The tennis governing body had a choice to make back then, and they took the cowards way out, the enablers way out. It’s doubtful people on the board thought his excuse was legitimate, but they didn’t press the matter further, which is actually the crime here. Those boards are set up to ensure the well-being and fairness of all players, not to give people that they know and like a fair pass because of a plausible explanation. The more I think about it, the angrier I get, because with illicit drugs, he could have collapsed on that tennis court at any moment during his using days. It’s lucky that he didn’t, but that’s one reason for drug testing, or one reason drugs are so bad – they cause so much damage.

The thing is, this wasn’t even a speculation, not even a possibility in some people’s minds that Agassi could have been on drugs. The fact that he was so open and honest about it in his autobiography, tells me he should be commended for that, not punished.

As for parents – some of them just don’t get it. It’s not all about glory days… some of them never stop to ask their child, “what are YOUR dreams?” Some parents never step back and think that this tiny person is not a clone, but a living, breathing separate entity that may have some of the same interests, but not necessarily all of them, and may have some of the same talents, or possibly, far more and far different than the parents. Mostly, I think it is just a matter of never considering that this is a separate person, not a “mini-me”. It’s so tragic to see, especially in a case like this.