Somehow, the genetics in the Williams family broke down like this: Venus got the charisma and class, Serena got the muscles and attitude. As a tennis fan, Serena is the only American I openly root against in all her matches. Today, after losing 6-4, 6-4 to someone I’ve never heard of, she showed yet again how incredibly unpleasant she is:

I get it, she has been raised to be a winner by her overbearing father since she was in elementary school, and thus, she simply cannot handle losing. But so were many – or even most – successful athletes. It doesn’t give you the right to stomp out of press conference like an overgrown infant. These reporters were asking her legitimate questions. I understand the French can be quite annoying, but it can't be that difficult to suck it up for a couple minutes and answer them.

/Defending the French for the first and last time.

If anything's going to be the tie-breaker in Beasley/Rose, it's going to be the rather nebulous "character issues" that cling to Beasley as much as they do O.J. Mayo. Beasley, in what I take as a sign of intelligence, or at least perspective, has been defiant about these throughout. Here's his latest outpouring on the subject, courtesy of the the Miami Herald:

"I just turned 19 years old in January," Beasley said. "How mature do you want me to be? I'm still a kid. I'm not 20 yet. I'm not legal. I can vote, but that's about it. On the basketball side of things, I'm 30 years old. Off the court, I don't know how old y'all want me to be. Do you want me to act 25? 30? 40?. I'm 19. I'm a kid. I'm going to live my life. I'm going to mess up. I don't know as much as you do or him. I'm learning day by day. I hear a lot about character issues. But I've yet to hear what those character issues are. Until I hear somebody tell me, I don't feel the need to change."

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Rich "MaZe" Lopez is the founder and editor-in-chief of KixAndTheCity.com. Lopez will keep your feet fresh every weekend with the latest release info. E-mail him at info@kixandthecity.com.

On, Jan. 13 1999, Michael Jordan officially left his "Old Love," the Chicago Bulls, and the game of Basketball. Though MJ would return to the game in 2001 as a Washington Wizard, it was obvious that the Michael Jordan we all knew gave it his all in the last game of of the 1998 NBA Finals as a member of the Chicago Bulls. To celebrate Michael Jordan's "Old Love" Jordan Brand is set to release a Chicago Bulls Home White and Red colorway of perhaps the final Air Jordan, the Air Jordan XX3. The "Old Love" Air Jordan XX3 features premium textured leather on the upper and a shimmering red midsole.

The "Old Love" Air Jordan XX3 is a limited release that is set to hit the shelves of select large chain retailers and select independent retailers Saturday, May 31. Retail is set at $185

Sometimes, a joke is so inevitable, you have to make it, even if it's two days late. Yesterday, in a move that surprised no one only because it was so uninteresting, the Hawks hired former Sonics GM Rick Sund to replace Billy Knight. Knight walked away because his hand-drafted team just had its moment in the sun. He looks astute, but doesn't want to hang around to watch it disintegrate.

Knight isn't such a bad executive. He got Pau Gasol for Memphis, saw gold in Joe Johnson, and yes, drafted a lot of talented forwards. However, he's best remembered for, well, drafting an endless parade of forwards, even when his team badly needed a point guard. He did nab A.C. Law last summer, but only after taking Al Horford—and therein lies the paradox of Knight's legacy.

Enter Sund. He did acquire Ray Allen for Gary Payton, which was a nice move. But his primary contribution to the Sonics' recent history was his run of drafting ... nothing but centers. That would be Robert Swift in 2004, Johan Petro in 2005, and Saer Sene in 2006. Nick Collison, taken in 2003, sort of counts for this.

I know Atlanta has Bibby and Law now, which kind of counts. Given this team's track record, though, would it have killed them to go after Grizzlies' GM Chris Wallace, who is intent on stockpiling point guards?

Haye Now, Haye Now…
Can David Haye hack it at heavyweight? That’s a question that’s on the minds of most boxing fans these days, as they hopefully chart Haye’s stratospheric rise and wonder if he’s going to turn out to be the British Tyson and reclaim some dignity for heavyweight boxing in the process.

Oscar De La Hoya is betting that Haye is the real deal – Golden Boy signed Haye to a big-money five-year deal this past week, making him one of the few name heavyweights in the Golden Boy stable. Haye, the former undisputed cruiserweight champ who repeatedly has stated his ambition to “clean up the heavyweight division,” came out this week with his three-fight plan – i.e., two tune-ups at heavyweight and then wham, bring on Klitschko and the belts, which means the much-anticipated Klitschko/Haye tangle could be happening as early as spring of ‘09.

For his part, Wlad seems down with that schedule, and why wouldn’t he be? I assume that he digs money like the rest of us, and this thing is shaping up to be a genuine gold mine, the first heavyweight fight since Lennox/Tyson to be must-see TV. Like all fight fans, I hope it happens and I hope it’s worth our while, but I must say I also hope Sam Peter gets another crack at Wlad first. (By the way, if you haven’t yet seen David Haye in action, check out his KO of Jean-Marc Mormeck from last November – holms has some serious pop). Zab’s Title Grab The reason there’s no big-time fight action this weekend is because the big-time fight that was scheduled for Saturday – Shane Mosley v. Zab Judah on PPV – was cancelled when Super Judah had a “shower accident” in Vegas that resulted in about a thousand stitches in his arm (“shower accident in Vegas” for some reason conjures Benicio De Toro in Fear and Loathing to my mind). Now Zab has found himself another dance partner – Josh Clottey –for an August 2nd fight that amazingly will be for a legitimate title, the IBF belt at 147. That title was vacated by Antonio Margarito to make his date with Cotto, and so now in a standard bit of sanctioning-organization bingo, the IBF has anointed Judah/Clottey a title bout. I’m sure that Zab will be the favorite going in, but watch out for Josh Clottey, the Ghanaian-born stylist who comes by way of the Bronx. With Judah a proud and vocal Brooklynite, this bout will no doubt be billed as a Battle of the Boroughs, and what with Zab’s inactivity and injury and Clottey’s legit skills and moxie, I’d actually make the Bronx a narrow favorite in this one – say, oh, Clottey at -140. Most people probably think of Clottey as the last man to fight (and beat) Chico Corrales before he died, but in my mind he’s the guy who was beating the bejabbers out of Tony Margarito before he broke his hand in the fourth round (sample a few rounds of that fight below).