Should Serena Williams Be Given a Ticker Tape Parade?

[erpowers]

I am not trying to make this about race. I am just wondering whether or not she, with all of her Tennis accomplishments, should get a ticker tape parade. She just won Wimbledon and now she is third on the list of female winners of Grand Slams with 21 Grand Slam titles.

[ChazII]

1. Yes. n/t

[malaise]

2. After she wins the US Open

and ties with Steffi Graf for 22 slams and also joins that elite group with all four calendar grand slams

For the record, she is already the best American player of all time - male or female.
She is now being compared with Lebrun James and Usain Bolt.

[underahedgerow]

5. Yes, let her set the NEW world record, and something very grand and festive is in order!

She's got a lot of Serena left, she's destined to set the bar high and for it to hold a long, long time!

A parade would be fun, but maybe a disco dance off would be a heckalot more of a blast!

[msanthrope]

3. Not yet. She has more to do. But then. nt

[NightWatcher]

4. When's the last time a solo professional athlete has gotten a parade.

I understand when the Yankees or Mets win the series, they're local teams. I also understand when a national team or Olympic team gets the treatment, but Tiger never got one when he was winning everything in golf, Jeff Gordon never got one for nascar.

Not to pick, but it sounds like you're looking for a controversy where none exists. Sure, she's kicking ass in tennis but I don't think that necessarily warrants a parade. I doubt the streets would be lined with adoring fans, decked out in Serena shirts, waving Serena flags, and chanting her name.

[oberliner]

8. Sammy Sosa, 1998

3 Days for New York to Celebrate Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa will be getting a hero's welcome in Washington Heights after all.

Mr. Sosa, the Dominican-born slugger who hit 66 home runs this season for the Chicago Cubs, is to be honored in Washington Heights -- home of tens of thousands of Dominican immigrants -- on Sunday. The occasion will cap three days of celebrations around Mr. Sosa, who is to arrive in New York today to receive an award from John Cardinal O'Connor and is to be honored with a ticker-tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan tomorrow afternoon.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/16/nyregion/3-days-for-new-york-to-celebrate-sammy-sosa.html

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. And he turned out to be a juicer who used a corked bat

one wonders if that has anything to do with no athlete being so honoured since.

[erpowers]

17. Not Looking For Controversy

I do not want any controversy. This is not about getting someone to say Serena Williams should not get a ticker tape parade and then claiming they are a racist. I get that the US Women's Soccer Team is a national team, but my thinking was that since they were given a parade maybe Serena Williams, with all that she had accomplished, should have one also. As I said before this is not about race. If Serena Williams had been white I would have asked the same question?

[Nye Bevan]

6. Were Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova given ticker tape parades,

for similar accomplishments? Or, indeed, any solo athlete as opposed to a team?

[oberliner]

7. No

What a bizarre question.

[erpowers]

18. Not A Bizarre Question

It is not a bizarre question since there have been many ticker tape parades given to many teams and individuals. In addition, just yesterday the US Women's National Soccer Team was given a ticker tape parade.

[oberliner]

20. There have actually hardly been any ticker tape parades in the last 50 years

And there have not been any for an individual in almost twenty years.

[Herman4747]

9. NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, UNTIL THIS IS DONE FOR ALL NOBEL LAUREATES!!

I mean, an athlete vs. someone who benefits humanity forever?? Come on!

[Nye Bevan]

10. LOL at the thought of a couple of nerdy scientists

being loudly hailed as they are paraded through the Canyon of Heroes! It would actually be kind of awesome.

[SheilaT]

14. Love it! I have a brilliant

son who is getting ready to start a PhD program in astrophysics, and it's my not-so-secret wish he would someday win a Nobel Prize. Picturing him in some such parade quite warms me. I can see him now, not entirely understanding what the fuss is all about, and awkwardly waving and smiling at the crowds.

All such scientists should get the recognition and adulation we give athletes. And movie/TV stars. And other "celebrities".

[NYC Liberal]

15. Hey, Albert Einstein got one!

[cwydro]

11. I love tennis, and I love Serena.

But, no.

[Facility Inspector]

12. they used to give those

for winning WW2 or landing on the moon. So, no.

[bluedigger]

13. Sure, if she wants to pay for it.

She's an individual professional athlete representing herself, with no geographical constituency to draw support from.

[JCMach1]

16. When she passes Graff... hell, yes

[petronius]

21. Althea Gibson got one, after winning Wimbledon in 1957

Looking at the list, it seems that individuals without a NY connection engaged in more personal pursuits (e.g., non-political or military, not representing the US) are a bit unusual, but not unheard of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ticker-tape_parades_in_New_York_City

It's up to NYC of course, but if they asked me I'd say Serena Williams would be a reasonable parade candidate at the conclusion of her career, particularly if/when she reaches #1 on that Grand Slam list...