Comment: In all sports, the person of the umpire or referee has to be sacrosanct, writes Peter FitzSimons | Peter_Fitz
Versions of the first line were made famous by John McEnroe in endless blow-ups with tennis umpires in the 1970s, while the second line is all the work of the Hollywood comic actor Leslie Nielsen in his iconic satirical filmCredit:Right now, both lines have resonance with what happened in the men’s final of the Australian Open on Sunday evening.Bring it in tight.
But watch what happens now. Carpet-biting mad, Djokovic storms past the umpire’s chair, reaches out and taps Dumusois's foot, sarcastically exclaiming “You made yourself famous in this match. Great job. Especially in the second one. Great job. You made yourself famous. Well done man.” Dumusois, as tennis umpires are ever wont to do, barely blinks.
What do you think would happen to a golfer if he spoke to the crowd like that, before publicly belittling a golf official and then touching him? Anyone have any memory of any golfer doing that, ever?Credit:Why? Because if they did, their feet wouldn’t touch the ground before they were shown the door.
And in all that violence, and all those committee meetings, over the decades, does anyone ever recall a footballer abusing the crowd, speaking to an umpire and touching him like that? Me neither. Why?Because they are about as professional a sport as it gets, and no player showing discipline would ever do any of that, even when he vehemently disagreed. And if he did, he would also be shown the door, probably by his own outfit.
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