I hate Venus Williams. You know who else I hate? My older brother. That's pretty much it. I suppose I'll have to explain why I hate these two individuals, and I guess the best explanation is because they remind me of each other.
No, my brother isn't a back-to-back grand slam women's tennis champion. He's not a celebrity millionaire, and he doesn't have a Nike contract. But Saturday night, when Venus Williams was playing her younger sister Serena for the U.S. Open Championship ... all I could think about was how much I wanted to beat him ... at something.
We share a case of sibling rivalry, perhaps not on the same level as these incredible sisters - our rivalry may not share the same stakes as theirs - but it's just as intense. And as any younger sibling can tell you, there is nothing better than beating your older sibling. And there's nothing more frustrating than losing to him or her.
That is why I believe I can relate so well to Serena Williams, and subsequently why I can't stand Venus. Serena represents what I see in myself in a lot of ways. I mean, I'm not gonna kid myself. She's 80 billion times the athlete I am, and she's a U.S. Open champion in her own right; we're really not that similar in terms of much of anything. Nevertheless, as she was losing in straight sets on Saturday, her face flushed in a frustrated smile, I felt entirely familiar with where she was coming from.
I found myself clenching my fists, yelling at the TV, "Come on Serena! You gotta show her!"
I wanted it for her so badly, and I knew in my heart that if she won, no one, including her, would remember that match as "the time Serena Williams won the U.S. Open." Everyone would remember it as "the time Serena beat up on her big sister."
And for all you younger siblings out there, you know what it feels like to beat your older bro or sis at something. And sometimes it's the smallest thing that can fuel the biggest rivalries. Microsoft "Space Cadet" Pinball for example.
My brother's name had been #1 on the high scores chart for so long, I thought I might never top it. There was even one time where I had gotten so desperate, I'm ashamed to admit, that I had even considered clicking the "reset scores" button, to erase the record. But no, I knew 4,543,334,432 points could be surmounted.
So I gave it a few more shots (more than I care to admit). And now, I'm proud to say that a score of 6,793,223,021 now stands on the High Score table on our home PC, with the caption "Tai is the Greatest" written beside it.
Well ... it's not exactly professional tennis ... but you get the picture. Even winning the smallest competition in a sibling rivalry feels wonderful. Imagine beating your older sibling in front of millions of people, for a professional title.
Serena will have many shots at various slams, and no doubt she will win many, but what I want to see more than any of those titles, is an awards ceremony for a Grand Slam with Serena holding up the big-ass shiny cup. With Venus standing beside her, holding that dinky little plate.
It'll be hard. There's no doubt about that. The older sibling has an immense advantage. Some may say that Venus is the better athlete. But that's not it at all. Venus developed her talent first, then was able to watch as Serena developed hers. That's like years of unfair scouting! No one knows Serena's strengths and weaknesses better than her sister, because she honed her skills right in front of her.
And older siblings *totally* have the "pysch-out" advantage. I saw it in the match. Venus gave her the "think you can take me on sis? Hah, in your dreams" look throughout the match. That should be banned.
But hey ... she'll do it eventually. Of course, even then Venus could take a page out of my brother's book and say, "Eh, I let ya take this one, I wanna build your confidence," (which is such bs) or the old, "Oh, you finally beat me, I'm so proud of you!" routine (which is so unsatisfying).
Ideally, Venus would lose, and then throw a fit (and her racket) at Serena, and refuse to shake her hand. That would be the best. Again ... she will do it eventually, and on that day, there will be much rejoicing. But until then, to Venus ... and all you other older siblings: You suck.
