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The Patriot-News Monday, July 30, 2001 Harrisburg, Pa. MONDAY FORUM THE OTHER SIDE OF GORAN IVANISEVIC While tennis fans everywhere were impressed that Goran Ivanisevic finally overcame his personal demons to win the Wimbledon championship, the article in The Patriot-News regarding his victory should have mentioned his exceptionally bad manners during the tournament. In today’s society we too easily overlook unacceptable behavior by athletes, actors and other celebrities who, whether they like it or not, are role models for our children to emulate, for good or bad. The "Los Angeles Times" of 11 July 2001 reported Ivanisevic’s comments in the post-match interview in which he referred to an official who made a call not to his liking as, "That ugly, ugly lady--she was really ugly, very serious, you know." Next he described another official as, ". . . that guy, he looks like a faggot little bit, you know. This hair all over him." This isn’t the first time Ivanisevic’s bigotry has overshadowed his athletic prowess. On Feb. 22, 1993, an article in "The New York Times" sports section described how he had learned to shoot a machine gun. "They showed me how to shoot, just for fun," the "Times" quoted him. "They let me shoot a machine gun. It was tough to control, but, oh, it was a nice feeling -- all the bullets coming out. I was thinking it would be nice to have some Serbs in front of me." Harrisburg has a very large Serbian-American community and they recall that during World War II, the Croatian Ustashi party ran the Nazi death camps that exterminated over 1.5 million Serbs, Jews and Gypsies so brutally that even the Gestapo was appalled. It was former Croatian president Franjo Tudjman who said, "Thank God my wife is neither a Serb nor a Jew." How sad that such honor is laid at the feet of one so prejudiced and who openly slanders others. It takes more than being able to serve a tennis ball at a 125 miles per hour to be worthy of respect and admiration. STELLA L. JATRAS STERLING, VIRGINIA |
Title: Message
