Play for the love of the game

By Kyle Anderson Staff Writer

This past week former tennis superstar Andre Agassi announced the release of his autobiography titled "Open: An Autobiography," in which he reveals many surprises about his past. Topping the list of shockers is his admission of lying to the ATP tour after testing positive for crystal meth in 1997.

According to an Associated Press report, Agassi told tennis officials that he had accidentally ingested the drug after drinking the spiked beverage of his assistant. The ATP accepted this excuse, allowing Agassi to play, rather than suspending him.

While these positive drug tests are very surprising, the most unsettling excerpt from the tell-all book relates to Agassi's attitude toward the sport that made him famous.

Agassi revealed that he in fact hated the sport of tennis, and only played it because his "overbearing" father pushed him to as a child. This news is nothing short of catastrophic for tennis fans who watched Agassi dominate the tennis scene during the 1990s and early 2000s with eight grand slam singles titles and one gold medal.

"Apart from the buzz of getting high, I get an undeniable satisfaction from harming myself and shortening my career," Agassi writes. "But the physical aftermath is hideous. After two days of being high, of not sleeping, I'm an alien. I have the audacity to wonder why I feel so rotten. I'm an athlete, my body should be able to handle this."

As sports fans, it is disheartening to hear how a superstar like Agassi loathed the sport he played with such passion. And while cases like Agassi's are certainly rare, there are surely more athletes out there that do not feel the same passion on the field or court that they show the public.

There are undoubtedly student athletes across the country who fit into the same mold. Most of these athletes have played their respective sport for their entire lives. They spent their high school years honing their athletic skills, working out and pushing their bodies day after day.

So when college rolls around and these athletes are offered a scholarship, they keep playing. And playing. And playing.

And somewhere along the line, the passion they once had for their sport is gone.

Now this is definitely not the case with all athletes, but there are certainly kids out there that only participate in their sport because they feel pressured to. Imagine not being able to afford the college of your choice unless you play football (a sport you no longer love) to maintain your scholarship.

Imagine continuing to practice every single day because your father is making you. You think taking five classes is already tough enough, now add the schedule of a division I athlete. And don't forget about all the pressure you are already feeling from parents and coaches to perform on and off the field.

After taking a closer look at Agassi's unexpected comments, it becomes a little clearer why he disliked tennis so much. According to the Associated Press, at one point Agassi reveals how his father bet $500 on one of his son's matches, when Andre was only nine. Agassi portrays his father as a violent man in the book, and remembers a time when his father pulled a handgun on another driver.

After winning Wimbledon in 1992 Agassi's father did not congratulate him, but instead criticized him for dropping a set.

Clearly Agassi had a reason to hate the sport, but the entire situation is still devastating to tennis fans. How would football fans react if John Elway or Joe Montana had the same feelings for their sport?

Surely more details will be revealed as the book is released, and Agassi is already set for an interview on "60 Minutes," on Nov 8. But it will be important for young people as well as parents to learn from Agassi as further information is realeased.

Hopefully people will begin looking at sports as a form of entertainment and fun, as opposed to a business as surely Agassi's father did. Clearly, if Agassi had been playing tennis for the fun of the sport, he would have not gone down the road he eventually did.

Sadly, more stories like Agassi's may be released if people continue to treat sports as an obsession. Hopefully parents can understand what Agassi went through and can see how placing so much pressure on youth sports can have such a devastating effect.