Did you know, that the freak who stabbed Seles, did not spend a single day in jail?
Posted by tennisplanet on November 9, 2007
You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What kind of crappy justice system they have in freaking Germany? And I thought, we Americans had the worst one.
The guy freaking stabs the player in front of a million people, and goes scott free? What a disgrace, not only for the event organizers at Hamburg, but to the whole freaking country. What a great deterrent for the next joker.
So here is the sure instant way, to make sure your tennis idol wins all the tournaments, he/she wishes – with impunity. Why have others not stepped up with the knife? Maybe, there was no need, since there were no rivalries to speak of, and the game has gone down the drain, anyway.
Federer and Nadal have not been hit with it yet, maybe because the infatuation is restricted to female players. Either that, or no one has really appealed to the lunatics, the way Graf did.
How would you feel if you are Seles, and at just 19, and at the peak of your career, are not only stabbed by this loony, but the guy walks freaking free.
Seles has vowed never to visit Germany, ever. Do you blame her?
Tennis should have been banned in Germany after that. What a freaking disgrace. How do they freaking go to sleep at night, after not only being fully responsible for the incident, but to also not administer full justice.
Absolutely disgusting.
I am in the process of finding a way, to ship the most chronic cases at mental hospitals to Germany. Talk about a free for all.
No wonder Graf wanted to marry Agassi, and run away from the stupidity.
If you have no freaking clue what I am barking about, and you have just dragged your pitiful carcass out from under that rock, click freaking here.
Bettyjane said
I admired Graf, but never loved her. So I was thrilled to see Seles come on the scene. She was so great that Martina would complain about her grunting. Come on! I always felt not nearly enough was made of this horrific story. How tennis history would have really been altered with the way she was winning. She was amazing to watch. I never saw anyone play the lines when down the way she did. It’s a true disgrace.
Gracie said
I do remember that this guy did not go to jail. But who’s to say which solution is better – 10 years of jail time or two years of probation with mandatory psychotherapy? I’d have to know where this Günter Parche is today to make an assessment.
I always was surprised though, that with all Seles’ competitive spirit, she couldn’t find it in her, to put herself back in the game. I mean, the only way she had left to ‘punish’ this guy was to come back strong and NOT give him exactly what he wanted: a clear path for Graf to clinch and hold the number one spot. He wanted Seles, her main competitor, taken out of the field. Sure, the guy was crazy, and he did a lot of harm to an innocent person, just to satisfy some delusional mindset. But I wonder, how much ‘help’ Seles got afterwards, and what prevented her from being mad enough to want to get back in there, as fast as she could. Show HIM. It made me a little angry and disappointed that she would not swoop back in and take what was rightfully hers back into her own possession – the height of her career.
I know everyone reacts differently to their life’s experiences, and I’m not condemning Monica here. I also seem to remember something about her dad’s illness, which maybe also accounts for her time away from the game. Whatever the case, I’m just sorry we never got to see that one play itself out properly – Graf and Seles. And I was sorry that Monica’s time was literally cut short.
Sasha said
Yes, it’s a disgrace, but so is Graf’s playing in the semifinal the next day. Any decent human being would have withdrawn, to make a point, a statement, to take a stand. As far as I’m concerned, she (Graf) said EVERYTHING about herself by doing this, and no amount of good tennis will ever undo that.
chieko said
That must have been so awful !! Oh dear she should have been no.1 and not the other lady player. How unfair indeed!!
Jenny said
Agree with Gracie 100%.
WTA said
Gracie,
The wound ended up not being as serious as it could have been but the doctors stated that if it had been another inch off it would have killed her. Seles had to deal with the fact of being nearly murdered in full view of an entire audience with some German maniac fan of Steffi Graf stabbing her from behind her back. People go through all kinds of post traumatic pain after an attempted murder and being knifed.
The horrible behavior various people–of Graf who tried to benefit from the stabbing by continuing on in the very same tournament after Seles was stabbed; of the WTA and the selfish refusal of the other players to maintain her ranking (so that they could move ahead a few places); of the German courts who were only sympathetic to poor, knife-wielding, would-be assassin-Parche and never gave him any punishment, were even greater wounds to Monica and played a huge part in her unwillingness to return to tennis where she could never again feel safe.
Gunther Parche just barely missed killing her but his sharp knife achieved its purpose of ruining her career and leaving the way open for his #2 fave to benefit from his act and get back to the #1 position.
Graf never spoke out once against Parche or his act.
WTA said
1000% agree with your statement Sasha! Such a shameful and disgraceful behavior by Graf.
She should have dropped out of the tournament after the stabbing … it is incomprehensible that someone would continue to compete given the circumstances and reasons surrounding the attack. It was totally classless and morally suspect even to compete under the circumstances.
Two other meaningful things Graf could have done, IMO: publicly and strongly denounce the attacker personally … and lend herself to the effort to see that he was convicted and sentenced; and to not oppose a protected ranking for Seles when she attempted to return to the tour.
Those two examples point to the self-absorption and opportunism I mentioned earlier.