Why I’m Sticking Up for Andre Agassi
The world of sport has been rocked this week by revelations that Andre Agassi snorted crystal meth during a low point of his career. Portuguese Pirate asks us to consider whether it’s fair to solely point the finger at Agassi and whether the admission has ended up doing more good than harm.
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If you’ve been wondering why a tennis player who retired over three years ago is currently the most-talked about sportsman in the world, here’s why. The English newspaper “The Times” included extracts of Andre Agassi’s yet-to-be-released autobiography titled “Open” on Wednesday and Thursday’s editions. In them the eight-time Grand Slam winner expressed a life-long hatred of the sport that brought him fame and fortune and a deep fear of his bad-tempered and violent father who forced his son to hit thousands of balls a day and was once willing to wager the family’s entire savings on a nine-year old Agassi beating American football legend Jim Brown in a one-off tennis game.
These confessions however are small beer compared to his admission that in 1997, as his world ranking was in freefall (as a result of injuries and loss of form) and anxiousness set in as the day of his marriage to actress Brooke Shields approached, he voluntarily snorted crystal meth to escape reality. Worse still, when told by an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) doctor a few weeks later that he had failed a drugs test when traces of crystal meth were discovered in his bloodsteam, the former world number one lied about how the drug had entered his system. The truth is he had voluntarily taken it after his personal assistant, a habitual user himself known as Slim, had offered it to him. But Agassi told the ATP that Slim often poured the drug into cans of soda before drinking them and that he had accidentally drunk from such a can. The ATP believed him and let him off the hook.
Wild child – A rebellious, edgy, long-haired teenage Agassi was a breath of fresh air for the sport as the likes of John McEnroe were bowing out.
It’s easy to call Agassi all sorts of names and accuse him of all manner of crimes: junkie, cheat, liar, disgrace to the sport, embarrassment to tennis and perhaps worst of all in many ways: coward. Incapable of admitting his crime and too scared to face the music.
And as the likes of multi Grand Slam winner Boris Becker have spent the last couple of days questioning his achievements within the game, I’m now going to stick up for the guy. To start with, crystal meth is not a performance-enhancing drug; quite the opposite. Type the name of the drug into Google and look at some of the pictures of people who have taken it; they’re lucky to still be alive. let alone play professional tennis for several hours at a time.
Secondly, put yourself in Agassi’s position. With career, reputation and endorsements (we’re all adults here so let’s not pretend that money is meaningless) at stake, he lied to protect himself rather than the sport. Would you have done any differently?
I’ve had enough. A tearful Agassi calls it a day after being beaten in the 2006 US Open.
Thirdly, what of the ATP’s part in all this? Yes they did the right thing in carrying out the tests in the first place and carried out the correct steps in informing him of the positive test and the procedure that was to follow. But why did they just accept his explanation there and then, which by the way was communicated by a written letter from Agassi, rather than interview him in person? Look him in the eye and ask him why there were traces of one of the most fatal drugs in the world in his system. Were they lazy? Negligent? Or were they as keen to cover up that one of their sport’s biggest stars had failed a dope test as Agassi himself was?
I’ve also heard people say that Agassi has admitted to his crime solely to sell more copies of his book. Given that he made over $100 million in endorsements alone over his career and has hardly blown it all like some sort of tennis equivalent of John Daly, I very much doubt that was his motivation.
From what I’ve read of the extracts from the book this is the ultimate warts-and-all sporting autobiography. And as someone who for the past decade has read a fair few of these, I find it extremely refreshing that this is the approach he has taken. I’m tired of reading about soccer players talking about getting up at 5 in the morning to run for 10 miles before breakfast and baseball players thanking the Lord for seeing them through bad injuries and loss of confidence in their jump shot. This is the story of Agassi’s life: the pain, the fear, the highs, the lows, the regrets, the truth. How can you criticise him for that?
And if his admissions now mean that the next time a top tennis player fails a drug test the ATP is less likely to take a dim view on things, then is that a bad thing? If you’re lucky enough to make millions of bucks playing the game you love (it’s safe to assume Agassi is in the minority as a pro tennis player who can’t stand the game) in front of capacity crowds, then it’s not too much to ask that you take every precaution in the world and resist every temptation in the world to ensure banned substances don’t enter your bloodstream.
Sports fans may be in a state of shock and baying for the blood of the same player they once idolised as a charismatic and emotional champion but they should stop and question what exactly is the crime they are accusing the man of committing. And as for current and former players, it’s the ultimate case “of who is without sin among you cast the first stone”….
