Mr. Ed is... The Line Judge (December 23, 2000)
by Ed Zafian



The last "Line Judge of the year looks back at some of the quotables of 2000... but were there really any "lines" that you remember? Mr. Ed thinks not!


Looking back over the first 10 "The Line Judge" columns over the past six months, I came to a somewhat startling conclusion. There were just not any very memorable lines from the past tennis year. Sure we had some fun along the way -- but in recent times what year has not seen the verbal sparring between the Williams family and Martina Hingis or John McEnroe confidently spatting off about one thing or another? Relatively speaking we were without anything controversial or even the dreaded "foot in mouth disease." One thinks back to the beginning of the 1999 season when both Hingis and Davenport got it some heat over "manly" references regarding Amelie Mauresmo.

The only time we really delved into some serious territory was in late May when Andrei Medvedev dissed Americans (insinuating Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras) on their lack of humility when it came to competing on clay and preparing for the French Open. The 1999 French Open finalist then went into a rant over inequities at Wimbledon. Medvedev claimed that "name" players received preferential treatment in a handful of ways.

So, otherwise we were the majority of memorable moments came from controversial tennis fathers, Richard Williams and Damir Dokic. In Venus Williams's case she found herself correcting her father's statements regarding her alleged retirement. Venus stated she "never considered retiring too much." So, in other words, not directly dismissing her dad's comments but apparently saying that there was not ever much truth in the "let's get some publicity" comment. Unlike Venus, Jelena Dokic appears to be a mere puppet for her father's propaganda. The equally "stirring the pot" Dokic said this year that she would never play for Australia again after reaching the seminfinals of the Sydney Olympics. My bet that a collective sigh of relief was heard throughout Tennis Australia when the Dokic family applied for Yugoslavian passports with plans to return to their ancesteral homeland.

The most fun that I had with "lines" this year was around and about Anna Kournikova. Despite having her best year on the Tour (though still without that tournament title), Kournikova found herself talking about everything but her tennis. From her rumored engagement to one hockey player (and the re-wooing from another hockey player "ex") to a 'lil catfight with model/actress Liz Hurley to a GQ cover proclaiming "Don't Call Me Lolita," Kournikova's off the court "news" tended to eclipse her chosen career. My favorite "Kourni" moment came during a promotional press conference. Attempting to get the questioning back on its true purpose, the blonde Russian simply stated "Let's talk about bras."

So this year may have not been the most quotable, I am confident I will have interesting "lines" to share with you over the next year. Until then, have a happy holiday season and best wishes for a smashing new year.



You may read previous Mr. Ed columns by clicking here.

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