Bored Members - Guests | Media | White Bored | Interview | Bored Anthem - Songs | Boredwaani | Cartoons | Facebook | Twitter | Login

The Persian connection

by RajaB

Not too many people know that Emmanuel B. Agassi, an Iranian Olympic pugilist is a champion (till day before) tennis players father.

Most of us would have guessed the person right, Andre Aggasi. Hairy, balding and balded champion… Brooke Sheilds, Barbara Streisand and Steffi Graf…

Truly multifaceted this man is.

So truly multifaceted that he also has a bout of crystal meth to his CV, this being the latest addition a couple of days ago.

But what hurts is the fact that this crystal meth usage happened a decade back in 1997, and he was caught by the ATP. It hurts more when you learn that he escaped any sentence by saying that his drink was spiked and therefore he couldn’t be held liable, ATP upheld his words, he was exonerated and he went on to win so many titles including the famous French Open against Andre Medvedev in 1999, He went on to register a creditable performance in the tournaments to come and retired as a champion.

We know the kind of crowd that converged to watch him and Steffi Graf play exhibition matches and the euphoria of seeing him and Graf in the stands of Grand Slams. Is that all justified ?

Think not, after 12 years he has confessed that he is a crystal meth abuser. But what is the tennis world doing today ?

They are saying that Aggasi is the epitome of truth, he has dared to spell an unpleasant truth out. But he is not, he is a shrewd business man.

Can anyone imagine a florist who would be selling flowers the day his mother dies ?
Aggasi has done something like this, yes.

Retired 12 years ago and the conscience that didn’t wake up all these years has woken up when his publisher fixed a tag on his bald head.

For all those who think Aggasi came clear of stuff I have some examples to think about…

Marion Jones, Olympic champion… An amazing sprinter, jumper. She was one of my favorite sports people those days.

BALCO ??

The drug masking drug controversy … Tim Mongomery and his Ex Marion Jones were the notables there.

Marion tried to be mother Mary by foregoing those Olympic medals when she was cornered. This trend is not specific to sports, we have had a Ramalinga Raju. Try thy luck to delay the undertaker, that has been the famous philosophy these days.

When Andre Aggasi wants to sell his book he would say he doped and wasn’t found.
But is that all about a book and sales ?

No, it is about the sanctity of a game. That is the reason why we need a WADA and the “Whereabouts” clause.

May be at ATP, they signed for a WADA thosedays, Aggasi would have been caught, shammed and probably I would still have fancied the chance of hitched to Ms Graf.

So it is just the difference between knowing that your favorite cricketer is a dope head while he is playing or after he has retired and has ensured that you buy his $12 autobiography or the coffee table book at $125.

You bought the book or not, he is a dope head.

Would you want it this way or an independent body like WADA exonerating him saying that he took drug X when he underwent that knee surgery and therefore he didn’t break any law.

So, we do need WADA.

Let’s welcome them…

4 comments:

Anil Singh said...

Rajab, you're right. People get a bout of conscience attack only when their biographies or autobiographies hit the world.
And regarding, why agencies like WADA are necessary, is the primary notion, that unless a law has force it can't be effective. So all the shouting about Whereabout clause is illogical.

achettup said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
achettup said...

So how did crystal meth enhance Agassi's career? Have you read up about another "dopehead" Martina Hingis... I believe she quit after allegations of using cocaine.
And how does this in ANYWAY justify the whereabouts clause? They caught him with traces in his bloodstream, what happens after that has little or nothing to do with the whereabouts clause.
For the record, I don't give a damn about whether my favorite sports person uses recreational drugs, if they are using performance enhancing drugs (and worse masking agents to cover up) then they are cheats and should be punished.

straight point said...

i agree with ach here and not coz i have always been opposing wada's whereabouts... its coz i tried very hard but still could not come to reason the link up between agassi incidence and why we support whereabout's...