation, religious background, and generation. 

Democrats are more than four times as likely to say Muslims (85%) face a lot of discrimination as to say the same of Christians (21%). Republicans, in contrast, are about equally as likely to say both Christians (48%) and Muslims (45%) experience a lot of discrimination in the US today. Independents’ attitudes mirror those of Americans overall. 

Discrimination Against Immigrants
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans say immigrants face a lot of discrimination in the U.S. today, while one-third (33%) believe they do not. Americans are sharply divided by party and generation. 

Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to say immigrants face a substantial degree of discrimination in society (82% vs. 41%, respectively). Roughly two-thirds (65%) of independents also believe immigrants confront a great deal of discrimination.

There's a lot more information at the PRRI website. I encourage you to check it out!

Celebrity Friday: Brittney Griner, Lesbian Basketball Star

Brittney Griner was drafted #1 into the WNBA this week and during interviews with the media she casually mentioned that she is openly gay. And the media shrugged.

Briner gave this quote to the Associated Press:

''It was hard. Just being picked on for being different. Just being bigger, my sexuality, everything,'' said the 6-foot-8 Griner, who acknowledged she is a lesbian. ''I overcame it and got over it. Definitely something that I am very passionate about. I want to work with kids and bring recognition to the problem, especially with the LGBT community."

The New York Times analyzed the muted reaction to Griner's public coming out and determined the reason to be a murky mix of sexism and homophobia:

 "In sports right now, there are two different stereotypes — that there are no gay male athletes, and every female athlete is a lesbian,” Burke said. “We’ve had tremendous success in getting straight male players to speak to the issue; we’re having a tougher time finding straight female athletes speaking on this issue because they’ve spent their entire careers fighting the perception that they’re a lesbian.” 

Kluwe, a punter for the Minnesota Vikings, said, “I think it’s clear that there’s reverse stereotyping, if you want to call it that, going on, as well as the general sexism.”
Not surprisingly, Kluwe added that he did not think it was likely that the reaction to Griner’s decision to come out would have much of an impact on any male athlete considering a similar revelation, if only because the experience figures to be so different. And that, of course, is the problem, Burke said. 

“We’re all waiting for the first gay, male, active athlete in a major professional team sport in North America to come out,” Burke said. “That’s something like eight adjectives or descriptors. We’re all ignoring people who don’t fit into those exact adjectives, and it’s frustrating that we don’t recognize the enormously important contributions that are already being made.”

Even though it is unfortunate that Griner's coming out is playing into stereotypes that all female athletes are lesbian, it is still an important moment for open participation in professional sports by LGBT people.

Now, I wonder if the Houston Rockets owner Mark Cuban will still consider Griner trying out for ihs NBA team?

Hat/tip to Kenneth in the (212) 

Celebrity Friday: Gilles Simon Is An A**!

*sigh* #11 Seed (World #13) Gilles Simon of France is making waves at Wimbledon this week by wading into the mostly settled dispute about equal prize money for men and women at the Grand Slam tournaments. The Frenchman, who was recently elected to a 2-year term on the ATP Players Council, told the press on Wednesday that he does not support equal prize money for women at the major tournaments:

Simon told reporters at Wimbledon in French that he thinks "men's tennis is ahead of women's tennis" and "men spend twice as long on court as women do at Grand Slams."

He also said men "provide a more attractive show" in their matches.

All four Grand Slam tournaments pay equal prize money to men and women, something Simon said he doesn't think "works in sports."

World #3 Roger Federer was asked about Simon's remarks and diplomatically replied:

"I hope it doesn't become a big issue during Wimbledon. It's obviously a debate that's out there ever since, I guess, the Slams have made equal prize money. There's nothing you can do, anyway, about it," Federer replied. 

"It's just a matter of who believes what, and then that is an endless debate. So whatever you believe," he continued.

One person who is not surprised that Simon would be unafraid to reveal himself as a sexist idiot is 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens, who when asked about Simon's remarks said:

"I don't care what he says about anything. He hit me with a ball the first time I was a ballkid. He hit me in the chest, because he lost a point and lost the set. He turned around and slammed the ball with his racket and hit me ... and I've never spoken to him since then."

Wimbledon was the last of the four major tournament to pay women and men equally back in 2007, a year after Roland Garros started doing it. The argument against equal pay, ostensibly, is that men play best-of-five sets while women play best-of-three sets at the grand slams. But, honestly, I question whether the grand slams could even schedule all the women's matches and men's matches in two weeks if they had a 128-person draw and 5-set matches for everyone. I think that the first week (maybe up to and including the fourth round) should be best-of-three for everyone and then everyone shift to best-of-five for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Then there would be no question that men and women are getting paid equal money for an equal amount of time on court. Federer has won his first two best-of-five matches in little under 150 minutes while the 1st round best-of-three slugfest between Tamira Paszek and Caroline Wozniacki took 192 minutes and was probably the most exciting match of the tournament in the first 3 days of play.


I suspect the impetus for the call to not have equal pay for women is really a manifestation of the belief that men and women should not be equal, and is really a sexist impulse. Thus Simon's subjective remark that men provide a "more attractive show" than women. There's no way to empirically prove or disprove the truth value of this statement. I doubt there are many straight guys would agree that a 5-set match between Radek Stepanek and Florian Mayer would be "more attractive" than a 3-set match between Arantxa Rus and Ana Ivanovic.


What do you think? (Not whether Simon is an a**, that's a given, but how should tennis respond to the notion that men and women do not work equally at the slams). 


Happily, the day after Simon made his discriminatory remarks at Wimbledon, he was eliminated from the tournament by Xavier Malisse.

GRAPHIC: Yes, Sex Discrimination Still Exists

The Economix blog at the New York Times examined college majors and their impact on the persistent wage gap between men and women (women get paid on average 81 cents for every dollar a man makes). Interestingly, the only major where women were paid (1%!) more than men for the same exact degree was Information Technology. In Mathematics, males were paid 3% more than women ($53,200 versus $51,900) in their median starting salaries.

In their article this interesting image (shown above) depicts how the gender gap in wages persisted even through various levels of education. Notice how the light blue (male) bar graphs are always aslightly longer than the pink  (female) bars for every single category. Note also that as one gets more education one's median salary also goes way up.

Of course, if you ask people "Does discrimination against women still exist?" I think most Americans would say "No."

It's precisely because graphs like the above still exist that I am proud to call myself a feminist (which basically means: women and men should be treated equally and fairly; the wild proposition that gender and sex are not valid means for discriminating or differentiating humans).

Senator DeMint (R-SC) Calls For Employment Discrimination Based On Sex

United States Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has started taking a more prominent role as the standard bearer for ultra-conservatism in America. Recently, DeMint has called for openly gay or lesbian people and sexually active unmarried women to be barred from working as public teachers.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says that even though "no one" came to his defense in 2004 after he said that gay people and unwed mothers should be banned from teaching, "everyone" quietly told him that he shouldn't back down from his position.

He also implied that not banning gay people and women who have sex before marriage from teaching would be an attack on Christians, and defended his position on banning gay teachers because he holds the same position on women who have sex outside of marriage.

"[When I said those things,] no one came to my defense," he said, the Spartanberg Herald-Journal reported. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."

So, basically Senator DeMint is calling for public employment discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientatiom.

Needless to say, he has been roundly criticized for these bigoted beliefs.

"Sexist bigots like Sen. Jim DeMint don't belong in the United States Congress," said National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill. "He thinks gay women and men and sexually active single women should be banned from teaching, but he said nothing about sexually active, single straight men."

"It is salt in the wound in our community," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It's irresponsible for Sen. DeMint to reassert this position in this day and age. I would ask him to apologize."

"What matters in the workplace is your ability to do your job, yet you can be fired for your sexual orientation in 29 states and for your gender identity in 38. I can't imagine what people think is 'moral' about job discrimination," said the Human Rights Campaign in a statement.

Beliefs like DeMint (and his people who support him) are exactly why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act needs to become federal law.

Celebrity Friday: Serena Williams Speaks Out

Perez Hilton has the scoop on Serena Williams' statement on the record fine levied on her as a result of her profane outburst at the 2009 US Open.

Here it is, in its entirety:

Hey Guys!

As the world seems to know or for those who don't I want to speak about my recently dubbed "outburst" and how I feel.

I have recently been fined by the Grand Slam Committee of the ITF (International Tennis Federation) over 82 thousand dollars for getting mad and using the "F-bomb" at a line Judge.

To clear things up FIRST I was NOT fined 82 thousand dollars. I was fined 92 thousand dollars! I paid 10 thousand dollars on site immediately after the U. S. Open. So for the record, I was fined $92,000 not $82,000! The biggest fine EVER in tennis.

Also for all those that don't know, I felt incredibly bad, and miserable for losing my cool, and most importantly not representing the person I really am spiritually and the role model I want to be to my young fans. I have been a very feisty player all my life, but when the time came for me to be calm and cool, I did not exercise a mild temper. How I regret not being a better role model and person to all of my fans. I apologized to my fans and even wrote a personal letter to the lines woman with my apologies. She understood as she often witnesses this as it is not uncommon in my sport, or any other sport. She was extremely supportive and said that she did not think any further actions should be taken against me.

A few years ago in a most important match being watched my millions; I was blatantly cheated and robbed of a US Open title by yet another official. I was again on the wrong side of not one or two, but several other bad calls. This incident however changed tennis. Because of what was incorrectly done to me, the whole sport of tennis adapted new technology for a player to challenge the calls lines persons make if the player feels they were wronged. I was expected to take solace in the fact even though I lost the U.S Open title (a dream I've been working for since I was 2 years old). At least others won't be wronged in the future. I am always happy for the next person. I always am. I received apologies from the USTA, the Lines Official, and the Head of the US Open. However I don't recall EVER receiving a note, a phone call, a letter even a text from anyone at the Grand Slam Committee ITF apologizing about the wrong and disastrous call one of THEIR officials made.

When I was a teenager I was booed by an entire packed stadium at Indian Wells. In my new book "On the line" I talk about how I remember crying on every changeover in the towel. Praying and wishing I could lose and the match would just be done with. When the match was over I thanked the crowd those that cheered for me, and even those that did not. Looking back I am still amazed how I remained so calm and positive, and even managed to come out on top.

The fact is every professional athlete gets wronged in one way or another. And every athlete gets upset. We have been working, sacrificing, missing out on numerous things, things we will never get back or experience for the sake of our careers. For the sake of that one moment in time where we have a chance to shine through.

Imagine for 20 years working day in, day out, sacrificing on countless things to get this job, that will make all your hard work and endless efforts worthwhile. Try to imagine having that promotion in one moment being taken away from you because of a slight over sight, by someone overseeing your work. 20 years gone away. Time to start over, dust yourself off and try again. You work harder make positive changes. It happens again.

"Dust yourself off" you say. "Try again"

You do just that. You work even harder than before, spend longer hours. Then it happens yet again. Another slight oversight.

Well this is what happened to me, and to be honest I believe I reached my boiling point. After yet ANOTHER wrong call I began to wonder- Was I being "overlooked" or wrongly judged on purpose!??? Is this being done to keep me from achieving my best? Why does this keep happening at the same place?

Throughout my career I have remained calm. But I guess I finally reached my breaking point. A point I should have never allowed myself to get to. Everything seemed to have surfaced. As you know, losing my cool cost me over 92 thousand dollars. 92 thousand dollars! This is more than most people make in a year. 92 thousand dollars! Answer this: Why is it another player who also lost HIS cool not to a line judge - like I did - but to the main officiating judge- using the same "f word" why was HE only fined 10 thousand dollars. Was what I did 10 times worse than what he did?!

There is another HE who was fined less than half of what I was fined after someone in his camp actually physically ATTACKED an official!!!!

What about the famous HE who made arguing with officials "cool". Cool for "MEN" I guess.
Is it because they are all HE's and not a SHE like me?

It is indeed a massive difference. Being American I guess the 1st amendment, freedom of speech, does not apply to a SHE in this case? In any event the Grand Slam Committee, ITF and its staff did not hesitate to call, send a note, text, nor write letters after this incident. Ironic is it not?

I don't mind being fined. If I did wrong I accept the repercussions. All I ask for is to be treated equal.

When I was fined the 92K, I asked to see if I could donate some of it to different schools, and programs I'm involved in. My request was denied. So, I decided to match the fine by raising money and donating an additional 92K to my 2nd school that I am opening up in Africa, as well as to schools that I am helping here in the United States. I also want to educate women about what I learned from this whole experience. How we as women are still treated as less than equal. I am going to turn this 92K into a positive!!! And I have decided to call it Serena's 92K mission!!! Go to Serenawilliams.com to learn more about my 92K mission.

Xxxx,
Serena Williams

What do you think? I like her attempt to use the fine to raise money for her charitable causes. I still think that she should also use the attention on the fine to highlight the need for instant video replay on foot fault, double-bounce and "ball-touch" calls made by the umpires. There should be no call made by a human that is not verified by technology. I like the fact that she points out that the electronic line calling system we have today was a direct result of the egregious line call that she received against Jennifer Capriati and that "the powers that be" in tennis have never acknowledged that.

Utah Governor Doesn't Understand Basic Civil Rights

The new Governor of Utah Gary Hebert doesn't even realize how offensive he is being (or maybe he does and just doesn't care?) with the following statements:

In his most definitive comments yet on gay rights, Herbert told reporters he doesn't believe sexual orientation should be a protected class in the way that race, gender and religion are. "We don't have to have a rule for everybody to do the right thing. We ought to just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do and we don't have to have a law that punishes us if we don't," Herbert said in his first monthly KUED news conference.

In Utah, it is legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender. The gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah has been trying to change state law for several years but has always been rebuffed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Last year, the group got Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman's support for extending some rights to gay people, although none of the bills it backed became law.

But, wait, there's more!

Herbert stopped short of condemning Salt Lake City's proposed anti-discrimination ordinance during his first appearance on the governor's monthly news conference on KUED Ch. 7, but said a fair-housing and employment law for the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community would unnecessarily create a new "protected class."

"Where do you stop? That's the problem going down that slippery road. Pretty soon we're going to have a special law for blue-eyed blondes," Herbert said, adding "we get bogged down sometimes with the minutiae of things that government has really no role to be involved in."

The very first follow up question should be whether Governor Hebert supports the current classes protected against employment discrimination under state and federal law in Utah, which are age, race, religion, sex, national origin, color and disability (by virtue of state and federal law) and pregnancy, childbirth or pregnancy-related condition (Utah law only. An esteemed reader wrote in to make sure I made it clear that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is illegal under federal law as well, but I do believe that Utah's statute goes even further in prohibiting discrimination in this area than under federal law).

If he does not support those laws, then he should be called out for the anti-historical bigot he appears to be. If he does support those laws, but doesn't see any need to expand them to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, he should be educated as to the vast amount of discrimination which openly LGBT workers face all over the United States (and I expect, in Utah) unlike the mythical history of discrimination against blue-eyed blondes the Governor seems so worried about.

And isn't it shocking that it is a wealthy white male who is making these statements of how unnecessary llegal protections for minorities are. Color me surprised. Not.

Obama and Clinton Most Admired People In America

Joe.My.God posted the results of Gallup's annual poll about the most admired public figures in America.

Barack Obama is the most admired (32% of respondents) with "Still-President" George W. Bush second at 5%.

Interestingly, Hillary Clinton (with 20%) is at #1 among women, where she has been for 13 of the last 16 years (!), while Sarah Palin is second with 11% and Oprah is down to 3rd with 8%.

The questions has been asked by Gallup for 60 years at this time of year and this is the second time ever that the President-Elect has been the most admired man (Eisenhower was the other, in 1952).