True Grit

Lots of athletes write books after their careers are over. Most of them contain some lame controversy that everyone probably knew about already. For example, it shouldn't be a surprise for those that read Joe Torre's book about the Yankees that the clubhouse was mad at A-Rod, especially in previous postseasons. And then there's Canseco. No shit you did steroids buddy! All this to sell a few more books. Torre didn't need the money, Canseco might have. Then Andre Agassi wrote his book "Open" in which he admits to using crystal meth among other things.

This is incredible to me. Agassi is a beloved figure, he is retired and highly regarded. In other words, he's no Canseco. He's presumably not trying to illuminate some problem in the Tennis Association while having no authority to do so like Canseco; and honestly tennis doesn't create controversy like baseball players who make hundreds of millions of dollars and then stink in crunch time. This is Agassi telling the world he is human, that the spotlight can be overwhelming. "Open" is indeed the perfect title. And this honesty is both remarkable and refreshing in today's world of gotcha books and stories of fallen stars trying to grasp at the last straw of fame to make a few bucks.

Sure, the cynic may say that this is just another ploy to sell books. Maybe it is, but it's a good one, and it has me sold. It's refreshing to know that some are still willing to confess humanity and try to reconcile with their fans in the right way.