Agassi admits meth use

[Power King]

NEW YORK — Andre Agassi’s upcoming autobiography contains an admission he used crystal meth in 1997 and failed a drug test — a result thrown out after he lied by saying he “unwittingly” took the substance.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/ot...ports/othersports/2009/10/28/pf-11552216.html

Not surprising, it's just that he's one to admit to it and one to have gotten away with it.

Also unsurprising is that is occurred during the absolute low point of his career.

True champions are able to make it back to the top after being down and out though, a la Ali and Jordan.

I was never an Agassi fan, but I don't think this should cloud his legacy in terms of his ability as a tennis player. Your thoughts?

 

[matt_897]

It defiantly shouldn't cloud his legacy, that stuff is going to harm you instead of help you, it's probably more impressive he came back from that. The lying is obviously the issue, i honestly don't blame him for lying but really the ATP need to be more through with research.

 

[Power King]

^Despite it being last decade, the underlying concept of being able to dupe the ATP is still a major issue of concern today. As you said, are they as thorough as they can be when investigating drug use, match-fixing etc? It's something that is as relevant today as it ever was.

 

[red+black]

Arguably a bigger issue is his admission that his mane of long hair in the early 90s was a wig! WTF? Why would you do such a thing?

defiantly

Why do so many people spell this word incorrectly? The word is definitely.

 

[brjafi]

a tinkling feeling about rafa makes me think he is following agassi's footsteps

 

[Innit]

also admitted to throwing a match at the aus open vs. chang.. makes you wonder if he really had to give all this info out, will he be remembered for the good or the bad??

 

[Power King]

^I just read about that and his comments regarding chang.

I've lost respect for him.

 

[Brad Goodman]

^I just read about that and his comments regarding chang.

I've lost respect for him.

I never liked him much at all, I'm pretty sure he invented the "bow to the 4 sides of the crowd after the match".

 

[CanonNo1]

Some of the comments that he has made in his book are embarassing. I wasn't a massive massive fan but he was good in his time, but seriously ... Andre.

My stance on drug use is ... if you're a professional sportsmen and you take any banned substance ... life ban. Not only are you duping yourself but the general public who support your sport by buying memberships, sponsoring events, coming to the tournaments etc etc and to thank them you go and take illicit substances ... no time for them.

This stance applies to match fixing / tanking as well - which ranks up there as well.

If I were to rank the two most fraudulent activities in sport it would be a dead heat between those two. I couldn't give a stuff if you're Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Shane Warne ... I have no time for people who take drugs or match fix.

 

[hans moleman]

Agassi still seems like a decent guy to me.

As for his past (non performance-inhancing) drug use and subsequent lying, I'm not up in arms about it. Yeah, he played the system and avoided a 3 month ban.

To me, his admission just shows the exact lows that his life/career reached and how impressive it was to turn it all around, win grand slams in his later career and also have the perspective/generosity to do things like open his own school.

As for life bans for taking a banned substance...pfft, give me a break.

And tanking? Well, that's pretty disappointing but shows how disillusioned he was with the game - somewhat unsurprising given his upbringing.
Tanking/not giving 100% is nothing new either. Safin, who is being lauded in the other thread, has been fined for tanking.

It may sound like I'm being an Agassi apologist but I'm just saying that while his actions should be condemned, it's not like he's the devil or anything...only human.

Besides, the biggest issue for me was the wig...how could I have missed it.

 

[DeanoT]

Some of the comments that he has made in his book are embarassing. I wasn't a massive massive fan but he was good in his time, but seriously ... Andre.

My stance on drug use is ... if you're a professional sportsmen and you take any banned substance ... life ban. Not only are you duping yourself but the general public who support your sport by buying memberships, sponsoring events, coming to the tournaments etc etc and to thank them you go and take illicit substances ... no time for them.

This stance applies to match fixing / tanking as well - which ranks up there as well.

If I were to rank the two most fraudulent activities in sport it would be a dead heat between those two. I couldn't give a stuff if you're Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Shane Warne ... I have no time for people who take drugs or match fix.

You cannot possibly compare performance enhancing drugs with banned substances which are not performance enhancing, but in fact are often performance hindering.

Do you consider Michael Phelps to be a drug cheat who should be banned for life ?

 

[Innit]

I admired his spirit and respected him as a player.. this does put a bleep on his rep though,

 

[matt_897]

You cannot possibly compare performance enhancing drugs with banned substances which are not performance enhancing, but in fact are often performance hindering.

Do you consider Michael Phelps to be a drug cheat who should be banned for life ?

Exactly, take one mistake and should be banned for life. Bizarre.

As for performance enhancing drugs, i don't disagree with lifetime bans.

 

[Oakland Raider]

a tinkling feeling about rafa makes me think he is following agassi's footsteps

Yet they can still perform at the top level.

 

[Sportman1987]

So he used non performance enancing drugs, big deal. Is Agassi having financial troubles? Just seems weird to suddently pour his heart out. And some of the confessions seem too ridiculous to be real. A wig? Lmao.