This week, more than any I can remember recently, the media seems to be laser focused on the transgressions of top athletes. First came the news of the fine Serena Williams incurred for her verbal tirade on the US Open line judge and no one can escape coverage of Tiger Woods and his recent troubles. If you are feeling suffocated and discouraged by the attention paid either athlete and looking for an inspirational story of today’s true superheroes, I offer a movie recommendation. “The Blind Side” tells the powerful, positive and true story of the Tuohy family who welcome a homeless young man named Michael Oher into their home and their hearts, and in doing so, help him reach his full potential. Stories like theirs inspire me and remind me of the many the ways we can impact each others lives for the better www.theblindsidemovie.com.

Serena Williams and Common were spotted on vacation in Barbados over the holiday weekend.  Damn Serena is thick as hell!  We know Common goes to sleep in that every night!  More thickness when you

There is something endearing to see Serena Williams act like a real teenager at her favorite band show . Her affair with Green Day started when she was fourteen , and the same number of years later she still can’t imagine missing them on a Tour…Serena , i really hope you had the time of your life !

PS : Good thing she’s a sportswoman , she wouldn’t survive the whole concert otherwise !

Serena Williams, the world’s #1 tennis player, appeared in top form last Saturday at LIME’s ‘Tennis pon De Rock’ exhibition at the Wildey Gymnasium, where she opposed world No. 4, 19-year-old Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Both players were well received by the large crowd and throughout the match, screams of ‘Let’s go Serena’ and ‘Let’s go Caroline’ could be heard echoing throughout the Gym. Serena, easily the more physically dominant of the two players, took full control from the opening game and never looked back. Though fighting off a slight cold, she was her usual self, serving with a vengeance while punishing anything short from her younger opponent. Wozniacki, who is no slouch either, desperately scampered for her returns and tried to use her pin-point placement to her advantage. Still she had no reply for Williams. Serena comfortably put away Wozniacki 6-4 in the only set that was played on the night. “They were such a good crowd,” a beaming Serena told the Barbados Advocate after the match. “There was a lot of support for Caroline, and there as a lot of support for me, so it was a good night. This island has been 100 times better than any of my expectations and I really think I have found my second home.”
International recording artist Common (Serena’s boyfriend), His Excellency Ambassador Ryan Brathwaite, wife of Prime Minister David Thompson, Mara Thompson, Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, Minister of Sport, Esther Byer-Suckoo, and Opposition Leader Mia Mottley were among those who attended the event. Barry Gale, Director of B.I.T.E (Barbados Invitational Tennis Exhibition), said he was thrilled with turnout and all the hard work which was put in by the organisers had paid off. “I am very excited and very pleased”, Gale said. “I think the crowd support was absolutely amazing and you could feel the electric atmosphere out there. It was hard work but truly rewarding and I think the Barbadian crowd really enjoyed it.”
For the original report go to http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=7610

In Los Angeles at the Green Day Fake New Year’s Eve (I am already writing 2010, by the way), Champion tennis player Serena Williams walked past us as we were waiting for the show to start. It made me really happy to see her there for a couple of reasons. First, I think she’s a great tennis player. Second, she is obviously a huge Green Day fan.

Greenday.com surprised her tonight when they posted the video below from her website of her rocking out to “2,000 Light Years Away,” and unlike a lot of people who go to GD shows these days, she knew the words to this classic Kerplunk! song.

Next time, Serena, you need to come down to the pit and hang at a stadium. You were WAY too far from the boys with that crowd around you!

Some people will compare Serena’s tirade and one of John McEnroe’s many and cry “Racism!”, but the major offense here was threatening a line ref. McEnroe may’ve called refs names and insulted their intelligence, but I can’t recall any time he ever said he’d “kill” one, much less threaten to shove a ball down a line ref’s throat. And you just can’t go around saying things like that, even if you didn’t mean it, which I know Serena didn’t. Either way Serena will be fine, she’s just gotta learn to keep that temper in check.

Serena Williams AND her breasts were enjoying a “surf” out in Barbados yesterday, where she and boyfriend Common decided to jet out to for a nice romantic getaway. I’m assuming the two headed off to the Caribbean, to avoid all the press surrounding her recent fine of $85,000, for that cussin’ match she had with a Tennis official back in September. She was also handed a 3-year suspended ban, which means if she steps out of line again, she could face a full ban from the US Open! Keep your cool girl.

Serena Williams spent the holiday in the islands of Barbados, along with several friends. Her one piece bathing costume betrayed her right in the middle of the action.

After a brief splashing in the ocean’s water Serena was caught by the paparazzi when emerging from water… topless.

The small incident was nothing next to the $ 50.000 fine she received for her outburst at this year’s US Open, as the amused Serena declared.

Early Friday morning Tiger Woods crashed his car into a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree, was taken to the hospital and released after being treated for facial lacerations. This much is fact. And while the mainstream media has stuck to the facts, the gossip columns (especially the website TMZ) has had a field day claiming that Woods was driving away after a fight over his infidelity, that his wife smashed the window of the SUV with a golf club and that Woods’ injuries are due to his wife, not the crash.

I don’t really care if Woods is having an affair and I certainly don’t care to talk about whether or not we should so eagerly consume the unsubstantiated rumors of gossip blogs (short answer, no, but we will). But I am interested in the coverage from a gender angle.  In all the coverage I’ve heard, there has been no question or concern about domestic abuse. If the rumors are true, Woods’ wife attacked both him and his vehicle, and it is even possible that Woods was in his car trying to escape being further attacked.

Reverse the genders for a moment. Imagine a woman, even a professional athlete, being admitted to the hospital with “facial lacerations” and the suspicion that her husband had hit her and swung a golf club at her car. Do we think that the focus would be on whether or not this woman was going to keep her endorsements, or her privacy? Even a woman as physically powerful as Serena Williams would be automatically cast in the role of victim, even before the facts were available. (Williams was just officially fined a record $82,500 for her “outburst” at the US Open.  Women are almost always punished more severely for abusive or threatening behavior then men, precisely because we expect them to inhabit the victim role).

I’d like to say “back off and let the Florida police deal with whatever happened in an appropriate manner” but I doubt the police are any different than the media. They aren’t going to see one spouse abusing another (if that’s what happened), because the spouse with the injuries is male, African America and an athlete, while the spouse swinging the golf club is female, white, blonde and pretty.  And while Tiger doesn’t have the macho image of a football player to uphold, I’m sure that he won’t want to admit that he was abused.  So everyone will spend their time speculating about endorsements instead of using the incident to talk about a real issue that does affect men.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams are #1

Wilson, the #1 brand in tennis, ends the year as #1 in both the men’s ATP World Tour and women’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

With his [K] Six.One Tour racket, Roger Federer held on to the #1 spot by reaching the semifinals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, England. Federer made his 8th consecutive appearance in the year-end championships and is the first player to finish in Top 2 for 7 straight years.

The top ranking solidifies Federer’s tremendous success of 2009. By winning the French Open title in June, Federer became the 6th man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles in his career. One month later, he won a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, where he collected his 6th championship at the All England Club.

Earlier this year, Federer returned to the top spot and has now been #1 for a total of 258 weeks. By finishing 2009 as #1 in the world, he becomes just the second player, after Ivan Lendl in1989, to reclaim the top slot since the rankings began in 1973. Federer’s continued success and ongoing record breaking just confirms his title as the Greatest Of All Time.

With her [K] Blade Team racket, Serena Williams won the season-ending championship for the second time in her career. The world #1 defeated her sister Venus 6-2, 7-6 to win the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar. 2009 has been an incredible year for Serena as this marked her 35th career singles title and the 3rd for the year. She won her 10th and 11th Grand Slam singles titles, the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Serena is the only woman to win two Grand Slam crowns this season and also won 3 Grand Slam doubles titles with Venus at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

Wilson continues to provide for the tour on all levels and is proud to have such strong athletes at the top. Our products contain the latest technology and are the highest quality to support the best players in the world.

What a day for the modern professional athlete! I don’t know about you, but I wanted to just wrap my arms around some of my sports heros today, give them a hug and say “I still believe.”  Sigh…this wouldn’t be altogether legal and most of them wouldn’t be comfortable with such a display, so I’m left to write them appreciative fan letters. Here are the beginnings of some letters to my favorite, troubled, publicly embattled athletes.

• “Dear Mr. Eldrick Woods,  I’ve been trying to break the back window out of my Escalade for some minutes now and would like to know how your wife managed it. Which club did she use? Was it a Nike driver, and if so, can you tell me what kind of grip she used? How was her follow through and what kind of angle did she present with the club head? Did OnStar come on and say ‘Mr. Woods? We show that someone has busted your window with a golf club. Would you like assistance?’ Hopefully OnStar can offer help when us regular guys get clubbed by our wives after cheating with Australian girls who look like Stephen Tyler. Sincerely, your biggest fan.”
• “Dear Slammin’ Sammy Sosa, congratulations on becoming white! It must have been hard for you all of those years just hitting juiced up homers when all you really wanted was to look like Derek Jeter with the flu. Many athletes have a hard time making the transition to broadcasting after their careers end. Isn’t there anybody in the industry you could have slept with to avoid having to become white? There’s always NASCAR, which seems to work for Brad Daugherty. Oh well. In the grand scheme of post athletic career longevity, it’s still better to turn caucasian than to be O.J.”
• “To Serena Williams from a fan, I just read that you were fined $82,500 for threatening a line judge at the U.S. Open. There is a ton I could do with that amount of coin. I could get Sammy Sosa treatments, for starters. I could buy gold chain bikinis for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. The women, too, while I’m at it. $82,500. I’d be able to take my mistress to Jimmy Johns for a sandwich. Sure, my wife might smash the back window out of my Honda, but thats the price I’d pay for living on the edge. Thanks. By the way? Midol is cheaper than these fines and since we’re both men Serena, I can confide that the stuff flat-out works for male headaches and anger, too.  P.S.-Since both you and Celine Dion are actually men, who’d win in a caged match? I pay to see that. $82,500? No.”

The much publicized confrontation with a line judge at the US Open has cost Serena Williams a record fine of $82,500. The Grand Slam Committee released their ruling on the incident today. Williams must complete a probationary period of four major grand slam championships in 2010 and 2011. If she has another major offense at these tournaments, the fine would then be doubled to $175,000 and she wouldn’t be eligible to play in the US Open following that incident. In 1973, Jeff Tarango stormed off the court at Wimbledon and was fined $43,756. Williams said in published statement “I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident and we can all move forward. I am back in training in preparation for next season and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community.” It’s hard to understand why anyone would be supportive of her behavior. Serena’s right on the edge with her Serena Williams nude expose on ESPN magazine.

WOW.

Another great weekend in sports. Lots of action, fun and dramatic finishes over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Some of the highlights:

• Vince Young silences his critics with an incredible 99-yard, game-winning drive for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
• College football’s “rivalry” games surpass expectations.
• Brett Favre continues to prove 40 really is the new 30 (and I’m not just saying that because I’m in the 40-40 club)!
• Tim Tebow closes out an arguably “perfect” career at Florida.
• Allen Iverson announcing he is “retiring.” (And likely to un-retire like Favre.)
• Charlie Weis was fired from Notre Dame on Monday and legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden’s announced his retirement today.
• Serena Williams was fined $82,000 for her outburst at last year’s US Open (more on that in the coming days).
• Derek Jeter was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year (Woo Hoo)!

Of all of these great sports stories, there is one dominating the news cycle that involves arguably the most recognizable face in sports (and possibly the world). It’s the story about Tiger Woods and the mystery surrounding his 2:30 a.m. accident last Friday.

Oh yeah. The Tiger story. So what’s up with that?

Many people are asking that question and wondering, “Why should we care?” “Is this really a story?” “Doesn’t Tiger have his right to privacy?” “Is he having an affair?” “Are the injuries the result of a domestic violence dispute or a car accident?”

All of these are valid questions and as crisis communications experts, it is the job of our firm to guide our clients through adverse situations. The response is crucial, but equally important is the timing of the response.

Tiger Woods is a billion-dollar brand, encompassing many corporate sponsors and individuals whose livelihoods are tied to his well-being and success. So for those who say it is a “private matter,” to a degree, maybe. But when you are the billion-dollar brand man, you lose a lot of your rights to privacy. Now if it was you or me? Few are going to care if I crash my Tahoe into a fire hydrant and tree.

How deep is the damage? It remains to be seen at this point. But it will continue to grow until Tiger addresses the media and puts an end to it.

So what should Tiger’s camp be doing right now?

1. Rule Number One. ALWAYS have a crisis plan in place – BEFORE a crisis hits. We always say a solid PR team will ensure a plan of communication is in order before a crisis hits. Obviously, we do not know what Tiger’s team did in terms of preparation, but it is important to emphasize this.

2.  Get a crisis communications expert or team of experts on board immediately and develop and execute a sound strategy. Anything short of that and you are, in effect, trying to “spin” the story to your advantage. That is not what crisis communications experts do. Instead, they will guide you on how to strategically discuss, deal and manage the crisis on hand. Tiger needs a sound strategy in place immediately. He needs to determine how he is going to talk about what happened and do it in a way where he does not appear to be hiding anything. Right now, the perception is there is something to hide because Tiger has not shown his face or spoken publicly about the issue.

3. Address the media to put an end to rumor and speculation. For many, perception is reality. People want to see Tiger’s face, hear his words and believe what he is telling them. He has built a tremendous bank of goodwill across the globe. People are pre-disposed to believe in him, so going silent for several days is not an option. It is the same as issuing a “no comment” response. Remember, this is Tiger Woods. Everybody knows his name and face. (Shoot, he’s got the first name thing going on, like Sting, Madonna, Pele, Prince, etc.!)

Legal experts alone cannot help Tiger in terms of providing the best strategic advice from a communications standpoint, especially when they are saying Tiger will not be making statements to anyone. Bad move. They need to be teamed up with crisis PR experts. Managing his reputation in the court of public opinion is equally (if not more) important as managing whatever legal fallout he may be facing.

4. Address your corporate sponsors and their PR teams to make sure they know what is going on. Everyone must be on the same page.

The majority of Tiger’s earnings are the result of his reputation and quality PR associated with his brand. Tiger’s corporate sponsors need to be briefed on how to respond to media and everyone needs to be on the same page with him. Statements must be consistent and reflect a unified front. His sponsors have people to answer to as well and need to always be in the best position possible whenever facing any type of crisis.

This will be the second straight year Tiger will not be able to participate in the Chevron World Challenge tournament this weekend in California. His doctors advised him not to travel, given his headaches and soreness from his car accident. The Florida Highway Patrol is trying to determine whether his wounds were sustained as a result of domestic violence or the accident. And the woman who on the other side of this rumored affair has retained legal counsel, famed L.A. attorney Gloria Allred. Tiger’s team must put a real end to what appears to be rampant speculation. This is critically important, as Tiger’s reputation has put him in a position to become the billion-dollar brand he is. Tiger’s reputation must be safeguarded and managed properly through the crisis he is currently facing and working with sponsors is part of that.

5. Begin the process of moving forward and past the situation.

The steps here will be determined largely by what actions are taken in the previous three recommendations. There is a good chance there is very little (if any) truth to all of these rumors. But until it is addressed by the world’s greatest golfer in person – and not through statements on a website or an attorney – mystery and intrigue will continue.

I admire and respect Tiger and love what he has done for the sport of golf. His impact on the sport is unprecedented and he is one of the guys who has done little to damage his reputation. He will move past this. It’s just a matter of how he manages through it and what long-term impact will result.