In sports, it’s not about being a man or a woman. It’s about being a sportsman or sportswoman. Something one of the best players ever unfortunately forgot this past weekend. We need to be honest about what this was about. Instead of losing with grace, she set a poor example for so many and decided to point fingers and blame others. She didn’t get her way, so she threw a temper-tantrum. It was all about her. And she completely took herself out of the match. If this can happen to one of the best athletes in the world - someone who has proven to demonstrate physical and mental toughness time and again - then you know it can happen to us. Man. Woman. No matter. This isn’t about sexism. It’s about poor sportsmanship. Let’s call it what it is and not cloud it behind something it’s not. The real shame of it is how it overshadowed the incredible performance of an up-and-coming young champion, Naomi Osaka. She is owed an apology. She deserves to be treated and respected as a champion, just like Serena would expect and demand. No one is perfect. We've all had meltdowns. We've all had our emotions get the best of us. We’ve all reacted impulsively or lost our cool when things haven’t turned out the way we want. Luckily for most of us it wasn’t on live television in front of millions of people. But let this be a reminder to all of us to act the right way, even when things don’t go OUR way. Especially when things don’t go our way. And if we do lose our minds or have our emotions get the best of us, let’s hope we have the guts to admit we were wrong and vow to handle things better the next time. That’s what a true champion does. And I hope that’s what Serena will do now. Not just for women. Not just for men. For all of us.
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