Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe Apologize For Breaking Protocol During On-Court Protest
Two tennis legends issued apologies after joining together for a doubles protest at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Maria Navratilova and John McEnroe were reprimanded by Australian Open officials after unfurling a banner that read “Evonne Goolagong Arena” in the center of Margaret Court Arena.
Goolagong is an Australian tennis player of Aboriginal descent who is a member of the Tennis Hall of Fame and went on to do great charitable work after retiring in 1983.
Navratilova and McEnroe presented the banner calling for the renaming of the facility after Navratilova mounted the umpire’s chair in an attempt to address the crowd only for the sound to be cut off by event staff.
“I got in trouble, I am sorry I broke protocol,” Navratilova said on Wednesday.
“Had I known, I would have done it differently. I would have still tried to make my statement, which is that you name buildings after not what people did on the court, but also off the court, the whole body of work.”
The former world No. 1 has been one of the leaders in the push to rename the venue, publishing an open letter to Tennis.com on Monday.
Court, a 24-time major singles champion, including 11 Australian Open titles, has been widely condemned for her controversial views on race and sexuality. Court has publicly criticized tennis for its acceptance of LBGTQ athletes and has been quoted as saying that transgender children are the work of “the devil.” It is also worth noting that the former tennis great was in favor of South Africa’s apartheid in the seventies.
The 77-year-old Court was invited to this year’s tournament to honor the 50th anniversary of her calendar year Grand Slam in 1970.
McEnroe released a statement late on Tuesday saying, “Admittedly I was never one to study the rule book carefully or for that matter, even at times abide by the rules.”
“In this case, I was not aware of the Tennis Australia rules and protocol for issuing credentials,” he continued. “For that I apologize to Tennis Australia and recognize and appreciate the great job they have done to make the Australian Open a great event for the fans, players and myself.”
“We embrace diversity, inclusion, and the right for people to have a view, as well as their right to voice that view,” Tennis Australia said in a statement. “But the Australian Open has regulations and protocols with respect to how any fan, player, or guest can use our facility, the event and the global stage it provides.”
“Two high-profile guests have breached these protocols, and we are working through this with them,” they concluded.
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
Why do this?
- Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
- Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.
The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
- What topics do you think you’ll write about?
- Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
- If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.
Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.
When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.
Daniel's Writing Test 