Agassi and Sampras Both Come Off as Fools in Fundraising Dust-Up
by Ben Rothenberg on Mar 16, 2010 3:47 AM EDT
in Opinions
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PrintOn the off chance you haven't seen it yet, here is the now video viral video of the squabbling between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras Friday at Indian Wells.
What this clip really doesn't emphasize enough is that this all happened during a charity fundraiser, a "Hit for Haiti" event modeled after the wildly successful one held spontaneously before the Australian Open. On a night that was supposed to be about benevolence and generosity, Sampras and Agassi let their egos detract from their benevolence.
I personally put all of the blame for this one on Agassi. And his assertion that it was alright to bring up the fact that Sampras once tipped a valet $1 is ludicrous. Tipping, however stingily, is a personal matter, and the way that Agassi broadcast a years old faux pas in his book was tacky. To bring it up again later to Pete's face at a friendly exhibition is downright rude.
This type of stage was clearly not Pete's forte in the first place. The Obama comeback was nonsensical, and just shows how out of his element he was. Sampras was always an incredibly reserved personality on the court who wasn't going to be adroit at friendly banter, much less testy, unfriendly sniping.
As much as we might like to see more cattiness at the top of the men's game sometimes, these two just come off as clowns. Agassi already did a fair amount of damage to his reputation through his autobiography, as much with its needless personal attacks as with his admissions about drug use. This incident certainly doesn't do him any favors either. He's still done a whole lot of good off the court with his school and other charity work, but Agassi's pattern of personal attacks and put-downs (from hitting a ball at a lineswoman who had caused him to receive a profanity warning to saying he would sell a sponsor's gift watch on eBay, and mocking Karol Kucera's service toss woes) leaves a lot to be desired.
Like too many tennis players who are deprived of any sort of normal childhood or maturing process, they both probably have a lot of growing up to do.
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I'm with you
Agassi’s mostly to blame. But he clearly felt like an asshole.
"Yes Gina, I am a Wise Cracker"
I think this is another situation that was overblown. We even fight with our friends they’re just human the difference is them being public figures. So the chances of something spilling over in a public setting is high.
I agree with Sampras definitively being outside his comfort zone. Also Agassi putting this stuff in his book to me is what gives it weight. If Sampras was unhappy about that then let it go its like he rehashed it and this time with a live audience.
Everyone else says its nothing but not to someone in Sampras position it questions his integrity at least I believe to him. (maybe even subconsciously)
And for a guy who is private/inverted it only complicates things. Pete Sampras knows the whole world/fans/media can’t know him. They’ll only know bits and pieces that are not in a clear context most of the time…..then speculate like how they do every famous person. For Agassi to put that out there I can see how that annoyed him even if it seems small.
Andre I doubt was trying to anger Sampras and it took a bad turn but only from the tennis worlds perspective (good or bad). Everyone else thinks its pretty entertaining.
I just think well the money they were raising wasn’t going to be depleted because of this so don’t care. I thought Sampras held back (I think his serve was playful because he wasn’t sure how to respond) overall and Agassi too. If they didn’t then they could of really gotten into a bit of a shouting match that would be something.
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