Tennis Faults and Football Debuts

By JASON GAY

Oh, Serena. We adore nearly everything about you: your devastating game, your telegenic spirit, your unflappability...er, who turned you into Joe Pesci?

You were going to do what with that yellow ball to that hopeless U.S. Open line judge? Really? You can't even do that at a Raiders game.

Ms. Williams deserved to be DQ'd -- end of story. Let's not get swept up in comparisons to John McEnroe. First, there's a substantial difference between "You cannot be serious" and "I'll shove this [family newspaper] ball down your [family newspaper] throat," which is what Ms. Williams allegedly said. Second, it's easy to see Mr. McEnroe's second-act transformation to cuddly TV curmudgeon and assume people were more tolerant of his petulant on-court outbursts. Not really. Back in his day, a lot of folks thought Mr. McEnroe could be a boor, too.

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Denver Broncos' wide receiver Brandon Stokley makes a game-winning 87 yard touchdown reception against the Bengals yesterday.

What a weird scene Saturday night. Dick Enberg sounded like he wanted to run down to the court and wash Ms. Williams's mouth out with soap. Under the stadium, an overprotective handler tried to stick her hand over CBS's camera and prevent them from seeing Ms. Williams exit the locker room. With all that adult supervision around, you'd think one person would step in and convince Ms. Williams to quickly and publicly apologize. Instead, Ms. Williams compounded her misbehavior with a nonchalant press conference in which she acted like she'd gotten tossed for asking for Grey Poupon. She issued a lukewarm apology Sunday evening. The real shame is how this meltdown drowned out the performance of Kim Clijsters, who'd already seen her remarkable Open run overshadowed by the frenzy over Melanie Oudin.

Thankfully, civility (and decent weather) did return to the Open on Sunday. We were pained to see Rafael Nadal's abs of steel wilt against Juan Martin del Potro, the latter of whom emerged as our new favorite player after a wondrously humble post-match interview. "I think this is the best moment of my life," Mr. del Potro said after thumping Rafa 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. ESPN's Darren Cahill then asked Mr. del Potro if he was going to stick around to watch the other men's semifinal -- which Roger Federer won. "No," Mr. del Potro said. "I will take a massage, and go to the bed."

New York's New Mayor

Who do we want to be today? Do we want to be Mark Sanchez, who will be eating free steak all week in Manhattan after his impressive quarterback debut for the New York Jets? Or do we want to be Denver's Brandon Stokley, who caught a tipped pass with 11 seconds left against the Cincinnati Bengals and ran for an 87-yard miracle touchdown to lift the Broncos to a 12-7 win?

We choose Mr. Sanchez, who threw for 272 yards in a 24-7 win over Houston. Franchise quarterbacks and the Jets go together like libraries and casinos, and if he continues on this pace, Mike Bloomberg will be texting him before important civic decisions. Mr. Stokley's catch, as sharp as it was -- how smart was he to tiptoe along the end-zone line to bleed the clock? -- came against the Bengals, and all great acts that occur against the Bengals are diminished because, well: Bengals.

Tate Mania

On Saturday, USC marched into Ohio State, scored early, and then took a siesta until the closing minutes, when they reapplied freshman QB Matt Barkley's hair gel and prevailed, 18-15. OSU gets wind sprints today. USC gets free tanning and a motivational speech from Carmen Electra.

Our preferred contest occurred in Ann Arbor, Mich., between underachieving behemoths Michigan and Notre Dame. We were calling this one the Guillotine Bowl: a devastating loss was sure to draw either the embattled Charlie Weis or Rich Rodriguez closer to the blade. The good news was it was a lead-flopping barnburner and a Tiger Beat-style launchpad for Michigan's freshman QB Tate Forcier. Michigan won 38-34.

How much does Mr. Weis regret his John Wayne act early in his South Bend career?