Agassi's Jokes Shouldn't Be Taken Seriously

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, two of tennis's all-time greats, recently participated in a charity tennis match to support victims of the Haiti earthquakes.

Now these two tennis icons have had their historic battles over the years so it should have been to no one's surprise that some friendly jokes were exchanged between the two.

In the midst of the friendly fire Agassi got a little personal with some of the bantering and Sampras didn't find it funny.

His jokes included making fun of the way Sampras walks around on the court like a pigeon and then commenting on his reputation of being stingy.

In return Sampras let Agassi know he didn't find it at all appealing by directing one of his infamous serves right at him. It drew plenty of laughs and rightfully so.

Here's a link to the entire 4-minute episode.

It's somewhat understandable that Sampras got a little offended by what Agassi said, but you have to let that roll off your shoulder and realize it's for charity.

This particular charity was a huge success as it brought in over $1 million to aid earthquake victims. With that said let's focus on the important things this charity did instead of a few jokes that went too far.

Agassi was quick to apologize much like most athletes do when they get into the media for something negative. Here's a piece of Agassi's apology that was released on Monday:

"It was out of line. It was innappropriate. The night was on fire. We were all all having fun. I was trying to be comedic. I only had a split second to make a decision. I went for it and it fell flat."

Agassi went on to say that he has since texted Sampras asking to apologize in person to him.

Let's be sure not to demonize Agassi for this mistake. We've all told a joke that went too far that we fell bad about at a later time. We're only human.

It's also important not to forget that comedians tell personal jokes that are ten times worse everyday and we praise them for it. Agassi attempted to be humorous like many of us do and it didn't work out. Simple as that.

The least we can do is praise Agassi for participating in a charity event that ended up raising so much money for so many devasted lives.

I want to know how you feel about this situation so feel free to e-mail me at cmm5g@mtsu.edu

Roddick Comes Up Short Again in Aussie Open

There might not be an easier athlete to root for in all of sports than Andy Roddick.

This guy always seems to give his best effort and yet he seems to always come up just short of a major, almost like Dan Marino or Ken Griffery Jr.

Last night marked another time of falling short by losing to Marin Cilic in five sets in a quarterfinal matchup of the Australian Open. Roddick found himself down two sets to none but fought his way back to tie the match with two sets of his own.

During the entire match Roddick was seen being treated by his trainer for what was found out to be a sore shoulder. He was getting massages and was obviously hindered from playing to his full ability.

He went on to say that his power was fine but that his accuracy was compromised due to the injury.

It's really too bad that we couldn't end up seeing a rematch of Roddick and Federer. That would be appointment viewing for myself even if it was at 11 at night.

Roddick still sits at just one Major championship for his career which came in 2003 at the U.S. Open.

He's only 27 so there's still plenty of time to cement his career into one of the all-time greats in tennis history.