Come Off It with "Come Ons!"

I miss Chris Evert. No, not the commentator. I mean the ice queen champion of the groundies on the tennis tour. There was no screaming "Come On!" after she won points. She just stood straight when things weren't going her way, cast a steely gaze at her opponent and fought on to the end--usually winning, unless her opponent was Navratilova. And at the end, when she won and sprinted up to shake her opponents' hands, there weren't the obligatory fist pumps and screaming that seem to be de rigeur with today's victors.

Not that I mind some noise. I don't have a problem with the players grunting during the points. Evert may not have done that, but Jimmy Connors certainly did. It's a sign the players are giving it his or her all to hit the fool out of the ball a la Monica Seles through Serena Williams.

But why yell, "Come on!" It's so obnoxious. Lleyton Hewitt started it, as far as I can tell. The yell typically is bellowed after the player wins a point these days, like he or she can't believe the opponent is playing a close match. Everyone does it now, even the once gentlemanly Roger Federer.

And why, "Come on!" How about yelling, "Hooray!" instead? Or "Way to go!" or even the slightly less sportsmanlike "Yes!" Something positive. It would be refreshing. I'm waiting for the new generation of players to either calm down and not yell after every good point, which frankly looks silly when the player ends up losing, or substitute it with something positive.

I said all players are doing it, but there may be a few exceptions. Venus Williams may be one of the rare player who doesn't scream come on. And her record's not too shabby--seven Grand Slam victories. So how about the other tour players coming off it with their incessant, "Come ons!"