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Rich's Blog: Redeeming Hope
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What Andre Agassi found
I don’t usually write about sports here, but
what the heck, I’m a crazy sports fan and I
simply can’t pass up shining a bright light
on Andre Agassi’s last moments at the U.S.
Open this weekend. He lost his match, but in
the end he won – big time. He found something
we all need.
If you haven’t been following the U.S. Open,
this was to be Agassi’s last. Throughout
weekend TV coverage of the tournament, which by
the way takes place in Queens, N.Y. just across
from Shea Stadium (the home of my red hot N.Y.
Mets!), it was “All Agassi All-the-Time.”
Then, after he lost to Benjamin Becker, he took
to center court to say these few words to those
in Arthur Ashe Stadium and viewers at home:
“The scorecard said I lost today,
but what it doesn’t say is what it is I have
found. And over the last 21 years, I have found
loyalty. You have pulled for me on the court
and also in life. I’ve found inspiration. You
have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my
lowest moments. And I’ve found generosity.
You have given me your shoulders to stand on to
reach for my dreams, dreams I could never have
reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I
have found you and I will take you with me for
the rest of my life. Thank you.”
When Andre Agassi came onto the world tennis
scene, sports’ observers characterized him as
brash, obnoxious, jarring, self-absorbed, even
a punk. Over the years his aggressive style of
tennis remained consistent and true, an
approach that dictates up-tempo, take the ball
early, put pressure on your opponent, attack at
all times, go for winners – and never play it
safe.
But what’s changed about Agassi is… well,
Agassi. He has changed – through adversity,
in suffering injuries, when his world ranking
plummeted, as new young players emerged, when
cortisone shots were required for his ailing
back so he could simply stand up and make his
way back on court.
I found two things compelling about Agassi’s
comments this weekend. First, was his choice of
words. Anyone who has read this blog knows I
love language. So, I urge you to take a moment
and go back and read once more his post-match
comments. Pull out for yourself key words.
What you’ll find are sentiments we too often
fail to hear in public spaces these days, and
perhaps that we ourselves too often fail to say
and practice either in public or private.
Loyalty. Inspiration. Generosity.
Dreams.
Second, too often we believe the only way to
know ourselves is to talk about ourselves.
Sometimes that is necessary. But it is also
true that there are times when we can only come
to know ourselves in pure silence – as we
listen to others speak, only then to see and
recognize things about ourselves.
Agassi made his way in tennis not only by
blazing his own trail but, as he put it, by
what “I have found.” What he discovered –
what he now treasures and shared with the rest
of us – he found in others first, and only
then in himself.
I found his comments so moving because just at
the moment when he was to talk about himself…
when we expected him to talk about himself,
well, he turned to the crowd and talked about
them – what he had learned from them, gained
from them, indeed, what he found in them.
