Andre

Andre Agassi lost his third round match at the US Open yesterday. He lost to a guy not many had ever heard of...some 25 year old German kid named Benjamin Becker who played college tennis at Baylor in Texas. He was good. Andre just couldn't keep up. His back was hurting, sometimes I didn't think he would be able to stand up. Low balls were almost impossible for him to get down to. I hurt for him! After the match, Andre cried, I cried, my daughter cried, my sister-in-law cried. I mean, it was Andre and it ended a remarkable career as a professional tennis player.

As is typical of the man that Andre has become, he gave a beautiful speech on what it meant to him to know that he had the support, generosity and loyalty of a large group of people who have supported him through good times and bad. He talked about how the fans had given him their shoulders to stand on to reach for his dreams.

Yes, I was one of those fans. I loved the young flamboyant, "image is everything" kid that Andre was. He lived large, he dreamed out loud and he has lived his life with passion and determination. (Sound like anyone else you know?) I love the man he has grown up to become.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to grow up in front of millions of people. People that care about you, hate you - and you don't even know their names. I can't imagine being able to do anything so well that anyone really cared about whether I was good at it or not...whether I won or not. And, yet, by virtue of the fact that he was/is a public figure, many people feel comfortable dissecting his life, his decisions. Private life is relative when you are someone like Andre.

Celebrities have a really large trade off in their lives That money for privacy thing. That everyone knows your business (or at least they think they know your business) for the really huge home with gates around it. I'm not sure I would be able to handle it so gracefully. I wonder what it would feel like to have so many people that you don't know wanting something from you...and, on the other hand, having access to financial resources that allow them such a great lifestyle. A dichotomy!

So, it makes me feel good when I get that thanks - me and millions of others. I will never know Andre Agassi (or some other prominent celebrities that I would love to get to know) but I am glad that my shoulders were strong enough and broad enough to help you reach your dreams. They were great dreams - thanks for sharing them with us.

nbb