Long before Serena Williams pitched hissy fits, John McEnroe claimed the gold medal in loose lips. His royal tirades set the bar so high for bad behavior on the tennis court that no one will ever be able to beat him. Jimmy Connors can probably be credited for the first bad behavior in what used to be called a "Royals Sport." Connors would yell and scream and throw his racket, but warnings from the referee usually calmed him down.
When McEnroe hit the stage, no one had ever taken the game of tennis so seriously. He challenged every shot, spoke back to line judges, and would point and scream at ball locations. In fact, McEnroe was responsible for the invention of the MAC CAM which is still used today to electronically display where the ball actually hit on the lines. Those closeups have turned the game of tennis upside down.
Oh the men and women of tennis are disaplined about their grunting and growning on court but that is nothing like a Mac Attack.
Watch as John loses his temper and throws one of his many tantrums.
Serena - You are a rookie. Keep trying and you may win a honorable mention but McEnroe will forever hold the top rank in the Tennis Bad Behavior Hall of Fame.
Here is another video demonstrating his bad behavior.
0 comments:
Post a Comment