Sports this 'n' that

 After Serena Williams announced that the US Open might be her last tournament, officials with the event may have gone a wee bit overboard in her three singles matches over the last five nights.

Williams, who was eliminated last night, has had a video montage play before her matches. Not sure if this also applied to her doubles match with sister Venus, in which they were eliminated in the 1st round. Tradition dictates that the opponent is introduced first, but, perhaps for the benefit of ESPN, they had Williams come out first, followed by the video, then her opponent.

So backward. The decision has generated heat against tournament organizers and ESPN, which, one suspects, wanted this order to goose ratings. I'm not going to even imagine the same thing happening if golfer Tiger Woods ever is forced to retire.

Williams has had endorsements during her career, including Gatorade, and, most recently, DirecTV's online stream, which found a means to outfit her as Wonder Woman. I wonder if she could play Nubia in a future movie.....!

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Capital One isn't just content with Jennifer Garner and Samuel L. Jackson as their primary endorsers. In recent months, they've contracted former NBA star and TNT analyst Charles Barkley to do radio & TV ads in addition to his being a pitchman for Subway, and, now, newly minted Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. "The Easiest Decision in The History of Decisions" comes off with them as being a bit forced.

Barkley is now joined by Tony Romo in on-camera spots for Subway. Stop the pain! This is why their subs are now over $10 per footlong. Inflation is chump change by comparison!!

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Reddit commentators are a sensitive bunch.

Fans of the Atlanta Braves have dismissed the Mets' winning 9 of 16 from the defending champs as "lucky", a sentiment echoed by Braves pitcher Spencer "EZ" Strider. From what I've observed, fans of most teams probably spend time on talk radio channels, too, and it sounds like it.

I will remind that 16 years ago, the Mets ended the Braves' run of division titles, and, barring a collapse, could do it again. I think, privately, Braves fans are cringing over that.