June 26th, 2008 | 
Maria Sharapova is an immensely talented tennis player who, at 21 years of age, has 19 career titles, has been ranked as a top-ten player since Wimbledon 2004 and, in 2006, was the highest paid female athlete in the world. Today, she was dismantled 6-2, 6-4 at Wimbledon in the third round by another Russian player, Alla Kudryavtseva. I cheered for the 154th-ranked David (Sharapova Goliath-killer) the entire match.
What pisses me off about Sharapova is that she has made the U.S. her residence for the last 14 years having moved here when she was 7 years old. All the while making a big deal of the fact that she’s a Russian tennis player. Yeah, yeah . . . this is a great country and we make that your choice. Just because we adopt you, doesn’t mean you have to adopt us. I just don’t like it.
So, it appears that Maria the Great requested that she be the flag bearer for the Russian team at this year’s Olympic Games in China. Apparently, the Russian coach said:
I don’t want her to spend three or four hours in hot weather waiting to march in the opening ceremony. We want her to be fresh, not tired, during her matches.”
It turns out her first match isn’t until two days after the opening ceremonies AND she has decided not to stay with the team and will be moved to a hotel so she can get her beauty rest. My guess is that the coach feels the same way about Sharapova as I do. She’s clearly a prima donna – more proof that she really is an American. 
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