Serena Williams not sure if she'll 'Crip Walk' at U.S. Open

Serena Williams was so happy at winning gold at the 2012 Olympic Games this month she broke into a dance.  At first, people paid little attention to the tennis star's well deserved two-step — after defeating  Maria Sharapova for her first singles gold medal — until they found it it was called the "Crip Walk" dance.

There was a huge uproar after it was discovered Williams' five-second victory shuffle was made famous by Crip gang members back in the 1970's and the little hip-hop dance was considered a salute to violent gang culture.

Williams says her spur of the moment celebration was just something that happened and had nothing to do with gangs.

"It was me.  I love to dance," Williams told reporters who asked her about the moves.  "I didn't know what else to do.  I was so happy, and the next thing I know I started dancing and moving.  I didn't plan it.  It just happened."

Now tennis fans are wondering.  Will she do the Crip Walk dance at the U.S. Open?  The 14-time grand slam winner isn't sure and claims she has nothing planned for next month's tournament in Flushing, N.Y..

"I have to win seven matches, so we'll see," she said at a Taste of Tennis charity event.

Williams says she is still enjoying her Olympics win.  Planning a funky little victory dance is probably the last thing on her mind right now.

It's hard to believe the dance created such a firestorm, but she must have done it pretty good to get a thumbs up (gang sign?) from Snoop Dog.

Beckham fails to make British Olympic team

While thousands of athletes are preparing for the upcoming Summer Games in London, one prominent sports star's Olympic dream has already ended.  David Beckham— the former England soccer team captain— has been left off Great Britain's Olympic soccer team, basically, because he is too old.

One of the most recognizable sports stars in the world, and a key player in London's winning bid for the Olympics, Beckham failed to make the 18-man squad.

Becks was on the short-list of 35 for the coveted spot but he was not selected as one of three 'over-23' players.  The team only allows space for three players over the age of 23.  The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder is 37.

"Everyone knows how much playing for my country has always meant to me, so I would have been honored to have been a part of this unique Team GB squad," Beckham said in a statement Thursday.  "Naturally, I am very disappointed, but there will be no bigger supporter of the team than me and, like everyone else, I am hoping they can win the gold."

The Olympic snub could spell the end of Beckham representing his country after playing in 115 games for England.

The popular soccer star is still a favorite to light the torch at the opening ceremony in London.

Iran Should Boycott 2012 Olympics Over Mascots Not Logo

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a formal letter to the IOC threatening to boycott the 2012 Summer Games in London because the numbers 2012 in the logo actually spell out the word "Zion."  The thing everyone wants to know, besides what took them so long, is why they rip on the logo and not those one-eyed Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville?

The secretary-general of the Iranian Olympic Committee cited the logo and condemned it as racist and called for all Muslims to join Iran and renounce the abstract 2012 logo and boycott the Games.  Way to get your people to purge the uprisings in Egypt and Libya from their heads, sec-gen.

Since the diabolical logo's debut four years ago, the stacked, zig-zagging numbers were roundly-booed and called "bloody crap" because of the design.  There really never seemed any good reason to disparage the ubiquitous symbols except for the aesthetics.  Leave it to Iran to find a political angle in a simple poster.

Iran's letter read: "There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran, which abides by commitment to the values and principles."

It seems those 'principles" don't relay the fact that Iran, for thirty years, refused to compete against any athletes from Israel.

It takes a lot of staring and twisting of the 2012 logo to see the word "zion' but, if you zone out long enough to make Iran's case, it's somewhat comprehensible.  It's sort of like a Rorschach blot.  Most people claim to see the word "zoiz" or a nude couple in a passionate, coital embrace.  If you hold it upside down it reads "Paul is Dead."

The IOC shrugged off Iran's threat in a press release: "Our response is as follows:  The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else."  In other words, "Who cares?"

Sure, it's easy to join in on the long-line of mascot bashing.  It's a four-year tradition dating back to "Izzy" in Atlanta but, if a country ever needs a reason to boycott the games, it should be because of those 2012 asexual mascots, Wennie and Mandie.  These frightful creatures look like they designed on a pub napkin after someone downed a firkin.

Are the mascots remote controls?  Robots?  Pleasure devices?  What do they have to do with athletics?  If any state-controlled dictatorship can find a subtle demonic image in these mascots, it's Iran.

Then they can just take their two lousy medals and stay home.