Serena out of perspective

Serena Williams says her record fine for her death threat to the lineswoman at the US Open is a sexist vendetta against her. Her argument is based on the "significantly lesser" punishments for John McEnroe (Aus Open, 1990) and Jeff Tarango (Wimbledon, 1995).

McEnroe swore at the chair umpire and tournament referee, and was defaulted - the first time that had happened at a Grand Slam in the professional era. He was heavily fined as well, by 1990 standards. Was there a death threat to any official? No.

Tarango had an argument with the umpire, called him corrupt, walked off, and later, his batty wife slapped the chair umpire. He was suspended from Wimbledon and another Grand Slam event, plus a US$63k fine. Was there a death threat involved? No.

Williams has been fined US$82500 provided she behaves herself at the Grand Slams for two years. Given inflation, that is much less than Tarango's fine! Relative to the prizemoney available on tour then and now, the full fine of $175k barely matches it. If the women's game wasn't so desperate for a genuine no.1, she'd have copped a suspension as well.

Please note: I am travelling for a month, so posts will be infrequent for a while.

Comments

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

Sport is made for betting

Search This Blog