SERENA WILLIAMS FOOT FAULT - RULE AND VIDEO

US Tennis player Serena Williams is top of Google's Search Trends, not because of her Foot Fault during yesterday's US Open Final match against Kim Clijsters, but because of how Serena Williams reacted to the call.

By the looks of the Serena Williams Youtube Video of the US Open match, the lines woman looks quite afraid of Serena Williams and her apparent "Death threat". Yup, in addition to cursing out the Lines woman with several

SERENA WILLIAMS "FOOT FAULT"
US Open September 2009

unintelligible insults, Serena Williams reportedly told the Lines woman who called the Foot fault "I would Kill you"

When approached by the ref, Serena Williams responded "I'm sorry but alot of people have done alot worse." When the topic of the death threat came up, Serena Williams got quite vocal and said "Are you Kidding me?" After a few heated words, Serena Williams slammed her racket on the ground and stormed towards Kim Clijsters motioning for Kim to meet her at the net. Serena Williams then shook Kim Clijsters' have and walked away while discussing her thoughts on the foot fault call made against her.

Whatever Serena Williams said to the Lines woman during her US open Match against Kim Clijsters is now on tape. You can watch and listen to the US Open footage of the Serena Williams Foot Fault call for yourself on the Serena Williams Foot Fault Youtube Video below.

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Not being a Tennis aficionado, I had to look up what a foot fault was. So here you go, from the book of Tennis rules, the definition of a Foot Fault in Tennis.

WHAT IS A FOOT FAULT IN TENNIS

8. Foot Fault
The Server shall throughout the delivery of the Service:
a. Not change his position by walking or running. The Server shall not by slight movement of the feet which do not materially affect the location originally taken up by him, be deemed "to change his position by walking or running".
b. Not touch, with either foot, any area other than that behind the base-line within the imaginary extensions of the centre-mark and side-lines.

USTA Comment: The key to understanding this rule is to realize that the Server's feet must be at rest immediately before beginning to serve. Immediately thereafter, the delivery of the service begins with any arm or racket motion, and ends when the racket contacts the ball (or misses the ball in attempt to strike it).

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If either foot touches the Court, including the baseline, or the imaginary extension of a line specified in Rule 8b. after his feet are at rest but before he strikes the ball, he has committed a foot fault.
There can be no foot fault if the Server does not attempt to strike at the ball. As long as the Server makes no attempt to strike at the ball, it is immaterial whether he catches it in his hand or his racket or lets it drop to the ground.

USTA Comment: This rule covers the most decisive stroke in the game, and there is no justification for its not being obeyed by players and enforced by officials. No official has the right to instruct any umpire to disregard violations of it. In a non-officiated match, the Receiver, or his partner, may call foot faults after all efforts (appeal to the server, request for an umpire, etc.) have failed and the foot faulting is so flagrant as to be clearly perceptible from the Receiver's side.

It is improper for any official to warn a player that he is in danger of having a foot fault called on him. On the other hand, if a player asks for an explanation of how he foot faulted, either the Line Umpire or the Chair Umpire should give him that information.

SERENA WILLIAMS FOOT FAULT YOUTUBE VIDEO - SERENA WILLIAMS QUITS AND WALKS OFF

So the rules and evidence is in front of you... What do you think? Have your say on the Serena Williams Foot Fault call below.

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EURO 2008 Spain Vs Germany

Just a little bit of a rah rah post from a kraut over here in Canada. It will be great to see Germany kick some Spanish ass today in the EURO 2008 Final game which will pit Germany against Spain. It seems many are expecting Spain to come out victorious against German, but only time will tell. Here is some one else's opinion of the outcome, we shall see how it goes.

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It is the second biggest game on the soccer calendar behind the World Cup Final and tomorrow’s Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany has the potential to be a great final. Some of the matchups that we will be paying close attention to tomorrow are:

Goalkeeper: Advantage Spain
Spain’s Goalkeeper Iker Casillas has solidified his reputation as one of the worlds top goalkeepers (at least according to some blog) while Germany’s keeper Jens Lehmann has looked shaky in almost every game.

Defense: Advantage Spain
Germany’s traditionally strong defense has been open up way too easily this tournament. Their full backs were run ragged by the Turks on Wednesday and this has to be an area that Spain will look to exploit.

The Spanish defense has not attracted many headlines, which it not necessarily a bad thing. Central defender Carles Puyol has barely put a foot wrong all tournament. Midfield: Advantage Germany
German leader Michael Ballack has been one of the stars of this tournament and I expect him to dominate the middle of the field on Sunday. Ballack has had great support from wide men Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski are both having great tournaments and look a constant goal threat while Torsten Frings will add some power if, as expected, he returns to the starting lineup.

Cesc Fabregas will start on Sunday for Spain and how well he plays will have a huge baring on the game. If Fabregas is playing well then Spain can play at a faster tempo and Xavi can push forward more to support Torres. A fast tempo suits Spain. A slow tempo suits Germany.

Forwards: Advantage Germany
With the loss of David Villa, Spain will play Fernando Torres in a lone striker role which is not his best position. I think that Torres has been disappointing and I expect to see the Spanish league top scorer Daniel Guiza will probably take over during the second half.

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For Germany, Miroslav Klose has scored in the last two games and is beginning to regain the confidence that made him the 2006 World Cup’s top scorer. The German height advantage is something that will they will try and take advantage of with lots of crosses from Schweinsteiger and Podolski aimed towards Klose. Winner
Cup finals are notoriously hard to predict because you never know if the fear of losing overcomes the willingness to be adventurous. I am hoping that Sunday’s Euro 2008 matches the excitement and drams that the tournament has provided and expect to see Spain win by the odd goal, 2-1 or 3-2.

Roger Clemens had an affair with Mindy McCready (She was 15, he was 28)

Wow, we did not see this coming on a rainy Monday morning. (Hey! It's a rainy day and Monday, something that always brings me down.) The Daily News drops a bombshell about Roger Clemens and his "SECRET AFFAIR." Their exclusive reports that for a decade, the Rocket had been carrying on with country singer Mindy McCready.

This is quite the big scoop, but what I'm really interested in is how the story is presented on the front page. The "SECRET AFFAIR" allegations are shocking enough, but it's curious why McCready's name isn't mentioned on page 1. The photo of her on the front has her eyes closed, and she almost looks like Paris Hilton. Could this be a clever ploy by the art department to sell more papers by making it look like Clemens spent a few years in Paris? Probably not.

As a person who likes to slice with Occam's razor as much as possible, I think it's probably just that McCready's country-star status might not play as much in the Big Apple. Keeping it mysterious cuts off any chances for a reader to say, "Huh, who?" and dismiss the story before the reader's fifty cents hits the newsstand.

The News takes care of the "just who is Mindy McCready?" section pretty deftly. For those who are not familiar with the musical products of Nashville, McCready first burst onto the scene in the mid-1990s. She's faced a number of career and legal woes that would make one hell of a country song. (Drug addiction? Check. Abusive relationship? Check. Arrest record? Check.) Now she's staging a comeback via documentary, and, yes, the requisite reality show. (No word on the network, but the title, Mending Mindy, sounds remarkably similar to VH1's other redemption-themed reality shows, Breaking Bonaduce and Saving Sizemore.)

New York, however, is a sports town, not a country-singing, tear-in-your-beer town, so the important question is, "How does this affect Roger?" Well, a lawyer for Clemens's former trainer Brian McNamee—whom Clemens is suing for defamation—says that this information benefits his client, as "If it's proved that [Clemens]'s a philanderer, his reputation is already damaged…Anything is fair game, including his claim of sanctimonious purity."

For the record, Clemens denies a sexual relationship with McCready, whom he first met in a karaoke bar in Florida when she was 15 and he was still pitching for the Red Sox. Clemens, lawyer, Rusty Hardin, issued this statement to the Daily News on behalf of Clemens:


"He flatly denies having had any kind of an inappropriate relationship with her…He's considered her a close family friend…He has never had a sexual relationship with her."

Tiger Woods getting Knee Surgery

The U.S. Open figured to be the closest to a sure thing for Tiger Woods in the majors this year, but maybe not anymore.

Two days after his quest for a Grand Slam fizzled at the Masters, Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the second time in five years and will miss at least four weeks while he recovers.

The announcement, which Woods made Tuesday night on his Web site, was a surprise to everyone except those around him.

"He's been having a lot of trouble," swing coach Hank Haney said. "He doesn't talk about stuff like that. He doesn't want to use excuses, you know? I don't think it affected his play. It affected his practice a little bit."

The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods' left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.

"I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters," Woods said on his Web site. "The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can."

But he will not be able to defend his title in two weeks at the Wachovia Championship. And he most likely will miss The Players Championship the week after, one of only three non-majors he has never missed since turning pro. Provided rehab goes as expected, Woods hopes to return at the Memorial on May 29.

The U.S. Open begins June 12 at Torrey Pines, where Woods has won six times in the Buick Invitational. Such is his dominance on the cliffside course north of San Diego that when he opened with a 67 on the South Course this year, a caddie standing behind the 18th green remarked, "He just won two tournaments with one round."

Indeed, Woods went on to an eight-shot victory in his 2008 debut, the first of four straight victories this year.

But it was not necessarily a pain-free affair.

"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG. "Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible."

Steinberg said the surgery repaired cartilage damage. The 2002 surgery drained fluid from around the anterior cruciate ligament and removed a benign cyst.

Woods was limping and wincing toward the end of the '02 season, and it was not surprising to find out he had surgery that kept him out two months, most of that over the holidays.

This time, it only made sense upon reviewing the past nine months.

Woods stumbled and grimaced ever so slightly at Southern Hills last August in the PGA Championship, when he chipped in for birdie behind the eighth green in the final round and backpedaled for a fist pump. In the final two PGA Tour events, in Chicago and Atlanta, he occasionally would press his left foot against a cooler, presumably to stretch his knee.

But it sure didn't affect his golf, not even at the Masters, where he finished three shots behind Trevor Immelman.

"He hit 14 greens in regulation on Sunday," Haney said. "Hard to say it was the knee."

Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in consecutive weeks, then tied for second behind Phil Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship. That was his last loss until late March, the longest winning streak of his career, which covered five PGA Tour events, the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, and his unofficial Target World Challenge in December.

"I knew he was going to do something this year," Haney said, referring to surgery. "I just didn't know win."

Woods has a remarkable track record when returning from a long layoff. After the '02 surgery, he won three of his first four events, including an 11-shot victory at Bay Hill.

This will be the second time in two years, however, that he missed a chunk of time between the Masters and the U.S. Open. He sat out nine weeks in 2006 to cope with the May death of his father, not returning until the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He missed the cut for the only time in a major since he turned pro.

Torrey Pines is more familiar turf, even if the setup for the U.S. Open will be vastly different. Woods won the Buick Invitational this year for the third straight time, and he also won there as a junior.

In the meantime, his absence is a blow to the Wachovia Championship and to The Players Championship, regarded as the fifth major.

"Of course, we're disappointed when Tiger is unable to compete in a PGA Tour event," commissioner Tim Finchem said on the tour's Web site. "There is really never a good time for an athlete - especially one of Tiger's caliber - to take weeks off from competition during the season. But his health concerns have to come first."

Of greater concern might be the fact Woods has gone through surgery twice on the same knee in five years. He has looked immortal at times on the golf course, already winning 64 times on the PGA Tour and 13 majors, second only to Jack Nicklaus.

Could this slow the pursuit?

Woods won 30 times and five majors since his last surgery, and Haney expects nothing less.

"This is something he's already used to," Haney said. "He deals with stuff incredibly, like you would expect him to."

Pro Golfer Tripp Isenhour Kills endangered Hawk because it was Disturbing his shooting of an instructional video

ORLANDO, Florida (AFP) — Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour, facing misdemeanor charges and possible jail time after hitting and killing a hawk that is protected by conservation laws, apologized on Thursday.

The incident took place in December, when Isenhour was taping an instructional golf video at the Grand Cypress golf course in Orlando.

If convicted of cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird, Isenhour could face up to a year in jail and fines.

In an apology released by the PGA Tour on Thursday, the 39-year-old Isenhour said he was "mortified and extremely upset" by the death of the bird.

"I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk," he said in the statement. "I was trying to simply scare it into flying away. As evidenced by our family having adopted three cats from a local shelter, I am an animal lover. We ask that everyone accept my sincerest apology, and please be respectful of my family's privacy."

Video sound engineer Jethro Senger, who reported the incident to authorities several days after it happened, said the red-shouldered hawk disrupted the taping with its screeching from about 300 yards away.

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documents, Isenhour drove closer to the bird in a golf cart and hit several balls toward it before giving up and returning to the video set.

The hawk then flew closer to the crew, perching in a tree some 75 yards away.

Isenhour tried again, and on his 10th attempt he hit the hawk, which fell to the ground and bled from its nostrils, Senger told investigators.

Isenhour shouted "I didn't think I would hit it," the reports said.

Another video crew member later buried the bird, which has now been recovered by investigators.

The Shaq - Shaquille O'Neal to be traded

MIAMI (AP) — Shaquille O'Neal is prepared for the Miami Heat to trade him, a confidant of the 14-time All-Star center told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

O'Neal's associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal anything publicly, indicated a move could be imminent.

"Shaq thinks something will happen," the associate said.

The Miami Herald reported earlier Tuesday that the Heat are in "serious and ongoing" trade negotiations with the Phoenix Suns. A Heat spokesman said the team had no comment, and several Suns officials didn't immediately return phone calls from The AP.

The Herald report said the Suns would send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami in exchange for O'Neal, who is averaging a career-low 14.2 points and has been sidelined for the past two weeks by a lingering hip injury.