AB is not a sexist, or at least I don't think I am. How could I be sexist? Some of my best friends are women! (Sarcasm alert!) So although I have my opinions about whether or not this story from The Land Down Under is offensive or not, I'd rather hear what you guys, especially the ladies, have to say instead.
Tennis commentator Roger Rasheed was the butt of both criticism and support following his saucy delight in Venus Williams' posterior during Channel 7's live Australian Open coverage. Tennis fans voiced a volley of views on the former coach's decision to show slow-motion replay shots of the four-time Wimbledon champion's posterior in play on Tuesday night.Question: Were Roger Rasheed's comments merely poorly conceived space filler or an affront to Venus' womanhood? Ladies, if you were Venus, would you be offended by this? Fellas, what do you think?
Williams, the world No.8, was wearing figure-hugging white shorts when she played China's Zi Yan in Rod Laver Arena.
"Take a look at this now," Rasheed said. "Make or think as you will, ladies, but, for me, that's a pretty good sight," he told co-presenters Nicole Bradtke and Tracy Austin.
A Seven spokeswoman confirmed the station had received a number of complaints after the comments and slow-motion replay were aired.
"We did get a number of calls, but we don't ever comment publicly on those," she said. "We had 30 calls in total on a night we attracted a national viewing audience of 3.89 million," she said.
If you wanna match the visuals with the story, here ya' go. Knock yourself out.
Venus Williams booty call stirs up viewers [Sydney Herald Sun]
