Sometimes you come across something, a picture, a short story, a novel, that brings you up short and makes your jaw drop in total shock. I'm posting this article by Dennis Fitzgerald that left me speechless. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
It's interesting how we all loved Andre Agassi (well, OK, not everyone) when he was exuberant, energetic, telegenic star in his younger days. Glamming it with Hollywood stars, enjoying life as tennis' man about town. And winning too.
Now, he is retired, still beloved by many. But apparently he hasn't lived up to other folks' expectations. He committed the mortal sin of being.....mortal! He exposed himself, along with some not so pretty demons, in a book. Self-serving, according to some. To sell some books, according to others.
Well Agassi didn't have to tell his story. Or tell the story he did. But it was his choice. For better or worse.
For those who don't like what they have read about him already, OK don't buy the book (and get the full picture). For those who feel that Andre let them down, my condolences. But I am curious. Just when did you ask Andre to be your personal guide and savior? And what did he say when you asked him?
While Andre made choices in his life (some I bet he regrets), and choices as to what he included in his book (don't know if he regrets any of those just yet), don't we all make choices in our lives? Are we all to be judged (and condemned) by random acts throughout our lives? And just why are celebrities put to a higher moral standard anyway? As a collection their moral standards are pretty low, if you ask me.
Andre bringing shame to himself? And tennis?
While Martina Navratilova's comments really burn me, and make me so annoyed at her pomposity. Shrillness. And sheer hypocrisy. I put it down to a lack of intelligence. And compassion. Ironic, because she always craved compassion and understanding from everyone else, but apparently is incapable of showing it to others! If gay marriage were legal, what number wife would Martina be on by now? You see what goes around comes around.
Becker's comments were just as ridiculous. But then Becker's IQ was a lot lower than a weak second serve. But he made up for it with an enormous ego. And Becker ought to be at the top of the list as far as former pros not making any comments at all about Agassi. I guarantee you that John McEnroe, among a few others, will not make any public comments and especially no public criticism at all of Andre.
For Becker to have admitted he was addicted to prescription drugs, and then take Agassi to task? Puh-lease. Take a good hard look in the mirror Becker.....then again perhaps we ought to pry Becker away from the mirror since I always suspects he spends far too much time admiring himself....or perhaps check in to Reality Hotel before making any further public comments. When you check into Reality Hotel, you get a healthy does of true introspection.
8 comments:
Paris Draw, what do you think?
http://www.fft.fr/cms/GetDoc.asp?Type=5&ID=12104
Fair.
LMAO - vw and Savannah that exchange was classic. Love it.
Oh, for God's sake. I'm sick and tired of all the coddling and boo-hooing over poor Andre. Please! And of course, no one in their right mind looks to celebrities, athletes, and the like to be their "personal guide and savior". But we do look for fair play and honest dealing from tennis players; and people can say all they want about this not being a performance-enhancing type of situation, but if you're a player who accepted the rules (and the sizeable gains) of his profession and then turned around and flouted and corrupted the system, while fellow players (but they were only South Americans, right, not jolly old Americans) were punished by it, you deserve every condemnation your tell-all $5-million-dollar-advance memoir brings your way.
And maybe Martina is just a bit braver than McEnroe, who knows? Both are an integral part of selling tennis to a rather unwilling American public and criticizing the saintly Agassi might not be in McEnroe's best interest.
I don't think Federer and Nadal and others have condemned the drug use per se (nor do I); it's the lying and getting away with it and giving the sport a bad reputation that makes them angry. And they have every right to be, as do I.
So be angry, if that's your choice. I choose not to be.
Nice bit by Dennis Fitzgerald. I for one agree with him.
From The Guardian today http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/08/open-autobiography-andre-agassi
...the autobiography of a tennis player is, by definition, self-serving, it's worth bearing in mind a 1996 essay in which the late David Foster Wallace wrote that he "loathe[d] Agassi with a passion" and found him, in person, "about as cute as a Port Authority whore".
Thanks Savannah for your blog. I just can't believe how most of the tennis reporters are willing to hoist Agassi up on a pedestal and knock the current batch of players. I guess the quotes alone will serve as good copy for their shoddy pieces in the future. The more I read on Agassi, the worse it gets. If you asked me a month ago who would I pick between Agassi and Sampras? It would have been Agassi without hesitation. This hurts as a tennis fan, as does his comments on fellow players. Surely we can't commend him for what he's said and done in the past? What I've learnt is, whenever I here his name the word's liar, cheat and bully will be forefront in my mind.
Dennis Fitzgerald is a trip.
Like Martina or don't like Martina, his quips about how many wives she would have if gay marriage was legal (gay marriage IS legal in several countries and Martina could have already had several legal wives!) is below the belt.
Homophobic? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But surely the man is a snob, going on and on about a person's low IQ as if that has anything to do with their right to criticize Agassi.
I was never a fan so I wasn't disappointed with his revelations. But I don't need to be a genius to have a certain distaste for a man coddled by a sport, from the governing bodies to the pundits, who turns around and spits on it because he feels compelled to tell his "brutally honest" story. I don't need to be a genius to believe he's an self-indulgent opportunist. Don't need to be a genius to think that he probably hasn't been as open and honest about the details of his life as the book's writing make it seem. Don't need to be a genius to look in his eyes and see that he was lying in his interview with Katie Couric.
I got my review copy. I'm reading the book. I may even write about it someday.
But I don't need to have a high IQ to say I don't like Agassi now nor have I liked him in the past.
Post a Comment