I just finished reading the interview with Boris Becker on the TW site. The article mentions that in Andre's autobiography, he referred to Boris as "a F _ _k ing German". Even though Andre used the slur right before a tennis match with Boris, when Andre was stressed, it was still a shameful thing to say. ESPN recently ran an old 60 Minutes interview with Boris from 1986 when Boris was only 18. In the interview, Boris spoke quite movingly about being the first post WW11 international sports star from Germany (Beckenbauer was famous only in Europe and the great Shumacher was not yet a formula one driver). Boris spoke of the weight that Germany's legacy placed on him and he talked quite emotionally about the holocaust and how he hoped to be a symbol of a new Germany. Boris also refused to allow words like "blitz" and "blitzkrieg" to be associated with him. Boris was then  and now a person without an ounce of prejudice within him. That is his most endearing quality. For Andre to call him a  "F_ _ _ _ ing German" was so shameful that if Andre has even an ounce of  decency, he will apologize to Boris.

Lleyton Hewitt was raked over the coals for some unkind words he said to an umpire who  was making terrible calls and ruining a match. Andre's comments about Boris came BEFORE a match, not during one. After reading that Andre made an ethnic slur about another player, I can not respect Andre any longer. 

Not sure why this seems so upsetting.  Where's the "prejudice"?  If someone called me a G____ Brit in the heat of the  moment, I wouldn't take it as prejudice.   All professional athletes curse up the wazoo. F___ every other word with each other and on the field. Lots of regular guys too I believe ... My daughter's teenage male friends too (and they're all super high academically achieving nerds).     Becker, as I already noted, has no grounds to criticize anyone else at all.  He's no angel.

Plus let's stop discussing out of context quotes since so many of them already have been shown to be misleading.  The book will be out on Monday...

What's the TW site anyway? 

It's interesting how we all loved 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 are 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 # 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.

Agassi prejudiced. You bet your baby's bibby he was/is?

Let me tell you a story. I'm sent to Cincinnatti, 1995, to do a story on Agassi for New York Magazine. I meet Brad Gilbert in front of the stadium and go in with Agassi and Gilbert and Agassi's nephew, Pancho's son, to watch Agassi practice. It's only the four of us. Agassi and Gilbert are hitting balls and Agassi didn't really see me. I had walked in with Gilbert. As they're hitting, Agassi says about Chang, "He's got the first dollar he ever made because his arms are too short to reach into his pocket." 

Now is that a racial slur against Asians? I'd say it is. Then he said something derogatory about Edbert, but I forget what it was, and then he saw me taking notes in the first row of the stands. He walked over to me and said, "You're not going to write in your article what I said?" And I was intimidated, he's got a big chest and he's intimating that he's going to hit me, so I said no. And then he says, "Give me the notebook," and I said, "No." And then Gilbert walked up and said, "Forget about it, Andre."

But in those days, what Agassi said about Sampras looking like an ape, and about Chang, he was definitely judgmental and quick to insult.

I don't think there's any disputing Agassi was often an idiot in his 20s. I doubt he's going to dispute it in the book, is he?

I just commented on the specific eg, especially in the context of the highly charged, bad language culture of all pro sports, and on the unlikelines of Becker presenting himself as a paragon of virtue of any kind.

Boris had his faults (no pun intended) but can anyone imagine Boris saying before a match with Andre: "Keep me away from this F_ _ _ing American"? Boris did get into gamesmanship, which I don't care for. I prefer the way Rafa plays tennis. Rafa just plays his heart out, never tries to diminish his opponent and would rather lose than cheat to win a point. So Rafa, along with Federer and of course Ashe, set the gold standard.

But I find Andre's claim that Boris was blowing kisses to Brooke Shields and doing other insulting things to the Agassi camp to be totally absurd. I recall watching the match on television, either on tape or live. I can't remember as it has been 14 years. But the broadcasters never mentioned Boris pulling any of this crap and there was nothing in the broadcast showing Boris doing this nonsense. I am sure that the 1995 quarterfinal match is on video somewhere in the archives and a journalist who wants to do a "reality check" on Andre's book can simply watch the match.

If Johhny Mac was broadcasting the match, there is no way that Mac would not catch this and tell the audience. Therefore, I am convinced that Andre's tale about Boris is a tale made out of whole cloth.

Boris is one of the most interesting guys to ever play on the pro circuit at such a high level. Granted, he was a notch below Andre and Pete tennis wise but Boris had tons of outside interest. And if Andre had such problems with Boris, how come one never hears Sampras or Courier or McEnroe complaining about Boris? 

The tale that Boris blew kisses at Brooke Shields does not ring true. Brooke always sat at courtside at Armstrong and there were always photographers watching her every move. If Boris has tried that stunt it would have been seen by thousands of people in the stadium and photographed by lots of photogs. My guess is that the ghost writer of the book read about how Roberto Duran made obscene gestures at Ray Leonard's wife and just transferred that to tennis. 

I had forgotten about that behavior by Roberto Duran in the first Leonard fight. I know that got alot of attention at the time and Leonard talked about Duran  insulting Leonard's wife during the fight. So there is a good chance that is where Andre or his ghost writer got the idea for the absurd claim about Boris blowing kisses at Brooke Shields during the 1995 US Open quarterfinals. There is an easy way to verify whether Boris really did the things in that match that Andre says Boris did. Brad Gilbert was sitting next to Brooke during that 1995 US Open. If Boris was behaving as badly and boorishly as Andre says he was, then Brad would know about it. Although Andre fired Brad, there may still be some residual loyalty there and so maybe Brad won't choose to undercut Andre. But how about Tennis Week simply asking Brad about the alleged behavior by Boris during that match. I never heard Brad Gilbert mention it in any public interview. Given that we know that Andre's story about Tarango's behavior in the juniors is complete rubbish, why should we believe Andre's anecdote about Boris?

Aren't we all putting the cart before the horse since the book hasn't been released yet.  And weren't the People article and revelations timed perfiectly to get people to remember how INTERESTING AA was and thus actually sell the book.  I'm not interested in what BRAD has to say I am interested in what Andre and his writer put out.

Any book, esp autobiographical ones, require a critical eye.  So as the volleying between RP and Texas shows we really need to read the book more than anything else.

 Agassi won all four majors and like Sampras said after he won his first major, "you can never take that away from me."

 

Regardless of all the peripheral discussions, AA deserves tremendous respect as an American Tennis Champion.

I haven't looked it up but I would not be surprised if the publisher is part of the same company with CBS. That would explain the appearance on 60 Minutes this Sunday. That's usually how they do it and they don't always mention that connection in the broadcast.