Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Dre Day


Andre Agassi's career as a professional tennis badass is officially over. He lost three sets to one to some guy named Becker who's not even this Becker (My aunt, a tennis nut, sort of coerced me into reading that book. It's terrible.). No, some upstart named Benjamin thought he'd come and ruin a legend's run at what would have been the greatest career-ending championship by any athlete that I can remember.

S. Canario is no hater, but this cachorro is just sad that his boy had to go out like that, beaten by some nobody in a match whose sets were tight but by the numbers wasn't really close. Andre was the last of a generation of great characters in tennis, one that included Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Michael Stich, and Pete Sampras. Rivalries were strong, and personalities simultaneously bizarre and engaging. Sure, Sampras was sort of a bore and never had anything even passably interesting to say in front of a camera, but he was probably the best to ever play the sport. Becker was basically an asshole, but intensely entertaining to watch, and Ivanisevic a Croatian giant who came runner-up (or worse) like it was his job but remains legendary for his awesome serve. All the while, Agassi was the man, a real (Armenian-) American rock star come to piss off the easily pissed off.

Andre Agassi, you are hereby Foodmantooth Certified. Congratulations. Award ceremony to follow.

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