deppprived

So up until now I've never talked about Agassi anywhere.  Not on MTF, not on ONTD tennis.  Nowhere.  One of the reasons is that I wanted to wait and observe Agassi's actions and the reactions of everyone around them.

Not surprisingly people have been raking him over the coals for this.  And not surprisingly Agassi will go on 60 minutes to ask for compassion.

Now I've never been much of an Agassi fan.  Nor was I all that keen on Pete Sampras.  I like Courier and to be honest I didnt' follow tennis all that much in the 90's.   Agassi has always annoyed me, with his obvious pandering and calculated planning of his image.  From those Canon commericals to his marriage to Brooke Shields he just seems to try way too hard for my liking.  Sampras wasn't better.  Dude was dull as fuck.  The only thing I liked about him was his white man's afro.

With that said though, I'm kinda shocked at all the virtol that Agassi's been receiving.  Not to say that he didn't bring it on to himself.  Of course he did.  But the reactions have fascinated me.

"Why is he saying this now?"
"Ugh I can't believe the ATP covered for him while others got banned!"
"He's such an attention whore!"
"This makes tennis look so bad! Why is he doing this?"

And many more.  It seems a lot of the responses pertain to the last statement.  The image of tennis is tainted now, many claim, because of this.  Never mind the likes of McEnroe, Connors, and Nastase's bad behavior on court has already sullied tennis's image as a wholesome sport decades ago, but in spouting this response, posters are behaving no better than the man who declared "Image is everything" all those years ago.  And while many are hopping mad because of the ATP's response to his excuse of testing positive for meth, well, what else could've they done at that time?  If they have investigated it would've been a three month ban at the most. WADA didn't exist then and at that time drug abuse in sports primarily focused on steroids which crystal meth isn't. And they didnt' actually cover for him so much as chose to believe his lie.  In 97 he wasn't much use for them promotion wise anyway.  He was playing horribly and had to resort to playing challengers to get his game back.  Sure he's famous but at that time he was getting publicity for all the wrong reasons.  Why would the ATP waste their time promoting a guy who seemed like he was a has been then?


So what have we learned?  Simple.  If a kid grows up to be a public figure of any sort, be perfect.  And if they can't be perfect then they sure as hell better make sure they cover up their flaws and never expose them to the world.  That message seems kinda sad to me thuogh.  On the one hand yeah, you put yourself out there and you have to be prepared for potential backlash.  But at the same time, shouldn't we demand honesty, not just from athletes, but from everyone?  So many people live lives of quiet desperation and fraud because they are either scared of harsh public judgment, or they have a lot to lose career or family wise.  Whatever his reasons for writing this book, I'm not gonna condemn Andre.  I don't plan on buying it, but I won't condemn him either.
 

Congrats Rog!  Hopefully the kid will inherit your hair!

And I was looking forward to your DC match vs. Andy too.

*Hugs*

There are no words.  Just watch.

www.youtube.com/watch

Dear Roger,

Don't go out like Jelena.  FIGHT!!!!


Dear Jelena

WTF???????

Edit:  Good Roger, very good.

Dear Jelena:

It's about time!!!  Yayyy!  

Love

A crazy JJ fan

I went today to see The Dark Knight.  A few observations and speculating thoughts.

Dear Roger,
If you are going to hang out with Gwen Stefani, please tell her to take off some of that makeup she's got on.

Dear Marat,

If you do not back up this win over Nole, I will hurt you!  While I wished you two could've met in the later rounds that's just the way the ball bounces I guess.

So back this win up for fuck's sake!

Dear Andy Roddick,

Just win.

Love

A crazy tennis fan.

1.  With the crappy start to the year Roger's having, the only good thing is now people aren't putting as much pressure on him to win RG.  Who knows?  Maybe he'll be able to win it when everyone leasts expect it.  Who knows? 

2.  I don't think Mirka's pregnant.  I wouldn't be surprised however if she looks at Andy's engagement news and gets a little pissed that after seven years together, Roger still hasn't popped the question.  It brings up so many thoughts.  Does Roger want to leave so he can unleash his inner manwhore?  Does Mirka knows he wants to leave?  Does she want to leave?  Is she really pregnant and if so, did she get knocked up to make him a permanent part of her life in case they do break up? After all, nothing seals being forever apart of a wealthy athlete's life like a baby. Ask Bridget Moynahan.  Of course I could just be having an overactive imagination and there's nothing wrong between the two of them.

3.  The last time Andy beat Roger, he went on to win a Slam.  Chew on that for a minute.

4.  Turning the subject to women's tennis, I think Jelena Jankovic might win a slam before Ana.  I know Ana's more hyped and she's actually been in two Slam finals already but me thinks Jelena is going to shock people and become the first Serbian woman to win a singles Slam.  And that, for me personally would be awesome.  Jelena for RG 2008!

Andy just beat Roger.  Damn.

Andy should sooooo be on top tonight. ;)

Dear All England Club,

Can you please change your draw so that Andy and Roger can only meet in the final?

Sincerly,

Tennis fan mad that Andy/Roger final can't happen this year. *Pouts*

So a week away from tennis results in Andy winning Queen's and Roger withdrawing from Halle. What an interesting week.

I call bullshit on that whole "fatigue" excuse.  Roger just wanted to go to London early and get some cuddle time with Andy.  Could that be why Andy won?;)

It's official:  Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is my new unatural obbsession.  The one liners, the outfits, the subversive attitudes towards redneck fools:  Beautiful man.  And to top it off the kiss between Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen in the end was surprisingly hot.

As for my tennis sabbatical, it will be over tomorrow.  Can't wait to see what Roddick and company have been up to.

What can I say?  Roger had his chances and blew it.  Nadal did to him what Justine did to Ana:  When they saw an opening, they pounced.  That's probably why they are such good claycourters:  They are absolutely fearless on this surface.

Anyway, congrats to Rafa for making it three in a row.  And as for Roger?  Relax man and just swing away.

Tennis has been giving me such drama and stress that I'm just taking a sabbatical for a week starting tomorrow.  Besides my week is filling up pretty fast, I probably wouldn't have time to follow Queen's or Halle anyway.

I think I'll go and see Hot Fuzz again today.  I need to get out of the house and good homoerotic buddy comedy might do the trick.

Roger spends the whole week playing like shit yet still winning and he chooses now to beat Rafael Nadal on clay.  And he bagled him in the last set too.

Huh.  I wonder what Tony Roche thinks about this.

I'm very very bored right now.  I feel like I should be doing something, but I don't know what.

It's a pretty day.  Maybe I'll go outside.

So Roger's split with his coach.  Can't say I didn't see this coming.  Right now if he's thinking of getting someone new, he should get a ballbuster who he respects.  Good luck Feds.


And on a non tennis note: Yay, rain!  It's about time.  Atlanta always look prettier after a thundershower.  Not to mention that we have a major drought going on right now so YAY RAIN!!!!!

Tennis Gods, you better have a damn good reason why two of my babies are no longer in the Rome tournament.

I expect major payback for all invovled.

Andy beats Chela on grass and wins Wimbledon.

Roger bitchslaps Volandri(and Canas) and wins Roland Garros.

That's what I want Tennis Gods.  Get to it.

Okay Sony Ericsson Open is over.  I gotta say this month has been very weird for tennis.

Roger loses to Canas, twice.

And poor Andy got hurt, pulling a muscle at the bottom of his ass of all places.

Rafa and Daniela winning IW and then losing in Miami.

Strangeness around.