who cares about a legacy?

The dictionary defines the word legacy as something handed down from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. In this sports world today the most important phrase seems to be "what about his legacy?".. Does Mark McGwire care about his legacy. Does Barry Bonds care about his? What about Brett Favre? Tiger Woods? Serena Williams? Kobe Bryant? The rant today focuses on the legacy of two of our huge stars that have serious situations that need to be discussed. They are Alex Roduguez and Andre Agassi.
I was, am a huge Andre Agassi fan. I remember going to see him play in a tournament back in 1987 in Vermont. He was there, Pete Sampras was there and John McEnroe was their too. I believe Micheal Chang was their and so was Ivan Lendl. Agassi had on this bright yellow outfit and all of the women there were going nuts over his long hair and matinee idol looks. I have watched thousands of his matches throughout his near 20 year career. I rooted for him when they called him "gagassi," when he did his image is everything commercials and all the media kept saying "no Andre, winning is everything". I got up bright and early and watched him survive 8 million aces from Goran Ivanesivic and win his first Wimbeldon. I watched when he and Babs and Brooke Shields fawned all over him when he won the US open. I was an Agassi guy. I love Pete Sampras but I would always support Agassi over him. When Andre opened that school in Las Vegas I was overwhelmed. He was the first athlete that i thought finally got it. Oprah opening schools in Africa made little sense to me when the schools in this country need help and there needs to be more schools in this country than malls or restaurants. The news I heard today about Andre and crystal meth is disturbing. I have no other way to describe how i feel about the news. Is his legacy destroyed? In my opinion, his legacy is tarnished some because he lied to the ATP. My only question is why tell everyone now? You are a leader in your community and the past is the past. I have never done drugs so I don't understand the mindset in taking them,but Andre is a leader of young children now. If you wanted forgiveness or help, you should have admitted this back in 1997. The world would have never turned their back on you despite all of the phases of what you were going through. He was every one's brother, big or small. He is still one of my faves but this day will be apart of the Agassi story forever..
Today also marks the beginning of the world series. The new york Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies'. Two very evenly matched teams who have stars up and down each lineup. The focus of this series will be on two players: Brad Lidge and Alex Rodriguez. The Phillies are the defending champs so basically none of their players have to anything to prove. Raul Ibanez is probably the only Phillie starter that has something to prove but he is not the player that A-rod is. This world series will either destroy Alex or finally make him a New York icon. What kills Alex is that most of the Phillie players are so young and most their stars have performed on the big stage a year ago so no matter what happens they are going to be okay. Ryan Howard is a post season star and if he continues to play the way he has through his first 5 years, he is going to the Hall of fame on the first ballot. With the steroid scandal hanging over Alex's head, he has to have a memorable world series to make everyone forget what has transpired this year. Even if the Yankees win, Alex needs to be a vital reason why. Whether it is a walk-off home run in multiple games or clutch hits when the Yankees need them. Sounds impossible right? That is the kind of scrutiny he is under. He may finish his career as baseball first 800 homer guy. (Saduhara Oh has 812 but they don't count here).. He needs a defining series that will make his legacy worth leaving behind.
The irony for Alex is Barry Bonds had a defining world Series and his legacy is still tarnished. It wasn't Bonds fault that the pitchers gave up a 5-0 lead in game 6 nor it wasn't Bonds' fault that in Game 7 the didn't pitch to him. He was awesome in the series. He hit a ball off of Troy Percival that is still traveling..
Do athletes care about their legacies, in private hell yes!!! In public they pretend they don't but we know the truth. Why do you think Roger Clemens is fighting so hard to clear his name.?

Lets talk roger federer

Recently i had a discussion with a colleague about why i feel that Federer is not the greatest tennis player ever to live. I was told that i am crazy for my theory but i am going to present it anyway.
In my opinion Pete Sampras is the greatest player i have ever seen. He reigned over an era of tennis when the best players ever to play were playing. He got to play them at their best and defeated them all with regularity. Rod Laver is probably the greatest player to live because to win 2 grand slams in a career will never be done again. Steffi Graf did in the same calendar year and Serena Williams did it over a two year span. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi discouraged this generation of players which allowed for Federer to become what he has become.
Let me explain. Ivan Lendl took Pete Sampras under his wing and told him that being number 1 in the world you had to work harder than ten people combined working out. He would play a 5 set match and then go bike 20 miles. Gil Reyes trained Agassi like he was going to do the iron man competitions. They made tennis a full time commitment of body and mind. The players who came after Sampras and Agassi were Magnus Norman, Petr Korda and Marcello Rios. rumors were abound that each of the men would tank matches or not give their best effort because they did not want the pressure of being number 1. In fact when Petr Korda won the Australian open, he retired because he did not want the pressure of answering the questions that the number 1 player has to. Marcello Rios hated being the number 1 player so much that he retired way before he was ready to quit. Tomas Muster played only clay court tournaments because he could not compete with courier and Agassi and Sampras on the other surfaces.
then the next generation of players, Leyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mark Phillippousis was the next group. Safin ascended to number 1 and whipped Sampras in the U.S. open and everyone thought a new day was coming. He hated being number one. Ferrero disappeared because he could not win on any other surface than clay. Hewitt had a great record against agassi, sampras and federer but injuries beset him. Phillipousis just did not have the complete game. Andy Roddick was supposed to be the next great one. David Nalbandian too. Most of these men mentioned simply did not have the desire, fight or fortitude to want to be a consistent champion. these young guns couldn't beat the old men and therefore never allowed their skills to elevate them to a higher level.
Federer has two peers, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. They have the same grit as Sampras and Agassi. They currently have winning records against Federer in their last few head to head matches. If Nadal had not gotten injured, who knows what his year was going to be. Andy Murray is a year away from dominating this sport. His all court game is pretty cool to watch develop. Federer came at the right time in his sport. The only two players who wanted to challenge him were past their primes. Only recently has anyone challenged Federer. Sampras had Edberg, Becker, MC enroe, Agassi, Courier, Chang, Rafter, Connors, and Lendl to contend with on every surface on a weekly basis. Federer has made 20 plus consecutive grand slam semi finals. Who does he have to wade his way through to get to a championship. The men i mentioned before all would have quit before the match started. How many hall of fame players is Federer competing against these days? One!!! Sampras never won the French open which gives all of the Federer people ammunition. However I saw Sampras singlehandedly defeat the Russian Davis cup team on clay. Maybe his single greatest achievement. Is Federer freakishly good? Well hell yes. Most of his career, he didnt have a tennis coach. He sees the game with clarity that no one else ever has. Sampras kept matches simple. He just overpowered you and if he needed to show you a running forehand he quickly demoralized you with that shot. Federer may be the greatest ball striker ever. He hits shots from every angle cleaner than anyone i have ever seen. Sampras had to compete against players who had different styles. Today, no one serves and volleys like edberg or mc enroe. When players get don in matches today, no one seems to have a plan b. They quit essentially. players today may be faster and more athletic, but have no variety in their games. During the Sampras era each match was a chess match. Yes he overpowered some people but when his serve wasnt clicking or his volleys were not sharp, sampras relied on his forehand or his strong baseline game to win. Federer is great, but for my money I am taking Sampras.