Wemple

So everyone knows that 17-year-old Melanie Oudin made one hell of a run at the U.S. Open this year; the No. 70 seed dispensed with Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and Nadia Petrova, before being defeated last night by Caroline Wozniacki. The accolades have just streamed in.

But some in the blogosphere are wondering if there isn't some reason other than her talent that she has been so readily embraced by the media: namely, her physique (petite) and her skin color (white).

Writes the women's issues site Jezebel:

Oudin certainly seems to be a lovable sports star, and her accomplishments are definitely praise-worthy, but there is something off about the way she is being celebrated. She has been called the "darling" of the U.S. Open, America's "sweetheart," a "pint-sized, freckled-faced blonde from Georgia," the "tiny little savior of women's tennis," everything it seems, save tennis' "Great White Hope" (although given the media coverage of Oudin's win, it would probably be more like the "little, teeny-tiny, super cute White Hope").

Especially problematic was this article from the Daily Beast, which quoted ESPN sportscaster Michelle Beadle comparing Oudin to the Williams sisters. "From Day 1, I've never heard the Williams sisters referred to as sweethearts," she said.

Even if racial considerations weren't an issue before that reference, it seemed more than fair to talk about them after.

One question, as posed by Jezebel, is: What does that really mean, "America's sweetheart"? And could there be something as radical as a black sweetheart?

Among those enjoying that label, over the years: Shirley Temple, Marilyn Monroe, tennis player Chris Evert, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, even Sarah Palin.

They're not all blonde, but...

In July, the online site cinematical weighed in, almost desperately, it being the pre-Oudin age and all, on who might be the next sweetheart (since several of those mentioned above are "in their 40s now and are no longer interested in the title"). I scoured the list of a dozen candidates, certain that every single last woman on it would be white (if not blonde and white). Kirsten Dunst: check. Scarlett Johansson: check. Anne Hathaway: check. But just making the cut, at No. 12, was the African-American actress Meagan Good.

So that proves it: There can be a black sweetheart! Just not, God forbid, anyone as tall, in-your-face-muscular, and good – columnist George Vecsey of the New York Times suggested they are sometimes "too good" – as Venus or Serena Williams.

The Washington Kastles lost to the Philadelphia Freedoms, the team named after an Elton John song or vice versa, in their home opener last night. The big stories were the sellout crowd that filled Empty Parking Lot Arena, or whatever the temp downtown stadium is called, and the appearance of tireless Venus Williams, who gave a clinic to local kids by day and starred on the court at night.

The loss puts the Kastles at 0-3. Amazing how quickly they've blended into the DC sports scene.

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Speaking of: The Nats lost again in Colorado. Just another day at the office for the boys: Three errors for Washington (none for the Rockies), one-run loss.

Austin Kearns, he of the $8 million 2009 salary, had a huge pinch hit single in the 8th inning. Huge not for the Nats, but for Kearns, since it put his batting average above .200 for the first time in a while. Alas, the team's mandatory all-star slot has already been filled by Ryan Zimmerman.

The Nats have a death grip on the 1st Pick in next year's draft, and are now 14.5 games out of second-to-last place in the NL East. The team can boast a record -196-run run differential differential (R2D2™) with the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Manny Acta et al will try to fight off the broom with a getaway-day game this afternoon in Denver.

AFTER THE JUMP: Inevitable Chris Cooley backlash starting already? The guy who taught us "Macaca" still thinks he's righteous? Alberto Gonzales banished to an American archipelago? The Irish play basketball?

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Whereas being a wild ass came naturally to past Redskins wild-asses (John Riggins, Curtis Jordan, etc...), Chris Cooley's wild-assishness by now seems incredibly forced. Cooley has gotten desperate to throw his wacky side in everybody's face. Every week there's a new stunt, promoted on his blog. If it ain't a shot of his naughty bits, it's a flaming cow. And on and on.

So when somebody at Extremeskins, Dan Snyder's message board, let everybody know that Cooley will be featured on a segment of ESPN's magazine show "E60", with him playing around on a ranch, the reaction wasn't all pro-#47.

The poster SkinsTerps26, whose board signature is a photo of Cooley, singed the star like a cow carcass, and probably spoke for a lot of fans as he did so:

"Cooley being all over TV and Internet bug me," wrote SkinsTerps26. "You are a funny guy... kinda... but after the cow burning and those stupid mustard peanut butter and ham sandwiches, its time to take a time out from video appearances. Go learn how to block."

Ouch!

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From characters to character: The Examiner reports ex-Senator George Allen is putting out a sports book. "The Triumph of Character: What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports."

The publisher's tease says Allen is qualified for such a book because he "spent the better part of his life with one foot in both the world of sports and the world of politics." He spent the worst part of his life with one foot in his mouth. Isn't his license to ride the high horse still suspended?

But, damn, his dad was my favorite football coach of all time.

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Another guy who left town in shame: Alberto Gonzales, the short and disgraced former attorney general, not the shortstop for the disgraceful Washington Nationals, has been hired to teach by my alma mater, Texas Tech. Gonzales probably figured Lubbock is a fine place to go when the rest of the world hates you, seeing how it worked out for Bobby Knight. If Coach Knight were still leading the Red Raiders, you know he'd be asking Gonzales to draw up a memo on how far he could legally push his players during "enhanced workouts." Those who want Gonzales tried for war crimes can take comfort knowing that while it ain't jail, a stay in Lubbock is a close second.

The town gave us Buddy Holly, bless him, but has been making up for that ever since. (Before hiring Gonzales, Tech chancellor and Democrat-turned-Republican ex-Congressman Kent Hance sacrificed whatever pride the school had trying to land the George W. Bush Library.)

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Speaking of my roots and coaches in exile: Great story in the Washington Times about Jay Larranaga, son of George Mason coach Jim Larranaga.

The littler Larranaga is the player-coach of the national basketball team of Ireland. The squad's never been good. Writer Bob Cohn wraps up Irish international hoops history thusly: "In Ireland's only Olympic appearance in men's basketball in 1948, it lost all four games by an average of 51 points, including a 71-9 defeat by Mexico."

Ok, but in fairness to my people, folks are still talking about that '48 Mexican squad, nicknamed El Fuego Cinco*.

*Nobody's really talking about the '48 Mexican national basketball team, and they weren't really called "El Fuego Cinco." Continued apologies for my Los Lobos spanish. But the W. Times' story is really fun.

D.C. United's pride, but little else, is on the line again in a U.S. Open Cup match tonight at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Fresh off vanquishing the amateur Ocean City (N.J.) Barons, otherwise known as "the Real Madrid of Ocean City (N.J.)," United now has to take on the Harrisburg City Islanders, known around their hometown as, you know it: "the Real Madrid of Harrisburg."

Again, no matter how old this U.S. Open Cup tournament is, and United's crack PR staff keeps telling everybody it's really, really old, all these games against no-name teams in the suburbs ain't good for the brand.

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The Washington Times' Thom Loverro tells the story of gangster John Dillinger's flair on the baseball diamond before he went bad, and gives some ink to a latter-day John Dillinger who stuck with baseball but probably would have made more money if he'd taken up crime.

Johnny Depp's only going to play one of 'em in "Public Enemies," a megamillion dollar feature film that explains the timing of Loverro's piece.

But revisiting the tale of the first John Dillinger is worthy: It reminds all DC fans that Austin Kearns, he of the $8 million 2009 salary and sub-Mendoza batting average, isn't the first guy to use baseball as a path to robbery.

AFTER THE JUMP: Venus, the star, is aligned for tonight? How do you sign up for trapeze school? Just one more crystal meth bust and we've got a story?

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Kearns wasn't in the lineup, but his teammates picked up where he left off on the non-hitting front, getting blanked, 1-0, by the Colorado Rockies late last night. Shut out in Denver?

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Nicole Bobek, the post-Tonya Harding "bad girl" of the prissy rink set who won some titles in the mid-1990s, has just been charged with meth amphetamine distribution in New Jersey. Bobek's bust comes in the midst of NASCAR's Jeremy Mayfield's court battle to get reinstated after his suspension for having meth in his pee pee after a race in Richmond this spring. Guess Sudafed won't be sponsoring Mayfield's #41 Toyota when he gets back on track.

One more of these arrests, and look for a heap of trend stories on high-profile athletes who threw it all away for this brand new wonder drug.

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The Washington Kastles say Venus Williams, just three days from losing to her sister in the Wimbledon final, will indeed live up to her contractual obligation and appear with the Philadelphia Freedoms tonight in a team tennis match at the old Convention Center site. Last year, Serena lost to Venus in the finals, and made the same three-day turnaround to appear at a clinic with the Kastles during the day and play with the squad here that night. Their lives aren't really theirs.

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The Kastles aren't the only ones playing with a net downtown. The tennis team is sharing the big parking lot this year with a trapeze school.

The Trapeze School of New York moved its flying trapeze rig and relocated its teaching staff from Baltimore several weeks ago.

Beth Manning, spokesperson for the school, says things have been swinging along quite well since the grand opening here in early June.

"The president of the company had to come down from New York yesterday to teach because we're so busy in D.C. now," Manning says.

A lot of local businesses are using the school for corporate team building exercises, Manning says. "There's a lot of trust involved in trapeze," she says.

Just what this town's craving: Today's classes, like most days lately, are all sold out, Manning says.

"But I've got an opening tomorrow for one person at 9:30 [a.m.] and one at 12:30 p.m.," Manning says.

For information, phone 410-459-6839 or email dcinfo@trapezeschool.com.

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