When your past comes back to haunt you...

03/31/2010 05:10 PM
We live in a culture that either holds people accountable for everything, or hold them accountable for nothing. With technology and social networking having such a huge place in where people obtain information, it does seem like we can get information overload. I think it’s good sometimes to have information underload. People have been fired for information that they are tweeting as individuals because it contradicts their proper behavior as employees. Because there is so much information readily and immediately at our disposal that is digital and duplicatable, it is hard for people, especially those in the public eye, to forget the transgressions of anyone unless they choose to forgive the transgressions of that person. Tom Cruise will be remembered for a long time for his Scientology promoting tirades and jumping on Oprah’s couch. I remember it and I never even saw it. The person I am thinking about when it comes to public perception today is Andre Agassi. Whether you’re a tennis fan or not, if you’re in the USA you should know Andre Agassi. If not, shame on you. Go Google him and then come back. For years, Andre was one of the flag bearers for American tennis. His rivalries were epic, his on court apparel was irreverent, and his marriages, first to Brooke Shields and his current to Stephanie Graff, were tabloid worthy. An admission in his autobiography Open about having tested positive for narcotics that were in his system not unbeknownst to him cemented his reputation as the American Bad @$$ of tennis in his era. Recently, Agassi made some headlines when he was playing a charity doubles match called Hit for Haiti benefitting Haitian relief. (An ESPN report of the incident can be viewed here). Paired with world #1 Roger Federer across from Raphael Nadal and Agassi nemesis Pete Sampras, the match was played as an exhibition prior to the BNP Paribas Open held in Indian Wells, CA. Played more for entertainment than for the hungry competition, the players were fitted with headset mics that were broadcast live over the PA system. Why put mics on the players if not for the enjoyment of the fans of hearing what they have to say, right? After hamming it up on court, Agassi encouraged rival and opponent Pete Sampras to take some jabs of his own. Sampras, showing that he made the right career choice by pursuing tennis rather than comedy, decided to impersonate Agassi by doing his version of Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk. Sampras then encouraged Agassi to make a comeback of his own. Taking it all in stride, Agassi impersonated Sampras by pretending he was too broke to tip more than a single dollar, in reference to a Sampras anecdote from his autobiography. Sampras did not take kindly to the jest, and proceeded to take his next serve targeting Agassi, who was not even the intended receiver. The press was immediate, citing Agassi having gone too far. Agassi’s apology was also immediate, saying that he was “out of line” and issued an apology to Sampras while further asking to the chance to make a personal face-to-face apology. What struck me as odd was how quick Sampras, the people and the press were to frown on Agassi, while ignoring the jabs made by Sampras. On one hand, Sampras made fun of Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk, caused by a physical condition that Andre has no control over. In addition, Sampras, whose serves have been clocked at over 130 mph, hit a ball directly at an unprepared Agassi, which could have resulted in injury. On the other, we have Agassi teasing Sampras about his tipping habits, which is a choice and as such he should not be offended if people know. The valet referred to in Open sure knows. Shoot, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) recently couldn’t reach an agreement with Sampras for Sampras to teach the American junior tennis players. The two sides couldn’t agree on Sampras’ compensation. Sampras, who has made millions upon millions in his career, is not teaching his American made skill to American juniors because the USTA cannot pay him enough. So what I find odd about the situation in Indian Wells is that while Agassi’s jab may have been in bad taste, Sampras’ jab was just plain mean-spirited. This is the problem with our society however. Andre, long regarded as the bad boy, was going to come out as the bad boy. Sampras, long regarded as very plain, was not going to come off as edgy and vicious. Even though Andre Agassi has done much for the goodwill of his sport, as well as for the education of underprivileged youth through the Andre Agassi's Foundation for Education and The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, his bad boy image came back from his past when he squared off against Sampras. Granted, maybe not everyone shares similar celebrity with Agassi or Sampras, but there is still something I feel we can learn from their recent sparring. Sometimes the best thing we can do to prevent people from looking at us the same way, is to keep our noses clean. If our noses aren’t so clean anymore, then we might want to stop nosing around in garbage lest people remember all of the past garbage we’ve nosed around in. Until next time.
Grace and glory,
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