Boo birdbrains

The No. 1 tennis player in the world is better at tennis than most of us -- OK, all of us, by definition -- and now it turns out he's better at some other stuff, too.

Like, showing class in the face of classlessness, for instance.

Those were, after all, a chorus of boos that chased Novak Djokovic out of Arthur Ashe Stadium the other night, when, down two sets and 2-1 in the third to Stan Wawrinka, the defending U.S. Open champ packed up his equipment bag and walked off the court. His shoulder, which he's been shooting up with painkillers for some time, was throbbing like a rotted tooth. He clearly wasn't able to put up much of a fight, so he did the intelligent thing: He retired from the match.

This happens all the time, or at least more than you think it does. But the dillsacks who booed Joker apparently wished him to continue until his arm fell off. 'Tis but a scratch, you know. Also they paid a lot of money for their tickets.

Of the former, the Blob would say, "It ain't your rotator cuff, pal." Of the latter, it would say, "Nobody cares how much you paid for your tickets. Caveat emptor, dumbass."

This only proves that the Blob does not possess half the maturity Djokovic does.

Here's what he said of the booing, for instance: "I'm sorry for the crowd. Obviously, they came to see a full match, and it just wasn't to be. I mean, a lot of people didn't know what's happening, so you cannot blame them."

See what I mean? Class.

The Blob, on the other hand, wonders what the hell the boobirds were thinking, assuming thinking entered into it at all. It's not like Joker has a rep for taking a powder in the middle of matches, after all. Particularly major tournament matches.

Perhaps this would be a good place to remind everyone that the player who got booed for being unable to continue has won 36 of his last 37 Grand Slam matches, and four of the last five Grand Slam championships. This does not suggest the time was ripe for him to say "Ah, screw it, my shoulder hurts. Four out of five is good enough."

Champions do not think this way, unless they are absolutely forced to. No. Champions are greedy. Champions always want more. They are absolutely shameless about it, which is what makes them champions.

So if Djokovic was walking off the court, even the most oblivious paying customer should have been able to figure out it was because he simply wasn't able to keep playing. One-plus-one-equals-two is a tougher equation. So, no, the Blob is not disposed to be as understanding as Joker himself was.

"Look, it's no secret that I have, of course, desire and a goal to reach the most Slams, and reach Roger (Federer's) record," Djokovic acknowledged after the match. "But at the same time, it's a long road ahead hopefully for me. Now it's a matter of keeping my body and mind in shape and trying to still peak at these kind of events that are majors and that are the most significant in our sport."

Well ... yeah. Who doesn't get that?

Except for, you know, the dillsacks who booed him.