The rivalry is real.
Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 3, 2016
Moore presents the second place trophy to Williams after the women's final of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on Sunday.
Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images
Women's National Basketball Association President Lisa Borders on Monday condemned sexist remarks made by the director of a tennis competition over the weekend.
When asked about the Women's Tennis Association during a press conference on Sunday, BNP Paribas Open Tournament Director Raymond Moore said that in his "next life" he would like to be reincarnated as someone in the WTA, "because they ride on the coattails of the men."
"They don't make any decisions and they are lucky, they are very very lucky," said Moore, 69, while laughing.
"If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank god that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born," continued Moore, referring to two top male tennis champions, "because they have carried the sport, they really have."
Later in the media session, Moore referred to female tennis champions who he thought were "physically attractive and competitively attractive."
Borders and other prominent figures in women's sports — including former World No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King — were quick to respond blast Moore's comments.
“Female athletes are no different than their male counterparts," Borders' statement read:
They inspire millions of fans and work hard to be the best in their sports by competing at the highest levels, breaking records and winning championships. At a time when the physical and emotional benefits of athletic participation have never been more clear, we need to empower female athletes and promote opportunities for girls and women to play sports, rather than promote outdated, offensive and uninformed opinions.
Within a few hours, Moore issued an apology for his statements:
"At my morning breakfast with the media, I made comments about the WTA that were in extremely poor taste and erroneous. I am truly sorry for those remarks, and apologize to all the players and WTA as a whole.
We had a women's final today that reflects the strength of the players, especially Serena [Williams] and Victoria [Azarenka], and the entire WTA. Again, I am truly sorry for my remarks.
Afterwards, Serena Williams, the top-ranked women's player, responded on ESPN, calling Moore's statements offensive and inaccurate.
“Obviously, I don’t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that," Williams told press, contesting the concept that women tennis players "ride on the coattails" of men.
"If I could tell you every day how many people say they don’t watch tennis unless they’re watching myself or my sister, I couldn’t even bring up that number, so I don’t think that is a very accurate statement," she said, adding that she thought there were female and male players that were equally exciting to watch.
Williams also refused to believe that Moore's comments could have been taken out of context, as some reporters present suggested.
“Well, if you read the transcript, you can only interpret it one way. I speak very good English. I’m sure he does too," she said.
"Get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man, which is not — we, as women, have come a long way," Williams concluded. "We shouldn’t have to drop to our knees at any point.”
LINK: Djokovic Respects Female Tennis Stars For Overcoming Their "Hormones"
Thứ Hai, 21 tháng 3, 2016
Novak Djokovic of Serbia speaks to the crowd post his win.
Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images
Novak Djokovic believes male tennis players deserve higher pay than women – but insisted he still has enormous respect for female athletes because they have to deal with “hormones”.
The world No 1 tennis player waded into the row sparked by Indian Wells Tennis Garden CEO Raymond Moore on 20 March.
Moore, who later admitted his comments were “in extremely poor taste”, said if he was a female tennis player he would “go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport. They really have.”
The CEO did not mention the 21 Grand Slams won by Serena Williams – compared to Roger Federer’s 17 and Rafael Nadal’s 14.
Now Djokovic’s comments have only added fuel to the fire.
Speaking after his win over Milos Raonic in the BNP Paribas final, Djokovic said men should continue to be paid more “because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men’s tennis matches”.
This is despite the fact that last year, the women’s US Open final sold out before the men’s.
But the Serbian player, who has won 11 Grand Slams, added he had “tremendous respect” for women’s achievements in tennis.
“Their bodies are much different to men’s bodies,” he told reporters. “They have to go through a lot of different things that we don’t have to go through. You know, the hormones and different stuff, we don’t need to go into details. Ladies know what I am talking about."
His comments have not gone down well.
Djokovic continued: “I have great admiration and respect for them to be able to fight on such a high level. Many of them have to sacrifice for certain periods of time, the family time or decisions that they make on their own bodies in order to play tennis and play professional sport.
"I have had a woman that was my coach and that was a huge part of my tennis career. I’m surrounded by women. I’m very happy to be married with one and to have a child."
He added: "I’m completely for women power.”
The issue of unequal pay in tennis has been long-running. Advocates of continuing pay disparity have pointed out men play two more sets than women's matches of three.
Chủ Nhật, 20 tháng 3, 2016
Thứ Bảy, 19 tháng 3, 2016
Walker, who entered the NFL last year, was 23 years old.
Baltimore Ravens football player Tray Walker died Friday night after a dirt bike accident in his hometown of Miami. He was 23 years old.
AP Photo
According to a report by Miami-Dade police, Walker had been riding his dirt bike in northeast Miami-Dade around 7:50 p.m. on Thursday "when he collided with a Ford Escape" heading in the opposite direction.
The Ravens team reported that Walker was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he spent Thursday night and most of Friday in critical condition until he succumbed to his injuries.
In a statement, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called the 23-year-old cornerback "a good man and a kind heart," adding that he loved his fellow players and being part of the Ravens' team.
"He always seemed to be next to me during the national anthem," Harbaugh recalled, "then we would give each other a big hug."
Middle Tennessee defeated Michigan State 90-81 on Friday in a stunning NCAA Tournament upset.
Michigan State's Bryn Forbes, left, lose control of the ball on his way to the basket as Middle Tennessee's Darnell Harris, center, defends Friday.
Jeff Roberson / AP
No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee beat No. 2 seed Michigan State 90-81, sending a heavily favored team packing in the first round.
The Associated Press described Michigan State's loss as one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.
ESPN blamed the upset on Michigan State's lackluster defense.
Middle Tennessee's Aldonis Foote, left, and Michigan State's Gavin Schilling reach for a rebound Friday.
Jeff Roberson / AP
On ESPN.com, only six people still had perfect brackets immediately after Middle Tennessee's win — a mere .000046% of the total, according to ESPN reporter Darren Rovell.
Thứ Năm, 17 tháng 3, 2016
Yann Hufnagel, an assistant men’s basketball coach for UC Berkeley, was found to have sexually harassed a reporter.
An assistant men's basketball coach at the University of California Berkeley was fired this week after a university investigation determined he had sexually harassed a reporter who covered the team.
Yann Hufnagel admitted to investigators that he had repeatedly made sexual comments to a reporter and attempted to "'trick her into going up to his apartment to have sex." Hufnagel then cut off contact with the reporter, making it impossible for her to do her job.
The investigation found that men's basketball head coach Cuonzo Martin had been made aware by the reporter of Hufnagel's inappropriatene behavior six weeks before university officials were informed.
In a redacted report, investigators found that "over a period of time from November 2014 through May 2015, Complainant received sexually harassing communications from [Hufnagel] on a bi-weekly basis in response to Complainant's attempts to communicate with Respondent for professional purposes."
The reporter told investigators that in early 2015 she asked Hufnagel to meet with her for coffee after a basketball game, but he insisted they go to a bar. The reporter agreed to go to Jupiter, a bar and restaurant near campus, but did not consume alcohol while Hufnagel did. Hufnagel told the reporter he was too drunk to drive — which she later told Martin she didn't believe — but he "insisted that she drive him to his residence. Complainant described that she told him "no" and suggested he take a taxi, but Respondent was insistent and Complainant ultimately acquiesced."
The reporter was unable to stop in traffic in front of Hufnagel's apartment, so he opened the door to his building's garage, and she drove in to drop him off. She said Hufnagel "directed her to park in a designated spot—an elevator-operated 'lift' spot which would have suspended her car above the ground."
"Complainant said she did not park in the spot and felt Respondent was attempting to control her ability to leave. She recalled telling Respondent that she was just going to turn around; to which Respondent responded, 'You're coming up.' Complainant said she said, 'No. I'm going to leave now,' but Respondent kept insisting. Complainant said she asked Respondent, 'Are you thinking that I'm going to have sex with you?' to which Respondent said, 'Yes.'"
She said they went back and forth for 15 minutes, during which "the garage door was closed behind them with her car inside and Respondent indicated that he did not intend to let her out of the garage."
Later that year, the reporter tried to meet up with Hufnagel — her only source on the small college basketball team — for coffee. In text messages included in the university's report, Hufnagel tries to steer the conversation toward her coming over to his apartment to "have a three-way."
After the reporter was given bad information by Hufnagel, which she told investigators she "believes [Hufnagel] provided her with this misinformation as retribution for declining his sexual advances."
In an interview with university investigators in October 2015, Hufnagel said that during the incident in his apartment building's garage, he was "trying to trick her into going upstairs."
In response to the text messages about coming over to his apartment and having a three-way, Hufnagel "said the text was inappropriate, but declined to characterize it as sexual harassment and described such a text as being indicative of the relationship he had with [the reporter] — a relationship he further described as being 'playful.'" He said the text message about a three-way "was a joke."
In an email, Hufnagel told investigators that "with no clear indication whatsoever from her to stop the behavior, it would be, truthfully, almost impossible to conclude that these types of 'locker room messages' were unwanted."
In May 2015, the reporter reached out to head coach Cuonzo Martin on Twitter and "told him that she 'experienced sexual harassment'" from Hufnagel. Martin told the reporter he would talk to Hufnagel, and that he "[took] this very seriously." In a statement to investigators, Martin said the reporter did not "[provide] any details or [describe] anything as constituting sexual harassment."
In July of 2015, the reporter emailed Martin copies of text messages between her and Hufnagel, along with a follow-up request to discuss Hufnagel's behavior.
It was then that the UC Berkeley Athletic Department was made aware of the allegations, and then reached out to the "Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination."
UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof told BuzzFeed News Wednesday that the university is conducting a "review" of how mandatory reporting processes were handled with regard to Hufnagel. "Not because we think that there was anything wrong, but because we want to make sure there wasn't." Mogulof said they will review correspondence between Martin and the reporter, but asserted that it is a "review," not an "investigation."
The reporter told investigators in a follow-up interview "that she felt very beholden to [Hufnagel] because of the dynamic of [him] having the [REDACTED] information and knowing that [she] needed that information. [She] stated that she felt [Hufnagel] tried to explain that dynamic. [She] stated that [Hufnagel's behavior pattern was a problem for her. [She] acknowledged that she played along with [Hufnagel's] behavior because she did not see a viable alternative that would also allow her to do her job."
The university determined that Hufnagel had violated the university's Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Policy.
Hufnagel was fired by the university Monday. In a tweet Monday, he said: "Right now, the only focus should be on our basketball team! My time to exonerate myself of a fruitless claim by a reporter will come."
The UC Berkeley men's basketball team plays Hawaii in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
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